Replacement Mustang Pickups?

ThePerfectBeard · Post by **ThePerfectBeard** » Mon Apr 17, 2017 1:54 pm

Longtime lurker, first time post. I just got my first Mustang and I love the way this guitar feels and plays, but I'm thinking about replacing the pickups. It's a Japanese '65 reissue and it came with aftermarket single coil shaped, humbucker pickups. The neck pickup isn't bad, but the bridge is pretty lifeless and I'm thinking about going back to single coils.

Just curious to see what other Mustang users are playing and what they'd recommend.

Dillon · Post by **Dillon** » Mon Apr 17, 2017 4:16 pm

Welcome! Any Strat pickup will fit. You can get covers without holes pretty much anywhere (including Guitar Center). Personally, I'm a fan of the Fender Texas Special set. For noiseless, IMO the DiMarzio Area series are great for the price. Lots of people rave about Fralin and Kinman, but I've never felt the need to spend that much money on Strat pickups when there are so many cheaper options out there.

robroe · Post by **robroe** » Mon Apr 17, 2017 7:51 pm

Check out the Seymour Duncan SJAG. Jaguar pickup series. They come in 3 varieties...regular, hot, and quarter pounder. Reverse wound for him canceling when both on

Dillon · Post by **Dillon** » Mon Apr 17, 2017 8:01 pm

robroe wrote:Check out the Seymour Duncan SJAG. Jaguar pickup series. They come in 3 varieties...regular, hot, and quarter pounder. Reverse wound for him canceling when both on

ThePerfectBeard wrote:I just got my first Mustang

Supposedly the Duncan Antiquity II pickups are good though.

ThePerfectBeard · Post by **ThePerfectBeard** » Tue Apr 18, 2017 12:12 am

Dillon wrote:Welcome! Any Strat pickup will fit. You can get covers without holes pretty much anywhere (including Guitar Center). Personally, I'm a fan of the Fender Texas Special set. For noiseless, IMO the DiMarzio Area series are great for the price. Lots of people rave about Fralin and Kinman, but I've never felt the need to spend that much money on Strat pickups when there are so many cheaper options out there.

Ya, a lot of those boutique pickup options can be expensive, but some people swear by them. Someone introduced me to Benson pickups that are pretty inexpensive and sound pretty good. Unfortunately, I found this video after this company went out of business.

Shaguar · Post by **Shaguar** » Tue Apr 18, 2017 8:51 pm

robroe wrote:Check out the Seymour Duncan SJAG. Jaguar pickup series. They come in 3 varieties...regular, hot, and quarter pounder. Reverse wound for him canceling when both on

I've always wondered about that, how do you mount them to the pickguard? they dont have threads in the holes since they're meant to be body mounted.

Dillon · Post by **Dillon** » Tue Apr 18, 2017 10:50 pm

I don't think Jaguar pickups will properly fit a Mustang without routing the body, hence my last post. Because, IIRC, the Jaguar pickup is physically wider and taller than a Strat pickup. I don't have a Mustang anymore to verify, though.

As for the screws, you could probably use a tap and die to thread the existing holes, then use a larger screw. Or maybe glue some small nuts on the back. But unless you just really want the look of a Jag pickup, there's not much point to it considering the pickups aren't a huge part of what make the sound of a Jaguar. More the trem and wiring / 1M pots.

BTW, I'd say you can easily find Strat pickups that sound like that Saltcaster demo, for not-boutique prices. Duncan SSL-4 (quarter pounder) comes to mind.

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honeyiscool · Post by **honeyiscool** » Fri Apr 21, 2017 8:48 pm

I have a pair of DiMarzio Areas with custom flat poles that I keep hidden under standard Mustang pickup covers (they kind of fit) and then I have another guitar with Fralin Blues Hot Mustang pickups in it. So both look completely stock. The Fralins sound really, really good, but the Areas are what I use when I need variety of sounds. Still, I think the Fralins at their best beat the Areas at their best. The Fralins aren't that expensive if you find the right deal, plus Mustang pickups, you only need two instead of three so that's nice.

Groovy Tunes · Post by **Groovy Tunes** » Thu May 04, 2017 2:21 am

I'm about to order some mustang pickups for my 1975 'stang from Curtis Novak who, in my opinion, makes the best offset pickups I've ever played. Check him out and send him and email. Curtis is a great guy to work with and he will be happy to help make you the perfect pickup. I've used his pickups in my Jazzmaster for quite a few years and they are the bomb. http://curtisnovak.com/pickups/mustang.shtml

Lumpy Waters · Post by **Lumpy Waters** » Sat May 06, 2017 6:55 pm

I use Bill Lawrence L45s in both positions. These pickups are open, wide range, hifi, ring like a bell (neck especially). Probably not the tone most people associate with the classic Mustang pickups, I guess. I briefly had pickups from a 70's pawnshop basket case Mustang I own in my MIJ/CIJ parts-stang, got a really fun, kinda rude tone out of them, but they were noisy AF. With the BL L45s and the right pedals and/or amp, you get just about any sound you want. Price is a bargain if you're willing to wait a while to get them.

ThePerfectBeard · Post by **ThePerfectBeard** » Fri May 12, 2017 1:53 pm

Groovy Tunes wrote:I'm about to order some mustang pickups for my 1975 'stang from Curtis Novak who, in my opinion, makes the best offset pickups I've ever played. Check him out and send him and email. Curtis is a great guy to work with and he will be happy to help make you the perfect pickup. I've used his pickups in my Jazzmaster for quite a few years and they are the bomb. http://curtisnovak.com/pickups/mustang.shtml

Ya, I think this is the route I'm going. He gets nothing but rave reviews.