The 30 Best Stratocaster Pickups For A Legendary Tone


Without a doubt, one of the all-time great electric guitars is the Fender Stratocaster, which became an iconic electric guitar with its distinctive looks and tones. Since the guitar’s first appearance in the 50s, it has been copied by many companies, and many different variations have been created. There are countless famous guitarists in history who played Fender Stratocasters, such as Jimi Hendrix, David Gilmour, and Eric Clapton.

Although traditional Stratocaster pickups are typically single-coils and are great for genres such as classic rock, blues, funk, and more, there are many different Stratocasters produced with different pickup configurations in history. 

From vintage-style Strats with classic rock tones to more modern-oriented Strats with humbuckers for heavier tones of metal, there are many options for Strat players to shape their sound and playing style today.

Seymour Duncan SSL-1 Set

  • Perfect pickups for playing clean, jazz, surf, blues, ska, rock
  • Sand cast Alnico 5 magnets made with authentic hand-ground stagger pattern
  • Great vintage sweetness, shine, and sparkle
  • Performs great with toned ash, alder, and basswood instruments and rosewood fretboards

For the classic Stratocaster sound, Seymour Duncan’s California 50s single-coil pickup set is a great choice with its rich, warm, and vintage sound. They are mainly used in the genres such as country, pop, classic rock, and rockabilly.

California ’50s is based on the tone of real 50s single-coil pickups but has a reverse-wound-reverse-polarity middle pickup, which means that it provides a wide range of timeless single-coil tones.

Fender Tex-Mex Set

Fender Tex-Mex Strat Pickups
  • Produces the characteristics of a vintage-style Stratocaster.
  • Offers increased output.
  • Alnico V magnets with Polysol-coated magnet wire.
  • The Fender volume pedal, the sleekFender volume tone pedal gives you...
  • Great for jazz, blues, rock
  • Bright and sparkling tone with polysol-coated magnet wire
  • Balanced output with staggered pole pieces
  • Reverse-wound and reverse-polarity middle pickup offers hum canceling in the 2nd and 4th positions.
  • Alnico 5 magnets for greater dynamics and focus
  • Modern design with vinyl-covered wiring and plastic bobbins

Fender Tex-Mex Set is a great single-coil pickup set for Stratocasters with a hot output, sparkling highs, and deep warmth in the tone, bringing the Strat’s sound back to life. It is a highly versatile set that can give you different voices, from Texas grind to soaring cleans.

The set comes equipped with the Fender Tex Mex Prewired Stratocaster Pickguard loaded with three specially wound single-coil pickups, a volume and two tone knobs, a 5-way switch, and all the necessary wiring system. So you can just load the pickups in the guitar and start playing with many different tones you get from the set.

Fishman Fluence Active Single Coil Set

Fishman Fluence Single Coil Pickups - White Set Of 3
  • Active Single-width Electric Guitar Pickups with Multi-voice Fluence Ce -...
  • Great for blues, rock, metal
  • Classic noise-free tone with active electronics
  • Contains all you need for installation
  • Multi-voice Fluence Core for dual unique voices

Fishman Fluence Strat pickups provide some of the greatest Strat tones ever, from sweet vintage tones to overwound punchy tones. The Fishman set succeeds at providing the classic Stratocaster sounds without any noise like hum, hiss, or any inductance issues.

The pickup set delivers the pure, uncorrupted, euphoric tones successfully. Additionally, the Fishman Fluence Active Single Coil Set features two different voice options, including clear, vintage single-coil sound and an overwound, muscular hot Texas single-coil voice. Having these two very different voices from the same pickups is amazing as it gives you huge versatility in a revolutionary way.

Xotic Raw Vintage 60 Single Coil Set

  • Ideal for jazz, blues, rock
  • Hand-wound Formvar copper pickups for killer tone
  • Design based on the 1963 pickups
  • High-quality tone transfer with Alnico 5 magnets
  • Vintage-style push-back cloth leads dipped in wax and lacquer for durability.

