I switched the pickups in my 2 strats last night. I felt a compulsion to tinker.

I have an '04 60s series that I had put EMG SAs into. I also have an 01 MIM standard that I had put the stock pickups from the 60s series into. Last night I switched the pickups on both guitars, bringing the 60s back to stock and putting the EMGs in my black standard. I thought my standard sounded a little thin, and I thought the active pickups would beef up the tone. I recently switched to GHS 010s on both guitars.

Anyway I love the tone on my Lake Placid Blue 60s series better, with either pickup configuration. It weighs more, seems to resonate better, and I just prefer the overall tone. Can anyone tell me if there is any difference in the bodies of these 2 guitars?

The MIM 60s series weighs approx 8.2 lbs in the stock configuration. (I do have graph tech saddles but otherwise it is stock. I thought this guitar to be a little on the heavy side for a strat.

The MIM Standard weighs approx 7.6 lbs. The mods to this guitar are the EMGs (with battery installed) and a Callaham trem block. I also blocked the trem. I weighed them using the bathroom scale method. I believe both bodies are alder, but I could be wrong.

I'm very happy with the results for both guitars, but the standard still sounds a little brighter and thinner than the 60s series. I'm not sure how much a role the maple fretboard plays vs. the rosewood on the 60s. I may go to 11s on the standard to see if that helps.

Here's a couple of pics of my babies:

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Cool guitars. The black one has a David Gilmour vibe to it. I find that a mple neck makes the guitar sound a bit brighter and have more snap vs a rosewood board neck which makes the guitar seem a bit darker, especially a slab-board model. My personal taste is maple but rosewood is cool too. Btw- I love to tinker with my guitars as well. It's fun to experiment and see what happens.

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Thanks Billy - The Gilmour vibe on the black one is no accident, I may try to find a neck off a 50s series, I think the vintage looking maple would really complete this guitar...

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Post pics if you do find a vintage type neck. Love Gilmour....

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