Rogue Rocketeer Strat Q. How do the pickups work in HSS configuration (pull knob)?

[conticreative]

I used to own a Mexican Fender Strat that was stolen some years ago. The other day I was at Guitar Center playing their strats from the rack and I picked up this (previously unknown brand) Rogue Rocketeer that is a Strat HSS copy. The demo played as well or better than the other Strats they had but when I looked at the price tag, I could not believe my eyes. $70!

I bought it on the spot. I had missed owning a strat since mine got stolen, and at $70 how could I say no? I figured that if it came apart on me, I would use it for parts to build a cigarbox guitar. I mean, $70? A cigarbox neck, new, costs at least $40.


Caption: Mine is the "Classic" Sunburst model. Otherwise it is identical.

I spent a couple of hours filing the frets (on the sides they were very sharp, almost dangerously so), setting up the truss and clamping the bridge down (the whammy bar seems a bit iffy and I don't use it). Intonation is a bit of a problem, as even after pulling the bridges all the way back, it is still sharp. I am planning to cut the tension spring in the bridge to gain the few mm I need to set up the intonation properly. Failing that, I'd have to figure out how to move the bridge back 1cm or so to get the bridge in the middle of the "sweet spot". I may open a new thread just on that topic.

I am amazed at how well this little guitar plays and sounds, however, I have never owned and HSS Strat and I have no idea how it works. This HSS has 2 knobs, 1 volume and 1 tone with a 5 way switch.
The tone knob pulls up and obviously switches the humbucker off and on.
Other than that, I haven't been able to figure out all the selector positions with certainty. I have googled it, but came up with very little beside the obvious (the tone knob is a switch as well, the humbucker is split by the knob, etc.).

Additionally, the tone knob seems to work very suddenly. From 10 to 2 there is almost no difference in tone on any of the selector positions. On the very last mark suddenly the tone cuts the highs drastically.

Besides curiosity, I am also wondering if maybe it is wired wrong or if there was a better way to wire it and how I could tell if that's the case.

So far, I figured out the obvious. I'll list it below:

Pos. 1 = Neck PU
Pos. 2 = Neck and Middle
Pos. 3 = Middle only
Pos. 4 = Middle and Bridge?
Pos. 5 = Bridge

Pos. 4+pulled Knob = No clue If it even does anything)
Pos. 5+pulled Knob = No clue

What I am not sure about is Pos 4 and 5 with the Tone knob pulled (or pushed for that matter). How does that work? None of the combinations sound like my old Strat with a single coil at the bridge. On this guitar I was able to come up with some interesting bluesy sounds by cutting all the high frequencies and then use Jamup Pro to restore them with an equalizer. It sounded like a Gibson. Problem is that it sounds like an Humbucker whether the knob is pulled or not. There is a slight difference in tonality, but no drastic one. It sounds more like switching from one humbucker to another.

I would appreciate it if someone could explain to me how the settings in Pos. 4 and 5 work. Note that I am a Jazz player mostly, but I love to play blues now and then. So a clean sound is what I usually look for in my guitars, but I don't mind a bit of crunch for blues playing.

Another thing to note, since this is the Internet, is that another reason I purchased this guitar is the ability it gives me to practice in headphones without projecting a big sound. My other electric is a semi-hollow body and it's far too loud for night time practice. My wife is very patient of my playing, but she loses that patience after midnight. My other-other electric is an electrified all metal Dobro and that puppy is really loud even when not plugged in. What I am saying is that if anyone has opinions about an intermediate/advanced player buying and playing this guitar, I am not interested in discussing it. I love having a quasi Strat again and I can't get over how little I paid for it and how good it plays and sounds for the price.

Thank you. I am very glad to have joined this community.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: Rogue Rocketeer Strat Q. How do the pickups work in HSS configuration (pull knob)

Welcome to the forum.

Switch positions: Yes, that's right. You can tap on the pickup poles with an allen wrench to make sure what pickup(s) is active in each position
Tone knob: It's probably an audio taper pot. They behave like that, very much adjustability in the bright part through most of the sweep and then down to dark quickly. If you want a more gradual taper you can use a linear taper pot.
Tone switch: Yes, that would be my guess that it's splitting the humbucker. Again, you can tap on the poles with your allen wrench to confirm.
Saddles: Shame. So they're all the way back and it's still sharp?

 

[AlexR]

Re: Rogue Rocketeer Strat Q. How do the pickups work in HSS configuration (pull knob)

I guess from your long musing that you have found out why it is so cheap. I would get another set of strings on and check intonation again - it could be the strings of course (before you resign yourself to the fact that a $70 guitar has been made with the bridge drilled in the wrong place).
Essentially getting a guitar together can be done quite cheaply. Doing the small things is where the $$ gets more.

