I'm looking for another tone for a 91 American Standard i just purchased..It has fantastic cleans but its dirt tone is a little to thin and has a little to much treble ..I have tried eq'ing it out and it just doesn't give the tones i'm looking for dirty..

I play raunchy or dirty blues along with a lot of clean blues..I have a Roadhouse Strat with Texas specials so i'm looking for something other than Texas Specials..

I have had thoughts about going with Lollar,Fralin or other boutique winders..I would like to check into the less expensive mid range price wise pick ups before forking out $300 plus on a set of boutiques...

Any suggestions?

For the price, the Tex-Mex pups can't be beat. Great for both clean and bluesy sound, wonderful. The Tex-Mex are a little hotter than TS, with a little more pop, sparkle and flavor, very balanced sound with no harsh treble. I would say that the TS are a little mellower by comparison.

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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.

Aside from other Fender pups, I'd go for a Duncan SSL-3 in the bridge and SSL-5's for the middle and neck. The bridge is a higher output for cutting through and the neck and middle have a great mix of classic strat sound with more bite.

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60th Anniversary AD Strat, Deluxe Nashville Tele, Player's P Bass. Mesa/Boogie Mk IV combo, Marshall JCM800, 1960A cab, Genz Benz El Diablo 60, Genz 2x12" cab, too many neat little practice amps and kit projects!

Besides the TS's, the CS 69's are my favorite blues pups. If you want that screaming SRV, KWS blues tone go for TS's, if you want the mellow Clapton, BB tone go for the 69's.

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Tune Low, Play Hard & Floor it!

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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.

P-90s!

Try the 57/62s they really ring out like the L series Strats that Jimi used on his first 3 recordings.

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'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.

OP..You did not mention the other 50% of the equation.......
That is your amp....an equally, ( if not more so ) critical part of one's sound.
Sometimes a tube change is all that is required.

Also the guts of that Standard can be reworked inexpensively to drastically alter and dial in your tone for much less than a new set of pups.
Going to high quality Volume and tone Pots, changing the Tone controls to TBX, rewiring your pups for more versatile combinations such as using a super-switch instead of the plain jane 5 way.....Changing the Caps....

Just my 3 cents but too much is made of expensive pickups without First considering the guitars electronic layout.....
I would do a little research into acheiving certain tones without expensive pup changes.
I really feel that too many people on this forum are chasing the Pick Up's Holy Grail.

I took a plain set of MIM Vintage pups ( Power Deluxe Strat ) rewired them in another Strat with TBX Tone and a .220 cap. I now have the sounds I wanted from those pickups.

Just something to consider......

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"C'est parti mon Kiki "

Tex-Mex!

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"Epitaph on a blues musician’s tombstone: “I didn’t wake up this morning”" Davy Knowles


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BB tone on a STRAT?

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"Epitaph on a blues musician’s tombstone: “I didn’t wake up this morning”" Davy Knowles


facebook.com/313DBC

Yes, BB Epstein, a fine young guitar player.

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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.

I don't know your level of playing or experience so you might already know all of this, but here it goes:

Try changing out the tone pots, the capaciters or theresisters. Just by changing out the caps I made my '77 Strat sound much darker.

Believe it or not these things can change the over all colour of your sound.

I have a Hwy1 that the pickups were very hot and a bit too bright for my taste. When over driven I would turn the tone down to about 4.

Also don't forget that your amp and the setting you use will make a big difference.

Lastly look at the way you play. Your "touch" and the way you hit the strings will alter your sound.

I play a lot of Abert King, Freddy King, Buddy Guy and Howlin' Wolf tunes on my Strats.

I hope this helps. Good luck!

My amp is one of the most versatile amps out there it is a Randall RM100 MTS Module amp..It is loaded with four KT88's in the power section than each pre amp has two 12ax7 sized tubes..My Twin Reverb module has two 12aus7 for cleaner higher headroom..The Plexi, Jtm45 and Tweed modules all have 12ax7's in them that have been ttailored for best sound from different venders..

I'm a 30 year player that plays in a traveling band..We play Casino's,County Fairs ,Motor sports races and rally's and things along that line..It definitely not a EQ issue ..It is just the tone of these pups..
If i could afford to use it as a clean only guitar i would do so because the clean tones on this guitar is amazing..But i most get better dirt tones it is just to shrill..

My other Strats are .
71 Standard stock,
91 Strat Ultra with Blue ,Silver and a double red Lace Sensor's..
08 MIM Roadhouse Loaded with Texas specials,
08 Custom build off a MIM Standard some of the mods,Ultra wiring system and pots,Callaham Tremolo complete,Hand worked neck sanded from 320 grit to 2400 grit with talc applied during sanding ,Graphtech nut,Sprezel locking tuners,John Suhr V60lp pickups Neck and mid with a Seymour Duncan Pearly Gate in the bridge ..
91 American Standard...

I would suggest also looking into Carvin's pickups, they're drop ins and I'm considering taking my SSH ( 2 Vintage singles and a SD HB with split coil switch out of my Stratopartster II and reinstalling the Carvin's (MS22 and H11 ) as far as clean tones they were good but really come into play when cranked. I don't know how the new Carvin Pups selection are but these I've had for over 15 years and they are still great...

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"C'est parti mon Kiki "