wow-102

In my spare time, I tinker with my instruments so they give me more awesome results. This describes one of those mods. I have a great playing MIJ SSS Stratocaster. The 5-way switch is OK but I wanted more tonal options. I decided to soup up my Stratocaster with a bare upgrade pickguard that I got on eBay designed to control three single-coil pickups. I searched for "upgrade fits any sss strat" to find it. It came with two quality Bourns pots mounted to a printed circuit board. The included Treble Bleed volume control circuit eliminates the brilliance becoming "muddier" as the volume is dialed back. It has six mini toggle switches instead of the stock 5-way blade switch. Three of them are on-off-on to control each pickup by turning it Off or On (in either normal-phase or reverse phase.) The other three are on-on switches to put select pickups in either parallel or series circuit. The switch layout is simple and intuitive. The end result is an instrument that goes beyond the stock five pickup tones. The solderless connectors made it a snap to wire everything up and install this upgrade. It just dropped in with no surprises. After the upgrade, I now have 35 unique pickup tones. (see the picture) This upgrade is better than the 5-way switch because I can now do things that my Strat couldn't previously do. I can turn on each individual pickup (in normal-phase or reverse-phase) and put them in either parallel or series connection for fatter tones. I can turn on both the bridge and neck pickups to make it sound like a standard Telecaster. This also gives me all those Brian May (guitarist for Queen) Red Special fat pickup tones. And I can turn on all three pickups at once. The versatility of this upgrade gives me "tone nirvana" with pickup tones I always wanted (but could never get from stock guitars.) I am pleased with the new voices this upgraded guitar gives me. These upgrades turn even the cheapest axe into a Tone Tyrannosaurus.

I have a great playing 2-pickup Squier Telecaster (made in Korea). I previously upgraded it with a control plate that gives me six pickup tones. I decided to soup up the Tele once again for even more performance and tonal options. My plan was to transform it into a Nashville Telecaster Deluxe equivalent. A woodworking friend helped me to create a body cavity for a middle stratocaster pickup using a Nashville Tele pickguard. I ordered a special chrome metal control plate designed to control three pickups. It came with Bourns pots mounted to a printed circuit board with Treble Bleed to keep the brilliance from getting "muddier" as the volume is dialed back. It has six mini toggle switches instead of the stock 5-way blade switch. Three of them are on-off-on and control each pickup by turning it Off or On (in either normal-phase or reverse phase.) The other three are on-on switches to put select pickups in either parallel or series circuit. The switch layout is simple and intuitive. The end result is an instrument that goes beyond the stock five pickup tones. The solderless connectors made it a snap to wire everything up and install this upgrade. It just dropped in with no surprises. After the upgrade, I now have 35 unique pickup tones. (see the picture) This upgrade is better than the 5-way switch because I can now do things that my Tele couldn't previously do. I can turn on each individual pickup (in normal-phase or reverse-phase) and put them in either parallel or series connection for fatter tones. I can turn on both the bridge and neck pickups to make it sound like a standard Telecaster. This also gives me all those Brian May (guitarist for Queen) Red Special fat pickup tones. And I can turn on all three pickups at once. The versatility of this upgrade gives me "tone nirvana" with pickup tones I always wanted (but could never get from stock guitars.) It seems like this guitar is the one that I consistently grab out of the rack. It's my favorite Tone Tyrannosaurus.

I have a great playing 2-pickup Squier Telecaster (made in Korea). The 3-way switch is OK but I wanted to soup it up for more tonal options. Last month, I replaced the stock control plate with one designed for a standard Telecaster with two single-coil pickups. The solderless installation made the upgrade easy. For me it just "dropped in." (see before-after picture) It came with Bourns pots mounted to a printed circuit board with Treble Bleed to keep the brilliance from getting "muddier" as the volume is dialed back. It has three mini toggle switches instead of the stock 3-way blade switch. Two of the switches are on-off-on and control each pickup by turning it Off or On (in either normal-phase or reverse phase.) The third (middle) on-on switch puts the pickups in either parallel or series circuit. The switch layout is simple and intuitive. The end result is an instrument that goes beyond the three stock pickup tones. After the upgrade, I have six pickup tones. I still have the stock three sounds, but the extra three sounds are distinct and useful. Putting both pickups in series (and in-phase) gives me a strong jazz-like humbucker sounding tone, something that I could not get from my stock Telecaster. And hearing those additional two new intense and more intense out-of-phase country twang tones (switched in either parallel and series) gave me goosebumps. These are glass-shattering tones that can punch out windows at 30 paces. I'm happy with the upgrade because it gives me three additional pickup tones.