Fender Custom Shop Texas Specials

single coil overwound

american series strat
all positions

replaced stock pickups

output increased noticeably middle And neck

fender hot rod deluxe

mid tones affected, much better balance over stock pups-all positions, better overall "vintage" tone, bridge alone is not as affected, particular improvements in 2 and 4 positions

blues/rock

would definately buy again
I'm 43 and have been only playing for three years, but have been told I have a good ear for tone and EQ(part time sound tech also). These were bought to make the Amer. series sound fuller and more "vintage"- they do. I also have a j.v. strat, loved the "tex-mex" pups,but these are much more balanced with more of a traditional tone. Have a good tech install with special attention to pup height. these aren,t humbuckers, so don't expect that sound(classic rock and blues are the purpose). You cannot make single coils sound like a les paul(who would want to?!) These are worth the money, I've never been more happy with my guitars sound. I highly recomend them as long as they suit your style of music. Ignore the bad reviews and focus on what sound you are after.

Single Coil Passive

2006 MIM 60th Anniversary Strat

Neck/Mid/Bridge All Replaced

Standard MIM 60th Anniversary Pickups (Regular Standard MIM PUPS)

Had a Dimarzio HS-2 thrown in to test drive (unauthentic lifeless sound)

SRV!!!

Standard Strat did an OK job, but these are for the bigger boy pants! You can't get much done on mid range low-tech pups for long.

The overall output is good. I say this because there is no such thing as the perfect pickup no matter what. It's got power and presence, but noisy!

I'm currently using a Zoom 505II (don't see these used much anymore), a Danelectro Sitar Swami, Boss Volume Pedal, Digitech RP-6 (seldomly), and my favorite Hughes & Kettner Edition Blu 60-R Combo Amp!

Tone is overall greatly balanced in all 5 selections. I'm looking to install a Neck on Toggle that will allow for some more pickup selections to test the waters there (if interested google it).

I play any type of rock. I play by ear and have for over 10 years. I range from Jimi to SRV to Wylde (the wylde sound not really happening with these PUPS unfortunately)

These pickups are suitable in all slots, but I'm not terribly impressed with the Neck PUP, but that's my least favorite spot to begin with.

If this was destroyed or stolen god have mercy on the soul responsible. Yes I would but I may swap the Neck out for a Vintage 57/62 for fun.

I wish these pickups dialed in a little less noise, and a little more tunable punch.

I am satisfied but on a never ending quest for something undefinable

Buy these pups if you want to be as proud of your strat as I am.

Single coil, passive matched set

98' MIM Standard Strat
In all positions
Replacing stock CRAP
no other pups
I don' know of too many people using these, other than SRV towards the end
I picked up a MiM strat from a friend for $70 and thought what a great project guitar, first thing I did was buy these. I picked these over the vintage noisless because I heard bad things about them, "vintage lifeless" pups, I wanted something a tad hotter anyway

The output is no screamer, but a real hot vintage.
Right now I'm trying to get a hold of a fender blues jr. that's been modded using BillM specs, but for now I'm using a crate half stack from 7 years ago, from back in my addolecent metal days.
The tone is amazing! Articulate, bright, clear, and well balanced
I'm playing Classic rock, blues and a very little bit of modern rock these days, and these pups suit perfectly.
The neck has a great jazz tone, the middle and neck a great blues tone, the middle a GREAT clean tone, and the bridge was surprisingly better and hotter than I expected. I don't generally like the the tone out of a strat bridge, but this one has balls!

For the deal I got on the guitar alone, it would take a while to replace, But I've alway wanted to build a custom strat.
Been playing 9 years, gave up electric a long time ago becase I outgrew my gear. I have a charvel fusion, which I haven't played in years, a Takimine 12 string which I love, a Digitec RP-7 from years ago, Boss EQ, Morley Bad Horsie, which I hate, and an Alveraz dreadnot, which is the best accoutic for the money you can get.
I have come to love my little project very quickly, I've always wanted to do this. The neck pickup isn't quite what I wanted it to be, but the middle and bridge are more than I expected, I'm not getting SRV tone yet, but I still have quite a few adjustments to make, Tube screamer, tube amp, lowering pups, bujt overall, I LOVE THESE PICKUPS!

