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Post by JohnH on Nov 26, 2012 6:47:23 GMT -5
This thread is for my new Fender HSS Strat. I just got it yesterday, so I thought I’d start a thread about it, a bit of a blog, about what I think about it and what I’ll do with it. So far, I’m really happy with it – and first impressions count. It’s an American Special, 2010 or 11 model, bought locally second hand. There’s not a mark on it – its a bit scary, I never had a new electric before. But it ticks every box on my wish list for a perfect Strat, which have been, since I was old enough to know (ie about 45), 3 tone sunburst with black pick guard, hot single coils and bridge humbucker, and no noiseless singles please – I reckon these Texas Specials have more character. I had thought that I’d end up with a ‘Standard’, which is supposedly a tad superior. The bodies are about the same (Alder/Urethane) the necks are the same profiles and finished the same, with a satin finish and the same width at the nut. Specials get a larger 70’s headstock, the more basic (preferable to me) pickups, and a vintage 6-point bridge – ie a bit cruder, but it seems to work fine for me. If you buy new, the Specials are a bit cheaper, but you only get a gig bag. So for most folk, a Standard is a probably better buy. But I got a great price, and it has a hard case. Current controlsThe controls are mostly normal Strat, except the tone controls. On this, there are dedicated tone controls for Bridge and Neck, so middle on its own gets no tone pot, and is a bit edgier as a result. These tone controls are the so-called ‘Grease bucket’ circuit. Fender describes this as ‘rolling off the treble, without adding bass’. ‘Kay, I thought that’s what they all did! Actually what it seems to do is act mostly as a normal tone pot, but it doesn’t add the usual extra mid-range resonance at minimum setting (woman tone?). The main way it avoids this is to have an extra 4.7k series resistor, so it can’t quite get to a setting where the tone cap is directly across the pickups. There’s also a rather strangely positioned 0.1uF cap which connects the wiper to ground instead of a directly grounded wire, and the third pot leg is grounded. I haven’t gotten to the bottom of what this bit does yet, but when I’ve worked it out I’ll let you know. First reviewThe tone controls work fine but I’m not convinced of the benefit of this grease bucket arrangement. The basic tones on this guitar are just terrific snappy, punchy Strat tones, full of edge. And quack! I never really got what that was until yesterday, and that’s after having two Stratish copies. When I plug into the Marshall, with a bit of overdrive – there’s Jimi and SRV right there, despite my playing. Fit and finish is perfect, so far as I can see. The two Texas specials are 6.2k. the Bridge Hb is measuring 8.2k – and there I think is some issue, because it’s supposed to be twice that, and it hums like an Sc. When I’m inside, I’ll hopefully be able to fix it. But the good news is, it makes a very good Sc pup, and balances well with the N and M. It’s the best Hb cut to Sc that I’ve heard. Wiring ideaSo what to do with it to ‘enhance’ it? I have few HSS schemes, but somehow I’m over adding too much to such a nice guitar. The two sounds I use most, Neck sc and Bridge Hb are stock. But I’m thinking of rewiring minimally it to get another 7 sounds, focusing on being able to blend the bridge pup from sc to hb, and combine with the neck. Here’s my first pass sketch: Based on a comment from 4real yesterday (thks), there’s a master tone and volume, and the second tone control is turned into a blend to transition the B pickup from Hb to Sc. Here’s a twist: I’ll use the second half of the 5-way to direct which coil is cut, then use the third lug of the master tone to do a ‘bridge-on’ function. Now I can have all parallel combos, and the bridge when cut to sc will cancel hum with both N and M. No new parts needed, but I think a no load pot with a detent will be best for the tone and ‘bridge-on’ function. This will also expand the range of the B pup, in Hb or sc modes by taking the load off. A treble bleed circuit will go in. I find the basic log volume pot falls to quickly, and loses its snap more than it needs to. That’s all for now! John
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Post by 4real on Nov 26, 2012 17:02:43 GMT -5
