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Biggest Newb Question Ever (sorry)


Tarquinius

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I'm sorry to be asking this, because this is so stupid.

I have never played or owned a single coil pickup guitar ever. All i know is the dual humbuckers.

To cut to the chase, I know some dual humbucking guitars have 2 and 2 knobs (2 volume knobs and 2 tone knobs) which allow for different settings on the bridge and neck pick up (yes I know you know this, I'm getting to my point).

On a strat, it has 3 knobs, one volume and two tone. My question is, do the two tone knobs allow you to have two different tones on the bridge and the neck, like some dual humbucker guitars do? If not, what does the second tone knob do?

My dilemma is that I prefer single coil sound over humbuckers, but I like having indepent control with all the knobs and all. So, if somebody would be kind to help me out, it could definitly help me.

Thank you.

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Hi there...

I prefer the master volume setup of a strat. The tone controls as stock work on the middle and neck pickup. Many players simply rewire so that the neck and bridge pickups have tones as the bridge is the brightest...but you could have any combination.

One of my Jap Strats has a master volume and tone with the centre as a master volume for the middle pickup. What this gives you is on the fly volume and tone and the ability to fade in various amounts of middle pickup. If it is reverse wired, reverse pole this will also be noise cancelling like a humbucker.

This idea is that you can add any amount of mid pickup to any setting, you loose it by itself but gain all three at once and the neck and bridge (tele style). With a phase switch (could be a push/pull) you get a choice of this control adding that phased/inbetween/sultans of swing sound to varying degrees or a thicker middly humbucker tone as you dial it in. Pretty cool stuff and not hard to do really.

So...hope that helps...psw

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At guitarnuts.com you can find the schematics to what psw is describing, and a lot of other schematics for the strat. There is also a very interesting version were the mid tone is also affecting the bridge, but with an other value on the caps.

About the TBX: This was added in the mid/late 80s. On "vintage" strats it’s different; one vol, one neck tone and one mid tone. Of cause there are variations available too.

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Sooo...what you guys are saying is that with some adjustments I can reroute the tone controls for my preference?

So does this mean If i wanted to...make one tone pot in control of the neck pick up and one for the bridge? If so, do you think this is a smart idea?

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My next thing to try out fron the guitarnuts.com is the mod with one master vol, one tone and one vol for the middle pup. All versions of pup combinations possible, including neck + bridge + fade-able mid at the same time

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One of my Jap Strats has a master volume and tone with the centre as a master volume for the middle pickup. What this gives you is on the fly volume and tone and the ability to fade in various amounts of middle pickup. If it is reverse wired, reverse pole this will also be noise cancelling like a humbucker.

This idea is that you can add any amount of mid pickup to any setting, you loose it by itself but gain all three at once and the neck and bridge (tele style). With a phase switch (could be a push/pull) you get a choice of this control adding that phased/inbetween/sultans of swing sound to varying degrees or a thicker middly humbucker tone as you dial it in. Pretty cool stuff and not hard to do really.

Like I said...however...

All versions of pup combinations possible, including neck + bridge + fade-able mid at the same time

not so...you don't get the strat's normal mid setting do you of just the middle pickup. (at least not on my guitar) Most would find this not such a geat loss as the neck/bridge combination in this setting is probably more useful and the total range of sounds is far greater. Here's the link to the guitar nut's version S-tastic. I just realized that on mine I used a 3-way gibson style switch and micro-phase switches to get this result, but the principle is the same.

All these mods are pretty much a case of simply moving a few wires around (no new parts or drilling required) so it's worth experimenting with if you've a mind to for any strat owners.

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not so...you don't get the strat's normal mid setting

Yeah, well I thought that was obvious. You have to sacrifice something if you try to stay with a single 5-way switch. But OK not all of them…

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...make one tone pot in control of the neck pick up and one for the bridge ...do you think this is a smart idea?
It's arguably the single most popular Strat mod of the last 40 years, so yeah, probably. :D

What about switching position selections so that you get neck +bridge together instead of neck+mid or bridge+mid or mid alone? :D That ones up there too.

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What about switching position selections so that you get neck +bridge together instead of neck+mid or bridge+mid or mid alone?  That ones up there too.
That's a fairly recent mod - you gotta remember, the original Strats didn't even have 5-way switches, juat a 3-way that selected a single pickup, and moving the tone position was popular even back then.
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I had the same dilemma a few years ago. The guitar in question was only ever really used for recording, but it did a great job.

First, rip out all wiring including pots and selector switches. Then, wire each pickup first to an on/off switch, and then to a dual concentric pot. I got mine in Liverpool for £5 each.

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electronics,_p...ntrol_Pots.html

I found this a really good way of getting that 'strat sound' (which let's face it, you need a strat for) and getting the SG controllability. You could also add a phase switch to the middle pickup, but it's up to you. I never did because it was a studio guitar and I could cancel hum or get different sounds through effects or the desk.

Hope this has been of some help.

Edited by silverballs
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