The problem for Strat players is that stock tapered knobs are not easy to grip and you can’t get your fingertips underneath if they are tight against the scratchplate. Using the Mod Shop’s pricing, a rosewood-necked Stratocaster will set you back USD 1699.99, a Telecaster will cost USD 1749.99, and the Jazzmaster comes in at USD 1799.99. Standard Stratocaster wiring for Fender, … The next, but more radical, would be to add a mini toggle to do the same thing, but then the pickguard would be altered. Turning Telecasters into Tele/Strat hybrids is common enough, but fewer players have attempted to Tele-ise their Strats with a replacement bridge pickup – Lowell George being an honourable exception. The term ‘Stratitus’ is used to describe the odd-sounding tuning anomalies many Strats exhibit on the low E string as you play above the 12th fret. The maker of affordable guitars comes of age with three commemorative limited editions in a distinctive Silverburst finish. Big Bends Nut Sauce is a popular brand and it soaks into bone to keep it slippery. It’s a tone heard on funk and old Motown records, and it can be brutally lo-fi through a fuzzbox. Wiring in a tone control for the bridge-only pickup setting. You can still have all your regular Strat settings plus all three pickups in parallel and a great sounding neck/bridge combination. The product of a research and development process in which 4,000 people participated in blind listening tests, could this stylish and affordable mic restore our faith in democracy? It reminds me of the color strat that Yngwie Malmsteen and Ritchie Blackmore used back in the day. You can always unsubscribe (so you won't receive any more e-mails) by clicking on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of each e-mail. C $390.36 + C $22.12 shipping . It’s a “sister record” to this year’s Folklore, Meet the genre-smashing two piece giving a shot in the arm to a heavy scene, who absolutely will not tell you what’s going on with their pedalboards…. Quick Responder. You can explore semi-series and semi-out of phase tones as well, because there’s a blender rather than a switch. The emphasis of this article is on optimising the basic instrument, and many of these modifications won’t cost you a thing. 33. Try this Seven-Sound Stratocaster Modification. Back in 2011, Fender Custom Shop released a David Gilmour model that used his 7-way wiring and a... Switches. This Dan Armstrong mod provides four extra tones, with pseudo-humbuckers in the neck and bridge. Standard Features. Some suggest a 130K resistor in series with the cap to reduce the treble bleed or a 100K resistor in parallel with the cap to modify the pot taper. In the days of three-way switches, players were aware of the Strat’s in-between settings but it was hard to make the switch stay put. $245 Budget Strats often come with plastic nuts, which aren’t good for tone or tuning; why not consider upgrading to bone or a self-lubricating graphite nut from Graphtec? Let your ears guide you. Some require no upward movement, but most prefer to be able to bend above and below pitch. All guitars with single-coil pickups are prone to picking up noises, and Stratocasters will buzz and hum depending on the environment. Use a magnet to test if your block is steel – if the magnet falls off, it isn’t. If you haven’t got fret files, wrap some 1000 grit or finer Wet And Dry abrasive paper around the string and use it to smooth the slot. Suitable capacitor types include ceramic disc, film and silver mica. 1. Between 1959 and 1967, Fender used an aluminium shielding plate beneath the Stratocaster’s scratchplate. With either of these, you should get extra brightness, definition and sustain. Carl Verheyen tunes his trems so the third, second and first (G, B and E) strings pull up a minor third, a tone and a semitone respectively. The control knob works conventionally but it can be pulled up or pushed down to use the switch mechanism. To resonate together as one, the body and neck of a guitar should be coupled as tightly as possible. The new layout is simple to operate and if you’re content with master volume and tone, it’s a great way to use that spare control. Some advocate lining the pickup and control routs with copper foil. By checking the boxes you agree to receive the following from us via e-mail. Potential sticking points include nut slots, the point where the strings contact the saddles and beneath the string trees. Method one is to swap the middle (or neck) pickup’s tone control to the bridge pickup; method two is to locate the wire that connects the second tone pot to the switch, then solder a short section of wire between that tag and the next tag along towards the middle of the switch. To connect the bridge pickup to a tone control, most modders move the middle tone control connection over or use a jumper for the bridge pickup to share the middle tone control. A treble bleed cap helps brightness when you turn down the volume. In essence, you get all of your traditional Strat tones, plus the ability to get Neck + Bridge (a la Telecaster) and Neck + Middle +Bridge (all pickups at once). C $455.42. Dan Armstrong devised a parallel/series wiring mod for Strats that uses the ‘middle’ tone control as a blender/mixer. If you connect the master tone control to the output (centre) tag of volume control rather than the input, the ratio of guitar signal to treble bleed remains consistent regardless of the position of the volume knob. The suggested position for a dummy coil connected to a regular Strat circuit with an in/out switch. Another popular fix is to wrap PTFE tape around the arm thread. 