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Should I change the pickups on my guitar?
Hi, so I have this Fender American Standard Strat Hss, and the Humbucker is really good for harder rock as most humbuckers are, but as of recently, my musical tastes have changed to more calm blues. I want to get the Fender SCN Samarium Cobalts that came standard on the American Deluxes prior to 2010 where they replaced them with those N3s. The thing is, if I change them, that might decrease the resell value if I decide to resell it one day ( I don't know if I want to though because it's my first high-end guitar.) Speaking that its an HSS, I have to get another pickguard for SSS, plus the pickups, plus the labor for getting the store to do it. I really dont' want to do it myself because I love my guitar and I'm not very experienced. (I'm still only a teen.) I have the cash definitely and then some from my summer job, but again, the resell value. What do you think I should do? (don't say anything like "save for college" I've got that covered please!)
You're getting way too hung up on the pickups. Young players think there's going to be some magical combination of gear or stomp boxes that is going to radically change their sound. There's not. Pick any guitarist you like from Steve Vai to Eric Clapton to Willie Nelson... hand any of them just about any instrument and you'll still be able to recognize their playing -- because it's about their timing, feel, attack, etc. NOT their rig. When you read long articles about an artist's rig needing to be 'just so' - it's because those guys are so far advanced that tiny differences in their set-up mean a lot to them. Put your energy into developing your style and you'll thank me.
Back to your guitar - when I was your age I also tinkered all my axes - I think every young player does. That's fine - but here's a couple tips. 1) Keep every part you take off, right down to the screws. The best place is in your case, in a ziplock bag, so you never lose them and they're all there when you trade or sell.
2) Instead of changing pickups, if the humbucker is 4-wire (which I think it is) ... you can just split it so you have a Single Coil in the bridge whenever you want. You can also wire a switch position 2 so it's out of phase like a "regular" strat" to give you that "quack". Change the volume knob with a push-pull (in for humbucker - out for single coil) and you won't have to drill any new holes.
I used to do this with ALL my Gibson 2-humbucker guitars. Put in 4-wire h-buckers and set them up so I could have any combination of humbucker and single coil... in or out of phase. It's great to have an SG or Les Paul that can suddenly do a pretty good 'strat' impression.
There are all kinds of free wiring diagrams online that will show you how to make these changes and even tell you what you need to buy for replacement parts.
Make friends with the best technician in town - he/she is going to be working at the music store where all the 'pro' players in your area hang out and have their work done. Someone like that has probably made this mod 100 times and can do it in their sleep .
Good luck