I just chnaged the electronics on my Les Paul to CTS pots and Sprague Vitamin Q capacitors. Man what a difference!
So now I want to turn my my attention to my 60's Road Worn. For starters I got to say it's the best Strat I've ever played. I love the feel, sound and definately the looks. I've already changed the tremblo block to a steel one, which was nice. For the electronics I know I should use the CTS 250K pots and Switchcraft switch, but I need help finding the right capacitors. Does anyone have a suggestion on the type and specs of capacitor I should use? I use my Strat mainly for SRV and Jimi.

Thanks.

Welcome!

For starters, Switchcraft doesn't make Strat/Tele type pickup selector switches. The original one you have in the guitar now is pretty much as good as they get so just leave it alone. Further, you already have CTS pots in the guitar too.

As to the capacitor's specs, the voltage rating is for the most part, irrelevant so you don't have to concern yourself with that. The original capacitor you have in the guitar is far from junk and I defy anyone to tell me they can hear a difference between that one and some expensive 'boutique' model. Notwithstanding, if you feel that the Sprague Vitamin Q series are leaps and bounds above all else, go with one of those with a .047uf (microfarad) or .05uF value. Here too, .047uf vs. .05uf is virtually undetectable to the ear.

Per the title of your post, the only practical approaches to making your guitar sound more vintage would either be an EQ so you can fine tune the frequencies to your perception of what makes a Strat sound more vintage or, outright changing the pickups to an established vintage sounding set which again, is in accordance with what your perception of a vintage Strat should sound like.

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You dig?

Umm, doesn't Fender already use CTS pots in their factory?

I cannot see how a switch makes any tonal difference unless it is defective somehow.

The tone cap is completely subjective.

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[quote="armandodiaz"] I use my Strat mainly for SRV and Jimi.


What's your definition of vintage: Buddy Holly; Ventures; Beach Boys;
Hank Marvin ???????

SRV's #1 was a '59 mongrel, whose finish was a disaster, with pickups wound in error. He used amplification and a signal chain designed by the genius Cesar Diaz that you could never buy out of a box and a hard, agressive playing style which took years to mature.

Hendrix used guitars built 10 years later by a company whose parent (CBS) was destined to drive it into ruin, reversed the orientation of his strings to the neck and pickups, plus a plethora of effects processors, imaginatiion, magical hands, and a magician for a recording engineer.

Everything about these artists effects tone. Custom tailor your choice of electronics to help you generate the tone you seek and leave vintage out of the mix.

The holy grail of tone is in your own head, not in any one elses. No matter how you hear it, it will never be exactly the same.

Just play

Doc

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"Another day in paradise!"

I changed the knobs on my strat and i cant tell you what a difference it made.I use black knobs for that SRV sound and white for that Jimi sound , all the while playing thru a frontman 15.

You make EJ proud!

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You dig?

The modifications to the electronics will only get you so far with the vintage sounds. A lot of the characteristics in Vaughn & Hendricks sounds came from just the way they hammer the strings with both hands. They both played very aggressively.
Hendrix had access to the least as far as external electronics; mainly the Echoplex & Crybaby Wah are what showed up in his recordings. He also used a variety of different amplification systems including Fender, Marshall, and Sunn.

NBG

This whole business, addressed so often on other threads, was once summed up by John Lee Hooker in a Guitar Player interview years ago.
Freely translated it went like this:

"Don't be wast'in your time try'in to sound like me! Be try'in to sound like you!"

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"Another day in paradise!"

Bahahahaha! Win.

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