Hondo Fame 760 - changing pots and switch advice.

Fuengi

Got this little beauty off @Flanging_Fred a while back for Fuengi Jr to play at home and it's been great, he plays it everyday.

Originally it was for acoustic playing / practice only but he got a little amp for Christmas so plays it through that. 

It's just come back to me because he wanted the strings replaced and I tested it through my amp, it's great fun to play and has some very nice tones. 

But, the switching is a bit scratchy as are the controls - it is 35+ years old - so thinking of replacing them.

Can I use standard a Strat switch as replacement? Do the pots need replacing and if so where do I get them?

http://imgur.com/gallery/WtPhCnQ

Funkfingers

Fuengi said:

Can I use standard a Strat switch as replacement?

It may be one of those physically shorter, old Japanese switches with only seven contacts. (I forget the proper name for them. ICBM will know.) 

Measure the distance between the two screw holes at either end of the selector switch. Anything under 40mm and the regular switch is not going to fit.

ICBM

From looking at the pic it does appear to be a short-frame switch, yes. Is it a 3-way? Almost all of them are.

The good news is that they're actually very good quality switches and it's rare for contact cleaner not to work. Likewise, try cleaner in the pots before replacing them as well - Servisol, Electrolube, WD-40 Contact Cleaner or similar - not standard WD-40 unless any of those have been tried and failed.

Funkfingers

ICBM said:

From looking at the pic it does appear to be a short-frame switch, yes. Is it a 3-way? Almost all of them are.

I seem to recall that it was possible - if tricky - to convert the switch lever from three-way to five using a small round file. 

One of my college contemporaries had the near identical Hondo Deluxe model, same egg custard yellow finish colour, different headstock outline and decal. My faint recollection is that the pots and vibrato bridge are cheap rubbish. 

ICBM

Funkfingers said:

I seem to recall that it was possible - if tricky - to convert the switch lever from three-way to five using a small round file.

It's very difficult with these - there's even less room to work inside the frame than there is with the CRL type. I think you'd need to use a Dremel - I don't think you could move a file back and forth on it.

Fuengi

ICBM said:

From looking at the pic it does appear to be a short-frame switch, yes. Is it a 3-way? Almost all of them are.

The good news is that they're actually very good quality switches and it's rare for contact cleaner not to work. Likewise, try cleaner in the pots before replacing them as well - Servisol, Electrolube, WD-40 Contact Cleaner or similar - not standard WD-40 unless any of those have been tried and failed.

Just measured the switch this morning,it measures 62mm between screws c/c and it's a 5-way switch.

I had some HP White Lithium Greece which I sprayed in there this morning and it seems to have done the trick, no scratching or crackles now.

Having played it through my amp for 20 minutes it really is a great little guitar. It's got real presence and dynamics, I love playing it and the neck is a nice profile.

Funkfingers

Fuengi said:
it measures 62mm between screws c/c

Where did you take the measurements? (I assume that sixty two is a typographical error.)

The CRL five-way selector switch, originally being American, measures 1 ⅝ " between the fastening screw holes c/c. The approximate Metric equivalent is 41.5mm.

Fuengi

Funkfingers said:

Fuengi said:
it measures 62mm between screws c/c

Where did you take the measurements? (I assume that sixty two is a typographical error.)

The CRL five-way selector switch, originally being American, measures 1 ⅝ " between the fastening screw holes c/c. The approximate Metric equivalent is 41.5mm.

It might have been an idea for me not to have measured it with my scale rule!

Just checked again and it is 31.5mm - although using the 2-1 scale I was spot on!

ICBM

In that case you have one of the very rare 5-way short-frame switches - or someone has already modded it properly - don't even think about changing it, nothing else fits and if it's cleaned up OK there is no reason to.

Fuengi

ICBM said:

In that case you have one of the very rare 5-way short-frame switches - or someone has already modded it properly - don't even think about changing it, nothing else fits and if it's cleaned up OK there is no reason to.

I will be sure to quote you if it ever ends up on eBay... "very rare 5-way short-frame switch" 

randella

That looks really smart to me, the off-white with tortoiseshell and maple fingerboard. 

I love these old lawsuit ‘Fenders’. I remember as a kid playing a friend’s Tokai which, objectively, was probably not the best Strat ever. It’d also been retrofitted with a Kahler and locking nut which did it no favours. I couldn’t put the thing down though, it played so well. And it was a beautiful, deep Lake Placid Blue which I’d not seen before.