Fender Tex-Mex

Pickup features: Single coil, passive
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Fender Cali Strat
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced:
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup: Jimmie Vaughan
You musical style(s): Psychadelic rock, hard rock, bluesy rock, classic rock
Reason for pickup change:

Perceived output level: Very hot pickups for a single coil. Kinda noisey when not playing but i dont mind.
Tone: Very trebley. It has a twangy sound, that i dont really like
Sonic evaluation: Fender Cali Strat>big muff>fender roc pro 1000

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I usually use the neck and middle pups. I plan to have them replaced with the 57/62 and have these put on my fender standard strat.

Comments: I dont like how twanginess to these and i dont like all the treble it provides. Its a good pup but i think i can do better with the 57/62's. This would be better for me if i played blues and country but since i play mostly rock, it doesnt suit me and i want a really vintage and quite frankly, i dont think this is that vintagey

Pickup features: single coil
Impedence or other specs: unknown

Model of guitar or bass: Squire Strat 70s - big headstock - solid maple neck - standard issue design
Position: neck
Pickup being replaced: stock
Other pickups on guitar: replaced all pots with 250k American
Artists using this pickup: ?
You musical style(s): blues rock, country rock, southern rock
Reason for pickup change: Squire - junk electronics -

Perceived output level: twice the output of the standard squire or mexican versions
Tone: precieved tone has much to do with your amp and string gage: Neck P.U. has that stinging crunchy twang, Mid P.U. not remarkable - it is reverse wound- , bridge P.U. very trebly, but that works in some situations - best of all are the inbetween positions- sweet -sweet-sweet -much like SRV in the 2 and 4th switch positions -
Sonic evaluation: Have Marshall, Fender and Brownsville amps - I prefer the Marshall or Brownsville for a bit of sting with the tone. Fender just to clean. I like to run an ART pre amp on the Brownsville GR35 lead channel only. I record into Fostex FD-8 - VF-16, playback through Klipsch KG1s - I'm hearing good tone - with 11 gage strings I hear pure Skynard tones SRV - Old ZZ TOP.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: allready stated above

Comments: Alinco magnets - the real deal -Set up was a bit ticky.I had to keep lowering the middle and neck pickups, as mentined before, the bridge is quiet trebly no matter how it set it up. I guess that means there fairly hot. The final height off the pick gard is about 3/16"
based on other reviews I would probably try a set of Fender fat 50s next.

Pickup features: single coil, passive
Impedence or other specs: n/a

Model of guitar or bass: california strat
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: stock
Other pickups on guitar: none
Artists using this pickup: ?
You musical style(s): blues, rock, jazz
Reason for pickup change:

Perceived output level: normal
Tone: over trebly on bridge, more middle balanced on other 2, but still high treble
Sonic evaluation: First impression was disappointing, playing straight into fender blues deville 4x10 clean channel on very high gain. Sound over trebly and brittle, with very weak overdrive sound. Did not compare well to std. US strat on same settings. Experience turned me back on to humbuckers for several months. I then Played one gig through Mesa Nomad 55, and the tex mex pickups sounded outstanding. At high volume, both clean and overdrive sounds were phenomenal for hendrix, srv type tones; very full midrange, tons of warm harmonics. Adding a tube screamer to my blues deville setup on clean channel, made a world of difference, and I am now hooked on the sound of these pickups.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Good as mentioned for hendrix, srv, robin trower both clean and overdriven. A little too much twang for jazz, not enough output, or razor distortion capability for metal.

Comments: Playing 23 years. Own bunch of fender guitars/amps, plus collection of mostly super stratlike aria, yamaha, kramer guitars. Very much a single coil fan, but do own a LP standard, and Aria ES335 "like" semi.After initial disappointment with these pickups, and consideration of changing to texas specials, I have come to really appreciate their tone. I might not buy them again. I purchased california strat for one of the best sunburst alder bodies I had seen on any strat in years. The eventual "usable" tone has been a bonus. I do think that checkout with your own amp would be essential before purchase. These are certainly not the most flexible pickups on the market, and you could easily end up hating them given the wrong effects/amplification.

Pickup features: Passive Single Coil
Impedence or other specs: don't know

Model of guitar or bass: Fender Standard Strat
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: stock
Other pickups on guitar: Tex-Mex
Artists using this pickup: ?
You musical style(s): Blues, Rock
Reason for pickup change: Stock pickups were too thin, and not very musical.

Perceived output level: A bit hotter than stock pickups.
Tone: Pretty balanced. A little middy.
Sonic evaluation: I'm using a Standard Strat through a Danelectro Daddy-O into a Rage 158 practice amp. Pickups suited my tastes fine.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Great pickups for blues or old rock, gets a good SRV tone.

