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Post subject: Custom Shop 54'
Posted: Sat May 22, 2010 1:00 pm
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Hi,
I recently installed a set of Custom Shop 54', but they are really bity and harsh, no bell like sounds, a cold,shrill, thin sound...should I install another capacitor, if yes, wich one?..

Thank you very much for your help.


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Posted: Sun May 23, 2010 1:27 am
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you probably have a .022 cap in there which is
a brighter cap i found this on mrguitartech.com
that might help

"Generally manufacturers which fit there guitars with humbuckers will use lower valued capacitors as the pickups generally have a 'darker' sound, this is partly due to the pickup and also due to the many of the guitars which have humbuckers i.e. Gibson Les Paul. Therefore most passive humbuckers are wired up with 0.022uF capacitors. Whereas guitars using single coils such as many Fenders will use a larger capacitor value, such as 0.047uF. Single coils have a tendancy to be brighter sounding and produce a more twangy sound, therefore more of the treble is cut with the use of the tone knob. "

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1961 Gibson SG Wildwood Pelham blue
1966 Fender CS Firemist Metallic Silver Strat


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Post subject: Re: Custom Shop 54'
Posted: Sun May 23, 2010 6:06 am
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fenderastic wrote:
Hi,
I recently installed a set of Custom Shop 54', but they are really bity and harsh, no bell like sounds, a cold,shrill, thin sound...should I install another capacitor, if yes, wich one?..

Thank you very much for your help.


If backing off on your existing tone controls offers you no relief, changing the capacitor isn't going to dramatically help. Try resetting your amp as oftentimes, players who exchange an entire pickup set in a given guitar tend to use the same amp settings as they used with their old pickup set in said given guitar. If this doesn't work, try an EQ. If the EQ doesn't work out, I really hate to say it but maybe the CS 54 set isn't for you.

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Post subject: Custom Shop 54'
Posted: Sun May 23, 2010 12:28 pm
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Maybe you're right and is this set just not the right one for me. I really like the original bell tones in a Strat, and when I installed the 54' it was like a shock to me, so much, I removed them instantly and reinstalled the original standard pups in my Strat.
Besides I was dissapointed because they are not that cheap.

I only play the clean channels of my Fender amps with just that right amount of reverb needed, my sound is no frills right out of the box. I never use distortions and other sound enhancers, I have my eq's of my amps set the way they sound for me the nicest, and my Fender guitars have to settle with these set ups, usely they do great and follow me in this faithfully. I never fiddle around with the guitar tone controls they stay at 10 all the time, I only use the volume control, and this worked always fine, until the CS 54's where installed???..it was like I was sawing wood with a circular sawing machine.

That's when I tought I did something wrong whilst installing them, wrong capacitor or a solderblooper, etc...but if the sound of the CS 54's is really that different (the bridge pick-up is really razor-sharp, hurts my ears, on my usual amp volume settings) of a standard Strat sound, I would be most happy to reinstall them and give them a second chance, or/and learn to appriciate them fully...


Thank you very much for your replies.


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Posted: Thu May 27, 2010 6:27 am
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A low-output bridge pickup without a tone control is going to be really bright. And then if you have a bright amp...

I recently did some soldering in my Strat to allow me to use the second tone knob for both the middle and bridge positions. Best thing I ever did! Now it doesn't matter what amp I use, I don't have to worry about the bridge being overpoweringly bright.


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Posted: Thu May 27, 2010 11:27 pm
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prolog wrote:
A low-output bridge pickup without a tone control is going to be really bright. And then if you have a bright amp...

I recently did some soldering in my Strat to allow me to use the second tone knob for both the middle and bridge positions. Best thing I ever did! Now it doesn't matter what amp I use, I don't have to worry about the bridge being overpoweringly bright.


That's a pretty common tone control mod that I've used myself to help tame an overly-bright guitar (such as an ash body and/or maple fretboard). Another possibility for the OP's CS54's would be to add a base plate to the bridge pickup. Fralin sells these as a stand-alone accessory that can be used with any brand to take the edge off an ice-picky bridge pickup (a slight gain increase is also claimed IIRC).

HTH

Arjay


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Post subject:
Posted: Fri May 28, 2010 5:38 am
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Retroverbial wrote:
prolog wrote:
A low-output bridge pickup without a tone control is going to be really bright. And then if you have a bright amp...

I recently did some soldering in my Strat to allow me to use the second tone knob for both the middle and bridge positions. Best thing I ever did! Now it doesn't matter what amp I use, I don't have to worry about the bridge being overpoweringly bright.


That's a pretty common tone control mod that I've used myself to help tame an overly-bright guitar (such as an ash body and/or maple fretboard). Another possibility for the OP's CS54's would be to add a base plate to the bridge pickup. Fralin sells these as a stand-alone accessory that can be used with any brand to take the edge off an ice-picky bridge pickup (a slight gain increase is also claimed IIRC).


I don't even have a "bright" setup, and it helped a ton. My guitar's got a basswood body, maple fretboard, and the pickups are built to sound like a 1962 Strat; my amp's a Classic 30, so more of a British sound. Still, it really made a difference, and helped tame the highs. I can get a ton of different sounds this way.

Other than tradition, I'm not sure why more Strats aren't wired this way!


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Post subject:
Posted: Fri May 28, 2010 5:16 pm
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prolog wrote:
Other than tradition, I'm not sure why more Strats aren't wired this way!


Beats me but it made all the difference in the world for my Stratocaster 12-string. I replaced the MIJ pickups with a set of CS '69s and it really had too much jangle at that point. The tone control mod was a lifesaver!

I've rewired a few of my 6-string Strats to that spec as well.

Arjay


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Post subject:
Posted: Tue Jun 01, 2010 8:50 am
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For the most part, when your tone is wide open the cap don't MEAN JACK !

Wire your controls so the lower tone control effects the bridge pup. I don't know about CS 54's but most BRIGHT vintage Fender pups require a
.047µF or even .1µF ( I had those on one with 57/62's) to get them darker....WHEN YOU TURN TONE POT DOWN.

The (now) bridge tone on 5-7 really will take the shrill/ice pick out of most.

Also with vintage Strat pups, try this:

SET THEM LOW !!

Flush with the pg and the treble side about 1/6" higher than the bass.

You can fine tune a little from there to balance one pup to another depending on what switch position you like (2 or 4)

Good luck.


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