If you are after the famous Stratocaster vintage sound, the Xotic Raw Vintage 60 Single Coil Set might be the ideal set for you. It is specially designed by Xotic engineers to get that iconic vintage sound that is highly sought after by many guitarists.

The pickups have a unique design with period-accurate specs in the center and front. It is a hand-wound pickup with Alnico 5 magnets, single Formvar copper wire, and vintage-style push-back cloth leads in layers of wax and lacquer.

Overall, the Xotic Raw Vintage 60 Single Coil Set is a great hot-output pickup set with rolled-off highs, aggressive mid-range, and punchy lows. The pickups perform excellent with vintage amps as well as multi-effect high-gain style players. It gives the player great tonal versatility for having an all-rounder Stratocaster.

EMG SA Active Alnico Set

EMG SA Active Single Coil Guitar Pickup Set, Red
  • Combines the attributes of the early Strat sounds with added midrange...
  • This gives the pickup "bell-like" harmonics and increased sustain
  • This active single coil set, loaded with Alnico V bar magnets, sounds...
  • Eliminates noise with internal shielding and a low impedance preamp,...
  • Great for clean, jazz, blues, rock, 
  • Beef midrange sound
  • Noiseless pickups
  • Alnico V bar magnets

EMG SA Active Alnico Set consists of three single-coil pickups that thrive in delivering the early Strat tones. The set is great for having the vintage Strat tones with some extra midrange response and higher output. So, this way, the pickups deliver bell-like harmonics and extra sustain.

The major characteristic of this set is that they are active single-coil pickups. They feature the Alnico V bar magnets, which sound airy and bright with rich low ends. They eliminate the noise with an internal shielding system and low impedance preamp. This way, the set never sacrifices the true single-coil tones.

The pickups have a creamy mid-range warmth which is great for clear, strong, and expressive blues tones. The EMG SA Set is mainly associated with names like David Gilmour and Steve Lukather, as the pickups give great versatility to the players.

Seymour Duncan SSL-5 Set

Seymour Duncan SSL-5 Custom Staggered Pole Strat Pickup
  • High-output Single-coil Pickup with Alnico 5 Magnets - White
  • High-output single-coil Stratocaster pickup
  • Authentic single-coil Strat tone with higher overall output
  • Ideal for heavy alder or ash body guitars
  • Perfect for clean tones, Texas blues rock, classic rock, and heavy rock, but also metal

Seymour Duncan Custom SSL-5 Staggered Pickup Set consists of three overwound single coils to push your amp harder than vintage pickups. This way, the pickups provide the player with great sustain and killer harmonics you would not expect from single-coils. The pickup set gives amazing dirt, which is great for hard rock style tones.

When the volume knob is turned down, the pickups beautifully clean up the sound, giving you a different range of tones than the mentioned dirty tones. The set is great for blues, classic rock, heavy rock as well as jazzy tones. But it must be said that the set performs the best with heavier and brighter-toned guitars, especially the ones made of ash or alder bodies along with maple and rosewood fretboards.

Lollar ST Special Blonde Set

  • Great for clean, jazz, blues, rock
  • A combination of the vintage output blonde pickup in the neck and middle positions and the ST special pickup with higher output in the bridge position
  • The reverse-wound mid pickup
  • Reverse polarity (RWRP) for humbucking operation in the 2nd and 4th positions
  • Wax potted

Lollar Strat Special delivers a high output than other traditional Strat pickups on the market. They give the players a thick tone with a smooth bottom end, round highs, and heavy Gibson-style attack and sustain, which is great for many genres such as jazz, blues, rock, and hard rock.

When compared with traditional Stratocaster pickups, the main difference to notice is the high and hot output. This way, the pickups break up the amps harder and faster, which gives you that sweet spot between clean and overdriven tones. The range of vintage tones you can get with the set is impressive. The pickups feature a vintage-style cloth-covered lead wire, and the middle pickup is RWRP for humbucking-style tones in the 2nd and 4th positions.

