Just finished some more mods to my 2009 MIM Standard Strat and Frontman 25R amp.

For the Frontman 25R, I replaced the stock speaker with a Eminence Patriot Ragin Cajun. BIG difference in sound quality. Besides being a little louder (the Ragin Cajun appears to be more efficient than the stock speaker), the bass is now worth listening to and the high end is much smoother and allows all the sparkle of the guitar to come through when playing through the clean channel. At the same time, the speaker can get down and dirty with a nice gritty tone when playing through the drive channel. Oh, and the amp weighs significantly more, so it has to sound better. LOL. Very worthwhile upgrade.

On the Strat side, starting from the top of the guitar, I replaced the stock tuning machines with Fender/Schaller locking tuners. Much better tuning stability and they look way cool. Next, I replaced the stock ceramic pickups with Fender SCNs. WOW! These are some sweet sounding pickups. Not only are they dead quiet (just some slight hiss from the amp depending on my proximity to it), I now have more tonal variation between the 5 switch positions than before. Even the bridge Pup by itself sounds really powerful and smooth (previously modified to match the American Standard bridge pup with tone control) compared to the stock bridge pickup. Its interesting to note that the pole piece spacing is slightly narrower than the stock Pups. They also included a spare set of Pup covers, though it was my understanding that the covers cannot be easily removed. Finally, I replaced the stock alloy tremolo block with a solid steel one from Guitar Fetish. Still evaluating this mod although first impression is slightly more sustain. I was also suprised to find that even though the stock block is non-magnetic, it weighs almost as much as the GFS steel block. With the addition of the slightly heavier SCN Pups and the GFS steel trem block, the Strat definitely feels like it has gained a few pounds in the bottom. Well, I guess for a guitar that is a good thing.

Add in my Monty Allums H2O modded Boss Blues Driver, and she really sings now. Life is good.

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Bill

Pickup covers on the SCN's are not removable. As well, they use a specific-and-unique mounting screw so whatever you do, don't lose any as replacements are impossible to get.

Best of luck -- it sounds like you've moved your Strat up a tier or two.

Arjay

That's what I thought which is why I was puzzled that the extra covers were included. The screws did look different (they have an unthreaded shoulder up by the screw head), but I didn't compare threads with the stock screws. With all three Pups mounted, I don't think the screws are going anywhere.

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Bill