7 Sound Strats

Hey, I just wanted to share my new adventures in Stratocasting. I put a set of Texas Special pickups in my old strat and added a second toggle switch to offer 7 different pickup combinations. It now has a nice Telecaster type sound with the bridge and neck pickup, and an essence-of-Strat sound with all three pickups engaged. Well, if you all have any questions on how to do this (it only costs about $3) just ask.

Atomic

ok, how did you do it?

by the way,

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do i smell burnt toast

Great post Atom! The only question I have is did you do it alone, or did you have someone help out w/ the electical? And to back up the eggman, how did you do it?

Well, you see, it was simple. First, buy an On/Off switch from radio shack. then, you start. A standard 5way switch for a Strat can be changed a bit. Just unhook the wire from from the toggle switch (it's the yellow wire) that goes to the middle pickup. Then, take the white wire from the bridge pickup off of the toggle swtich and put it where the yellow one was. Now, your toggle switch will work like this (from front to back): Neck, Neck+Bridge, Bridge, and OFF. Then drill a hole in your pickguard big enough for the on/off switch you bought to fit through it. (I just used my trusty knife) Take the middle pickup wire (the yellow one) and send it to the switch. take the switch's output and send it to your volume knob's input. And, Ta Daa! now you can turn on the middle pickup at any time. now you have the standard 5 strat sounds, plus the Telecaster sound (bridge+neck) and SUPER CLUCK (all 3 pickups). Yeah, i did it myself. While i was doing it, i installed some Texas Specials in the old strat too. Sounds nifty. Pickup installation is very easy, even when you get detailed like coil splitting and push/pull pots and such. i also like to pump up wah wah pedals and do things like that. i think im the only guy who carries a soldering gun in the car. Well, geez that was long enough. y'all be good.

Atomic

yo man that sounds cool, i might try that. oh one more thing i dunno how much texas specials cost but there is a dealer on ebay who sells the texas special set of 3 for $75.00 i don't know if that's a deal or not but the seller's name is musicvalue just search for texas specials and they take credit cards. just search under fender strat pickups they auction off like a set a day.
man thats sounds neat to have the versatlity of a clean strat and a twangy tele.

peace out,



[This message has been edited by jake sommers (edited 06-15-2000).]

Are you an electrician Atomic? cause you sound like you do stuff nobody would have the confidence to do in fear of wrecking thier stuff. i wouldn't even try that if you didn't tell us how,but it sounds so cool. Why do you carry a soldering iron around with you?

No, ha ha, Im no electrician. I've just been doing guitar repair for a long time, so i understand how they work. It's all pretty basic. I make almost all my money buying guitar equipment that's in bad shape, fixing it, and reselling it. There's quite a lack of guitar techs where i'm from. Do any of you do your own work?

I've always found the inner workings of a guitar to be fasinating, but I don't know much about them... Do you know of any websites or books that could give a start in that sorta thang? I have a bit of knowledge in basic electrical stuffs from school, but not a whole lot. I don't think I'd have any trouble figuring it out, I just need to know where to start. Thanx-



[This message has been edited by Uncle Istvan (edited 06-19-2000).]

http://www.guitarnuts.com/wiring/index.html

Also, Carvin guitars come with optional switches that give all 7 combos. If you haven't heard of them, check 'em out. They deal direct so it's pretty cheap, and they have quality stuff.
http://www.carvin.com

versitility?
Try a tele special- a guitar with a serious case of multiple personality disorder. It can sound like everything from a tele (of course) to a strat to a les paul. The only drawback is I don't think the neck humbucker was potted, so if you stop playing with any resonable amount of distortion, it immediately feeds back.

Also if you're just putting in pickups, EMG's must be about the easiest- (atlest for my J Bass) the pickup end of the leads just clip to the pickup, so everything is easier to get into position, you only have to sodder the other ends of the leads to the correct pots. I did it, so I'm sure you can.

arent EMG's active?

quote:

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Originally posted by AtomicMassUnit:
No, ha ha, Im no electrician. I've just been doing guitar repair for a long time, so i understand how they work. It's all pretty basic. I make almost all my money buying guitar equipment that's in bad shape, fixing it, and reselling it. There's quite a lack of guitar techs where i'm from. Do any of you do your own work?

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I tried to install a pickup once, I almost had it right, but I crossed a ground somewhere so I took it to the music store and had it done right for $5.