Switching to conventional knobs will require replacing the 500k pots to the ones with the split shaft to accommodate the "push-on" original style knobs. Musicians Friend sells them under the Fender Accessories category ... they're CTS (brand) and are very reliable.

I put Tele knobs on mine when I had it. Since I do not use the Tremolo bar at all when I play, no issues with the Volume knog being in the way.

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RK

2007 Fender Highway 1
2012 American Deluxe
2015 MIM Dave Murray HHH
2010 Fender Blacktop
1987 Fender Avalon Acoustic
2012 Marshall DSL 15 watt head

I ended up getting a used one one a while ago and changed it to 2 knobs vol/tone, new bridge, new handwound pups (pretty hot ones), black jack and black screws for everything



still gotta get some new pots, tuners, and a nut cause this one is chipped..then hopefully it makes me happy, the pups are nickle covered they look pretty sweet, haven't taken a pic yet with them in.

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— did that sound like something?

I went to Guitar Center today and they had a black model within arms reach.... Plugged it into a Fender Hod Rod Deluxe III. Wow, it was easy to play, had some great tones in all five positions. I was really suprised how great it sounded with the stock pups. Action was low and tight, I had no problem keeping it in tune while doing a lot of crazy bends. Overall, its a great value for the money. But I have my eye on a Telecaster blacktop that I want to put some TV Jones Filtrons in... \m/

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"Epitaph on a blues musician’s tombstone: “I didn’t wake up this morning”" Davy Knowles


facebook.com/313DBC

I really do like the BT Strat, and out of all of the BT guitars, the Strat (and maybe Jazzmaster) are hurting on the tremelo bar because of the high knobs. I'll fix that later on my Strat by using the new 500K pots and split shafts so I can use the conventional knobs. It is a nice guitar, though.

It sounded really great at practice last night through my '65 DeLuxe Reverb re-issue. I also played it today through my Hot Rod DeLuxe (5-6 years old) and my '65 Twin Reverb re-issue. The stock pickups are really very nice.

I've been playing guitar since 1963 and it sure is nice to see "affordable" guitars that are made well. That wasn't the case in the mid-60s ...

Having a touch of GAS, I wanted a new guitar, but something different from the usual SSS Strat, and considered something with P-90s or hum-buckers, even considered an SG or Tele. After checking out a few other guitars, I tried a new Blacktop Strat HH, in black with rosewood fret board at GC and was really impressed with the sound, look and feel. I like the comfort and familiarity of a Strat, and this guitar seemed to be just what I was looking for. I wanted one with maple fret board, which wasn’t in stock so I ordered one.

For the money ($425), this guitar is very surprising, great fit and finish with a nice smooth feel on the neck, fret ends are smooth and feel great. I usually don't care for the looks of hum-buckers in a Strat, but this combination just looks good to me. Mine came setup beautifully right out of the box, just stretched the strings, tuned-up and played. The intonation was perfect, the nut was great, and the neck was aligned and straight. The string height at the twelfth fret and up was .050 inch.

Considering the price of this guitar, I expected the pups to be thin, or cheap sounding, but they are fantastic for a wide range of sounds, clean and distorted. No need to upgrade these pups at all, they deliver much better than I expected.

For clean tones, these pups sound wonderful, with a big, warm, clear and solid sound. Pos 1 is full bridge hum-bucker. Pos 2, two inner coils, sounds Tele-like. Pos 3 is both full hum-buckers. Pos 4, single-coil neck, is Strat-like but warmer. And pos 5 is full neck hum-bucker.

For distortion, the bridge pup is killer, with great balance and crunch, great lows and solid mids, with lots of top end sparkle and chirp. Great guitar! This is one of the best deals on a Fender guitar, and I really like the look, very unique and still familiar.

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---> "The amp should be SWITCHED OFF AND UNPLUGGED before you do this!" <---

Por favor, disculpe mi español, no se llega a la práctica con mucha frecuencia.

I went and did it last Sunday ... carefully, one-by-one replaced the pots with CTS 500K split shaft pots. It was a little challenging because there's a LOT of ground wires soldered to the back of the cans (pots), so pay close attention. I re-used the original caps ... I couldn't figure out the value with their coding. I have .022 Orange Drop caps I'd like to use, but I won't go through the trouble of replacing them until I know for sure the original pot values. Use a hemostat or something for a heat sink ... it does have a tendency to get hot back there.

I cannot find a schematic anywhere, although other forms of Fender HH Strats use .047 caps.

It looks a lot nicer with the black conventional knobs, and more important, they don't get in the way of the trem arm. I don't quite get how the amp knobs/tremelo arm interference got by engineering when they designed this.

Played my first gig with it Friday night and it played and sounded great. I also have a white HSS Strat ... kind of like my Darth Vader and Stormtrooper guitars! I play them (and my Gibsons) through a Fender '65 DeLuxe Reverb and also, when warranted, either my '65 Twin Reverb or Hot Rod DeLuxe.