Grat review and guitar... No prob...for me the H in the HSS just tends to be a little 'much' and thick so I tend to use the 'split' a lot, the variable split still gives you a bit of noise cancelling and allows a better 'balance' with the single coils both in volume and tone. Often the middle and full HB too will make a very bright odd sound together that I've never found useful so that calms this effect down or out. I'm not sure if you experience these kinds of effects with this HSSBeing able to choose the coil you split to is good, for me I favour the inner coil, less of an ice pick sound and combines well, but both are good and adds a layer of variety. I love combined sounds and the N+B is a favorite, mine gives this instead of middle alone and recomend this option which sounds like you get with the bridge on which is cool and doesn't sound too fussy. I'm with you, it's hard to 'resist' but intuitive controls and a few great sounds is all anyone really needs. The HB split being so good is a good sign, mine has a duncan JB HB in it that is renown for a great split too and there is a big difference between one that splits well and sounds good in HB mode, and just the ability to split for an 'extra sound' it can be done, but not all HB's split well. LOL...well yes, that may be true, though the word 'character' is a bit like 'tone', they all ahve some kind of character, most important is that you like them. For me it was the no noise thing, but also I wanted that 'modern' smoother sound perhaps, mine are the original JB fender noiseless (hotter) so they have that kind of sound, less 'spanky' but still fendery. My tele's SCn though, for that kind of pup is also better sounding than any SC version that I'd come about. Main thing is that it sounds good... Does this mean GN2 is evolving towards higher end and more 'stock' guitars... Congrats on a fine guitar and hope you give it all the time playing it that it deserves....
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Post by JohnH on Dec 2, 2012 6:55:42 GMT -5
I lasted almost a week before I started taking it apart.
Getting the pick-guard off was more of a puzzle than usual, because the neck has an extra extension in the rosewood that overhangs the pg, allowing an extra 22nd fret. So one can't just lift the pg straight up, it has to be moved horizontally 1/4" towards the bridge, which means the pickups get caught beneath in their routed slots! Bummer..
Has anyone come across that issue before?
My solution to getting it off was to unscrew the neck pickup completely and let it drop inside. But at this time I have not figured how to get it back on There must be a way, seeing as how the guitar existed in an intact state and was presumably assembled at some point in the past. If the answer is to remove the neck there will be words....
Inside, it's all clean and tidy, and untouched by tinkerers. The pg is foil screened, and the cavity is shielded by conductive paint - a nice surprise., with its own ground wire.
I was able to resolve what was happening with the bridge pickup, where i had thought it was acting only as a single coil of 8.5 k. In fact its all there , with two 4.25k coils, so very different to the Fender specs for a bridge atomic Hb, which state 16k.
But I really like the sound. I wouldn't want to cut it back to anything brighter than it is, so I don't plan to do coil cuts now, it has a perfect tone for a powerful bridge Strat pickup.
So Ive wired a different scheme, as yet untested.
The middle pickup is a bit too raw for some occasions, and it wasn't getting any tone control, so I changed one tone pot to a master tone, keeping the 'grease-bucket' arrangement for now.
The other pot I have removed, and replaced with a pot that gradually connects the hots of the B and N pickups together, to blend them. It's a 100k log pot, with a no-load mod so it fully disconnects. This should allow the Tele sounds of B+N to be available, but also all three plus interesting mixtures of B and part of N or N and part of B. Its a simple mod, using a pot from the spares box - which has the right shaft for a Strat knob.
Last thing I've done is put in a treble bleed circuit, 120k for a 250k pot and I considered 1nF or 0.82nF. I ran some scenarios on my spreadsheet and settled in the end for the 1nF, which is a bit better at the higher volume range settings which is where I'm more likely to use it.
