What doy you think would be a MUST modification to a MIM standard strat???

I don't know of any "MUST" mods.

If you play it for awhile and find things that you don't like, then change them.

Good luck!

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Miami Mike>I don't know of any "MUST" mods.
If you play it for awhile and find things that you don't like, then change them.

+1

The biggest tone changes are in your fingers. Even a decent guitar, and a decent amp (not great, just decent) will sound good provided they are played well. I own a 2001 MIM std. and have modded almost everything. Didn't make a tremendous difference in tone, some, but nothing drastic. Changing the amp helped the most.

Now, I "must" mod my fingers... where'd that hammer go...

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For me a "Must Mod" on almost any guitar is swapping out the generic stock pickups for high output ones. I like being able to really push over the top and the "one size fits all", "tuned to the average" sound of the stock pickups just doesn't do it for me.

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"Life is like eating jalapenos. What you do today may burn your arse tomorrow"

Changing the input jack to a Switchcraft brand one.

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You dig?

A good set of strings and a good setup. For me this turned a good guitar into a great guitar.

You can also play with PUP heights to get a different sound, before swapping out.

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- "Honey" 09 HWY 1 Tele (Honey Blonde w/Maple)
- 08 MIM Standard Strat (Burst w/Rosewood,SCN,DeltaTone)
- Super Champ XD
- Marshall Class 5 Head
- Norman Acoustic (MICan)

I dunno about "musts" but definitely one of the most common mods is changing the pickguard.

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Rated "M" for meaty.

There are no MUST's. There are a lot of preferences. Highout pickups or noisesless. Gold or Chrome hardware. Greastbucket or Delta Tone. Locking tuners or standard. String Guages. You name it, it can be changed. Even maple versus rosewood. V profile versus C profile. 7.5" radius to 12" radius. Medium or Jumbo frets. Humbuckers versus Single Coils.

Basically, its all what feels comfortable, looks, and sounds the best.

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for my cp 60 no mods needed at the moment...

cheers

I have had my MIM Strat for 10 yrs and I haven't and won't be doing any mods on it.It feels great,plays great,sounds great,so it would be a waste of money to change anything except the strings.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

the only thing i did was change to a pearloid pickguard, put chrome pup covers on, and chrome knobs. i bought the add-ons on ebay. cost about 40 bucks.

i just wanted a guitar that stands out a little. i am happy with all the other aspects.

Depending on the year, I'd say swap out the trem block to help with sustain. GFS or Callaham both have good replacements if it's an older model. Maybe best to just play it like it is till you start noticing things that you'd like to change.

In my always and ever so humble opinion, it depends on the vintage. If it's an older MIM that hasn't already been modified, the very first things I would do is swap out the pickups and change the trem block. I won't speak for others here but the pickups that came stock in my '96 MIM...well...let's just say they left a great deal to be desired. I actually went through a couple of sets of pickups before I found the sound I was really after with that guitar...in this case it turned out to be a set of Duncan Performers.

Also, the earlier MIM's had the small, half-sized zinc alloy trem blocks...I put a steel Callaham trem block on mine and for the $50 I payed, it was like a completely different guitar!!! -Very- worthwhile investment in my opinion. If your instrument has one of the small trem blocks then to me upgrading that...Callaham or otherwise, is an absolute must.

Now if it's a newer MIM, then Fender has addressed some of these issues...at least to some degree. Back around the holidays I played a couple of new MIM's while I was looking at amps than I do have to honestly say they do sound a good deal better than my '96 did when she was new. The pickups definitely sound a fair sight better and I understand that they are putting full size steel blocks in the standards now (with the Am Stds having "copper infused" or something or other). That said, I would likely still swap out the pickups if it's just an ordinary MIM Standard...the newer pickups again are better but I do feel there's still room for improvement.

Also...and this to is my always and ever so humble opinion but I think those roller T's are a very worthwhile upgrade too...for $5 and 2 minutes with a screw driver, I don't think you can really go wrong with those.

As someone else said, a really good professional setup is always worthwhile too. I can't really speak to the Ma & Pa shops out there but most or your larger stores such as Guitar Center and Sam Ash no longer do setups on most of the brand new instruments...they come in the door, come out of the box and go right up on the rack. Brand new guitars are of course set up at the factory to "factory specs" but then they often go in to storage, then they get shipped and sometimes re-shipped to various locations and if you buy one from a store, there's no telling how many proverbial "wankers" have sat there gnawing on it...if you don't already know how to do it yourself, then a proper setup is a very worthwhile investment.

Other than that, it really depends on the individual playing it. Some folks are quite happy with "off the rack" while others such as myself really like to personalize their instruments. Only you can really decide what else you like or dislike about your own personal instrument.

Good Luck,
Jim

My MIM strat is a Roadhouse with Texas Special pickups. While the guitar looks and plays awesome, I decided to spice it up a little. I am in the process of changing all the hardware to gold hardware. Screws, tremolo, input jack, string tee, strap locks, and tuning machines. Was any of it a must? Not a chance.

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"Epitaph on a blues musician’s tombstone: “I didn’t wake up this morning”" Davy Knowles


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But I can't change my fingers

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'10 Gibson LP Studio Faded
'09 Fender American Standard Stratocaster
'08 Fender Classic Player 60s Stratocaster
'07 Fender Classic Player Baja Telecaster
'05 Breedlove AC 25 SR Plus