Fender Tex Mex Strat Neck And Middle

[STRATDELUXER97]

Got these into my American Std.strat last night and then dialed in the pickup heights...I used only the neck and middle tex mex and have a Fralin SP43 in the bridge..

These days I love the versatility of G&L's PTB tone system in that it allows the ability to roll away highs and lows seperately..It works even better with these higher output pickups I noticed also..

Couple of things to make these Tex Mex pickups sound good,and what I did,was to lower the D,and G poles on both pickups and to adjust the neck pickup to 8/64" bass and close to the same on the treble E and then I adjust by ear from there and I balance all 3 pickups this way also..These pickups have quite a bit of midrange and they sound better to me adjusted away from the strings a bit..With the middle pickup I even dropped it slightly lower than the neck and I Like the way it sounds...If these pickups are up too high,the tone (to me) is harsh and very boxey sounding...

These pickups are budget priced and I have spent quite a few hours playing through them..The clean tones have quite a bit more mids,the chime and highend is like any other good A5 strat pickup,but these pickups are loud,and pretty upfront...Roll the volume back though and they clean up nice...Even with the SP43 in the bridge,I still like the quack in the notched position...The PTB tone controls really shine hear,because I can roll the lows completely out and it dials out a bit of the strength of the bridge and middle pickups together.

I personally like the way the Tex Mex pickups react while using overdrive/distortion in that they seem like they will cut well because of the added mid content..They seem to be beefier overall in the lows?

My neck pickup measured 6.5k and the middle is 6.8k....I Like these pickups,they are inexpensive,good tone,they are really quiet in this guitar(I shielded the jack wiring also)..

I had to move the neck pickup to the middle and the middle to the neck,but I Lucked out and have no buzz in the 2 in between positions...The Fralin had to be wired black to the switch and white/stranded wires to ground to get correct phase with the Tex Mex neck and middle..

The PTB setup works great and is a godsend with this setup..I see myself keeping the Tex Mex pickups in this guitar as it has a Floyd Rose and I always felt the guitar overall could use some balls...The Fralin SP43 works well in this guitar also and is in the ballpark of a P90 in the bridge...A More aggressive pickup in the bridge w/o going full humbucker..

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Fender Tex Mex Strat Neck And Middle

Next I think I prefer the Fender Parchment pickup covers and so I think I'll switch out the pure white ones...I see I also need to slightly balance the poles better on 1 of the Tex Mex pickups..They just seem to sound more balanced with all poles basically flat across..This strat has a 12" radius and so I prefer non-stagger in this case...No problems moving the poles on these pickups and I first researched and read about alot of folks moving them "carefully' downward,but only the middle poles! I had my meter hooked up while I very carefully tapped down a bit on the top of the poles for the D and G...I did try this years ago with a Fat 50 and ruined it,but the 2 pickups are made different..

Guys...For $20 a pickup,these really surprised me! There are quite a few Youtube sound samples that I listened to also..I really wanted another set of Surfers,but money was a little snug lately,and I really wanted to get this guitar back together!

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Fender Tex Mex Strat Neck And Middle

bump

 

[gripweed]

Re: Fender Tex Mex Strat Neck And Middle

Next I think I prefer the Fender Parchment pickup covers and so I think I'll switch out the pure white ones...I see I also need to slightly balance the poles better on 1 of the Tex Mex pickups..They just seem to sound more balanced with all poles basically flat across..This strat has a 12" radius and so I prefer non-stagger in this case...No problems moving the poles on these pickups and I first researched and read about alot of folks moving them "carefully' downward,but only the middle poles! I had my meter hooked up while I very carefully tapped down a bit on the top of the poles for the D and G...I did try this years ago with a Fat 50 and ruined it,but the 2 pickups are made different..

Guys...For $20 a pickup,these really surprised me! There are quite a few Youtube sound samples that I listened to also..I really wanted another set of Surfers,but money was a little snug lately,and I really wanted to get this guitar back together!

I did the same thing when putting my Strat back together, John. I put the Tex Mex in with the Texas Hot Strat Custom (both of which I already had -- $ was tight) and I really like the results. I also have a couple of SSL-1s floating around, which I may put in there eventually. I never tapped the poles down on the Tex Mexs, but the stagger doesn't seem to bother me.

I'm glad you like them!

 

[stevie_bees]

Re: Fender Tex Mex Strat Neck And Middle

That's cool John, especially with how well the PTB wiring works with them. I'm planning on going back to single coils in my Legacy instead of the Everything Axe set, although I might keep the JB Jnr in the bridge and just put singles in neck/mid. It's going to be interesting to see how the PTB reacts with vintage, low output singles, and the hotter JB Jnr.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Fender Tex Mex Strat Neck And Middle

So glad you're liking those pups. From how I perceived what you were after I really believed that these would fit the bill. Glad I didn't steer you in the wrong direction.

