Neither if they're the stupid Korean-made Fenders, they feel like shit on the frets/neck finish.

That's so true, but my local guitar shop has agreed to proffesionally setup (fix) the guitar. As in adjust the truss rod, fix the action, and even file the really uncomfortable frets. If I don't do that, then I'll have to replace the single coils in the '69 thinline with some noisless pickups. That's just a little over my price range so I'm just going to get the lite ash. (Besides, aside from the neck/fretboard problems, most owners/reviewers say it is comprable with american and even some vintage models!)

You could get a Mex-made for about the same price or less that wouldn't need to have anything done to it to be playable. And while you can fix the frets, the neck's still going to feel like shit.

[quote="itaffy13"]If I don't do that, then I'll have to replace the single coils in the '69 thinline with some noisless pickups.[/quote]

Do you really want noiseless pickups?

The only thing stopping me from getting a tele is the single-coils. I love single-coils but humbuckers are necessary in the bridge. I've considered replacing the single coil in the tele with a small 'hot rails' single-coil sized humbucker, but I really don't want to go through all that trouble. Instead, I thought I might get the american hss, but again, it's a hefty decision considering how much I'm going to be paying. Choice is:

[size=150]A. Purchase Mexican Strat HSS and move on

B. Purchase Lite Ash Tele and set it up as well as replace bridge pickup with single-coil sized humbucker

C. Save up a little more and purchase American Standard Strat HSS[/size]

Any suggestions?

I've already suggested not wasting your money on a Korean-made guitar when you can get a better one for the same price or cheaper, so as long as the guitar you get isn't a Korean-made Fender, you should be fine.

Main thing: try the thing out, see how you like it, know you're getting the guitar you're looking for before you actually buy it.

Note though that the Lite Ash has decent pick-ups in it, they're Seymour Duncan Alnico II Pro pick-ups (so they're mini-humbuckers just like the Hotrails). You'd at least want to keep the neck pup if you do decide to switch pups since that is where the Alnico II Pro is best.

Mare has pretty strong feelings about the Lite Ash, so I guess it's not a good idea.

I've tried both the mex (hss) and the american (sss - couldn't find an hss in my store) and the mexican feels cheaply made, but I still like the sound. Thing is: the american hss (the one I haven't tried yet) has a diamondback humbucker; something I haven't had the chance to try on a strat, but usually see on hard rock/metal guitars. I'm afraid it may be too much mid/bass and not enough highs when I'm only really using the bridge pickup for soloing anyway. Any recommendations?

To be honest most Fender humbuckers imo are shit so don't expect too much out of the Diamondback. You're going to want something though that is heavy on bass or mids, the last thing you'll want is something with a lot of high end going into a strat (too much treble will make it very thin and tinny from my experiences). I'd probably suggest something like a Seymour Duncan Custom Custom or Custom 5 (the difference is the Custom Custom uses an Alnico II magnet while the Custom 5 uses an Alnico V magnet).

What do you think about these:
[img]http://www.stevesmusiccenter.com/SDSH-5.jpg[/img]
Duncan SH-5

OR
[img]http://img.thefind.com/images/bgAFwcERwiAQAMB7-LCFNMGFkGHQtx1YgMMgRhwOGLh72EiasR_ryO58_usddvhNJyAZKfj8SGVwF4qFB7yZ2xUxkd_iUJR6ZJ-yCpWw9fqUwANfkjPe45eq9JuU4Ataszhr9bK69WKccXpWn7bBAQ**?r=2[/img]
Duncan SH-1

The SH-1 ('59) is a very good pick-up and has a PAF-type of tone. The SH-5 (this is off the top of my head so I'm not sure if I'm thinking of the right one) is another variation of the the Custom series and instead of an Alnico magnet it uses a Ceramic magnet instead so it should have a bit more output than the other two and may be hotter as well.

Hotter (easier distortion) is definitely something I want, but I'm not quite convinced I want that much bass and mid.

Well you could search videos up on youtube and decide for yourself.

The sound quality isn't enough for me to decide. What I need to do is try them all out.

So far, I returned my mustang solely for the reason that its pickups weren't high output enough. My Ibanez on the other hand has too much output. The reason Fender isn't so famous when it comes to humbuckers is because, like you said, the humbuckers suck. So I tried the single coils on a strat (the way it's supposed to be) and I thought it was ok, but I definitely enjoyed even more than an American SSS, a used Mexican Strat HSS that had swaped the stock pickups with a seymour duncan SH-5, but I didn't have quite enough time to evaluate it all, so right now, all I can do is wait untill the next time I go to Guitar Center so that I could try out [i]all[/i] the pickups.

One thing is for sure: I want my bridge position, be it hum or single, to be a lead/solo position. That's why I don't want too much bass.

[quote="itaffy13"]I want my bridge position, be it hum or single, to be a[b] lead/solo position[/b].[/quote]

What exactly do you mean by this?
Also, you may want to watch out for high-output single coil sized humbuckers. I have a Seymour Duncan Hot Rails on my Tele, and while it sounds great for distortion, you're really making a sacrifice on your clean tones. It sounds a little soulless...too harsh.