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SurfGuitar101 Forums » Gear »

Permalink Re-wire Strat like Jag

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I have found this WONDERFUL STRATOCASTER OPTION ....(& it's probably here soemwhere).....Get a 3-way switch. Top pos./neck pu........Middle pos/ALL 3 pup's.......Bottom pos./bridge pu. Ist "Volume" control=Bridge pu only. 2nd "Tone" (now actually "Vol. control Pot #2")=Middle Volume pu only. 3rd "Tone"="Master Tone" switch for all 3 pickups. Middle pu is "reverse wound" to cancel hum. Middle knob (Vol. 2) turns middle pu up or down.....so You can obtain a significant "Jaguary" tone w/the neck/bridge combination Yes ! Good Luck w/this if You try it !!

Last edited: Jan 17, 2012 12:45:15

I just rewired my Strat with the Blender pot and volume kit. A little different: master volume, master tone, and the third blender pot to turn on either the neck or bridge depending on which pickup is selected. It does provide Jaguar-like tones with the neck/bridge and with the volume kit you can turn down without losing any treble. I'm a complete idiot with electronics but I did all the work myself without any problem and....it works.

I'm a big fan of the neck/bridge combo on Strats. Very Jaguarish indeed. I've wired all of my Strats using this diagram.

Blender Pot Wiring Diagram

Cats 'n' Strats, 'cause that's how I roll - I eat reverb for breakfast!

Fenderus Collecticus
Strat Blender Pot Modification HERE

Same as Storm & Doc!

I'm having mine done while it's apart for the Callaham upgrade. I'm using the Callaham blender pot.

This is Noel. Reverb's at maximum an' I'm givin' 'er all she's got.

Noel wrote:

I'm having mine done while it's apart for the Callaham
upgrade. I'm using the Callaham blender pot.

Good move Noel!

Thanks Skip. Since I bought a Jazzmaster and not a Jaguar, it's the least I could do.

elreydlp wrote:

Noel wrote:

I'm having mine done while it's apart for the
Callaham
upgrade. I'm using the Callaham blender pot.

Good move Noel!

This is Noel. Reverb's at maximum an' I'm givin' 'er all she's got.

I plan to do this soon...for those who have done it - would this be your go-to position for playing surf covers of tunes recorded using fender jags and jms? Is the result any thicker in tone than standard strat tones.

I would love to hear recorded surf examples.

Last edited: Jan 18, 2012 20:59:56

I'm doing this because my Strat doesn't have a surf tone in positions 2 & 4. The only pickups I find useful for surf are the middle alone and the bridge alone. I'm hoping the blender provides more surfy tones. If I were any good at rewiring guitars, I'd wire the pickup switch like this, 1 - neck, 2 - neck & bridge, 3 - middle, 4 - all three, 5 - bridge. Then I'd move the volume pot down and get rid of the second tone pot. It would be a neat experiment.

Anyone tried it this way?

This is Noel. Reverb's at maximum an' I'm givin' 'er all she's got.

I do have the lowered volume pot on mine and 1 master tone, but put in a 3-way since I like those better, and can currently get all of those combinations you mentioned with push/pull pots (volume up: bridge on, tone up: neck on).

image

I actually thought about trading this as parts to go towards a new jag, but I had some bonding time with it last night (wasn't even plugged in), and I just can't do it. The only way I could improve this (for me) is to remove the push/pull pots, have a normal master volume, and then replace the master tone with a neck/bridge blender instead. This may increase the output slightly (not a problem for me) and might make it a wee bit brighter, but probably not enough to worry about, plus I prefer to just dial in tone on my tank or amp anyway.

Mike
http://www.youtube.com/morphballio

I've thought about doing this (blender mod), lowering the volume knob and just eliminating the middle pickup altogether? Thoughts?

METEOR IV on reverbnation

I like Michael's guitar and his solution, but I meant to plug the hole for the volume knob and relocate the volume pot to the middle position.

