Fender Original '57/'62 Strat Pickups

three single coils installed as a set
all three are 5.6Ks

These pickups were installed in a 2002 Squier Stratin all three positions.
pickups replaces were the stock Squier pickups which sounded really weak.These are the only other pups that have been in this guitar since I bought it used October 2007.
I'm not aware of any other guitarists using these pickups.
I was honestly looking for something with a bit of a muddy bite to it but my local music store recommended these 57/62s at a really good price so I bought them. I always could change them out if I didn't like 'em.

Output level is a lot different coming out of the two amps I play through. My main amp is a 1968 Fender tube Pro Reverb and the other is a Marshall MG10 Kerry king model. No effects save for the built-in effects (OD,etc) in the Marshall are being used at the moment. When I find an effect(s) that can give me that certain sound I'm looking for then that effect will go iline with my Fender amp.
Tone-wise these pups are DEAD ON nailing the vintage Strat sound. There could be more midrange sound but other than that these have that sweet Strat tone.
For certain blues these 57/62s are a good match. Muddy Waters,Buddy Guy,et.al.these are good for that clean blues tone.If you want a muddy blues sound try another pickup. Late 50s up to mid 60s rock/beach music these pickups are perfect. Also for certain country sounds where you can get twangy if you don't have a Telecaster these also shine. I love Johnny cash's music and sound and you can nail it using a Strat with these 57/62 pickups.
Using positions 2 and 4 you have to play with the tone on both the guitar and the amp as the sound and tone you get is as if all the tone knobs have been set to "0" or another was to describe it is if you have a cassette playing in your car stereo and you press the Dolby button.I generally play using pickup switch positions 3 and 5. When I do use 1 (bridge pickup) I'll roll the treble back some.

Anything happens to this guitar and she's replaced I would deffinitely get another set of 57/62s.Growing up and playing mostly humbuckers these or any other single coil pickups won't give you that perfect sound but for most vintage blues/country these pickups nail that sound.
I've been playing off and on for 31 years and even though I've played mostly Gibsons with humbuckers I've found that certain particular sound I've been looking for for awhile with this guitar/pickup combination. These are NOT the be-all-end-all pickups by no means-FAR from it.I do own another Squier Strat that will get other aftermarket pickups.I did play other Strats with other Fender pickups and even though my past guitars have had mostly Dimarzios or Seymour Duncan pickups these 57/62s sounded best to me. My 57/62s were bought at the recommendation of my local guitar guru and I'm satisfied.
I'm satisfied with the vintage sound/tone these 57/62s produce but to me no one particular pickup will give you that perfect sound.

Three single coil passive pickups 5.6K

This was installed in my American standard stratocaster, replacing the stock pickups. I found the stock pups just dont have the real strat sound i was after.

The second i played these pickups i was blown away with how good the sound was. I play a strat through fender deluxe with a tube screamer and a wah, I have had many diffrent amps and effects in my time but as I get older i want to make everything simple. Anyway I have to say with these pups compared to the stock one's Great Great tone, just what i was after and my strat sound come alive. These are perfect if your after that classic strat sound and for the money. They are great for blues, rock, jazz, country, but maybe not metal, but if you played metal you would not buy single coils or a strat.

I would buy these again if the guitar was stolen! i have been playing for about 11 years and played alot of diffrent guitars. I own a very nice Telecaster and a Gibson SG. I have owned an Ibanez RG 550, Gibson Les Paul, Jackson, Strat's Tele's, semi acoustic's. And with these pups this is one of the best sounds i have heard on a guitar and perfect for many styles of music. I play in a few bands including a function band and with these pickups it is perfect for many styles of music. But I would say if you play metal these are not for you and better paying the money for some seymour duncan hotrails or something. But for me these are great and LOVE the tone.

5.6K passive single coils

What model guitar or bass did you install this in?: MIM Fender Standard Strat

What position is it in?: All 3

What pickup are you replacing?: Stock Ceramic single coils

Other pickups installed on the instrument?: none

Any artists using this pickup? : Probably a bunch

Reason for changing the pickup? : Stock single coils were weak in all ways!

These are in my MIM Standard Strat into a Fender FM25R amp. These pickups are sweeet. They have that chimey high end, the middle strings are loud, and the lows are springy and not too deep with excellent attack. Even though all 3 pickups are identical, you get different sounds in each position. The 2 and 4 have that quack! that you expect. I put the tone control #2 onto the bridge and so the middle pickup is a little brighter and fuller and the bridge pickup can be rolled off, great mod. Anyways this is very much the classic strat sound in every way. Perfect for blues, classic rock, pop, surf, anything you want to use a strat for. The middle pickup isnt reverse but I think the very authentic tone makes up for that.

If these were stolen, or I was building a strat, these would go in it. Not very expensive for NAILING the strat sound. The only thing is that sometimes the middle d and g strings can stand out above the others, but its not too difficult to adjust your picking to compensate a bit. I put these into a Squier Strat first and that guitar sounded beautiful with these but my maple fretboard MIM strat loves these even more.
This is THAT strat sound, as far as vintage stuff goes.

I've been playing 5 years and although most of that time has been spent playing humbuckers, I've played enough pickups to know these are worth it all the way. If you want an inexpensive but accurate tone for a strat, get these.

I wouldn't know which of my words would be put by HC first so please bear with me.

These pickups are some of those vintage-styled passive single coils; "Reissues" (made in USA) of those Fender pickups from the late 50s and early 60s. We know how great that era was for Fender and the world.