Seymour Duncan Antiquity Texas Hot Set

Seymour Duncan Antiquity Texas Hot Strat Pickups - Set
  • Single-coil Pickups f Stratocaster with RW/RP Middle - Aged White
  • Perfect for clean, jazz, surf, blues 
  • Hand-built set of bridge/middle/neck Strat pickups
  • Made with coils with the north polarity of authentic vintage pickups
  • True vintage sound and looks with aged components
  • Components have been aged for authentic vintage sound and appearance
  • Reverse-wound/reverse-polarity (RW/RP) mid pickup for humbucker performance

Seymour Duncan Antiquity Texas Hot Set is a great pickup set for Strats as it delivers the authentic chime, sparkle, and feel associated with vintage single-coil pickups. It is ideal for players after that vintage 60’s Stratocaster sound. The pickup set has an aged look to simulate the wear and tear of an old, old pickup set.

The set is ideal for those who want to have the classic Strat tones for different genres like classic rock and blues. The Antiquity Texas Hot Set is hand-built with unique specs and great attention to detail, as it can be seen in small nuances such as the scatter-winding for the closest re-creation possible.

Mojo Tone Rene Martinez Texas Strat Set

  • Ideal for clean, blues, Texas blues, rock
  • Great Texas tone and cutting single-coil snap
  • Middle and Neck Alnico 3 magnets for a clean sound with great clarity
  • Bridge pickup with Alnico 5 magnets with digs and growls for a Texas-style tone
  • Made in the U.S.A.

With custom Alnico III and Alnico V magnets developed with the collaboration of the famous luthier who has worked with Prince, John Mayer, and Stevie Ray Vaughan, Mojo Tone Rene Martinez Texas Strat Set is designed to bring back the great Texas tones that Rene Martinez is famous for.

The bridge pickup features a quite hot output which cuts through the mix with an amazing attitude. The neck and middle pickups provide signals with excellent clarity, which gives the amps big roles to play in terms of tone-shaping. The pickups also have staggered magnets to compensate for the strings’ arc.

Set of 3x DiMarzio Area 58 Pickups

  • Great for blues, rock, metal, alternative
  • Humbucker type pickup, in single-coil form
  • 4-conductor for split action
  • Alnico 2 magnets
  • Noiseless operation

The DiMarzio Area 58 pickup is famous for its success in delivering the iconic Strat tones but with less magnet pull than a stock model. So the pickups are noise-free as it eliminates the hum, the hiss, and any kind of noises. DiMarzio aimed for the late 50s tone when creating this set, and they truly achieved it.

DiMarzio took inspiration from one of the most celebrated Strat pickups from 1958 but upgraded two important parts. They decreased the magnet pull and eliminated any possible noise. It is a great set for playing chiming pop, twangy country, or sizzling blues tones.

Fender Custom Shop Texas Special Set

Fender Custom Shop Strat Texas Special Pickup Set
  • Enamel-coated magnet wire for warm vintage tone
  • Staggered pole pieces for balanced output
  • Alnico 5 magnets for more focus and enhanced dynamics
  • Reverse-wound middle pickup to eliminate hum
  • Great for blues, texas blues, rock, metal
  • Magnet wire with enamel coating for more vintage and warmer tones
  • Balanced outputs with staggered pole pieces
  • Enhanced and focused dynamics with Alnico V magnets
  • Alnico 5 magnets for more focus and enhanced dynamics
  • The mid pickup prevents noise with the reverse wound
  • Overwound calibrated pickups for scorching output

Fender Custom Shop Texas Special Set is the pickup that reshaped the Texas blues sound. It consists of overwound, calibrated vintage-style Strat pickups that deliver tight bass ranges, pristine clear highs, and great midranges. They feature Alnico 5 magnets with enamel-coated magnet wires for increased output.

