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Advice on decent but cheap pick ups for old Strat copy?


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Posted

Hi All, 

I have an old no brand name Stratocaster copy and I have been thinking about putting new pick ups in it as the ones they currently have are shot. Any advice on decent but cheap ones? I was thinking Wilkinson's? 

Single coil picks preferred. Thanks. 

Posted

I have used Vanson pickups in many builds..  Really really good regardless of price...  And I can highly recommend their humbucker sized P90s

  • Like 1
Posted

I recently got a new pair of Tele pickups off eBay for an unbelievably low price. Even much cheaper than GFS. The brand is called Fleor. The pickups look perfect but I haven’t installed them yet. 
 

It seems to be one of those Chinese situations where a factory makes pickups for a number of different brands and this is the generic branded version at the lowest price. 
 

Here’s a link to the ones I bought. With tax and free shipping included I paid $22.29 for a complete set of new Tele pickups. They do strat pickups of course too and humbuckers as well

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/US-Alnico-5-Single-Coil-Tele-Neck-Bridge-N-B-Set-Pickup-for-Telecaster-Guitar-/283617886478?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49292

  • Like 1
Posted

Not sure if you have Craigslist, but just type in Fender Stratocaster and you'll be amazed at all of the Fender strat pickups available.  You can find some fair to good pickups on any given day.

Also, try Stratosphere Guitar Parts.  They have tones of different pickups from different manufacturers and they usually discount them.

If you can find them, the AVRI '65 Stratocaster pickups are really good.  I recently saw an article where Brad Whitford from Aerosmith admitted that he loved his Fender AVRI 65.  "Fender nailed it," he said in the article I was reading.

Along that tonal variation there is the Seymour Duncan "Jimi Hendrix" pickups.  His are more akin to pickups  he actually designed and installed on one of Hendrix's guitars.  That's the story I read at least.

Still, lots of people love '54 strat pickups.  Many swear this is the tone they love for blues, rock, rhythm and blues and a entire genre of American and British music.

For something hotter and punchier, there is the Seymour Duncan Hot Rails.  They are mini humbucker pickups.  I actually had one in a 1983 strat I once owned.  But it was only in the bridge position.  Recently I found a start on craigslist, it's probably still there, that had three hot-rail-pickups on it.

I have noiseless pickups on my 2015 American Deluxe.  They're nice too.

But, in the long run, if you just want a good set of stratocaster pickups and don't want to spend a lot of money, craigslist and a set of Made in Mexico pickups from the 1990s and early 2000s there is something nice about these pickups. Price and tone.

Good luck in your search.

 

  • Like 1
Posted (edited)
26 minutes ago, Dub-T-123 said:

Check out the pickups that I linked too which are like a third the price of GFS

FYI the link you provided was for a Tele with 2 pickups, Saturns link to GFS was for 3 Strat pickups.. Ranging from about $18 to $90 a set, depending on what you want. 

Note that I have been extremely pleased with the high quality of my GFS pickups since I started using them in about 05.. 🙂

Check out GFS's wide variety of Strat pickups..  https://www.guitarfetish.com/Fits-Stratreg_c_579.html

Edited by mihcmac
  • Like 1
Posted
3 hours ago, mihcmac said:

FYI the link you provided was for a Tele with 2 pickups, Saturns link to GFS was for 3 Strat pickups.. Ranging from about $18 to $90 a set, depending on what you want. 

Note that I have been extremely pleased with the high quality of my GFS pickups since I started using them in about 05.. 🙂

Check out GFS's wide variety of Strat pickups..  https://www.guitarfetish.com/Fits-Stratreg_c_579.html

GFS does a complete Strat set for $18 or $18 per Strat pickup? 
 

They have a lot of options for the Strat so rather than me cluttering up the page with a bunch of links that nobody clicks on it would be easier to search “fleor strat” 

 

here’s one link ($25 for a complete set with free shipping)

https://www.ebay.com/itm/FLEOR-SSS-Strat-Guitar-Pickup-Set-Alnico-5-Single-Coil-Pickups-Cream-Color-/303702130193?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49292

  • Like 1
Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, rct said:

The pots and switch are more than the pickups.  That can't be right.

rct

just the pickups were being referred to, a Tele style wiring harness with pots and 3 way switch, like the the one I put in my Ibanez, is is about $25..

Harness's https://www.guitarfetish.com/Pre-Assembled-Standard-Solderless-Kwikplug-Harnesses_c_731.html

Note that GFS has a whole range of Strat style Pickup "sets" starting a about $18 going up to around $90.

Many different types of pickup sets.... https://www.guitarfetish.com/GFS-Guitar-Pickups_c_7.html

Edited by mihcmac
  • Like 1
Posted
6 hours ago, mihcmac said:

GFS has complete sets starting at $18...

The one that you linked looks like $18 per pickup. Where do you see the $18 complete set? Or have you bought a complete Strat set from GFS for $18?

  • Like 1
Posted (edited)
13 hours ago, Dub-T-123 said:

The one that you linked looks like $18 per pickup. Where do you see the $18 complete set? Or have you bought a complete Strat set from GFS for $18?

Hmm you are correct it does look like $18 per pickup, the wording is tricky as they refer to as a kit, to me implying multiple pickups.. sorry.

Looks like the best deal is a pre-wired pickguard for 32.95.... https://www.guitarfetish.com/Three-Single-Coil-Pickguard-Three-Ply-White_p_634.html

j01_2_thumbnail.jpg

There are other pre-wired pickguards to choose from..   https://www.guitarfetish.com/Pre-Wired-Pickguards_c_25.html

Edited by mihcmac
  • Like 1
Posted
53 minutes ago, Forsaken said:

Thanks for all the tips I will check them out, no rush on this project but I would eventually like to have the guitar going again. 

Buy used and save. Then you should be able to upgrade a little bit.

  • Like 1
Posted (edited)

$32 and some change for a pickguard and 3 pups, and wired too? I'll bet they are the best quality pups that Chinese technology can make.

Edited by Sgt. Pepper
Posted (edited)

Guitar Fetish normally  exceedes my expectations with the quality level of their work. Below my upgraded Ibanez with a GFS Tele wiring harness that has full sized pots, a very smooth 3-way that seems to pull itself into position when you get close, Kwickplugs for my GFS HB sized Mean 90's. So it was pretty much just plug and play, and just had to run the ground wire through to my new Nickel Gotoh bridge on my Ibanez. 

qaiQovt.jpg

3GJmCPT.jpg

This thing sounds incredible....

Edited by mihcmac

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