07-14-2007, 01:46 AM
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#1 |
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AKA Chad
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Houston
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TwoString's Friday Night Strat Mods (PICS!!)
Hello all. I didn't have a damn thing to do tonight, so I figured "as long as I'm changing strings, I might as well bust a mod."
I've had a push/pull laying around for a couple of years just waiting to be put in this guitar. The switch is used to activate the neck pickup no matter what position the 5 way switch is in. All you have to do is connect a wire from the 5 way (neck lug) to the switch (SPDT) and connect the other side of the switch to the incoming signal at the volume pot (the same lug the output from the switch wires to). I did the same mod to my first strat and loved having the bridge/neck and all on pickup choices. Rhythm with the neck/bridge combo is just about the best sound to use on lighter rock/pop songs (Toad The Wet Sprocket, Gin Blossoms, etc...I never thought I would feel this old at age 24  ). Also while I was at it, I removed the neck for cleaning.Body before  Pickguard removed - I cleaned off the buffing compound since I plan to shield this guitar soon.  Closeup of the controls before the mod  Switch installed  Switch wired 
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07-14-2007, 01:46 AM
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#2 |
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AKA Chad
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Houston
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Normal
 Neck pickup activated  Neck removed  Cleaning with 0000 steel wool  Taped up to polish frets  Oil prep 
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07-14-2007, 01:47 AM
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#3 |
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AKA Chad
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Houston
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Second coat of lemon oil
 After an hour of soaking and rubbing  All done, time to put it back together  Stringing  End Result  Headstock - note the string wrapping, I might be using these pics for a strat setup thread soon  So, 4 hours work and I've got a clean fretboard, polished frets, fresh strings and 7 pickup combinations.
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07-14-2007, 01:54 AM
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#4 | ||
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Wikipedia is your friend
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Costa Rica
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what did you rub on the headstock!? its so nice and glossy!
my strat's headstock is cool but not sooooo cool!
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07-14-2007, 01:56 AM
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AKA Chad
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Houston
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Quote:
That's all natural. My other strat has more of a matte finish on the headstock, but the '63 reissues had a really deep gloss finish. Nice vintage tint to it too.
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07-14-2007, 01:59 AM
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#6 |
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Banned
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Toukley, Australia
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nice mod! good job on the cleaning there... i usually just wipe the neck the dust off my warlock and les paul =P
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07-14-2007, 02:01 AM
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#7 |
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Jammed
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Apr 2006 Apr 2006 Apr 2006 Apr 2006 Apr 2006 Apr 2006 Apr 2006 Apr 2006 Apr 2006 Apr 2006 Apr 2006 Apr 2006 Apr 2006 Apr 2006 Apr 2006 Apr 2006 Apr 2006 Apr 2006 Apr 2006 Apr 2006 Apr 2006 Apr 2006 Apr 2006 Apr 2006 Apr 2006 Apr 2006 Apr 2006 CAMEL!!
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Wow, good job cleaning the fretboard...
looks charming. Nice simple mod there that rocks. Now you have got yourself a nice strat. I should clean my guitar neck too...you don't want to know how it looks now..
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07-14-2007, 02:10 AM
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#8 | |||
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Wikipedia is your friend
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Costa Rica
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Quote:
You are lucky.... I have a '96 strat and it is barely tinted and very matte.... cool guitar!
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07-14-2007, 02:33 AM
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#9 |
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..kupo?
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: San Diego, CA
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I love the Neck + bridge combo.
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07-14-2007, 02:39 AM
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#10 |
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UG's nail-head-hitter
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Nova Scotia
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I'm curious, why is the neck-on switch on the middle tone control?
I'm also not really getting into the graphite (right?) saddles with the chrome hardware and the black strings, but that's your personal taste. Man, I'm in one of those "I don't mean to be an asshole, but..." moods tonight.
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Will says: DON'T FEAR THE REAPER! - SmarterChild - says: I don't know if I can help it. Member #6 of the "I play my guitar as high as Tom Morello does" club |
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07-14-2007, 02:58 AM
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#11 | |
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Should've Been A Cowboy..
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Earth
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Quote:
lol.... Remember, Tone and playability over looks Looks good. I got a question, do those vintage tuners hold tune better than modern tuners?
