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Post subject: Andy's Strat Gets Some Big Hairy Upgrades.
Posted: Sun Nov 04, 2012 4:26 pm
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Howdy!

Work has kept me proper busy recently, which has left very little time to tinker with my neglected Big Hairy Parts-caster. I managed to get a bit of time to myself this week so I thought it best to re-familiarise myself with the inner workings of a Strat (its been as while!!!), swap a few bits over and share the process with all you good people in Fender Land. :D

My Big Hairy Parts-caster

Here's a pre-opp pic of the patient...

Image

A few years back I installed a LSR Roller nut on the compound radius (9.5"-12") rosewood neck...

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...And love it! But the current unbranded trem unit has a slightly wobbly arm that's really annoying when you start getting into your Jeff Beck style whammy action. So that's got to go.

The Parts Arrive.

A well timed delivery of parts I've wanted to try out for ages lands safely and once un-rapped...

Image

We have a Wilkinson WVP two point trem, A Fender Aged White Accessories Kit and three Seymour Duncan pickups.

Martians Recommended Pickups

The SD pups are a SSL-2 for the neck, SSL-6 for the middle and a SSL-3 for the bridge.

Image

Full spec's can be found in the links below:

http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/e ... e_flat_ss/

http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/e ... _flat_ssl/

http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/e ... r_strat_s/

There's absolutely nothing wrong with the current pickups (a set of Lace Sensor Hot Gold), but the Duncan's are the pickups currently being used by the Forums very own Galactic Guitar Guru, Martian. That guy seriously knows his pups and rates this set pretty highly. I've waited years to try them out and recently picked up all three off Ebay for a good price. Pretty chuffed about that! 8)

Big Hairy Wiring

Its been a while since I've done any serious wiring and I was keen to see if I've still got the skills. Quite fancied some S-1 switch action and a toggle switch for the bridge pickup to get that missing Tele combo. On paper that looks a bit like this...

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Trust me, it looks worse than it really is! My top tip for those of you who fancy a go at the above is to solder the S-1 switch first...

Image

...Then populate the Super Switch. Much easier to keep things neat and tidy this way. If the solder won't take to the S-1 terminals, lightly key the tops with a needle file or some sandpaper. Just be sure to remove any dust afterwards.

Here's the finished wiring...

Image

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I'm very pleased with how that turned out. Considering how much is going on in there, It's probably my neatest bit of wiring to date and worked first time without any issues.

Tremolo Replacement

No issues when swapping the trem over. At £40 its the bargain of the century!

Image

Long Life Strings

I'm currently using a set of D'addario's EXP 10-46 gauge strings over the standard set...

Image

...Simply because they last sooooo much longer and I'm more than happy with the tone once I'd broken them in a bit (I hate brand new strings!).

Once it was altogether and set up to my spec, I properly put it through its paces.

The Big Hairy Review

The Wilkinson Trem is a real joy to use. Zero wobble in the arm. Once the strings had settled this Strat holds its tune pretty well through the most savage whammy abuse. I reckon the LSR nut plays a big part in this, but the tuning stability has noticeably improved with the new trem. Did I mention these trems are a total bargain? My only quibble would be that the trem arm tip that came with the Fender Accessory Kit is way to tight and won't fit the Wilkinson arm with out some modification.

I'm really very impressed with the Duncan's. The SSL-6 is the most use-able middle pickup I've ever had. Its just sounds sooooo good! The SSL-3 is a beast with plenty of output. It has a surprisingly smooth, mid-rangy tone but maintains all those lovely harmonics you usually loose with seriously overwound hot pickup like this. In fact all three pickups are harmonically rich. I'm totally happy with the SSL-2's vintage voicing, but If I was to nit-pick, I'd like a tinny weenie skosh more mids. The big plus for me is that all three pups have flat pole pieces. So hard to find a Strat in the current product list that doesn't have vintage stagger.

