I've been having a few issues with my new strat. 2010 Am dlx hss. It's my first serious strat and I'm a little disappointed, but hoping that some pointers may get me back on track.

I've been trying to set it up so that the middle and neck pickups are at the same volume. With the S1 switch NOT engaged, both tones and volume at 10, the middle pup clocks in at about 70% of the neck pup volume. This is after I raised the middle pickup to just shy of stratitis height and lowered the neck one to scratch plate level! In the original setup positions, the middle was at roughly half of the neck pup volume (yes I know it's a logarithmic scale - but perceptibly half).

Also - none of the tone controls seem to have any effect on the middle pup. E.g. If I put the 5-way switch in position 4 (traditional neck and middle out-of-phase position), I should be getting neck and middle in parallel with tone 1 and tone 2 active. There is no perceptible difference in the middle pickup tone there, or in position 3 (or in any other position for that matter) when sweeping the corresponding tone control.

Tone 1 works fine on the neck pickup and tone 2 works fine on the humbucker.

Any suggestions from the seasoned forumites here? I'm hoping there's an easy route out of the quicksand

Bump. Any takers?

Hi AndyI,

It doesn't sound like an "easy" fix to me. Since it is so new and presumably still under it's lifetime warranty, I would take it back to the dealer where you bought it for repair. It is possible that there is no tone control wired for the middle pickup, but even if that were true, you would still get some response from the neck tone pot when in position 4. It may just be wired wrong from the factory, it happens.

_________________
---> "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.

Thanks for the help. Took it back to the store. They repaired it and then the same thing happened again - they told me this before I went to collect. Apparently another one that just came in has the same problem too - also brand new and just sold. The Fender Rep is investigating that particular shipment and they will come back with a solution.

Thanks v much for your reply, shimmilou.

A

Great! Except now I won't be able to sleep until I know what the problem was. Did they give you any idea what was wrong?

_________________
---> "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.

It was apparent that the middle tone pot was not working on the middle pickup and it seemed as though the middle pickup was acting as if its tone was permanently on "0". The tech said he had rewired the axe to get it all the way it should be and tested it - all fine, then a customer came in asking to try one and they let him play mine (I know - right?). When the guy plugged in, he raised the alarm that the middle pickup wasn't sounding right. Back to the drawing board.

They subsequently got the call about the second HSS with an identical problem. Apparently the Fender rep was in the store today when this all went down.

Cool, thanks! Sounds like it was just a wiring mistake. I hope that you enjoy it, and have a trouble free Strat for years to come.

I believe that you are now obligated to post a picture....yeah, I just looked....it's in the rules....somewhere... you have to.

The pictures have to be on a publicly accessible website like PhotoBucket (free), when uploaded to PhotoBucket the picture will have an "img" code that you can copy and paste into your post. The code will look like: [img]photobucket/picture/good.jpg[/img]

After pasting the code into your post, click preview or submit your post and the picture will be viewable. (was just kidding, you don't have to post a pic, but it would be nice).

_________________
---> "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.

Final analysis - they had to remove one of the two ground wires on the middle p'up (N3's have three wires) - not replace - remove. Now the guitar plays perfectly - all levels as they should be - nice sparkle and no noise or hum issues, even at ridiculously high gain. Go figure...

I'll post a pic

A

Here's what she looks like

Beautiful guitar. Is that the three color sunburst? I'm waiting for my Am Dlx HSS to get here. Agonizing actually. Thanks for posting about your problem. In my excitement, it probably would have taken me a long time to figure out if I had a similar problem. I'll know to check it out now.

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'10 American Deluxe HSS Sunset Metallic
'10 JA-90 Thinline Telecaster
'15 Music Man JP-15 Blueberry Burst
'07 Les Paul Standard Faded LCPG #82
'14 Carvin ST300
'12 Carvin CS424S
'66 Guild Starfire IV w/Bigsby
'14 Warmouth Partscaster Daphne Blue

Tobacco burst - Ash body AFAIK. I was surprised to see this on the floor, as was unaware they were doing HSS ash strats or the tobacco burst finish in the 2010 American Deluxe series. Quite heavy though

Actually that pic didn't really do the guitar justice. You can see the grain, detail and colour better in these. Let me know when I've gone too far