Specs: (all of them trio)
Fiber bobbins, Vintage Cloth Wires, Potted, Hotter Vintage Output
...Thats all I can understand and care about when it comes to p/up specs.

Unfortunately I could always try pickups only on my Fender MIJ 50s stratocaster fitted with a 60s body probably of alder. I had the stock pickups and I can barely recall their characteristics. I sold them. For the longest time, I had Vintage Noiseless Pickups on it. They were bright but lacked something. Then I decided to change my pickups after reading some bad things about the V. Noiseless ones. Now I'm a happy '57/'62 player.

I used to always play the neck position but I learned that John Mayer uses neck+middle. And sometimes he uses the mid only. I'm not saying that John uses '57/'62s but hey, these pickups are hotter, chirpier-growlier like the Texas Specials. As you might have known, John used the SRV strat as his fave for a long time. I read people(as in more than a couple) say that FEnder should've put '57/'62s on the SRV model. Cut your mids and these pickups might sound probably like John's defective Texas Specials or even the mysterious Big Dippers. These pickups come with those USA vintage RI Strats.

These '57/'62 pickups are significantly "hotter" than my Vintage Noiseless Pickups. Them 57/62s bring a nice growl or scream used with a tubescreamer and a tube amp. In my case, played through a BD-2> TS9DX> LEslie> AMp Modeller> Reverb> Hybrid tube amp. I can only guess they'd sound better with Fender tube amps cause I don't have one now. I had to use an amp modeller and turn the treble way up whatever guitars or effects I use. Them 57/62s have lots of bass and mid frequencies. I had to dig the highs in my case*. Ring out an overdriven chord and you could still distinguish the sound(even the note) of each of the strings. The middle positions sounded more usable because they sounded fuller. Its almost like they have what you like on the neck-only pos. and mid positions altogether. I think its similar to what they say "good mid positions" on scooped mid pickups. The diagram that Fender put inside my package wont let the tone knob on the bridge pickup work. I suspect its because the diag. showed to unusually not put a connector between the two middle terminals on the switch.

I play GREAT blues. John Mayer's music is great blues music. He sometimes use Master Built(also CS) Strats that have custom pickups that sound like '57/'62s. By the way, I dont think he ever played a guitar not either masterbuilt or custom.

I'd give 9 because it amazed me until I had to dig some chirp treble like that tone on "Wait Until Tomorrow". I know He had some Two Rocks and Dumbles there but is treble too much to ask for? ...Maybe its my crap-amp.

...Oh just help me God.

Besides, If I put 10, it wouldnt be right cuz then Custom Shop, Boutique and Masterbuilt pickups wouldn't be any higher on my rating.

If I'd ever be lucky living a life where I could stop by Fender in my rare free time and buy an interesting vintage or custom shop guitar; or even answer my phone to specify stuff for a new masterbuilt thats like this and that, yea, I think I would still put '57/'62s on one of my guitars. This time it'd have to be built by my masterbuilder hahah! No, Fender makes good "standard" and "original" stuff. Dont worry.

I put 10 in this rating cuz I didn't have to be rich or call a masterbuilder to get these pickups. I just save a bit, sell a pedal and ask for my dad's credit card and thats it. I get SRV and some JM sounds! I even lived the fantasy of working in the Custom Shop; wiring a strat very neatly. (I still have to work on my soldering skills 'cuz the joints still aren't chrome shiny.)

Good luck with your endless tone hunt!

Original '57/'62 Stratocaster?? Pickups (Set of 3)Single Coil Pickup
DC Resistance: 5.6K; Inductance: 3.0Henries
middle pickup is not reverse wound

I installed the '57/'62 Strat Pickups in my Fender Jimmie Vaughan Signature Strat to improve the sound. The stock Tex-Mex pickups are slightly overwound, which produce too much mid-range and do not have good-sounding bass or treble response.

The output of the '57/'62 Strat Pickups is comparable to the stock Tex-Mex pickups. However, the tone of these pickups is noticeably different and is much closer to a true 'vintage' Strat sound, at least to my ears. These pickups have excellent bass and treble response, with no "ice pick" harshness or excess "mudrange". The lows are extremely round and full-sounding, and the highs are glassy and clear, with good string separation for all strings. Excellent sound in all 5-way pickup selector positions, particularly 2 and 4. These pickups are capable of accurately reproducing SRV or Eric Johnson tones.

These pickups sound great and are a real bargain considering the high prices of boutique pickups available on the market today. I've been playing guitar for over 40 years and own several vintage guitars and amps. My main rig for playing with my band is a JV Strat played through a Fender Blues Deluxe Reissue amp, which is a very affordable, good-sounding setup. Although the stock JV Tex-Mex pickups sound ok, I've never been 100% satisfied with them. After several years of experimenting with different amps, tone settings, etc, I finally decided to replace the stock pickups to improve my sound. My goal was to get as close as possible to a true 'vintage' Fender Strat sound. After doing some research and reading previous HC reviews, I finally decided on the Fender '57/'62 Strat Pickups. Before I bought these I also looked at various 'boutique' Strat pickups (Lollar, Kinman, etc), but was not convinced that the high price of these designer pickups was justified for my needs. To be honest, I was not convinced that changing the pickups on my guitar would do much to improve the sound, but after installing these new pickups I'm truly amazed at how much better my guitar sounds. I would recommend this set of pickups to anyone who is not satisfied with the sound of their stock Strat pickups and desires a more vintage Strat sound. IMHO the sound produced by these pickups is probably about as close as you can get to a real 'vintage' Strat sound without having to buy a vintage Strat.