"1H" Squier Bullet

[Mini-Strat_Maine]

I guess this could have gone in the Guitars category, but it's more about wiring. (Or will be, eventually.)

This morning I was browsing through the guitars at the same pawnshop where I found my Johnson JS-050-¾. (That little axe was kind of a happy accident; no gripes, considering the price.)
This Fender Squier Bullet kept calling me, so I finally bought it. I figured for the price, it could (I hoped) be upgraded beyond its single-humbucker, volume-control-only incarnation.
Reviews I've read on these have been pretty good, but I found out that the stock "1H" variety has minimal routing done at the factory. (Indonesia, BTW.) The reviewers said the S/S/S type is routed enough for just about any pickup.

Many mentions on Harmony Central about replacing the stock HB with a Duncan Invader or Dimarzio Super Distortion, but one guy said he had to modify an old Duncan Distortion before it would fit. (Rather than do any carving on the guitar body.)

As a minimum, I'm thinking of upgrading the pup, and maybe adding a coil splitter switch. I'd like to add another humbucker (or two), or make it S/S/H. But if anyone has had experience with routing on one of these, and would be inclined to say "Don't go there," then I won't get crazy with it.

Opinions, caveats, etc. would be appreciated.

--
Doug C.

[wolf]

I own a Squier Bullet and a replacement pickup should fit in the bridge position just fine. (I did it with mine).
Instead of a Seymour Duncan Invader, I'd recommend a DiMarzio X2N. As for wiring, a DPDT on/on/on switch would give you series / coil cut / and parallel.

I would suggest not trying to add additional pickups or routing. The guitar routing is done before the paint and finisih are added. Trying to cut out a pickup slot on a finished surface will cause cracks that will go beyond the places at which you are working.

[Mini-Strat_Maine]

wolf said:

I own a Squier Bullet and a replacement pickup should fit in the bridge position just fine. (I did it with mine).

I think it was just that one particular brand and model of pickup that the one guy had a problem with. He worked around it, but it sounded like a lotta work.

Instead of a Seymour Duncan Invader, I'd recommend a DiMarzio X2N.

Thanks for the tip. I'll look 'em up.

As for wiring, a DPDT on/on/on switch would give you series / coil cut / and parallel.

Okay. But series/parallel option for a single humbucker? (I'm not discounting the possibility that I missed a Guitar Wiring 101 paper on making the coils of an HB work in series or parallel. And I like the idea, if it's possible.)

I would suggest not trying to add additional pickups or routing. The guitar routing is done before the paint and finisih are added. Trying to cut out a pickup slot on a finished surface will cause cracks that will go beyond the places at which you are working.

Ah ha! Now that's the kind of thing I thought somebody here could tell me before I undertake any "solid-body surgery" that I might regret later. Thank you for pointing that out.

[Mike Richardson]

The series/parallel option for a humbucker is great in most cases. You could also do a humbucker-to-single coil wiring, but the parallel wiring is still hum-cancelling. In parallel, your pickup will produce about 1/3 less output voltage, and the mids will be noticeably reduced. You'll also notice more emphasis on the highs. I've never used an X2N, but the Super Distortion works very well in this situation. Since you only have a volume control, you could replace the pot with either a push-pull or a push-push pot. In either case, you won't have to do any routing or drill any new holes in the pickguard.

[Mini-Strat_Maine]

chikn said:

The series/parallel option for a humbucker is great in most cases. You could also do a humbucker-to-single coil wiring, but the parallel wiring is still hum-cancelling. In parallel, your pickup will produce about 1/3 less output voltage, and the mids will be noticeably reduced. You'll also notice more emphasis on the highs.

Now that I've got three guitars with HBs and only one with SCs, I've had to do some more reading up on HBs. I looked up John A.'s and Wolf's pages on the series/parallel trick, and I'm definitely going to use that on whatever replacement pup goes in there.

I've never used an X2N, but the Super Distortion works very well in this situation.

I've read good reviews on both of those, and the product descriptions on Musician's Friend mention that they're good for series/parallel wiring.

Since you only have a volume control, you could replace the pot with either a push-pull or a push-push pot. In either case, you won't have to do any routing or drill any new holes in the pickguard.

Unless one is really into power tools, I believe not having to drill or rout something is a Good Thing.
Push/push pot is a new term to me, but I'm guessing it's analogous to those dimmer switches for room lighting? (But a much different size/taper/value, etc.)

[Mini-Strat_Maine]

After giving this some more thought, I think I'm going to use Wolf's diagram for a DPDT on/on/on toggle for the series/parallel/coil cut selector, and pass up a push/pull pot. Then I could change the existing volume-only control to a stacked concentric and add a tone control to it.
I haven't opened the Bullet up yet to measure the cavity depth, but I've read that the bodies on those are a tad less deep than most Strat-types.
Tapping on the pickguard returns a sound that suggests there's a little more space above the volume pot than I originally thought. A mini pot might work, if the dual is too "tall" for it.

Any thoughts on 250K vs. 500K pots? (GuitarElectronics.com has 500/500 and 250/500 types, but I haven't seen any 250/250 ones yet. I'll probably stick with 500's for the humbucker, anyway.)