2003 MIM Fender Stratocaster Upgrades??

Dirty Mosquito

Hello everyone. I have a 2003 MIM Fender Stratocaster, that is artic white with a maple fretboard. I love this guitar but was looking for advice on upgrades. I absolutely love the vintage sound that Hendrix, Clapton, SRV and Mccready use/used and wanted to get my guitar to have a similar feel to it. I understand that a big majority of the sound comes from your amp setup, but wanted to know what I could do to my MIM Strat to achieve similar results in sound. I was thinking of upgrading the pickups to 57/62's or Custom Shop Texas Specials and possibly upgrading the bridge and nut as well, or even getting a new neck all together. I am a relatively new player and don't know too much tech stuff, but was wondering if anyone had any suggestions or tips? Thanks.

exhausted

focus on the pickups and wiring harness. that will have the biggest impact. either of those you mentioned are good choices. the texas specials will presumably have much more output and result in a louder guitar than the 57/62s. should sound less bright and more mid rangey as well.

Dirty Mosquito

exhausted wrote:

focus on the pickups and wiring harness. that will have the biggest impact. either of those you mentioned are good choices. the texas specials will presumably have much more output and result in a louder guitar than the 57/62s. should sound less bright and more mid rangey as well.

Awesome!! Thanks for the input. Now you mentioned wiring harness, do you mean the wiring for the pickups I am assuming? I also heard that you can get some pretty good deals on 57 or 62 reissued bridges that will give you better sustain and sound....is there any truth to this?

exhausted

by harness i mean the wiring and the vol/tone pots, capacitor etc. they're all in the path between the pickups and the output and all have an impact.

http://www.acmeguitarworks.com/Strat---Modern-Wiring-5-Way-Switch-P1167C153.aspx

judging by the bridge on the MIM versus on the 57/62 bridge, i can't see it making a big difference unless the block itself (under the bridge) has more mass or something.

you'd see a bigger result perhaps by blocking the tremolo or adjusting it such that it's flat against the body. in my experience anyway. but that of course loses your vibrato for you. so, if you like to use the bar, you may not want to do that.

on my strat, i added two more springs and brought the bridge all the way back to the body. tuning's more stable and changes the tone slightly in my opinion. i'm not big on the vibrato bar anyway.

Pacomc79

there's a great hardware upgrade kit from callaham for MIM's.

http://www.callahamguitars.com


I love Acme.

One idea would be to put a bass plate on your bridge pickup that could help or go with the 57 62's in the neck and middle and something a bit hotter in the bridge.

Most people feel bridge pickups on strats don't have enough balls and they get too bright. higher output solves both of those problems but a baseplate will work somewhat too.

check out the acme site for more news on bass plates.

the Suhr LP's are great pickups for hendrix if you do use fuzzes or what not. But I love his V60's too and Lindy Fralin too and blah blah it gets expensive.....57 62's are great pups for what you want I think.

http://www.acmeguitarworks.com/Fralin-Baseplate-P217C32.aspx baseplate link.

Dirty Mosquito

exhausted wrote:

by harness i mean the wiring and the vol/tone pots, capacitor etc. they're all in the path between the pickups and the output and all have an impact.

http://www.acmeguitarworks.com/Strat---Modern-Wiring-5-Way-Switch-P1167C153.aspx

judging by the bridge on the MIM versus on the 57/62 bridge, i can't see it making a big difference unless the block itself (under the bridge) has more mass or something.

you'd see a bigger result perhaps by blocking the tremolo or adjusting it such that it's flat against the body. in my experience anyway. but that of course loses your vibrato for you. so, if you like to use the bar, you may not want to do that.

on my strat, i added two more springs and brought the bridge all the way back to the body. tuning's more stable and changes the tone slightly in my opinion. i'm not big on the vibrato bar anyway.

Great. Thanks again. I understand now. Yeah my guitar came stock with fender strings and when I changed the strings to 10s and tuned them, I noticed that the tremolo was really raised high and I would break my strings all the time. I carefully adjusted the screws in the back and lowered it to about an 1/4-1/8 of an inch off the base. Since I've done this my strings have lasted a little longer and I can still use the bar when I want.

Dirty Mosquito

Thanks so much for the input guys. I really have a good idea of what I am going to do now. I just haven't decided if I want the 57/62 or the Texas special pickups.

One last question....would it be even worth it to upgrade the neck of the guitar? I know that mine has 21 frets and I believe the American made have 22 frets. In addition, I heard that the American made necks are better quality and have better sound. I was considering getting a late 50's early 60's one, but I am not sure if it would even fit, not to mention the price.

exhausted

re: the neck. i don't think it would be a significant impact. the only issue there is if, for some reason, you don't like the feel of the neck (too fat, too skinny) or whatever.

21 vs. 22 frets is inconsequential.

Dirty Mosquito

exhausted wrote:

re: the neck. i don't think it would be a significant impact. the only issue there is if, for some reason, you don't like the feel of the neck (too fat, too skinny) or whatever.

21 vs. 22 frets is inconsequential.

Cool, thanks for the tip. Man, now I just have to decide on the pickups I want. I like the two mentioned from Fender, but there are so many brands out there. I guess I will need to do some research and really figure out what exact sound I want. I love the loud, dirty sound of Hendrix, but would love to also play something that is quieter for my more melodic stuff. Maybe I can find something that is in the middle, to allow me to relatively do both.