Tex-Mex Strat Pickups

I am a private guitar luthier and through merely proper setup & pickup height adjustment I'm usually contempt with stock pickups...... Well this was my first time changing pickups in the interest of sound, I put these in my 2023 Squier Affinity Telecaster. I've always had poor experience with T style guitars not sounding how I expect them to with the exception of G&L ASAT models I've tried, those have been the only Ts that sound like Teles I hear in both country and rock songs. My Squier sounds good across the board (typical of lower end Squiers when setup correctly) but isn't awesome in any categories (country, rock, jazz, blues, pop, etc) so figured a pickup change would help it hone in on one of those. So after hearing a couple videos I thought I'd try out these Tex Mex pickups due to sound vs price, for context I play about everything but wanted my Tele to be focused on Country & Rock. This was definitely the right route! Each coil has twice the copper my Squier pickups did and the output difference reflects this. The sound chart Fender puts on the package for these is quite accurate but I have to say it takes some dialing in to set the neck pickup height where you like it. I have 9-42 strings on right now and will probably change to 10-46, right now the thinnest 2 strings are weaker than the rest on the neck pickup so I had to raise that side of the pickup up more than the bass side (maybe a no-load tone pot will help cure this). Also know that the bridge pickup is a good 30% stronger than the neck. Fender says 2-3mm pickup height from the strings and I agree, happy with 2.5mm. Anyways, now my Squier has a bridge pickup that really kicks butt! And the neck pickup is smooth without being too mellow. All around great dynamics and good/great clarity. This was the ticket to have the exact country pick'n & rock power chords I wanted out of the bridge AND have that glorious neck tone I hear from my favorite Strat players (Hendrix, Frusciante, Mayer, etc). My only complaint sound wise is that the neck is a little weak but you can tell it's from the nice shiny cover so if you don't mind the look it is easily removed for better sound. Now for the pickup swap info: For some dumb reason the ground wire for the bridge pickup is only 3" which isn't long enough to even pass through the wire hole to the controls of any Telecaster so I'm forced to believe that it's meant to be soldered to the bridge or tied to the ground wire under that. I opted to extend that ground wire, you'll likely do the same. Next thing to know is the pickups are dimensionally larger than the low-end Squier pickups (Classic Vibes for instance are dimensionally correct) so be prepared to enlarge the holes for them or be contempt with a snug fit. The set graciously includes silicone tubes for pickup springs, if you don't yet know these are the secret to preventing physical pickup rattle/buzz. The screws included are genuine Telecaster hardware too, note that the neck pickup screws are much thinner for historical accuracy - see attched photo. If you want larger ones you'll have to enlarge the holes for them in the pickup bobbin. Last note to mention is the neck pickup cover is soldered separately to that pickup's ground wire so a simple snip & resolder will let you wire the 2 pickups in series if you want - I utilize this in a 5-way switch wiring scheme, very versatile setup for any Tele. That's probably everything you can know about these. Do I recommend them in a Classic Vibe Telecaster or higher spec guitar? No, most of those will already have comparable pickups if not these already BUT if they don't have Tex Mex pickups already I think this bridge pickup is a must and probably leave whatever neck pickup you have. Do I recommend them in an Affinity, Bullet, or other lower Squier or even other low-budget T-style guitars? Yes, significant upgrade every time.

These pickups are great for upgrading my squier strat. they made a big difference in the sound I also changed the pots cts and CRL5 way switch.they are alnico magnets and have a higher ohm's bridge pickup 7.5 and less than 100 bucks compared to some of hundreds of over priced pickup people selling the same pickups let's face it you can spend a fortune chasing the perfect tone but the player has a lot to do with it not the pickups 🎸

Fender quality should be perfect for my project

Rewind 3 years ago...i bought a custom shop 1960 reissue strat. The original pickups were the very best strat pickups I've ever heard. They were exactly what I wanted a strat to sound like. I didn't like the thin neck on the guitar though, so I got rid of it. I've been playing strats for 25 years professionally; I've tried Don Mare, vintage noiseless, somarian cobalt noiseless, custom shop 69, seymour duncan, among others. Recently, I bought a used MIM road worn strat which I like very much. They have the Tex Mex pickups in these guitars. I love the way they sound. Just to compare, I decided to switch them out with some pickups I had laying around. First, the Fender Texas Specials. Tex Mex blows these out of the water. Texas Specials were very generic sounding in comparison. Kinda dead sounding, very ehh, not inspiring. Next, Fralin Vintage Hot. These were a little better than the Texas Specials, but they sounded like just regular run of the mill strat pickups to me. I guess if you were looking for a guitar that is a Jack of all trades, master of none, these might be good. No shimmery, stratty, glassy bell like tones. Put the Tex Mex back in... Wow these sound fantastic! They sound just like those custom shop'60 reissues. Super stratty, shimmery, warm, glassy and bell like clean. With some gain, they dirty up really nicely, retaining all the above qualities, but when you dig in they can get thick and sustained and make me want to play for hours. Buddy Holly cleans, Very Gilmourish when pushed with gain and fuzz. Very impressed!

These are the least expensive pickup set that Fender makes and are a great upgrade for swapping out on a Squier or Mexican Fender

I replaced the pickups in a Squier Strat with these. The Squier pickups were OK, but these do sound better and are completely different construction. I had to return the first set because the Bridge pickup was wrong. The bridge pickup was actually a middle pickup with yellow & black wires installed to make it look like a bridge pickup. Clearly a factory screw-up and probably not the only time they've done this. The fact that these made it out of the factory speaks to the lack of quality control. It sounded very wrong in switch position 4 (bridge + middle) because the polarity was backwards. I verified by measuring the pickup resistance with a DMM and the magnetic polarity with a compass that the bridge pickup was in fact a middle pickup. When the second set arrived, I checked the replacement pickups *before* installing them. The new set sounds great. The bridge pickup is noticeably hotter than the other two. I wired the pickups in the Dan Armstrong blend configuration (see Guitar Player magazine Feb 1987) and installed a TBX tone pot. I'm pleased with the results, but the tone control might need some tweaking. Five stars for great price, great sound; minus one star for having to return the first set.

I put these onto a cheap Squire Strat. The install took a little time, but was fairly easy if you’re ok with a soldering iron. The result was a much better sound - more like a traditional Strat. Highly recommend this upgrade.

Love this pickups!!!

Ottimo rapporto qualità/spesa...usati per una Telecaster autocostruita..e devo dire che la timbrica è molto fedele...e un ottima potenza volume

Bon produit, conforme aux attentes d'un Fender.

Acquistati per sostituire i pick un originali inclusi nel kit Stratocaster Harley Benton, hanno sicuramente migliorato il suono, direi che è tutta un'altra chitarra.

Ich habe die TexMex Pickups in meine Eigenbau-Tele anstatt der chinesischen Keramik Tonabnehmer eingebaut....und bin angenehm überrascht. Warmer, bluesiger Sound. Genau was ich wollte. Der Einbau war kein Problem. Ein bisschen Löten und die Öffnung im Pickguard für den Hals-Pickup 1mm größer feilen. Passte bei mir ganz knapp nicht rein. Insgesamt absolut empfehlenswert. Sinnvolle Aufwertung für günstige Gitarren.

Ótimo produto. Instalei esses captadores em uma Tagima antiga e deu upgrade no som. Som verdadeiro de strato com os imãs de alnico 5.