That's all for now. Hopefully tomorrow, I can figure out how to get that pg back on!
cheers
John
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Post by newey on Dec 2, 2012 9:10:21 GMT -5
+1! Spoken like a true Nut! I haven't run into the pickguard issue, but it wouldn't surprise me if the factory mounted the neck after the pg. Can you not flex the plastic enough at the bridge end to get the whole shebang, pickups and all, to slide into place? I assume you've destrung it first, and if you raise the pickups as far as they'll go, I would think that a bit of flexing would allow it to slide in there. But of course, that's all speculation without having the parts in hand.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 2, 2012 10:03:10 GMT -5
Getting the pick-guard off was more of a puzzle than usual, because the neck has an extra extension in the rosewood that overhangs the pg, allowing an extra 22nd fret. So one can't just lift the pg straight up, it has to be moved horizontally 1/4" towards the bridge, which means the pickups get caught beneath in their routed slots! Bummer.. Has anyone come across that issue before? My solution to getting it off was to unscrew the neck pickup completely and let it drop inside. But at this time I have not figured how to get it back on There must be a way, seeing as how the guitar existed in an intact state and was presumably assembled at some point in the past. If the answer is to remove the neck there will be words.... John that is strange
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Post by Deleted on Dec 2, 2012 10:05:11 GMT -5
Inside, it's all clean and tidy, and untouched by tinkerers. The pg is foil screened, and the cavity is shielded by conductive paint - a nice surprise., with its own ground wire. John Is it the same with all/most of the stock Specials ?
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Post by 4real on Dec 2, 2012 14:13:44 GMT -5
That pickgutard 'issue' is the same with all 22 fret strats, there is an overhang...my strat is rear loaded with 22 frets so I don't ahve a pickguard at all.
Assuming you've taken the strings off, i can still see how that can happen with a legit fender pup routing (not a bathtub or similar) it wouldn't surprise me if in manufacture if the neck was not put on after the pickguard inthe factory.
Again, youv'e confirmed my bias generally against 'high powered, overwound pickups and the concern over the balance of things when a high powered HB is used in a normal strat. Thre is no reason that you can't get fantastic clean sounds out of an HB, other than the fashion and expectation is that they are necessarily overwound...resulting in that midrange 'honk' and distorting the inputs of things. These can sound ok when split sometimes too, but in the end you are, in my opinion, getting the worst of both worlds. If it sounds good and it is quiet, then wnat more does one need from a good guitar.
Of course, I'm all for the N+B selection as it's a paticular fav and I've never felt any particular affection for the middle pickup other than the amazing sounds one gets with thhis in combination with others.
I'm wondering want the M+B selestion sounds like as with an HB and being closer than with SC because of size, I've often found this position to sound very 'brittle' due to the increased cancellations between the two. All pickup combos are different I guess. On my 'strat' oiginally it had a 'duncan designed' copy of the SD JB (I have a real one in it now) and two single coils and that combo never sounded right....
Of course I approve of the N+B thing, for me it's a great sound with a lot more character than the middle alone. The all three thing can sound great too (since my MR rewire), on mine a light 'airy' kind of sound. I really don't use any of teh many series options available to me anyway so you are not missing a lot....a bit of tone roll off can give the neck pup a jazzier thing if required.
I would also play with the relative pickup heights. I like to put the middle pup lower, largely so I'm not hitting it with the pick too much and because I really only use it as a kind of 'tone shaping' thing. You can get some interesting combinations with this pup OoP with the others, if you ever wanted to try that kind of thing and can work out a discreat way to do that...at least from my very old 'phasecaster' thing from 10 years back or so!
So, it all sounds good and of course you were going to mod it.....but it's good to have seen a little 'restraint there'...many people when they start moding 'want it all', we have all done it...but I like the more 'stealthy' thing and a guitar that is more 'practical' to play. I'm sure there willl be minor tinkering down the line.
