lace in a fender strat

its been a while since i was here but good to its still going strong.

i have been considering a pickup upgrade for my strat. right now i have a hot rails in the bridge and stocks in the mid and neck.

i was at a guitar store and i was listening to a guy playing an american standard with lace pickups through a delta blues amp (just like mine) and it sounded great.

so i guess my question is are they worth it, what are the pros/cons would something like texmex be a better fit for my mexican strat.

thanks jera

My south of the border strat has two texas specials and a Pearly gates plus in the bridge. Very nice setup, and I wouldn't swap out the Pearly Gatews Plus for anything, I just love it. I have heard hot rails in strats before and they are killer, depending on what your looking for.

Ever think of upgrading your volume/tone pots/capacitors rather than a pick-up swap out? You may want to investigate this option. I just switched out the stock volume/tone pots & capacitors with vintage replacements from RS Guitarworks on a Les Paul Studio. Best $100 bucks I have ever spent on an upgrade... Even the guitar tech that did the installation can not believe the sound and tone of this guitar. Next best thing to vintage tone without shelling out the major bucks for guitar$ with inferior electronics that cost three times as much. Even the guys that I jam with can not believe the tone coming out of this "Studio". I am planning to do the same with a Mexican Tele when I find the one that has that special feel. When I find it I may do the pick-ups (Lindy Fralin 8-) as well. I hope this gives you some thoughts on other less expensive options in your quest for tone...

im not a big strat user but i know that EMG also makes single coil active pickups maybe you could look at those

thanks for the replys

jaged ice no offense but i hate emgs. to me they rob all the natural tone out of everything and unless you spend $500 bucks on a preamp set up they never sound quite right.

born when i got my hot rails installed i had all the electronics swapped efvven the ground wire. they are new pots but ill look into vintage pots see what i can find. i have heard lindy frarlin makes some incredible pickups. im looking for a nice srv/ david gilmore, blues /classic rock sound. ive heard good things about tex mex, texas specials, lace sensors, fralins, torres eng, ducans, its just very hard to figure out what i really need. but i do know i want that mellow strat tone back. (hot rails are great but they're not it) if you know what i mean.

im not ready to buy right this minute so research is still on going.

Originally Posted by: BrokenJeraits been a while since i was here but good to its still going strong.

i have been considering a pickup upgrade for my strat. right now i have a hot rails in the bridge and stocks in the mid and neck.

i was at a guitar store and i was listening to a guy playing an american standard with lace pickups through a delta blues amp (just like mine) and it sounded great.

so i guess my question is are they worth it, what are the pros/cons would something like texmex be a better fit for my mexican strat.

thanks jera

I have A 1996 Fender Strat Plus which came with the Lace Golds as standard from fender. At the time they were quiet single coils, but I have since put in the the Lace Hot Golds with the 13.k bridge pup(In essence it sounds like a humbucker in the size of a single coil). Its more versatile for me(hard rock). I like the sound but its all relative - The Lace Hot Golds don't keep that signature strat sound if that's what you are going for.

But as others have said, there are other things to be done(I added a capacitor). The RS upgrade kits are okay(I added one to my Les Paul) but its not going be a night and day difference(At least for me).

I just finished upgrading my '09 Dlx Strat. I found that the SCN pickups that came on it were pretty sterile, and I didn't used all the S1 electronics.

I added some Lollar Blackface pickups and the RS Guitarworks kit and I really think my strat sounds perfect. It gets great tone. I listened to a lot of pickups before I decided on the Lollar's. I'm pretty pleased with them.

It all depends on what you're looking for in tone. . .ton's of great options!

I have a good friend who plays a Strat outfitted exclusively with Lace Sensors, the year Lace Sensors came out.

It's a great sound. It's unique and should be played before just running out and buying the pickups. Remember they have lower magnetism so the sound can come across as "mellower" or "rounder". Overdriven and pushed by an amplifier, it really sings.

Hope my opinion helps in your quest!

I still have my original Lace sensors from when I pulled them out of my strat if you are interested in them(they are the fender versions that came in the plus -1996), but understand that with sensors there are different types(blue ,red ,and golds each with a different sound). pm me if interested but I would nyou play them in a strat first. I thought they were too sterile so I upgraded to the the Lace hot golds and love them - But I like heavier rock.