Hi tired_guitarist,

Lots of good advice here, so I don't have a great deal to add....

I've just posted a bit on soldering in my build thread, but I'll spam some of my pics here too, if that's Ok

I've found that a good mechanical join before you solder makes for a more robust connection so there's less chance of a wire dropping out when fitting the pickguard etc.





A good strong connection is a must on the output jack. Especially If the nut holding it to the Jack plate comes loose, which they often do and the jack starts to move around as you plug in.

I also recommend having a good clear diagram to work from. Be systematic and cross of each correctly wired wire/component as you go.

Hope this helps

Oooh, I almost forgot! May I ask what pickups, switches etc, are you wiring up?

Andy

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Pending Greatness

Hi Andybighair,

Thats awesome! The pics are great, I wasn't 100% on how to make a good join as my first attempts were kinda flimsy.

When I get round to my secong attempt I'll be sure to go through it slowly this time, as I mentioned earlier I was excited to get it finished so maybe more patience is needed

Well, I'm not sure I really should have posted here, as it's a Squier strat I'm working on, I posted up before I realised there was a separate section

I bought the strat wiring kit from axetec.co.uk, which supplied all the pots, switches, capacitor and wire to replace all the standard wiring.
I bought the guitar as kind of a guinea pig for me to learn how it all works, as I would love to put up a build thread like yours, Ceri's and all the other awesome build threads on here.

Thanks for taking the time to reply everyone, it is very much appreciated,

Cheers,
Drew

Hi Drew,

No worries mate! Glad i could help out. Its really handy having a test bed guitar to work on. I had an old Peavey which i used to take apart and put back together again. Great way to learn.

Good luck with your project. I look forward to seeing more!

Andy

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Well I suppose it's time I resurrect this thread, as I've made a start on my project again, and I'm stuck on the wiring again!!

I'm basically looking to change my strat from an SSS to HSS configuration, and then later change the two remaining single coils to hot rails or similar. I have the pickups, pots and all the stuff I need, I'm just not sure where to start, and the first thought I had was to ask u guys!

Cheers,
Drew

Hi Drew,

Sounds cool!

I reckon we need a bit more info from you before we go any further. Lots of questions....

What type/make of pickups have you got?

What are the pot values (250k, 500k etc)?

Do you want to maintain a Stock Strat look as far as the control layout is concerned?

What sort of controls are you after (Standard two tone & master volume or coil taps, series, parallel wiring etc)?

Answering a few of those will help us help you! What's the score Drew!

Andy

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Whats a heat sink?
Whats an iron sponge?

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I LIKE PIE!!!!!

IF I DO SOMETHING STUPID,DON'T SAY A WORD...

Hey, not 100% sure but I think the heat sink gets clipped on somewhere on the component your soldering, to absorb some of the heat away and prevent damaging the pot or switch etc. you are working on, and an iron sponge is a wee sponge you use to wipe the tip of your soldering iron on to keep it clean while you're using it. I keep forgetting tho and the soldering iron gets all smoky and dirty

Hope this helps,
Drew

Hi Andy, I know my post was a bit lacking in info but I genuinely wasn't sure what was relevant and I didn't wanna write a huge message out and nobody read it

Right, as far as looks are concerned, I don't mind as this guitar is more of a function over fashion (in other words it's all scratched already!) but yeah I'm thinking of just a basic HSS setup.

As for pickups, the two single coils are just the stock ones, but when funds allow I will be upgrading them. The humbucker is a Wilkinson MVWC (?) I took it from a Vintage vs6 sg copy. No idea whether it will work in the strat, or how it will sound but in the sg copy it sounds ok. Again this can be upgraded in the future, as I kinda started this project to learn how to repair and modify my guitars, and improve my soldering as it's pretty poor

The pots I have are 250k, but I can buy some 500k ones if need be, and as for controls I originally wanted to be able to coil tap the humbucker at the bridge, but it seems to be only a 2 wire and not 4. And if it was possible I would love to add the switch Guthrie Govan has, where he pushes a button and it changes his switching from whatever the pots and pickup selector are on , to full volume at the bridge pickup. I've probably explained that really badly but I will try and find more info on that

Other than that, I'm completely open to suggestion, couldn't hurt to have some ideas from you guys here!

