I recently aquired a 2000 MIM Strat HSS. I want to modify it and as this will be my first time, I humbly ask for your advice. I know my questioms have probably been asked a million times on this forum and I apologize for asking them again.

1. What pickups are recommended? I know this is very subjective, but I covet all recomendations. I play in a contemporary Christian praise band and we cover songs that range from a light rock clean sound to distorted hard rock. I plan to keep the HSS configuration.

2. What brand of bridge and tuners should I install? The bridge has 5 springs and that's okay with me as I do not use the tremolo. Also, a second string tee has been added- is that good/bad?

3. When you change pickups, do you also need to change the 5-way switch and volume/tone pots? What about the cord jack?

4. Is the MIM nut okay, or do I need to have a luthier(?) change it to a better one?

Here are some pictures of the Strat. (BTW, does someone know what Fender called this color? Sometimes it's blue, sometimes it's purple depending on the light. Also, it originally had a white pickgaurd.)




Here are some pictures of my Sunday rig that may help with pickup recommendations.



Who says we don't use hymnals in contemporary worship?

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2005 MIA Strat HH Hardtail
Modified 2000 MIM Strat HSS

Not to deter you but people mod guitars for precisely two reasons:

1) There is shortcoming (real or perceived) with the instrument.

2) They read too many damned online forums.

So what exactly is wrong with your Strat as it stands this very moment?

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

Arjay, somehow I knew you would chime in on this one...and you are perfectly correct!

Enjoy

T2

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What time is it? It's Fender Time.

I agree especially with the second.. I prob wouldn't have modded my MIM strat if it wasn't for my Clapton sounding much better... so i read online forums and started pick up shopping haha.

It looks like you have a nice set up as it is.

Happy Hunting.

No offense here but, outside of a set of locking tuners..I wouldn't change a thing !

BTW,...I LOVE that color and pickguard combination

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"I like the way he puts Yngwie J. Malmsteen on his album covers. You know,....so you don't confuse him with all the other Yngwie Malmsteens in the business"


2008 Fender MIM Stratocaster
2010 Epiphone Masterbilt
2009 Fender Super Champ XD

Thank you for the quick responses! This is exactly the kind of feedback I need.

Okay, the reason I thought I needed to change the pickups is because the humbucker, in particular, sounds "muddy" even with the tone pot turned all the way up. I have a MIA Strat HH hardtail and the humbuckers on it seem to have more output and are much clearer with more sustain.

Also it doesn't stay in tune as well as my other Strat.

i may be wrong about the wiring on your guitar bro but normally the bridge pickup on a strat has no tone control. either way if it sounds muddy change the bridge pickup... i don't think you have to do anything else...

Great -- now you have a starting point from whence to proceed.

I'd address the tuning issues first -- in fact, I'd deal with any and all playability problems in one fell swoop. Tuning stability is affected by a number of factors -- bridge (and the trem set-up method), pickup height, the nut, and the tuners. Determine the weak link(s) in that "chain" and your tuning problems should disappear. A full neck-off set-up by a competent luthier should fix everything. Such work should include a complete level/crown/polish job of the frets. Done properly, you'll be amazed at how much better the instrument plays.

As to your humbucker problem, that's a common malady with many Fenders thus equipped. Frankly, Fender's OEM humbuckers have never impressed me. A number of better aftermarket pickups are available (S-D, DiMarzio, etc). Preview as many sound clips as you can find to determine what's best for your playing preference. And be sure to specify "F" string spacing when ordering a replacement.

That should help you get started.

Best of luck, HTH

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

Can someone please tell me what color that is ?

Thanks

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"I like the way he puts Yngwie J. Malmsteen on his album covers. You know,....so you don't confuse him with all the other Yngwie Malmsteens in the business"


2008 Fender MIM Stratocaster
2010 Epiphone Masterbilt
2009 Fender Super Champ XD

Me too!

The color looks like Electron Blue...a Corvette color from the early 2000's. Oppps wrong forum

Enjoy

T2

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What time is it? It's Fender Time.

Ok, I'm going to chime in here...

(1st) My #1 pet peeve.. The description of anyone who works on a guitar as a luthier. The majority of people in shops working on guitars are just tech's. A luthier is someone like Linda Manzer, Matt D'Ambrosio...etc...etc...a skilled crafstman, artisan who posesses the capability to grab a few logs and turn out an exquisite instrument. These people are still in the minority.
Wheee....There that is off my chest

Now what is wrong with your guitar ? I see an HSS set up which if anything needs minimal changes.

(1) Is that Humbee bridge pup a 4 wire pup If so then you can have it as a split coil with a couple of options for mods. You can install a DPDT switch. OR....

(2) I would try this route. Ditch one of the tone pots, then replace that one with a DPDT switch for coil tap single to dual.
Next replace the other tone pot with a TBX pot, this gives you the versatility of dialing in the treble or the bass response. A TBX pot goes from 1 to 10 with 5 being neutral, so one direction is bass, the other is treble.
Now you want to wire up all your pups thru that TBX tone pot so essentially you have a Master Tone and a Master Volume.... ....It is now simplified.

