Originally posted by Alex:A few days ago I received the missing parts, and on Saturday I found the time to reassemble my blue strat. I shielded it properly and installed Highway One Alnico3 Pickups with a push/pull poti for serial/parallel switching. Man, these pickups are HOT - almost comparable to the SD quarter pounder but with a different character. I LOVE their powerful, rich and warm sound, especially with full- on tube distortion. They have a prominent mid- spike which I believe is able to cut through a full blown band soundmix easily. And it perfectly blends with the slightly mid- scooping ash body. I also reached my goal of having both of my strats sound different, though none sounds "vintage glassy". But if I wanted "vintage glassy" I would have watched for other pickups. So I'm perfectly fine now.
BTW: There is indeed not only a character difference, but also a quality difference between my Fender MIM Deluxe Ash strat body and my Squier MII Deluxe Basswood strat body. But my guitar tech (who leads the Fender Custom Shop division in the biggest music store in Frankfurt) told me already a few months ago that my Ash strat sounded "surprisingly great". So I believe this body was a lucky shot, resulting in a perfectly transparent sound. The Basswood body on the other hand produces a slightly muddier low end and less crispy highs - but this is put into balance by the Texas pickups. I'd like to A/B it to a Squier Standard, an MIM Standard and an MIA Standard. I'd like to know if my Ash body is really that good.
Strange feelings. When i assembled the blonde strat last week I was really happy with it - until yesterday. Now that I reassembled my blue strat it outshines the blonde one in my heart. Maybe I'll just have to play them for some time to establish a feeling for their different character.
Alex
Do you have any sound clips of the guitars you build?
... 
. Anyway, its probably a lot less than the Korg A3, and I can get a perfect sound out of it. Obviously, it does a lot of other amazing things too, but I never expected that out of it.
