Hey guys, the time has come to pimp up my old squier strat, and among the things it needs are some real pickups. I want to go fender, to get as close to a 'real' strat sound as possible, but am torn between the '54, '57/'62 or '69 pickup sets. Any recommendations- I'm after a nice chimey old school strat sound. Vintage vibe type thing, if you get my drift.

FWIW...I put the 57/62's into my 87 Squire and it sounded so much better, and I had the pots replaced too with CTS's and it really sounded great...should have kept that one it played nice

T2

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What time is it? It's Fender Time.

I know you said you wanted to keep it fender, but i think it would be worth your time to have a look at these ToneRider pickups.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mz6C95cq67U
they are well priced too.

I don't think you should limit yourself to Fender pickups... there are a lot of great pickup manufacturers out there today who make pickups just as good as Fender, which isn't to say that Fender doesn't make good pickups too. The set of Klein 65's I just installed in my guitar sound amazing...very much "real" strat tone. Lindy Fralin makes great pickups, I've even tried a few sets of "budget" pickups from GFS and thought they sounded great.

Of the sets you mentioned however, I've only ever tried 57/62's... I liked them just fine but they weren't exactly what I was after, nice vintage strat sound though.... I'd really suggest checking out the Klein page... great descriptions, sound clips, good prices, made just like the oldies. http://www.kleinpickups.com/

To me, the only way to get the "strat sound" is with Fender pickups. All your choices are good. I would rank them 1. 69s 2. 54s 3. 57/62. I just bought some 69s. They are all good. You can get them online for about $134.

Helpful Hint: save the money for your next guitar purchase, an upgrade to a Fender, Mexican or American.

In the mean time, lower the pickups in your Squier to make them "lower output" like the pickups you are considering.

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.