Best Strat-sized HB to pair with Fender Tex-Mex pickups

[RobJGolde]

I recently picked up a 2003 Squier Affinity Strat that the previous owner basically gutted and upgraded everything except the body, neck and pickguard. He even re-wired it and put copper shielding in.
He put Fender Tex-Mex strat pickups in it with CTS 250k pots, so I’ve got a couple questions.
Does anyone have experience with these pickups? Are the neck and middle pickups any good?
I’m thinking i’ll keep those pickups, but swap the bridge out with a Lil 59, a Cool Rails, or a Red Devil. Which of those pickups do you all think would be most evenly matched in terms of output? The Tex-Mex pickups come in at around 6.4-6.5k ohms and 2.75 henries and have A5 magnets.

[Mincer]

What kind of EQ do you want? Also, you will have to swap the hot & ground on the SDs to be in phase with the Fenders.

[GuitarDoc]

I think the only difference in a Tex Mex set rather than the standard vintage set is that the bridge pup has more winds/output (with all that goes along with that).

Have you been playing this guitar much yet to get a feel for the sound? I personally like the sound of the Tex Mex bridge. But if you definitely want to change it, tell us what you don't like about the existing bridge pup and what you'd like to change about it. Do you want something brighter, more bass, more output, less output, big bold mids, etc?

[ErikH]

Try this with the bridge pickup if you dare ; make sure the tone control is wired to it and get a Fralin baseplate for it. It will change the response of that pickup for the better. I put one on the bridge pickup in my Squier Classic Vibe Strat. Got the results I was looking for and then some.

But if you are set on slapping a Strat-sized humbucker in there, I'd go with a Lil Screamin Demon.

[GuitarDoc]

Lil Demon is a good suggestion, or Pearly Gates.

[Mincer]

A Red Devil in the bridge might make a faux Lone Star Strat. And it keeps with the Texas theme.

[MakerDP]

I really like the combo of Red Devil bridge with Texas Specials in N/M if that helps. They compliment each other very well IMHO.

[RobJGolde]

So I finally got the guitar (it was an FB Marketplace meet-up, just took some time to schedule), and I actually like the Tex-Mex neck and middle pickups a lot. Definitely a great Texas blues tone for considerably less than the Texas Specials. Definitely think I’ll keep them. The bridge pickup is no slouch either, but I’ve decided I’m gonna get an HSS pickguard, and drop a Phat Cat into the bridge position, and wire it all up to a Freeway 10-way switch. I’m a sucker for P90s and I think they’ll pair really well with these Tex-Mex pickups and all the different switching combinations the Freeway Switch offers.

Dude I bought it from really did me a solid by also putting. fender switch, CTS pots, a Graphtech nut and hipshot tuners on this thing, and conditioning the fretboard and polishing the frets.For a 19 year old Squier Affinity, it actually sounds great and plays decent.