I was set on replacing the stock pickups in my '93 American Standard Strat (flush pole pieces, pre-Delta Tone) with a set of Fat 50's, but for some reason, every time I feel like changing PUP's, the guitar just decides to sound better. Not that it doesn't sound nice now, but for the past several weeks I've been really happy with my tone. I wonder if my Strat is reading my mind or something? So once again....the stock pickups shall remain.

Why Yes, Yes it is.

I think a lot of us go through phases like that and then sometimes
even buy the new pups, but never put them in.

*note to self - clean out parts bins.

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

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You dig?

I built a whole guitar to use the Texas Specials I couldn't quite bring myself to install in my Strat, they sat in a drawer for over 2 years.

It usually comes to light that it is never so much the guitars I am using tone that suck, so much as I realize I need to adjust my amp. I always (safely,) chalk it up to me sucking, either in how I have my equipment set, or in my technique. fixing those goes a lot farther than any mod.

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I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

I think that we have been so saturated by the after-market pickup industry that we believe that they are magic. Pickups probably have the most immediate impact on the sound of an electric guitar, but there are other factors that we tend not to readily look at including our touch and what kind amp and maybe more importantly the speakers we use. I'm becoming convinced that the subtle tonal difference between various single-coils are a bit overstated and there is a strong psychological component that convinces us that we should replace those "horrible" stock pickups...........and then a few months or maybe a year later we conclude that these upgraded pickups aren't what we were looking for and either go shopping for something else or go back to the originals.