The Stratocaster Manual: Buying, Maintaining, Repairing, and Customizing Your Fender and Squier Stratocaster 9780760349229, 9781627888004, 0760349223

Table of contents :
Cover
Title
CONTENTS
THE ICONIC FENDER STRATOCASTER
CHAPTER ONE: GETTING TO KNOW THE STRATOCASTER
HISTORY AND EVOLUTION
STRATOCASTER TIMELINE
GALLERY OF STRATS
ANATOMY OF A STRATOCASTER
HOW YOUR STRATOCASTER WORKS
CHAPTER TWO: BASIC CARE
TOOLS FOR THE JOB
THE STATE OF YOUR STRAT
STRINGS AND STRINGING
TUNING
SIMPLE ADJUSTMENTS
STRAP SAFETY
CLEANING YOUR STRATOCASTER
THE OUTPUT SOCKET
STORAGE AND TRANSPORTATION
CHAPTER THREE: ADVANCED MAINTENANCE
NECK ADJUSTMENT
FRET MATTERS
THE NUT
CLEANING AND REPLACING TUNERS
LOCKING TUNERS
ROBOT TUNERS
THE TREMOLO
COSMETIC SURGERY
CHAPTER FOUR: BENEATH THE HOOD
TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES
BEHIND THE SCRATCHPLATE
POTS, CAPS, AND SWITCHES
REPLACING THE OUTPUT SOCKET
CHANGING CAPACITORS
CHANGING POTS
SWITCH REPLACEMENT
CHANGING PICKUPS
SWITCHES AND HUMBUCKERS
BLENDED PICKUPS
SEVEN-WAY SWITCHING
THE SERIES STRAT
MIDI AND THE STRAT
HUM CONTROL
CHAPTER FIVE: STRATOCASTER STARS
JEFF BECK
RITCHIE BLACKMORE
BUDDY GUY
ERIC CLAPTON
RY COODER
ROBERT CRAY
DICK DALE
RORY GALLAGHER
DAVE GILMOUR
GEORGE HARRISON
EDDIE HAZEL
JEFF HEALEY
JIMI HENDRIX
BUDDY HOLLY
ERIC JOHNSON
MARK KNOPFLER
YNGWIE MALMSTEEN
HANK MARVIN
JOHN MAYER
CURTIS MAYFIELD
TOM MORELLO
ROBBIE ROBERTSON
NILE RODGERS
RICHIE SAMBORA
KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD
RICHARD THOMPSON
PETE TOWNSHEND
ROBIN TROWER
EDDIE VAN HALEN
STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN
CHAPTER SIX: APPENDICES
TALKING HEADS
DATING YOUR STRATOCASTER
RESOURCES
CONVERSION CHART
GLOSSARY
A
B
C
E
F
G
H
K
L
M
N
P
R
S
T
V
INDEX
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
Y
Z
CREDITS AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Citation preview

The Stratocaster Manual

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© 2015 Quarto Publishing Group USA Inc. Text © 2015 Terry Burrows Photography © 2015 The Orgone Company First published in 2015 by Voyageur Press, an imprint of Quarto Publishing Group USA Inc., 400 First Avenue North, Suite 400, Minneapolis, MN 55401 USA. Telephone: (612) 344-8100 Fax: (612) 344-8692 quartoknows.com Visit our blogs at quartoknows.com All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission of the copyright owners. All images in this book have been reproduced with the knowledge and prior consent of the artists concerned, and no responsibility is accepted by producer, publisher, or printer for any infringement of copyright or otherwise, arising from the contents of this publication. Every effort has been made to ensure that credits accurately comply with information supplied. We apologize for any inaccuracies that may have occurred and will resolve inaccurate or missing information in a subsequent reprinting of the book. Voyageur Press titles are also available at discounts in bulk quantity for industrial or sales-promotional use. For details contact the Special Sales Manager at Quarto Publishing Group USA Inc., 400 First Avenue North, Suite 400, Minneapolis, MN 55401 USA. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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ISBN: 978-0-7603-4922-9 Digital edition: 978-1-62788-800-4 Softcover edition: 978-0-76034-922-9 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Burrows, Terry, author. The stratocaster manual : buying, maintaining, repairing, and customizing your fender and squier stratocaster / Terry Burrows. pages cm Includes index. ISBN 978-0-7603-4922-9 (sc) 1. Stratocaster--Maintenance and repair. 2. Electric guitar--Maintenance and repair. I. Title. ML1015.G9B946 2015 787.87’192--dc23 2015028408 Acquiring Editor: Todd Berger Project Manager: Sherry Anisi Art Director: Cindy Samargia Laun Cover Designer: Ryan Scheife, Mayfly Design Researched, designed, and edited by The Orgone Company Photography: Paul Smith On the front cover: Images courtesy of Fender Musical Instruments Corporation On the back cover: Images courtesy of the Orgone Company

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The Stratocaster Manual

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Terry Burrows

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CONTENTS 6 THE ICONIC FENDER STRATOCASTER

CHAPTER TWO

BASIC CARE CHAPTER ONE

GETTING TO KNOW THE STRATOCASTER

36 TOOLS FOR THE JOB 40 THE STATE OF YOUR STRAT 44 STRINGS AND STRINGING

12 HISTORY AND EVOLUTION

52 TUNING

18 STRATOCASTER TIMELINE

54 SIMPLE ADJUSTMENTS

20 GALLERY OF STRATS

60 STRAP SAFETY

28 ANATOMY OF A STRATOCASTER

62 CLEANING YOUR STRATOCASTER

30 HOW YOUR STRATOCASTER WORKS

70 THE OUTPUT SOCKET 72 STORAGE AND TRANSPORTATION CHAPTER THREE

ADVANCED MAINTENANCE 80 NECK ADJUSTMENT 86 FRET MATTERS 90 THE NUT 94 CLEANING AND REPLACING TUNERS 96 LOCKING TUNERS 98 ROBOT TUNERS 102 THE TREMOLO 106 COSMETIC SURGERY

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CHAPTER FIVE

STRATOCASTER STARS 162 JEFF BECK, RITCHIE BLACKMORE, BUDDY GUY 164 ERIC CLAPTON, RY COODER, ROBERT CRAY 166 DICK DALE, RORY GALLAGHER, DAVE GILMOUR 168 GEORGE HARRISON, EDDIE HAZEL, JEFF HEALEY 170 JIMI HENDRIX 172 BUDDY HOLLY, ERIC JOHNSON, MARK KNOPFLER, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN 174 HANK MARVIN, JOHN MAYER, CURTIS MAYFIELD, TOM MORELLO CHAPTER FOUR

176 ROBBIE ROBERTSON, NILE RODGERS,

BENEATH THE HOOD

RICHIE SAMBORA, KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD 178 RICHARD THOMPSON, PETE TOWNSHEND,

110 TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES

ROBIN TROWER

114 BEHIND THE SCRATCHPLATE

180 EDDIE VAN HALEN, STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN

116 POTS, CAPS, AND SWITCHES 120 REPLACING THE OUTPUT SOCKET

CHAPTER SIX

122 CHANGING CAPACITORS

APPENDICES

126 CHANGING POTS 132 SWITCH REPLACEMENT

184 TALKING HEADS

134 CHANGING PICKUPS

190 DATING YOUR STRATOCASTER

138 SWITCHES AND HUMBUCKERS

200 RESOURCES/CONVERSION CHART

144 BLENDED PICKUPS

202 GLOSSARY

148 SEVEN-WAY SWITCHING

204 INDEX

150 THE SERIES STRAT

208 CREDITS AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

152 MIDI AND THE STRAT 154 HUM CONTROL

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THE ICONIC FENDER STRATOCASTER If we consider the history of human innovation, there are very few fields in which we can genuinely say that the earliest pioneering attempts were the best. Yet when it comes to the electric guitar—in particular the solidbody variety—after sixty years of experimentation with different shapes, alternative materials, and advances in technology, it seems that the most enduring guitar designs remain those that had already made an appearance by the middle of the 1950s—barely a few years after the solidbody electric guitar came into existence. And perched at the very pinnacle of that elite group stands the Fender Stratocaster.

A LEAGUE OF ITS OWN Of the pioneering designs that emerged during the 1950s the Fender Stratocaster stands out above all others. It is, quite simply, the most famous electric guitar of them all. Since making its first appearance, on May 15, 1954, the “Strat,” as it’s now universally known, has acquired a status that can only be described as iconic. It has featured at the very heart of many of the most celebrated rock and blues recordings ever made, works by the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and many of the greatest six-string pickers of the second half of the twentieth century. Even now, every young guitarist starting out on his or her musical journey will at some point aspire to owning one.

“The Strat is like picking up a Stradivarius and saying, ‘OK, now I'm in the big league.’ This is the big boy's tool, you know. This is no toy. This is the hardware department.” Keith Richards

And its fame has long since moved beyond the borders of the music world: everyone has heard of the Fender

Stradivarius and saying ‘OK, now I’m in the big league.’ This

Stratocaster, whether or not they have even the remotest

is the big boy’s tool, you know. This is no toy. This is the

interest in the guitar.

hardware department.”

Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones likened it to another iconic musical instrument: “The Strat is like picking up a

Dick Dale, known as the “King of Surf Guitar,” and one of the Strat’s early converts, went even further in his effusive praise of the instrument: “The Stratocaster,” he declared, “is like a Rolls-Royce. It can’t be surpassed.” What’s so great about the Stratocaster then? For starters, its body shape makes it well balanced and comfortable to play; the smooth cutaway allows access to the highest frets; the combination of three single-coil pickups provides a unique and versatile sound, at home in any musical style. And it looks damn cool as well. As the owner of one of the first Stratocasters to cross the Atlantic Ocean, Hank Marvin recalled: “It was like something from space, really, it was so futuristic in its design.” There’s another dimension that may not be quite so obvious, though. When Leo Fender created his first solidbody electric guitars in 1950, he and his colleagues had conceived them to be instruments that could be produced in great numbers on a production line. This desire informed the

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original designs, first of the Broadcaster/Telecaster models,

demanding stuff for someone with little experience of

and then, in 1954, of the Stratocaster. Little wonder, then,

building anything at all, but with some help, within a

that Leo Fender would forever find himself described as “the

couple of weeks, my dad and I had something that looked

Henry Ford of the electric guitar.”

a bit like a guitar and also made a sound when—in the absence of a proper amplifier—it was plugged into our

SIMPLICITY ITSELF

home hi-fi. (In fact, it made such a sound that we blew the

In spite of the Strat’s celebrated status it’s actually a pretty

tweeters in our loudspeakers.)

simple piece of kit: in fact, if you look at the exploded view of

I was extremely proud of this first effort, but the body—

a Stratocaster near the beginning of the book (see pages

very thick plywood and fiberboard glued together (so that

28–29) you will see that “kit” seems very much the operative

it didn’t need to be routed)—was so unbearably heavy that

word. Indeed, there are no more than 160 separate parts that

it was impractical to hang from a strap. A period of

make up a modern standard Strat, and as far as the circuitry

experimentation followed, as new bodies were attempted

is concerned, just three magnetic pickups, three variable

from different materials. After one horribly unsuccessful

resistors, one capacitor, one switch, and one output socket are all that’s needed to create that classic Stratocaster sound. In truth, as a piece of technology, the way any electric guitar works is really not that difficult to comprehend. And any person with a reasonably well-appointed home workshop, some modest carpentry skills, and the ability to wield a soldering iron, already has the basic capabilities needed to construct a guitar from scratch—of course, that’s not to say it would necessarily sound good or play well. As a teenager, unable to afford any sort of electric guitar, and inspired by the story of Brian May from the band Queen building the celebrated “Red Special” with his father, this is exactly what I set out to do one school holiday. It was pretty

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”The Stratocaster is like the Rolls-Royce. It can never be surpassed.“ Dick Dale effort using black Perspex (which looked truly spectacular but

I’ve never shied away from experimentation, replacing

snapped at the neck joint as soon as the strings were

pickups, or altering the circuitry. And the guitar-building bug

tightened), I discovered by trial and error that mahogany

remains with me to this day—my own take on the Fender

produced the best balance between weight and sound.

Custom Shop’s Bajo Sexto (essentially a hollow-body baritone

Eventually, the owner of a local music store convinced me

Telecaster) is a recent addition to this ever-growing family.

that my low-output, hand-wound pickups (three little magnets and some copper wire, all held together using a

SO WHAT IS THIS BOOK ABOUT?

bottle of my mother’s nail polish) were no match for the old

Firstly, it’s to arm you with the knowledge that you need to

DiMarzio Super Distortion humbucker that he happened to

look after your Fender or Squier Stratocaster—basic things

have laying around.

like how to string it and tune it, how to store it, how to clean

My guitar—christened the “Poser” by a friend (you can

it, and how to transport it safely. Some of this may seem like

see it on page 208 if you’re interested!)—may not have been

common sense, and yet, to give an example, you would be

the greatest instrument ever built, but it did get plenty of

surprised at how many experienced guitarists don’t seem to

comments whenever I used it on stage, and it eventually

understand that a poor stringing technique is one of the main

graced a good half-dozen albums.

causes of a guitar failing to stay in tune.

I’ve since owned numerous “proper” guitars and spent

Secondly, it’s to show you how to adjust your guitar so

much of the past twenty years recording with them and

that it not only plays as well as it can, but is tailored to your

writing books about them, but that early experience gave me

own preferences. It’s surprising that so many players seem so

a sense of fearlessness which has meant that not only have I

reluctant to tinker with the action of their guitars (the height

always been able to set up and maintain my own guitars, but

of the strings above the fingerboard), the intonation (the scale length of each string), or the neck relief (the curvature of the neck). This book will show you in detail how to do all of these things safely. Of course, if your guitar receives heavy use, you can expect something to go wrong with it at some stage in its life. So the third area we’ll look at is how to perform basic repairs. This can mean anything from fixing or replacing broken tuners or electrical components, to replacing nuts and frets, to tips for getting rid of crackle and hum. Finally, there’s an assortment of ideas for hotrodding your Strat. These may be simple wiring changes, pickup replacements, or, in a few extreme cases, modifications that require you to cut into the body or pickguard. Of course, the decision as to how far you want to go in this respect is very much up to you—certainly no one’s going to force you to rip your Strat apart. But even if you do strip your guitar down to its bare components, you’ll certainly find all the information you need to put it safely back together.

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Finally, there’s some contextual material—background history, different Strats available, how to interpret serial numbers, interviews with experts, and profiles of some of the musicians famed for playing this great instrument. Since both Fender and Squier models are constructed in the same way, the ideas in this book can be applied equally to either brand. We’re also pretty confident that any Squier owner prepared to spend a little cash on hardware, as well as some time on setting up and dressing the frets, could expect to end up with an instrument capable of matching a Fender for both sound and playability.

