I hate to make another pickup thread but there's some new developments.
Before I ordered anything or got dead set on a particular pickup, I wanted to talk to my guitar tech. He always makes a lot of sense and he doesn't tell me to do something for the guitar store he works for just to make a buck, he tells me what my best options are regardless of whether he makes anything.

He thought the lipsticks would sound good, but he also thought that before I order them that I should hear them in real life through my own amp.
So he's going to call up a friend of his and ask if he can bring his strat down to the store for me to listen to. His friend's strat has the exact same gfs lipstick pickups in it that are the one's I'm looking to buy. That way if there's something I don't like about them, I'll know before I buy them.

He also suggested that I not rush into anything, which is what tends to happen to musicians with GAS.
He thought that I should also try putting the stock MIM Standard pickups back in to see how I like them. At the time I took them out the only reason I didn't like them was because they hummed. I don't really care about that anymore. If it turns out that the stock pickups sound good enough, I could just sell the other pickups and pots and save the $100 that I make. That might be what I'd like to do, since I'm saving for a Road Worn. And if I got a Road Worn there's no way I'd change the pickups, I really like the way the Tex-Mex pups sound.

He also knows someone who's wanting to buy a set of black Vintage Noiseless pickups, so he's going to take them out and if the man wants to buy mine he'll put us in contact.
He's also going to teach me how to change pickups myself, since I'm really into modding my guitars and if I continue not knowing how it's going to cost me a fortune to keep having it done. We're also talking about tinting the neck of my Squier Strat and doing a light relic job on it, which he's also going to show me how to do. He already solved all my tuning issues by teaching me how to wind strings correctly. I'm really lucky to be able to talk to someone who knows so much about guitars and who'll give me an honest answer and teach me stuff.

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Your tech sound like a great guy.

He must be on a straight salary too because with all the stuff he plans on teaching you and swapping for you, think of all the potential income he'll be losing and eventially, losing exponentially once you are comfortable and start doing it for others for shall we say, "fun and profit".

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You dig?

Must be nice to be on such personal terms with a tech. Wish I knew one

tex,

Agreed, that tech sounds like a great guy. I had to learn to change pups on my own. But don't fret , it fairly easy as long as you have some soldering skills. If you're looking for hum free pups you might want to try the SCNs that come with the American Deluxe. The more time I spend with them the more I fall in love with them. It's just a matter of dialing them in. If you want the classic hum and vintage sound you might want to try Copperhead pups. I've got a set of '59s in my Strat and really, really love them. I couldn't be happier. But I'm not trying to be a salesman for anybody. Just some suggestions. I really dug your postings of Hideaway and Texas Flood. When are you gonna post some more tunes? You've got some real nice chops. Keep 'um comin'.

Russ

Thanks man, I appreciate it. I'm working up Little Wing right now, I'm about halfway through. It's taking forever though. I'm thinking about recording it to a backing track I found on youtube. I'm not quite to the point that I can be completely comfortable improvising with it yet, that will probably take a few more weeks.

And thanks for the suggestions too. I played an American Deluxe and I really liked it, but I didn't know those were the pickups in it until just now. One of the guitarists at my Church has one (he's really good, to the point of being on a professional level) and he says he really likes his.
Now that I'm going to put the stock pickups back in I'll be able to really take my time and decide on a good set of pickups. Come Christmas time I should have enough money that the SCNs or a set of Custom Shop pickups shouldn't be out of the question.

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I apolagize if the following have been mentioned previously.. However I found myself wanting to change my pickups a few years back. So I went into my local fender dealer, and asked one of the fender old timers his thoughts on pickups. Lindy Fralin Blues Specials he answered without hesitation, and then went on explaining how they are all hand wound, and in his opinion, "complete the guitar". The lgs does not normally carry lindy fralin's. They had to special order them, and I imagine almost no shop carry's them.
On the contrary, if a bluesy sound isnt what your going for, he has a line up of tonal variety, ranging from low range boosting, mids, highs, and everything in between. You should look into them if you are getting bored with seymour duncan's options.
www.fralinpickups.com
Jason

Thanks for the recommendation.

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