Favourite strat wiring besides stock

[MikeM]

Hey folks

So I have one spare switch on my strat.. Besides for bridge and neck, what are your favourite alternative strat wiring setups?

I have quite a bit at my disposal, specifically one position on a 3p4t rotary.

Thanks all!

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Favourite strat wiring besides stock

I really like and use the G&L PTB system...Passive Treble and Bass....Also I Like the Fralin Blender pot setup..All of my strats have the tone control connected to the bridge pickups.

[ErikH]

Re: Favourite strat wiring besides stock

Master volume, master tone, blend (for neck + bridge combination). If using a humbucker and/or stacks, the tone with a push/pull to split.

[ItsaBass]

Re: Favourite strat wiring besides stock

My favorite "trick" Strat wiring is one I came up with. It uses a DPDT switch to give you:

1 - bridge (no tone pot)
2 - bridge, through middle tone pot
3 - bridge+middle in series, through middle tone pot
4 - bridge+middle in series through the middle tone pot, in parallel with neck pickup through neck tone pot
5 - neck, through its own tone pot

So, the back two positions are like the back and middle positions on an Esquire, switching between tone pot or no tone pot on the bridge pickup. Great to have if you play a lot on the bridge pickup, because it lets you get two tones (one bright, one warmer), but both with the cutting "attack" of a bridge pickup. Then you can switch to the middle for a thick humbucker sound, all the way to the front for a stock neck sound, or to the front notch position for a low output, clean, "pretty" notch position sound (all three pickups).

Without the switch engaged, you get standard vintage Strat wiring, but with a few minor differences. The differences are that there is a five-way switch instead of a three-way, and that each tone pot has its own cap.

I also have a neck-on switch on the same guitar, but that is not necessary to get everything I described above.

I like what the PTB system offers in terms of tonal conrol, but unless a guitar has only one pickup, I don't like having a master tone control. Master tone takes away some of the best tones that you can get from the vintage-style wiring by using different settings on each tone pot, and by not having a tone pot on the back pickup.

[MikeM]

Re: Favourite strat wiring besides stock

Let me rather explain it like this

I have a standard 5 way with master tone and volume.

I am then pairing that with a rotary switch. Either I will be using a 3 way, which will give me

1. Standard 5 way switching
2. Bypass the 5 way and connects to a higher output wind on my middle pup.
3. Neck + bridge in parallel.

However I can also put a 4 or 5 way in. I was considering

Neck + Bridge Series/OOP

but that won't be possible unless I have a 4 pole switch - and I can only find a knurled 5 way 4 pole, which leaves me with another switch to fill, but I was then considering either

Neck + bridge HOOP
Neck + bridge in series

It's been a long while since I've wired up guitars to test all these sounds and the only one I can really think I'd use is the series out of phase, so I was hoping you guys would give me a reason to use the 5 way!

Thanks all
Mike

[hermetico]

Re: Favourite strat wiring besides stock

This is my favourite one:

http://hermeticoguitar.blogspot.com....atosphear.html

[Boogie Bill]

Re: Favourite strat wiring besides stock

Another vote for the Leo Fender designed PTB system on G&Ls. The BEST!

Bill

[PonyKiller]

Re: Favourite strat wiring besides stock

I like the stock wiring with a 3 way. If the bridge p'up is really bright I connect it to the middle p'up tone pot. I like the Fender No Load pot here to keep the "no tone pot" sound for the bridge pickup.

Sometimes if the pickups are on the low output side I keep the 5 way sw and add a series switch to the middle pickup to get series wiring on the 2 and 4 positions.

[saladin]

Re: Favourite strat wiring besides stock

I just wired a Strat up just using the bridge and neck pickups. I used the middle RWRP in the neck and wired it with a 3-way just like a Tele.
1-vol, 1-tone but I'm gonna add the other tone pot soon so each pickup can have it's own.
I'm liking it much better...I rarely use the mid or the quack positions on a 5-way, so this works great for me + the neck and bridge in quack mode is
my favorite Fender tone.

[Lewguitar]

Re: Favourite strat wiring besides stock

I like this from Lindy Fralin and it's how my Strat with Antiquitys is wired. It's my very favorite.

One change I make is to connect the tone control to the middle lug of the volume pot and then omit the "volume kit". I use a .022 mfd. tone cap - an Orange Drop or Hovland.

[ibis]

Re: Favourite strat wiring besides stock

Search for Nashville-X wiring by phostenix.

[hermetico]

Re: Favourite strat wiring besides stock

Search for Nashville-X wiring by phostenix.

Did you realized that my own mod is giving the same PLUS 2 more combinations AND dedicated bridge tone control?
I've checked all combinations, including 3 pickups in series, 3 pickups in parallel and the 3 possible virtual humbuckers (neck in series with middle, neck in series with bridge, middle in series with bridge), among with OOP variants.
Combinations I've choose for that mod are those that add something useful and, that better balance.