But at only $20 each, I guess if you end up without them it wouldn't be such a big loss anyway. Hope you continue to enjoy them. I've had a middle and neck TexMex in one of my Strats for about 6-7 years now and still love them.

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Fender Tex Mex Strat Neck And Middle

I did the same thing when putting my Strat back together, John. I put the Tex Mex in with the Texas Hot Strat Custom (both of which I already had -- $ was tight) and I really like the results. I also have a couple of SSL-1s floating around, which I may put in there eventually. I never tapped the poles down on the Tex Mexs, but the stagger doesn't seem to bother me.

I'm glad you like them!

This particular strat has a 12" radius and I Knew the pickups would work better in this case with the poles more evenly across...Nice pickups..they have a bit of in yer face texas "growl" that I Like...Kinda like what the Twangbanger bridge does..Mids are out more,but not in an obnoxious way...

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Fender Tex Mex Strat Neck And Middle

That's cool John, especially with how well the PTB wiring works with them. I'm planning on going back to single coils in my Legacy instead of the Everything Axe set, although I might keep the JB Jnr in the bridge and just put singles in neck/mid. It's going to be interesting to see how the PTB reacts with vintage, low output singles, and the hotter JB Jnr.

Thanks to you buddy...I really love the PTB system...If you want some nice quality reverse taper 1 meg pots,please let me know..

Try using a 250 to 300k pot for the treble pot instead of the 500k...Keep the .022 cap though..It rolls things off quicker..The only downside,is that the tone is darker at the 0 setting on the pot...Maybe even a .015 cap would be perfect?

This system is more noticiable with the hotter pickups and the interaction is better..With lower output single coils,the system is alot more subtle...In both cases I much prefer the PTB system over other stuff I've tryed...In one of my other strats,I use the Fralin Blender pot...This blends some neck tone into the bridge pickup and beefs it up...

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Fender Tex Mex Strat Neck And Middle

It should be said that lowering poles on a Fender pickup is an easy to kill the pickup...it can be done but it is not really a great idea unless you are ok with the chance of killing the pickup.

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Fender Tex Mex Strat Neck And Middle

So glad you're liking those pups. From how I perceived what you were after I really believed that these would fit the bill. Glad I didn't steer you in the wrong direction.

But at only $20 each, I guess if you end up without them it wouldn't be such a big loss anyway. Hope you continue to enjoy them. I've had a middle and neck TexMex in one of my Strats for about 6-7 years now and still love them.

You in no way steered me in the wrong direction buddy! If the pickups weren't priced right,they wouldn't have been a consideration...I'm pleasantly surprised and have played through them enough to know they will work...They have a nice cut in the mids,yet they still seem very "stratty" sounding..Roll the volume back a bit and they clean up and give up a bit of that "snarl"...This axe really needed something to beef things up a bit...

I was leaning towards 2 more Fat 50s or a set of the SSL2s,but these are fine..

They sound alot better adjusted down a bit to me Doc..I have like 8/64" bass and a little closer on the treble E...The middle position is a bit lower,though I think I may bring it back up a touch?

Get that G pole down so it's not so over-powering...With the 12" radius,I didn't want the staggers...

Lastly...The G&L PTB tone system works excellent in this setup....I have a Fralin SP43(P90 ish tone) in the bridge..

Glad some of you posted on this! Thx.

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Fender Tex Mex Strat Neck And Middle

It should be said that lowering poles on a Fender pickup is an easy to kill the pickup...it can be done but it is not really a great idea unless you are ok with the chance of killing the pickup.

Depends on the way the pickup is put together...I did alot of research on this before doing it...I do agree with you,but it can be done with these pickups and alot of guys have done it...It's been said that you don't want to try this with the fiber bobbin Fenders,in that sometimes the wires are stuck to the poles...On the Tex mex..The poles easily move up and down..

But yes....Anything is possible and I'm ok with also saying that maybe I Lucked out? ;o) The end results(for me)were worth the risk...I only moved the 2 most center poles...

Again...I always do alot of research before doing stuff that is iffy like this!

I did ruin a Fat 50 years ago trying to move poles...

 

[lemonman]

Re: Fender Tex Mex Strat Neck And Middle

It should be said that lowering poles on a Fender pickup is an easy to kill the pickup...it can be done but it is not really a great idea unless you are ok with the chance of killing the pickup.

