StratoTele

[jordankersten]

Hello everyone, this is my first post so if I break any rules, please don't hesitate to yell at me.

I have a Stratocaster that I am modifying. I have ordered a custom pick guard that will accommodate a tele neck pickup. Pickups will be as follows:

Neck: Vintage Tele STR-1
Middle: Vintage Staggered Strat SSL-1 (not rwrp)
Bridge: Twang Banger APST-1

I am planning on using the 7-position switch wiring with a push-pull pot. My question is: does anyone see any issues with these 3 pickups together? I could not find anyone online who has done this and I am curious if there will be any issues with impedance and/or other wiring problems with this configuration.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: StratoTele

Hello everyone, this is my first post so if I break any rules, please don't hesitate to yell at me.

:cussing::cussing::cussing: BAD BAD BAD BAD!!

Just joking. That should be a good combo. It won't cause any wiring problems. And it seems to have a cohesive concept to it.

Welcome to the forum.

 

[Mincer]

Re: StratoTele

Welcome to the forum!

You got a great combo there. Make sure you let us know how it turns out (I wanna see pics too).

 

[jordankersten]

Re: StratoTele

Welcome to the forum!

You got a great combo there. Make sure you let us know how it turns out (I wanna see pics too).

Thanks everyone. I will defiantly post pictures as I complete the project. I am planning on mounting the neck pickup to the body as opposed to the pick guard just like in an original Tele so hopefully I don’t have to shim it much if at all. That’s my only foreseeable obstacle.

 

[BRHGM]

Re: StratoTele

Save your money. Fender is making a limited production model of this very idea.

 

[jordankersten]

Re: StratoTele

Save your money. Fender is making a limited production model of this very idea.

Interesting. If I wanted to buy another guitar, I’d get a tele. Besides, I have acess to these pickups VERY inexpensively.

My pick guard and compoents arrived today but I’m still waiting on the pickups. I went ahead and began wiring the pots and switch. I decided to replace the original .022 cap with a .047 like in a tele. My theory is that the .022 will be too boomy in the low end of the neck pickup. Hopefully I’m correct

All that’s left is to install the pickups and hope that mounting the tele style neck pickup to the Strat body goes smoothly.

 

[jeremy]

Re: StratoTele

.022 will retain higher frequencies than .047

 

[Chistopher]

Re: StratoTele

.022 will retain higher frequencies than .047

To clarify upon this, he means it will retain a larger range of high frequencies. A .022 will chop off only the higher treebles whereas the .047 will also take out a good bit of the upper mid range along with those higher treebles.

The value has no effect on the tone when the tone control is on 10.

 

[jordankersten]

Re: StratoTele

Finished and it sounds great. Really great. I had to shim the neck pickup to get it to the right height but it wasn’t too bad.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: StratoTele

Very nice.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: StratoTele

To clarify upon this, he means it will retain a larger range of high frequencies. A .022 will chop off only the higher treebles whereas the .047 will also take out a good bit of the upper mid range along with those higher treebles.

The value has no effect on the tone when the tone control is on 10.

In my experience, caps don't start preserving mids until 15nf and below. Different caps are perceivable I think with the tone on 10, especially with a 250k pot.

 

[SAguitar]

Re: StratoTele

That looks great, Jordan! Well done, and enjoy playing the heck out of it.

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: StratoTele

I was gonna say it sounds like a nice combo...but I see it's already done. Congrats!

 

[jordankersten]

Re: StratoTele

I’m getting a very loud low 60 cycle hum. It is in all positions, and touching the strings makes no difference. I soldered all the grounds in the exact same place except the wire that goes to the bridge. The hum goes away when the guitar is held at different angles.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: StratoTele

You can improve things by shielding your pickguard and your cavity and also running a ground wire to the switch. Use some flux and solder a wire to its base.

 

[Silence Kid]

Re: StratoTele

Are you sure it's 60 cycle? You would expect to get 60 cycle, but not any more or less than you had before (assuming you had singles.) Did you ground the pickup cover?

 

[jordankersten]

Re: StratoTele

Are you sure it's 60 cycle? You would expect to get 60 cycle, but not any more or less than you had before (assuming you had singles.) Did you ground the pickup cover?

It’s defiantly 60 cycle hum and much louder than it was before. I did not ground the cover, but it does it in every position even when the neck pickup is off.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: StratoTele

Shield and ground your shet.

 

[jordankersten]

Re: StratoTele

Shield and ground your shet.

Everything is shielded and grounded exactly like it was before and it did not hum.

 

[Silence Kid]

Re: StratoTele

It’s defiantly 60 cycle hum and much louder than it was before. I did not ground the cover, but it does it in every position even when the neck pickup is off.

Having an un-grounded piece of metal will cause issues; it's not like the cover is connected to the hot wire of the pickup, so it doesn't matter which pickup has an un-grounded cover or which is selected, it can cause noise.