My Strats and the mods done to make them work for me..Show us yours..

ditchboy

KevS said:

ditchboy said:

I’ve just picked up a beautiful American pro ii in Olympic White. So far I’ve added a nice custom shop mint green guard that I picked up on reverb, installed a set of locking tuners and now just waiting to take delivery of a set of Lollar dirty blondes to replace the vmods. The one thing I can’t make my mind up on is removing the push pull feature and taking it back to standard Strat wiring. I’ve had one of these before and it never got used. Can’t make my mind up whether I’d regret it!

Love the Fender locking tuners..

They look great on there! And save time. 

Dontgiveupyourdayjob

KevS said:

Dontgiveupyourdayjob said:

No visible mods to my Cunetto era CS Strat, but I've done some upgrades.

• Currently sports decidedly non-vintage Stainless Steel frets
• Has a set of custom ordered and specced Alnico 3 pickups from Radioshop
• 1st tone is neck, 2nd tone is bridge, and the middle pickup has the tone disconnected. Feel it gives a bit more 'pop' to positions 2 and 4, regardless of where the tone is on the other pickups
• Has a push-pull on the 2nd tone to engage the neck pickup in any position

How do you find the Tonemaster Princeton Reverb..?  When I think of a Strat..That is how it looks..

I really like the Tonemaster Princeton. Does it sound quite as good as a valve one? Maybe not. But it's way more practical with the power scaling, excellent DI out and light weight.

And yeah, Fender basically nailed 'the look' of the Strat straight outta the gate in 1954. I personally don't think sunburst with a maple neck has ever been bested.

slacker

Mine looks Stock and i cant be bothered to take a pic and fight imgur so no pic. It came with locking tuners and tone control on the bridge pickup. I added a callaham trem block. Works for me.

Alex2678

Forgot to mention the Callaham block on mine. Huge improvement 

stickyfiddle

paulnb57 said:

Next up 2003 MIK Fender Showmaster Set Neck Goldtop, locking tuners, decked trem, 2x Fender Humbuckers, bog standard, non standard Strat, one of my favourite guitars

I've always had a soft spot for these as they were new when I was first getting into guitar. Almost like a Suhr PT but 20 years earlier. 

Bigsby

First mods I tend to do (and often the only ones): Replace the mediocre non-locking & non-vintage tuners with Graph Tech Ratio tuners, and swap out plastic parts/scratch plate to get the colours to match. To me, pale green and pale yellow plastic parts combine to make a Strat look cheap, not vintage. Obviously tastes vary, but I can't fathom why anyone would want a Strat that looks as though it was put together in a factory with poor lighting and passed through the hands of a colourblind QC inspector.  My Olympic white Performer with parchment plastic parts:

jaymenon

My Partscaster Strat

1. Ilitch backplate coil: so it is noiseless.
The coil is bypassed in positions 2 & 4; active only in positions 1, 3 & 5
So the in-between positions sound beautiful (which you never get right with noiseless pickups)

2. No tone control on middle pickup T1 neck; T2 Bridge

3. Tremolo modified so as to actually stay in tune (without having to dunk the arm, every time I do a string bend).

4. Every measure possible to reduce weight, including using traditional split post tuners (which work beautifully)
(it weighs 2.8kg - non-chambered swamp ash body)

Pictures and videos

Tuning Stability: 

Ilitch Coil

https://i.imgur.com/osAzAY9.jpeg

Trem mods

Slots cut into baseplate - so the string touches nothing en route from the ball end to the saddle

https://i.imgur.com/xbmFyhU.jpeg

Block extremely deep drilled - so very short segment of string beyond the saddle

https://i.imgur.com/d4ZH0Jn.jpeg

So you can see the ballends (or in my case the bullet ends)

https://i.imgur.com/sK5ovNT.jpeg

Teyeplayer

Here’s mine, solves all the things I find frustrate me when playing Strats: 

Trolling of the thread aside (apologies op it was an open goal), here is my old AO50s which was a fantastic instrument but cemented that I am not a strat guy. 

