Finished Some Simple But Great Strat Mods

[Jeff_H]

Just finished some easy strat mods that really make a difference in single coil hum and overall playability.

1. Completely sheilded the pick guard with a one piece steel sheet from Callaham.
2. Changed the first tone pot so it works on the bridge pup...a great help to tame the thin beast.
3. Added hardend steel vintage replacement saddles with stainless steel screws from Callaham. Really adds a nice crisp tone to the strings, and the way the slot is designed the strings to not bind against the slot and then again when it hits the saddle....great sustain booster.
4. Installed a set of Fender Custom Shop 54' pickups.
5. Completed a modified version of the shielded stratocaster diagram below. The only thing I didn't do was the star grounding which is supposed to be located off the back of the volume pot and connected with the .33uf cap. I need to get a terminal mounting ring. I just star grounded all of the wires to the back of the volume pot for now. I will complete the circut when I get my baseplate for the bridge pup from Callaham (forgot to order it).

Removing the ground loops (wires from the top of one pot to the top of another) really makes a difference, as does the metal pick guard shield. The 60 cyl hum is greatly reduced, and makes the pups super quiet. The CS 54's do not have a RW/RP middle pup, but it's so quiet now as to make no difference.

Anyhow, just thought I would share. Cheers.

Before (Standard Strat Wiring)



After (Modified)

[proxy]

Re: Finished Some Simple But Great Strat Mods

Awsome, I can see this being vault material.

[Scott_F]

Re: Finished Some Simple But Great Strat Mods

My favorite Strat mod is to make use the first pot as a single volume pot for the entire guitar, then make the middle pot a tone contro for the entire guitar, finally running the bottom pot as a blend control for the bridge and neck pups.

Now that I've got that Twangbanger in the bridge of my strat and the Alnico 2 single in my neck, I can blend them toether and a get a very nice Tele (both pups) tone. Then in the notch position, I can blend all three pups. This is the coolest thing to do to a Strat IMO.

I'm not a big believer in star grounding. Just my two cents, but if you've done everything else correct, it's not going to matter where you ground what as long as it's all grounded.