Hi

I hope that someone can help me and give me some advice. Sorry for the long post

I own a 1995/6 MIM Standard Stratocaster in Olympic white and I have to be honest I love it as it has been with me an awfully long time. It is just so nice to play because it is so familiar.

The thing I didn't like was the pick ups in the guitar. I could never get that stratocaster sound I wanted out of it no matter how hard I tried.

I bought a USA deluxe telecaster recently and I would love a US strat too but I don't think that will be happening any time soon!

So I'm thinking about upgrading the pick ups to the custom shop 69s? Would this be a worthy upgrade for my little old guitar?

I do not know how to install pickups and my local guitar shop offers the service for around £50 ($79) and a full set up would be the same price on top.

Do these prices seem reasonable to you knowledgeable guys in the forum?

I have a feeling that I might need a fret dress or worse a re-fret but I will take advice on that in the shop if I go ahead. A re-fret costs £145 ($230) which would be a killer to my budget.

The nagging doubt that I have is that by buying/changing the pickups and having the full set up will be more than the guitar is worth and its making me think that I maybe shouldn't bother but the guitar holds a lot of memories to me and it would be shame for it to go or gather dust.

I know that I am the only one who can decide but I would really appreciate your feedback especially if you have done a similar thing. I would like to stick to fender products - I love Fender!!

Thanks in advance.

Tom

_________________
Fender MIM 1995 Standard Stratocaster
Fender USA 2012 Deluxe Telecaster

The prices seem to be about right. I would deffinately have an expert do the fret work, but if you can find a friend who can solder or get a hold of a good soldering iron, I'd say do the soldering yourself.

My best friend and I do this all the time. Changing out Strat pickups are very easy and if you're planning on using the same electronics (pots, switches and such), then it's even easier.

I would go online and find instructions on how to do this, but one thing that will help with installation is to draw or take a picture of the current setup and follow it.

From the Fender webiste:

http://support.fender.com/service_diagr ... D_SISD.pdf

http://www.fender.com/support/articles. ... h=Standard Stratocaster&page=2

Hi Paris

That's great thank you for the information.

I bought a soldering iron recently to make a RC plane so I might be able to tackle it myself!

Or melt my guitar one of the two!

Cheers

Tom

_________________
Fender MIM 1995 Standard Stratocaster
Fender USA 2012 Deluxe Telecaster

I think you'd be happier with the sound of Fender's 57/62 pickup set rather than the CS 69's. Sonically, they're better balanced, have higher output, and provide more of the hallmark Stratocaster tone.

JMOOC

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

+1 on the 57/62. i have those in one of my strats and with a booster you can virtually nail Rory's sound. especially with an ac30. i love 'em.

I have the 57/62 pickups on one of my american strats and love them. I also just put the custom shop 69's on my mim strat and I'm glad I did. Soldering is not that hard go for it!

Thank you for the information guys I took a look on you tube and the 57/62s sound superb. As do the custom shop pick ups.

I had a look online and the 57/52s might be difficult to get hold of but I'll give it a better look over the weekend. Might even head over to my local guitar shop and have a chat with them to see if they have any.

Thanks again guys I really appreciate your input.

Tom

_________________
Fender MIM 1995 Standard Stratocaster
Fender USA 2012 Deluxe Telecaster

You can often find the 57/62 set on Ebay for $120 with free S&H.

HTH

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

Thanks Arjay I saw a few sets on ebay from the states so I would have to check whether they would send them to the UK. There might be a customs tax as well that I would have to look into.

I'm really looking forward to upgrading the Strat now and hopefully giving it a new lease of life.

Tom

_________________
Fender MIM 1995 Standard Stratocaster
Fender USA 2012 Deluxe Telecaster

Just to say that I have order a set of 57/62's from a UK company at a really good price.

Can't wait to get them in my strat and hear the difference.

Tom

_________________
Fender MIM 1995 Standard Stratocaster
Fender USA 2012 Deluxe Telecaster

There is no customs duty tax, vat or anything on second hand goods and I am sure that under a certain value, for new goods, there is no duty either.
I don'y buy clothes in Australia, I buy them online from the UK and the US and there in no duty or tax.
Keith

Hi Keith

Thank you for the advice I'll bear that in mind for next time. That is good to know because the exchange rate is beneficial for us Brits at the moment.

Wish I was in Australia - had a holiday there last year and wanted to move out there ever since!

Tom

_________________
Fender MIM 1995 Standard Stratocaster
Fender USA 2012 Deluxe Telecaster

I recently bought a set of 57/62's from amazon for less than $100. The made a significant improvement on my made in China Strat. I did, however, upgrade the pots, capacitor, switch, etc. at the same time as the pup change.

Thank you Ras

I've not got the money at the moment to change everything else but maybe in the future...

Well I ordered the pickups yesterday, got them delivered this morning, got them fitted today and was playing them in by 4 o'clock!

I got a full set up while they fitted them and the guitar looks and sounds fantastic. You would think its 17 years old! Now I have a Strat which sounds lovely alongside my USA Deluxe Telecaster. I thought I would add a picture for the hell of it.



Thank you for all of your help I can't wait to tweak my amp to get the tone I am looking for. It was a worth while investment.

Have a great weekend.

Tom

_________________
Fender MIM 1995 Standard Stratocaster
Fender USA 2012 Deluxe Telecaster

Looks fabulous, Tom!



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