My previous MIJ Strat was gone through many pickup setups... Her original ceramic single coils, some Seymour Duncan and DiMarzio full humbuckers, SCNs and at last a set of Texas Specials.
I had them for almost 2 years and every time I was playing I was thinking "Man, i finally got my sound". I was quite pleased.

Well my MIJ was sold and my new American Standard Strat came just 20 days ago. Even before I had her, I was planning to swap the original Alnico V pickups with a new set of my beloved Texas Specials. So I was quite single minded when the first notes started coming out of my new axe. I wasn't so thrilled from what I was hearing. It wasn't bad, but it lacked the spirit and the 'beef' of the Texas Specials. So immediately I put my pickups for sale. Of course I haven't taken them out of my pickguard. I was thinking 'As soon as I find a buyer I'm putting some extra cash and buying the TSs".

No buyer came up for those last 20 days. Of course I kept playing my guitar... And the more I played, the more I liked it. Many interesting and familiar sounds start coming up while I was changing the voicings of my SCXD. I started to realize that those OEM pickups had a character of their own. Different from the TSs character but as much significant. The neck seems to have a nice compressed nasal sound, superb when clean and nice when distorted. The middle was a surprise for me. The SCN and the TS middles where somehow neutral and were never played alone but almost always coupled with either the neck or the bridge. But THIS middle PU is different. It's not a more bassy bridge, neither a tremblier neck pickup. It's a MIDDLE. A total unique little beast. Country sounding and perfect for acoustic. The bridge is quite good also. Quite punchy but maybe I would prefered it with some more middle range frequencies, little more body, but you can't have them all.

So I'm starting to like my Alnico V pickups so much that I'm having second thoughts about replacing them...

So as I became more interested in them, some questions started popping.
I want your opinion/knowledge on these...
1) First of all, how do YOU find the sound of the OEM Alnico V pickups of the American Standard
2) How would you compared it with the Texas Specials
3) How long ago these pickups started being put on the American standards. I mean, this particular model. I know that Alnico's V are the pickups for Fender Strats since the 50's but I would be interested in knowing when that particular latest design started producing.
4) And last, for those with experience with more vintage instruments... How far or close are these pickups to the 50's, 60's or 70's pickups? With which of these generations of sound would the newer pickups be more close?

Thanks in advance

_________________
Alexander
AMSTD Strat RW Candy Cola +Callaham + Texas Specials +Tortoise shell pickguard/Fender Blues Junior III SN FSR
Salonica-Greece


Macedonia IS GREECE the last 2500 years

I have no answer to mostly all of your question. But I agree you should keep the Alnico V Pickups. They are the closest sounding pickups to the orginals that came standard in the 60s and early 70s. Fender went through a lot of different pickup designs for ther strats over the decades. Wikipedia has some data on that. Although the Alnico 5s are no means custom shop, but they can churn out some very good clear fender tone. The Texas Specials will give you some grind and have a lot of dynamic range to drive a good amp. Another option is the Fat 50s, they have a little of both, good clear dynamic fender tone and the grind of the Texas Specials.

+1

Most of your questions, while appropriate, will have extremely subjective answers given that we all have different playing styles, amps and pedalboards, and perhaps most significantly, different ears. I'd recommend that you play your new Strat "as-is" for a minimum of six months and acclimate yourself to its sonic nuances before making any pickup changes. The alnico V's currently in it are a nice set of pickups in their own right and it'd be a shame to prematurely judge them as "unfit".

JMO

Arjay

_________________
"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

I love mine....I always keep my strats stock though.I don't feel any need to mod them..Perfect just as they are Thats what makes them Fender

_________________
1986 Fender Sidekick Reverb 35
1990 Fender Red Knob - "The Twin"
1992 Fender Newporter - Acoustic
2000 Fender American Series Strat - Natural ash
2010 Fender Mustang 1
2011 Fender Blacktop Jazzmaster -Sunburst
2012 Fender Champion

Can the alnico v pups that come on the current americ std strat be purchased new?

I've looked and see everything but those at MF and the Fender site. They got Texas, 50s, 60s, Hot noiseless, vintage noiseless, Tex mex, Lace, ... - where are the ones that come on an americ std strat?

I think you are on the right track, Alexander.

Some players spend a lot of time and money changing out pickups when all they need to do is sit down and play the stock instrument. The sounds are right there, waiting for you to find them.

The neck and middle position pickups aren't too far from those vintage pickups in terms of specs. The bridge position pickup is somewhat overwound, however, which makes it hotter than the vintage. It is close to the X-1 bridge pickup from the late '70s/early '80s (if I remember the specs, that is).

_________________
Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

Everyday I'm loving the sound of my pickups more and more.

Just a spontaneous video (the first one of me ever) just before going to bed.
It's a sweet, sweet sounding strat...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vi56LWTp0oU

_________________
Alexander
AMSTD Strat RW Candy Cola +Callaham + Texas Specials +Tortoise shell pickguard/Fender Blues Junior III SN FSR
Salonica-Greece


Macedonia IS GREECE the last 2500 years

Nice job but what is that mark just behind the trem insert hole?

Is it THAT obvious?

-O M G-


...



Hey, stop picking on me....

_________________
Alexander
AMSTD Strat RW Candy Cola +Callaham + Texas Specials +Tortoise shell pickguard/Fender Blues Junior III SN FSR
Salonica-Greece


Macedonia IS GREECE the last 2500 years

Uh - I couldn't really see anything - just kidding

I'm liking the pickups on my new strat too. My G&L single coils are pretty snappy but these are awesome.

I think I posted it elsewhere but never saw a relpy. If you wanted to buy a brand new set of these could you? I see all kinds of Fender pups for sale, but never the American Stds.

I was getting ready to do the opposite. I wanted the standard American V's on my American Special series and remove the Texas Specials but now I'm having second thoughts. I think I'll stick with what I've got and just be happy I have them.

Well, I said I'd keep them but I was too curious and my hands were itching.
I sold the Alnicos and bought a brand new set of Texas Specials, as I have already stated here -> viewtopic.php?f=18&t=57768

I am familiar with the sound of the Texas Special as I had them on my previous MIJ strat.
I can't say if they are better or worse from the Alnicos, they are surely different, meatier.
But I'm a little dissapointed with the performance of the bridge pickup as I tested it with the multimeter and found it to be less hot than it should. And I don't know if it is the fact that I tested them, or that it is objectively true, but I seem to find the, a little weak sounding.
It may all be in my mind though. I should set them higher, closer to the strings and see what happens.

_________________
Alexander
AMSTD Strat RW Candy Cola +Callaham + Texas Specials +Tortoise shell pickguard/Fender Blues Junior III SN FSR
Salonica-Greece


Macedonia IS GREECE the last 2500 years

I think you should have held on to the original pickups so you could bring the machine back to stock configuration if or when you decide to sell it. Nothing worse than searching for a guitar to buy to find that the owner replaced the stock parts with personal preference items, but hey it's your guitar. !!

I think the Alnico V pickups Fender put in the USA standard Strats sound great. So much so infact, I was going to have them installed in a Team Built CS Strat I'm currently waiting for.
Only reason I didn't was because I went for Abby Handwounds but if we're just talking regular production models then I prefer the Alnico Vs in USA STD Strats to most others I've tried including '69s, Texas Specials, TEX MEX, Lace Sensors and those Samarium Cobalt things (really didn't care for those).
They're perfectly balanced and have a nice amount of bite to them without sounding too harsh - greats pups.