Squier Paranormal Cyclone Pickups Upgrade Recommendations...

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Surfysonic
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Squier Paranormal Cyclone Pickups Upgrade Recommendations...

Post by Surfysonic » Sat Jun 26, 2021 12:27 pm

My Squier Paranormal Cyclone arrived today (huzzah, ngd!) and I am going to give the stock pickups a fair checking out. If I decide to swap them out for something better, I was initially thinking about getting a set of Fender Pure Vintage '59 Strat pickups - they have a lovely, dark, chime to them. Then I remembered that I have a set of Fender Pure Vintage '65 Jaguar pickups that I can at least put in the neck & bridge...which leads me to ask what would be a good recommended middle pickup? Should I:

1. Leave the stock middle pickup in
2. Put a strat pickup in the middle?
3. Put the two Jag pickups in neck & middle and either leave the stock bridge pickup in or replace it with something else.
4. Other options?

Curious to know if you have one, what you've done to yours, or plan to do, or any general recommendations appreciated! 8)
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Re: Squier Paranormal Cyclone Pickups Upgrade Recommendations...

Post by RIORIO » Sat Jun 26, 2021 2:06 pm

Q pickups!! I put their 50s vintage set in my pink cyclone and they’re great.

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Re: Squier Paranormal Cyclone Pickups Upgrade Recommendations...

Post by Surfysonic » Sat Jun 26, 2021 7:53 pm

Cool, thanks for the recommendation, RIORIO! I may do some of the same mods that you did on your Cyclone. 8)

I played the Cyclone tonight and the stock pickups aren't horrible, but they're a little anemic. The neck pickup was the nicest of the three stock pickups. Tuning was sketchy with the stock strings. I'll put on some D'Addario 11's after I swap out the pickups to see if the tuning has improved.

After some consideration and since I already have them, I'll try the Fender Pure Vintage '65 Jaguar pickups in neck & bridge and leave the middle stock pickup in for now. I also have a set of my Squier Vintage Modified Jag's stock Seymour Duncan Designed pickups that I could use either the neck or bridge as the middle pickup if the stock middle pickup doesn't work.

If this ends up not working out, then I'll go with the Strat pickups option. :)

:derp: :fp:

So...Jag pickups are not an option if I don't want to mess with modifying the pickguard, which I don't. I'm already way down that rabbit hole with my Squier Paranormal Offset Tele. :wacko:

Anyhoo, looks like I'll go with the Strat options. Love the pool-sized cavity under the pickguard.

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Re: Squier Paranormal Cyclone Pickups Upgrade Recommendations...

Post by Surfysonic » Sun Jun 27, 2021 4:09 pm

RIORIO wrote:
Sat Jun 26, 2021 2:06 pm
Q pickups!! I put their 50s vintage set in my pink cyclone and they’re great.
Decided to go for something a bit different from Q pickups!

https://reverb.com/item/18052832-strato ... -q-pickups

Should be interesting! Thanks again for the recommendation! 8)
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Re: Squier Paranormal Cyclone Pickups Upgrade Recommendations...

Post by RIORIO » Sun Jun 27, 2021 4:18 pm

Surfysonic wrote:
Sun Jun 27, 2021 4:09 pm
RIORIO wrote:
Sat Jun 26, 2021 2:06 pm
Q pickups!! I put their 50s vintage set in my pink cyclone and they’re great.
Decided to go for something a bit different from Q pickups!

https://reverb.com/item/18052832-strato ... -q-pickups

Should be interesting! Thanks again for the recommendation! 8)
Awesome!! His stuff is GREAT and very affordable :)

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Re: Squier Paranormal Cyclone Pickups Upgrade Recommendations...

Post by Surfysonic » Tue Jul 13, 2021 9:12 pm

The Q Stratocaster Foil pickup set arrived from Croatia today. I installed them into my Cyclone tonight. I love how quickly and easy it is to install pickups in the Cyclone!

The Q Strat Foil pickups sound AMAZING! Every pickup on it's own is clear, chimey, and all character. All three pickups together gets you into out-of-phase Strat quackery.

The neck & bridge pickups together are glorious. Absolutely wonderful and just for my surf playing alone, is perfect. I have no doubt it can cover everything else I play (alternative, punk, etc.)

Thanks again for turning me onto to Q, Riorio! Very much appreciated! :)

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Re: Squier Paranormal Cyclone Pickups Upgrade Recommendations...

Post by pikmin » Wed Jul 14, 2021 9:17 am

Nice ,
I’m a big fan of Q pickups .

It looks awesome on that Cyclone and I’m sure it sounds great .

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Re: Squier Paranormal Cyclone Pickups Upgrade Recommendations...

Post by Strango » Wed Jul 14, 2021 11:12 am

Those pickups look awesome, I'll have to look into Q pickups. Great look with that guitar especially.

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Re: Squier Paranormal Cyclone Pickups Upgrade Recommendations...

Post by Surfysonic » Wed Jul 14, 2021 12:49 pm

Thanks! I'm very pleased with them. I think I'll order a set of Q's '62-'63 Jaguar pickups for my Squier CV '70s Jaguar, the '58 Jazzmaster vintage correct pickups for a future JM build, and a set of '64 Stratocaster pickups for my Squier CV '50s Stratocaster when I'm able.
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Re: Squier Paranormal Cyclone Pickups Upgrade Recommendations...

Post by RIORIO » Mon Jul 26, 2021 5:09 pm

Those look so great in there!!

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Re: Squier Paranormal Cyclone Pickups Upgrade Recommendations...

Post by blimpage » Mon Aug 02, 2021 8:24 pm

Oh huh, I thought the Paranormal Cyclones had Jag-style pickups that mounted to the body, rather than Strat-style pickups that mount to the pickguard. Isn’t that what the original Cyclone II had?

Those new pickups look fantastic, I’m glad they sound great too!

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Re: Squier Paranormal Cyclone Pickups Upgrade Recommendations...

Post by CROSS_guitars » Mon Aug 02, 2021 9:42 pm

looks awesome.
Would go great with darker blue comp racing stripes.

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Re: Squier Paranormal Cyclone Pickups Upgrade Recommendations...

Post by Surfysonic » Mon Aug 02, 2021 10:27 pm

CROSS_guitars wrote:
Mon Aug 02, 2021 9:42 pm
looks awesome.
Would go great with darker blue comp racing stripes.
Having once owned 2 Fender Cyclones that I foolishly sold off, I'd love my Squier Paranormal Cyclone to have the comp racing stripes...and the Cyclone cartoon logo! 8)

Are there comp racing decals available anywhere or would I need to tape off and use some Lake Placid Blue spray paint?
Last edited by Surfysonic on Tue Aug 03, 2021 1:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Squier Paranormal Cyclone Pickups Upgrade Recommendations...

Post by CROSS_guitars » Mon Aug 02, 2021 11:14 pm

looks like these guys sell them.
https://www.inlaystickers.com/products/racing-line
might be limited on colour choices.

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Re: Squier Paranormal Cyclone Pickups Upgrade Recommendations...

Post by Surfysonic » Tue Aug 03, 2021 1:48 pm

Cool! Thanks very much! I bought them all for present and future builds. :w00t:
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