Hey guys, I'm a long time reader, first time poster who purchased a 2009 SSS American Standard Strat in June. It's an absolutely incredible guitar, but the more time I spend with it the more I feel like I would enjoy it more with a humbucker in the bridge (the single coil comes across as very brittle and I would enjoy the versatility).

I've heard that many strats nowadays are routed so that they can have a humbucker in the bridge, but is this true for the 2009 American Standard? Also, I've noticed that most strats that come HSS tend to have Texas Specials in the middle and neck as opposed to the American Standard single coils. I know next to nothing about pickups and guitar customization so I was hoping someone could shed some light on why that is, and if the stock single coils in my guitar would be a good match for a humbucker.

I'd appreciate any insight you guys could offer.

Thanks!

Hello, Yes, I have a 2009 American Standard and it is routed for H/S/H pickups. However, I just dropped in a Seymour Duncan Hotrails in the bridge this weekend and it holds its own against my humbucker guitar. Its sounds pretty damn awesome! You should look into it, then you wouldn't have to swap pickguards either.

Hi gs,

Yes, the Am Std is routed to allow a hum-bucker in the bridge. I think that the Texas Special pickups in neck and mid are usually paired with the Pearly Gates hum-bucker in the bridge. There are others such as the Atomic hum-bucker, not sure if the Texas Specials are paired with the other hum-buckers or not. Many feel that a hum-bucker in the bridge can get a better rock sound, with better mids than a single coil (think Les Paul). But, the bridge pickup in your Am Std is a very hot pickup and matches well with the other 2, so they might match well with a hum-bucker also. You might check some HSS Am Stds to see which pickups that they have for comparison.

Edit:
Looks like the current HSS Am Stds have the Tex Mex single-coil pickups for neck and mid, and Diamondback hum-bucking pickup for bridge.

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---> "The amp should be SWITCHED OFF AND UNPLUGGED before you do this!" <---

Por favor, disculpe mi español, no se llega a la práctica con mucha frecuencia.

Cool, thank you both for the input. MikesAmStrat, concerning the single-coil sized humbucker I had looked into that a bit before but was under the impression that I would be giving up the quack position 2 if I did that versus the possibility of still having that tone if I put a full sized humbucker in. What has your experience been with that?

gs,
The American Special HSS has Texas Specials and the Atomic humbucker at the bridge. Might be fun taking your guitar to the store and playing the HSS vrs yours through the same amp.

Cheers,
John.E

A humbucker is still a humbucker. If you want to keep the quack then you need to wire it so the bucker is coil tapped in position 4 (1 being neck only).

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

ive got a hss and its awesome. way more diverse than the sss. yeah i'd make the switch.

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Fender Standard Stratocaster
Maton ER90C

Heres mine 2007 Highway One Black HSS. Love it for its versatility! can play those bluesy tones with the single coils then get that heavy metal sound with that awesome "bucker" in the bridge!