Comments: If they were lost I would save up to buy something else, maybe the custom shop '69 or fat 50's, but, being that they are my first upgrade on my strat, I am very satisfied with the Tex-Mex pickups.

Pickup features: Passive single coil
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Fender Squier Strat
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: All
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup: Jimmy Vaughan (on his signature strat)
You musical style(s): Rockabilly,blues,R&B
Reason for pickup change: Stock Squier pickups had thin,unmusical tone.

Perceived output level: Not real high output, but more than stock pickups.
Tone: Balanced, a little mid-heavy when pushed,but not muddy like TX Specials.
Sonic evaluation: I use these with a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe with a Visual Sounds Ultimate Overdrive in front (great pedal). These pickups are just what I was hoping they would be. My Squier's stock pu's were OK for clean,lousy with overdrive. These are great,smooth tones galore.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: These pickups are good for your classic Strat sounds, from Knophler to SRV.

Comments: I got a deal on these pickups off eBay. They make my cheap import Squier sound like a good Strat (now if it would only play like one). Definately a great value to me.

Pickup features: Passive single coil (humbucker in bridge)
Impedence or other specs: Don't know.

Model of guitar or bass: Fender Tex-Mex "Fat strat"
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: NONE
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup: I'm an artist right?
You musical style(s): A little of everything. I prefer rock, hard rock... a little metal. : )
Reason for pickup change:

Perceived output level: Hotter than average but not schorchin'... they're single coils. : )
Tone: Usually pretty clear. Pristine without distortion... Generally good tone. Depends on who's playing, doesn't it? ; )
Sonic evaluation: I'm using a Fender Roc Pro 700 amp, a Dunlop CryBaby and a Boss ME-30 in the FX-loop. With amp and guitar alone I would make it through most gigs but would be a little limited... (don't like having to crank the volumeknob for every solo ;).
The guitar is very versatile, especially due to the humbucker in bridge position. Both single coils and humbucker are Tex-Mex. The singles distort fairly good and the humbucker does it very nicely. With the gain on lowest possible setting, the spring reverb on four and neck pick-up a real bluesman would make the guitar and amp really sing, litterally wailing in despair! :)

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I'm in a band that plays covers on everything from CCR to Black Sabbath through Metallica and Deep Purple... I need versatile P-U's and these do it all. : )

Comments: I like these pick-ups a lot. It's nice to buy a guitar and discover that the stock P-U's are good. I've played for about... say two and a half years and I've owned a few guitars... My first was a Squire Strat, second a Yamaha SG300 (Les Paulish despite the name) which I still have. I've had an old Ibanez RG and a Maison... don't ask me why I bought it. I listen to heavy , speed and power metal and loads of classic hard rock. For metal single coils are no good, but for hard rock they might work.
If the guitar was stolen I would buy another one just like it if I had the money.
Just for the record I'd like to state that I have played three different strats at gigs. The Squire I mentioned, a friends Fender and mine. Mine has, by far, the highest output and most balls. These P-U's are sure to handle all styles where a good clean sound is wanted and quite a few where distorted ones are vital.
Feel free to contact me after having plowed thropugh my incoherrent ravings. :)
(Comment to the overall rating: I got it at a VERY good price :)

Pickup features: Single coil and its passive
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Cyclone
Position: neck
Pickup being replaced: none
Other pickups on guitar: Atomic Humbucker
Artists using this pickup: umm dunno
You musical style(s): Grunge/Alternative/rock/ butthole surfers to hole and nirvana...a bit of blues improvising.
Reason for pickup change:

Perceived output level: Ummm pretty good for a single coil its a bit hotter than a rwgular one i guess.
Tone: Its quite bassy in the neck position of my Cyclone i guess in the bridge it would be more trebly its nto really bassy especially for a neck pickup.
Sonic evaluation: Cylcone->BOSS OS-2 [dist/od] ->Park G10

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Its not really a good match i dont use neck pickups much but when i play some bluesy stuff its great...nice sound. Its quite good for hole songs actually.

Comments: Yeah i might choose this again if i were replacing a single coil or something. Nice pickup much better than the atomic humbucker o my cyclone. Im satisfied with the pickup cause i dont play neck pickups a lot and its not bad...not bad at all.

Pickup features: single coil/passive
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Fender Standard Stratocaster (Mexican Made)
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Stock
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Blues/Rock
Reason for pickup change: The stock pickups were very weak.

