One Wire Squire Strat Pickups?

[doctorrockit]

I removed the pick guard on my Korean Squire Strat, and found that the pickups are only connected with one wire! I didn't know that was possible.

Anyone seen this before?

[newey]

doctorrockit-

Hello and Welcome!

There need to be at least 2 connections to the pickup, but they don't both have to be wires, at least not for their entire length.

Some pickups use a braided shield as a signal-carrying wire. Teles often have one of the bridge pickup's signal wires running to the baseplate, which is then "grounded " out through the bridgeplate. I've never seen that done on a Strat, however, as the pickup baseplate would then have to be conducting to somewhere else.

When you say "one wire", do you mean one wire plus a shield?

[doctorrockit]

OK, I'm a doofus.

Of course, when I really examined the wiring up close, I saw the shield layer used as a ground! I've got it apart, ready to shield with aluminum foil. I'm really interested in the result, as this is a really noisy circuit. Also, the pots are 500k; are 250k pots better with these pickups?

[newey]

Also, the pots are 500k; are 250k pots better with these pickups?

"Better" is a value judgment. IOW, it depends on what you like. The 500K pots will be a bit brighter-sounding than 250K ones. If you dial the 500K tone pots you have down to about 8, you'll get an idea of what the sound will be like with 250s.

If you like the resulting sound better, then you could replace the pots with 250K ones. Or just leave the knobs at "8" . . .

this is a really noisy circuit.

Using the shield as a signal-carrying wire could be contributing to the noise. That's why most Strat pickups use 2 signal-carrying wires. Some also have a shield, which is then only used for shielding.

I've never owned a Squier Strat, but the skinny on the web seems to be that the pickups they use are the weak link in those guitars. Guys talk about literally transforming them by upgrading the stock pickups.

As long as you're inside there, if you're tempted to do so, now is the time to make the change. While it is possible to spend hundreds of dollars for a super-mega-custom-boutique set, you would probably notice a distinct improvement with a $50 set. And, you'd eliminate a possible source of your noise, as the new ones will undoubtedly have the 2 wire plus shield design.