It did however have a few mods that made a huge difference and I would not have considered were it not for the gent @paulnb57. The first was a properly decked trem, massive improvement adding well needed sustain and girth to the tone. Then was the addition of a Bare Knuckle Sinner neck pickup in the bridge position, on paper it shouldn’t work, but it resolved the weak bridge pickup that is a design flaw imo. Final non-cosmetic mod, was the use of the tone on neck and bridge, but not the middle -leaving this open to interact with the outer two pickups more. Again, wouldn’t have tried it were it not for a gentle nudge, but it made the strat a useable tool (if only I could sort the ergonomics). All changes I would highly recommend others try before buying a jazzmaster.

normula1

In date order: 1985 Squier rebuilt by WezV of this very parish. The only parts that haven't been changed in some way are the vol & tone knobs, neck and bridge plates and the jack cup Currently sporting an old pair of Bill Lawrence OBL450Rs and a BK Abraxas with a partial cover, Wudtone block and arm with Graphtech saddles. Automatic split of the HB in position 2 and push-pull for the same


1998 Japanese '62 reissue. Wudtine baseplate, arm and block, Dimarzio Virtual Vintage Blues and 54s that I managed to squeeze into the original covers by shaving the insides.


The first of several partscasters. Built this one in 2006, body and allparts IIRC neck from Axesrus. Gotoh / Wilkinson VS100 trem, Gotoh locking tuners, an old pair of Kinman Woodstocks and a BK Mule that had a dead coil rewound by @OilCityPickups Lower tone is for bridge only upper for all other positions



Can't recall when I assembled this, neck came from @gavin_axecaster, original Wudtone trem, Gotoh locking tuners. Currently sporting a pair of 2017 Kinman Woodstocks (they're not as nice as the old ones above) and a Duncan Red Devil. A bit of trick wiring puts the Duncan in parallel in position two with the middle Woodstock, a push pull takes the Woodstock out of circuit leaving the parallel Duncan, position 3 is series Duncan and neck. Tone controls as above.
It normally has a torty guard with some 80s Tokai single coils  with a S1 switch that swaps neck & middle for neck & bridge





Built around the same time as the white one, this was built using a bunch of parts that I had hanging around and of course then started changing out. Gotoh bridge and locking tuners. And then I hacked it around adding a GK3 synth pickup and some fancy switching. Bridge is an old Ibanez V2 (love this pickup) I bout for £10 years ago, is alway in series as it sound rubbish split S1 up Bridge, B & M, B & series neck, M & series neck, series Neck which is made up of sightly butchered pair of the 85 black strat pickups. It's quite dark, but I actually like the tone. S1 down it becomes HSS. I really must sort out the pickguard



Finally, this was inspired by a 70's Tele, Gotoh Hardware, The Creamery Wide Range pickups, three way switch. Body and neck by @GSPBASSES finished by @GoldenEraGuitars. The pickguard is 6mm or so wider than standard on the bass side to accommodate the pickup as they are just a smidge too wide to look right on a standard one.

Haych

Started off life as a Mexican Deluxe, finished in a translucent red with gold hardware and a tort pickguard.  It was an interesting visual experience.

However, it's the best Strat I've ever owned or played, it knocks spots off all the American Standards I've had in the past.

Stripped the finish - it started to come off in chunks anyway so a quick blast with a hot air gun and it came off like a dinner jacket.

Refinished in shellac, new nickel hardware, Wilkinson VSVG trem I had kicking about doing nothing, new pickguard and a set of BK Sultans.

Volume knob disconnected but kept because I like to wrap my pinkie round it.  Master volume and master tone in place of T1 & T2.

Before and after:

Lestratcaster

I modded my Squier Affinity Strat that I got for my 14th birthday 5 years ago (there's a thread on it here: Is it possible to improve a squier strat? - Guitar Discussions on theFretBoard) with the aid of @FelineGuitars (the project is also featured on their website in the "under the spotlight" section).

To summarise the work pretty much everything was changed apart from the wood on the guitar:

- Tuners were changed to Gotohs
- Nut was replaced with an Earvana
- Tremblock changed to a steel block (cut to size)
- Pickup configuration was switched from SSS to HSS (2 Oil City single coils neck/middle and a JB in the bridge).
- New pots and wiring
- middle tone knob configured with a push/poll option to bring in neck pickup whilst on the bridge.
- JB was coil split enabled (bridge tone)

Here's the finished guitar (taken in the Feline workshop)

Plays so good for a £100 guitar back in the day and I use it the most out of my collection. It turned 27 years old this year and I hope to keep it for another 27!