Perceived output level: A little hotter than your typical single coil. But they don't get "muddy" like the Fender Texas Specials Or Rio Grande Tall-Boys.
Tone: Very clean and trebbly in positions 1 and 3. Position 2 produces a good smokehouse blues sound with a little overdrive.
Sonic evaluation: I really like these pickups for blues and rock. But they aren't meant for anything with alot of distortion. I am using a Fender Standard Stratocaster with a Zoom 505 effects unit and a Fender Champion 110 amp.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I play mostly blues and rock these days and these pickups are great for those styles. But if Iwant to play something a little heavier, like Metallica or Ozzy, I use my Ibanez AX320H.

Comments: If I purchased another Mexican Standard Strat I would definitely replace the stock pickups with another set of Tex-Mex. When I bought them I compared them with the Rio Grande line and the Fender Texas Specials, but these ones had the tone I was looking for. I have also modified my strat to use all three pickups or the bridge/neck combonation and the sound great in either of those positions as well. I have to admit that I'm not too wild about the sound I get from the bridge pickup alone.

Pickup features: single coil passive
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Tex-mex strat
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: stock
Other pickups on guitar: stock
Artists using this pickup: lots of people
You musical style(s): all
Reason for pickup change:

Perceived output level: I think these are a little hotter than the average single coil. But, don't compare it to a humbucker, because that is not at all what this pckup is trying to be. It has real bell-like clarity
Tone: very pure in the neck, great clean fingerpicking or ballad type sound in the neck-mid spot, mid position is great for blues with overdrive. use the bridge mid- for pretty light stuff, but not as much as other in between spot. bridge can handle punk and I love it for blues/classic rock. If you want heavy metal and that's all, than first of all, you are severely limiting yourself, and second of all don't expect that from any single coil pickup anywhere.
Sonic evaluation: I really like these pickups. I am using a Tex-mex strat into a Fender Blues Deville 2x12. What a great amp, but that's a whole other story.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I play everything. Literally. Punk, heavy metal, classic rock, blues, funk, jazz, classical, alternative, etc. these pickups work well except for the metal stuff. I also have a les paul, so I can get humbucker sound if I want it.

Comments: If these pickups were stolen (?) I would get new ones, or try texas specials. I have been playing about 2 years now. I have a danelectro 56-u2, a strat, and a les paul. All this goes into my Deville. I like the bell-like clarity of these pickups, and there is nothing wrong with their output. I sort of wanted to review these because of the other people who were complaining about these pickups not being able to keep up with humbuckers for distortion. WELL, DUH!! NO single coil does that, idiots! I am satisfied with this pickup.

Pickup features: single coil/passive
Impedence or other specs: dunnow

Model of guitar or bass: Fender Stratocaster (made in Mexico)
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: going to replace the bridge, but not for this evaluation (in otherwords: NONE)
Other pickups on guitar: stock
Artists using this pickup: don't know. Don't wanna know.
You musical style(s): metal, death metal, thrash
Reason for pickup change: Not changing these for this review, but I am changing the bridge pickup with a Bill Lawrence L-500 XL. Why? These pickups are like a casterated male dog. THEY HAVE NO BALLS.

Perceived output level: These pickups are about as hot as lukewarm water compared to a humbucker. Compared to other single coils, they have average power output.
Tone: The bridge position is kinda trebly. No bass. Can't adjust the tone when it's in the bridge position. Gets VERY (I can't stress VERY enough) muddy with distortion (even on my Metalzone!!). The 1/3/5 positions BUZZ LIKE A HORNET with distortion. And the 2/4 positions are VERY MUDDY. Little, if any treble. BUT IT DOESN'T BUZZ!!!
Sonic evaluation: I am using this combo for EVALUATION:
Strat to MetalZone to Marshall JCM900 to Marshall 4*12 cabs.
Everything here rocks hardcore, except the pickups. When I whipped in a humbucker (EMG '81 or Bill Lawrence L-500 XL; it ROCKED CARDCORE with either of these p/u's)

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I play metal in the tradition of Deicide/Venom/Pantera/Metallica (not the new crap). These pickups are unsuitable for this style COMPLETELY. These pickups suck in EVERY position. They either buzz like a model airplane, or sound muddy. VERY muddy.

Comments: If these P-O-S pickups were destroyed, I wouldn't care. If they were stolen, I'd be happy never to see them again. I've been playing for 7 years. I own 5 other guitars. I'm not telling you WHAT I own, because you can't have my sound.
These pickups suck HARDCORE!!! If you see them, RUN LIKE HELL. Save your money. Buy an EMG 83. You'll be VERY happy.
I am giving these a 2, because they got me out of trouble one time. That's the only reason.