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I have had my strat for awhile now (since '99) and until recently never gave a whole lot of thought to this. I have always enjoyed the tone and warmth of the stock pick ups that it came with (I have only replaced the bridge with a Hot Rails). My question is: what kind of p/ups come stock (i.e. Alnico II, Alnico 5, etc.) on an American Strat? I am just curious.

usually alnico V of some kind but it depends on what model

yes, A5 mags

I don't know what the specs were in '99 ... the current American Series strats are wound somewhere around 6k with a slightly hotter bridge - I've read that it's about 7k - and the mid tone control is wired to the bridge too

Cool, Alnico V! I have always liked the sound of my guitar. Now, as far as A5 vs. A2 what is the major difference? Are the 5's hotter? Or is it just more magnetic pull? I was toying with the idea of dropping a JB jr. in the bridge and two Duckbuckers in the mid and neck. Yeah, I ask a lot of silly questions.

Hazzah!

Your questions are covered in the FAQ on the main site, but to save you the trouble of searching ...

A5s: brighter, glassier, and more quot;historically accuratequot;, strong bottom, bright top
A2s: fatter warmer with somewhat less bottom, smoother top, and less string pull/ more sustain

A5s are not quot;hotterquot;. Hotter has to do not with the magnet, but rather with the coil winding ... more winds = quot;hotterquot;, more mids

I believe that A5 strat pickups have a tad more dynamic range because of the brightness. A2s, wth less pull, are a little more touch sensitive, and compress somewhat when pushed (not a bad thing, IMO)

Cool. Thank you!

And both the JB jr. and duckbuckers are ceramic pickups voiced to sound like Alnico 5.