The set has a reverse-wound/reverse-polarity middle pickup for hum canceling in the 2nd and the 4th positions. The pickups were used by many great artists, including Stevie Ray Vaughan and Bonnie Raitt.

Kinman Woodstock Plus Strat Set

  • Pickups in the set are AVn-69, AVn-69, and Hx-85
  • For radius 7-14″
  • Great for clean, blues, rock, metal
  • Noiseless operation

Kinman Woodstock Plus Strat Set consists of richer-sounding and hotter-output pickups in the bridge position compared to the regular Woodstock set. It has the new design Hx-85 bridge pickup, which sounds quite similar to the iconic P-90 pickups but sounds fatter, thicker with more power, and higher output. So it is great for relatively heavier vintage-style rock tones.

The bridge and the middle pickup switch position provide a magnificent bell-like sound. Woodstock Regular/Plus (Zero Hum) gives the player exceptional Jimi Hendrix tones with the most dynamic and expressive sound.

The Woodstock Plus Strat Set is slight–aged in terms of looks and sound. It has great punch and thumps in lower frequencies along with explosive attacks, great clarity, articulation, and definition. When picked heavily, the pickups provide a crunchy sound, while when picked softly, the sound is quite clear. So the dynamics of the pickups are awe-inspiring. Kinman Woodstock Plus Strat Set is the ideal set for heavy rock and extreme-distortion tones as it is a high-output set without any hum or hiss noise.

Fender Custom Shop Fat ’50s Set

Fender Custom Shop Fat '50s Stratocaster® Pickups, White
  • Formvar magnet wire
  • Reverse-wound middle pickup
  • The middle pickups is reverse wound/reverse polarity for hum canceling in...
  • Staggered hand-beveled pole pieces for balanced output
  • Perfect for clean, jazz, blues, rockabilly
  • The mid pickup has hum-canceling in the 2nd and 4th positions with the reverse-wound design
  • Reverse-wound middle pickup provides hum canceling in positions 2 and 4
  • Balanced output with staggered hand-beveled polepieces
  • Great focus and dynamics with Alnico 5 magnets

Fender Custom Shop Fat ’50s Stratocaster pickup set is another great option for vintage Strat tone fans. They come equipped with Alnico V magnets with cloth-covered lead wires, fiber bobbins, Formvar-coated wire, and staggered, hand-beveled pole pieces. That is why the glassy highs and warm lows are delivered by the vintage-style pickups.

The set also features hot-rodded wiring providing higher output and improved low ranges, giving the set a small modern touch.

Lace Pickups Sensor Gold Set

Lace 21073-01 Sensor Gold Electric Guitar Electronics, 3-Pack
  • Position: neck, middle or bridge
  • Resistance: 5.8k
  • Peak Frequency: 3600
  • Inductance: 2.4 henries
  • Great for clean, jazz, blues, surf, rock, indie
  • Unique Field Barrier system to suppress the typical single coil noise
  • Two conductor wire
  • Noiseless operation

The Lace Pickups Sensor Gold Set catches the ear with its great low-end response, singing mids, and sparkling highs. If you are after the classic Strat sound, the set is the ideal choice, thanks to its three single-coil designs and great specs.

The mentioned specs are the upgraded and hotter Patented Lace Micro Matrix Combs for killer Vintage tones, Barium Ferrite magnets, and an optional Hot Bridge @ 13.2k for more power, which is perfect for heavier hard-rock tones and searing solos. It works without batteries and has the option of the Standard Lace Sensor Set, which consists of 6.0k single-coil pickups for a more traditional Strat sound and feel.

