Rather cool stock parts Strat mod

[jhng]

Hello, while waiting for parts to fix my guitar (thanks to Newey for wiring help), I came up with this rather cool stock parts mod for a Strat. I'm not aware of anything like it, although it combines some classic ideas, so I thought I should share it in case it is helpful for anyone. Note that I have not built this, but it is very simple and should work. It needs a 'proper' strat 5 way switch with separate poles (eight lugs not seven).

The schematic is below. In brief, one tone becomes a master tone and the second becomes a blender. So far, so classic. The clever bit is what the blender does. In position 3 (Middle) it blends in the Bridge pick-up in series giving BxM (Brian May's usual setting on the Red Lady). In position 4 (Middle + Bridge in parallel), it fades out the Middle pick-up and fades in the Neck pick-up giving N+B (the 'Tele' style setting that is usually enabled by the classic 'Neck-on' switch like David Gilmour does). The remaining three positions (N, N+M and B) remain unchanged.

Truth table:

1. N
2. N+M
3. M (blending to BxM)
2. B+M (blending to B+N)
5. B

So with a relatively simple mod you add both a very handy parallel sound (N+B) and one of the best series sounds (MxB) while also avoiding weird unintentional sounds in the other positions. Unfortunately, I no longer have anything approaching a stock Strat with which to try it out.

[sumgai]

jh,


I can say only two things:

1. Nice job!

Well, make it three things....

a. The 5-way/3-terminal switch should have a flag on the end of the common wiper to depict that it is a shorting style. Showing this (on both poles) would help the viewer to 'see' the connection across that short, in order to perceive all of your combinations.

b. I fear that because the Bridge is loaded by the blend control all of the time, that might knock off a bit of the brightness for which the Fender slanted pickup is known. Could be that I'm completely wrong, but I do have to wonder....

Again, nice job!




sumgai

[Deleted]

1) N
2) N + M
3) M x ( Blend x B )
4) B + [ M x ( N x Blend ) ]
5) B

Lol im looking at this a few times and had to change my mind

3) if the blend is at 0 then just M,
If the blend is at 10 then MxB but some will go down the blend.

4) The B switch of the 5 way link N with the Back end of M
if blend is at 0 then B+M, if blend is at 10 then B

[jhng]

Thanks, sumgai!

You are quite right about the blend pot loading the Bridge pickup. As I'm sure you know, that sort of loading is very hard to avoid in any mod that uses a pot to put a pickup into series since it is normally wired across the ground-side pickup of the pair. Same issue if you do the Strat Lover's Strat mod with a blender rather than a switch. Similarly, the Craig Anderton mod which loads the Middle pickup.

I did come up with a variant (see below) which avoids loading the Bridge in position 5 (B alone). However, the trade-off is that it messes up position 4 a bit. You lose M+B and instead the blend works from N+M+B to N+B. Losing M+B would be a big deal for many Strat aficionados. So I don't think it's quite as useful as simply adding MxB and N+B to the standard Strat selections.

@angellahash, quite right on position 3. On position 4, what happens as you go from 0 to 10 is that the M is shunted out and the N fades in. Haven't tried it myself though, so I'm not quite sure what that would sound like in practice.

[sumgai]

jh,


I've always preferred the N+M+B combo over the other two quack possibilities, but that's just me. Your latest does indeed give full tone from the Bridge in position 5, nice job. Simple, quick, zero cash outlay, reversible, stealthy... seems to tick just about all of the check boxes, no?




sumgai

[sumgai]

Nov 17, 2021 2:49:23 GMT -5 @angellahash said:

....

4) B + [ M x ( N x Blend ) ]

....

4) The B switch of the 5 way link N with the Back end of M
if blend is at 0 then B+M, if blend is at 10 then B

This traces the signal path for Blend at 10:

Ground > N- > Neck pup > N+ > Pos 4 (lower pole) > M- > Blend at 10 > B+ > Pos 4 (upper pole) > output

This also shorts both leads of the Middle pickup to the output, hence you have N+B.  Using the same logic flow with Blend at 0, both leads of the Neck are shorted to ground, giving you M+B.

HTH




sumgai

[Deleted]

No4 is a lot more complex but its changed now


No3 should be Really MIDDLE , MIDDLE x (Blend + Bridge)