Until this year, Fender has been using a standard pickup for their American Stratocaster Standards. I've often wondered why don't they just sell them as an after market pickup for Mexican and Squier Strats. Are those pickups so bland, Fender wouldn't sell them after market and now stopped using them all together?

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


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Pretty much, yep. They're okay, but I don't think anyone would willingly pay for them unless they were pocket change money.

I think that Fender got tired of hearing people complain about the std. pups. finally they have heard the masses. I've heard the new Am. Std. and it sounds pretty nice.

A guy I know just took them out of a '06 and was trying to sell them for $50. I wouldn't take them. Rather spend the extra $20 for a set of 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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I have a 2010 am std strat. I always think my other strats sound better until I play this one then I think, hey, pretty tasty sounding strat. The only pickups that win every time are the 57/62's in my 2006 diamond anniversay strat.

My current strat has Abagail Ybrarra initialed '69 pickups in it. Only problem with them is the lack of a reverse wound mid pickup.

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


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I don't think the American Standard pickup or whatever Fender is calling them this year are/were all that bad. Frankly, I'd confidently use them over many of the 'boutique' offerings I've heard. Another plus with American Standards (et. al) is that their polepieces can be adjusted or switched. And yes, I agree that Fender wisely had to put some sort of their own 'boutique' pickup set in their offerings to compete and just like next year's model car which is virtually the same as this year's, had to throw in something attractive to draw in new and returning customers. (I've noticed they're getting pretty savvy over such things of late.)

I must say though, there is still a bit of the, "Placebo Effect" in play here. Fender, just like many of the Japanese imitators of the '80s and even DiMarzio to date for that matter, has duplicated many a 'vintage' sounding pickup via modern technology. Now, because the pickups can be cheaply made this way with a predictable, predetermined sound and obviously, don't look much like their original counterparts, way too many players feel that these pickups are inferior, opting for some old way made version of virtually the same thing. Seymour Duncan's empire for one, is rooted in this.

My point: Granted, some OEM pickups leave a lot to be desired but there are some that don't. Conversely, some reissue type pickups can be garbage too. Now I'm not saying this is the case with the Fenders, not at all. What I am saying is that players should give OEM pickups a chance before condemning them and should not automatically give a unilateral approval to any RI pickup simply because it has an heritage, implied or otherwise. Remember, there are many, many original PAFs out there that really do sound awful.

As always, this is merely IMO where YMMV.

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I also believe its near impossible to tell American Standard from Mexican or other single coils.. Any tell tail signs?

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


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Well, to the casual observer, no.

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So anyway to tell?

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


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I have a MIM '00 Strat and a '04 American Standard w/ a 50th anniversary neck plate, I'm not sure if that had any noticeable differences w/ any other American Strat, but the point is the MIM pups are down right terrible in comparison to the American. I've since removed them and replaced them w/ a set of EMG SA's which made a world of difference, but I can't say I like them better than the American Strat 'cause I don't. they're just different, a bit more buttery.

Not really unless you deal with this sort of stuff daily like I do. Just a few examples: Versus the American pickups, the MIM ones are under wound, the quality of the coil metal differs; the US ones have extra screws in the bridge pickup to alter the magnetic field; the magnet charge is more uniform with the American ones.

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