To rewire, or not to rewire?

starwarsnosebleed

Having done most mods to my Squier mustang already, i was looking at a quality pre built wiring loom from ebay.

New pots, cloth wire, caps etc all included, just wonderd if its worth getting it done as i rarely play clean, and tend to leave the volume and tone knobs on full all the time.

Would i notice any difference?

munckee

starwarsnosebleed said:

Having done most mods to my Squier mustang already, i was looking at a quality pre built wiring loom from ebay.

New pots, cloth wire, caps etc all included, just wonderd if its worth getting it done as i rarely play clean, and tend to leave the volume and tone knobs on full all the time.

Would i notice any difference?

I had a pre wired pickguard made for my squier standard strat and I noticed a real improvement, even with the original pickups.  I would use alegree or six string supplies or axecaster on here rather than a random ebay one though.

Funkfingers

starwarsnosebleed said:

my Squier mustang already

Erm, which exact model? A recent Bullet HH type or the traditional single coils design with slider switches and that terrible vibrato?

ICBM

starwarsnosebleed said:

Having done most mods to my Squier mustang already, i was looking at a quality pre built wiring loom from ebay.

New pots, cloth wire, caps etc all included, just wonderd if its worth getting it done as i rarely play clean, and tend to leave the volume and tone knobs on full all the time.

Would i notice any difference?

Probably not. Cloth wiring and caps (assuming the same value) make no difference to the tone, and the pots only really make much difference when you turn them down - the tapers on cheap pots can be very poor.

If you want to upgrade anything, just replace the jack with a proper USA Switchcraft - the stock ones are junk and often don't grip the plug very well. On a Mustang this should just be one solder joint - the ground connection is carried via the metal plate. Make sure you get a jack with (or buy separately) a shakeproof 'star' washer.

starwarsnosebleed

Funkfingers said:

starwarsnosebleed said:

my Squier mustang already

Erm, which exact model? A recent Bullet HH type or the traditional single coils design with slider switches and that terrible vibrato?

Its a Vintage Modified version, but ive blocked the trem, so effectively hardtailing it.
No use for it.

starwarsnosebleed

ICBM said:

If you want to upgrade anything, just replace the jack with a proper USA Switchcraft - the stock ones are junk and often don't grip the plug very well. On a Mustang this should just be one solder joint - the ground connection is carried via the metal plate. Make sure you get a jack with (or buy separately) a shakeproof 'star' washer.

I havent had any problems with Squier jacks before, but i will definitley consinder doing that if they do get ropey.

Funkfingers

The stock Squier output jack is a generic Asian item. A Switchcraft jack might not fit without first enlarging the hole through the metal control plate.

ICBM

Funkfingers said:

The stock Squier output jack is a generic Asian item. A Switchcraft jack might not fit without first enlarging the hole through the metal control plate.

All the ones I've fitted have, although it can be a bit tight.

Henrytwang

I’ve never really understood how  cotton covered wire is supposed to improve the tonal quality of a guitar. I even read a post on another guitar forum where somebody claimed that it reduced 50hz hum which is totally ridiculous as insulation, both cotton and plastic is totally transparent as far as electromagnetic field is concerned, ( trust me I’m an EMC engineer). Regarding the rest; if you never or very rarely use the pots there really isn’t much point in changing them although better makes such as CTS do feel much nicer , I find that the real weak points on the electronics in cheap guitars, ( aside from the pickups), are the switch and the jack socket and are thus well worth changing for quality items  before they fail .

ICBM

Henrytwang said:

I’ve never really understood how  cotton covered wire is supposed to improve the tonal quality of a guitar. I even read a post on another guitar forum where somebody claimed that it reduced 50hz hum which is totally ridiculous as insulation, both cotton and plastic is totally transparent as far as electromagnetic field is concerned, ( trust me I’m an EMC engineer).

I think the comparison was originally between the Gibson-style cloth-insulated braided-shield cable, and the modern thin plastic shielded cable typically used in far-east Gibson-type guitars. It *is* true that the cloth type has lower capacitance, because the separation of the conductors is bigger - although whether it could make an audible difference at the length (even in total) used in a guitar is questionable.

After that it probably just got confused with the idea that 'vintage is always best' and hence assumed that cloth-covered single-core wire sounds better too. (Which it doesn't.) The idea that it reduces hum really is ridiculous though! Even shielding doesn't significantly reduce 50Hz hum.

starwarsnosebleed

Thanks a lot for the info guys.

I guess its probably not worth it if there will be little to no difference in sound. Not that im unhappy with the guitars tone, far from it.
Just thought it may give it that extra zip!

Tbh the amount of fuzz i use, im not likely to hear it.

Henrytwang

ICBM said:

Henrytwang said:

I’ve never really understood how  cotton covered wire is supposed to improve the tonal quality of a guitar. I even read a post on another guitar forum where somebody claimed that it reduced 50hz hum which is totally ridiculous as insulation, both cotton and plastic is totally transparent as far as electromagnetic field is concerned, ( trust me I’m an EMC engineer).

I think the comparison was originally between the Gibson-style cloth-insulated braided-shield cable, and the modern thin plastic shielded cable typically used in far-east Gibson-type guitars. It *is* true that the cloth type has lower capacitance, because the separation of the conductors is bigger - although whether it could make an audible difference at the length (even in total) used in a guitar is questionable.

After that it probably just got confused with the idea that 'vintage is always best' and hence assumed that cloth-covered single-core wire sounds better too. (Which it doesn't.) The idea that it reduces hum really is ridiculous though! Even shielding doesn't significantly reduce 50Hz hum.

Agreed the capacitance between a ground plane or another conductor will vary with spacing. One trick used to reduce 50hz hum in pairs of conductors is to twist them which results in phase cancellation. This used to be done with the valve  heater wires in old hand wired amps in order to reduce hum.

ICBM

Henrytwang said:

One trick used to reduce 50hz hum in pairs of conductors is to twist them which results in phase cancellation. This used to be done with the valve  heater wires in old hand wired amps in order to reduce hum.

But is rarely or almost never done in guitars. Unless I’ve rewired them, anyway...

Fender CS Tele wiring, stock -




Fender CS Tele wiring, redone properly -



Much quieter. Why this isn't standard practice, I don't know.