Introducing Fiesta Hot Hush Puppies, Noiseless Strat Pickups

A new brand of pickups that strive to provide premium tone at a more mid-market price range.

Cost: $119.99 from Fiestapickups.com or from Reverb.com!

Starting with my recent roundup of the best pre-wired Stratocaster pickup options on the market, I’ve started really digging into different pickups, wiring configurations, and tone controls. With a huge Strat wiring harness project on the horizon, I wanted to highlight the sweet sounding pickups that will be featured in all the videos and articles. I’ll be using this Fiesta Pickups Hot Hush Puppies Strat set, in my trusted, beat up, sticker covered Squier Affinity Stratocaster. And trust me, these aren’t just any pickups, you’ll want to know them. That’s precisely why I’m reviewing them, and letting you know why they’ll be staying in this guitar for the foreseeable future.

Fiesta Pickups is a relatively new company that sets out to hit that middle-market area, where prices aren’t exorbitant but the quality is really on par with more boutique options. I have my set wired up by 920D Custom, great friends of the website, with some cool wiring schematics to explore soon!

Breaking Down The Tone

Now I’m going to release some follow up content displaying all the classic Strat tones you can pull out of this guitar, but before I do that I wanted to emphasize that these pickups perfectly nailed MY Strat tone. They can do an SRV thing with a Tube Screamer, you can plug in your Memory Man and be The Edge. You can also get your Mark Knopfler sounds with ease, they do all those amazing Stratocaster things you want to see in a demo. But what these really do well is create a clear, snappy blank canvas for you as the guitar player to create around. The original Fender Stratocaster was designed to be ultra-versatile, an every man’s guitar, and these Hot Hush Puppies stay true to that idea without requiring you pay an arm and a leg.

For a player who likes to go from punk to melodic atmospheric music in seconds, these pickups are an excellent choice for me. They are a tad bit hotter than your average Strat-style pickups, with some bite in the bridge and neck especially. With the dirt rolled on, you’ll have a great time playing almost any style or genre. And to be fair, these really are noiseless, so far I’ve had little to no 60 cycle hum or annoying buzz with a full pedalboard and plenty of electronics nearby. Simply put, these are rock solid Strat pickups that are a lot higher quality than the budget pickups I often rely on, while still being firmly in my budget. I pulled what I consider to be my “signature” tone out of these in seconds, and will be playing them for months to come as part of several projects!

The Verdict

These Fiesta Hot Hush Puppies are well worth a look, providing true noiseless tone and genuine Stratocaster fun for a mid-market price. These would be a solid upgrade on any Squier or Mexican Fender-like guitars, or would be perfectly suited to replace some weaker, vintage style pups on a high end six string.