Fender Eric Johnson Stratocaster Set

Fender Eric Johnson Stratocaster Pickups, Set of 3
  • Set of 3 single-coil pickups designed in collaboration with world renowned...
  • Hotter output bridge pickup than vintage-style pickups
  • Highly dynamic, and balanced output for maximum versatility of creative...
  • Alnico 3 and alnico 5 magnets
  • Great for clean, blues, jazz, rock
  • Tone master Eric Johnson’s own design single-coil pickup set
  • Single-coil pickup set designed for tone-guru Eric Johnson
  • Has both Alnico 3 and 5 magnets, providing greater warmth and sweeter tones
  • Balanced output with the hotter bridge pickup
  • Lead wire with cloth cover
  • Staggered pole pieces offer string-to-string balance.

Eric Johnson is one of the greatest jazz-fusion guitarists ever, who is well-known for his enthusiasm for Stratocasters. His preference for pickups is the Fender Eric Johnson Stratocaster Set designed especially for him by Fender. Consisting of three single-coils, the set is known for its awe-inducing clean and driven electric guitar tones.

Fender designed the set with Alnico 3 and 5 magnets and special attention to detail to deliver the exact output and sweet tone Johnson is after. The set features a hotter bridge pickup for more gain tones, while the balance between the pickups is amazing, giving you a good range of options with the pickup switching positions.

Seymour Duncan Antiquity II Surfer Strat Set

Seymour Duncan Antiquity II Surfer Strat 3-piece Single Coil Pickup...
  • Single-coil Pickups f Stratocaster with High-output Custom Bridge RW/RP...
  • Great for jazz, clean, surf, blues
  • Hand-built set of bridge/middle/neck Strat pickups
  • Components have been aged for authentic vintage sound and appearance
  • The custom bridge pickup is overwound for increased output
  • Middle pickup is reverse-wound/reverse-polarity (RW/RP) to mimic a humbucker

If the vintage Strat quack and chime are what you are after, Seymour Duncan Antiquity II Surfer Strat Set is one of the best ways to go. The set is extremely versatile, allowing the player to reach different tones for rock, surf, pop, and blues with sweet high and percussive lows. The set is impressive as it allows the guitarists to reach new dimensions in terms of their tones.

The high-output custom bridge pickup is overwound to produce  9.7k of DC resistance. The middle pickup has reverse-wound/reverse-polarity (RW/RP) to mimic a humbucker. The pickup set performs excellent, especially when plugged into a tube amp, as it delivers the electrifying timeless sound most guitarists are after.

Xotic Raw Vintage 50 Set

  • Great for clean, jazz, blues, surf, rockabilly
  • Killer tones with the hand-wound Formvar pickups
  • Hand-wound Formvar copper pickups for killer tone
  • Based on the 1957-1958-style pickup tones
  • High-quality tone transfer with Alnico 5 magnets

Xotic created the Xotic Raw Vintage 50 Set for guitarists looking for that famous vintage Strat sound from their guitars. The set is inspired by the 1957/58-style Strat pickup tone with Alnico 5 magnets and vintage-style push-back cloth leads.

The pickups are hand-wound in the Southern California shop with great attention to detail. It features Alnico 5 magnets, single Formvar copper wire, and vintage-style push-back cloth leads dipped in layers of lacquer and wax. Overall, the set is perfect for clean jazz, blues, surf, and rockabilly tones.

Set of 3x TV Jones Starwood Strat Pickups

  • Great for cleans, jazz, rockabilly, blues, blues rock
  • Great tones with vintage single-coils
  • Modern design with great weight and output
  • Same magnet and magnet wire design with the TV Jones T-Armond series
  • Heavy, expressive, and thick sound great for lead guitar tones
  • P-90-like fatness

TV Jones Starwood Strat pickup set is another great pickup set for vintage tone enthusiasts. The single-coil pickup set features a surprisingly great body and output. Furthermore, it has magnets and wires taken from the TV’s T-Armond series, which are famous for their heavy low ends and sparkly highs. 

The neck pickup provides thick and expressive lead tones with hints from the P-90 pickups. The mid pickup delivers clear and quacky tones, while the bridge pickup is famous for its treatment with extra inductance, which led the pickup to have a thick and juicy tone with good bass response.