KevS

Bigsby said:

First mods I tend to do (and often the only ones): Replace the mediocre non-locking & non-vintage tuners with Graph Tech Ratio tuners, and swap out plastic parts/scratch plate to get the colours to match. To me, pale green and pale yellow plastic parts combine to make a Strat look cheap, not vintage. Obviously tastes vary, but I can't fathom why anyone would want a Strat that looks as though it was put together in a factory with poor lighting and passed through the hands of a colourblind QC inspector.  My Olympic white Performer with parchment plastic parts:

Olympic White with maple board and big headstock..One of the coolest looking Strats ever..

 Uli Roth Oh Yeah Baby !!

KevS

jaymenon said:

My Partscaster Strat

1. Ilitch backplate coil: so it is noiseless.
The coil is bypassed in positions 2 & 4; active only in positions 1, 3 & 5
So the in-between positions sound beautiful (which you never get right with noiseless pickups)

2. No tone control on middle pickup T1 neck; T2 Bridge

3. Tremolo modified so as to actually stay in tune (without having to dunk the arm, every time I do a string bend).

4. Every measure possible to reduce weight, including using traditional split post tuners (which work beautifully)
(it weighs 2.8kg - non-chambered swamp ash body)

Pictures and videos

Tuning Stability: 

Ilitch Coil

https://i.imgur.com/osAzAY9.jpeg

Trem mods

Slots cut into baseplate - so the string touches nothing en route from the ball end to the saddle

https://i.imgur.com/xbmFyhU.jpeg

Block extremely deep drilled - so very short segment of string beyond the saddle

https://i.imgur.com/d4ZH0Jn.jpeg

So you can see the ballends (or in my case the bullet ends)

https://i.imgur.com/sK5ovNT.jpeg

Some great ideas there..I use locking tuners,but putl the string tight before I clamp it..The string never needs a full wrap around the postso  wrapped strings never sit on eachother,,so when I use the trem it goes back rather than seating differently on the string turn bekow it.. it seems to help..Iuse a light top heavy bottom string set and if I do big bends it is usually on the plain strings..I find the heavier wrapped strings but lighter plain.. help tone down the dip with string bends..I use Big Bends nut sauce in the nut. and under the string trees..It does stay in tune pretty well...The wood on your Strat looks great...

KevS

Teyeplayer said:

Here’s mine, solves all the things I find frustrate me when playing Strats: 

Trolling of the thread aside (apologies op it was an open goal), here is my old AO50s which was a fantastic instrument but cemented that I am not a strat guy. 

It did however have a few mods that made a huge difference and I would not have considered were it not for the gent @paulnb57. The first was a properly decked trem, massive improvement adding well needed sustain and girth to the tone. Then was the addition of a Bare Knuckle Sinner neck pickup in the bridge position, on paper it shouldn’t work, but it resolved the weak bridge pickup that is a design flaw imo. Final non-cosmetic mod, was the use of the tone on neck and bridge, but not the middle -leaving this open to interact with the outer two pickups more. Again, wouldn’t have tried it were it not for a gentle nudge, but it made the strat a useable tool (if only I could sort the ergonomics). All changes I would highly recommend others try before buying a jazzmaster.

I agree about most Vintage style Strat pick up sets having a too weak and thin bridge pickup..If others don't agree,fair enough..

I find the Jazzmaster a very different beast to the Strat..Heavier strings may solve the rubber band feel of the strings..The strings are so easy to bend compared to other guitars I have tried..Maybe some 11's on there..I still think it is a very different beast though..

KevS

normula1 said:

In date order: 1985 Squier rebuilt by WezV of this very parish. The only parts that haven't been changed in some way are the vol & tone knobs, neck and bridge plates and the jack cup Currently sporting an old pair of Bill Lawrence OBL450Rs and a BK Abraxas with a partial cover, Wudtone block and arm with Graphtech saddles. Automatic split of the HB in position 2 and push-pull for the same


1998 Japanese '62 reissue. Wudtine baseplate, arm and block, Dimarzio Virtual Vintage Blues and 54s that I managed to squeeze into the original covers by shaving the insides.