ARE YOU EXPERIENCED? One final note about the skills and equipment needed throughout this book. Many of the assumptions made here come from my own inexperience when I set out to build my first guitar. The book assumes you to have no arcane skills or complex specialist equipment on hand. You’ll need some basic tools (see pages 36–39), such as screwdrivers, wrenches, drills, knives, and saws. And to work on the circuitry, you’ll need to have a soldering iron. (Don’t worry if you’ve never used one before—we’ll show how to do that, as well as how to use a multimeter to test the results.) Any materials you need to get hold of can usually be found in hardware or music stores or, of course, online. Every musician forges a special bond with his or her favorite instruments. For me, a willingness to get “under the hood” has not only enhanced these relationships but also given an added personal dimension to my playing. Ultimately, though, it’s really all about having fun. Indeed, it’s like the legendary Les Paul once told me: “You don’t work the guitar, you play it!” Terry Burrows London, 2015

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1 GETTING TO KNOW THE STRATOCASTER Not without good reason, the Fender Stratocaster is often referred to as an iconic instrument, for there can be little doubt that it has played a central role in the music of the past fifty years. The chosen model of some of the greatest exponents of the electric guitar—Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, David Gilmour, Stevie Ray Vaughan to name but a few—the Stratocaster has changed remarkably little since it first appeared in 1954.

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CHAPTER 1 | GETTING TO KNOW THE STRATOCASTER

HISTORY AND EVOLUTION The Fender Stratocaster was launched in 1954, a full four years after the company emerged with the first production-line solidbody electric guitar. Unlike the earlier Broadcaster/Telecaster design, which was basic and functional, the Strat was a luxury guitar with futuristic smooth curves and a versatile set of sounds courtesy of its three singlecoil pickups. Who could have guessed that it would have such a significant and enduring impact on the future of popular music? Leo Fender, father of the Stratocaster

THE GODFATHER OF THE ELECTRIC GUITAR

with a loan of six hundred dollars, he set up the Fender Radio

Clarence Leonidas (“Leo”) Fender was a curious figure. It’s

soon began to notice that a growing number of his customers

odd to think that the man who would have such a profound

were musicians requiring PA systems or amplification for their

influence over the way music would be performed throughout

“electric Spanish” and lap steel guitars. Fender’s soon became a

the second half of the twentieth century had almost no musical

popular meeting place for Californian musicians.

Service shop in his hometown—Fullerton, California. He

grounding of his own. Born on August 10, 1909, in Anaheim, California, as a child

THE FIRST INSTRUMENTS

Fender had been captivated by a radio built from spare parts by

One of Fender’s early customers was Clayton “Doc” Kauffman,

his uncle and soon began tinkering with electronics himself. By

an inventor and lap steel guitarist who convinced Fender

the time he began studying to become an accountant, Fender

that they should go into partnership producing their own

had set up an electrical repair workshop in his parents’ garage,

instruments. The first K&F electric lap steel guitars appeared in

which became a full-time occupation when he was unable to

small quantities in 1945. A year later, by which time Kauffman

find work in the aftermath of the Great Depression. In 1938,

had pulled out of the business, Fender was already convinced

Paul Bigsby’s Merle Travis guitar was a clear influence on Leo Fender’s early models.

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HISTORY AND EVOLUTION

13

The Fender Broadcaster, the first mass-produced solidbody electric guitar

this was a market worth pursuing. He founded the Fender

flat ash body and simple bolt-on neck was proposed in two

Electrical Instrument Corporation and expanded into larger

forms: the Esquire, with one pickup, and the twin-pickup

premises in Fullerton, where he produced his own range of

Broadcaster. Introduced in 1950, a trademark conflict with the

electric lap steels and amplifiers.

Gretsch company in New York resulted in a relaunch a year later—as the Telecaster. A classic instrument that has never left

THE FEEDBACK ISSUE

the Fender production line, along with the Strat and Gibson’s

Noting the growing popularity of the amplified guitar, Leo

Les Paul and SG models, it remains one of the Big Four of the

Fender’s close relationships with his customers made him

electric guitar world.

all too aware of the frustrations of many musicians with the existing instrument—namely the problem of unwanted

THE BIRTH OF THE STRAT

howling feedback.

Fender and Fullerton had conceived the Telecaster as a

This was a phenomenon caused when the sound coming

basic instrument that could be assembled without, arguably,

from the amplifier’s loudspeaker was sufficiently loud to

having to devote the time and craftsmanship traditionally

vibrate the hollow sound chamber of the guitar. In turn,

associated with building a guitar. Gibson’s management

this caused the guitar strings to vibrate by themselves.

certainly cast doubts over Fender’s approach, apocryphally

Experimenters such as Paul Bigsby and Les Paul realized in

remarking that “anyone with a buzz saw in their garage”

the early 1940s that a possible cure to this annoyance would

could build a Broadcaster. This attitude softened, though,

be in creating a body that was less prone to vibration—in

when the Telecaster started turning up on TV shows, most

other words, a guitar with a solid piece of wood replacing

spectacularly in the hands of super-fast country guitarist

the sound chamber. Paul’s idea was to fix a neck to a narrow

Jimmy Bryant, and Gibson quickly got their own model

block of pine on which the bridge and pickups were also

together, launching the Les Paul in 1952.

mounted—his famous “Log” guitar. Bigsby, on the other

Leo Fender was such a successful businessman not only

hand, produced a workable solid instrument for country

because of his undoubted flair for innovation—during

musician Merle Travis, which he also put into very small-scale

this time, he further revolutionized the music world with

production—this, arguably, constitutes the first true solidbody

the Precision Bass, the first production-line electric bass

electric guitar model.

guitar—but also his willingness to listen to his customers.

Aware of these developments—Fender and Bigsby were

Leading western swing player Bill Carson was one of Fender’s

certainly acquainted—in 1948, Leo Fender and one of his

frequent musical guinea pigs, and he provided a lengthy

employees, George Fullerton, set about creating an affordable

critique, detailing areas in which he felt the Telecaster could

solidbody electric guitar that could also be mass produced. A

be improved. Carson asked for a guitar that would “fit like a

year later they came up with a prototype for an instrument

good shirt, with body contours, and stay balanced at all times.”

design that many would claim rivals the iconic status of the

Among his other suggestions were individual bridge saddles

Stratocaster. Almost austere in appearance, its single-cutaway

“that would adjust vertically and horizontally.”

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CHAPTER 1 | GETTING TO KNOW THE STRATOCASTER

With deluxe competition now on the market, such as the

new instrument Fender’s business partner Don Randall came

Les Paul or Gretsch’s sumptuous black Duo Jet, Leo Fender

up with a name intended to evoke a future where Americans

knew that he also needed to produce an upscale alternative

would no longer even be bound by the constraints of the

to the Telecaster. Fender, Fullerton, and draftsman Freddie

Earth’s atmosphere!

Tavares worked to formulate a guitar that would bring some of Carson’s ideas into being. Contoured for comfort and fully

DESIGN CLASSIC

adjustable, the new instrument added a third pickup, providing

Like the Telecaster, the original 1954 Stratocaster was a simple

greater tonal variation than the Telecaster. It also featured a

modular design, created for ease of production. The body was

“tremolo” bar bridge that would allow the guitarist to bend

cut from a single slab of ash and featured a pair of striking

strings in the manner of a pedal steel player. (Remember, this

offset cutaways and horns—a design first seen on Fender’s

was all taking place before the advent of rock ’n’ roll—the

1951 Precision Bass, and now established as an electric guitar

biggest market for these new solidbody electric guitars was

archetype. The Strat was fitted with a one-piece bolt-on

among country musicians.)

maple neck with an “integral” fingerboard—meaning that the

The instrument that emerged on May 15, 1954, was the

frets were applied directly to the neck. It also took the basic

smooth, modern, stylish Stratocaster, arguably the most

headstock design of the Telecaster, with all six tuners in line

important electric guitar ever made. Just as the Telecaster had

along the top of the headstock, and added a curve that matched

been named to reflect the cutting-edge modernity of a post-war

the contours of the body. (Although an unusual arrangement

America, then entering an era of unprecedented wealth, for this

of tuners at this time, this idea can be seen on some acoustic

TREMOLO PATENT This document was filed with the US Patent and Trademark Office on August 30, 1954 by Clarence L. Fender, and concerns his invention of a “tremolo device for stringed instruments”—specifically this is the Synchronized Tremolo he introduced with the Stratocaster in 1954—the guitar body shape in the diagram submitted makes this clear. For Patent US 2741146A Fender outlines in considerable detail the workings of the unit: “My invention relates to tremolo devices for . . . stringed instruments played in such a manner that one hand is in the region of the bridge, there being a tremolo control arm so arranged as to fit within the palm of the player’s hand . . . which is incorporated in a novel bridge structure so arranged as to have limited pivotal movement, in order that the tension applied to the strings of the instrument may be readily varied to produce a tremolo effect. The bridge is so arranged that the effective operating length of each string and its height may be individually adjusted to facilitate proper tuning.” It has been claimed that Leo Fender’s original misuse of the word “tremolo” (which should describe variations in volume rather than pitch) is the reason why the term has largely been adopted to describe any type of mechanical vibrato.

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HISTORY AND EVOLUTION

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The Stratocaster makes an early TV appearance as Buddy Holly and the Crickets perform on The Ed Sullivan Show.

guitars built in Europe in the nineteenth century, notably

cornerstone for a business that would expand rapidly and

those produced in Vienna by Johann Stauffer. It is more likely,

still be thriving more than six decades later. For a company

however, to have been influenced by Paul Bigsby’s Merle Travis

founded not long after the end of World War II, this

guitar.) Finally, the Strat’s electrical parts were built into a

dominance was extraordinary: by 1964 Fender was the most

plastic scratchplate that covered much of the body, including

successful musical instrument manufacturer in America, with

three pickups, a volume control, tone controls for the neck and

sales worth in excess of ten million dollars a year. And unlike

center pickups, and a three-way switch. The standard finish

his competitors, Fender had also successfully spread his name

was a two-tone sunburst.

across the ocean into Europe, fueled in part by the international

One of the first players to adopt the Stratocaster was

success of Buddy Holly—the first high-profile Strat-wielding

Eldon Shamblin, a western swing player in the popular band,

pop star. It was claimed that in 1965 Fender was exporting

the Texas Playboys. He was given a unique gold-painted

more American-made musical instruments than the rest of his

demonstration model by Leo Fender, dated June 4, 1954, which

competitors combined.

he used in the studio, on stage, and on television. Shamblin is now remembered as the first guitarist of note to adopt the

THE STRAT EVOLVES

instrument. (Thirty years later, Eric Clapton would offer him

Although the Fender Stratocasters in use today may seem

ten thousand dollars for the guitar—he was turned down.)

similar in appearance to those first models built in the mid-1950s, the instrument has seen many alterations

GLOBAL SUCCESS

throughout its lifespan, some more immediately visible than

Fender’s first three instruments—the Telecaster, the Precision

others. By 1956 the ash body had largely been replaced

Bass, and the Stratocaster—were not only enormously

by the alder wood we now associate with Strats and Teles.

influential but also commercially successful, providing the

(Although the merits of both materials have been argued

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CHAPTER 1 | GETTING TO KNOW THE STRATOCASTER

over endlessly, the differences in sound between the two

that by carefully moving the switch between positions, often

are largely minimal—tonal variations between early 1950s

jamming it in place with a matchstick, it was possible to

models and those produced a decade later are more likely

achieve two further tones—a blend of the center pickup with

to be a result of changes in hardware and electrics than the

either the neck or bridge. It was not until 1977 that Fender

wood—and both maintain the characteristic Strat sound.)

began fitting five-way switches as standard.

The year 1959 saw the first appearance of an optional new fingerboard, the Strat now offering a layer of rosewood

THE CBS ERA

glued onto the maple neck. Untreated rosewood and

During the 1950s, Leo Fender had suffered a number of

lacquered/varnished maple have remained the principle

minor health ailments, but during the following decade

fingerboard options ever since.

a long-standing sinus condition became notably worse.

Although there had been some one-off factory specials,

Convinced that he had a serious illness, when Columbia

usually made for professionals being wooed by Leo Fender,

Broadcasting Systems (CBS) expressed an interest in buying

from 1956 a number of custom body colors tied to the

the Fender Electric Instrument Corporation in 1965 he

DuPont automobile paint range were offered. And in 1959

agreed, accepting a figure of thirteen million dollars. (Shortly

the classic three-tone sunburst appeared for the first time.

afterwards, Fender would consult a new doctor who quickly

During this period, Fender also changed the neck of the

cured his condition. He would continue to be a prominent

Stratocaster. If you were to chop off the neck parallel to one

and respected figure in the guitar world until his death in

of the frets the cross-section would give you the neck profile.

1991, before which he helped to create important new guitar

Early models featured a V-shaped profile, which in 1958 was

brands, such as Music Man and G&L.)

changed to a more semi-circular shape. One of the most famous Stratocaster quirks was the three-

The CBS era would become notorious among Fender aficionados, a period when corporate management with

way pickup selector switch, which gave the simple option

seemingly little experience of guitar manufacturing began

of choosing one of the three pickups. Players quickly found

to seek ways of cutting costs and rationalizing methods of production; by the 1970s there was wide perception that Fender guitars had fallen in quality. The Stratocaster itself underwent some significant changes during this time, notably with the introduction of the new three-bolt neck and enlarged headstock shape. These are, in themselves, often presented as poor developments, but, in truth, the three-bolt fixing did its job well enough, and some players claimed that the bulbous 1970s headstock produced greater sustain. The problem is more likely to be the simple fact that Fender guitars produced during this time simply lacked the polish of their predecessors. Nevertheless, the Stratocaster remained one of the most widely used guitars in popular music; influenced by Jimi Hendrix, players of the stature of Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton switched from Les Pauls to Strats in the early 1970s.

