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So You Just Bought A New Strat.. What is the first Mod You Make?


steve_man

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Okay, we're talking specifically about a Strat here. I realize there are many types of Strats out there, so maybe be specific about what you replace on certain models (i.e. MIM, USA, MIJ, etc.). Second thing is, why would you make that mod? Tuning stability, tone, playability, etc?

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There's many mods for me to do to make a strat playable. The main ones:

First, remove the middle pickup;

Second, remove the neck tone pot and do master tone wiring;

Third, move the vol pot to where the other tone pot used to be;

Fourth, deck and block the trem.

 

Why? Gotta move all that crap out of the way and stabilize it.

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I'm assuming a setup doesn't count as a mod. First, I'd block the trem in the interests of tuning stability. Second, I'm curious about the Chromacaster switch so I might try one. Beyond that, it would depend on the pickups; I might replace them if I wasn't happy.

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lol....I wouldn't buy a strat that required a mod in the first place.....

 

This. But, I will say that of the threads I read from electric gearheads, buying and modding seems mutually inclusive more times than not.

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This. But, I will say that of the threads I read from electric gearheads, buying and modding seems mutually inclusive more times than not.

 

That's the thing... I got a great deal on a used Strat... thinking about changing a couple of things, and was curious to see what you guys have done to your Strats. What about tuners?

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Never have blocked a trem... How would you go about that? I usually just pull the trem to the body by using extra springs....

 

You just make a block of wood that's the proper size to fit between the tremolo block and the inside of the cavity. If you've got 5 springs on it and it never moves, you've basically accomplished the same thing. I suppose if you were using heavy enough gauge strings, it might still move a bit while bending even with 5 springs, so then you would want to use the block of wood to prevent it from moving at all.

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I have several Strats and Strat clone guitars. A few have electronic mods, like my 80s Strat has three DPDT switches instead of a 5 way and they are wired normal on/off/reverse phase on. Gives me about 11 different tones. It also has the Gold Ionized pickguard to kill hum with the TX specials. I also put an active midrange expander in which is one of the better mods you can do on a Strat.

The bad mistakes I made on that one was to refinish it and put in a roller nut. I should have left the beat up finish and stock nut.

 

I have another I installed an active overdrive circuit. Its kind of neat because I can use it with an amp with no other pedals and its got 5 levels of drive.

 

The other 4 vary because some of them were built from pieces. My favorite has a generic body of some type. I'm not sure who made it because its slightly different shaped. I bought the body and put an actual Strat neck on it. I had to make my own pickguard because a normal strap pickguard didn't fit. After several attempts using Plexiglas and not liking the sound, I used some birch plywood that was about 1/8" thick. I think that was the key to that guitars sound, because it will sing like no other I own with the floating whammy bar.

 

Its also got three unpatched pickups. The neck is low ohms pickup with staggered pole pieces, You wouldn't think it has as much output as it does looking at the bobbin that's about half fill, but its get the exact tone I like for the neck. The center is an old Dimarzio. Its a fat and tall boy. I had to route the body out more to get it in there. Nothing special about its tone but it does have adjustable poles. The bridge is an Ibanez pickup. I have used a mighty mite there as well which IO actually prefer but not enough to have me rip it down again.

 

The tree pickups use three on off switches and a single volume only, no tone. The combinations are well balanced with all the pups an equal distance from the strings which isn't normally the case. You usually have to back the neck and center farther away then the bridge to get the same thing. I just got lucky on this one that it was a great match. No spring cover on that one either. I stopped dead in my tracks when I got the sound I wanted and stopped doing any mods in fear it might alter the tones from were it was.

 

Best thing about the guitar is it stays in tune when the whammy is used and the note sustains are incredible when cranked. I really need to post a clip of that one.

 

If I bought a new Strat, I wouldn't even touch it for several years and only replace things like worn tuners. Thing is I already have several and I'm pretty burn out on Strat tones as it is. It would have to be something really special to even peak my interest. There are so many other great instruments out there and even a good generic is usually close enough to fill that niche.

 

 

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Never have blocked a trem... How would you go about that? I usually just pull the trem to the body by using extra springs....

I made my own solution. I took a trip to the hardware store and bought a pair of T-nuts:

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and a pair of Cap screws:

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I made a pair of mini-jacks and expanded them until they fit snugly.

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