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07-14-2007, 03:26 AM
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#12 | ||
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AKA Chad
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Houston
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Quote:
Actually, the bottom tone control was rewired to control the bridge pickup. It's just something that’s become normal to me so I usually forget to mention it. It's the first mod I do to any strat that crosses my path. It just didn't make any sense to me to not have a tone control on the brightest, most treble-heavy pickup. The middle pickup has no tone control because I've never seen a point in it. The middle pickup is so balanced because of the position it's in, I just move the wire over a lug and set that tone control for the bridge. The graphite saddles are another mod I've relied on for years. The graphite slips and slides better, which comes in handy since I set my tremolo to float (I recently put 5 springs in to settle things up while I'm doing various mods and other work...this guitar will be going off for a refret soon). The graphite is also a softer material that wears away under pressure from the strings. This allows the string to "bed in" to the saddle since it will naturally wear away where there is more stress, which eliminates binding points and other friction areas on the saddle. After a few months of heave activity, the saddles are completely worn in and any fear of string breakage is completely gone...same for tuning issues caused by string binding at the bridge. I've been using DR coated strings because they last for months and the tone never changes. Even if the coating chips off, the strings never tarnish or rust and the tone remains the same. I change all six strings whenever the first one breaks. My last set lasted me probably 4 months, which is a testament to the quality of the strings since I play at least a couple of hours a day. I don't really care what color they are as long as they aren't horrible looking. DR makes clear coated strings, but I haven't been able to find a set. And since I have to get them in some color, the black coated strings look better than the blue/red/purple/whatever color the strings come in. I had to buy a set for a jam once and GC only had the blue coated strings left…after the first hour, there was blue dust all over my pickguard. The black coating is a little more durable and doesn’t look as bad when it starts to flake. Quote:
The vintage tuners hold tuning far better than modern non-locking tuners, at least in my experience. No goofy wrapping techniques or "locking" knot-tying, the string has enough friction points in the tuner post to keep it from slipping. It takes a few hours for the strings to settle in though. Once they're there, they don't move, although my strings go sharp when the guitar sits for a day or so. To get them back into tune, I just grab the string and give it a good wiggle and it usually falls right back in to perfect tune.
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Gear My Pedalboard Pedalboard Tutorial Pedalboard Build Patch Cable Tutorial GT-8 Thread Slide Clinic 7 Way Strat LP Intonation Mod My SRV Rig Thread I build rigs and custom pedalboards...PM me for help or advice. |
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07-14-2007, 04:31 AM
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#13 |
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Should've Been A Cowboy..
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Earth
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Why don't you use a graptech nut as well?
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07-14-2007, 10:40 AM
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#14 |
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I N T J
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Left Coast
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^^ Lots of details I didn't know.
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07-14-2007, 10:46 AM
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#15 |
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Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2007
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simple but beautiful.
good job. |
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07-14-2007, 01:22 PM
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#16 | |
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AKA Chad
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Houston
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Quote:
I just didn't need it. There was a need to change the saddles, but the nut has been working just fine. I just enlarged the slots and added some graphite from a pencil and I haven't had any problems. I do a lot of tremolo work, full floating trem quite a bit (just right now) and I love behind the nut bends and harmonic squeals (yes, you can do them even if you don't have a trem).
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Gear My Pedalboard Pedalboard Tutorial Pedalboard Build Patch Cable Tutorial GT-8 Thread Slide Clinic 7 Way Strat LP Intonation Mod My SRV Rig Thread I build rigs and custom pedalboards...PM me for help or advice. |
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07-14-2007, 07:18 PM
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#17 |
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UG's nail-head-hitter
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Nova Scotia
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What I meant was why isn't the neck-on switch on the neck control?
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Will says: DON'T FEAR THE REAPER! - SmarterChild - says: I don't know if I can help it. Member #6 of the "I play my guitar as high as Tom Morello does" club |
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07-14-2007, 07:46 PM
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#18 | |
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AKA Chad
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Houston
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Quote:
Oh...I just prefer to have it on the lowest tone control so it's in line with the 5 way switch. It's easier to grab and make quick changes for me.
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Gear My Pedalboard Pedalboard Tutorial Pedalboard Build Patch Cable Tutorial GT-8 Thread Slide Clinic 7 Way Strat LP Intonation Mod My SRV Rig Thread I build rigs and custom pedalboards...PM me for help or advice. |
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07-22-2007, 09:22 PM
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#19 |
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UG's SRV Bluesman
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Canada
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TwoString, a couple of questions...
First off what kind of switch is that specifically, and where to get etc. also, could i wire a similar setup so that the bottom tone know is a push pull switch that turns the BRIDGE pickup on and off and is the tone control for the BRIDGE pickup? I would leave tone 2 for the neck pickup. I hope to do this mod the the american standard that i will be getting in a few weeks. thanks Hawk
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07-22-2007, 11:19 PM
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#20 |
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AKA Chad
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Houston
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For the pots, check StewMac
To make the bottom tone control work for the bridge pickup, just move it over to the post on the 5 way switch that connects to the bridge pickup...should just be the next post over. You'll see three wires coming off of the switch...one leading to the volume control, one leading to the first tone control, and one leading to the bottom tone control. All you need to do is move that last wire over one lug on the 5 way switch. As for wiring the push/pull so it controls the bridge pickup, instead of connecting the wire for the switch to the neck pickup lug, connect it to the bridge pickup lug. Should be that easy. Let me know if you need any more help.
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Gear My Pedalboard Pedalboard Tutorial Pedalboard Build Patch Cable Tutorial GT-8 Thread Slide Clinic 7 Way Strat LP Intonation Mod My SRV Rig Thread I build rigs and custom pedalboards...PM me for help or advice. |
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