The main thing is that you ahve a great sounding and playing guitar that appeals to your aesthetic and will age well. A strat is a beautiful thing... :-)
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Post by sumgai on Dec 2, 2012 14:26:54 GMT -5
It's the same with all Strat models having a 22 fret neck. John, I don't understand.... while you've not said specifically that you de-strung the thing, I do assume such. Hence, there's no issue - the scratchplate (Australian for pickguard) should lift right out of there, at a slight angle as you noted. The Neck pup route isn't so tight as to prevent the pickup from clearing it as the pg is tilted up slightly (bridge end being elevated higher than the neck end), then taken completely away from the cavity. Now if the strings are still in place ( ), then I can see your issue - the neck's overhang will interfere with a 'straight up' lifting of the pg, and then sliding it out on a plane parallel to the body. Sliding it forward ¼" isn't the answer because the pups/pg assy are still taller than the body-to-strings clearance distance. Tilting it will only exacerbate the problem. Now, if perchance the body were mis-routed, or the pup misplaced within the pg, then I'd believe problems could occur. In the interests of science (and reduced hair-pulling in anguish), compare the body's pup routes to some of your other axes - any differences? If so, I'd "cure" them with a router, mosh-kosh. In fact, the few times I've bought a guitar, I've always taken it apart to shield it, first thing. Well, actually before applying the copper tape, I run the router around the pup cutouts to remove the 'intrusive parts', those pieces of wood left over that Leo should've removed right from the get-go.... why waste time (remember, this was back in 1954, when everything was still done by hand) making all those intricate cuts instead of just making a nice rectangle, and being done with it? Doesn't make sense to me. So I route it all out nice and neat, then shield it. Now there's lots of room for experimenting with different pups, and R'n'R'ing the pickguard is no longer a problem, even with the guitar still strung up. HTH sumgai
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Post by JohnH on Dec 2, 2012 14:41:02 GMT -5
Thanks for the further comments.
My Plan A was to raise the neck pickup, but what this does is drive the mounting screws lower into the pickup body, which means they are forced to be hanging deep below the pickguard. They are the longest and scratchiness parts of the assembly. There's a bit of flex in the pg, but not enough to avoid snapping it to get enough clearance.
Plan B will be to lower the pickup, so the mounting screws are only just engaged, they try to pull the whole thing up so the screws poke out above the pg and holding it there - which will mean keeping the rubber tubes (which are acting as springs around the screws) between pup and pg) compressed by holding or blocking from above.
Plan C is the reverses of how I got it off by fully releasing the pickup, learning how to get the screw threads engaged working 'blind' with the benefit of being able to practice before it goes in.
Plan D, the neck comes off...
My favorite sounds are neck single and Bridge Hb - everything else is a bonus. So this turns out not to be a hot Hb but a fairly vintage one, just nicely a bit hotter and a bit smoother than the already hot Texas-Special singles. So a good balance.
I particularly like the B+M, its better than usual so I'm looking forward to hearing B+N as well and testing the mixing actions which I think should work out quite well.
John
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Post by 4real on Dec 2, 2012 15:28:41 GMT -5
If so, I'd "cure" them with a router, mosh-kosh. In fact, the few times I've bought a guitar, I've always taken it apart to shield it, first thing. Well, actually before applying the copper tape, I run the router around the pup cutouts to remove the 'intrusive parts', those pieces of wood left over that Leo should've removed right from the get-go.... why waste time (remember, this was back in 1954, when everything was still done by hand) making all those intricate cuts instead of just making a nice rectangle, and being done with it? Doesn't make sense to me. I disagree with this a lot... 1. Leo did the pickgurad thing to make it esier to manufacture in an assembly line fasion...not so that people could take it apart...remember too that the origonals had three way switches, not 5 and all those classic 'combination sounds' were never on teh menu back then... 2. Most importantly. The strat has a huge rectangular trem spring cavity under the pickups with perhaps 2mm of wood between the two...it is effectively a big hole right through the guitar...in many ways a strat is like a hollowbody with a plastic top. especially with a 'bath-tub' route. you need 'strength'... The failure of this came hme to me recently. I ahve a bathtub route strat and when I took it out again recently...the bridge had actually broken the wood and pushed itself forward into the route! Another 'weakness' is this huge route also is right in front of the neck join and can make things a little 'flexible' and weak at this critical location and so also, not having the neck or the bridge anyting like as strong in this critical location demands between the neck and the bridge... Leo would have recognised this a sougth to include as much wood as possible, and as he did not envsiage people taking the things apart, why would he concern himself with teh ability to take the pickguard off with the strings on. What is amazing about fenders is just how much was designed for cost savings and ease of manyfacture and yet, it works so ridiculously well. I disagree with too much of this, don't see it under the plastic so might as well just remove it' idea, completely.