This is true, but unless they've changed the construction on these since I owned a set they're made like the AmStd pups, with a plastic bobbin that separates the wire from the mags. On this type it's cool to move the poles all you want, even change them, w/o fear of destruction.

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Fender Tex Mex Strat Neck And Middle

This is true, but unless they've changed the construction on these since I owned a set they're made like the AmStd pups, with a plastic bobbin that separates the wire from the mags. On this type it's cool to move the poles all you want, even change them, w/o fear of destruction.

Exactly! Like I said...I read through "alot" of posts about these pickups before I even considered buying them...The only thing keeping the poles from moving freely with one's fingers,is the wax...You do have to support the bobbins and be careful with how the pickup is positioned before moving the poles..Careful and not careless... ;o) I leave the covers on so I can judge where I want the poles to end up...I actually bolt the covers tight to the bobbins so it doesn't move..

Mine are new(I think) and so I'm going to say the construction is the same..

 

[Laughing Kookaburra]

Re: Fender Tex Mex Strat Neck And Middle

I had the Tex Mex setup in a Strat some years back. I like them. I use an overwound SP42 in the bridge of my current Strat, so I have no trouble imagining your Strat sounding great!

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Fender Tex Mex Strat Neck And Middle

I had the Tex Mex setup in a Strat some years back. I like them. I use an overwound SP42 in the bridge of my current Strat, so I have no trouble imagining your Strat sounding great!

This strat has a cool Texas "snarl" or "growl" if you will...I can clean it up,but it's kinda like what reminds me of jimmy vaughn's tone he gets in the solo of "Tough Enough"....He's not using Tex Mex pickups there,but that raspy,middy tone is pretty inline of what these pickups sound like...

Probably a cool deal at $20 a pickup...

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Fender Tex Mex Strat Neck And Middle

Sounds like you've got it going. Congrats on finding what works for you.

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Fender Tex Mex Strat Neck And Middle

Sounds like you've got it going. Congrats on finding what works for you.

Thanks Doc...for sure,keeping the pickups down a bit and getting the D and G poles down is a plus with these!

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Fender Tex Mex Strat Neck And Middle

Monday bump

 

[Bludave]

Re: Fender Tex Mex Strat Neck And Middle

I had those pickups in my 57 RI strat. I should point out that this guitar has been heavily modified. It ws my first Strat that I bought in 1987. Since then I have added a few more, so I switched the neck on this guitar to a compound radius Brazilian RW fingerboard & Birdseye maple neck. I initially put a set of the Tex Mex pickups in because I had a Tele that had a Strat Tex mex in the neck & I loved it. I liked these pickups but didn't love them. I wound up switching these for a set of Duncan Antiquity Texas Hots. The guitar sounds sooo much better now. Very vintage and when I need to push it with some gain the guitar responds beautifully. The Tex Mex pickups just didn't work for me in this guitar. In my Tele I STILL love the neck but in the Strat it was lacking something. Hard to describe what I didn't like but now with the Texas Hots its great!

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Fender Tex Mex Strat Neck And Middle

I had those pickups in my 57 RI strat. I should point out that this guitar has been heavily modified. It ws my first Strat that I bought in 1987. Since then I have added a few more, so I switched the neck on this guitar to a compound radius Brazilian RW fingerboard & Birdseye maple neck. I initially put a set of the Tex Mex pickups in because I had a Tele that had a Strat Tex mex in the neck & I loved it. I liked these pickups but didn't love them. I wound up switching these for a set of Duncan Antiquity Texas Hots. The guitar sounds sooo much better now. Very vintage and when I need to push it with some gain the guitar responds beautifully. The Tex Mex pickups just didn't work for me in this guitar. In my Tele I STILL love the neck but in the Strat it was lacking something. Hard to describe what I didn't like but now with the Texas Hots its great!

Money was tight and I really wanted to put one of my strats that had been lacking 2 pickups back together Dave...

The trick to getting these pickups to sound right,is lowering the G and D poles and adjusting the pickups down pretty low and away from the strings..I'm at like 8/64" BASS and close to the same on the Treble side...I Like these pickups actually...They have plenty of chime in the highs,mids are strong and the lows are out more..They are quiet pickups and RWRP so I have no hum in those notched positions...

I originally wanted another set of Surfer N and M and maybe one day,but for $40 I payed for the 2 pickups,they sound fine and are very doable!

This guitar that now has the Tex Mex pickups in it originally had Fat 50s in the neck and middle,but they were taken out and put into this recent blonde strat that I had put together below...

Fat 50/Fat 50/SSL6