The pushpull will be splitting the humbucker - almost guaranteed. Posi 4 and 5 are ones where the humbucker is not in play. Otherwise your 5 position switch is just like every other traditional 5 position that your mex strat should have prepared you for.
The tone pot taper is what determines the way the tone rolls off.

 

[conticreative]

Re: Rogue Rocketeer Strat Q. How do the pickups work in HSS configuration (pull knob)

Welcome to the forum.

Saddles: Shame. So they're all the way back and it's still sharp?

Thanks for the tip on tapping the pickups. I did it, but thinking back, it might have not been metal. Duh! I have been a bit overworked lately.

Indeed, the intonation is screwed up. I already changed the strings. I changed them before I even played the guitar. A quick google search showed "Rogue" also sells strings for $1.99 on sale. They couldn't have been very good and now I have a spare set for emergencies without breaking a new pack.

Unfortunately, all I had was Light, no Extra lights (My other electrics are a Jazz guitar and a Dobro. They take mediums and lights respectively), so they are a bit stiff. That could be the cause of the intonation too. Maybe it needs Extra light string. But I think they just screwed up. It's $70! I normally would expect to pay more for the neck alone.
Still, I figure that before I reposition the bridge, I can gain some slack by cutting the spring in half, but I'll wait until the next string change.

Tomorrow I am going to experiment with the allen so I can report on how the switches actually work. In case some other cheapskate ends up with the same guitar.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: Rogue Rocketeer Strat Q. How do the pickups work in HSS configuration (pull knob)

Oh, you know what. Is the action very high? On cheap guitars, they set the action extremely high so it can clear possible uneven frets. So pushing down the string from so high will make the note go sharp. I don't know how off the intonation is but if it's say 10 cents sharp or less and the action is super high, then bringing the nut and saddles down could fix it.

 

[conticreative]

Re: Rogue Rocketeer Strat Q. How do the pickups work in HSS configuration (pull knob)

Oh, you know what. Is the action very high? On cheap guitars, they set the action extremely high so it can clear possible uneven frets. So pushing down the string from so high will make the note go sharp. I don't know how off the intonation is but if it's say 10 cents sharp or less and the action is super high, then bringing the nut and saddles down could fix it.

Indeed the action was pretty high at the beginning, but not because they set it up high. I did. I wanted to play some blues slide on it. With "light" strings and high(er) action, with the bridge at factory position, I was almost a quarter tone off at the 12 fret on almost all the strings (but playing slide was much easier and beefy). So I lowered the action to see if it would help. Now it's as low as it can go and but a few string (4 to 6) are still sharp with the bridge as far back as it can go.

Before I do anything drastic, I am going to wait to change the strings to ultra-light. That, and the low action, may be enough.
Still, even if light strings and lower action fix the problem, the bridges would still be all the way back. They should be in the middle of their travel.

In the bridge there is room enough to move it back up to 1cm. That would mean getting rid of the Tremolo and drill new holes for holding the bridge, but it would solve the problem.

I'd be curious to learn if this is a problem with all of them or just mine. It's not like I can go to Guitar Center and check the intonation on their demos.

 

[conticreative]

Re: Rogue Rocketeer Strat Q. How do the pickups work in HSS configuration (pull knob)

Oh, you know what. Is the action very high? On cheap guitars, they set the action extremely high so it can clear possible uneven frets. So pushing down the string from so high will make the note go sharp. I don't know how off the intonation is but if it's say 10 cents sharp or less and the action is super high, then bringing the nut and saddles down could fix it.

Indeed the action was pretty high at the beginning, but not because they set it up high. I did. I wanted to play some blues slide on it. With "light" strings and high(er) action, with the bridge at factory position, I was almost a quarter tone off at the 12 fret on almost all the strings (but playing slide was much easier and beefy). So I lowered the action to see if it would help. Now it's as low as it can go and but a few string (4 to 6) are still sharp with the bridge as far back as it can go.

Before I do anything drastic, I am going to wait to change the strings to ultra-light. That, and the low action, may be enough.
Still, even if light strings and lower action fix the problem, the bridges would still be all the way back. They should be in the middle of their travel.

In the bridge there is room enough to move it back up to 1cm. That would mean getting rid of the Tremolo and drill new holes for holding the bridge, but it would solve the problem.

I'd be curious to learn if this is a problem with all of them or just mine. It's not like I can go to Guitar Center and check the intonation on their demos.

 

[Darg1911]

Re: Rogue Rocketeer Strat Q. How do the pickups work in HSS configuration (pull knob)

Tell Gibson and Epiphone (and plenty of others that have a tuneomatic bridge) that the guitar should intonate with the saddles in the middle of their travel ...