New pickups in a squier Starcaster

I recently upgraded the pickups in my Squier Starcaster, which originally had quite a dark, muddy sound from what felt like quite high output pickups. After trying a treble bleed mod using an orange drop capacitor and constantly running the guitar with the volume down to brighten things up, I still wasn’t fully satisfied with the tone. So, I decided to go with a Magneto Design Labs TT-59 (PAF-style pickup) in the bridge and a Power90 (humbucker sized P90) in the neck.

The TT-59 brings that classic PAF tone—clear and balanced, perfect for overdriven sounds. Meanwhile, the Power90 adds a P90-style warmth in the neck, offering a punchy tone with clarity that doesn’t get lost with gain.

One of the more challenging aspects of working on semi-hollow guitars is dealing with the electronics. Since everything has to be accessed through the f-holes, getting the pickup switch out and back in can be a bit stressful. I used some spare wire to guide the switch back into place after installing the new pickups, which is a handy trick to avoid losing it inside the body.

After installing the new pickups, I decided to experiment with wrapping the strings over the bridge, a setup I enjoyed on a vintage Les Paul I recently played. The new pickups and this setup have completely transformed the guitar’s sound and feel, and I’m really looking forward to trying it live soon!