I've got a 2007 Highway One Strat and last year I changed the stock pickups out for a set of Fender CS69's. The 69's are great pickups, however the more I played them, the less I felt like they were my style. The CS69's are incredibly clean and bell like. I was looking for something vintage style, but with more attitude.

So, I decided to take a shot at the Fender Fat 50's set. I just put them in and I think these are much more up my alley! I'm very pleased so far. One big difference I noticed right away was that the Fat 50's needed much less height adjustment. What I mean by that is I found the CS69's to be VERY delicate when it came to finding the right height and balance. I just set the Fat 50's to the recommended Fender pickup heights and they sound pretty good already without having to reach for the screwdriver.

Fat 50's sound: Less "sophisticated" sounding than the CS69's. The neck pickup is much less bell like, and is darker sounding. The middle has bite, and the bridge is bright and raunchy. They're higher output too, so they tend to push the amp more, which is good. Yep, I think these were the right call.

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Nice choice mate, these pickups seem to be taking off. I guess its a seasonal taste, like fasion, when little changes here and there seem to be enlightening players to the different flavours.

Glad you enjoy em!

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My Rig: Guitar into Pedals then into Amps and out into Speakers.

I think I may have mentioned the Fat '50s once or twice......



Rawk on!



Arjay

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"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 really start becoming curious about the Fat 50s!
I got some Lace Sensor Golds approaching to replace CS Texas Specials. If they don't do the job, I'll most certainly check out the Fat 50s!!

They seem to become really popular.

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Kindest regards from Germany, Dee
My recordings --> http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_mu ... dID=564337
STRATS ROCK!!! but Teles and Firebirds, too!

I love the Fat 50's I put in my Highway 1. Still has the classic Fender sound, and takes distortion well. I had mine wired like the American Standard SSS, I cannot hear the difference between the 2.

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RK

2007 Fender Highway 1
2012 American Deluxe
2015 MIM Dave Murray HHH
2010 Fender Blacktop
1987 Fender Avalon Acoustic
2012 Marshall DSL 15 watt head

The 69's were the worst pickups I've used by the custom shop. Not tone or quality, just I could not get a nice dirty tone out of them. They stayed clean all the time, even with a tube screamer. Hated trying to get a little grit in my tone out of them... Texas specials were hotter, but uneven pole pieces led to unbalanced lead playing (using the high E and B strings). The Fat 50's in my opinion are the way to go from the custom shop!

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


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+1

I wouldn't say they're the worst but they do stay pretty mellow as far as gain goes. I put a set of CS '69s in my 12-string Strat and they sound great.

Arjay

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"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

The Fat 50's do have the RWRP middle pickup and a great reputation.

However, it is rare to hear anything negative about the 69's.

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Support your local guitar shop.

This exactly. I play a lot of low gain stuff - Rolling Stones and such. I don't like crystal clear cleans - I like a bit of grit even when I'm playing clean. Whenever I'd try and use my Strat with the CS69's, the darn things just wouldn't drive the amp! Very bell-like clean tone, but they just were too low output.

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The ultimate Rolling Stones experience!
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It's not that I'm saying they're not great pickups, they were just the wrong fit for my style. If you want a chiming bell, almost piano-like tone, then the CS69's are a great fit. When I first put them in my thoughts were, "WOW! These sound amazing!" but the longer I played them, the more trouble I had trying to make the Strat work with my style and tone. I found myself doing a lot of knob twisting on the guitar vol and tone knobs trying to get the sound I needed. Just wasn't working out.

The CS69's are fantastic pickups - they're just not fantastic for ME.

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The ultimate Rolling Stones experience!
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Isn't it nice to have so many choices? I went through this with CS69's, and 57'62's...I just ended up setting up 2 different guitars. Doesn't hurt to be prepared either way. I use either, or both depending on my mood, or the gig. Maybe I'll pick up a set of these fat 50's, I have a couple of project strats laying around, general opinion seems positive.

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"Where would rock and roll be without feedback?"

Yeah, all a tube screamer does it fattens the tone of
the 69s
Chords will still have a creamy crunch but single notes remain
clear. Good for soloing.

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"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present."

oogway, kungfu panda 2008

I love the CS69's, and have a set in my Highway 1 Strat, but they're not for everybody. It's just as well there's so much variety to choose from.