It did take me a while playing with the pickup heights to balance the output between the three and I may well have another go later to get a tad more out of the SSL-2. But despite the using pickups with different spec's, the standard parallel combos in position 2 & 4 sound as they should with a decent amount of quack. Not quite as quacky as the C69's (this is no bad thing!). The Neck & Bridge combo is very nice. I was worried about pairing the hot bridge with a vintage voiced neck, but was pleasantly surprised at how well the work together. The S-1 series combos do sound good, though they aren't quite as good as they are on my other Strat with Fenders Hot Noiseless pups. That said, I'm really nit-picking again here.

For what it's worth, Martians pups get the Big Hairy Seal of Approval and were more than worth the wait! 8)

Here's few pic's of the Big Hairy Parts-caster assembled and ready to rock!

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BTW: all the above pic's were taken using the camera on my iPhone 4s. Can't believe how good the close ups of the wiring came out! Much better than my Samsung digi camera I usually use.

Through out the above guitar geekery I was mostly drinking nice cold Grolsch...

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...And was supervised at all times by...

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... Randel the Cat!

Until next time, stay frosty folks and Enjoy! :D

Andy & Randal the Cat

Edit: Spelling mistakes...

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Post subject: Re: Andy's Strat Gets Some Big Hairy Upgrades.
Posted: Sun Nov 04, 2012 4:51 pm
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Very nice job there Andy and to top it off with a Grolsh is perfect :D


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Post subject: Re: Andy's Strat Gets Some Big Hairy Upgrades.
Posted: Sun Nov 04, 2012 5:16 pm
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FANTASTIC! Hopefully one day I will posess even 1/10 of those skills. great looking instrument Andy, do you have some you-tube posted somewhere or some sound clips or songs?

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Post subject: Re: Andy's Strat Gets Some Big Hairy Upgrades.
Posted: Sun Nov 04, 2012 5:44 pm
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That's some neat soldering....you earned that beer :D


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Post subject: Re: Andy's Strat Gets Some Big Hairy Upgrades.
Posted: Sun Nov 04, 2012 10:38 pm
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Nice mods! Congrats! :D


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Post subject: Re: Andy's Strat Gets Some Big Hairy Upgrades.
Posted: Sun Nov 04, 2012 11:04 pm
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Your posts are always so enjoyable. Well done. Beautiful guitar. Randell is looking large and in charge. :D


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Post subject: Re: Andy's Strat Gets Some Big Hairy Upgrades.
Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2012 10:54 am
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As always, it is a joy to read your threads Andy !

Congrats for the new guitar !


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Post subject: Re: Andy's Strat Gets Some Big Hairy Upgrades.
Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2012 11:41 am
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Howdy!

Thanks for all the kind words chaps! I'm glad you enjoyed the post. :D

fenderbender1968 wrote:
Andy, do you have some you-tube posted somewhere or some sound clips or songs?

Hi Fenderbender1968,

I don't have any Youtube clips but I do have a Soundcloud page...

http://soundcloud.com/andybighair

Unfortunately I haven't had a chance to record anything with this Strat yet. However I did very briefly mention my other Strat with the Hot Noiseless in my first post and the top two tracks were recorded using that... which looks like this...

Image

Yep, It doesn't take much for me to start spamming the forum with pic's of the beast! :twisted:

Anyhoo...Back on topic, I have a small update....

Andybighair wrote:
My only quibble would be that the trem arm tip that came with the Fender Accessory Kit is way to tight and won't fit the Wilkinson arm with out some modification.

Finally got the tip on the arm...

Image

...I had to drill out the tip a wee bit, but not too much. T'is a snug fit now. 8)

Thanks again!

Andy & Randel the Cat

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Post subject: Re: Andy's Strat Gets Some Big Hairy Upgrades.
Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2012 11:47 am
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Very nice soldering job.

