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Strat Quirks...


Longhair

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I recieved the Highway One Strat today and it being my first strat, I have a couple of quirks about it.

 

I tend to rest my wrist on the bridge when playing (other guitar is a hardtail) and the thing that is bothering me is the set screws of the bridge saddles.

 

Is this something that I am going to have to just live with or is there a fix without replacing the whole tremolo?

 

The volume knob is too close to the high E string to the point it keeps getting in the way due to the fact I am not used to it. I planned on changing the pick guard and found a site that makes custom ones so I don't have to live with that open hole left by the lack of the volume knob.

 

How would midnight wine body, maple neck and a black pearloid pickguard look? Google isn't helping me today :(

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You can get shorter set screws for the saddles.

I had the same problem when I bought my first Strat with the volume knob. I ordered a new pickguard from Warmoth. They give you the option (among others) of moving the volume knob closer to the 5-way switch. It's worked for me.

 

EDIT: meant to add a pic of the pg on my Strat...and check some of the guitar parts stores online. You'll be able to find the set screws in short-med-long lengths.

mintgrn.jpg

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well i can help a little here. first off, you can get new saddles if you would like, just make sure you get the mim string spacing. gfs sells these, but i have no experience with them...

http://store.guitarfetish.com/upststsafitr.html

also, warmoth makes pickguards with the colume knob offset a little..

strat_cntrl_d.jpg

hopefully someone has real pics. i think the pickguard combo would look good, but i think an aged pearloid would look cool as well (all personal opinion of course).

 

EDIT: beat me to it

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I trimmed the saddle screws down last time I had some that were too long. I snipped a bit off with a pair of dikes and then chucked them in a drill press to taper the ends with a file. I used a marker to color the exposed screw and cut off that amount at the other end.

 

I got used to the volume knob being where it is on a Strat. Think of it as training tool that helps to refine your right-hand technique.

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I trimmed the saddle screws down last time I had some that were too long. I snipped a bit off with a pair of dikes and then chucked them in a drill press to taper the ends with a file. I used a marker to color the exposed screw and cut off that amount at the other end.


I got used to the volume knob being where it is on a Strat. Think of it as training tool that helps to refine your right-hand technique.

 

That sounds like a good way to do it. I'll have to remember that. :thu:

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I'm not a fan of where the strat volume is either. And those Warmoth guards with the volume down by the switch look kinda :freak: to me.

 

What I do with my personal strats is remove one of the pots and make it have a master volume master tone setup, with the knobs at the bottom end of the pickguard.

 

This gives you the benefit of having a tone control for the bridge pup. I have no clue how all those famous strat players live without a tone on the bridge pickup. Maybe I just fail at playing a strat or something. :confused:

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Dropping one of the tone pots and then having a "master" tone for all 3 pickups is also an idea that I am not ruling out. I would need to find the proper diagram for wiring it.

 

However, when it comes to looks over function, I would rather have function at the cost of looks. So the off set volume knob would not bother me one bit.

 

My hand doesn't rest on the bridge as in it has a lot of weight on it, more of a light touch just as a reference point for myself. I'm used to a smooth surface from the hardtail bridge.

 

I haven't had time to do a proper setup on the guitar yet and today has been more about "is there a difference if I go from one to the other" as far as feel goes. I'll know more as the week goes on what I want to do and how to get there.

 

I was also playing with the idea of getting another pick guard setup with a HSS configuration so I was wondering what would be a good pickup selection for a warmer tone?

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The idea of playing a strat with my hand anchored to the bridge seems to miss the best attribute of a strat. They are very transparent guitars to where you pick. They sound very different picked at the bridge than close to the neck. As a matter of fact, I don't think they sound that good picked that close to the bridge.

 

It may be a good idea to address your right hand picking. I anchor my hand by keeping my pinky down on the pickguard most of the time. Then you can play throughout the picking area. If you always pick and inch from the bridge, then a strat might not be for you. It's going to plunk like a banjo.

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The idea of playing a strat with my hand anchored to the bridge seems to miss the best attribute of a strat. They are very transparent guitars to where you pick. They sound very different picked at the bridge than close to the neck. As a matter of fact, I don't think they sound that good picked that close to the bridge.


It may be a good idea to address your right hand picking. I anchor my hand by keeping my pinky down on the pickguard most of the time. Then you can play throughout the picking area. If you always pick and inch from the bridge, then a strat might not be for you. It's going to plunk like a banjo.

 

 

My thoughts exactly. It's actually one of the reasons I love strats.

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If I ever get a Strat, I'll definitely be re-wiring to have that top volume knob near the bridge as a dummy. Probably the same w the 5-wayNo connection. Then master volume and bridge tone. Also, the LP style 3-way somewhere on the pickguard near the cutaway. :cool:

 

(and a killswitch somewhere)

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You can get better saddles as said. My 0.2c is don't move the vol knob. Just learn to play a strat. It takes a little time is all. When I stum and I happen to go past the high E my pick gos between the vol knob and 5 way.

You can learn a new ancor piont as well. If tou rest you hand on the bridge have a light touch as you can pull the guitar out of tune.

HNGD It will all become clear in time grasshopper.:thu:

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Some people use the proximity of the volume on the Stratocaster to do swells but I too agree that it gets in the way more than not. The idea of making the bridge tone pot a master tone and moving the volume to the neck pot sounds very interesting. Why exactly does one need two tone pots anyways? One is exclusively for the bridge pickup and the other for the neck pickup. The two never shall meet (and I don't use tone knobs anyway - isn't tone in the fingers?). ;)

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You can always shim the neck at the heel. This will put the headstock lower in relation to the bridge allowing you to raise the saddles while maintaining the desire action.

 

+1

Once setup correctly, the saddle screws will be flush or slightly embedded.

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