THE REBIRTH OF FENDER Fender remained a profitable company until the end of the 1970s, and continued to develop new instruments, or significant variations on older designs. In 1982 Fender set up shop in Japan, initially with the intention of killing off the Asian market for copies of Fender guitars, which by this time were beginning to rival the real thing in quality. A part of this approach entailed the creation of a diffusion brand, Fender advertisement from the 1970s

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Squier, which produced budget versions of Fender classics

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HISTORY AND EVOLUTION

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THE SUPERSTRAT By the early 1980s, both Fender and Gibson guitars

Japanese-built Contemporary and HM models. HSS

had become less fashionable, both brands widely

Strats—so called because of the pickup configuration

perceived to have dropped off in quality, and the

(humbucker at the bridge; single-coils at the center and

Stratocaster began losing ground to a new generation

neck)—have remained a niche part of the Stratocaster

of so-called Superstrat guitars. These non-Fender

range. As is often the way in music, the Superstrat fell

instruments, generally seen in metal bands, were

from favor during the first half of the 1990s as metal

modelled on the twin-cutaway/three-pickup design of

was overshadowed by grunge, where bands largely

the Strat, but were given new features such switchable

preferred old single-coil Fenders.

humbucking pickups and the revolutionary Floyd Rose locking vibrato system, which enabled dive-bomb pitch bends to be made without damaging the tuning. For a brief period, the Strat was overshadowed by the popularity of models produced by Dean, Charvel, Ibanez, Hamer, Jackson, and Kramer. Fender responded with its own Superstrat—the unpopular Performer— before realizing that a better plan would be simply to retool a basic Stratocaster. This gave birth to the

built in countries where labor was less expensive, such as

Ibanez Jem77 BFP Superstrat

With headquarters in Scottsdale, Arizona, factories in

Korea, Indonesia, and China. The company would later

Corona, California, and Ensenada in Mexico, and with

build a factory in the town of Ensenada on the other side

manufacturers across Asia contracted to build Squier models,

of the Mexican border, producing cheaper Fender-branded

Fender remains one of the most powerful musical instrument

instruments aimed at the middle of the market. In time, all of

manufacturers in the world. It has even taken control of

these ventures would prove to be enormously successful.

some other significant brand names from the history of the

In 1985, with the CBS group facing financial difficulties,

guitar, such as Gretsch, Guild, Jackson, Charvel, and Hamer.

Fender was put up for sale. An investor group, led by existing

The music world is notoriously fickle. Yet while musical

president Bill Schultz, reached an agreement, buying the

trends may pass at a rapid rate, the Stratocaster, now even

company for $12.5 million dollars. It would prove to be a

viewed as a design icon, seems to find a place for itself at the

turning point in Fender’s history.

heart of every genre. And that’s a state of affairs that doesn’t look much like changing in the near future.

FENDER IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY These days it’s easy to view Fender as a heritage brand. The past three decades have seen a huge growth in demand for both vintage replica and signature instruments, and Fender has actively fueled this interest with numerous Stratocaster variations, either as standard American, Japanese, or Mexican Fenders; luxury specials produced by the Fender Custom Shop; or lower-priced Squier models built in Asia. With many variations having been applied to the Stratocaster over the past six decades, new reproductions of classic historical models are launched regularly. Recent times have seen a vogue for “age-worn” guitars—brand new instruments that have been cosmetically treated to look as if they’ve endured fifty years of wear and tear. And beginning, appropriately enough, with Eric Clapton in 1988, every noted Stratocaster player seems to have been honored with a signature model.

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The Fender Visitor Center in Scottsdale, Arizona

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CHAPTER 1 | GETTING TO KNOW THE STRATOCASTER

STRATOCASTER TIMELINE Familiar brand names from the guitar world, such Fender Electric Instrument Company founded (1946)

Leo Fender born (1909)

as Gibson, Martin, Epiphone, and Gretsch, all had long, distinguished backgrounds in musical instrument manufacture. Fender only came into existence in 1946, yet within a decade had created

Fender Radio Service shop opens (1938)

K&F electric lap steel (1945)

the first mass-produced solidbody electric guitars and single-handedly popularized the electric bass. K&F was Leo Fender’s first musical instrument brand, jointly owned with Clayton “Doc” Kaufman.

Gradual transition from ash to alder body. Neck profile changes from “V” to “D” shape.

The classic Stratocaster sunburst finish.

Alder body, three-tone sunburst finish, and new neck profile (1957)

Leo Fender sells out to Columbia Broadcast Systems (1965)

Buddy Holly appears on Ed Sullivan (1957) Buddy Holly was the first major pop star to be associated with the Stratocaster.

Stratocaster “CBS” headstock introduced (1966)

Jimi Hendrix appears at the Monterrey and Woodstock festivals (1967)

Rosewood Fingerboard (1959)

Jimi Hendrix gives two legendary festival performances, establishing himself as the greatest musician of his generation, and the Stratocaster as the instrument of choice for many rock guitarists.

Rosewood fingerboard glued to the maple neck.

The formation of FMIC saw Fender move from Fullerton to Corona, California.

Fender Japan and Squier brand established (1982)

Strat Elite (1983)

“Dan Smith” Stratocaster (1983)

Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (FMIC) founded (1985)

American Standard Model (1986)

Fender Custom Shop (1987)

Eric Clapton Signature Model (1988) The new basic Strat of the post-CBS era.

Transitional Strat at the end of the CBS era given reworking by Dan Smith, including “two-knob electrics” (single tone control) and output socket built into scratchplate.

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Fender’s first signature Stratocaster.

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STRATOCASTER TIMELINE

First true solidbody electric guitar, and an influence on Fender’s early designs.

Designed by Leo Fender and George Fullerton, the Broadcaster becomes the first mass-produced solidbody electric guitar.

Bigsby Merle Travis (c.1947)

The Stratocaster was officially launched on May 15, 1954.

Fender Broadcaster (1950)

George Fullerton joins Fender (1947)

19

Fender Stratocaster (1954)

Custom colors introduced (1956)

Fender Precision Bass guitar (1951) The first mass-produced electric bass guitar, the radical two-horn body shape of the Precision would influence the design of the Stratocaster.

Custom colors were supplied from DuPont’s automobile paint range.

Fullerton codesigns all of Fender’s early guitars. In 1979 he and Fender found G&L Musical Instruments—the name stands for “George and Leo.”

CBS recruited Schultz to head up Fender; four years later he would lead an employee-leveraged buyout of Fender, turning the fortunes of the company around.

The original Klusons are replaced by “F” tuners, made for Fender by Schaller. Post-1968 Strat with tougher, easier-to-apply polyurethane finish.

Fender “F” Tuners (1967)

Polyurethane replaces nitrocellulose lacquer (1968)

Three-way switch adapted for five positions.

25th Anniversary Stratocaster (1979)

Three-bolt neckplate and bullet truss rod (1971) The three-bolt neck also featured a neck-tilt adjustment.

Bill Schultz appointed President of Fender (1981)

Five-way pickup switching (1977)

The “bullet” positioned behind the nut enabled the truss rod to be adjusted without having to remove the scratchplate.

Although presented as Fender’s first limited edition Stratocaster, almost 10,000 Anniversary models were produced.

American Standard fitted with Roland’s VG tone modeling software. Fender produced a solidbody 12-string in the 1960s (the Fender XII), but this was the first 12-string Strat. Natural finish, with surf-board-inspired design.

Stratocaster XII (1988)

Stevie Ray Vaughan Signature Model (1992)

VG Stratocaster (2007)

Squier USB Stratocaster (2014)

American Deluxe Stratocaster (2004)

Stratocaster Ultra (1990)

Upgrade to original Deluxe range from 1998, with options for body wood, hardware, and finish.

Top-of-the-range HSS production Strat.

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American Longboard Stratocaster (2015)

HSS design fitted with USB socket for direct connection to computer, tablet, or smartphone.

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CHAPTER 1 | GETTING TO KNOW THE STRATOCASTER

GALLERY OF STRATS

STRATOCASTER (1954)

The Fender Stratocaster appears to have changed little since its launch in 1954. Yet it has seen a number of evolutionary phases, most notably when Fender was owned by CBS—the so-called “Tiffany Network.” Here is a selection of Strats from over sixty years of continuous production.

Maple fingerboard finished with

The Fender Stratocaster came into being as a deluxe sibling

nitrocellulose lacquer

to the earlier Telecaster. As the first solidbody electric guitar to be produced in any large quantity, Leo Fender all but created a brand new market. He and George Fullerton had always intended the Tele to be a no-frills instrument for the working musician—and to this day, the simplicity of its

Two-tone sunburst finish

design, not to mention its unique sound, remain compelling reasons for its enduring popularity. Taking on board criticisms he received from his most valued professional customers, and concerned that more established names in the instrument world—notably Gibson and Gretsch—were cautiously bringing out their own takes on the solidbody electric guitar, Fender clearly realized that even though the Telecaster was establishing itself in its own right, he also needed to come up with something new and luxurious. In 1951, Fender launched the Precision Bass. Although he couldn’t lay claim to having conceived the idea of converting the bass, traditionally a part of the violin family of instruments, into an elongated electric guitar—that honor went to Paul Tutmarc and his 1935 Audiovox Model 736 “bass fiddle”—Leo Fender was the first to mass-produce and successfully market such an instrument. The Precision Bass was revolutionary, both in the speed with which it was adopted and its own radical stylings, such as the asymmetrical horns which gave the instrument both comfort and balance and also looked very cool. Fender and Fullerton took the essential shape of the Precision Bass and reduced it in size, bringing it in line with the 251/2-inch (64.77cm) scale length of the Telecaster. To emphasize that this was a deluxe model it was given an extra pickup (another first) and, contrasting the stark flat-slab design of the Tele, it was given smooth, rounded curves, and what Fender described as a “Comfort Contour Body.” The Fender Stratocaster was born. Although, the Stratocaster has been through an assortment of changes, more than six decades later the essential design of the guitar remains unaltered.

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“Comfort Contour Body” The 1954 Fender Stratocaster features a two-tone sunburst body cut from a slab of ash with a maple neck and fingerboard and nitrocellulose finish. There are three single-coil pickups, with the bridge pickup angled for a brighter treble sound. There is a single volume control and a pair of tone controls, the top for the neck pickup, the bottom for the center pickup—the neck pickup has no tone control.

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GALLERY OF STRATS

STRATOCASTER (1959)

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“RORY GALLAGHER” (1961)

Kluson tuners

Rosewood fingerboard introduced in 1959

Three-tone

Fiesta Red

sunburst finish

body finish

By 1959 the majority of Stratocaster bodies were

This 1961 Stratocaster was bought brand new by

being cut from alder and were being offered in

Irish blues guitarist Rory Gallagher and used

custom paint finishes, such as Fiesta Red. The Strat

throughout his career until his death in 1995. The

had also undergone a number of refinements, such

guitar’s dramatically worn appearance was not a

as the neck contour, altered from the original ”V”

result of misuse but was caused by Gallagher’s

shape to the thinner “D” shape, the introduction of

unusually acidic sweat, apparently a result of his

the famous three-tone sunburst finish, and the

rare blood type. Over three decades, the guitar

option of a rosewood fingerboard.

regularly underwent extensive maintenance.

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CHAPTER 1 | GETTING TO KNOW THE STRATOCASTER

“ROCKY” (1964)

“CBS” STRATOCASTER (1973)

Oversized 1970s Strat headstock

Harrison named his guitar “Rocky”

Polyurethane

Original Sonic

finish on body

Blue finish visible around the edges

Three-bolt neck fixing

The most famous celebrity guitar of them all,

In 1965 Leo Fender sold the company he had created

George Harrison acquired his Sonic Blue Stratocaster

to the CBS corporation for thirteen million dollars.

in 1965 during the recording of the Beatles’ Rubber

By the 1970s cost-cutting had resulted in some

Soul album. In April 1967, Harrison took some glow-

significant changes to the way the Stratocaster was

in-the-dark paints and a few bottles of his wife’s

built. The year 1971 saw the introduction of the

nail polish and gave his Strat the ultimate

three-bolt neck fixing (reduced from four), the

psychedelic overhaul. “Rocky” was born!

bullet truss rod, and the enlarged headstock.

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GALLERY OF STRATS

FENDER SQUIER (1982)

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ERIC CLAPTON (1988)

Squier logo

V-shaped neck profile

Lace pickups

Five-way pickup switch

In 1982 Fender Japan was launched, building

For its first true signature model, Fender went to

guitars at the same factory that had formerly

the top of the Stratocaster table. Eric Clapton

made the well-regarded Greco Strat copies.

specified a V-shaped neck similar to his Martin

Fender used the brand name Squier, which it

acoustic, as well as what he described as a

had acquired many years earlier, shortly after

“compressed” pickup sound—which was created

the CBS takeover. These first Japanese models

with active tone control circuitry. (See page 143

were branded “Fender Squier” on the headstock.

for more details on this modification.)

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CHAPTER 1 | GETTING TO KNOW THE STRATOCASTER

STRATOCASTER XII (1988)

STRATOCASTER ULTRA (1991)

Six-a-side tuners

Ebony fingerboard

Lace Red pickups—fitted as Small dot

a humbucker at

inlays

the bridge

Fender produced a solidbody 12-string electric

Fender launched the Stratocaster Plus range in 1987

model during the second half of the 1960s, but it

as an upgrade to the American Standard model. The

was not until 1985 that a dedicated 12-string

Ultra was at the top of the range, kitted out with

Stratocaster first appeared. Built in Japan, available

many features found on the “Superstrats” of the

only with a rosewood fingerboard, it remained in

period. It has a dual Red Lace pickup at the bridge

production until 1996. It was given a reissue from

and active tone circuitry. It was the first post-CBS

2005–2009 with a pao ferro fingerboard.

Fender guitar to feature an ebony fingerboard.

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GALLERY OF STRATS

STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN (1992)

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HELLECASTER (1997)

Reverse-Strat headstock

Seymour Duncan split-coil, humcancelling pickups Left-handed vibrato

Launched in 1992, two years after his death in a

Built in Japan, the Hellecaster Strat is John

helicopter crash, the Stevie Ray Vaughan

Jorgenson’s signature model and is named after his

signature model is based on his famous “Number

band. With an enlarged Strat body and a striking

One” Strat—albeit without the extensive wear

reverse 1970s-style headstock, it also features three

and tear. Still one of Fender’s most popular

split-coil hum-cancelling pickups, and a switching

signature models, it features the guitarist’s

system allowing seven tone variations (see page

distinctive logo and choice of vibrato.

148–149 for this modification).

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CHAPTER 1 | GETTING TO KNOW THE STRATOCASTER

AMERICAN DELUXE QMT (2004)

JIM ROOT (2010)

Fender LSR roller nut

No fret markers

EMG soapbar

Fender DH-1

humbuckers

coverless humbucker

Fender introduced the American Deluxe series as a

The signature Stratocaster of former Slipknot

replacement for the Ultra range in 1998. The 2004

guitarist Jim Root is a visually spartan instrument

QMT model has a number of features unusual to

but has some powerful features. The traditional

stock Stratocasters—not least the attractive figured

three single-coils are replaced with a pair of active

maple top. It has a coverless humbucker at the

soapbar humbuckers. Tone controls are dispensed

bridge, a single push-switch tone control, a roller

with altogether, leaving only a single volume pot

nut, and locking tuners.

and three-way switch on the scratchplate.

