Regarding the Fender 57/62 pickup sets, I had at least two of those sets back in the days when we played Shadowmania and my white Strat had them fitted when we did the 2006 show and the comments from everyone was very positive. I was using the ESE Echomatic and the Pinnacle KV-30 amp, so plenty of valves involved. I had been experimenting with Custom Shop 54s but they were proving too 'ice picky' so I sold them. I later tried some more that were not the same, so a little confusing. That said I now have a USA Strat with 57/62 pickups and it sounds great, just as it should, but I also have some Seymour Duncan Alnico Pro II and they too are very reminiscent of the early Strat pickups.
My '62 Strat has Sliders and my '63 has some period correct pickups from a guy in the USA and each of those guitars sound as they should. It is a minefield out there with so many pickups to choose from and all one can rely on is your own ears. I personally find the current Squier Classic Vibe pickups are as close as any that I've heard and it's rumoured that they may be made by the company that make Toneriders. I also picked up a set of Mojo Vintage Sixties which are expensive, but good. My Kinman AVn Tradiional set sound great too, as do the Fender Noiseless on my USA Deluxe, but I feel the best of all are the pickups on my G&L S-500 that Leo Fender designed not long before he passed. They are called MFD (Magnetic Field Design) and have pole pieces that can be adjusted with a small hex wrench, though I have never needed to interfere. Come to think, the whole tone circuit on the G&L S-500 is what is needed to get the exact early Hank tone, because you can actually dial in the different tones that he used right across the spectrum on all the different tunes. In my opinion and from vast experience, I feel that Leo finally got it right not long before his passing because for almost sixty years, the tone controls on a Strat were pretty useless, but not so on the S-500.
I'll get me coat . . . . .
