anybody ever tried these Fender Custom Shop Pickups?

[tenniso]

i will be getting a strat sometime soon, and i am sure i will be replacing the pickups. not to be blasphemous, but i am thinking about going with Fender's custom shop line.

i have been thinking about the '54s, the 57/62, and the Fat 50's. any opinions?

which duncans would be comparable to these Fender pickups?

 

[Jeff_H]

Re: anybody ever tried these Fender Custom Shop Pickups?

I have the CS 54's in my Hwy 1 Strat, and I like them a great deal. I haven't played that many Duncan singles, but I'd guess that the 54's are similar to the Antiquities from what I understand.

I especially like the neck and middle position tones out of the 54's.....the bridge is a little thin, but I find that to be the case on most strat bridges. I can get very nice SRV and general blues tone out of them, again, especially in the neck and middle. Several members here rave about the Fat 50's as well. They are supposed to have a little beefier bottom end and sound a little fuller. If I had it to do over again, I'd probably go Fat 50's for a little thicker sound.

 

[wonsup]

Re: anybody ever tried these Fender Custom Shop Pickups?

I also have CS 54's and I like them a lot. If you want a very traditional vintage fender tone, this is it. I deliberately decided not to go with Fat 50's, because while they might sound fuller, it has less bite. I've compared 54 57/62 and Fat 50, along with Kinman Tradtional and Blues, and Lindy Fralins.

My favorite was Fender CS 54s and Fralins Vintage Hot (3% underwound). I've decided to go with CS 54s becasue they sound very similar but Fender was cheaper.

Go to here and listen to the samples as a starter.
http://www.acmeguitarworks.com/store/pickup_samples_strat.asp

 

[wonsup]

Re: anybody ever tried these Fender Custom Shop Pickups?

I forgot to mention that if you are going with any of the stagger pole pickups, make sure you have more vintage radius neck. Otherwise the imblalance among the strings will drive you nuts.

 

[Skarekrough]

Re: anybody ever tried these Fender Custom Shop Pickups?

I have a 57/62 in the neck of a MIM Strat. The bridge and middle pickups are Kinman Rock. I'm used to the neck pickup alone not sounding very good on Strats and am pleasantly surprised whenever I play that guitar and find it is not the case.

Give them a try....if I had to put together another Strat I would probably go with the 57/62's without hesitration.

 

[jeremy]

Re: anybody ever tried these Fender Custom Shop Pickups?

hesitration is a horrible thing

the '54 are nice but as i prefer a warmer smoother tone i like the fat 50's. depends on what types of tones you like. i think the fender '69 pups are nice too

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: anybody ever tried these Fender Custom Shop Pickups?

I had the CS 57/62's in my strat for a while. Very, very nice in the neck and middle and combined positions, but like most vintage style strat pickups, the bridge position is lacking in beef. I like them so much, I'm putting them in my Parts-o-caster.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: anybody ever tried these Fender Custom Shop Pickups?

Fender's Custom Shop pickups are fine pickups, but honestly: one of the best values in a vintage style pickup is the SD SSL-1. I've compared them to the Fralin Vintage Hot 3% underwounds in the same Strat and the original pickups in my '63 Strat, and the SSL-1's are right up there with the best. A set of three will run you about $150.

Add $12. for a RW/RP middle SSL-1 for humcancelling when the middle pickup is combined with the neck or bridge pickup and you'll have a wonderful set of better-than-vintage alnico 5 Strat pickups, because vintage 50's and 60's pickups don't have that feature.

 

[Indie P Bass]

Re: anybody ever tried these Fender Custom Shop Pickups?

I have a vintage 62 P-bass pickup, it's actually hella nice sounding. I'm not sure if it's the same as the custom shop, but, if the custom shops are nicer, then... lookout!

 

[joelap]

Re: anybody ever tried these Fender Custom Shop Pickups?

I have a vintage 62 P-bass pickup, it's actually hella nice sounding. I'm not sure if it's the same as the custom shop, but, if the custom shops are nicer, then... lookout!

Yeah man, I've played through that pickup and it's awesome.

I've also played the '59 P custom shop pickup on my friend's Mike Dirnt signature P-Bass. That's also an amazing sounding pickup.

 

[Indie P Bass]

Re: anybody ever tried these Fender Custom Shop Pickups?

Yeah man, I've played through that pickup and it's awesome.

I've also played the '59 P custom shop pickup on my friend's Mike Dirnt signature P-Bass. That's also an amazing sounding pickup.

oh, the 59 is the one with the "raised," a-string pole, right? God, I drool over those...

 

[hacker]

Re: anybody ever tried these Fender Custom Shop Pickups?

The 57/62s are the cheapest and they sound great. They are alot like the custom shop '54s, but a little bit warmer. I think you can get them for like $30 each from musiciand friend. They sell them as singles, unboxed, so you save on the packaging costs.

 

[jeremy]

Re: anybody ever tried these Fender Custom Shop Pickups?

did you say hella nice? just watched that south park the other day
hella cool indie

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: anybody ever tried these Fender Custom Shop Pickups?

I like the Fat 50's a lot. They sound nice clean, and even have a great tone under gain, which the more "vintage types" don't do well.

If you want your strat to kick royal ass, trust me on this one.....Spend around $225, and buy an Antiquity II Custom bridge 9.7K, and Antiquity II Surfer neck and middle.
All Alnico 5, and the best tone you'll ever hear out of a strat. You'll be done for life.
One thing that really amazed me was that the 2 and 4 positions were just as thick and loud as the other single positions. Best notch positions I've ever heard. Ok, I'm outta here, I've convinced myself to go play my strat for a few hours.....Bye.