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GALLERY OF STRATS

SQUIER MODIFIED SURF (2012)

AMERICAN LONGBOARD (2015)

Seymour Duncan

Natural

Danelectro-style

hand-rubbed

”lipstick case”

oil finish

pickups

Recent years have seen Squier showing itself to

Unsurprisingly, given its name, this limited-edition

be more than just a diffusion range. As the name

HSS Stratocaster has a look inspired by vintage

suggests, the Vintage Modified Surf Stratocaster

surfboard laminate designs. To show off the

goes for an early 1960s vibe, with the use of three

sumptuous woodwork, the scratchplate is

lipstick case–style pickups, clearly modeled on

abandoned, so the pickups and electrics are rear-

those built by Nathan Daniel for his Danelectro

mounted with a clear back cover, making them

guitars from the 1950s.

visible only from the back.

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ANATOMY OF A STRATOCASTER While there may be small variations between different models, the exploded view shown here shows the basic make-up of a Stratocaster—which remains pretty much the same as when it first appeared in 1954. In fact there is a surprisingly small number of components—less than 160 in all—that combine to make up a Fender Stratocaster.

Neckplate and screws

Vibrato arm

Strap buttons

Body Bridge/Tremolo cavity

Neck pocket

Tremolo/Bridge unit

Output socket

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ANATOMY OF A STRATOCASTER

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Headstock

Truss rod adjustment

String tree

Fingerboard Strings Fret Nut

Tuners

Fret markers

Neck

Knobs

Pickups

Pickup covers

Scratchplate

Potentiometers Scratchplate screws

Capacitor

Switch

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CHAPTER 1 | GETTING TO KNOW THE STRATOCASTER

HOW YOUR STRATOCASTER WORKS Electric guitars are essentially simple pieces of technology. Over the next few pages we’ll take a look at some of the underlying scientific principles behind the way a Stratocaster—or any other electric guitar— works. Don’t worry, it’s nothing too taxing!

FIRST PRINCIPLES The heritage of all stringed instruments can be traced back to the musical bow, pictorial evidence of which has been found in cave paintings in France dating back more than fifteen thousand years. Similar in design to a hunting bow, it featured a string made from animal intestines stretched tightly between the ends of a curved piece of wood, cut from the branch of a tree. The string would have been plucked by the fingers or struck with a piece of wood or stone. By holding down the string along the length of the bow, different pitches could be played. This is the basic principle governing the way all guitars work.

AUDIO FREQUENCIES Whenever a tightened string is struck, the specific pitch of the note you hear is determined by the frequency at which it vibrates. This is known as the note’s fundamental. If you shorten the length of that string, or increase the tension, the frequency will be increased, raising the pitch of the note. Conversely, if the string is lengthened or slackened, the frequency/pitch of the note you hear will be lowered. (This

Variations on the musical bow are still widely used in traditional music across the globe.

rule for waves can be expressed as v = lf where “v” is the speed, “l” (lambda) is the wavelength, and “f” is

Wave A

the frequency.) In the West, we have a specific relationship between these which is referred to as Concert Pitch. This defines the note A below Middle C (sometimes called “Middle A” or “A4”) as a frequency of 440 hertz (Hz)—in other words, a vibration of 440 times per second.

Amplitude

frequencies and the names we give to the notes from A to G,

If we look at the two sets of sine waves on the right, which give a visual representation of two vibrating strings

Time

when measured with an oscilloscope, we can further see the

Wave B

nature of the relationship between frequencies and pitch. 440 Hz. Wave B shows exactly twice as many peaks and troughs, meaning that it vibrates at twice the frequency (880 Hz). This creates a pitch exactly one octave higher (A5). The vertical axes show amplitude (loudness) of the wave. All of the diatonic notes within an octave, that’s every half-step—or for each guitar string, every note played on

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Amplitude

Let’s say that Wave A shows “Middle A”—a frequency of

Time

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HOW YOUR STRATOCASTER WORKS

every fret from the open string up to the 12th fret—will

Note

Frequency

7

E

164.8 Hz

116.5 Hz

8

F

174.6 Hz

B

123.5 Hz

9

G b/F#

185 Hz

3

C

130.8 Hz

10

G

196 Hz

4

D b/C#

138.6 Hz

11

A b/G#

207.6 Hz

between the source of the sound and our ears. When the

5

D

146.8 Hz

12

A

220 Hz

string is plucked it disturbs the surrounding air, causing the

6

E b/D#

155.6 Hz

have a specific mathematical relationship with one another. The table on the right shows the frequency of every note on every fret of the A string (the fifth string from the top) on any correctly tuned guitar: as you can see, the A on the 12th fret (A3) is double the frequency of open A (A2).

HEARING THE SOUND So when you make a string vibrate, why do you hear a sound? All sounds reach us through the displacement of air

displacement of molecules. This causes adjacent molecules

Fret

Note

Frequency Fret

0

A

110 Hz

1

B b/A#

2

to be disturbed until the energy created by the initial

to be connected to some kind of soundboard, a larger object

displacement has dissipated—the energy eventually decays to

that also vibrates when the string is plucked. (You can hear

zero, losing a small amount as it is transferred between each

this effect by comparing the volume of an elastic band being

molecule. We perceive this energy as volume. So the reason

twanged between two fingers and when one end is held

why a musical bow can only be heard from close proximity

against a resonating surface like a wooden table.)

is that it can only displace a small amount of the surrounding air. To make a string displace more molecules it would need

31

Acoustic guitars achieve this volume enhancement using a sound chamber, which takes the form of the hollow wooden

THE STRAT AND ITS WOODS Every part of a guitar will in some respect contribute

an attractive grain that looks beautiful under a

to its tonal characteristics. On an acoustic guitar it’s

translucent finish.

clear that these qualities are mainly down to the

Basswood is sometimes sneered at by traditional

tonewoods selected and the way the instrument is

Strat fans but has always been the main body

constructed. For a solidbody electric guitar, however,

material used in Superstrats. It is light, colorless, but

this aspect becomes much less significant than the

relatively soft, and so can dent easily. Tonally it has

combination of pickups and amplifier used. Precisely

warm sound with a powerful mid-range.

how much, however, remains a matter of debate. The body of a Fender Stratocaster was originally built from ash, before the more familiar alder came into use towards the end of the 1950s. Whilst this

Maple is a hard and heavy wood used on almost all Stratocaster necks. Fans of integral maple fingerboards favor the strong top end in particular. Rosewood is a highly prized and expensive

is still largely the case, some modern Strats can also

tonewood. When used as a fingerboard on a maple

be found in swamp ash or basswood. Stratocaster

neck it creates a warmer, sweeter sound.

necks are either integral maple, or maple with a glued-on rosewood fingerboard. Here is a brief rundown of the tonal qualities associated with each of these woods. Alder is particularly associated with Fender guitars. It is light in weight and produces a warm,

Now, it’s probably fair to say that in a blind listening test only a tiny minority of players would genuinely be able to tell one from another, and even then those differences would more likely be down to factors other than wood—such as the pickups. Another debated issue is that of multi-wood

mellow tone with strong highs well suited to the

bodies. Few Stratocasters have been built from

Strat’s single coils.

a single piece of wood, but instead from a slab

Ash produces a bright, twangy tone and,

composed from between two and five pieces. In

arguably, better sustain than alder. Swamp ash,

spite of what some might claim there is really no

native to the Southern states of America has

tonal issue with bodies produced in this way.

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CHAPTER 1 | GETTING TO KNOW THE STRATOCASTER

body. The string vibrates between the nut and the bridge

A magnetic pickup is a very simple device, comprising

saddle which causes the sound chamber to vibrate, disturbing

a set of small magnets (or one large bar magnet) wrapped

the air molecules inside the body. Since the whole of the

up many thousands of times by a coil of fine copper wire.

guitar vibrates to a greater or lesser degree, this is how the

(A pickup is, in fact, quite straightforward for anyone to

specific properties of different types of wood can affect the

build.) This describes a single-coil pickup, the type found on

sound—different timbers, for example, absorbing different

Fender Stratocasters. The two ends of the copper wire are

frequencies—or, indeed, different types of construction.

connected to the output socket of the guitar—usually via a simple volume and tone circuit—which is then connected via

MAGNETIC DISTURBANCE

a screened cable to an amplifier and loudspeaker.

The Fender Stratocaster, of course, has no resonant cavity,

To return to some elementary physics, a magnetic pickup

but has a body made from a slab of wood, and so doesn’t

functions according to Michael Faraday’s Law of Induction,

vibrate to anything like the same degree—this is, after all, the

which looks at the way disturbances applied to a magnetic

whole point of the solidbody electric guitar. So for it to be

field can cause current to flow in wires; in other words, how

heard it must be amplified electronically. And the best way to

changing a magnetic field creates voltage.

do that is to use a magnetic pickup.

The pickup is positioned directly beneath the strings of the

Although the principles of electromagnetism had been

guitar. To have any impact on the pickups, these strings must

known since the 1830s, it was not until the beginning of

be made from a ferromagnetic material, such as nickel or

the twentieth century that the first audio amplification was

steel—that is, they must be attracted to magnets. When the

developed. Engineer Lloyd Loar is widely credited as having

strings are struck the vibration disturbs the magnetic field,

pioneered the concept of the magnetic pickup in 1924 while

inducing an alternating current that runs through the coil of

working for Gibson, but it wasn’t until the following decade

copper wire and is passed along through the amplifier and

that such an idea would be commercially applied to a guitar.

made audible by the loudspeaker.

PICKUP POSITIONING

First Harmonic

Although the Stratocaster features three similar single-coil pickups, you will notice that they all have different tonal characteristics. Why is this? To give a satisfactory answer we need to look more closely at the behavior of strings as they

Second Harmonic

vibrate. If we take a practical example of a string vibrating between two points—the nut and the bridge saddle—the pitch of the note we perceive is the fundamental. However, the sound is a combination of a number of other waves

Third Harmonic

called harmonic modes, and these vibrate at equal divisions of the fundamental at increasingly higher frequencies. In fact, the fundamental can also be termed the first harmonic; the second harmonic, divides the fundamental by two; the third harmonic by three, and so forth.

Fourth Harmonic

This can best be illustrated by looking at a standing wave pattern on the right, which shows the way in which waves move, and their points of minimum and maximum movement. The black dots represent the minimum movement—the points at which the string does not move at all—and are called nodes; the red dots show the point of

Pickup A

Pickup B

maximum movement—the antinodes. In this example, even using only the first four harmonics, you can already see that

This is, of course, a very artificial example, made to illustrate

the composition is very different at the points along the string

the complex makeup of a vibrating string and the way the

at which pickups A and B are positioned—the second and

tone changes at different points along the string according to

fourth harmonics are not vibrating at all above pickup A.

the alignment of nodes and antinodes.

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HOW YOUR STRATOCASTER WORKS

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STRATOCASTER PICKUP HISTORY Although the types of wood used and the

The pickups were originally dipped in molten

construction of the instrument play a critical role

wax to solidify the windings—loose coil windings

in the sound characteristics of an acoustic guitar,

can create a nasty squealing sound known as

they have a far more subtle influence on the tone

“microphony.” During the CBS era this practice was

of a solidbody electric model. The greatest single

ended—although by this time winding methods had

factor impacting the sound of a solidbody electric

improved so this was less of a problem.

is the pickup. (And if you retrofit a humbucker

Pre-CBS, a typical Strat pickup would feature at

at the bridge of your Strat, you’ll hear just how

least eight thousand windings. Since there was no

fundamental the original single-coil is to the

way of accurately monitoring the number of winds,

characteristic Stratocaster sound.)

this was largely a matter of human discretion, and so

The differences between any two pickup designs

there can be noticeable differences in tone between

are largely down to the types of magnet used, the

any two pickups. By the 1970s, the windings applied

number of times the copper wire is wound around

had been reduced. As a rule of thumb, a greater

those magnets, and how tightly it’s wound.

number of windings will result in a fatter tone.

The original Strat pickups featured magnets made

Nowadays it’s the more expensive Strats that

from an aluminum/nickel/cobalt composite called

feature alnico V magnets; from the 1990s, cheaper

alnico. Standard strength for an alnico magnet is

ceramic magnets were used in the pickups found on

“V” (as in five), but lower strength alnico “II” (two)

Squiers and some Mexican Fenders. These tend to

magnets were also used on some 1950s models—

have a thicker midrange sound, but lose definition—

these create less of magnetic pull on the strings and

although they have their fans, they’re less effective

have a mellower sound.

for players looking for a classic Strat sound.

Alnico V pickup from a 1960s Strat

Ceramic pickup from modern Mexican Strat

When it comes to pickup placement, as a general rule,

neck pickup is positioned directly beneath the node of the

we can say that the closer the pickup is positioned to the

fourth harmonic, meaning that fourth harmonic does not

antinode of the first harmonic, the warmer the sound will be;

sound at all when only that pickup is selected. Furthermore,

the closer it is to the node of the first harmonic, the brighter

when the bridge and middle pickup are selected together,

the sound will be—and this is the classic difference between

each plays the fifth harmonic at the same point but out of

the sound produced by the bridge and neck pickups.

phase with the other. Of course, Fender deliberately slanted

It’s more than likely that, after experimentation, Leo

the bridge pickup so that the sound from the lower strings

Fender and his colleagues positioned the pickups on the

came from a point further away from the node, thus creating

Stratocaster where they created the most pleasing tone.

a warmer bass end.

Yet if we look at their placement in tandem with the string harmonics, we see some interesting things happening. The

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All of these factors contribute to the unique sound of the Fender Stratocaster.

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2 BASIC CARE This section of the book covers the most fundamental aspects of looking after your guitar—think of it as “Stratocaster 101.” It covers the basic tools and techniques required to keep your instrument in the best possible playing condition, such as stringing, tuning, cleaning, storage, and transportation.

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CHAPTER 2 | BASIC CARE

TOOLS FOR THE JOB To follow the methods covered throughout the book for maintaining, repairing, and modifying your Strat, we’re really not expecting you to have a fully kitted-out workshop with a drill rig, band saw, or professional router. There are, however, a small number of critical tools and materials that you will need, although many of them can be found in home toolkits anyway. There isn’t a huge amount of guitarspecific equipment, though—not much more than a few hex keys and a neck radius gauge. If you’re planning to take on electrical mods you’ll need some rudimentary soldering equipment, although nothing so arcane that it couldn’t be found in most hardware stores.