Single coil, matched set of 3

Replaced the 3 standard pups on a MIM Fender Powerhouse Strat, 12 db boost kit, delta no-load tone pot.
Other artist include SRV, and I'm sure quite a few others, big & small, good and bad.....
Just a note on the no-load tone pot. This was one of the mods SRV had made to his #1. There is an indent at 10 that allows the tone pot to be by-passed, and you get the natural sound of the pick up.
It's great to have when you really want to dig in to get his tone. EZ to instal, and cost less than $7.00.

What a surprise!
Output is good, not over the top, balance of tone is good, but what is awesome is the clarity of the sound.
I have vintage noisless pups on my other start, complete 25db Clapton kit, which are also great, yet not as clear, more mids then highs ..... but these are not sharp by any means.
Key for sure in both cases of these 2 pups, set the height low, 1/16th above the pick guard at best.
Opens up the sound of the pick ups... to high will cause them to loose their sparkle.

I was very surprised by the tone. I've been playing for 40+ off and on, last 3 years full Blues Band, gigging every weekend.
We do alot of SRV, Clapton, Buddy Guy, etc. and I wanted to add a different tone, so I bought another Powerhouse Strat, love the neck, and yes I know some will snub the MIM bit, but I will trade licks with the best, and I bet I'll hold my own just fine!
I just love how these pups sound.
They let you play with clarity if you want, and overdrive well.
Pedal board looks like this: tuner, keeley comp,2-Keeley Modded TS9's, 1 for slight OD, 1 for lead boost, Marshall Roto-Vibe, and then an Ibanez delay.
Amps include a modified Tweed Blues Jr with a Webber 12" ceramic and beam blockers, a Fender Tweed 40 watt Blues Deluxe reissue with a Webber 12" Alnico and beam blockers, and a 69 Fender Dual Showman 100 watt with 2 Webber 12" Alnicos along with the beam blockers in a custom Tweed Twin Reverb Cab made by JD Newell, also reviewed under Guitar amps.
We play alot of different venues, and I'm loaded for all.
Last but not least, both guitars have their places, but the Custon Shop Texas Specials have moved into to first place, and I doubt if they will be looking back! Have a great day ...

Vintage style Strat singles,alnico 5,factory wax potted,cloth leads. 6.3 k neck,6.5k mid,6.8k bridge.

80's MIJ "Profile" Strat copy.

All pick-ups replaced.

Original stockers,4k ceramic, they really sucked!

Dont know or care who uses these, got them because i thought they would do what i wanted.

Slightly warmer than stock.

Use them with my quality tube amps, from modern high gain weapons to vintage sparkly clean p2p beasts.I only use low rated alnico equiped speaker cabs. Effects are for people with $#!t amps.

Slight increase in bass and mids and small decrease in treble when compared to standard strat pick-ups, also slightly less noise.

I play about every style of music other than the uber high gain stuff,i mostly use the guitar these pick-ups are in for clean and slightly overdriven playing, they really excell at that.Read country , blues, light rock.

Neck sounds fantastic clean,when i got the gain up i normally use position 4, bridge+mid.Deep purple eat your heart out.this is the best sounding single coil i have ever heard in the bridge.Im not a fan of the neck pick-up overdriven and distorted but thats more personal prefferance.I have never heard these pick-ups sound bad, except when they are set to high.

I would buy these again without hesitation.

Only been playing about a year,my other main guitar is a custom mustang,it has vintage noisless in neck and mid, for clean playing the Texas specials own them.

I love the clean tone,bit unhappy with the noise factor, they are not as noisy as the ones i replaced, and do have more output,as far as singles go they arent noisy, but dont expect silence (except on position 2 and 4 offcourse).The covers fit very poorly.

Other than stock MIA and MIJ Fender,Profile and Squier singles i dint compare these to any other normal single coils.

I wanted to keep my strat very close to vanilla, but just improve on it, these pick-ups do that very well.

Overall if you want that vintage strat tone and dont mind a little hum when you crank the gain, go for these.As others have mentioned, they are very sensitive to height,i dont follow a standard for any pick-up anyway, just use what works best, these do seem to like being on the low side, to high and they just muddy up.I did spend a lot of time shielding and ensuring the guitar was well earthed,i use a CRL 5way, 250k CTS pots and .022 Orange drop, all cloth wire.I imagine with an unshielded guitar the noise would become intrusive, do shield your guitars properly peeps.

