Strat alt wiring options

stickyfiddle

I have a Strat and Tele that I adore very much. I never use the Strat's middle pickup but the middle Tele position is basically perfection. 

What are the cleanest options to mod the strat to get neck & bridge sound? I can think of either a superswitch, or a push/push pot to add neck or bridge to anything else in parallel. Is there anything else? I guess I could swap to a 3-way and put the middle pickup on a push/push pot and/or blender like the Brent Mason Tele wiring. 

Does anyone have any thoughts? 

[also I'm running a book on who will be the first to say "just play your Tele"...?]

Sporky

There might be a Megaswitch that does that, otherwise a Super switch definitely will - I assume you want to keep the other 4 selections the same? 

Sporky

You can't have hum cancelling in 2, 3, and 4 without moving the middle to the neck, and putting some sort of splittable humbucker in the middle. If that matters. 

lovestrat74

There is a way to make the 2nd tone pot a blend pot, so you can blend the neck and bridge. Think it was a simple bridging wire on the switch. 

EDIT: Found it...

stickyfiddle

Sporky said:

There might be a Megaswitch that does that, otherwise a Super switch definitely will - I assume you want to keep the other 4 selections the same? 

Yeah I think so? Honestly it's different pickups so I might not even stick with it, but I like the idea and it's easily reversed so no harm trying right?

I do need to check if a superswitch will actually fit as it's a Danocaster so I assume it's very vintage - whatever's under there I'm not routing it! 

I don't particularly care about noise cancelling - it's a Strat after all  

stickyfiddle

@lovestrat74 Ta - that's a helpful vid. I think I'd prefer a switch over a blender though, simply so I can go from neck+bridge to either bridge or neck in a single 1-beat movement during a song, but I'll think about it more

thermionic

Blend pot FTW.

stickyfiddle

I also realise I can test this on my other bitsa strat first then transpose it across once I work out what switching i like;

It doesn't help that I want this for Steve Cropper-isms and all the youtube videos of similar mods play boring rock stuff that mean you can't always hear the pickups properly. 

stickyfiddle

This is a good vid of the sort of sound, which would work nicely. But I don't want to do it this way

robinbowes

My main Strat has a Kinman K9 harness, which implements the Blend option - that sound is very good (neck + bridge pickups).

However, I think what you want is the Gilmour mod: https://sixstringsupplies.co.uk/pages/gilmour-strat-wiring-mod

R.

stickyfiddle

robinbowes said:

My main Strat has a Kinman K9 harness, which implements the Blend option - that sound is very good (neck + bridge pickups).

However, I think what you want is the Gilmour mod: https://sixstringsupplies.co.uk/pages/gilmour-strat-wiring-mod

R.

Yeah potentially, though I’d use a push-pish rather than mini switch. I’m just not certain if that would feel clunkier in use compared to a super switch 

ICBM

Schaller Megaswitch E, if you never use the middle pickup. It will definitely fit if a CRL does.

normula1

Pretty easy with a superswitch, I found it quite lacklustre with a single coil bridge even with a baseplate compared to a Tele. It's a similar sound but not quite right IMHO. It founds much better to me if the bridge pickup is a humbucker.
I've got one SSS guitar with an S1 switch that swaps neck and middle for neck and bridge and middle for all three. I never use the latter and only occasionally the neck and bridge unless I've got some modulation going. 
I only really use middle by itself for slide, where it works well.

TheBigDipper

Unhelpful, I know, so apologies in advance, but what's this "never use the middle pickup" nonsense? :-) It's the best one! (Unless your name is Blackmore....) 

english_bob

The G&L S-500 is kind of an extension of the "Gilmour Mod" wiring- you get a master "normal" tone control that rolls off treble, and a passive bass cut control too:

guitars4you

lovestrat74 said:

There is a way to make the 2nd tone pot a blend pot, so you can blend the neck and bridge. Think it was a simple bridging wire on the switch. 

EDIT: Found it...

That would be my suggestion - Fender CS use it on many guitars these days

stickyfiddle

Maybe the blend thing is worth a try since I know I have a couple of no-load/blender pots in the parts box! 

english_bob

stickyfiddle said:

Maybe the blend thing is worth a try since I know I have a couple of no-load/blender pots in the parts box! 

I'm not sure you need them. I once rewired a Squier Strat with a blender pot using all the same wiring and pots that were already there. 

thebreeze

I’d never thought of that mod the guy does in the video you posted.  Tempted to adapt all my Strats like that now!  Having said that the 4 position is nice for playing at home but he’s also right about it not being much use with a band, I never use it in that context either.

stickyfiddle

Given the 4-way Tele switch exists, I’m actually slightly surprised no one makes a 6-way Strat switch, to let you add B+N at the final position beyond neck only. 

stickyfiddle

thebreeze said:

I’d never thought of that mod the guy does in the video you posted.  Tempted to adapt all my Strats like that now!  Having said that the 4 position is nice for playing at home but he’s also right about it not being much use with a band, I never use it in that context either.

IIRC the Albert Hammond Jr Strat is wired like this (or v similarly) because he’s a 90% middle-position guy