Hey Guys,

I'm thinking about upgrading the PUs in my American Deluxe Strat to Lindy Fralin Blues Specials.

Does anyone know or have any experiences with the S1 system in combination with regular (non-noiseless) pickups? Is there still user for it or should I take it out?

Thanks for your help!

Cheers
Rob

Hello!

I've installed the S-1 several times and believe you could keep the switch with the Failins. I've herd lots of good thing about Fralin pups

Just ignore the green wires on the fender diagram and you should be fine.

http://support.fender.com/diagrams/stra ... 22APg2.pdf

Let us know how you get on.

Hope this helps

Andy

_________________
Pending Greatness

Hi!

I received my pickups yesterday.
I ordered the regular Blues Special Set and they sent me the 2% overwound version. Nevertheless, I installed them two hours ago and man... they sound awesome!

I wired them the same way the SCNs were wired just without the green wire. The S1 switch still works like before but I doubt that I will be using it very much in the future although I have to say that the Fralins still sound good even with the S1 engaged. For the bridge PU it is still quite useful.

What amazed me the most about the Fralins is the noise level. They are not really much noisier than the SCNs. Clean, there is no noise at all and even with the OD pedals (Fulldrive 2 and OCD) they are VERY quiet. There is minor noise with the big muff but still nothing to go crazy about.

I'd say that the noise is definitely worth it!

I still have to experiemt with the pickup height and get to know these pickups a bit better. They have a completely different response to picking dynamics than the SCNs.

Well this was just a short update.

Thanks for your reply Andy.

See you around

cheers
rob

Hi,

I noticed today that when I roll off the volume, the tone gets completely muddy and the volume also decreases very quicky (on 5-6 it is very low already). Somehow I didn't notice this at all before but the volume control is not really usable this way.

As soon as I turn it down, I loose all the highs. Is this somehow connected to the S1 system or is the volume pot just not right for the Fralins?

Thanks for any help.

Cheers

I'm actually thinking about replacing the complete wiring.

Has anyone tried one of these prewired kits?

http://www.rsguitarworks.net/rsstore/pr ... cts_id=534

Hi Rob,

Congrats on the new pups! I have the Blues Specials in my Am. Dlx and love them! I had a complete pickguard assemlbly installed with no S1, but I do have the blender, so my setup is a bit different. Lindy also sells a volume kit to keep the tone consistent when you turn down the volume, might want to contact him and explain your situation, he's extremely helpful.

My volume control is actually the opposite of yours, it seems like I reach max volume at 3-4, after contacting Lindy it turned out the installer used the wrong resistor, so I need to take it back to have that fixed... I'm glad I don't have the muddy tone issue you're having!

Here's more info from Lindy's site:

http://www.fralinpickups.com/wiring.asp

I'm really thinking about getting one of those wiring kits to clean things up a bit and to have quality wiring (which these pickups definitely deserve).

Hi Rob,

Well, I'm glad it worked (if only for a bit!) and thanks for comming back and letting us know how it went. I'm very tempted to get a set of Fralins.

I can't help on whats causing the volume problems but I've read several reports of S-1 reliabity issues so maybe its that. There are some truly Jedi-like forum users who will be able to give you a better opinion as to whats going on.

I'd be interested to know how you get on with your new wiring.

Thanks

Andy

_________________
Pending Greatness

I think I've changed my mind about taking out the S1 wiring. I've been playing around with it some more and the bridge pickup sounds amazing with the S1 engaged. It becomes a bit thicker and quacky, really fun to play on it clean.

Now I somehow need to fix the problem with the volume pot. Anyone ever done any modifications on the S1 like change capacitors?

Hi Rob,

Yeh, I like my S-1 too

The cap I use on my S-1 switch is a 0.22mf mylar, mainly because my S-1 didn't come with the Fender issue Specials cap. I like the sound but then I have nothing to compare it to.

Andy

_________________
Pending Greatness

Hey Andy,

I don't really have anything to compare it to either. I have an Epi Les Paul but I haven't touched it since I got the Strat

The effect of the S1 wasn't that significant with the SCNs I think, it sounds very different with the Fralins.

I think I'll drop Lindy Fralin a line and explain the problem I'm having with the volume potl. Let's see what he says.

A sound plan.

The first "Proper" guitar I ever bought was an Epi SG. For £200 ten years ago its done me a great service! Its in real need of a re-fret now though

I've had the S-1 wired up with Lace Hot Golds, Lace Red, Silver, Blue, Fender Hot Noiseless and a set of cheap pups (no idea what brand). The FHN sounded the best IMO.

Back to S-1 caps....Check out forum user Pcheng's post on this thread. Its the seventh post from the top.

http://www.fender.com/community/forums/ ... hp?t=30730

Hope this helps

Andy

_________________
Pending Greatness

Sounds interesting.

Any idea on which tone caps are used in the American Deluxe strats?

RobGordon:

What you are hearing when you roll down the volume doesn't have anything to do with the S-1. When you apply resistance to a signal, the first signals to roll to ground are the high frequencies.

If you replace the S-1 with the RS harness, the same problem will exist. I have several RS harnesses and have sent them lots of $$$. They have nice stuff, but your highs will still get muddy when you roll off the volume. What you need is a treble bypass cap.

I like to use just a cap between the input and output lugs on the volume pot. I found that I like really small capacitors (i.e. 0.000024uf caps [24pf]). These really small guys can be hard to find. I get my from Audiograde on ebay. Anything around 50pf - 24pf will work. The values are so small that you probably won't hear the difference between the two, but you will definitely notice the difference using a treble bleed cap.

The main tone cap on my Am Ash Dlx is a 0.022 uf cap, and the 'special' S-1 tone cap is a 0.05uf cap. Both caps are junk. I would highly recommend replacing both (especially the 'special' S-1 cap).

Thanks for the info pcheng!

Sounds like an eays fix. Now I just need to find the right caps to install.

I've read that a lot of people use a resistor in series with a capacitor for the treble bleed mod.

Can you recommend any good tone pots to replace the stock ones?