The covers really do irk me, if they fitted better they would be a 9, and nothings a 10.......

Pickup features: Single Coil/Overwound and Calibrated/RWRP Middle
Impedence or other specs: What they others said

Model of guitar or bass: Fender Jimmy Vaughn Strat
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Tex/Mex's
Other pickups on guitar: N/A
Artists using this pickup: Me/Other wise not sure who famous uses them
You musical style(s): Blues
Reason for pickup change: Wanted a little more punch and midrange. SRV tone etc.

Perceived output level: Slightly hotter then normal/Very punchy/Nice clarity and base response
Tone: I think well balanced but we will talk about that.
Sonic evaluation: I am using a very nice Jimmy Vaughan strat with alder body and maple neck. Changed the cheap 1 ply guard to a three ply tortoise. Very nice on the Olympic white. Amp is a classic 50/410 with a Boss compressor and an Ibanez TS9.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Great in all positions for blues. Very nice tone

Comments: Now we get into it. I read all the reviews and rancor about these pups before I bought them. Never have I seen so many mixed reviews on a product. The key to these pups is putting them into a guitar that is completely shielded and grounded. Secondly these pups CANNOT be mounted to regular pup specs. The lower to the guard the better. Slightly raised in the neck. Even to the guard in the middle. Slightly raised a smidgeon more then the neck in the bridge. A TBX tone control is a must. (My opinion) I would wager to bet those that bitch about these pups have them in a crappy guitar and they are way to close to the strings. These pups were designed for a certain sound and they do it well but I get very warm tones from these as well. SRV's sound had way more to do with his unigue attack and phrasing, donkey dick strings and string height then it did his guitar and pups. That man would sound like himself playing a squire. If you buy these pups and think you will sound like SRV your wasting your money unless you have mastered his style and few have. So be honest with yourself before you buy these. They will NOT magically turn you into SRV. I get zero hum from these but that is because I took the time to properly shield and ground my guitar. These are very nice pups for the money and can deliver a wide range of tone if you set them up and use them properly. Remeber also you have tone controls on your guitar and an EQ on your amp. USE them.

Pickup features: Texas Specials single coil passive pups.
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: 2002 Fender Fat Strat Deluxe with Alder body and maple/rosewood neck.
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Stock Fender MIMs (THEY STINK)!!!!
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup: SRV, Jeff Beck
You musical style(s): Blues Gospel and some jazz.
Reason for pickup change: Stock Fender MIMs PUPS sounded like "dog-meat."

Perceived output level: Hot, but with a warm undertone particularly in the neck position. Its all in the adjustment preferences.
Tone: Balanced and easily recharged to meet the need of the song, gig, etc.
Sonic evaluation: I play through a Crate DFX and a Fender Ultimate Chorus. The power of the Crate helps for large gigs but the Fender Chorus sounds super also. Its a matter of style and type of playing environment.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Blues/Gospel. Works well after adjustment in any position. Depends on desired tone.

Comments: I have been playing for nearly 30 years. I have owned Washburn, Gibson, Hagstrum, and I like the fender best of all. Compared to the stock MIMs these pups rock! Great tone and sustain with that SRV, Cray, Beck sound. The Fender guitar I own is a mim Delux Fat Strat which I adjusted with the Texas Specials and Americn pots and switch.. What a superb pick! This axe will stand up against any guitar on the market for playability and sound. Build your own, I did!

Pickup features:
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Schecter S model
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Monstertones, made by Tom Anderson.
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup: According to Ren? Martinez, SRV?s tech, Stevie Ray actually DID use these for a short time before he died.
You musical style(s): Blues Rock, Texas
Reason for pickup change: The Schecter monstertones, are great pickups, but when tapped, are pretty thin, and at full output, too hot!
I was looking for something in between.