WIRE CUTTERS, PLIERS for stripping

SCREWDRIVERS AND SOCKETS

CHISEL for removal of frets and very

wires, cutting strings, and removing frets

selection for general use

basic routing

RAZOR SAW used in cutting string slots

HEX KEY SET selection for bridge and

RADIUS GAUGE for matching bridge

in a nut

vibrato adjustment (metric and imperial)

saddle height to fingerboard contour

ROTARY TOOL with drill, router,

TWEEZERS for general uses such as

NEEDLE FILES for filing fret tops, edges,

grinding and cutting attachments

retrieving lost screws or holding wires

and for general use

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TOOLS FOR THE JOB

WIRE WOOL/SANDPAPER for cleaning

AUTO FEELER GAUGE for measuring

SOLDERING KIT with iron, base, solder,

wood and metal

string and pickup heights

solder sucker, and “third hand”

MULTIMETER for measuring component

STRING WINDER for speedier rotation of

ELECTRONIC TUNER for tuning (and

values and checking connections

tuners, and installation of strings

maintaining tuning) of your Strat

CLAMPS for holding parts in position

SMALL STEEL RULE for general use and

WOOD GLUE for general use, not only

during maintenance or when drying

for checking fret height

with wood, but also with frets and nuts

SPECIALIST CLEANING PRODUCTS for

LUBRICANT/NAPTHA for oiling and

PRESSURE-SENSITIVE ADHESIVE for

untreated rosewood fingerboards

cleaning uses

temporary positioning of parts

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CHAPTER 2 | BASIC CARE

SHOULD I? (OR SHOULDN’T I?) One of the great things about the Stratocaster is that its

LEAVING IT TO THE PROFESSIONALS

modular design means that—short of sawing or

As much as it pains us to say it, some aspects of guitar

chiseling chunks out of the body to create a modified

maintenance really are best left to the experts. Twisted

shape, or filing down the frets to an insane degree—

fingerboards and broken headstocks require serious

pretty well anything you attempt that doesn’t work out

surgery as well as specialist tools and equipment. And

can be put right without too much trouble or expense.

while we do cover replacing the odd worn out fret, a

This book sets out to be as non-proscriptive as possible,

total refretting job (which you could do by repeating the

but if you have little experience of guitar maintenance,

steps for all of the frets) probably isn’t worth the time,

before you take on a big job, read it thoroughly before

trouble, and frustration it will take you.

deciding your own level of comfort. Here is a brief outline of the areas we will be covering:

Another area we touch upon only briefly is that of cosmetics. Many guitarists are actually quite proud of their “battle scars,” so the odd ding here and there is

BASIC MAINTENANCE (Chapter 2)

usually of no major concern, but we do have a few quick

This means everything you ought to be doing regularly

fixes you can try out if this kind of thing does bother

to maintain your Strat in peak condition.

you. On the other hand, resprays, refinishes, and custom paint jobs are a different matter. There may be a noble

ADVANCED MAINTENANCE/REPAIRS (Chapter 3)

tradition of taking household paints, enamels, nail

This covers methods for improving your Strat and

varnishes and other decorative substances to a Strat—as

getting it to work in the way that best suits your

proven by the like of George Harrison, Eddie Van Halen,

playing style. Some of the more advanced adjustments,

and Tom Morello—but these tend to be personal

such as replacing the nut, are traditionally handled by

statements rather than fine works of craftsmanship. It

professionals, but with care anybody should be able to

can be great fun to create an absolutely unique Strat

do a straightforward like-for-like replacement—even if

among that endless sea of sunburst bodies, but if you’re

cutting a new nut from bone (see page 92) might be a

attempting to achieve a factory-standard professional

step too far for the faint-hearted.

finish then specialized spraying and buffing tools are a

MODIFICATIONS (Chapter 4)

well-ventilated workspace, especially if you’re using

We make no excuses for the fact that this chapter takes

potentially toxic nitrocellulose sprays.

necessity—not to mention having a safe,

up nearly a quarter of the book. The pickups and the components hidden away beneath the scratchplate are

TOOLS OF THE TRADE OR AN INVESTMENT?

what really creates the Strat’s characteristic sound. This

You should also take into account the type of Strat you

chapter is all about ”modding,” finding ways of

own, and what it actually means to you. We love Squier

adapting this sound through altering the pickups and

Strats here, and one of the reasons for that is if you work

components, adding switches and pots, or by rewiring

through the techniques in this book, it’s quite possible to

different aspects of the circuitry.

turn a modest Squier into a really cool instrument in its

Some of this is quite tricky stuff, and it will require

own right, and their relative cheapness allows them to

you to develop at least some basic soldering skills.

be used for the low-risk sandboxing of ideas that could

Although we’ve tried to explain a little about the way

later be applied to more expensive Fenders. Of course, a

each component works and what it does in the context

vintage pre-CBS Strat can now be worth tens of

of the guitar, it’s not strictly necessary for you to

thousands of dollars, and we’d be guilty of hypocrisy if

understand it. There are no mysterious circuit diagrams

we claimed anything other than treating such an

to follow, just photographs and easy-to-follow, colored

instrument with the greatest of care. Chapters 2 and 3

schematic charts. And if you really don’t fancy doing the

(and much of chapter 4) are still fine to follow, but while

soldering yourself, then you can always select the type

applying invasive mods to a 1957 Strat might produce a

of modification you prefer and have the work done at

better, more interesting guitar, it will also seriously

your local repair shop.

damage a major investment.

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TOOLS FOR THE JOB

39

YOUR GIG TOOLBAG It’s one thing having guitar maintenance equipment in your home workshop (or “kitchen” as many of us call them), but there is also a small core of tools which every performing guitarist should take along to every gig. It’s possible to buy ready assembled kits (see right), but these really only cover the bare essentials. Here is quite a personalized checklist. At first it might seem over-the-top but it’s always good to be prepared, and the items will all fit snugly into a standard twelve-inch canvas tool bag (see below). The aim is to accommodate the kinds of minor problem that might emerge while you’re out, like broken strings, rattling parts, or poor connections. Some may feel that taking a medical kit, spare strap, and soldering gear along to a gig shifts into the realm of madness—but, as they say, once a boy

Groovetech guitar tool kit

scout, always a boy scout. (And your band colleagues will love you!)

•

Spare set of strings Always take at least one spare

set of your preferred gauge—and if there’s one size that you break more frequently, also keep a decent supply of “singles.”

• Wire cutters • String winder • Long nose pliers (or multitool) • Crosshead screwdrivers (medium and small) • Flathead screwdrivers (medium and small)

• Set of hex keys and sockets • Thick marker pen • Spare mains fuses for electrical gear • International mains plug converter • Nail clippers/nail file • Batteries If you use battery-powered effects pedals

always keep a supply of 9V PP3s. (It’s not a bad idea to keep a few AA sized batteries in your bag as well.)

• Gaffer tape

Always keep a reel handy for securing loose

cables around your amplifier.

• Electric tuner • Four-way power strip

This is a terribly useful item to

take along to gigs, where there are often a surprising lack of power outlets.

• Supply of picks Always carry a dozen or so in your bag. You will lose them!

• Spare strap • Spare cable • Small soldering iron and solder A small battery powered 12W soldering iron will be powerful enough to resolder an output socket if necessary.

• Small flash light Stages are often poorly lit. You can also use your smartphone.

A twelve-inch canvas tool bag makes a neat gig bag.

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• Thick marker pen • Capo/eBow • Smartphone (and charger) • Headache medicine and bandages • Contact cards • Energy bar/energy drink

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CHAPTER 2 | BASIC CARE

THE STATE OF YOUR STRAT

HARMONICS AT THE OCTAVE To check intonation, compare the harmonic to the fretted note one octave up from the open strings.

Before we do anything else we need to assess the

The raised octave is exactly halfway between the

existing condition of your Strat. If you have a

points where the string touches both the nut at the

brand new off-the-shelf instrument then you

headstock and the saddle at the bridge. To play a harmonic, rest your finger on the string (but don’t

shouldn’t have too many basic problems—even if

push it down against the fret), and release it just as

the factory set-up is not to your liking. Equally,

you strike the string with the other hand. This will

you can use these pointers as a checklist if you’re considering buying a used Strat.

create a sustaining bell-like tone: while it rings, press the string down onto the 12th fret and strike it again; the two notes should have exactly the same pitch. If they are not, the bridge needs

PUT IT THROUGH ITS PACES

adjusting. (See pages 54–58.)

Begin by spending a few minutes just playing the guitar, giving yourself a feel for the condition of the fingerboard. Check the action and the intonation. The action refers to the height of the strings above the frets: too high and the guitar may be difficult to play; too low and the notes may not play cleanly, or make a buzzing sound where they touch against frets higher up the neck. This can generally be sorted out at the bridge. Another factor that can affect the action is the curvature—or relief—of the neck. We’ll look at this in more detail shortly. The intonation refers to how well the guitar remains in tune along the fingerboard. The easy check here is to play a 12th fret harmonic and compare the pitch to the note you get

paintwork this can provide clues of further underlaying

from holding the string down on the 12th fret: if the fretted

damage. You can do this most effectively under a bright

note is flat then the string needs to be shortened at the bridge.

light—even more so if you have a craft/electronics magnifying glass light that lets you see the surface in greater detail.

OVERALL CONDITION

Stratocasters are far more robust than many guitars. From

Almost any older instrument will have gained a few scratches

the late 1960s they have been finished in a very hardy

and dings. But if you carefully check out the woodwork and

polyurethane, so if the paintwork shows signs of heavy marking and chipping then it’s possible that the guitar has taken a hammering in the past! Look out in particular for cracks around the neck joint. The bottom line, though, is that there is almost nothing on a Strat that can’t be fixed. FLAT NECK The condition of the neck is the single most important factor governing your Strat’s playability. There are two different aspects to consider here: the “flatness” of the fingerboard, and the “straightness” of the neck. It’s criticalcthat the neck and fingerboard are not “in twist.” This means that if you hold the guitar at eye level, flat on its back and with the body facing you, the end of the near end of the neck (closest to the body) and the point where the

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THE STATE OF YOUR STRAT

Checking for a twisted fingerboard

41

A perfectly level Stratocaster fingerboard

neck touches the nut, should be close to parallel when lined up. There’s no strict measurement to be made here, but if you are aware of a noticeable angle, then the guitar may well prove difficult to set up, since compensating for the problem will require a different action across the six strings.

Straight neck

It may be possible to compensate by filing the frets so that they, at least, are in alignment, but the only real solution would be to remove all of the frets and work on leveling the fingerboard before refretting. And this is just about the most

Upward relief

difficult repair job a Strat could ever face, and most definitely one for the professionals. To be perfectly honest, if your Strat is not a vintage model—which nowadays probably means that it hails from before 1980—it will be cheaper and easier simply to buy and fit a new neck. (See page 84.)

Back-bow

STRAIGHT NECK Contrary to popular belief, a guitar neck should not necessarily be perfectly straight along the edge. When the strings are attached to a guitar, a severe tension is exerted on the neck that would, over time, naturally result in an amount of upward curvature, centered somewhere around the 6th to 9th frets. To compensate for this in a controlled way, for many decades now, guitar necks have been built with an adjustable metal truss rod running through the center, beneath the fingerboard. This invention—credited to a Gibson employee named Thaddeus McHugh in 1921— provides strength to the neck, and a means of adjusting its curvature, or relief.

Checking the neck relief

To check out the current neck relief of your Strat, hold the guitar as if aiming a rifle and look along both edges of the

although it will be harder to hold. You can also check the

neck. You can hold the guitar either way round: if you bring

neck relief by holding a steel ruler directly onto the tops

the headstock up to eye level you will get a clearer view,

of the frets.

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Neck relief is actually a matter of personal preference for the player. Most who understand or care about such things tend to favor a very slight neck relief—a much less exaggerated version of the curve shown in the middle diagram on the previous page. This will enable the lowest action, and at the same time avoid any fret buzz. A completely straight neck is also fine, and is a good place to start for setting up. If your guitar neck has a concave curve, as in the bottom diagram (see page 41), you will suffer fret buzz, a horribly high action, and poor intonation. (If it really is as extreme as in the diagram, then it will be completely unplayable!) If the truss rod is in full working order then this can be fixed with a few turns of the adjustment screw; if not, you’re in trouble—once again, this would entail expert intervention, and a replacement neck would be the most

Fender Robert Cray signature Stratocaster with gentle relief around the 7th fret

expedient solution. (In fact, when buying an older Fender, it’s always a good idea to check out the truss rod screw to make sure that it works properly: on 1950s and 60s Strats this can be found at the heel of the neck and is adjusted with a screwdriver; since the early 1970s, the truss rod adjustment has been done using a hex key behind the nut.) We’ll cover adjusting the truss rod on pages 80–81. FRETS On heavily used guitars the frets may be worn down. Replacing the odd fret is a tricky job, but doesn’t necessarily require expert skills—as you can see for yourself on pages 88–89. Factory-fresh American Fenders should be in a perfect state, but on cheaper Squiers, to reduce costs, less time is

Use a steel ruler to check the frets are level.

spent “dressing” the frets. Here you may notice the fret edges are not as smooth as you’d like, or if you bend a string, the

THE BRIDGE

top of the fret feels slightly rough: an hour with some wire

On vintage Fenders, look out for signs of rusting on the

wool following the tips on pages 84–85 will sort that out.

bridge parts, most of which will be down to player sweat.

KEEPING A RECORD Here’s one for the nerds and anal retentives. Keep a record your guitar’s specification and set-up details. This can help you with your regular maintenance, provide an immediate state-of-play if you are a heavy modder, and even store important information should you be unfortunate enough to have your Strat stolen. These records are especially useful if you have a collection of guitars that are set up in different ways. This example was set up using Microsoft Excel software, but index cards or scraps of paper in a plastic wallet will do the job just as well.

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THE STATE OF YOUR STRAT

If it’s particularly bad and screws are corroded then adjusting

but since cutting the slots in the nut can’t be undone, both

the bridge and tremolo might be difficult.

Fenders and Squiers will tend to be shipped at the maximum

43

acceptable height. THE NUT Over time, the nut—which governs both the height and width

THE TUNERS

of the strings—will wear out, and can be tricky to replace,

Detune and retune all six tuners. If they are too loose they

especially if you cut your own nut from scratch. (See pages

won’t keep your Strat in tune. There’s plenty of advice about

92–93.) Nut adjustments can be a matter of personal taste,

tuners on pages 94–101.

CHECK THE ELECTRICS This final check is to assess the state of the Stratocaster’s electrical components. During this exercise if you hear any unwanted noises—clicks, crackles, or buzzing—there’s a pretty good chance that the problem can be fixed simply by taking an electrical spray to the contact points (see page 114)—although to do that effectively you will have to open up the scratchplate. Plug your Strat into an amplifier and turn the volume and two tone controls up to 10. Perform the following tests: Output socket Jiggle the plug in the socket. If it makes a

crackling noise, or feels loose in the socket, then that’s an indication that the output section will need cleaning, or possibly even replacing. (See page 120.) Volume control Turn the volume control down to 0 and then

back up to 10. Repeat this several times. If you hear crackling noises as the knob rotates then there is some kind of contact problem between the wiper and the carbon ring inside. Nine times out of ten, contact cleaner will sort this out, but if the ring is physically damaged then you may need to replace the

1

2

3

4

5

(Switch positions)

pot. (See page 126.) Tone control Instructions as for the volume control.