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Post by JohnH on Dec 2, 2012 15:49:24 GMT -5
First, let me just say that the idea of routing out the guts of my new guitar would be Plan Z at best, and that is without knowing what Plans E to Y are!
Strings absolutley were removed. On a dinged-up low-value beater I sometimes keep them on as I tweak schemes, and the occasional extra scratch has resulted. I hope that with careful study of the parts now that I can see them, I'll work something out. J
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Post by sumgai on Dec 2, 2012 19:22:06 GMT -5
As Chris always said "Engineering Is", and left it at that. I think that strikes just the right note here too, so I'll take a cue from him, if y'all don't mind.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 3, 2012 7:28:36 GMT -5
hmmmmm i have a theory for this. maybe the special series is the *only* american massively sold model which utilizes a vintage traditional trem? (non-pivot, i mean). So maybe the geometry suits/works fine for the two stud-pivoting tremolo featuring in newer american strats (standard/deluxe), but fails for the special due to the use of 6-screws old system?
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Post by Deleted on Dec 3, 2012 7:30:44 GMT -5
Of course, I'm all for the N+B selection as it's a paticular fav and I've never felt any particular affection for the middle pickup other than the amazing sounds one gets with thhis in combination with others. absolutely agree.
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Post by JohnH on Dec 3, 2012 7:32:45 GMT -5
I got it all back together.. Phew!
The trick with the pick guard was to lower the neck pup fully with screw threads flush with the base plate, then squeeze it up by hand so the screws project above the pg, and wrap some insulated wire around the threads so it couldn't spring down again. That minimised the total projection of pup and screws below and allowed the pg to slip under the end of the fingerboard with just a bit of flexing.
The new neck/bridge tones are very interesting, particularly full bridge with about half of neck. I think this simple mod is a good way to explore these missing tones on a strat. I'll see how it goes with the band next week...
J.
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Post by sumgai on Dec 3, 2012 12:08:02 GMT -5
The trick with the pick guard was to lower the neck pup fully with screw threads flush with the base plate, then squeeze it up by hand so the screws project above the pg, and wrap some insulated wire around the threads so it couldn't spring down again. That minimised the total projection of pup and screws below and allowed the pg to slip under the end of the fingerboard with just a bit of flexing. You can be sure that they don't do that at the factory, that's just too labor intensive and time consuming. Which of course equals money no longer available for the 'profit' column. Next time (and we're all sure there'll be one! ) take some pix, please. sumgai
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Post by JohnH on Dec 3, 2012 14:37:08 GMT -5
From a production standpoint, I reckon you guys who said that the neck was probably put on last are probably correct, and it avoids this issue during the manufacture plus keeps the body nice and compact through most of the production line.
This is only an issue on later necks with 22 frets, and as a designer, I think the way it complicates the pg removal is an oversight. An extra 5mm routed from the bridge-side corners of the neck pocket would have fixed it by allowing screws hanging down to be able to be moved back further. Also a small chamfer to the projecting underside of the fret board would have stopped the pg from jamming as it was tilted up. That's another small operation as so costs something, but I'd suggest that be considered by anyone building their own eg with an aftermarket 22 fret neck - 5 careful minutes with a file and you'd never see the difference.
I will be back inside, but not for quite a while. This was an exploratory rewire in order to figure out what I have and test the N+B sounds (nice). Ill play it now and see how I feel about any further changes. First impression on the blend pot is that i like it, and its much more useful than a second tone pot. The mixes where N is faded in with full B are more distinctive than fading B in with full N. So I might think of using the second switch half to have this active only in position 1 (B). the 100k value for this pot is fine, with the no-load mod, but I might get two pre-made ones and have them on the tone pot too.
The treble bleed mod is a nice improvement.
John
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Post by long813 on Dec 3, 2012 16:26:54 GMT -5
It seems to go inline with how I view Fender's business model. They added the 22nd fret and changed nothing else as to keep costs low. It's a blessing and a sin, in one respect, you can swap necks easily, on the other, the production line isn't perfect.
Must be a huge pain, so I bet you want to make sure you don't have to tinker with this guy too often eh?