Is this the same wiring as Fender uses with its S1-switch?
And is it not possible to take one of the S1-switch down positions for the neck-bridge combo?
Just curious. I have a HSS with the S1-switch. The bridge position (1 or 5, I cannot remember) is the same up or down. I would like to wire it to also have the neck-bridge.

Beautiful guitar!

cheers Serge


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Post subject: Re: Andy's Strat Gets Some Big Hairy Upgrades.
Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2012 1:18 pm
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That trem looks like a hefty chunk Andy, thought it was a trick of the light..( Blimey does Andy know there's only one pivot point)...till I looked at the website, just another twist on the design, looks cool, great wiring job as always.......just a little niggle, you've got to get yourself a decal for the headstock, a Randel seal of approval scratch mark :)


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Post subject: Re: Andy's Strat Gets Some Big Hairy Upgrades.
Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2012 1:52 pm
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serge01 wrote:
Very nice soldering job.

Just curious. I have a HSS with the S1-switch. The bridge position (1 or 5, I cannot remember) is the same up or down. I would like to wire it to also have the neck-bridge.

cheers Serge


There are no repeated settings on my HSS with S1. My #1 position is bridge (S1 off), bridge and middle (S1 engaged).

Andy, nice job and great thread. I would have managed to solder my wedding ring into that mess of wires. Those are two nice Strats you have there.

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Post subject: Re: Andy's Strat Gets Some Big Hairy Upgrades.
Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2012 2:21 pm
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Howdy!

Thanks folks! :D

serge01 wrote:
Is this the same wiring as Fender uses with its S1-switch?

Hi Serge01,

Yep, Its the pre 2010 SSS S-1 switching.

serge01 wrote:
Just curious. I have a HSS with the S1-switch. The bridge position (1 or 5, I cannot remember) is the same up or down. I would like to wire it to also have the neck-bridge.

Initially I was with Drew365, and thought you might have that wrong, but it turns out that you do indeed have the same setting in position 5!

Image

I wonder why fender left that position out...
serge01 wrote:
And is it not possible to take one of the S1-switch down positions for the neck-bridge combo?

Well, I'm going to have a bloody good look at that diagram and find out for you! :D

I'll keep you posted on my findings.

ripitup555 wrote:
That trem looks like a hefty chunk Andy, thought it was a trick of the light..( Blimey does Andy know there's only one pivot point)...till I looked at the website, just another twist on the design, looks cool, great wiring job as always.......just a little niggle, you've got to get yourself a decal for the headstock, a Randel seal of approval scratch mark :)

HA! :lol:

I'll have a chat with Randel the Cat and see what we come up with. :wink:

Back in a bit!

Andy & Randel the Cat

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Post subject: Re: Andy's Strat Gets Some Big Hairy Upgrades.
Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2012 2:49 pm
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Andybighair wrote:
serge01 wrote:
And is it not possible to take one of the S1-switch down positions for the neck-bridge combo?

Well, I'm going to have a bloody good look at that diagram and find out for you! :D

I'll keep you posted on my findings.

Ah-Ha!

I remember now! The S-1 and the super switch are jam packed and the neck pickups ground wire is used for the series combos. This makes it pretty much impossible to get the Neck & Bridge combo I'm sorry to say. That probably why Fender left it as it is.

This is the best I can offer at the moment...

Image

I drew the above diagram up for forum user Baybridge a while back. By adding the red wire next to the smiley face you'll coil split the bridge in position 5 with the S-1 switch off. Any good?

I afraid you'll have to replace one of the tone controls with a push/pull pot to get the Neck and Bridge combo.

Hope this helps!

Andy & Randel The Cat

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Post subject: Re: Andy's Strat Gets Some Big Hairy Upgrades.
Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2012 2:52 pm
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so so impressive..and to think Im thrilled when a string change goes smooth as butter..show off! lol Nice

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Post subject: Re: Andy's Strat Gets Some Big Hairy Upgrades.
Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2012 3:04 pm
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Great thread.

Thanks

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