I've recently purchased a MIA Fender Strat, and one thing I noticed right off of the bat was the volume differences between the strat and LP. I believe I've read that humbuckers are inherently louder (2 coils versus 1) but exactly how much louder should I expect?

Being that this is my first Fender, I have no frame of reference to put this all into perspective for myself. All I know is, if I plug in the LP, it is PROFOUNDLY louder than the Fender. It's got me worried (perhaps unecessarily, which is why I'm posting) that there's almost too great of a difference between the two.

I guess I'm looking for a "Yes, you should expect BIG differences in volume.", or a "No, there will be a difference, but it shouldn't be that much."

I'm probably hitting my usual stage of buyers remorse, and I'm evaluating every little thing with the guitar. And for the record, it's not buyers remorse about Fender in general, it's more about this particular guitar, and whether or not I should have played more Fenders before purchasing this one.

Thanks

Yeah, that makes sense. I can tell you though, that both guitars have not been modified or altered from their factory setups. All stock parts; all left as they were when purchased.

The LP is nothing special. Just a Studio Premium Plus. The Strat, an AMSTD.

I'm a worrier though...I'm sure my head is making it worse than it actually is.

If it's not been set up proper there could be a huge difference. However, the Humbucker on a LP will sound much louder than a single coil on a Fender Strat.

If the Strat is new, it should have a 5 yr warranty, and usually a authorized Fender dealer should do a 1st time set up for free. But not always.

A humbucker is markedly louder than a single coil guitar if you were to plug a Les Paul into an amp that you had a Strat plugged into.Even a guitar with coil tap will experience significant a volume boost if you switch the pups from single coil to humbucker function.It's just that humbuckers generally have a good deal more output than single coils.

_________________
'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.

My LP, 335, V, and a Yamaha SG2000 are all louder than my Strats. You're not alone

Do not regret your purchase my friend.
the am std strat is a beatiful thing I have two
american strats and a Gibson SG AND THE VOLUME
DIFFERENCE IS DEFINATELY NOTICEABLE.
there is nothing wrong with your guitar in fact
I usually pick one or the other for gigs
either my Sg or a strat and and tele because
I have to totally reconfigure my amps volume and tone
but a strat is an Irreplaceable tool in a guitarists
toolbox here s a tip I use

write down your settings that sound good on your
LP like on a 3X5 card

then try the strat adjust for volume and tone
until it is as loud and sounds as good to your ears
as needed then write them and label
STRAT AND LP ACCORDINGLY
THEN KEEP THE CARD maybe taped to the bacjk of the amp
or close by so you can change settings quicker

_________________
1956 Gibson CS Lemon Les Paul
1957 Fender CS Aged Cherry Strat
1958 Gibson CS Pg 85 Les Paul
1960 Fender CS 3tsb Strat
1961 Gibson SG Wildwood Pelham blue
1966 Fender CS Firemist Metallic Silver Strat

My Les Paul is louder than all of my Strats,and the Strats all have different pick ups and are set up right to my playing style,so is the LP.
That's always been my experiences with the two guitars,not just mine but all the ones I've played since the '60s/'70s.

I've had many LPs and many Strats over the years and the formers have always been louder. Makes sense...

I use a Les Paul standard and a Strat, the drummer always tells me that les paul comes through alot better, meaning volume,

Just turn the amp up a bit when using the strat to compensate

What you are experiencing is normal.

I did a gig last night, actually the first gig with my 1976 Fender Stratocaster and my 1973 Gibson Les Paul Custom.

When I switched over from the Strat to the Les Paul, like yourself.. I had a noticable volume increase.

The LP definately has bigger presence than the Strat.

I compensated the lack of presence of the strat by using a volume boost pedal and Compression pedal. Lucky I had these pedals in my trick bag.

They ironed out the volume presence difference between the two guitars with no sacirfice of tone from either.

So, Volume Boost pedal and BOSS CS-3 pedal in use for strat which makes it's single coils sing.

Les Paul to be used without these two pedals.

This should sort out your volume difference problem. It did for me.

Anyway a couple of pic's here for your vieweing pleasure of an old pirate ship we played on last night. The pics are of my rig set up.

Cheers