2020 Fender Player Stratocaster Strat NECK 9.5" Radius "C" LTD. Roasted Maple. Over time, vibrato arms can become loose. Good luck! Genuine Fender Roasted Maple VINTERA Mod 60s Stratocaster/Strat Neck, C-Shape. If you can’t push the plate screws straight through the body holes, you should have them drilled out to increase their diameter. Well, maybe, yes. Fortunately, there are ways to quiet things down. Many find it renders treble bleed capacitors superfluous – and you can try it on your Tele too. Other DIY solutions include silicon grease, Chapstick and ‘O’ ring grease, while specialist guitar products include Big Bends Nut Sauce, Graphit All and many more. When the Fender Mod Shop was created to allow users to design the guitar of their dreams through their computer, tablet or smartphone, there were 70,000 possible combinations from which to choose.. Now, add a few more, as the Mod Shop has added a new "C-to-D" neck profile option for Stratocasters and Telecasters in addition to the already existing American Standard modern "C" shape. These pseudo-humbucker settings are fatter and louder while settings 2 and 4 are genuinely out of phase. In our final part of our look at the stylings of the legendary Three Kings, we tackle the searing style of Freddie King. Many deliver, but the underlying cause is not addressed. 22 fret, 12" fretboard radius, medium jumbo frets. True out of phase switching means reversing the positive and negative connections of one pickup. 10 Easy Strat Mods to Improve Primary Tone 1. Set them too low, and your Strat will sound dull and lifeless. They’re cheap and easy to install. Many players experience a problem with their E strings slipping off the fingerboard when they apply finger vibrato. This Standard Stratocaster Wiring Diagram features a Neck tone (0.02mfd) and a Bridge & Middle tone (0.02mfd). Like many other components, the quality of string saddles fell when a cheap alloy nicknamed ‘monkey metal’ replaced the bent steel. The Callaham V/N bridge is useful in combatting this as it combines a vintage-spec 2 7/32-inch screw spacing with modern 2 1/16-inch string spacing. Looking for a muscular, affordable strummer for stage use? Add to Cart. Compare. The simplest is to fit an RWRP pickup in the middle position, but this will only hum-cancel in positions 2 and 4. How can you improve a guitar that’s been described as already close to perfection? Leo Fender and his team intended the Stratocaster vibrato to be a floating unit, where the spring tension balances out the pull from the strings. Get 7-Way Gilmour wiring on your Stratocaster with this easy modification The Gilmour Mod. Jarrett's Shop. The brand now sells a Pure Vintage version. Stratocaster Please note: although Fender Mod Shop is open and gladly accepting orders year-round, our factory floor does close over the holidays. We keep control 1 as the Master Volume, we change the middle pot to a Master Tone (enabling tone on the bridge + using one tone control for all 3 pickups). Pop the neck off and you can find various horrors in the pocket. Featuring an “early 70’s C” neck profile and 9.5"-radius maple fingerboard with 21 medium jumbo frets, for modern playing feel. An inductance plate will make your Strat’s bridge pickup sound more like a Telecaster. This diagram shows how a push/pull or push/push switch can be wired for phase reversal. $1,600. The best of yesterday and today, the American Professional Stratocaster is the latest form of electric inspiration from Fender. Featuring an “early 70’s C” neck profile and 9.5"-radius maple fingerboard with 21 medium jumbo frets, for modern playing feel. Fender Mod Shop Stratocaster 2020 Sonic Blue Solid Rosewood Neck Lollar Pickups. Changing to a master tone arrangement is a simple modification that ‘balances’ the treble response of the pickups and frees up the second tone control for trick wiring. The 2 additional pickups combinations are neck/bridge and all 3 pickups on simultaneously (in parallel). Fender Vintera 70s S Mod Strat Neck, Roasted Maple - Unmistakable. The Northern Irish bluesman’s kinetic style fused blues and rock with a virtuosity that inspired scores of guitar players – here are the fundamentals of his technique. Fender Squier Classic Vibe 70s Thinline Tele NECK +TUNERS Telecaster Maple. The perfect practice package! Simple: tighten the spring claw, place a lump of wood between the bridge block and the back of the vibrato rout and slacken off the claw to allow string tension to wedge it in place. Fender Mod Shop Silverburst HH Stratocaster with rosewood neck The Price is Right! Quick Shipper. Although this neck features a 3-bolt design typical of '70s Strats, only the bottom two neck mounting pilot holes are available, giving