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I read through some of the previous posts and a few mentioned
something about switching the neck and mid pickups. One posted
recently said that you need single-coil pickups and a previous post
stated that it was done to make a strat sound more like a Jag.
I have very little experience with electric guitars or what
different models sound like. Only recently have I signed up for this
list and read of the various guitars etc. When I bought my electric
guitar I just looked for the cheapest thing I could find, which ended
up being a Kramer Focus for around $80. The question I have is if
there are any modification that I can make to it, to give it a
more "surfy" feel to it. I'm not sure of most of its specifics but I
know it has single coil pickups.
Eric
Hi Eric,
The very typical thing about the sound of the surf guitar, appart from
the clean Fender sound and the reverb (tank) is indeed the single coils.
The Jaguar/Jazzmaster/Mosrite end other "surfy" guitars have the option
of using both the neck and Brigdge pick up together for the typical
sound.
A standaard stratocaster or simelar do not have that option. So the most
easy way of getting there is by rewiring the pick ups. Just swat the
middle pick up conection on the 5 way switch with the neck pick up to be
able to use both neck and bridge. Most surf guitarist I saw play swith
between both Neck and Bridge to bridge only (for a bit more high end
sounds) to the bridge (for a mellower aproach)
I saw Big ray and the futuras do this at amazing speed, which gave a
very nice sound.
There are many web sites devoted to this mod, and there is also a
schematic for a more complicated mod, which involves maken two vol pots
and one tone pot from the one Vol and two tone pots and a complete
rewiring. (I think you will find these links in the archives or perhaps
a nice Member on this list can give you the sites)
My personal advice is to try out a few of these and try to look for a
sound you like. It's more pleasing then trying to capture a typical
players sound IMHO. As for most of the "Surf" is in the playing. Listen
to Agent Orange who did surf tunes in a punky fashion or the early Man
or Astroman records.
-----Original Message-----
From: Eric Hutchinson [mailto:]
Sent: maandag 6 oktober 2003 4:41
To:
Subject: [SurfGuitar101] Guitar Modifications
I read through some of the previous posts and a few mentioned
something about switching the neck and mid pickups. One posted
recently said that you need single-coil pickups and a previous post
stated that it was done to make a strat sound more like a Jag.
I have very little experience with electric guitars or what
different models sound like. Only recently have I signed up for this
list and read of the various guitars etc. When I bought my electric
guitar I just looked for the cheapest thing I could find, which ended
up being a Kramer Focus for around $80. The question I have is if
there are any modification that I can make to it, to give it a
more "surfy" feel to it. I'm not sure of most of its specifics but I
know it has single coil pickups.
Eric
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Hey Eric,
What they mean is, if your guitar is setup like a
Stratocaster traditionally is, then the five-way
switch is wired to have: bridge pup only, bridge and
middle pup, middle pup only, middle and neck pup, and
neck pup only. The traditional surf tone comes from
the neck and bridge pickups together, which is an
option you don't have, but by taking off the pickgaurd
and simply swapping the positions of the middle and
neck pickup, you can do it without having to rewire
anything. I did this with a Squier Strat that I had
for a brief period of time and it makes a difference.
It doesn't really make it sound more like a Jaguar at
all, since Strat pickups and Jag pickups are
different, but it gives you the pickup configuration
most surf guitarists use on their Jags and
Jazzmasters; bridge + neck.
Anybody feel free to correct me if I'm wrong or add
anything.
Richard
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Thanks for the help. As I have never taken my guitar apart I was
just curious if that first mod. mentioned is just a matter of
switching the two pickups (no rewiring necessary).
I'm a big fan of MOA from their earlier work to the end and i have
heard a little of agent orange but not a whole lot, I'll have to
check them out again.
--- In , "Jerry" <jerry.soetewey@b...>
wrote:
> Hi Eric,
>
> The very typical thing about the sound of the surf guitar, appart
from
> the clean Fender sound and the reverb (tank) is indeed the single
coils.
>
>
> The Jaguar/Jazzmaster/Mosrite end other "surfy" guitars have the
option
> of using both the neck and Brigdge pick up together for the typical
> sound.
> A standaard stratocaster or simelar do not have that option. So the
most
> easy way of getting there is by rewiring the pick ups. Just swat the
> middle pick up conection on the 5 way switch with the neck pick up
to be
> able to use both neck and bridge. Most surf guitarist I saw play
swith
> between both Neck and Bridge to bridge only (for a bit more high end
> sounds) to the bridge (for a mellower aproach)
>
> I saw Big ray and the futuras do this at amazing speed, which gave a
> very nice sound.
>
> There are many web sites devoted to this mod, and there is also a
> schematic for a more complicated mod, which involves maken two vol
pots
> and one tone pot from the one Vol and two tone pots and a complete
> rewiring. (I think you will find these links in the archives or
perhaps
> a nice Member on this list can give you the sites)
>
> My personal advice is to try out a few of these and try to look for
a
> sound you like. It's more pleasing then trying to capture a typical
> players sound IMHO. As for most of the "Surf" is in the playing.
Listen
> to Agent Orange who did surf tunes in a punky fashion or the early
Man
> or Astroman records.
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Eric Hutchinson [mailto:surfinseattle@h...]
> Sent: maandag 6 oktober 2003 4:41
> To:
> Subject: [SurfGuitar101] Guitar Modifications
>
>
> I read through some of the previous posts and a few mentioned
> something about switching the neck and mid pickups. One posted
> recently said that you need single-coil pickups and a previous post
> stated that it was done to make a strat sound more like a Jag.