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Post by Deleted on Dec 4, 2012 5:19:50 GMT -5
Is the special HSS routed? Standards/Deluxes are HSH routed. At least that's what i witness by browsing ebay.
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Post by JohnH on Dec 4, 2012 6:03:05 GMT -5
Is the special HSS routed? Standards/Deluxes are HSH routed. At least that's what i witness by browsing ebay. I would say so, since it is HSS and would have to be to fit he bridge pickup. I've had some more time to play this evening with the new wiring - and there are indeed some really nice subtle variations here, and there's a good sound at both N and B with a bit of the other blended in. Also, the tone control is helpful in some cases - a first for me. The treble bleed keeps the tone intact, with just a little extra high end presence as you lower the level. One thing I'd welcome some views on - is the merits of different string sizes on a Strat. It has 9-42's on it now, and they seem so thin and bendy. But I'm getting used to them though scared they'll break during a ham-fisted power-chord. On my other guitars, I usually use 10-46 or 10-52. How do you find that the tone changes with thicker or thinner strings? cheers John
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Post by Deleted on Dec 4, 2012 8:51:55 GMT -5
I would say so, since it is HSS and would have to be to fit he bridge pickup. Alright, but nothing should prevent them routing it HSH to help improve that particular problem of getting the pg out. I find it silly for a factory POV, i mean making a HSS routing configuration for *only* one model, just to make the lives of the owners harder?
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Post by Deleted on Dec 4, 2012 8:56:18 GMT -5
On my other guitars, I usually use 10-46 or 10-52. How do you find that the tone changes with thicker or thinner strings? I put 10-46 on short scale (25"), 9 on strats. 11's are definitely break-proof. I don't know i like them all! Tone wise, for harmonics i'd say that 11's fall behind the others.
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Post by long813 on Dec 4, 2012 11:29:56 GMT -5
On my other guitars, I usually use 10-46 or 10-52. How do you find that the tone changes with thicker or thinner strings? I put 10-46 on short scale (25"), 9 on strats. 11's are definitely break-proof. I don't know i like them all! Tone wise, for harmonics i'd say that 11's fall behind the others. I love 11's just for the feel! You do get some heavier tones, as you are moving around a bigger string. Not as noticeable on electrics as it is acoustics though. I find 10's are too light and they feel like I'm playing on a wet noodle. Can't imagine what 9s would feel like!
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Post by JohnH on Dec 4, 2012 14:26:09 GMT -5
I would say so, since it is HSS and would have to be to fit he bridge pickup. Alright, but nothing should prevent them routing it HSH to help improve that particular problem of getting the pg out. I find it silly for a factory POV, i mean making a HSS routing configuration for *only* one model, just to make the lives of the owners harder? Apologies, you asked about HSH and I only responded about HSS. On mine, the neck pocket is just for a single coil size. But indeed, if it was bigger, the pg/neck overhang issue would be easier.
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Post by JohnH on Dec 15, 2012 15:27:53 GMT -5
Last Thursday I got to try out this Strat cranking up the amp with the band at our rehearsal. Big smile on my face! The characteristic Strat sound was so distinctive through my Marshall combo and unlike any copy that I have played.
My friend on lead guitar plays a 2010 American Standard, so we got out our headbands and mucked out with some Dire Straights. Took me back to ’79.
We had a swap of the two guitars, Special and Standard. To play, they feel exactly the same. The TX Specials in mine have a bit more grunt, and the Hb I have at the bridge is not that different to the Standard’s single in tone, just a bit more midrange, and a bit louder. Ie, its not a super hot shredders humbucker, and is a very appropriate thing to put in a Strat. The effective mid volume boost that it provides was a good transition when I did a solo, with neck used for rhythm.
The mix control I have wired in right now, to give me N+B is a very good sound and I want to keep it, the neck and bridge Hb combined well. So that will be a part of my next rewire.
I have a couple of Fender no-load pots coming, so I’m still scheming on where to take the wiring on this. It has to be all good accessible sounds with no quirks and awkward control movements needed, and no extra switches.