The first of several partscasters. Built this one in 2006, body and allparts IIRC neck from Axesrus. Gotoh / Wilkinson VS100 trem, Gotoh locking tuners, an old pair of Kinman Woodstocks and a BK Mule that had a dead coil rewound by @OilCityPickups Lower tone is for bridge only upper for all other positions



Can't recall when I assembled this, neck came from @gavin_axecaster, original Wudtone trem, Gotoh locking tuners. Currently sporting a pair of 2017 Kinman Woodstocks (they're not as nice as the old ones above) and a Duncan Red Devil. A bit of trick wiring puts the Duncan in parallel in position two with the middle Woodstock, a push pull takes the Woodstock out of circuit leaving the parallel Duncan, position 3 is series Duncan and neck. Tone controls as above.
It normally has a torty guard with some 80s Tokai single coils  with a S1 switch that swaps neck & middle for neck & bridge





Built around the same time as the white one, this was built using a bunch of parts that I had hanging around and of course then started changing out. Gotoh bridge and locking tuners. And then I hacked it around adding a GK3 synth pickup and some fancy switching. Bridge is an old Ibanez V2 (love this pickup) I bout for £10 years ago, is alway in series as it sound rubbish split S1 up Bridge, B & M, B & series neck, M & series neck, series Neck which is made up of sightly butchered pair of the 85 black strat pickups. It's quite dark, but I actually like the tone. S1 down it becomes HSS. I really must sort out the pickguard



Finally, this was inspired by a 70's Tele, Gotoh Hardware, The Creamery Wide Range pickups, three way switch. Body and neck by @GSPBASSES finished by @GoldenEraGuitars. The pickguard is 6mm or so wider than standard on the bass side to accommodate the pickup as they are just a smidge too wide to look right on a standard one.

The white with the black pickup covers,knobs and switch tip looks really cool..I don't think I have ever seen that before...

Roland guitar synths are great fun,,apart from the disappearing string channels because of the multi pin socket / plug..

KevS

Haych said:

Started off life as a Mexican Deluxe, finished in a translucent red with gold hardware and a tort pickguard.  It was an interesting visual experience.

However, it's the best Strat I've ever owned or played, it knocks spots off all the American Standards I've had in the past.

Stripped the finish - it started to come off in chunks anyway so a quick blast with a hot air gun and it came off like a dinner jacket.

Refinished in shellac, new nickel hardware, Wilkinson VSVG trem I had kicking about doing nothing, new pickguard and a set of BK Sultans.

Volume knob disconnected but kept because I like to wrap my pinkie round it.  Master volume and master tone in place of T1 & T2.

Before and after:

I was never into American Standards really once I tried loads of different Strats.
My first USA Strat was a late 80's USA Standard..I bought it second hand in 1992..It was a weighty beast..
Others liked it..At the time I Just felt lucky to own it...

What you have done looks Brilliant..I always though the see through 70's Fender Ash Bodied Strats with black plastics looked really cool..

blobb

I stuck an aluminium neck on mine

p90fool

The mods on mine are not obvious, but they're crucial to me. 
I have the first tone control wired to the bridge/middle for easy access and wah swells, and the lower one is neck only. The volume pot has a 180pf cap across it and I've put massive frets on the old one. The red one already has jumbos. 

I've been through a range of pickups on both, but always end up missing that vintage Strat thing, so that's where they currently stand. 

Of course one of them being a hardtail is not a mod as such, but I'm looking for a hardtail body for the other one. Nobody needs that wobbly banjo nonsense in their lives. 

PhilKing

My Hendrix Strat, with reverse stagger BK Irish Tours:

And my thinline (built by @WezV ):
And my flamed redwood top Strat, with a semi scalloped fingerboard (12th fret upwards), done by @FelineGuitars. Pickups are BK Holydiver bridge and trilogy suite middle and neck.

KevS

p90fool said:

The mods on mine are not obvious, but they're crucial to me. 
I have the first tone control wired to the bridge/middle for easy access and wah swells, and the lower one is neck only. The volume pot has a 180pf cap across it and I've put massive frets on the old one. The red one already has jumbos. 

I've been through a range of pickups on both, but always end up missing that vintage Strat thing, so that's where they currently stand. 

Of course one of them being a hardtail is not a mod as such, but I'm looking for a hardtail body for the other one. Nobody needs that wobbly banjo nonsense in their lives. 

A Strat without it's Wang Bar is like a Stallion without it's Phallus..

I don't believe that of course,,it's just an excuse for a knob joke..