Just after general opinions really, and i realise that it is a personal thing. After several sessions in my local shop im torn between a charcoal frost american standard and a sunburst am deluxe, both with maple necks. Tried both guitars through my ltd edition VC15 and they both sound great and both play as good and as smooth each other. So far its a tie as to which one i bring home.
But, do noiseless pups remove so of the guitars character. Strat=singlecoils=hum. Part and parcel of having a strat. I know there are several models with noisless pups and various mods to cure the hum. Each to ther own and all that. But i mean the character of the guitar. The feeling you get when you dont wanna put it down or maybe when you close your eyes and just play letting it flow and just playing whatever the mood takes. The bit that makes that guitar yours.
As good as the both the guitars sounded and felt. I found the am deluxe left me a touch sterile. Pups or just that guitar weren t the one??
What you all think??

I think you've just answered your own question there.

IMO, after I listened to the hot noiseless and vintage noisless pups, I felt the same way and opted for some vintage 57/62s instead. Each to their own on tonal preference but I felt that there were better sounding pups available that fall in the same price bracket as the noiseless models on offer.

I personally really love the feel of the deluxe, more so than most others I've played - i'm just not a fan of the pickups. Hence the reason i'm going to splash out a bit and get the american deluxe along with some '69 pickups. Ooooohhhhh thats gonna be sweet.

Anyway, back on topic, I don't really like the noiseless pickups. Not enough character or depth to them in my opinion.

I also considered fitting CS69s to the deluxe. But goes against the grain with me a bit, spending £1100 on a guitar then more to get it how you like. Dont make sense to me im afraid. But i do agree that it would sound sweet.

You can always sell on the noiseless pups afterwards and recoup a lot of the outlay for the replacements.

STD vs deluxe, here's my take having both.
If you have a am standard already, then go for the
deluxe. The scn are alittle give and take.
They can be sterile @ times but where they shine are
with drive and using the s1 switch.
The am STD pups are great all around pickups.
They handle distortion very well, and I know you know
for hum cancelling 2 & 4 positions are an option.
I love using them when volumes are cranked and you get
the sustain and feedback.
Besides charcoal frost in maple , SWEET!!!!!!!

_________________
"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present."

oogway, kungfu panda 2008

I generally dont play with massive amounts of drive. Just enough to get a sweet, rich bluesy break up. Either by volume control on the guitar if conditions allow or use drive channel. SRV,Peter Green,Gilmour,Clapton, Stones,Allman Bros,Stones is mainly my flavour.
Just spent another hour in local shop trying the two again. At the mo the AM standard has it by a nose. But the neck and contoured underside of the neck pocket of the deluxe is superb. Dont warm to it as quickly as i do the Am std though.
Arrrrrgh!!!