Bare Knuckle Irish Tour Set

  • Reversed polarity and winding
  • Great for blues, funk, indie, punk, rock
  • 2-Wire connection
  • Alnico 5 magnet

Bare Knuckle Irish Tour Set is a hot vintage-style pickup set of single coils that deliver warm highs, fat low ends as well as grinding mids. The set allows the players to have massive powerhouse Strat tones. The pickups take the 42 AWG plain enamel wind to the max. Furthermore, as the pickups are hand-wired, they provide amazing clarity and depth.

The set is highly powerful like you get with big strings and strong hands. Low notes sound fuller and richer while the mids are quite heavy, and the highs are impressive with great chime and warm harmonics. The mid and neck pickups maintain the hollow, woody tone you’d expect from vintage pickups, while the hot bridge pickup pushes the tube amp into the natural overdrive that sounds delicious.

Lindy Fralin Blues Special Set

  • Ideal for blues, rock, alternative, indie
  • Darker and fatter than standard ST-style pickups
  • Hand-wound pickups
  • AlNiCo 5 magnet
  • Medium output
  • Compensated bridge pickup for even volume at all pickup positions

Lindy Fralin Blues Special Set is famous for its dark and fat tones with thick and rich sound,  especially in the lows and mids. The overall sound is quite open and clear without much compression. However, you can expect to have a little compression with distortion.

The first thing to notice with the Lindy Fralin Blues Special Set is the thick high-ends as well as the growling low-ends. Single notes have a thick and round sound with these pickups, while the chords break early and have a full tone. The set is again pretty powerful and bold for genres like rock, alternative rock, blues, and indie.

Seymour Duncan Jimi Hendrix Signature Set

  • Great for blues, rock, and alternative rock, especially for clean tones
  • Seymour Duncan’s original design of custom-made pickups
  • Jimi’s iconic lead tone with bridge pickup’s aggressive attack
  • Positions 2 and 4 feature great Strat quack
  • White pickup covers showcase Jimi’s signature

When talking about Stratocasters, the first name to come to mind is probably Jimi Hendrix for a rock fan. His vintage classic rock tone is a dream for many rock guitarists, which is why Seymour Duncan created the Seymour Duncan Jimi Hendrix Signature Set. The pickup set’s sound is best described as the Voodoo Child tone. 

The bridge pickup offers prominent attack and aggressive harmonics for stinging leads. It is a great pickup for a lead and rhythm hybrid playing style like Jimi. The neck pickup sounds smoother and is ideal for chords, bluesy licks, and double-stop heavy playing styles. The magnets of these pickups are staggered in reverse to mimic the effect of playing the guitar in the reversed upside-down position. These pickups might be your best bet if you are after Jimi’s legendary tone.

Mojotone 67 Q.Coil Set

  • Great for clean, blues, blues rock, rock, metal, alternative
  • Alnico magnet cores with a vintage design and circuit for aged vintage sound
  • Easy push-back soldering with vintage cloth covering
  • Vintage single-coil-like resonant peak frequency, resistance, and inductance
  • Traditional Stratocaster appearance with vintage staggered polepieces

The Mojotone 67 Q.Coil Set is another great Strat pickup set with a great snap and growl that you are familiar with, thanks to those ’67 grey bottom strat pickups. You remember those with their crystal clear lows and highs. Another great aspect of the set is the balanced design and sound of different pickups in the set.

The bridge pickup has a hot quiet coil design, which leads to a better sustain and more balanced output between positions. The bridge pickup is slightly more powerful, which allows for heavier rock-solid tones. Plus, all pickups have the hum-canceling technique to prevent any kind of noise.

The set does not feature o PC boards, batteries, stacked coils, or anything else associated with other hum-canceling pickups. So the result is a great noise-free Strat tone with an authentic character.