Thanks so much for replying tho Andy, it's much appreciated!!

Drew

Edit: Just found an article about the switching idea, it seems it is an option on the 2010 American Deluxe HSS strat, it's called the Passing Lane mod

Someone's bound to read it, and will probably find it useful I'm sure. I for one am still learning and threads like these help me to keep my brain in "Wiring Mode"!


The HB should work out fine (but you can let us know once its all wired up!). Great way to learn!


Yep, unfortunately you won't be able to split the coils on that particular humbucker.


Yeah, that's a cool mod that one. All the switch does is bypass everything and takes the bridge pickup hot (+) wire straight to the output jack. This means there's no (or very little) resistance in the circuit which makes for a seriously hairy lead tone!

GG's signature Suhr guitar is a winner in my book. That guy has the chops!


There's always a bit of a trade off when using humbuckers along side single coils, but forum user Martian has posted a very cool solution to this. Using a 500k master volume pot you can't "trick" the single coils into thinking its a 250k pot (or as near as) by wiring a resistor between the single coil hot (+) wire and the 5 way switch.

He does do a far better job of explaining it than I could. Its a bit late here at the mo but tomorrow I'll see if I can find his post for you. Once you've had a peek at that, you can decide what you fancy doing, and we can go form there.

Hope this helps!

Andy

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I did... Just open up the pickup,there should be the lead or hot wire going to 1 pickup,a short wire jumping from 1 pickup to the next.then the ground wire.be VERY careful but cut that little jumper in two,strip the 2 ends and take a nice long wire one long enough to get to get to the controls and add that to your two small wires.That will be your new ground.Add some soder to the conection and wrap with tape.Now the other 2 origional wires will be your 2 hot wires.It all depends on witch coil you want left on, But I wanted the top one to stay on so I added a switch to the bottom coil so that when I want single coil I turn the bottom coil off.

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IF I DO SOMETHING STUPID,DON'T SAY A WORD...

Thanks for the replies guys, very much appreciated! I am just waiting on a HSS scratchplate coming in the post, then I will be able to get cracking with it, and I will be sure to post pics up here as I go for anybody who wants to read it, and also if there are other people wanting to give this a bash, we can muddle through together

Andy I agree, GG's Suhr is one of my dream guitars, and he's one of my favourite players. I'm pretty much a die hard Fender guy but there are some guitars I'd make an exception for, Guthrie's being one!

Thanks again guys,
Drew

Well I can't find Martian's post but you can alway send him a quick PM

Lets have a quick look at that GG sig shall we?



Awesome guitar that!

Pretty sure they've made a more basic model with a natural mahogany finish too.

Enjoy!

Andy

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That's a stunning guitar, isn't it? ah yeah there is a natural mahogany one too, and it's very nice, I'm sure I remember an interview he did where he was saying the natural one was like a workhorse, so he wasn't worried about scratching a nice figured cap.

I shall look for Martian, and try to explain to him what you were saying, but I may have to direct him here and see if he can explain. I did a bit of reading up and it's a bit out of my depth, so any help I can get is much appreciated!!

Cheers,
Drew

Big thanks to Martian on here, for helping me understand what I could do with my pots with the HSS configuration

As I said earlier, I'm just waiting on a few parts coming and then I will carry this thread on as a build type thread for my strat, along with some pics and stuff, incase anybody wants to do the same in the future with their strat

Cheers,
Drew

Like I said in my PM to you, glad to help and I will be following your project!

Remember, a pair of 470K, 1/2 watt resistors.

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