J
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Post by 4real on Dec 15, 2012 16:52:51 GMT -5
There's no denying the 'wonder of the strat'...LOL.
Still, not to say you can't make a 'copy' good too. But, perhaps some miss that in say some of my 'squier' mod gutiars...it's not just or even the 'trick' wiring in mine...almost everything has been upgraded to 'deluxe' parts to achieve that kind of result...they are perhaps some of the most expensive 'copies' and started out as 'high end' squiers as well!
And, yes, I'd even say that things like not 'over routing' the pickup cavities and such, does have some effect...certainly compared to a bathtub route that virtually puts a hole right through the guitar with the sping cavity below!
And yeah, love the N+B sound and so glad I swapped out the middle alone for that with the Mike Richardson wiring. It's kind of 'cool' all those series options in mine, but I honestly don't use them. The all three parallel though is an interesting sound, do you get that on your mod? My HB in mine is a hotter SD JB pup, not too hot and splits well, but a little split is necersarry and useful to balance on mine and like that possiblility on my 'split select' thing, almost always I use the inner coil bias which takes off the 'strat' bridge pup 'icepick' effect and preserves a nice M+B 'stratty' sound as well...
Glad you are having so much fun with it john!
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Post by JohnH on Dec 28, 2012 0:42:35 GMT -5
A couple of weeks later and I’ve had some more time to play this Strat, and consider how best to set it up for my ‘needs’. I’ve got it wired a bit differently now, and restrung with 10’s instead of 9’s. I think the new arrangement is a keeper. It’s a playing guitar rather than a design project so it has a very simple system
When I got this HSS American Special, it was as stock, with standard settings on the five-way and ‘Greasebucket’ tone controls on N and B pickups, with no tone control in position 3. My initial rewire added treble-bleed to the volume pot, changed one of the tone pots to a Master tone and swapped the other for a 100k (converted no-load) pot to blend N and B into each other, and all three together in positions 2 and 4.
This showed how the neck and bridge blended sounds were very different to the others and well worth having.
With my amended wiring, I came to the following views:
N+B. Was definitely wanted. The transition to it from a single pickup is more interesting with B at full, and as you arrive at fully mixed, my 1 and 5 positions obviously sounded the same. So I thought the blending should only happen in position 1 (normally B), so that a mix can be set, and not have it affect position 5. Also, although I had thought that about 100k would be a good value, I found too much of the change was rather sudden as it started to engage, so I think 250k, no-load, is the right value, which is what I’ve now installed
I wondered whether to have a coil-cut on the Hb, but decided not to since the sound of the humbucker at the bridge is just fine. I also thought about series options, but the Hb is a solid 6db louder than the single coils, which is great for a solo but there’s no need for any more than that on this Strat.
I wasn’t too blown away by the Greasebucket tone controls. You lose the interesting mid hump at 0, which can be a nice Easter-egg and useful with a bit of overdrive. Also, I thought the Hb sounded like it could have some more sparkle if it was not loaded by a 250k tone control as well as a volume pot, so I’ve used a no-load pot. I had expected to use this as a Master tone control, but then decided in the end, that I would never be likely to substantially turn down the tone with the bridge humbucker, and it is more useful to have the tone control just for positions 2 to 5, allowing a switch movement to 1 from a muted neck tone to release the full undiminished bridge pickup. The blend control, acting only on position 1 (and 2) is a very effective tone control in itself, initially taking an edge off the humbucker, and then thickening it as the neck pickup engages further.
So that’s my scheme – very simple. Standard Strat selections with neck blended into the bridge at 1, no-load tone control for positions 2 to 5 only, and treble bleed on the volume pot.
It took about 10 minute sto wire up. So what to do the rest of the afternoon?
I know! I’ll go and PLAY it!
Cheers
John
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Post by 4real on Dec 28, 2012 2:17:48 GMT -5
I really admire what you'v been doing with this 'non-project' and glad I'm not the oly one to have discovered teh joys of N+B on a strat or with disimilar pups (SC+HB) and a neat way to do it as well.
I've always liked the idea of tone controls on some pups only so you can switch or mix and would encourage you if/or when you feel inclinded to work on similar options for other schemes over a 'master control' as I think this could be really useful for a lot of players...well done...
