I first heard these pickups in 1972, in a then new Starcaster. Hated the guitar. Hated the pickups. I thought the guitar was a grotesque distortion of an ES335, and the pickups were unbearably strident. (Bear in mind that the only guitar I had been playing at that point was a '61 SG Les Paul. Fast forward 52 years (sure feels that way), and I noticed the Squire Starcasters here on You Tube. Just as ugly as I remembered. But then, the more I looked at them, the more they started to grow on me. Before I knew what happened, I just had to have one. I was concerned about those pickups though, so I made sure I'd be able to get mounting rings that would fit standard humbuckers. Maybe these new ones wouldn't be as harsh. Bought the blond modern player. Really liked it. But then, I started listening to videos of the cunife pickups, and decided I might have been too hasty. The more I listened, the more I knew I just HAD to have them. Problem is, I'd come to like the stock ones better than just about any humbucker I own. Only thing to do was to buy another (the tobacco burst). So, now I have two of the guitars I once hated. Unfortunately, before I could scrape together the money for replacement pickups, I came across a killer deal on a Contemporary Active Starcaster (I think they call the finish 'gunmetal'). So now I THREE Starcasters. I love that one as well, however, believe it or not, in my 59 years of playing I've never played anything with active pickups, and those I truly hate! I'm in the process of replacing them with a set of passive mini humbuckers. The cunifes come next. Am in the process of comparing the various options (hence finding the vid), but I'm sure if I buy anything BUT real Fenders, I'll just and up replacing them later, so might as well bite the bullet now. (Just have to show my wife that I'm keeping an open mind and performing my due diligence). Oh yeah, those mini buckers came from my Tele Deluxe, and replaced the stock P90s. They are getting a new set of Firebird units. If I spent as much time practicing as messing with my hardware, I might actually be a competent musician!
I first heard these pickups in 1972, in a then new Starcaster. Hated the guitar. Hated the pickups. I thought the guitar was a grotesque distortion of an ES335, and the pickups were unbearably strident. (Bear in mind that the only guitar I had been playing at that point was a '61 SG Les Paul. Fast forward 52 years (sure feels that way), and I noticed the Squire Starcasters here on You Tube. Just as ugly as I remembered. But then, the more I looked at them, the more they started to grow on me. Before I knew what happened, I just had to have one. I was concerned about those pickups though, so I made sure I'd be able to get mounting rings that would fit standard humbuckers. Maybe these new ones wouldn't be as harsh. Bought the blond modern player. Really liked it. But then, I started listening to videos of the cunife pickups, and decided I might have been too hasty. The more I listened, the more I knew I just HAD to have them. Problem is, I'd come to like the stock ones better than just about any humbucker I own. Only thing to do was to buy another (the tobacco burst). So, now I have two of the guitars I once hated. Unfortunately, before I could scrape together the money for replacement pickups, I came across a killer deal on a Contemporary Active Starcaster (I think they call the finish 'gunmetal'). So now I THREE Starcasters. I love that one as well, however, believe it or not, in my 59 years of playing I've never played anything with active pickups, and those I truly hate! I'm in the process of replacing them with a set of passive mini humbuckers. The cunifes come next. Am in the process of comparing the various options (hence finding the vid), but I'm sure if I buy anything BUT real Fenders, I'll just and up replacing them later, so might as well bite the bullet now. (Just have to show my wife that I'm keeping an open mind and performing my due diligence).
Oh yeah, those mini buckers came from my Tele Deluxe, and replaced the stock P90s. They are getting a new set of Firebird units. If I spent as much time practicing as messing with my hardware, I might actually be a competent musician!