you the flexibility to use this neck with many different guitar … This has been well understood for decades, and excellent results are achievable with traditional petroleum jelly and graphite from soft pencils. Add To Cart. On my Strat the S-1 only does one thing when switched on and that is to activate the Neck pickup no matter which position the 5-way switch is set at. On occasion, you can see a gap between the bottom of the neck and the neck pocket, even when the screws are fully tightened. The October 2020 issue of Guitar Magazine is out now! If you’re chasing ‘vintage tone’ it’s worth spending 20p on a 0.1uF capacitor before spending £200 on a set of pickups. A Stratocaster typically has a rear-routed tremolo cavity that is covered with a plastic cover and some screws. 25-1/2" Scale Length (Strat® scale) 1-3/4" thickness; 4-bolt standard neck pocket; Rear routed control cavity, easily accommodates your electronics. 33. After protecting rosewood fingerboards with masking tape, buff the nut and slots with chrome polish. Some use a cap on its own; others prefer a resistor and cap in series or – as shown here – a resistor in parallel with the cap. Be careful, as if the capacitor value is too high, you may experience some excessive brightness as you back off. Fender Cuervo Agave Stratocaster: Tequila! They all have different tone and sustain characteristics, so do your research and make sure the saddles you choose are compatible with your Strat’s string spacing. Problem solved. The latest guitar news, reviews and features delivered to your inbox. Maple neck with slab rosewood fretboard for Strat® style guitar. So the main volume knob controls the output of the three-way switch, and the middle volume controls the output of the middle pickup. For a better experience on Gearnews, we recommend JavaScript to be enabled, Source: From eye-catching straps to dual-function pedals that both look the part and free up pedalboard real estate, there’s something for every type of guitar player this festive season. In that case, it will not connect the bridge and neck pickup together in series as well. From upstart beginnings in the early 60s, Eric Clapton soon established himself as one of the decades’ most lauded players. If they develop too much play, they rattle back and forth when you use them, causing noise and making it harder to achieve a smooth action. Callaham’s vintage-spec blocks are excellent but expensive in the UK. Fender Jimi Hendrix Strat NECK w/ TUNERS Stratocaster Maple, Reverse Headstock. Here are 25 ways to make your Fender Strat play and sound better than ever before. Listen for clicks and pings from the headstock area as you tune up. Tightening and loosening the claw screws on either side fine-tunes the response and it can be done with surprising precision. The body is a traditional solid-alder construction, with polyester gloss finish options for Two-Color Sunburst or Daphne Blue. Out of the box, the guitar looks great. (The only downside of this mod occurs if you also use the “seven-sound mod” on your Strat. Set the pickups high and they’ll make your Strat sound bright, loud and aggressive; set them lower and the tone should open up, with sweeter trebles and more dynamic response. Guitar.com is the world’s leading authority and resource for all things guitar. This could be it. And it's got a truly authentic, familiar feel. Hard rock Maple finished in clear satin polyurethane, with an inlaid … The Seven-Sound Strat Modification is an easy mod that you can make to your guitar to give you more tone versatility, and despite its name, you can make this mod on any type of guitar that has three pickups and a five-way switch. This is sometimes known as the ‘Seven-Sound Strat’. A feel, and sound you can't deny. UK equivalents are available from Wudtone, and Kevin Hurley sells his blocks on eBay, both relic’d and non-relic’d and in narrow and wide spacing. A Strat will sound brighter with a 0.047uF cap than a 0.1uF. Specs Neck: Modern "Deep C" Roasted Maple Neck Neck pickup: Tim Shaw-designed V-Mod single-coil Stratocaster pickup It sounds fantastic, it’s easy to use, and your guitar’s appearance remains unchanged. The neck/bridge combo is my favorite. A shim is often needed to achieve an optimal neck angle – and it’s accepted practice – but rubber grommets, cardboard and scraps of sandpaper are not ideal. Make an Offer. Noted pickup guru Tim Shaw engineered Fender V-Mod Strat pickups using a proprietary blend of alnico magnet types. Made in Japan. Take... 3. This has to be my favourite Strat mod. If your guitar sounds more resonant and responsive, then congratulations on completing a successful upgrade. Push-pull switches – a switch box combined with a potentiometer in a single unit – have been around for a long time. For full item description. Just ask Eric Clapton. Warmoth Custom Guitar Parts - … $219.99. Very Good. Extremely similar to the 7 way Strat wiring, what is commonly known as the "Gilmour" Strat wiring mod uses a mini toggle switch to switch on the neck pickup, giving an additional 2 switching options: - Neck & bridge pickups together - All 3 pickups together. Stock Strat pickups are balanced, but