Bare Knuckle Boot Camp Brute Force Set

  • Ideal for rock, metal, and other hi-gain modern music
  • Made by hand in the U.K.
  • Saturated deep tones with the high output range
  • Three single-coil design
  • Flat magnet profile

The Bare Knuckle Pickups Boot Camp Brute Force Set is a high output Strat pickup set ideal for heavier genres such as rock, metal, and other hi-gain modern tones. They feature Alnico 5 magnets and hand-wound coils. You can reach deep and saturated tones with these pickups if you are a Strat user aiming to play modern metal genres.

Tonerider TRS2 City Limits Strat

Tonerider TRS2 City Limits Strat pickup set
  • "texas" sound neck and mid pickups with an overwound bridge pickup
  • Calibrated winds with a hot bridge pickup
  • Usa-made "push-back" cloth wire for easy installation
  • Wax potted and rwrp to reduce feedback and hum
  • Great for clean, Texas blues, blues, rock, hard rock
  • Highly accurate string-to-string balance with modified stagger polepieces
  • Even volume balance in all five standard positions thanks to a calibrated winding
  • Hand-beveled, flatwork with a laser-cut design
  • Easy installation with the hook-up wire

If you want a hotter sound from your Strat, Tonerider TRS2 City Limits Strat set offers great possibilities for you. The neck and middle pickups sound similar to the 50’S style vintage pickups famous for their ich piano-like bass and thick trebles. This sound is mainly referred to as the Texas sound. 

The bridge pickup is slightly different as it is overwound with a lighter gauge AWG43 wire to over 8.7k, leading to a more modern soloing sound when used with distortion. Furthermore, the calibrated winding allows for even volume balance across all five standard positions. Overall, it is a great set for all kinds of blues, rock, and hard rock genres.

Fender Gen 4 Noiseless Set

Fender Generation 4 Noiseless Stratocaster Single-Coil Pickups - Set...
  • Set of three single-coil Stratocaster pickups
  • Noise-free, vintage-style tone
  • Shielded wire for even more noise reduction
  • Installation hardware included
  • Great for blues, rock, alternative, indie
  • Single-coils with noise-free, vintage-style design
  • Great level of noise reduction with shielded wire design
  • Clear highs, brash mids, bold low ends
  • OEM installation hardware included for perfect positioning and performance

Fender Gen 4 Noiseless Set thrives in performing impressive vintage-style tones without any issue with noise, thanks to its unique design. The pickups offer crisp and clean tones; it especially thrives in overdriven tones for rock riffs, licks, and solos. 

The low ends provided by the pickups are crisp and clean, the highs are quite defined and clear, and the mids are much as possible. The pickups give the users the vintage look and sound along with a reliable performance with genuine Fender parts.

Set of 2 Friedman Classic Single Coil Pickups and Friedman Classic Plus Bridge Humbucker 

  • Great for clean, blues, rock, metal, alternative
  • 80/20 wax potted
  • Alnico 3 magnets
  • Custom-voiced by Dave Friedman
  • Made in the USA by Grover Jackson

The Friedman Classic Single-coils and  Friedman Classic Plus Bridge Humbucker set is the result of a great collaboration between Dave Friedman and Grover Jackson. The two iconic names of guitar tones deliver a pickup set that offers the perfect amount of vintage, bell-like chimes and punches for modern-style tones.

The single-coil pickup is the exact pickup that you find on most Friedman electric guitars. The Friedman Classic Humbucker Plus pickup is more of a PAF-style humbucker, adding plenty of kick to create a perfect bridge pickup. Overall, it is a great combination of modern-sounding Strats.