(3) You could also change the five way to a superswitch, this will give you the option of running Neck and Bridge together as well as many other options, including splitting the coils on your bridge pup. You are going to have to do a bit of research on the superswitch specs so you can figure out which would be the best case scenario for you.

(4) There was a http://www.premierguitar.com online article in the Mod Garage section dealing with the TBX tone pots and how to expand the capabilities.
On my own Strat build, what I did was change the 82k resistor to a 220k resistor, this will give you greater range in the bass cut.

(5) I see you have a Hot Rod Deluxe amp, I also have one and love it, but I think in your situation, a Blues junior would be more compatible, it requires less volume to arrive at a natural distorted tone. That said I think the HRD is extremely versatile, but you have to play with the dials a lot and because we are talking wood, tubes and other malleable components, your sound today is not what you will get tomorow due to atmospheric daily changes.

(6) Your pedal board, right off the bat, you have altered your signal, regardless of wether you are using all or none of the effects. I can understand the volume pedal, but for me IMHO I would minimize that row of effects just because it is affecting your guitar and amps sound to the negative.( actually I would eliminate the whole gadgetry. ) sorry but when it comes to a well set up strat thru a Deluxe tube amp, less is more...Try it....
Run your guitar lead straight into your amp and experiment with the uncluttered sounds of just your guitar and amp, you can use the footswitch, which I do and find it a needed option for switching back and forth.

(7) Your jack on the guitar is standard, no need to switch it, it will not make any difference.
Tuning issue would be (1) five springs depending on what gauge strings you are running, your spring number as well as adjustment of the claws tensioning on the springs should be matched up so that if you are floating the trem and can raise or lower the pitch, the tension ratio must be equal between tension system and the strings.
If you have lowered the bridge to sit flush and can only lower the pitch by pushing down on the bar than this is going to need a bit different tension adjustment.

(8) Your nut is often the culprit as far as tuning issues in addition to the above. If the strings are binding in the nut slots, then the slots must be enlarged. ( this is critical to have a qualified tech do this ) in addition at the bottom of the nut string slot, it should be an oval bottom slot matching the string diameter and the slot should be wide enough for the string to stretch unhindered back and forth in the nut, But not so wide that the sting is able to move laterally inside the slot. ( this is done with special files specifically made for working on nuts )
Also from contact point nut/string on the fretboard, moving in the direction of the tuners, the string slot should be angled/beveled to match the angle/bevel from nut to tuner post.
Locking tuners, Yes and No, if you are stringing enough turns around the tuner post to lock in the string ( over and under ) but not so many that you have a lenght of coiled string which is always stretching and giving you fits with tuning issues.
That said if you still want to change tuners, I would look into the Gotoh Mini Delta's with an 18 to 1 ratio and even 21 to 1 ratio. Those are the best out there for a still affordable cost.
Last but not least if your intonation is off...At the 12th fret,the frequency of a harmonic and an open string should match up perfectly when calibrated on a tuner. If not then the saddles have to be adjusted either forward or back.

All Iv'e posted here is with the best intentions but we have a lot of myths and misconceptions floating around the guitar world these days, sort of like the old alchemist notion and the perception that guitars are half voodoo and half reality.
They are not, they just are pieces of wood, plastic and metal's cleverly designed and assembled.
As a matter of fact, Fender Stratocasters and Telecasters are some of the most enjoyable and user friendly guitars made today just because they were designed so that every part can be upgraded or replaced.
Not that this needs to be done to every guitar.
I strongly believe that first you should experiment with the tone caps, resistors and pots before changing pups, oftentimes a $2 component change was all that was needed rather than spending $200.00 on a set of pups which was overkill,,,,

Good Luck and happy experimenting

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"C'est parti mon Kiki "

WOW!!! Thank you so much for your well thought out reponse. I am just a kindergartner compared to you and other folks on this forum.

I guess the first thing I need to is remove my pickguard and see if I have a 4-wire humbucker. I will definately get on the website you mentioned and read the article.

I will also spend some time using my HRD without pedals to adjust the sound. I think however that I would need to keep my noise supressor pedal because the stage is small and I am literally standing right beside my amp may encounter feedback issues.

Lastly, I promise to never again refer to a guitar tech as a luthier!

Funny...That is one thing I find with strats that sometimes they are noisy, but that has more to do with the venue you are in.
My HRD is quiet as a mouse ( No actually I have a couple mice in my attic and they are not quiet at 3 A.M. )

You'll find this to be a really nice forum community and usually someone has the solution
to most questions..

By the way Welcome to the forum.
If you want to check out a couple threads, I have a thread build under the Stratocaster section titled " Stratopartster I and II ".
There is also another two worth their weights in gold, one by Ceri on a Tele build, another by Boxbang and another by TGS " Somebody talk Some Sense into Me "

There will also be links to the Nutter's thread which is a compilation of build threads.

Happy reading

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"C'est parti mon Kiki "

One little detail I failed to mention... Those string tree's you have put a lot of friction on the strings thereby hindering string movement.
I have replaced mine with a roller style which is only a couple of dollars but they are a much better alternative.

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"C'est parti mon Kiki "