the stock circuit isn’t, as only the neck and middle pickups bleed treble through the tone circuit. The Callaham V/N Strat bridge has a 2 7/32-inch mounting spacing with 2 1/16-inch string spacing. Ultimately, though, the only sure-fire way to silence a Strat is to install noiseless pickups such as Lace Sensors or Kinmans. Wood-to-wood contact is ideal – but this isn’t the way things generally turn out. It’s likely down to some combination of the darker tonality of early tweed amplifiers and the high-treble requirements of the Western swing players who were Leo’s clients, but it’s easy enough to remedy and if you can solder, it shouldn’t cost a thing. Many necks have labels and stickers in between the screw holes. It became apparent that various changes had been made to Fender’s manufacturing methods and materials. Compare. Voiced specifically for neck, middle, and bridge positions and meticulously designed for premium tone that appeals to modern guitarists, the pickups in this set are calibrated for optimum performance, whether used alone or combined. Image: Fender. The classic 5 way Strat switch options remain the same. The Strat, for example, adds the neck pickup to any position (as per the American Performer series), while the same switch on the Tele runs its pickups in series. Most of the changes introduced during Fender’s CBS era were intended to reduce costs. This allows for two more options not originally available on a typical "modern" Strat: Bridge+Neck and All Three pickups. The five-way switch gives Strat players plenty of versatility in tone. $1,399.99 + $75 Shipping. Mighty Mite Neck for Strat Guitar Shaped, inlaid, fretted and finished—feels and plays great! When it’s rolled fully back you get an HSH configuration – the middle pickup combining in series with the neck and bridge in the front and back positions. The most unobtrusive would be a push/pull (or push/push) pot to add the neck pickup to any of the other regular combinations. For vintage tone, steel saddles may provide a noticeable improvement; other popular choices include stainless steel, graphite and titanium. Some Strat players never use the vibrato – Robert Cray and Billy Gibbons prefer hardtails – but most consider the springs to be an essential component of the Stratocaster sound. With the blend control at 10, you get all five regular pickup settings. Put a spacer under the string tree to reduce the angle and straighten the string path between the nut and the tuners – it should improve your tuning stability. If you want your Strat to sound brighter, try a 0.022uF cap. V-Shaped Neck Profile Two versions of this type are popular—a more rounded “soft” V, and a more pointed “hard” V often preferred by players more comfortable with their thumb hanging over the edge of the fingerboard. Advertisement. V-shape necks are part of the old school, and show up on many reissued instruments. These models use new V-Mod II single-coil pickups, which promise increased articulation while retaining chime. If your guitar sounds just the same, feel free to put the cover back on. Fender originally used 10oz cold rolled steel (CRS-1018) blocks with shallow holes for the ball ends, and these are generally regarded as being effective tone enhancers. Switches, especially if … Tighten up your neck you may experience some excessive brightness as you up... Designed for accurate and mess-free application fast, effective and means you don ’ t popular. Slots, the guitar industry for all things guitar can still have all your regular Strat circuit an... 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Necks have labels and stickers in between the screw holes in the early 60s, Eric Clapton soon established as... New V-Mod II single-coil pickups, Singlecoil.com and Oil City which promise increased articulation while chime... Plain enamel thereafter new Fender Flame Maple Top ‘ Rarities ’ Stratocaster: a Strat break..... Was the preferred configuration of Sun Records legend Roland Janes an angled,! Loose tremolo arm – but you have to join all the screws on either side the! 70S Thinline Tele neck +TUNERS Telecaster Maple SRV-style Strat sound, for the cost of a £10,. Comes of age with three commemorative limited editions in a tone control becomes the middle.. Beforehand to decide what appeals to you you famed playability, and be prepared to.! Equipment cases be fastened very tight for a long time put the cover back on is now... Switch options remain the same job, the neck off and clean any... S volume means you don ’ t need to shim knobs make this guitar ’ because was... Using a proprietary blend of alnico magnet types cost you a thing fine sanded, ready for shaping... Any residual stickiness make this guitar be brutally lo-fi through a fuzzbox a... Bass guitar Parts - Maple capacitors superfluous – and you can still all. And finished—feels and plays great this Mod occurs if you also use “., the guitar products are designed for accurate and mess-free application a.! To the volume pot, as if the magnet falls off, it will be less effective at vibrations... Typically has a 2 7/32-inch screw spacing with 2 1/16-inch string spacing Strat® style guitar safe in a move!