Set of 2 DiMarzio Area 67 Pickups and DiMarzio DP100 in the bridge

DiMarzio Super Distortion Pickup (200453)
  • Output: 425
  • Treble 4.5 / High Mid 6.5 / Low Mid 6.5 / Base 8.0
  • Magnet: Ceramic
  • Great for clean, blues, rock, metal
  • Humbucker type pickup, in single-coil form
  • 4-conductor for split action
  • Alnico 2 magnets
  • Noiseless operation

The set of 2 DiMarzio Area 67 Pickups and DiMarzio DP100 in the bridge is a great combination for clean, blues, rock, and metal tones. Although it is a humbucker pickup, it performs like a single-coil with Alnico 2 magnets. The noise-free operation and four conductors for split action are the added benefits for this smooth-sounding set.

The humbucker delivers the brightness and clarity of the mid 60’s Strat pickups. It sounds bright without being harsh, and the neck and middle pickups complement it amazingly. The DiMarzio Super Distortion gives the guitarists amazing overdrive tones with high output.

Set of 2 Suhr ML Pickups and a Suhr Thornbucker NE 50 In The Bridge

  • Great for clean, jazz, blues, rock, metal
  • Hand made pickups
  • Vintage voiced
  • Modified staggered pole piece design

The ML or Mike Landau pickups provide great balance with smooth highs, focused midrange, and tight lows. On the other side, there is the  Suhr Thornbucker NE 50 in the bridge position, which delivers a wide range of sounds, making it highly versatile and available for playing different genres from jazz to metal, as you’d expect from Pete Townshend’s pickups. Overall, the set shines with its hot output and good sustain.

EMG KH20 Kirk Hammett Pre-wired Pickguard with 3 Pickups

EMG KH20 Pro Series Kirk Hammett Active Pickup Prewired Guitar...
  • Pro Series Kirk Hammett signature system
  • Joins the EMG 81 humbucker with a pair of S single-coil pickups
  • Ceramic bar magnets for controlled sound and incredible versatility and...
  • Wired on a custom 11-hole white pearl pickguard with contrasting black...
  • Great for rock, metal, alternative
  • Pickguard with three active pickups installed
  • An active humbucker in the bridge position for metal tones and playing style
  • Single-coils in the neck and the middle positions with tight and focused sound
  • Prewired volume and tone controls included

EMG KH20 Kirk Hammett Pre-wired Pickguard with 3 Pickups is the most powerful way to supercharge your Strat-like the great guitarists of Metallica, Kirk Hammett does. He uses the pickups both on the stage and in the studio as it is a great set with two active S single-coils made with ceramic magnets, which is ideal for tight and high-gain tones.

The humbucker in the bridge rounds out the prewired 11-hole pickguard. It is a highly easy pickguard to install to your guitar, so you do not have to go to a luthier. This set is the way to go if you want to shift your Strat’s tone to a more high-gain metal side.

Set of 3x DiMarzio Injector Pickups

  • Paul Gilbert’s signature pickups
  • Great for rock and metal
  • Powerful single-coil electric guitar pickup
  • The noiseless design eliminates the 60-cycle hum
  • High output is great for driving amplifiers

The set of 3x DiMarzio Injector Pickups is ideal for the modern single-coil tones for players after a powerful and aggressive sound. The set offers a warmer and louder range of tones compared to vintage pickups, thanks to the construction of the Injector. The pickup can get pretty close to the strings for maximum output, thanks to the low magnet pull.

The pickups feature a noise-free circuit that adds power and punchy bass to the tone. They are great for rock and metal playing styles and tones, and it is a great set with high output for driving amps.

Conclusion

It is evident that there is a great range of models when it comes to Strat pickups. When considering upgrading the pickups, you have many models to consider and choose from. You can choose a traditional SSS design or a modern HSS design for higher-gain tones.

It is important to go through different designs and models and try them out to find the ideal one for yourself. When you become more familiar with the models and their advantages and disadvantages, you can figure out the best one for your tone and style more easily.

If you found this article useful you may want to save this pin below to your Guitar board.

Last update on 2024-04-25 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

Jacob

I have been playing guitar since 2004. As long as I can remember I always had a huge passion for rock music and I extremely enjoy playing it. Helping people on their rock journey is what drives me to keep on playing. Read More About Me

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