Hi everyone!

First post... Figured this was the right place to come. Forgive me if I don't the terminology or parts IDs exactly right, I'm not much of a guitar tech guy.

Anyway, I have a Japanese Strat I got in 1985 serial E 504xxx. It has a swinging string lock, a System 3 tremolo, and a 5-postition pickup switch.

So... over time, the various pots and switches have gone south. Possibly the pickups. Not sure. Sounds GREAT unplugged but powered it's scratchy, clicky, poppy crap. Could be my playing.

I'm tempted to just bring it into Guitar Center or Sam Ash and get a service and whatever parts replaced that need to be, but I am OK with a soldering iron and cringe a little when I realize that my limited knowledge may get costly...

Also: while not a problem, can/should the System 3 be replaced? I haven't had any trouble with it and hey... I like the way it looks.

Can anyone provide guidance for troubleshooting this stuff? I can take pictures or whatever if needed.

FWIW I'm primarily planning on plugging this thing into my Mac and just goofing around, but would really like a clean sound once again. When it was new it sounded amazing perfectly clean.

thanks,
Andrew

The first thing to do is get a can of good contact cleaner (CRC Kontakt 60, PRF 7-78 or similar; do not use WD-40) and spray the pots and switches (don't spray the finish or pickguard, just to be safe), followed by some mildly rigorous rotating & switching. If that helps, all OK.
If not, the guitar needs checking the pots, switches and all wiring. If you're not comfortable DIY'ing it, take it to a good pro.

And I'd definitely keep the System III trem. Definitely.

Thanks!

I'll try the contact cleaner. I see Home Depot has this stuff:

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R ... MyoMbZZG6s

Any idea if that'll do it?

cheers
Andrew

Cleaning the pots just delays the inevitable... Buy some new CTS 250k pots, POI .047 caps, and a new switchcraft selector and input jack. If that doesn't help, then new pickups are in order...

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


facebook.com/313DBC

Haven't tried that CRC 2-26, but seems to be like the PRF I mentioned (cleans & lubricates as opposed to the Kontact 60 which mainly cleans).

As to the "inevitable" replacement of pots & switches, I admit that's most likely true. Still, clean contacts can prolong their lifetime, sometimes surprisingly long.