> I have very little experience with electric guitars or what
> different models sound like. Only recently have I signed up for
this
> list and read of the various guitars etc. When I bought my
electric
> guitar I just looked for the cheapest thing I could find, which
ended
> up being a Kramer Focus for around $80. The question I have is if
> there are any modification that I can make to it, to give it a
> more "surfy" feel to it. I'm not sure of most of its specifics but
I
> know it has single coil pickups.
>
> Eric
>
>
>
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
>
> Visit for archived
messages,
> bookmarks, files, polls, etc.
>
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to
>
Richard wrote:
> The traditional surf tone comes from
> the neck and bridge pickups together, which is an
> option you don't have, but by taking off the pickgaurd
> and simply swapping the positions of the middle and
> neck pickup, you can do it without having to rewire
> anything.
Here is my understanding of whats going on here...please someone with more
knowledge chime in (Mel...Roland???):
The original Strats had 3 pickups and a 3-way switch. All 3 pickups were
identical.
Some smart guy figures out that if he balances the 3-way switch "in-between"
positions, he can get 2 pickups on at the same time. This is because Fender
was using "make before break" type switches. This catches on and soon people
are doing things to their switches to make this easier to do.
Fender, responding to their customers, later introduces the 5-way switch to
get these in-between sounds. However, at some point, Fender changes the
middle pickup to be reverse wound, reverse polarity compared to the neck and
bridge pickups. This is because those damn single coils are like antennas,
and having two identical pickups on at the same time just produces more
noise. So now with the middle one different the in-between positions have a
hum cancelling effect.
The Jaguar and Jazzmaster have 2 pickups, and each pickup has always been
reverse wound, reverse polarity compared to each other. The classic surf
sound lots of people talk about is a Jazzmaster or Jag with both pickups
on - with hum cancelling effect.
So how do you get this on a modern Strat? Well the in-between positions give
you two pickups on, with each pickup being reverse wound, reverse polarity
compared to each other. Cool, except the middle pickup, isn't in the sweet
spot in the neck position. No problem, just swap positions with the neck
pickup. Now you get the pickups at the neck and bridge positions on at the
same time, with hum cancelling, when the switch is in the next to the last
position. No wiring changes needed.
Now I have also heard about people swapping the neck and middle pickups AND
swapping the wiring to the switch. I'm not sure what this accomplishes
except giving you the unusual sound of having 2 identical single coil
pickups on at the same time (with the additional noise - no hum cancelling
this time).
It is also interesting to note that the Japanese Jaguars and Jazzmasters, at
least the ones from the mid-80's to early 90's had identical pickups; same
wiring + same polarity = no hum cancelling. This is not like the vintage
instruments! Another reason to change those pickups out!
Did I get this right?
BN
PS I've never understood the rationale for the Strats control scheme, 3
pickups, a 5 way switch, 1 volume and 2 tone pots? Huh? Some day I am going
to mod my strat, either by adding a push/pull pot, or by reusing one of
those tone pots to blend in the neck pickup with any other pickup
combination. It just doesn't feel right to me to not be able to control the
pickups in all possible configurations! Maybe thats why I like the Jag's
controls :)
BTW, one extremely kick ass sound I am getting out of my Jag is lead circuit
on, neck pickup only, strangle switch on. Thats a cool sound.
I wire my Strats like the James Burton Telecaster. It requires a different
switch, I don't know what it is called but maybe if you find the wiring diagram
it will tell you. What this gets you is a five - way switch that's got the stock
sounds except for the middle position which gives you the neck and bridge
together. If you still want to be able to get the middle pickuo alone, you can
get a replacement tone pot with a built in pull switch to turn it on
independantly of the five-way switch.
-dave
Jerry <> wrote:
Hi Eric,
The very typical thing about the sound of the surf guitar, appart from
the clean Fender sound and the reverb (tank) is indeed the single coils.
The Jaguar/Jazzmaster/Mosrite end other "surfy" guitars have the option
of using both the neck and Brigdge pick up together for the typical
sound.
A standaard stratocaster or simelar do not have that option. So the most
easy way of getting there is by rewiring the pick ups. Just swat the
middle pick up conection on the 5 way switch with the neck pick up to be
able to use both neck and bridge. Most surf guitarist I saw play swith
between both Neck and Bridge to bridge only (for a bit more high end
sounds) to the bridge (for a mellower aproach)
I saw Big ray and the futuras do this at amazing speed, which gave a
very nice sound.
There are many web sites devoted to this mod, and there is also a
schematic for a more complicated mod, which involves maken two vol pots
and one tone pot from the one Vol and two tone pots and a complete
rewiring. (I think you will find these links in the archives or perhaps
a nice Member on this list can give you the sites)
My personal advice is to try out a few of these and try to look for a
sound you like. It's more pleasing then trying to capture a typical
players sound IMHO. As for most of the "Surf" is in the playing. Listen
to Agent Orange who did surf tunes in a punky fashion or the early Man
or Astroman records.
-----Original Message-----
From: Eric Hutchinson [mailto:]
Sent: maandag 6 oktober 2003 4:41
To:
Subject: [SurfGuitar101] Guitar Modifications
I read through some of the previous posts and a few mentioned
something about switching the neck and mid pickups. One posted
recently said that you need single-coil pickups and a previous post
stated that it was done to make a strat sound more like a Jag.
I have very little experience with electric guitars or what
different models sound like. Only recently have I signed up for this
list and read of the various guitars etc. When I bought my electric
guitar I just looked for the cheapest thing I could find, which ended
up being a Kramer Focus for around $80. The question I have is if
there are any modification that I can make to it, to give it a
more "surfy" feel to it. I'm not sure of most of its specifics but I
know it has single coil pickups.
Eric
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