I also like the idea of using one of the tone knobs as a rheostat to dial pickup blending from all neck to all bridge, and everything in-between. So, you'd have standard pot switching at the toggle, volume where it is, the middle knob becomes the rheostat (takes over from switches if turned on) and all tone set by the remaining knob.

I'm not sure from their description, but this SEEMS to be something the Callaham blender pot provides, if not exactly the same. I'll let you know when I use it.

This is Noel. Reverb's at maximum an' I'm givin' 'er all she's got.

I'm trying to figure out all these "configurations" in me poor brain...& boy oh boy ! I'll say this: "You guys are SHARP !!". The only thing that "hangs me up" a tad on the "Strat-Jag" combo, is muting the E-string (while "Baja"..ing or "Misirlou"...ing, etc...)....but practice makes progress ("perfect" is out of question) & soon it's passable. Because ya' need 3 pots to do this, (at least I do)..."We Shall Adopt". (Keep these ideas & "configurations" comin' tho'....maybe me brain.................... None

Las_Barracudas wrote:

I've thought about doing this (blender mod), lowering
the volume knob and just eliminating the middle pickup
altogether? Thoughts?

I'd say if you're not interested in a middle pickup (in addition to having issues with the location of the volume pot), you may as well be using a jag! The neck & bridge pickups between the two are very, very similar, I'd say the only main difference really being the "keepers" around the pickups for a little extra noise cancellation... though maybe the polarity contributes to the sound too when comparing a jag with a modded strat. (Strat is bridge: N -> S, middle S -> N, neck: N -> S, jaguars, with the exception of the Johnny Marr sig that I really want, is bridge: S -> N, neck: N -> S, I believe.)

Mike
http://www.youtube.com/morphballio

Noel- it's a really easy mod to buy a pickguard with no pot holes, and then drill them where you want. It was so easy, I'm surprised more people don't do it- way more aesthetically pleasing than a plug.

Mike
http://www.youtube.com/morphballio

I almost bought a Jaguar. It was under consideration along with Jazzmasters, and a really nice silver AVRI Jag was offered that was SOOO tempting) when Ivan's Jazzmaster showed up and that was that. Making this change lets me get closer to the Jaguar sound without getting ANOTHER GUITAR! Big Grin It just makes a Strat that much more versatile.

There are days though when the perfect Strat would have just the middle pickup and a volume pot.

morphball wrote:

Las_Barracudas wrote:

I've thought about doing this (blender mod),
lowering
the volume knob and just eliminating the middle
pickup
altogether? Thoughts?

I'd say if you're not interested in a middle pickup (in
addition to having issues with the location of the
volume pot), you may as well be using a jag! The neck &
bridge pickups between the two are very, very similar,
I'd say the only main difference really being the
"keepers" around the pickups for a little extra noise
cancellation... though maybe the polarity contributes
to the sound too when comparing a jag with a modded
strat. (Strat is bridge: N -> S, middle S -> N, neck: N
-> S, jaguars, with the exception of the Johnny Marr
sig that I really want, is bridge: S -> N, neck: N ->
S, I believe.)

This is Noel. Reverb's at maximum an' I'm givin' 'er all she's got.

Easy super fast no cost strat mod to get bridge & neck PU combination:

Simply interchange the connections from the middle and bridge PUs to the pickup selector switch. That's All!

The five settings of the PU selector switch are then:
1. (nearest neck): neck PU only
2. neck & bridge
3. bridge PU only
4. bridge & middle
5. middle PU only

It is a little weird to select bridge PU only with the middle position but you'll get used to it. I did this to all my strat type 3 PU guitars after the idea occurred.

There is a huge BONUS with this. The tone control that formerly worked only on the middle PU now works only on the bridge PU. This lets you dial in the best surf rhythm tones using the bridge PU, that you could not get before. Moreover, if your bridge PU is too bright for a lead you can adjust the tone on the guitar. I use this bridge PU tone control frequently but the bridge + neck combination only rarely.

So, this mod makes your strat more flexible as a surf guitar.

Insanitizers! http://www.insanitizers.com

Last edited: Nov 19, 2012 12:53:33

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