Don’t forget that on a Strat the lower tone control only works for the center pickup, so the selector switch needs to be in position 3 (at the center). Similarly, the upper tone control governs the bridge pickup, so switch position 5 must be selected. Pickup selector switch Move the switch quickly back and

forth listening out for audio clicks and pops. If you hear any unwanted noise then the switch needs cleaning or replacing. (See page 132.) Pickup test With the selector switch in position 1, gently tap

all six poles of the bridge pickup with a screwdriver—you should hear a sound each time the tip makes contact. Repeat in switch position 3 with the center pickup, and finally in position 5 with the neck pickup.

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STRINGS AND STRINGING Being able to fit new strings is a basic requirement for any guitarist, but since not all Stratocasters have the same type of tuning mechanism then different methods need to be adopted to suit each system. First, though, let’s look at the various string types that you can use, and how they can Array of strings by D’Addario, Ernie Ball, and Fender

affect your playing tone.

STRING ISSUES Electric guitar strings have to be made from a ferromagnetic material, such as steel, nickel, or another magnetically conductive alloy. Nowadays there is an ever-growing choice of string types, including those with specialized coatings.

Roundwound E string

Here are some of the tonal characteristics of the most widely used string materials. Nickel-Plated Steel The most commonly used on electric

guitars—versatile and balanced. Pure Nickel Vintage style—material used for all electric

guitar strings until the 1960s; warm, with “played in” tone.

Halfwound E string

Stainless Steel Outstanding for a bright, crisp sound. Chrome Warm and resonant tone, popular with jazz players. Titanium Strong with bright tone. Cobalt Bright with wide dynamic range. Flatwound E string

WINDINGS The three bass strings differ from the treble strings in that they are constructed from two pieces of wire, one wrapped

super light” to “extra heavy.” The table across the page gives

tightly around the other. There are three types of string

a broad indication of specific string sizes within each group,

windings, which are shown on the right. The most commonly

although these can vary in the lower strings. Standard sets are

used is roundwound, so called because the winding wire is

usually described in terms of the gauge of the top E string, so

circular. Flatwound strings are made using a ribbon-like

light gauge string sets are commonly referred to as “tens.”

winding, which provides a smooth outer wrap, and so

It’s clear that the lighter the gauge, the easier the string will

reduces finger noise; it creates a mellow tone well suited to

be to press down against the fingerboard or bend. (Nile

jazz. Halfwound (or groundwound) strings represent a

Rodgers famously claimed to be unable even to play Stevie

compromise between the two, taking a roundwound string

Ray Vaughan’s famous “Number One” Strat because the

and smoothing the top of the winding.

strings were “like telephone cables!”) So why would anyone actively choose to play heavier strings? The simple answer is

WHICH STRING GAUGE?

that a trade-off exists between full-bodied tone, sustain, and

A hugely important factor affecting tone is the string gauge,

volume, all of which are improved with heavier gauges. The

which is the thickness of each string measured in thousands

main drawback, however, is that fretting and string bending

of an inch. String sets come in a variety of sizes from “extra

both become that much more difficult—and if your style is to

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45

TIME FOR A CHANGE? How often should guitars strings be changed? There is

attacks the metal surface of the string, and on

no definitive answer to this question. Indeed,

roundwound bass strings skin residue can clog up the

experience suggests that there are plenty of guitarists

gaps between the windings. You can extend the life of

out there who only ever replace a string when it snaps!

your strings considerably by cleaning them after use (see

And this is by no means a “wrong” approach. Some

page 63), but eventually they will wear out.

professional players might have their strings replaced

A related dimension is the loss of elasticity that takes

before every performance, but many others may actively

place in a string, which begins pretty much from the

prefer the sound and playability of strings that have

moment the string is fitted. When you apply a new set

been very well worn in.

of strings the sound will always initially be very bright, but this tone will dull over time. (A scientific explanation

So how exactly do we know when a set of strings has reached the point of no return? If the strings on

is well beyond the scope of this book, but if you do

your Strat are significantly discolored or even corroding,

happen to be interested then the answer lays in Young’s

then you’ll be needing some new ones—even if you

Modulus of Elasticity.) Ultimately, though, it’s all about personal preference,

ignore it, it’s a sure sign that they’re going to snap sooner or later. But this can occur not only through age

and that kind of thing comes only with experience. So

or poor maintenance, but because, as individuals, we all

here’s a simple rule: if your strings no longer sound or

have different levels of acidity in our sweat; this, in turn,

feel as good as they once did, and it bothers you, then

will react at varying rates with the strings. Corrosion

it’s probably time for a change.

STRING GAUGE

E (1)

B (2)

G (3)

D (4)

A (5)

E (6)

Extra Super Light (8–38) (“eights“)

.008

.010

.015

.021

.030

.038

Super Light (9–42) (“nines“)

.009

.011

.016

.024

.032

.042

Light (10–46) (“tens“)

.010

.013

.017

.026

.036

.046

Medium (11–50) (“elevens“)

.011

.014

.018

.028

.038

.050

Heavy (12–54) (“twelves“)

.012

.016

.020

.032

.042

.054

Extra heavy (13–56) (“thirteens“)

.013

.017

.026

.036

.046

.056

bend more than one step it might even be impossible. With that in mind, however, the number of celebrated Strat players

Jeff Beck (early/late)

using the lightest gauges (see right) would seem to suggest

Eric Clapton

Tens

that it’s not necessarily too big a deal. And who ever seriously

Robert Cray

Elevens

complained about Jeff Beck’s tone?

Dick Dale

Sixteens

With experience, some players create their own string sets.

Eights/Elevens

Rory Gallagher

Tens

increase the size of the bass strings. This can give a tighter

Dave Gilmour

Tens

sound to the lower end, and restrict bending, which can be

Jimi Hendrix

Nines

more difficult to control—not to mention preventing string

James Hetfield

Tens/Elevens

Mark Knopfler

Eights

Yngwie Malmsteen

Eights

description) begins with a mighty .016 top E string! Similarly,

Jimmy Page

Eights

players using Robert Fripp-style “new standard tuning”

Kenny Wayne Shepherd

(G-E-A-D-G-C) may require a top E as small as .008 and a

Eddie Van Halen

A common deviation is for extra/super light players to

wobble when using dropped tuning. Other players have such specific requirements that string sets have to be created from scratch. Dick Dale’s set (for which there is no standard

bottom E as large as .056.

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Stevie Ray Vaughan

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Twelves Nines Thirteens

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STRINGING A MODERN STRATOCASTER Most modern Strats are equipped with Fender’s American Standard tuners (or a similar-functioning Squier equivalent). You can tell these apart from earlier vintage Kluson Deluxe or Fender “F” tuners by looking at the string post: American Standard tuners feature a hole in the side of the post; vintage and “F” tuners have a slot at the top. Changing strings can be a fiddly business, and if you’re not careful you can easily end up with all manner of scratches and pricks on your fingers. More significantly, when you’re removing old strings, it’s a sensible idea to wear

American Standard tuners (see above), and a classic

protective goggles, since flying string ends can go all over the

synchronized tremolo bridge. (And we’ll honor Leo Fender by

place, and you really don’t want them going anywhere near

not referring to this throughout the book as a vibrato!)

your eyes.

The only tool you’ll need is a pair of wire cutters, although

Here we’ll look at changing a bottom E string on the most common type of modern Stratocaster—one which has

1

Loosen the string tension by turning the tuner counterclockwise. Take a pair of wire cutters and snip the string

near the nut. Remove the ends with long-nose pliers.

3

Thread the end of the string through the hole in the post and pull it tight. Leaving 2 inches (50.8mm) of slack

beyond the hole, snip the string with a pair of wire cutters.

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a string winder can make the process less tedious and produce neater results. You can pick these up for only a few dollars.

2

Take the new string out of its bag and thread the bare end through from the underside of the body. Pull from

the top side until the ball end prevents it being pulled further.

4

Bring the tip of the string around the front of the tuner's post and back under the string, folding it sharply over,

and forming a loose knot.

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STRINGS AND STRINGING

47

TUNING PROBLEMS Even though it has an in-built tremolo bridge—a

screwdriver clockwise to tighten. Remember, the idea is

mechanism that can be notoriously unreliable on some

to ensure that they are not loose, but not to tighten

types of guitar—when it comes to maintaining its tuning

them until they are difficult to turn.

the Fender Stratocaster is up there with the best. As with any other guitar, if you find yourself struggling to keep your instrument in tune, nine times out of ten the culprit is likely to be the strings—either worn out, incorrectly secured at the tuner, or getting snagged at the nut. If your Stratocaster has American Standard tuners, it's also worth checking out that the buttons on each tuner have not become loose. Take a small slot-head

Button

screwdriver and insert it in each tuner; turn the

5

Before you tighten the knot at the tuner, place your thumb over the slack string on the fingerboard and, with

your index finger, pull until the string is tight.

6

With the string still stretched, turn the tuner's button clockwise with your other hand until the string is tight.

A string winder can save you time here.

ONE OR ALL? There are two schools of thought as to how we ought to go about changing a set of strings: one says remove them all in one go, the other says that it’s better to do it one string at a time. The latter is only really critical to guitars with delicate floating vibrato mechanisms, and so is definitely recommended if your Strat is armed with, say, a Floyd Rose locking system. The regular Fender tremolo unit found on the vast majority of Stratocasters should be sufficiently

7

Snip the end of the string so that only about half an inch

robust to work either way, although on balance we

is protruding. Gently tug the string a few times from the

would recommend changing them one at a time,

center of the fingerboard to help it settle in.

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starting with bottom E.

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CHAPTER 2 | BASIC CARE

STRINGING A HARDTAIL STRAT WITH VINTAGE TUNERS Older standard Strats, and some modern replicas and signature models, use a different kind of tuner. The vintage design has its roots in the Kluson Deluxe tuners used on the original Stratocasters produced until the 1960s. These are characterized by having a slotted post around which the string end is “trapped” in place, rather than a hole in the side. The stringing method shown here will also work for the “F” tuners that first appeared on Stratocasters in 1967 and were in use throughout the 1970s. The example we’ll look at here is a Robert Cray signature model (see right). Besides being kitted out with vintage-style tuners and an excellent set of Fender Custom Shop pickups, it also features a hardtail bridge—meaning there is no tremolo mechanism fitted. three-and-a-half tuners

Slots at angle of 90 degrees

1

Take the new string and thread the end through from the underside of the body. Pull from the top side until the ball

Pull the string as tightly as you can up to the headstock. Cut the string at around 31/2 inches (88.9mm) beyond the

tuner—a distance of roughly three-and-a-half tuners.

end prevents it being pulled further.

3

With the slot in tuner at an angle of around 90 degrees to the edge of the fingerboard, take the end of the string and

push it into the hole at the top of the post.

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4

Bend the string at 90 degrees along the slot in the post, ensuring that it’s facing away from the edge of headstock.

Gently begin turning the tuner clockwise.

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STRINGS AND STRINGING

49

STRING ANGLES Unlike most Gibson guitars, which have a headstock set

angle. This solution is not without problems, since

back at an angle, on Fender’s famous models the

friction between the strings and the tree can contribute

headstock runs parallel with the fingerboard. This makes

to tuning instability. This can be fixed to an extent by

using the correct methods for stringing arguably more

replacing the standard Fender “butterfly” trees with

significant—if the angle from the nut to the point where

roller trees. (We’ll look at this modification on page 101.)

it first comes into contact with the string post is too shallow this can allow undesirable movement in the nut. This is more pronounced for the higher strings on six-ina-line tuner configurations like the Strat; as the tuners are further along the headstock, the string angle will naturally be smaller. Ordinarily this may result in openstring buzzing on the E and B strings, but to avoid that happening, Strats are fitted with a “string tree” through which the top two strings are threaded to reduce the

5

Hold the string against the fingerboard with the thumb and turn the tuner clockwise with your other hand,

making sure the string doesn’t slip around the post.

6

With the string still held in place by the thumb, turn the tuner clockwise (with your other hand or with a string

winder) until the string is tight.

String tree

7

The string should be wound three or four times around the post, with no overlapping; it should extend from the

bottom of the post to produce the correct angle.

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8

Repeat these steps for the other five strings. Note that the top two strings need to be threaded through the string

tree before they connect with the tuner.

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STRINGING A LOCKING TREMOLO SYSTEM

threaded through the loosened locking nut and then secured

During 1980s, the Floyd Rose locking tremolo system became

have bedded in, the guitar can be tuned in the usual way,

de rigueur among rock and metal guitarists. A radical

before the nut is finally locked, clamping the strings in place.

reinvention of the guitar vibrato, it comprises a delicately

Fine tuning can be performed by turning one of the six screws

calibrated sprung bridge unit, with strings clamped in place at

at the bridge.

at the tuner in the conventional way. When all six strings

the nut. When correctly set up it becomes possible to perform the most ridiculous “dive-bomb” pitch bend effects—where

FLOYD ROSE AND THE STRAT

the strings could be detuned to a point where they lay flaccid

The Floyd Rose unit was heavily licensed—which is why a

on the body—and then return to perfect tuning.

huge number of design variations exist—and quickly became

Stringing and tuning requires something of a rethink when

a defining feature of the “Superstrat” style of rock guitar that

compared to using more orthodox tuners. The ball/bullet

seemed to dominate much of the 1980s, but that nowadays

ends and lower windings of the strings have to be snipped off,

simply represents another of the many choices open to the

and the string clamped firmly at the bridge. The string is then

modern guitarist.

1

Unscrew the locking nut using a 3mm metric hex key. Pull out the broken string from the top and remove the

remains from the tuner.

This will release the other end of the broken string.

(Note: other hex key sizes may be needed on some systems.)

4

Poke the end of the string into the open bridge saddle. Secure the string by tightening the bridge clamp using the

3mm hex key.

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2

Unlock the bridge saddle clamp using the 3mm hex key.

5

Thread the string underneath the locking nut and then fit to the tuner as shown on pages 46–49. Tune all six strings

at the headstock, and then tighten the locking nut.

