Fender Custom shop 54 set review

[FuseG4]

I put fender Custom shop 54 set in a classic series 50s strat and the result is like what you may read in reviews. A bright "typical vintage" neck and middle strat pickup with a slightly overwound bridge. No rw/rp, just bright glassy strat sounds with better volume balance across each position compared to 3 of the same pickup.

They are for a mim classic 50s strat (which comes with 3 identical 5.6k, a5 staggered pole, plastic bobbin, polysol wire. These seem like they would be bright at 5.6k but they have muddiness to them, little top end loss... And the bridge pickup is tough to balance volume wise unless the neck is cranked down very far.)
I wanted a bridge that would balance easy with the neck without sounding "hot".
The CS54 I got are 5.9k, 6.0, and 6.3k and the volume between them is easier to manage.
They are very bright and clear, with not as much mids as 57/62, and the bridge pickup is very much the same character as the neck/middle but enough output to make it useable. Not as much bass and brighter than CS 69s. Much brighter in the upper treble than SSL-1 pickups.
Would love to compare to antiquity but they are expensive!
I got these fender pickups brand new for $120 which was a big factor in getting them. I wanted the sound and value of 57/62s but without the bridge sounding weak, these deliver, but with a slightly different edge especially with overdrive.

Did I mention they are bright? Trebley. They are not thin but I think a lot of people would not like these. My ears took a day to adjust and I didn't like them so much at first honestly but now i think they are all around pretty good. Not perfect but solid good. Worth the price all day.


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[PFDarkside]

Re: Fender Custom shop 54 set review

Are these the A3 ones?

 

[jeremy]

Re: Fender Custom shop 54 set review

should be a5

 

[FuseG4]

Re: Fender Custom shop 54 set review

These are the a5 ones!

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[FuseG4]

Re: Fender Custom shop 54 set review

For a early 50s style a3 pickup the fender Eric Johnson neck pickup is way good.
It is not as warm as A2 Pro, but not as bright as a5, there is a smoothness about them but they are not dark. To me a3 has a texture when overdriven that sounds different. The EJ is very balanced sounding and would be good if you don't like too bright, but they can snap almost like a5 if you raise them close to the strings.

These 54 from fender CS are nice though I'll certainly keep them in a while but maybe not forever. Really good for what I paid though.
Fender says the custom shop used them a lot as stock pickups and i think they would be justified in doing so.
These have some sound like Ronnie Wood's hard tail strat to me. Sometimes like glass breaking but very clear cutting strat tones with some click cluck and a lot of attack.

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[Chistopher]

Re: Fender Custom shop 54 set review

I've looked at that set a few times myself, but never really thought about pulling the trigger on them. Like you said, they are pretty bright, but I think that would lend itself well to testing out different bass plates on them.

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Fender Custom shop 54 set review

Great sounding A3 Strat pickups for cheap = 1st generation Highway 1 pickups.

Stellar sounding A3 Strat pickups = 60th anniversary Pure Vintage '54 Strat pickup set (the ones with the rounded over polystyrene covers). I have these in my 60th Anniversary AV '54 Strat, and they are about the best sounding Strat pickups I have ever heard outside of actual old ones in an actual old guitar.

I have the A5 CS '54s in my green MIM Strat at the moment. I have had them in and out of various Strats since about 2001, IIRC. Not sure if specs have changed since those years, but I really don't think my set has an overwound bridge pickup...and it does have a RW/RP middle. IME, they are a very crisp and aggressive set – very stiff pickups, not sweet at all. Very good for playing overdriven and cutting, bu not great for that "sweet" Strat sound.

 

[FuseG4]

Re: Fender Custom shop 54 set review

Great sounding A3 Strat pickups for cheap = 1st generation Highway 1 pickups.

Stellar sounding A3 Strat pickups = 60th anniversary Pure Vintage '54 Strat pickup set (the ones with the rounded over polystyrene covers). I have these in my 60th Anniversary AV '54 Strat, and they are about the best sounding Strat pickups I have ever heard outside of actual old ones in an actual old guitar.

I have the A5 CS '54s in my green MIM Strat at the moment. I have had them in and out of various Strats since about 2001, IIRC. Not sure if specs have changed since those years, but I really don't think my set has an overwound bridge pickup...and it does have a RW/RP middle. IME, they are a very crisp and aggressive set – very stiff pickups, not sweet at all. Very good for playing overdriven and cutting, bu not great for that "sweet" Strat sound.

I will keep my eye out for the a3 ones

And i think the sweet tones with this set are with the volume and tone backed off for sure. Tonight I've been messing with the tone control a lot, playing clean, turning the amp up and guitar volume down. Takes the edge off. Mostly playing the neck pickup. I have 9s on there and am going to try it with 10s soon.



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[jeremy]

Re: Fender Custom shop 54 set review

i think the cs 54 are supposed to be 6k, 6k, 6.5k so the bridge isnt much hotter

 

[FuseG4]

Re: Fender Custom shop 54 set review

i think the cs 54 are supposed to be 6k, 6k, 6.5k so the bridge isnt much hotter

Yup just enough to balance

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[PFDarkside]

Re: Fender Custom shop 54 set review

Stellar sounding A3 Strat pickups = 60th anniversary Pure Vintage '54 Strat pickup set (the ones with the rounded over polystyrene covers). I have these in my 60th Anniversary AV '54 Strat, and they are about the best sounding Strat pickups I have ever heard outside of actual old ones in an actual old guitar.

Those are the ones I was thinking of!

 

[FuseG4]

Re: Fender Custom shop 54 set review

Those 54 60th anniversary are hard to find!

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[ItsaBass]

Re: Fender Custom shop 54 set review

They were limited edition.

The guitars they came it were made in a run of 1,954. The loose pickups sets might have been the same. If that's true, then there are about 2,000 sets in guitars, and another 2,000 out there somewhere.

Last I checked, the sets were on Reverb.com from a handful of sellers.

 

[David Garner]

Re: Fender Custom shop 54 set review

I love the CS54s, but since good A3 variants were brought up, I prefer the Bare Knuckle Apaches to the Eric Johnson set. To me the EJ set (and mine came in an EJ Strat) are like 3 disparate pickups in search of mates. The neck is an A3 50s wind, the middle an A3 60s wind (which is sort of an oddity) and the bridge an A5 mid-60s wind, but slightly hotter (like a Texas Special bridge).

It's a good set, but the Apaches just kill it in terms of balance. Get them without the RWRP middle and they are near perfect 50s-style Strat pickups. The A3 bridge is wound hotter as well, but due to having A3 magnets, it rounds off the spiky high end and results in a really nice, pure vintage Strat tone which is thicker than you'd expect and yet still very much in the traditional vein.