Jeff Beck Hot Rod

[LeoHanke]

Hey guys,

I just wanted to ask you a couple of things about some modding I'm considering on my Strat.
it's a vintage white early 80s Japanese Fender Strat (kind of Jeff Beck's meets Yngwie's Strat. I put in Fender Custom 69s and I'm loving them! (yes, sorry, I know this is a Seymour Duncan forum but I'll get to that! ) anyways, i am aware that it might be (considered) a shame to modify a vintage guitar like that, but i have some ideas tht would leave the feel and most of the looks pretty much the same and only add tonal options in areas/positions i rarely use anways.
Since I rarely use the bridge pickup, for example, and if I do mostly for "harder" stuff (no metal, more like Led Zeppelin or Jeff Beck), I considered switching it out for something different. I thought about putting in a JB Jr. with a split or tap option. I have some ideas but also concerns about this and other mods I'm considering and I'd love some advice from you all!
1: Idea: would it be possible to wire the coil split the opposite way, making the already split humbucker the default and when you pull out the pot you get the humbucker (and probably somewhat of a boost)?!

2: Concern: do you think the guitar will be completely out of balance, especially concerning the considerably higher output? the Custom 69ers are pretty low output, but perfect for Hendrix IMO!

3: Concern: What does the JB Jr. sound like, especially when split? Do you find it usable for the things I've mentioned (e.g. "Since We've Ended As Lovers")?

4. Idea: Since I rarely use tone controls, especially the neck tone pot, I was thinking of making it a V-V-T configuration. This way I could switch between a rolled back and clean/crunchy neck PU and switch to a distorted lead bridge PU (possibly Humbucker!) and have one master tone. in case that case, what's your personal opinion on the no-load tone pots used by fender?

5: Idea: What do you think of other mods like the Gilmour-Mod (Push-pull adds Neck PU to all other positions --> N+B and all three PUs) and series switching? and about the series switching, what does it sound like, only heard of it so far...?

as I said, I'd really love some advice and personal opinions from you guys!
Thanks and keep on rollin',
Leo

 

[Swyse]

Re: Jeff Beck Hot Rod

Welcome to the forum!

Feel free to talk about any pickup here, we're not only Seymour duncan fans, we are pickup and guitar enthusiasts. You'll find that we talk about many brands here.

1. You can do that, just wire the ground wire on the push-pull to the opposite side of the switch and it will be split by default.

2. This is largely a matter of opinion, but I prefer hot bridge pickups, so in my opinion it would be better than normal. There is a lot more energy above the middle and neck pickups, so I like the hotter bridge pickups for balance reasons too.

3. I don't have a ton of experience with the jr so I'll leave this question to someone else.

4. I personally think no load tones potentiometers are great if you're trying to get that last little ounce of punch out of a guitar. Its not a world changing difference, but its nice to not have any of your potential power drained in some applications.

5. I haven't tried adding the bridge pickup to the neck on a strat in a while, but I like some telecaster tones every once in a while. As for single coil series/parallel switching, I haven't tried it that I can remember.

 

[LeoHanke]

Re: Jeff Beck Hot Rod

Hey, thanks for the welcome and for your advice!
another question I'd have would be about the control cavity... Would there be any kind of woodwork to make space for the larger Push-pull pots necessary? because in that case I doubt I'd be able to do that without breaking my own heart... however, in case it should turn out to work without, which pot would you personally recommend it for? and does it matter at all whether it's volume or tone? also for the Gilmour mod?

 

[Swyse]

Re: Jeff Beck Hot Rod

The potentiometer (pot) you want will depend on where it goes. On volume pots I recommend Audio taper because its designed to taper the audio off so it sounds gradual for how human hearing works, and linear taper for tones. This configuration seems standard, but it is preference and you could use whatever you like best. You'll want short shaft potentiometers for pretty much any application that isn't a les paul style.

As for space, the push pull switches themselves sit on the bottom of the pots so they don't take up anything other than vertical space. The depth required for a push-pull is approximately 29mm, so you can see what your depth measures when you get a chance. You may need to make your cavity deeper, but I don't think you will have to. Only measuring will tell. If your cavity isn't deep enough you could still achieve the wiring with standalone mini switches.

For your application (Japanese Fender Strat), I'd use a Audio short shaft if replacing a volume pot and a linear short shaft if replacing tone. All the switches work the same for standard push-pulls (DPDT On/On) so that will make no difference which pot it is attached to.

Let us know if you have any more questions.

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: Jeff Beck Hot Rod

The JB jr sounds like poo when split. Its pretty anemic and bright. Its much better in a parallel if you want to drop the output some.