Premium wiring kit for Japanese Strat?

Octavio

I have a Japanese Fender Strat from the early 00's. I've heard over the years comments that the electrics in Japanese Fender guitars are bad. Most recently from a guest on That Pedal Show. What exactly does that mean?

In the last 20 years I've had no issues, only the occasional scratchy pot which is easily resolved. Are they saying that poor electronics affect the tone in a negative way? Or that the volume and tone pots don't perform as well.

I ask because I have to take the guitar into a tech. Tried to swap out the pickups and made a right balls! Likely cooked it. If this is an upgrade worth doing I may consider it.

Winny_Pooh

The pickups are quite bland and a bit thin but marginally better than the old American Standard pickups. Pots and switches are better than Chinese or Indonesian fenders

Octavio

Well I'm not referring to the pickups specifically. More so the wiring, pots, switches. How are they better than China or Indonesia, but lesser than USA? 

topdog91

They're absolutely fine by any quantifiable, rational measure.

Funkfingers

Some MIJ Fender guitars dare to use thin, plastic-insulated conductor wire rather than the thicker, pull-back cloth type associated with vintage MIA instruments. A few use PCB selector switches with eight-in-line terminals.

Some customers get terribly worked up about this.

As has already been stated, the pickups tend to be a bit bland. Some commentators blame the magnet material. 

Octavio

In hindsight I think I may have nuked my volume pot when trying to remove some old solder  

Can anyone recommend a quality strat wiring kit? (pots, selector switch, wiring etc. Innards!). It's a 'never sell' guitar as sentimental value, so I don't mind spending more for quality.

Whistler

My main guitar is a 1986 Fender Japanese Strat and it has performed faultlessly through the years.

paulnb57

Octavio said:

In hindsight I think I may have nuked my volume pot when trying to remove some old solder  

Can anyone recommend a quality strat wiring kit? (pots, selector switch, wiring etc. Innards!). It's a 'never sell' guitar as sentimental value, so I don't mind spending more for quality.

Have a look at six sting supplies, good quality and quick delivery

https://sixstringsupplies.co.uk/collections/prewired-harnesses?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI-o6R_OHrgwMVBJhQBh1x0A6gEAAYASAAEgKaT_D_BwE

Octavio

paulnb57 said:

Octavio said:

In hindsight I think I may have nuked my volume pot when trying to remove some old solder  

Can anyone recommend a quality strat wiring kit? (pots, selector switch, wiring etc. Innards!). It's a 'never sell' guitar as sentimental value, so I don't mind spending more for quality.

Have a look at six sting supplies, good quality and quick delivery

https://sixstringsupplies.co.uk/collections/prewired-harnesses?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI-o6R_OHrgwMVBJhQBh1x0A6gEAAYASAAEgKaT_D_BwE

That 10-way switch looks very interesting.

ICBM

Remember that if you want to keep your original pickguard and don't want to ream out the pot holes to 3/8", you need 8mm pots - pretty much all far-east ones (including Alphas) are this size, although a couple of the US makers do them as well now.

A CRL switch will be an upgrade over the original even if the original is an open-frame type (DM-50 or similar) - they're more reliable in the long term, and feel more positive in use. If the original switch is a box type, replace it anyway.

Possibly the best upgrade you can do is to replace the jack with a Switchcraft - obviously it doesn't affect the tone, but they're much more reliable and secure. While you're at it, replace the cable from the jack to the volume pot with a shielded cable, which noticeably reduces noise.

Octavio

Thanks all. I certainly can't be bothered with increasing the pot hole size. Maybe 10 options is overkill.

The hunt continues for a quality wiring harness.

Supportact

@Octavio I've also used SixStringSupplies before for this type of thing and found them very good, easy to contact and good quality stuff. I'm sure there are others as well.