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Post by JohnH on Dec 30, 2012 19:17:51 GMT -5
Thanks for the comments: SchematicHere is my really complicated schematic: This would obviously work with SSS or HSS, since I’m not messing with the humbucker coils. It occurs to me that simple mods like this may be the ones that have the most appeal to the general guitarist in the street – since it adds some extra useful features without any extra complication. While thinking about what I wanted, I had a bunch of sketches with different ways to use the standard pots and switch. The most I got to was the standard selections, plus coil cut, N+B and NxB. I almost did that one, but it didn’t feel quite right. I’ll keep the sketch though. Getting the pickguard offThis is how I’m dealing with the issue of removing the pickguard, with the 22 fret overhanging neck, which stops the pg being lifted up, while the neck pickup and internal routing stops it sliding back. At least there is a small gap under the overhang. I’ve read of cases where parts from various suppliers, with different neck pocket depth, heel thickness and pg thickness can end up with the pg being clamped by the neck, which is bad in lots of ways. But with the neck pickup in place, the available tilt is not enough to allow the pg to be raised/tilted enough so the neck pickup clears the internal routing. So, to remove it, I completely unscrew the neck pickup and let it drop down loosely. And to reinstall, I rescrew the pickup support screws just minimally so they are flush with the underside of the pickup with no thread projecting. Then lift the whole pickup up, so the screws project above, and lock them there by wrapping insulated wire around the screws - nice and soft so it doesn't scratch: This minimises the projection below the pg, and then I can get enough flex in the pg to slip it under the neck overhang. Setting upAfter this change, I swapped to 10’s in place of 9’s. I’ve also raised the action a bit at the bridge to suit my ham-fisted strumming. It had been set a bit to aggressively low for me with 9’s, and I was getting buzzes at many places. The extra neck relief from higher tension helped a bit. Once I had it right, intonation needed a slight tweak on a couple of strings. I’m using a small app on the pc called G-tune, which Runewalker sent me years ago, which lets you see frequencies within a cent or two. The trem had been quite positively decked before, but with the 10's on, it started to float, allowing a small upward bend. Fun to play with, but I’m a bit more in control with this 6-point trem if its in contact, so I wound the trem screws in a few turns, so tuning is more stable but a small push on the trem will get me a downward shift. I’ve been experimenting with pickup heights. I’ve found that I can get anything from about a 6db difference between neck single and bridge humbucker, all the way to having a match in volume. I’d like the bridge to be louder than the neck though, and I’m trying to get a handle on how the tone is changing as I change height. Does anyone have a perception of how the tone changes with pickup height, beyond the volume differences? I might run a test, since I read different reports on this on the net as to whether tone gets darker or brighter. John
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Post by JohnH on Jan 26, 2013 23:01:01 GMT -5
All is good today, the rain is falling, the grass is growing again, its a long weekend and I’ve just installed a killer Strat mod. It’s the third partial rewiring of this HSS Strat – just can’t help it. I’m still liking its basic sounds, so those stay. But I’m not using the tone controls, other than a very slight reduction, so I wanted to get some more out these. This uses the standard 5-way and the two no-load pots that I have installed before. At the bridge, the tone pot now acts to progressively split the humbucker, giving a spankier single-coil tone which is a Strats birthright. The neck tone pot now transitions from the simple neck single coil pickup, to a series combination with one of the bridge coils, which is a very nice thick but open sounding tone. A nice bonus is that in position 2, M combined with bridge single is humcancelling, and the series NxBs combo is also humcancelling, since it involves the other bridge coil. It really is too – very quiet even though the coils are from different pickup types. Each setting apart from no. 3 has two different sounds, and the two ‘tone’ pots can be preset for whatever is wanted in positions 1, 2 and 4, 5. There’s no normal tone control (but one could be added). But the way the tone transitions are made, by gradually shunting one coil, results in a slight relative reduction in the treble peak as you move away from the ends, so it does all I need anyway. I just got it all back together – maybe this one is a keeper, for a while! John
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