Hello there.

Does anyone know where I can find specs for a '95 (possibly a '94) MIM Std? I wanna know what kind of pups Fender used back then. I've tried the Fender database but I can't seem to find anything. I'll check the serial no. and post it once I get home from work.

When I was a mere beginner I didn't know and didn't care too much about pups, I thought my MIM sounded cool and I still do. Now I'm struggling to get a good tone out of my 2007 HWY1 and I want something in the same vein as my MIM which sounds rusty, mid-rangey and woody with surprisingly good sustain. The MIM pups are evenly staggered where the D and G string pole pieces are the highest.

It's funny how stock MIM pups can sound better than US made HWY1 Alnico III's to my ears. The sustain in the Alnico III's is half as good as the stock MIM's.

Does anyone have any tips regarding pups if I'm looking for a decent amount of sustain paired with good cleans and good crunch sounds? I know...the age old question...

I play heavy rock/rock/heavy psych with a good deal of crunch but also clean-ish bluesy sounds.

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'94/'07 Bastard-o-caster (MIM/Hwy1 hybrid)
'11 Gibson SG Std Ltd
'10 Gibson LP Std Trad Pro
'04 Gibson SG Special w/f with SD Phat Cats
BaCH Telecaster
'97 Marshall JCM900 4500 DR
'64 Selmer Treble n Bass 50 head
Marshall 1960B
Various stompboxes

Their just stock ceramic bar magnet singlecoil pickups. Very run of the mill, also very hot. I agree theres nothing like em for heavier styles, alnico be damned.

I had the same ones in a 95MIM. The worst thing I ever did was give em away and put in vintage noiseless pickups.

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Nikki calls it right here - ceramic bar magnets is exactly what they are.

I've got them on my old Mexi Classic 60s guitar and I cant tell you how many times I've thought about pulling them out and replacing them with something more upmarket. Then I play the guitar and resolve to leave them alone all over again. Everything I've come to know about pickups tells me to get some alnicos in there, but there's just something very right about those ceramics.

My Highway is on it's 3rd set of p/ups, but the Classic 60s still sounds fatter and richer. Admittedly it doesn't have the top end and the overall clarity of the Highway, but for rock n blues you can't go wrong..

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Fender Highway & Classic 60s Strats, Fender Toronado, Telecaster, Gretsch Projet, Charvel 3, PRS SE Soapbar II & Custom 24, Burns Batwing and many others!

Lay a nickel next to the neck pickup and drop the pickup so its top is even with the top of the nickel at both ends. Adjust the middle pickup down until it's equal in volume (played clean) to the neck pickup. Then do the same with the bridge pickup.

This method might not get you the ideal tone you like, but it's a good starting point for ceramic single coil pickups. you can also tweak each end of the pickups. if you like a slightly more treble sound, raise up the treble side two or three turns after you set the overall height.

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

Mike. Do they have nickels in sweden? (JK) Anychance anyone could tell me how thick a nickel is so I can convert it to sterling or euro's The european guys need metric measurements too.

However Mike I would like to know which order you set your pickups in. Personaly I set my bridge where it sounds right and balance the neck and middle pickups volume to that. Then I muck about with all the half a turn here, half a turn there stuff for a couple of weeks. To get it to how I like it.

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1.95mm or 0.077in

Really near 2mm? Thats incredibly high. I generaly set mine a lot lower than that at around 8-10mm on scn's. The vintage noiseless I set to around 3mm off the scratchplate, maybe 5mm at the bridge.

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