Best wiring/switching for a Strat(ish)

I have this old thing ...


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Anyways, nice old guitar - with a lot of "natural relicing" - but I don't play it that much.  If at all.  I was going to strip it and re-finish it, but that's not going to happen anytime soon.

So I thought I'd give it a new lease of life.  I've got a set of Oil City StoneTones arriving later today, and my plan is to cut a new scratchplate and install the StoneTones with complete new wiring.  As you can see, everything is mounted on the scratchplate, so a simple "out with the old and in with the new".  I've got lots of HB guitars, but only a couple of single coils, so it might get a bit more playing time if it becomes one of the few.


O wise forum ... what are the good Strat-style switching options that I should consider??
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Comments

  • I can't help at all, but that is one really cool looking guitar. What is it?
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71957
    Do you want maximum tonal variety, or maximum ease of use?

    You can get reasonably close to both with a 5-way Superswitch, but it's not easy to suggest which five settings you'd want unless you've tried many of the options already, which from the sound of it you haven't.

    Basically, the options you have are:

    Combinations of 1, 2 or 3 pickups
    In or out of phase
    Parallel or series

    (Bear in mind that the popular Strat "out of phase" sound is actually two pickups *in* phase!)

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • MegiiMegii Frets: 1670
    Having tried a fancy strat wiring scheme myself, I've come to the conclusion that the best sounds are really the stock ones, plus the "extra" neck+bridge and neck+middle+bridge combinations are worth having also. Not at all won over by combining pickups in series instead of parallel, and assuming you have decent quacky sounds in the 2 and 4 switch position, I don't think there's much to be said for out of phase options either. All these clever additions for me just give so-so tones, and better covered by other pickup types i.e. humbuckers. So I'd just say something like the standard strat 5-way wiring, plus a "neck on" switch (either via apush-pull pot, or a mini-toggle) to get the extra combinations. I'd want tone control over the bridge pickup as well, but if you're going with just volume and master tone as in your pic above, that is taken care of.
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  • axisusaxisus Frets: 28280
    I really fancy Hermetico's Stratospear mod 4, which has an S1 switch. Here's the blurb:

    When the S-1 is up (unactive), we achieve the standard strato combinations but, tone controls work as described above. When the S-1 is down, we enter in an alternate mode, with the following combinations:
     
    1. Neck in Series with Bridge (like the 4th position of a Tele mod)
    2. (Neck in series with Bridge) in parallel with Middle (very open but strong)
    3. Neck in parallel with Bridge (like the middle position of a Tele)
    4. (Middle in series with Bridge) in parallel with Neck (strong and open)
    5. Middle in series with Bridge (some kind of Bridge virtual humbucker)


    Diagram here:

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  • I really like the Rothwell Hot Little Knob and its associated extra sound options.
    The Assumptions - UAE party band for all your rock & soul desires
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  • TTonyTTony Frets: 27344
    I can't help at all, but that is one really cool looking guitar. What is it?
    Would you believe ... it's a Kawai !!  One of the Aquarius models from the early/mid 1980s.  The 3 mini-toggles switch each p'up to off, single coil or HB mode.  The p'ups are Mighty Mite versions of the DiMarzio Super Distortion.  It's a good old thing, but I never play it.  So, time to try something different!
    ICBM said:
    Do you want maximum tonal variety, or maximum ease of use?

    You can get reasonably close to both with a 5-way Superswitch, but it's not easy to suggest which five settings you'd want unless you've tried many of the options already, which from the sound of it you haven't.

    Basically, the options you have are:

    Combinations of 1, 2 or 3 pickups
    In or out of phase
    Parallel or series

    (Bear in mind that the popular Strat "out of phase" sound is actually two pickups *in* phase!)


    I shall ask Ash later for his recommendations for the Stone Tones. 

    Your'e absolutely correct in that I've never really experimented too much with SC sounds, so perhaps a superswitch is a good place to start.  I can always re-wire it to try alternatives.  I think I was scarred by early-life experience with el-cheapo thin & weedy SCs, which pretty much put me off for life. 

    Ease of use isn't a huge concern, there won't be many times when I'll need to switch sounds seamlessly on stage.

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