Stratocaster
7 Way Strat
As well as your usual 5 postions, this mod adds neck and bridge together (Tele style) and all 3 pickups on at once.
This can be done with a push/pull pot, mini switch or my favourite, a blend control.
The blend mod keeps the 1st tone pot as a master tone and the second tone pot can be replaced with a blender pot. When the bridge position is selected you can blend in the neck pickup to add some warmth or when in the neck position you can blend in the bridge pickup for added bite! Or turn it up all the way for Telecaster tones!
This can be done with a push/pull pot, mini switch or my favourite, a blend control.
The blend mod keeps the 1st tone pot as a master tone and the second tone pot can be replaced with a blender pot. When the bridge position is selected you can blend in the neck pickup to add some warmth or when in the neck position you can blend in the bridge pickup for added bite! Or turn it up all the way for Telecaster tones!
Position 2 & 4 in series
Some players don't like the thin, almost out of phase tones of postions 2 & 4.
Utilising a super switch the wiring can be changed to have the pickups on together in series, rather than parallel. This gives a fatter, darker and more humbucker sounding tone on the inbetween positions.
Utilising a super switch the wiring can be changed to have the pickups on together in series, rather than parallel. This gives a fatter, darker and more humbucker sounding tone on the inbetween positions.
Treble bleed
Adding a treble bleed prevents the loss of high end when turning down your guitars volume control. There are a few variations of this mod but we find adding a .001uf capacitor in parallel with a 150K-ohm resistor to the volume pot maintains the high end as you roll down the volume.
Bridge tone
Probably one of the simplest mods (It's just one additional wire!). Many Strats come with a tone control for the neck & middle pickups but not the bridge. With this mod you can add the bridge pickup to the second tone control and roll a little high end off if you require.
HSS Strat
Mixing Humbuckers and single coils can cause compromises. Do you go for 250K pots? Perfect for the single coils but causing an overly dark humbucker. Or 500K pots? Perfect for the humbucker but could cause your single coils to be overly bright.
There are a few ways around this! You could use a super switch with a 500K volume pot and a 470K resistor. Using the resistor in parallel with the single coils causes the pickups to see 242k (almost 250K!) from the pot. The switch would also split the coil in position 4.
Another option is to use a super switch with a stacked 250K/500K CTS pot.
There are a few ways around this! You could use a super switch with a 500K volume pot and a 470K resistor. Using the resistor in parallel with the single coils causes the pickups to see 242k (almost 250K!) from the pot. The switch would also split the coil in position 4.
Another option is to use a super switch with a stacked 250K/500K CTS pot.
Telecaster
4 Way Mod
This mod adds bridge & neck pickups together in series. This gives a fatter, darker and more humbucker sounding tone. A great boost for solo's! There are a few different ways of wiring it, either with a 4 way lever switch or using a push/pull pot.
Out of Phase
The thin, naselly tone most famously used by Peter Green and Brian May. This can be made permenant in postion 2, or even better, via a push/pull pot.
Reverse Control Plate
A popular mod which not only looks cool but gives easier access to the volume pot, great for volume swells! It's not as easy as just flipping the plate around but requires some simple rewiring to the pots and switch (otherwise your pots would be backwards and your switch would work back to front!)
Treble Bleed
Adding a treble bleed prevents the loss of high end when turning down your guitars volume control. There are a few variations of this mod but we find adding a .001uf capacitor in parallel with a 150K-ohm resistor to the volume pot maintains the high end as you roll down the volume.
50's Wiring
As normally found on 50's Gibson's but it's also possible on a Tele! 50's wiring changes the way the cap is wired between the volume and tone controls and helps maintain brightness as you roll down the volume.
HS Tele
Mixing Humbuckers and single coils can cause compromises. Do you go for 250K pots? Perfect for the single coils but causing an overly dark humbucker. Or 500K pots? Perfect for the humbucker but could cause your single coils to be overly bright.
There are a few ways around this! You could use a 500K volume pot and a 470K resistor in parallel with the single coil, which would causes the pickup to see 242k from the pot. The downside of this method is the middle position is darker than usual (as the resistor would cause the pickups to see 163k!).
A great way is to use dual 250K/500K CTS pots! you can also wire up seperate caps suitable for the pickups.
I have also used CTS concentric pots and stacked knobs, which give you seperate control over volume and tone for both pickups (more like a Les Paul).
There are a few ways around this! You could use a 500K volume pot and a 470K resistor in parallel with the single coil, which would causes the pickup to see 242k from the pot. The downside of this method is the middle position is darker than usual (as the resistor would cause the pickups to see 163k!).
A great way is to use dual 250K/500K CTS pots! you can also wire up seperate caps suitable for the pickups.
I have also used CTS concentric pots and stacked knobs, which give you seperate control over volume and tone for both pickups (more like a Les Paul).
5 Way Tele
Using a 5 way super switch you can add two extra sounds to your Tele! Adding bridge & neck in series to postion 2 and bridge & neck out of phase in position 4. If you prefer your standard 3 way switch, these mods can be added via push/pull pots.
Les Paul / 335 / SG - Humbuckers
Coil splits
This mod sends one coil to ground creating single coil tones from a humbucker! This mod is carried out using push/pull pots which can be used on either the volume or tones controls. Pickups with 3 or 4 conductor wiring are required.
Out of phase
The thin, naselly tone most famously used by Peter Green and Brian May. This can be done by flipping the pickup magnet or if you have 3/4 conductor cables, via a push/pull pot.
50's Wiring
50's wiring changes the way the cap is wired between the volume and tone controls and helps maintain brightness as you roll down the volume.
Gradual Coil split
Rather than a using a push/pull pot which simply splits the coil. By using a blender pot (or 2) you can blend between full humbucker, single coil and anywhere inbetween!
Other
Kill Switch
The stuttering effect famously used by Tom Morello. This mod can be acheived using a mini toggle switch or a momentary button
Push/Pull Tone Cap
Can't decide between a .022 or a .047 cap? Have both!
Using a push/pull pot, the switch section can be wired for two caps. Simply pull up on the pot to select a different cap value.
Using a push/pull pot, the switch section can be wired for two caps. Simply pull up on the pot to select a different cap value.