Perceived output level: These are (now), just right in my guitar, for the typical Stevie tone. But it took a long time till I got it right.
Tone: Good bass twang, great mids, lots of treble, I use a heavier pick, that helps to keep the piercing down!
Sonic evaluation: I use fatsoflex cables, Boss TU-2 tuner > Fulltone Clyde > Analogman TS-9/Silver > ?64 Vibroverb, Mesa Subway Blues > Leslie 16.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: These should be good for many styles.

Comments: To Bryan the Idiot, who says below that we are all losers for believing that SRV used these pickups, Ren? Martinez has news for you; HE DID USE THEM. Even if it was just for a short time.
Now this don?t mean all that much to me, but some people should really get their facts right, before big-mouthin? about things they obviously have no idea about.
I bought these pickups in 1998, originally for my Am.Std., but I never really liked that guitar since I got my Schecters, so I tried them a few times in different guitars, but never got them to sound right. It really is important to find the right combination of PU?s, wood, strings, Bridge, (Callaham is fitted), cables, pots caps etc.
You have to find the right combo for yourself, and that can be a pain in the ass. I suggest asking someone who really know?s his stuff, like Ren? Martinez. He?s the only person alive, who knows what was in SRV?s guitars!
These sound really good now, I didn?t give up!
Alot of people dis these pu?s, but many of them maybe just didn?t give them a chance, or had the wrong combination of parts. It?s not normally the pick-ups fault....

Pickup features: Passive Single Coil
Impedence or other specs: Texas Special Strat Bridge Pickup: DC Resistance: 7.6K Inductance: 3.58Henries Texas Special Strat Middle Pickup: DC Resistance: 6.5K Inductance: 2.6Henries Bridge 7.6K, Middle 6.5K, Neck 6.2K

Model of guitar or bass: Fender Custom Shop 60's Relic
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: 60's Custom Shop set, Dimarzio HS-3 & HS-2.
Other pickups on guitar: N/A
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Rock, Blues, Some Country.
Reason for pickup change: Interested in a hotter pickup for my strat.

Perceived output level: These are hotter than stock, very nice improvement.
Tone: Experimented with them and found the sweet spot to be flush with the pickguard in the neck and middle, slightly above the pickguard in the bridge. When set in these positions the output is very well balanced.
Sonic evaluation: I use fender amps (Vibro-King, Prosonic) and a Line 6 POD for practice. These pickups have grown on me, at first I was disappointed with the sound, I dropped them down flush with the pickguard and that opened them up big time. I am surprized every time I play by how versitle these pickups are, they do the Texas SRV thang great. I was practicing the other day and started playing some early Pink Floyd, sounded dead on (Marshally Eric Johnson type sound). The more I play these the more I appreciate the complexites of the sounds of all my gear!

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Great match for blues and rock.

Comments: I am interested in trying some fralins, would be interesting to compair these to a set of vintage blues. Overall I am very satisfied with these.

Pickup features: Single
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Custom build strat
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: NA
Other pickups on guitar: NA
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Blues, Rock
Reason for pickup change: I got these pickups because I wanted a guitar that could sound like Stevie Ray Vaughan and get some good texas blues tone.

Perceived output level: The output is very hot and sensitive. It blows away my other guitars here, just gotta turn it down when playing this one. If you're playing with other guitarists in your band, you'll need to be aware of your balance when you switch to these for sure.
Tone: Tone is pure SRV, wonderful. Sounds best in the neck position for classic SRV. Neck + middle, and middle alone also sound very much like SRV on some of the songs where he matches this selection, like the intro to Little Wing. This is neck + middle and sounds dead on!
Sonic evaluation: Can't afford a Fender amp yet, so I'm playing through a Boss ME-33, using it's COSM to model a Fender Twin. The results are pretty darn good. That plus these pickups give a great SRV sound.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: The pickups are not very "all-purpose" though. If you're looking for pickups that can play a little bit of everything, something else may be better suited for that. I can get by playing other styles in the bridge position, but it's not ideal. IMO, neck position is best, bridge worse.

Comments: For Texas Blues, they are awesome. Would definitely replace them if lost.
I've been playing guitar for about 20 years and been in music for probably 25. Also own an Epiphone Les Paul Custom for my main guitar.
I have not compared these pickups to others, such as the Tex-Mex specials, but I have heard those are a lot of hype. I would imagine these pickups would blow the Tex-Mex out of the water for texas blues tone.