2006 model with HSS, LSR nut, and S1 switching. Awesome guitar! But I want to put Texas Specials in the neck and middle. If I do so will it ruin the collector value? I'm just not entirely pleased with the tone of those Samarium Cobalt Noiseless...

Do it. Make it sound the way you like. If guitars were such a great investment nobody would put any money in the stock market.

I'm thinking if you kept the guitar stock for 30 years and decided to sell it for the collector's value, you'll find that my mutual funds vastly outperformed your guitar. And you would have spent the last 30 years playing a guitar with pickups you don't like.

My 2008 Strat has Fralin pickups, locking tuners, and a Wilkinson VS-401 trem with steel sustain block. This thing sounds goooooooooood! Why would I want it to sound less good?

It's just a guitar. Just a tool. Use it.

I gotta agree. The only reason to consider resale value is if you find something so dirt cheap that you can turn it around real quick for a huge profit. Other than that, you're not really making any investments. Fender has made sure of that by releasing and re-releasing the exact same guitar with a tiny change a billion and a half times. I honestly don't recall hearing anything back in 2006 that would make your guitar special. Keep the original pups and if the day comes you want to sell it you can slap them right back in there.
MULLY

mod the guitar the way you want, it all comes down to what you like.....as far as collecting value?.....it might not be worth half what you paid for it in 30 years anyhow.....guitars are not even close to being a good investment in the long run.

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2008 Am. Std. Strat
2008 Am. Deluxe Strat
2010 Am. Deluxe Strat
2011 Am. Std. Strat
2011 Am. Std. Strat
Hot Rod Deluxe
Hot Rod Deville 410

I was looking for an American Standard Vintage White w/Rosewood initially, but Guitar Center was OUT OF THEM IN ANY COLOR! The creep sold me on this one claiming the single coils were the same as American Standards. I shoulda done my homework. Still, it's a great guitar. All I need now is a pair of Texas Specials...

if its the one im thinking (transparent red) and it has the S-1 system it should have the SCN pick-ups

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2008 Am. Std. Strat
2008 Am. Deluxe Strat
2010 Am. Deluxe Strat
2011 Am. Std. Strat
2011 Am. Std. Strat
Hot Rod Deluxe
Hot Rod Deville 410

It does. Don't care much for em. Want American Standard or Texas Special tones

In order to have a nice gritty blues sound and a raw crunchy dirt, you must have a well-balanced bridge humbucker matching perfectly the two Texas Special single-coils. In my ears, the Rio Grande Genuine Texas, Barbeque and Buffalo humbuckers are just right, but if you want more attitude and beef, you should try the Muy Grande.

Of course they're lots of other great-sounding humbucking pickups from Lindy Fralin and Seymour Duncan. Let your musical imagination decide.

Actualy I like the humbucker that's on it already, however the height adjust screw layout (2+1) isn't very aftermarket friendly as far as I've found.

Good decision

The 2010 Deluxe HSS had a Passing Lane blower switch which instantly routes the signal from any pickup position to the bridge, supercharging the humbucker. Volume and Tone controls are bypassed.

If you want more crunch into the mix, you can mod your American Special Mahogany HSS Strat with the blower switch. You need to have a reconfigured S1 switch to make the Passing Lane system fully functional, though I'm not certain if the new S1 switch and the blower button are available as an upgrade kit for the pre-2010 American Deluxes.

You can eventually transform your guitar into an HSS LT model if you decide to purchase a deluxe locking bridge from eBay.

Just build a whole pickguard with the pickups you want. You can wire it any way you want, choose the pups you like, and save the stock setup for resale. It's a win-win.

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60th Anniversary AD Strat, Deluxe Nashville Tele, Player's P Bass. Mesa/Boogie Mk IV combo, Marshall JCM800, 1960A cab, Genz Benz El Diablo 60, Genz 2x12" cab, too many neat little practice amps and kit projects!

Are the Tex Mex noiseless ?
I only see the Mahogany body strats (with black headstock) with Tex Mex pick ups.
I want to buy one, someone has one for sale, but they are telling me the pick ups are scn. (and it is stock)

Was the mahogany (with black headstock ) strat available with either ?

another way of looking at this is "imagine you had a car with bad tires that wenre up to the job...you wouldnt run along on them for long your Guitar is the same just keep the old pup's somewhere safe
chances are that if you keep it long enough to rise so highly in value the next owner will appreciate knowing the wiring is all original but freshly soldered
right?

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A painter paints pictures on canvas. But musicians paint their pictures on silence. ~Leopold Stokowski~

Thats not the case. Vintage guitars lose a unreal amount of money for not having original soldering, yes they check.

best idea is to just build a new loaded guard.

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No no and no

REALLY? thats bollocks okay ignore my post i was un aware

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A painter paints pictures on canvas. But musicians paint their pictures on silence. ~Leopold Stokowski~