I want to change the pickguard and pickups in my Am. Deluxe strat. I do like the N3 Noiseless pickups, and I might put them back in later on down the road or put the entire loaded pickguard into another guitar. The new American Deluxe strats are very modern strats, with the compound radius neck and all, so I want to turn this strat into an all-modern strat. I want to buy a white pearloid pickguard and 3 Dimarzio pickups in an H-S-S configuration (Cruiser in the neck and middle and AT-1 in the bridge). I also want to get top quality pots, caps, switches, etc. So, my question is should I buy all the parts separately and wire it up myself or is there someone who does this at a reasonable rate? It seems like buying all the individual parts will be really expensive. What would you recommend?

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2010 American Deluxe Strat Sunset Metallic - Lindy Fralin Blues Specials in the neck and middle, Dimarzio AT-1 humbucker in the bridge.
PRS Custom 22 with solid rosewood neck
Mesa/Boogie Electra Dyne 1x12 combo
DRRI

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How are your soldering skills?

Do you want all the capability that your current American Deluxe has except in an HSS instead of (I am assuming) your current SSS configuration? If so, study the wiring diagram of the '05 American Deluxe as what you want would be similar:

http://support.fender.com/service_diagr ... 1_SISD.pdf

Or do you want something simpler:

http://support.fender.com/service_diagr ... B_SISD.pdf

In either case, it would be cheaper to buy the parts and build it yourself (assuming you have the skills to do so) than paying someone else to do it (labor is the most expensive part of a pickguard assemby) or buying a loaded pickguard that may not be what you want.

As far as parts go, stick with CTS pots (I like RS Superpots for volume), Oak-Grigsby or CRL switches, and Orange Drop caps (avoid ceramic disc caps like the plague) with decent wire (push back cloth or teflon coated) and you can't go wrong.

For the record, I do all my own wiring. I just can't see the value in having someone else do it. Plus you get to learn a new skill and that's worth more than anything else in my book.

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Bill

Thanks, guys! That's exactly what I wanted to know. I am no expert, but I am proficient with a soldering iron and assembling electronics. I also enjoy doing projects like this. I am gonna go check out some websites that sell this stuff. I can't wait to get started and turn my strat into an uber-modern strat! I saw a pic of a strat on this forum of an American Deluxe strat with the sunset metallic paint and he replaced the pickguard with a white pearloid one (DG-20 loaded pickguard) and it looked so killer that I went out and bought the same guitar. I'm not a fan of the roller nuts, so I got an SSS model. This is the best playing and sounding guitar I've ever played/owned. That's the biggest reason I wanted to leave the original pickguard in tact. I might want to put it back in one day. Thanks again for your responses guys! Proving this forum's worth yet again.

Hollis

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2010 American Deluxe Strat Sunset Metallic - Lindy Fralin Blues Specials in the neck and middle, Dimarzio AT-1 humbucker in the bridge.
PRS Custom 22 with solid rosewood neck
Mesa/Boogie Electra Dyne 1x12 combo
DRRI

Here are some other interesting HSS wiring diagrams. Note that all require a 5-way Superswitch.

https://sites.google.com/site/phostenix ... ss-guitars

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Bill

+1. Personally, I gotta do more wiring and soldering myself.

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Those are some great reference sites. I will be using those.

Some special configurations I want to achieve:
Coil tap the bridge humbucker(outside coil)
Middle/bridge combo with tapped coil(outside) parallel
Neck/bridge combo with tapped coil(outside) in parallel somehow, maybe with a mini switch

If I could get these configurations, I would have everything I need in one guitar.

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2010 American Deluxe Strat Sunset Metallic - Lindy Fralin Blues Specials in the neck and middle, Dimarzio AT-1 humbucker in the bridge.
PRS Custom 22 with solid rosewood neck
Mesa/Boogie Electra Dyne 1x12 combo
DRRI

Still nothing wrong with keeping the original intact, and buying and soldering new parts.

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If you have good soldering skills and can follow a schematic and/or good wiring diagram, you can do it yourself.

You'll save a lot of money and you'll learn things along the way.
Go slow. Check every connection twice, and protect your guitar finish with towels if you are doing the work in or near the cavity.

Not difficult just time consuming.
Plus you have the expert advice of folks on this Forum to help you if you wire something up incorrectly.

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-T

"You can't spend what you ain't got, you can't lose what you ain't never had" ~ McKinley Morganfield

Tyrone nailed it. You will definately have a lot more pride knowing you did it yourself, and after you learn how everything works, and wheree everything goes, you will be much more able to troubleshoot any issues down the road. If you get hung up, post some pictures, people around here pretty willing to help out. You'll figure out soon enough who can help you out here, and who is just blowing smoke up your backside.

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"Where would rock and roll be without feedback?"

I just ordered a custom white pearloid pickguard with the fat humbucker cutout(no pickup mounting rings), 2 CTS audio taper pots 250k, 1 push-push volume pot 500k, white knobs, jack and jack plate, and some caps. All they had was the ceramic disk caps. I may find some Orange Drops somewhere between now and assembly date. I got all this from Warmoth because they were one of the few places that have the custom cutout options on the pickguard that I wanted. I also bought a Super Switch from Stewmac (comes with black and white switch tip). All this was about $100. I'll order the pickups in a day or two; I might have to wait until next Friday. The pickups will come with wire of course. Did I forget anything?

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2010 American Deluxe Strat Sunset Metallic - Lindy Fralin Blues Specials in the neck and middle, Dimarzio AT-1 humbucker in the bridge.
PRS Custom 22 with solid rosewood neck
Mesa/Boogie Electra Dyne 1x12 combo
DRRI

So you didn't order an S-1 switch as used in the Fender schematic? It's a lot more flexible than a plain push-push switch.

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Bill

I thought I'd give the push-push pot a try. It had lots of good reviews. I have the S-1 switch now, and I have no problems with it. I just wanted to try something different. If I think the S-1 switch is better, I'll swap back. What are your thoughts about the different types of switches/pots available?

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2010 American Deluxe Strat Sunset Metallic - Lindy Fralin Blues Specials in the neck and middle, Dimarzio AT-1 humbucker in the bridge.
PRS Custom 22 with solid rosewood neck
Mesa/Boogie Electra Dyne 1x12 combo
DRRI

I see. Makes sense.

I use regular CTS pots for the tone controls in all my guitars. For the volume controls, I use RS Superpots, either 280K or 500K as appropriate:

http://store.rsguitarworks.net/Loose+El ... eters.html

The RS Superpots have a custom curve that does not drop off as quickly when rolling the volume down from 10 to 8 where there is usually a noticable jump in regular CTS pots. The Superpots are expensive, but RS guitarworks has half price sales now and then so I stock up.

I only use regular 3-way or 5-way switches in my Strat, Tele, and Esquire, so I use CRL switches just like Leo did. The Superswitch that Fender uses is made by Oak-Grisby (the same company owns CRL and Oak-Grigsby). I do not know who makes the Stew-Mac superswitch you bought. Hopefully it is O-G.

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Bill

+1. There is always a first time. Toppscore

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