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I've done it. I've changed the pickups and had a refret done on my 56 NOS Strat. I was getting thoroughly fed up with over-loud G and the too quiet top E. (I use 10s with a plain G. I freely admit that I'm a wimp!) I noticed that the Fender Pure Vintage 56 Strat pickups have the original 54-56 magnet stagger with a lower G pole and higher top E pole, so I thought I'd give them a go. They've cured the string imbalance, and also give a warmer sound than the original pickups, probably due to the fact that they use Alnico 3 magnets instead of Alnico 5. I know the Fender CS pickups fitted to this model are meant to be good, but in my opinion, the Pure Vintage 56 pickups blow them away.

I had the refret done because, even when new, the vintage style frets were incredibly low, and I was fed up struggling with them, having to use more force than should have been necessary to press the strings down, and I couldn't get more than a semitone bend without the strings choking on the upper frets due to the 7.25" radius. I had it refretted by Pedro Martins of Guitar Repairs Brighton, www.guitarrepairsbrighton.com. Pedro has worked absolute wonders. The fretwire he used was the equivalent to Fender's current production gauge, and he also took the shine off the neck and fingerboard, giving it a more 'satin' look and feel, so I no longer suffer with the nitrocellulose 'sticky neck' problem. This wasn't a drastic change, just a light going over with some 1000 grade wet and dry. I can't believe the feel and playability of the guitar now. The only downside to this is that I can't blame the bum notes on the guitar any more! If you're in or near Sussex, and need a guitar repaired, I can't recommend Pedro highly enough.

Simon

You might have been able to reduce the height of the G pole and increase the height of the E pole (perhaps by swapping them round), Simon.

Not all Fender pickups allow movement of the pole magnets, but some originals did, leading me to believe that re-makes (properly done) ought to allow the same.

Another way of coping with string imbalance is to use a wound G (with a normal vintage stagger profile pickup). I used to buy sets of La Bella 10-46 which could be bought with two G strings, one wrapped, the other plain.

Another way of coping with a quiet top E is to get some tiny neodymium button magnets and stick one on top of the E pole of each of the pickups.

But I do mean tiny (you can get them on eBay from China).

Well I never knew that!

I did consider doing the pole piece swap, Jim, but although I've pushed the G down and the D up on my 79 Strat successfully, I wouldn't want to try that on either of the E poles seeing as there's more of the coil in contact with those two magnets, and I wouldn't want to risk damaging the coil. If I ever get rid of the guitar, I expect I'd put the original pickups back on for the sake of originality.

The tiny neodymium magnets are way too strong. It will probably increase the volume far beyond what you are trying to achieve.

All you need is a thin, non-magnetic sliver of steel cut from a 4mm or 5mm rod -- to raise the height of the pole. The magnetism of the pole will keep it in place but you can use a blob of superglue if you want.

Regards,
DaveC.

You can adjust the height of the poles by just pushing the magnets up and down BUT (and this is important!) ONLY if your pickups have plastic bobbins. With these, the windings never touch the magnets but with the vintage style fibre bobbins, they do. You may get away with it but I wouldn't risk it.

Where possible, I reduce the heights of the G and D strings slightly.

I have tried to solve the problem of a quiet top E string for years and had resigned myself to accepting that it was caused by deafness in my right ear.
However, after reading this thread, I started to look at the problem again.
I checked the setup of my Strat and raised the action slightly, but that made no difference.
I then invested £1.99 in a set of 5mm x 1mm neodymium magnets.
Result? Success!
The problem has been solved and the output across all 6 strings seems to be much more even.
Who'd have thought it?
Pat.

I just had a set of Tonerider Surfaris fitted because of a previous weak top E string problem, a common condition I've found on many pups. The Surfaris are very even in output as pickups should be and also cut through sonically- they are supposed to be the equivalent to Fender 54s- don't know if this is actually true.They also give a good in between 'quack' sound. The Kinman 54s are also very even in output.