As the title says, now that I have the american standard strat, what keeps me from making it sound like a 62 strat? Is it the electrics, is it the hardware? What about the wood? They still used alder and maple and rosewood back then. So is there a trick to get that thick, mid full sound of the 62?

I need your knowledge friends...

what amp are you using?

Hi, and thanks for the reply. I am using a Rivera R55-12. I overdrive it with a BOSS blues Driver when I need more drive for my strat. V1 is JJ 803 and all V2 to V7 are EH.

which set of pickups should I try and which capacitor to get close to the 62 strat ?

Of 57/62 maybe?

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Sorry for my english, not good, i am of the country of Molière, Hugo, Zola ...

Try these:

Big question ";... ..to sound like a 62 start."

My answer ; forget that , it is not because you replace pickups your Strat will sound like a 62 Strat.
Its a matter of wood, bridge and tuning keys steel , pickup material ........All this are not same on you Strat than a real vintage 62 guitar.

But if you want a 62 style Strat sound , yes pickups is the easiest thing to do.

For your information ;

I have a few American Standard Strat with good replacement pickups and I do some test with a real early 60 Strat . Il is a completely other beast . My Strat sounf like $@!& compared to the 62 Strat.

Yes, stratele, but what is it exactly? The wood is still the same but younger. The hardware is all the same. So what makes the difference is the wood age, or the way pickups were constructed then? I read somewhere that the copper wire was wound directly around the magnets, touching the metal poles, which alters the sound but it is inevitable that at some point the wire will corrode and break. I dont know if this is tue or hype.

But you said you have a real 60's. Have you ever tried to swap pickguards with a modern strat and see if your old strat would sound modern? I am really curious about this. If yes, then the pickups would contribute to a high percentage for the vintage tone. If not, then it is the old wood. May be better quality of wood, not just old. But let us know please...

Ah - but the hardware is not the same. For example the bridge is very different - the American Standard has a 2-post trem with a mixed metal sustain block while a '62 (vintage or Reissue) has a 6-screw trem with a steel block. The pickups are wound differently. The neck has a different, heavier truss rod inside it. The tuners are larger and heavier. Even if the species of wood is the same the conditions are far different than when the originals were built - think of all the industrial/environmental changes that have occured over the past 50 years. Also the wood has very different finish on it.

Of course all of these are very small changes but they all add up to the sonic alchemy of a vintage guitar.

That being said, you can get really close by using good early 60s-style pickups like the Fender 57/62s, Lollars, or Suhrs.

NO ! Just look the same.

I don't say I have a real 60 , I say i do a test with a real 60.

Swap pickgard ; it is test often do by some guitar player over the year ; no success

Not the same old tree from the "good old days". Not same steal , not same varnish......

The moment I replaced the crappy tremolo on my MIM strat with an original 6 screw vintage tremolo with steel block, the sound changed radically to better. So I know what yo are saying. I also changed the tuners with Gotoh vintage staggered, and the guitar is a dream. So I have got a MIM with all the above and some Rio Grande Vintage Talloys pickups, and I got some 60's vibe in my tone.

Now I need to experiment again with my MIA standard strat until I get anywhere close... I will start by swapping hardware between the two guitars, and hopefully the better wood quality on my MIA (presumably) will get me there...

Basically it depends on this. Some people say aged wood/different kind of woods give different tone. Some people say it doesn't matter what the wood is and it's all about the electronics. It's what you believe you hear because at the end of the day it's what you're happy with not someone else. In this case let's just go with the pups cause the older pickups did sound different I've heard a few strats from different early years and I lovem. Your best bet if you not looking to actually get a '62 is 1. Get actual parted out pickups from a '62 or 2. Get the pickups Fender makes to sound like/close to the year then play with you amp settings a bit until you get the sound you're looking for.

From the "big" vintage guitars collector I know , it is not all vintage guitar sound the same All sound very good but just few have an fantastic tone.


I must say that we talk often about this subject on this forum and few peoples having Fender Custom shop say they sound as good as real vintage fender.

Others might have already added these comments, but here it goes:

Every part of the guitar's materials change everything.

For a '60s Strat sound I would go with a rosewood fret board (this will warm up your sound) Fender used Alder, which is the same wood they use now.

As for the pickups I'm not sure that you should change them. They are just fine. Changing the caps due make a difference, but I would do some research before you just start changing things.

Yes, I'd say the neck is going to be the biggest part of the "62 Strat sound." Maple necks sound a little snappier, which is what I'm guessing that you are trying to change.

I have a '79 Strat with rosewood fretboard, an Ash body and Van Zandt True vintage pickups in it and it sound more like SRV's Strat than any I've played.

I hope this helps.