Love my CS 69's, but time for a change... recommendations?

[El Supremo]

I have a rosewood Fender strat in which I have Fender Custom Shop '69 pickups and would like to try something different. The 69's are really clear, in your face and slightly scooped. I've also had a SSL5 with tap in there which also sounded great, but its time for a change (yet again). I'm playing through a Marshall JMP 2104 and 011 or 010 gauge strings.

I would like to get a bit more wood, growl, throatiness, warmth coming through. An even more old school, vintagey, strat tone that doesn't get boomy/overpowering on the lower strings.
So I'm thinking a set with more mids and less bass? The tone I want is there acoustically, but the '69 just don't pick that portion up. Looking around the net, I've kinda narrowed it down to the following pickups (within my budget).

Fender Custom shop '54: I know they didn't start with rosewood necks 'till '59, but the eq, output and balance seem to be just what I need.
Fender Vintage '57/'62: More period correct for a rosewood board (although that period had the rosewood slabs), so perhaps a better match?

And of course:
Duncan California Set: Haven't seen a bad review of them. Are these based on like '63 pickups that came with the veneer rosewood boards strats in that period? The pups in this set all have the same output/specs? Or are they more balanced?

Comparing Fender and SD tonecharts wasn't really helpfull to me, so hopefully someone here has a bit more info and experience?

[Falloffthebonetone]

Re: Love my CS 69's, but time for a change... recommendations?

57/62 just offers less bass and output. I recommend the D. Allen Bluesman set. Based on 54/59.

[El Supremo]

Re: Love my CS 69's, but time for a change... recommendations?

57/62 just offers less bass and output. I recommend the D. Allen Bluesman set. Based on 54/59.

Thanks man, but I'm really looking for something with a vintage stagger and available this side of the pond. That string to string imbalance is kind of what makes it stratty for me. The pickup to pickup balance seems cool and the price is right though.

[chewpac]

Re: Love my CS 69's, but time for a change... recommendations?

based on what you're saying, the Fat 50s might be worth checking out.

[El Supremo]

Re: Love my CS 69's, but time for a change... recommendations?

The Fat 50's enhanced bass response worried me a bit. I've got bass to spare with the CS'69. I really need the wood character to come out more, so I'm shooting for something with more mids I guess. I see Fender uses the Fat 50's in their current Am.Stan. so I should check if some local store has some in stock. Thanks!

[Falloffthebonetone]

Re: Love my CS 69's, but time for a change... recommendations?

Didn't realize you were from the Netherlands! I wouldn't really call the 57/62 growley but otherwise should work.

[jeremy]

Re: Love my CS 69's, but time for a change... recommendations?

look at the antiquity line. surfers are a damn near perfect '63 strat pup copy. the texas hots are more "stratty" than youd think for alnico II pups but have a nice chewy mid range too

[burgundy]

Re: Love my CS 69's, but time for a change... recommendations?

look at the antiquity line. surfers are a damn near perfect '63 strat pup copy. the texas hots are more "stratty" than youd think for alnico II pups but have a nice chewy mid range too

Do the Surfers have some body to their tone? The glassy spank people rave about would be great as long as there were some mids to mellow/balance it out.. some people have described them as quite thin, others as a rounder version of the SSL-1s, and I'm not sure who to believe (?)

[El Supremo]

Re: Love my CS 69's, but time for a change... recommendations?

I checked out some clips of the Surfers and they do sound very nice and stratty.
Both the Surfers and SSL-1 seem to have less bass in the bridge and more in the neck position compared to a CS '54. The Surfers have less bass and highs compared to the SSL-1.
Surfers cost twice as much as CS '54 or SSL-1's though. But they do sound nice and have a custom bridge with a higher DC rating. But my budget... On the other hand... damn, this is not getting easier

[uOpt]

Re: Love my CS 69's, but time for a change... recommendations?

I would like to get a bit more wood, growl, throatiness, warmth coming through.

I don't think you should start your search with the Surfers given that.

Usual disclaimer: when shopping for sets keep in mind that the SSL-1 set comes with a regular bridge pickup, but for some reason both Antiquity sets come with an overwound bridge pickup.

[Falloffthebonetone]

Re: Love my CS 69's, but time for a change... recommendations?

Have you considered texas specials? The only other recommendation I could make would be the ssl-1s.

[Chickenwings]

Re: Love my CS 69's, but time for a change... recommendations?

yeh the texas specials are all mids if thats the aim...but i think everyone who owns a strat owes it to themselves to try the california set. They are just perfectly balanced.
Use the heights to calibrate and voila!

[chewpac]

Re: Love my CS 69's, but time for a change... recommendations?

That's actually a great call on the texas specials. those could be the answer.

[El Supremo]

Re: Love my CS 69's, but time for a change... recommendations?

Now we're getting somewhere, thanks! I've also checked Bare Knuckle Pickups and really dig their '63 Veneer and Irish tour sets. Antiquities are a bit above what I'd like to spend on pickups.
So now I've basically got it down to 2 flavours.

Enamels (Irish Tour vs Texas Special): to me, seems to have brighter pick attack, tighter bass and more hollow/transparant sounding. Somewhat like a '69, but with more mids and output.
Formvars ('63 Veneer vs SSL 1): fuller, warmer, softer attack and more vintagey.

I'm kinda leaning towards Bare Knuckle as their '63 set has a hotter bridge. Also, Rory Gallagher had killer strat tone in a '71 BBC recording I have and those were still the original '61 pickups (for a rosewood slab board, but I ain't looking into a '59 RI yet) from what I've read. His tone from '74 and on wasn't too shabby either.
Don't see too many reviews of BKP here. Are those expensive over in the States or something? Over here they're pretty reasonably priced, I think.

Found some nice sounding clips of the Texas Specials to. Great recommendation.