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STRINGS AND STRINGING

A relatively small number of Fender models have been issued as standard with locking units, and these have tended to be at the niche end of the Strat family, for example the

stringing can be a nightmare when you’re first trying to figure out what to do. The floating bridge mechanism on the Floyd Rose is

HSH humbucker-kitted instruments that have a following in

extremely delicate, and the springs holding it in place have to

the metal world. A Floyd Rose can also be retrofitted to a

be very carefully set—and reset if you decide to fit a different

Strat, although this does require invasive “surgery,” with

set of string gauges—so the recommendation here, based on

additional routing both on the body at the bridge and at the

painful experience, is to change strings one at a time.

nut. This is not a job for the faint-hearted—although not

In this example we’ll deal with changing a broken E string.

complex in principle, an inaccurate measurement or a slip of

Make sure that you have the correct hex key for your

a chisel can easily leave behind a wrecked fingerboard.

particular bridge/locking nut unit. You’ll need a metric set,

The advantage of locking tremolo systems is that once set

51

as even the closest imperial keys in size won’t fit properly,

up and tuned they tend to remain impressively stable, and

and you can easily damage the screws if you try to use them.

often will need little more than the finest of retuning until the

Original Floyd Rose systems use 2.5mm and 3mm metric hex

strings are replaced. The downside, however, is that the

keys; some others also use 1.5mm and 3mm keys.

CHOCKING THE BRIDGE The reason that stringing a Floyd Rose from scratch can be such a headache is that in order to work properly, a so-called floating bridge design depends on the tension in the vibrato springs being precisely counterbalanced by the tension in the strings. This is why changing strings one at a time is the least painful way of doing it. If that’s not possible, however, then the best we can do is create the effect of the strings still being in place by propping up the bridge, preventing it falling away from its

3

Unfurl the new string. Take a pair of wire cutters and snip off the ball end (or bullet) as close as you can to the

end of the string wrapping.

posts, using some kind of wedge. This could be a small piece of wood, a pack of playing cards, or—a simple and effective solution if ever there was one—a couple of ice-pop sticks.

6

You can now fine-tune the strings using the individual screw adjusters located on top at the rear of the floating

bridge unit.

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TUNING Irrespective of musical genre, playing in tune is a fundamental requirement for any guitarist. Electronic tuners are now commonplace and often built into effects units, but there are also some very useful manual techniques for when all you have is a reference tone. D’Addario clip-on tuner fitted to Stratocaster

ELECTRONIC TUNING If you were to go back much further than three decades, tuning a guitar would have been done either by matching the open strings to the notes E, A, D, G, B, and E to a piano keyboard, or by taking a single reference note for an open string—maybe using a tuning fork—and then matching the other five open strings. Things are much easier now as most of us have access to electronic tuning devices, which means that all we have to do is turn the buttons on each tuner and wait until the meter indicates that it’s correct. Electronic tuners have come a long way in recent years, and the old-style units that required a guitar output signal are

Tuning app for Apple iPad

now rarely seen; clip-on tuners that fit onto the headstock and work by sensing vibrations (see above), are now standard

1 2

Match the top E string to a reference tone, such as a

for most players, and are extremely reliable. As an alternative

keyboard, test tone, or tuning fork.

there are numerous software versions that can run on smartphones and tablets.

Play the 5th fret of the 2nd string (the note E) and open

USE YOUR EARS

1st string together. Turn the tuner on the second string

As convenient as electronic tuners might be, there’s some

until it is identical to the 1st string. The open 2nd string is

virtue in developing aural tuning skills in the old-fashioned

now tuned to B.

way—not least of all in the event that you find yourself

3 4

Use the same method for tuning the other four strings by

without an electric tuner. Here are four fingerboard diagrams

following the diagram below. Match them up by color.

covering different methods of reference-tone tuning. The one shown below is probably the most common, which entails

Now play an open E major chord. Check it against the

matching the 1st string (top E) to a reference tone and then

original test note, and modify if necessary.

using that to tune the other strings. 1

2

3

4

5

1

E

2

B

3

G

4

D

G

5

A

D

7

8

9

E B

6

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6

A

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TUNING

Three similar systems are shown below. The first matches octaves to open strings, and the second mixes upper and

TIPS

• When trying to tune two strings to the same

pitch, if the notes sound similar but you detect a

lower frets. The bottom diagram differs in that it uses harmonics—the

slight pulsing effect, the strings are still not quite in tune.

bell-like tones you hear when you play a deadened note directly above certain frets—on adjacent strings over the 5th

• If you’re using very light strings, don’t fret

and 7th frets. To use this method you need to have the 6th

them too hard as they may give you a slightly

string (bottom E) in tune. Match E to E, A to A, and D to D

sharp note.

using harmonics. Now match the B harmonic on the 7th fret

• Try not to pluck the string too hard when

of the 6th string with the open 2nd string. Finally, match B to

tuning as it can distort the sound, making it hard

B using harmonics to tune the top string.

to tune correctly.

Octave Reference Tuning 1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1

E

2

B

3

G

D

4

D

A

5

A

E

6

E

8

9

7

8

9

7

8

9

B G

Mixed Reference Tuning 1

2

3

1

E

G

2

B

D

3

G

A

4

D

E

5

A

6

E

Harmonic Reference Tuning 1

2

4

5

6 B

3

4

5

1 2

53

6

B B

B

3

D

4

D

A

5

A

E

6

E

B

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CHAPTER 2 | BASIC CARE

SIMPLE ADJUSTMENTS The next few pages contain critical set-up information. When we say “simple” we mean that these are mechanical adjustments that are very easy to make. But they must also be done correctly. The bridge work is especially important: if it’s wrongly set up then your Strat will never

Synchronized tremolo bridge

play well, whatever you do.

BRIDGE VARIATIONS There are four different types of bridge units that can be found factory fitted to a Stratocaster, and within these categories there can be many slight variations. Synchronized Tremolo Still the most commonly found Strat

bridge, this is Leo Fender’s original design. Variations are also used on Squier Strats. Hardtail This is essentially the bridge saddle section of the

Hardtail bridge

synchronized tremolo, but with the vibrato mechanism removed altogether. American Series A more robust and generally more reliable

tremolo system used on many American Strats from the middle of the 1980s and onwards. Locking Tremolo Systems such as the Floyd Rose used on a

very small number of Strats—usually the H-S-H Superstrat style instruments. Although these are different mechanisms, each one features six fully adjustable bridge saddles, and so for the purposes of adjusting the action and intonation they can be treated as

American Series tremolo bridge

working in the same way. The tremolo mechanisms are more complex and so we’ll look at them in the next chapter since the way they are set up can also have an impact on action and intonation. Note: We’re going to make a big assumption for now. The vast majority of you will have relatively recent Fender or Squier Strats and the necks and frets are likely to be in a pretty reasonable state requiring little in the way of repair or adjustment. If, however, you’re setting up a Strat that’s old, or been poorly maintained or treated, you really do first need to check out whether the neck relief and tremolo needs adjusting, the frets need leveling, or the nut needs replacing.

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Floyd Rose locking tremolo

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Making small adjustments to the bridge on an instrument in

greater curve. As a rule of thumb, vintage Strats or

such a condition will be like spinning plates—you’ll

contemporary replicas have a 7 1/4-inch radius; modern Strats

constantly be having to backtrack! You’ll find all of this

have the flatter 9 1/2-inch radius. A few deluxe and signature

information in the next chapter.

models (such as the Eric Johnson) have a 12-inch radius.

USING A RADIUS GAUGE

gauges for both on the fingerboard of your Strat. If you have

Correctly setting the height of the strings above the frets is

a notched gauge it will fit around the strings, otherwise, if

hugely important as it will govern how playable your Strat

don't want to slacken or remove the strings you should still

will be. Most (although not all) players prefer a lower action.

be able to ascertain the radius if you push the strings down

This is achieved mainly by adjusting the height of the bridge

and measure across one of the frets.

55

If you’re unsure of the radius of your neck, then use

or the individual saddles. First we need to check that the height of each bridge saddle has been set up to reflect the camber of the neck. If you were to look at a cross-section of a Stratocaster neck you would see that the fingerboard is not flat but curved. So for the action to be consistent over all six strings, the bridge saddles need to be set up to reflect that curve. To measure this, we need to use a radius gauge, a tool cut from a square of metal with different sized curves cut into each side. If you don’t have one, try scanning the full size gauge below, printing it, and cutting it out. (If you do this, make sure that your printer hasn’t distorted the shape by making two diagonal measurements from corner to corner—both should be exactly 4 inches [101.6mm].) Stratocasters generally have a neck radius of either 71/4 inches or 91/2 inches—which are always expressed in imperial measurements. This simply means that if you were to draw a circle with those two radiuses, the smaller circle would have a

1

Take the 71/4-inch radius gauge and hold it over the 12th fret; if it doesn’t match the curve, try out the 91/2-inch

gauge instead. This 2014 fingerboard has a 91/2-inch radius.

SETTING THE ACTION

91/2” Radius

These next steps will show you how to adjust the saddle height (and hence the action) to match the radius curve of your Strat. The first step in this exercise is to set the action of the top and bottom strings. Once these are correct we can rest height of the four strings in between. For the purposes of this example, we’ll set the bridge saddles according to Fender’s own suggested figures. These are made at the 17th fret—the distance being measured is

71/4” Radius

the radius gauge on those two edge strings so as to set the

4”

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SIMPLE ADJUSTMENTS

from the highest point of the fret to the lowest point of the strings. Here we will use a modern Fender Stratocaster with a neck radius of 9 1/2 inches.

Radius 7

”

1/4

91/2”

Bottom E String

Top E String

” (2mm)

4/64

” (1.6mm)

4/64

5/64 4/64

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” (1.6mm) ” (1.6mm)

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12” Radius

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CHAPTER 2 | BASIC CARE

1

Measure the height of the top E string above the 17th fret using a feeler gauge. On a

91/2-inch

radius neck, that

should be a height of 4/64 inch (1.6mm). Depending on the

2

Position the feeler gauge between the top of the 17th fret and the bottom of the string. If it’s either too high (if

there is a visible gap) or too low (the gauge pushes the string

type of feeler gauge you have, you may have to double up

upwards) then there needs to be some adjustment at the

blades to reach some measurements.

bridge saddle.

3

4

accurate as using a gauge, but, in truth, this isn’t really an

turn (clockwise to raise the height; counter-clockwise to

operation that particularly calls for scientific precision; an

lower the height). Check the height again at the 17th fret and

approximate measurement is likely to be sufficient.

continue to adjust at the bridge if necessary.

5

6

If you don’t have access to a feeler gauge then use a small steel ruler. Sit the end of the ruler on the fret and measure

the distance to the underside of the string. This will not be as

Repeat Step 1 to Step 4, this time for the bottom E string. Once again, the feeler gauge needs to be set to

4/64

inch

(1.6mm). Adjust the height of the bridge saddles for the bottom E string.

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You’ll need a 0.05-inch hex key to alter the height of the bridge saddle. You’ll see a pair of pivot adjustment

screws on either side of the string. Give each of them a small

With the outer strings set, take the 91/2-inch radius gauge to the strings just in front of the bridge. If any of the four

inner strings do not match the curve of the gauge, then adjust the height of the individual saddles until they do.

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SIMPLE ADJUSTMENTS

INTONATION

57

It will more than likely be self-evident to you if you have a

A basic requirement of any fretted instrument is that it

problem, but here’s a test to try out. Play an E-shaped major

remain in tune wherever you play it along the fingerboard.

barre chord with your index finger on the 3rd fret. Now play

This is called intonation. For it to work accurately,

a similar chord shape but this time with the index finger at

the string length has to be in correct proportion to the

the 15th fret. You would expect to hear two perfectly

positioning of the frets on the fingerboard. We know that by

sounding G major chords one octave apart in pitch. If your

halving the string length the frequency is doubled, raising the

intonation is out, the higher-pitched chord will be audibly out

pitch by an octave. So it stands to reason that the frequency

of tune.

of the note exactly half way along the string should be the

To check intonation, we could just measure the distance

same as the note you hear when the 12th fret is played—since

between the nut and the 12th fret, and then again between

this is one octave (twelve half-steps) from the open string.

the 12th fret and the bridge saddle, and adjust until they are

All of the bridges you will find on a Stratocaster also have

the same. But this is a more accurate technique that uses

a horizontal adjustment screw, enabling you to alter the

harmonics on the 12th fret. Start by checking and adjusting

length (hence intonation) of each string.

the top E string, and then work across the other five strings.

1

2

it down against the fret. If you pluck the string with your

sharp compared to the harmonic, the string needs

right hand you will hear a sustaining bell-like tone.)

lengthening—and vice versa.

Play a harmonic over the 12th fret of the top E string. (To do this, you place the tip of the index finger of your

left hand on the string directly above the fret, but don’t press

With the harmonic still ringing, press the string down with the index finger and play the note on the 12th fret.

The two pitches should be identical. If the fretted note is

FLOYD ROSE ADJUSTMENTS To alter the intonation on a Floyd Rose-style locking bridge, take a 2.5mm hex key and loosen the bridge saddle screw. Move the saddle to the desired position and then tighten the screw again.

3

To lengthen the string, tighten the horizontal adjustment screw at the back of the bridge by turning it clockwise.

By loosening the screw you will shorten the string. Keep checking the harmonic against the fretted note until correct.

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CHAPTER 2 | BASIC CARE

INTONATION: ALTERNATIVE METHOD

are matching the open string with the fretted octave—the

If you don’t have too much confidence in your ears then you

note on the 12th fret.

may prefer this method of measuring the intonation. The principle is similar to previous example, only this time you

(Note: Fender recommends that you carry out intonation testing with only the center pickup selected.)

1

2

active, play the note E on the 12th fret of the bottom string.

Repeat until the intonation is correct.

With your electric tuner switched on, play an open low E, and turn the peg on the headstock until the meter

indicates that the string is in tune. With the electric tuner still

If the meter on the tuner indicates the note is flat (slightly lower in pitch) then lengthen the string at the bridge by

tightening the adjustment screw—turning it clockwise.

Pickup

PICKUP HEIGHT Most Strat owners spend little time experimenting with pickup height, many simply leaving them exactly as they were set up at the Fender factory. Yet altering the distance between the magnetic poles and the strings can sometimes produce dramatic results. The single coil pickups used on the Stratocaster have fixed

Standard

Bass 5/64

” (2mm)

” (2.4mm)

Vintage

6/64

Texas Specials

8/64

Noiseless

8/64

Humbuckers

4/64

Treble ” (1.6mm)

4/64

” (2mm)

5/64

” (3.2mm)

56/64

” (3.2mm)

6/64

” (1.6mm)

4/64

” (2.4mm)

” (2.4mm) ” (1.6mm)

pole pieces. The poles are the six tubular pieces of metal that protrude from the pickup and sit directly beneath the strings.

fair aim to get the pickups as close as possible to strings

(With Alnico pickups, the pole pieces are the magnets; on

without them actually making physical contact. There are,

ceramic pickups they are not, but they sit on top of a

however, other factors to consider such as the strength of the

magnetic bar.) Traditional vintage-style Strat pickups have

magnets being used: a strong magnetic force applied too close

staggered poles that are higher at the center than the edges,

to the string may interfere with the vibration of the string,

thus compensating for the 71/4-inch neck radius. Flush-height

which can also produce some very curious harmonic effects.

alnico V magnets were introduced at the end of the 1970s

All of which means that achieving an optimum height is a

when a new moulded casing was designed.

matter of compromise and personal taste, some players

Although the pole pieces themselves cannot be adjusted, the overall height of the pickup is controlled by turning the

favoring the tone produced by lower-set pickups. In truth, pickup height is another of the many divisive

two screws either side of the pickup. Turning one of these

issues surrounding the electric guitar, and rather than

screw clockwise raises the height of the pickup on one side.

engaging in needless debate, perhaps the best advice here is

(Beneath the scratchplate, the screw has a rubber sleeve that

simply to experiment until you find something you like. That

acts like a spring, keeping the pickup firmly in place.)

said, a good place to begin is with Fender’s own

Superficially, the logical impact of moving the poles closer

recommendations for their different Stratocaster pickups (see

to the strings is that it will produce a “hotter” output; move

above). Using a 2015 Fender MIM Stratocaster, we’ll use

them further away and they will be quieter. So it would be a

Fender’s figures for a standard single-coil pickup.

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SIMPLE ADJUSTMENTS

1

2

you can achieve by fretting a note; it also gives you the limit

this for the top and bottom strings only, and for all three

for the maximum height the pickup can be set without it

pickups.) This will allow you to revert to your original

coming into contact with the strings.

settings if you’re unhappy with your new adjustments.

3

4

Take a heavy book and place it at the end of the

Before you begin making any adjustments, as a

fingerboard so that the strings are being held down

against the final fret. This gives you the lowest string height

Let’s first adjust the height of the center pickup. You can do this with the ruler if you wish, although the feeler

gauge, once set, does make the job easier as you can hold it in place beneath the strings with one hand while you adjust the height screw with the other. Set the feeler gauge to

4/64

59

inch

precaution, take a steel ruler and record the distance

from the top of the pole piece to the bottom of the string. (Do

With the feeler gauge held in place, take a medium-sized crosshead screwdriver and slot it into the screw on the

treble side of the center pickup. Turn it clockwise to raise the height. Keep turning the screw until there is no gap between the top of the feeler gauge and the string. Reset the feeler

(1.6mm) and place it between the pole piece of the center

gauge to 5/64 inch (2mm) and adjust the height on the bass

pickup and the bottom of the E string. If there is a gap

side of the center pickup. Repeat Step 3 and Step 4 for the

between the feeler gauge and the bottom of the string, the

other two pickups. Plug in your Strat and judge the impact of

pickup needs to be raised.

the adjustment on the sound.

HEIGHT EXPERIMENTATION The key to finding the best pickup height for your

fingerboard (generally the 21st or 22nd fret, depending

guitar is simply to experiment. Pickups of varying

on the model) and then raise the pickups as far as they

magnetic strengths will respond differently, as will

will go without touching the strings. Play each string; if

different string gauges.

you hear any physical contact with the pickup, or sense

One popular and simple method involves no

strange harmonic phenomena, gradually lower the

measurements whatsoever. With your Strat plugged in

pickup on both sides by about a half a turn of the

and ready for action, fret the highest note on the

screw. Keep going until you achieve a balance you like.

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CHAPTER 2 | BASIC CARE

STRAP SAFETY Short of splitting pants, one of the most embarrassing things that can happen to a performing guitarist is if their instrument unhooks from its strap and comes crashing to the stage floor. You can avoid damaged guitars (not to mention damaged egos) by using a strap lock.

LOCKED IN PLACE

wear, though, the strap holes can enlarge or tear, increasing

Most guitarists give little thought to the humble guitar strap,

the risk of it coming away from the guitar. (Although, quite

generally going for one that simply looks nice. A traditional

frankly, most strap accidents are simply a matter of

electric guitar strap hooks to a button at the base of the body,

carelessness, the ends having not been looped fully over the

with the other end either behind the neck, or—as is the case

button in the first place.)

with the Stratocaster—at the end of the upper horn. With

Many manufacturers—often the same ones that produce tuners and other guitar hardware—have come up with their own solutions for locking the straps in place. The most common approach is to fit a lock to each end of the strap that has to be clicked in place over the button. Since the strap buttons are different shapes sizes depending on the manufacturer, these normally have to be replaced with a pair designed specifically to fit the locking mechanism. Another simpler approach is to replace the existing strap buttons with a pair that are elliptical in shape, which make the strap more difficult to get on and off. The two most common approaches to strap locking make use of mechanisms that either slot in place over the button (like the Schaller Security Locks shown below) or have screw-top locks. Whichever you choose, they are very simple

1

Take a small crosshead screwdriver and carefully remove

to fit, taking no more than ten minutes of your time, should

both strap buttons. Most modern Strats will also have a

cost you no more than about fifteen dollars, and are well

felt washer protecting the paintwork from the metal button.

worth the investment for the security they offer.

2

3

the body. You can also use the original screw if you wish,

a sensible idea to keep the original parts marked in a small

although, as in this example, it wouldn’t match the

sealable plastic bag—you can bulk-buy these really cheaply in

replacement strap buttons.

any stationery store.

The package should include several differently sized screws. Match the closest in length to the screw you’ve

just removed, so that you don’t have to drill two new holes in

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Screw on the replacement strap buttons using the existing holes. It’s up to you whether you insert the felt washer.

As with any modifications you make to your Strat, it’s always

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STRAP SAFETY

Strap fixture

61

LOCKING STRAPS The advantage of using systems like the Schaller Security Lock—or similar products made by Fender (Strap Lock), Dunlop (Straplok), Ernie Ball

Strap button

(Super Locks), and others—is they can be fitted to any guitar strap. The downside is that these are all proprietary designs and are generally not

The Schaller Security Lock system

interchangeable, so if you have a number of guitars and straps that you want to make lockable then you need to select one product and stick with it. There is an alternative, however, and that is for the locking mechanism to be built into the strap itself. Locking straps are available from a number of manufacturers, including Planet Waves (see below), Eagle Mountain, Steve Clayton, and Lock-It. Each maker uses a slightly different system but they are all based on the same idea— you slip the strap over the button and engage a mechanism which clamps the strap in place. The Planet Waves Planet Lock (see below) uses

4

Thread the fixture from the rear of the strap through one

a small locking dial which closes the hole, making

of the strap holes, place the washer over the thread, and

it impossible to remove the strap until the dial

then screw on the nut by hand until it’s reasonably tight—at

has been disengaged.

this point it should still possible to rotate the fixture in the strap. The opening in the strap fixture slots over the button, so it should be pointing towards the end of the strap. When the angle is correct, tighten with a spanner. Repeat at the other end of the strap.

5

The Schaller mechanism features a spring-loaded column with a rounded knob at the top. To fit the strap, start to

slide the open end of the fixture over the button and then pull back the knob so that it can slot in place. When you release the knob, the strap will be locked. To remove the strap, pull back the knob and slide off.

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CLEANING YOUR STRATOCASTER

NAPTHA A naptha solvent is useful for all kinds of cleaning functions,

Maintaining a clean Strat will not only give you a

although it does need to be

nicer looking guitar but also one that performs

used with care. Since the fumes

better. It will prevent the hardware corroding and your strings will last longer. This simple regular

can be toxic you should always use it in an open, ventilated space. It’s also highly

routine requires no more than a duster and

flammable. To be completely

perhaps some string cleaning fluid; a more

safe you should wear a mask, gloves, and safety

rigorous “spring clean” is shown on page 64.

One of the most widely used brands of naptha solvent is Behlen; since the company specializes in

EVERYDAY CLEANING As unavoidable as the everyday dust and grime that floats through the air may be, a guitar’s greatest enemy is sweat. Salt and other chemicals that escape through the pores of your skin can corrode your strings and other metal parts which they touch. Some manufacturers produce special polishes for guitar bodies, but if you maintain your guitar regularly, the body, headstock and back of neck should require little more than a soft cloth. Anything greasy that accidentally gets onto the body of the guitar should be wiped off immediately or else can be cleaned off with a naptha-based solvent. (Don’t use household furniture polishes! Most of these contain silicone and other additives which can damage the finish.) Get into the habit of giving your guitar a quick clean after use. The steps below use a simple dry cloth; if there are light grease marks you can dampen the end of cloth with a solution of lukewarm water and washing up liquid.

1

Always keep a soft cloth in your guitar case. Wipe down the surface of the body, especially the parts that come into

contact with your fingers.

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glasses when using naptha or other solvents.

musical instrument care products you can feel comfortable that it won’t harm your guitar. Many guitarists have used lighter fluid for this kind of cleaning, although in recent years, the most commonly used brands such as Ronsonol and Zippo have changed their formulation and no longer contain naptha, making them a little less effective for this function. If you've used lighter fluid in the past it’s a good idea to check the composition on the back of the container to see if it still contains naptha. Naptha is particularly good for cleaning metal hardware. It will also get really unpleasant gunk off the body and neck of your Strat, although on nitrocellulose-lacquered models (pre-1968 and some modern vintage replicas) it should be used in small amounts as it can cause damage.

2

Wrap the cloth around the back of the neck and rub it along the full length a few times. Dampen the cloth in the

solution if the back of the neck is too sticky.

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CLEANING YOUR STRATOCASTER

63

STRING MAINTENANCE If you play your guitar for long periods it’s worth giving your strings a more regular, thorough clean, since wiping them with a cloth won’t necessarily penetrate into the string windings where dead skin cells can lurk. A dedicated string-cleaning liquid is probably the safest approach to take. String cleaning needs to be done with care on Strats with rosewood fingerboards as these are untreated and thus capable of absorbing liquid. One effective precaution is to take a dust cloth and slide it beneath the strings (see right) before you apply the fluid—this way it won’t come into contact with the fingerboard. (You don’t need to worry about this on Strats with maple fingerboards since these are coated with a polyurethane finish.) There are many string cleaning products on the market, each one claiming to combat the impact of sweaty digits. Simply dab a little on a cloth, wrap it around the end of one of your fingers, and then clean one string at a time, running it the full length. Then wipe the strings again with a clean cloth. WD-40 spray is also a cheap and popular choice among guitarists as it has multiple uses. It’s fine for the strings and metal hardware, but

if left on for too long. (Also, do you really want your Strat smelling of WD-40?) Keeping your strings clean, though, will not only

needs to be kept away from the untreated

lengthen their useful life, and save you cash, but

fingerboard. If can also react with body finishes

they’ll sound brighter for longer.

3

Take the cloth to the front and back of the headstock, and over the tuners. Make sure that you wipe each

Wrap the cloth under the strings and pull it the length of the fingerboard, cleaning both wood and the bottom of

the strings.

individual tuning peg.

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4

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THE BIG CLEAN

Take a look at the checklist across the page. Although at

Periodically you should give your guitar a serious once-over,

first it may seem hefty, it should take no more than an hour

cleaning it thoroughly and checking that it still plays and

of your time. Most of the body and hardware cleaning steps

sounds the way you like. Regular maintenance like this will

are shown here and on the next page; the electrical cleaning

not only keep your guitar in top condition, but can help

segments are covered in Chapter 4.

circumvent future troubles, such as rusting metalwork and

How often you should do this depends on how much

damaged wood. Don’t forget, a high-end Stratocaster can be

action your Stratocaster sees—and where that action takes

an effective investment; buy a new Fender now, look after it

place. For home players, once a year should easily be enough

well, and in fifteen years time it’s likely to be worth more

to keep it in good shape; if you’re out playing in sweaty clubs

than you paid for it—how many other musical instruments

three nights a week then you might want to work through the

can you say that about?

list more often.

1

2

3

4

Use a vacuum cleaner with a soft brush attachment on the fingerboard (pushing down over the frets), and all of

the metal parts—the bridge, tailpiece, and tuners.

At the very least, the back of the neck will come into plenty of contact with your thumb, or, depending on your

playing style, the palm of your hand. Clean as in Step 2.

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For cleaning the body, a mix of water and detergent and a soft cloth should be sufficient, although it’s especially

dirty then use some naptha spray.

Clean in more difficult metal areas—the bridge, vibrato, saddles and socket—with a soft toothbrush. Use naptha

spray if they are greasy.

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THE BIG CLEAN: CHECKLIST 1. Remove strings 2. Vacuum fingerboard 3. Vacuum body hardware 4. Vacuum headstock and tuners 5. Clean body and neck with water/detergent (or naptha if especially dirty) 6. Clean fingerboard (see pages 64–67) 7. Clean bridge, vibrato, and output socket with fine brush (or with naptha if greasy) 8. Clean pickups with naptha 9. Clean strap buttons with naptha 10. Clean scratchplate/knobs with water/detergent 11. Clean tuners with naptha—make adjustments if necessary

12. Scrape edges of frets 13. Apply conditioner to fingerboard (see page 68) 14. Wipe residue from fingerboard (preventing particles of wire wool attaching to pickups 15. Clean nut with naptha 16. Clean output socket (page 70) 17. Unscrew scratchplate 18. Carefully vacuum around the electrics 19. Clean potentiometers and switch (page 114) 20. Screw back scratchplate 21. Remove back plate 22. Carefully vacuum around the vibrato mechanism (adjust if necessary) 23. Screw on the back plate 24. Restring the guitar

NITRO VERSUS POLY Tracing the changes over time behind Fender’s paint

First off, let’s discuss the basic differences. A

and lacquer finishes could fill a lengthy volume in its

polyurethane finish is essentially a thin coating of

own right. In short, the original paint compositions

clear plastic. If applied well, as is the case with most

and color options on 1950s Fender guitars were very

Fenders—even at what many see as its 1970s nadir—

much tied in with those available to the automotive

it is extremely hard-wearing, difficult to crack, and

industry—early color charts even denote the codes

can be easily buffed free of scratches.

used by DuPont, the paint’s producers. And the way

Nitrocellulose is more organic in nature, a solvent-

this process evolved is, in part, a direct result of

based lacquer that combines resin (usually from

changes in the way that DuPont manufactured its

cotton) with sulphuric and nitric acids. The

paint, one example being the acrylic binders

application process, however, is more complex and

introduced in 1956 to improve color retention.

costly, necessitating special ventilation systems to

Similarly, Fender used several different

comply with safety regulations. Nitro finishes are

approaches to the sealing coats, applied first so that

generally seen as more attractive, but are nothing

the paint would not soak into the wood—most

like as hard-wearing. Unlike polyurethane, it wears

famously introducing Fullerplast in 1963, a quick-

and ages badly, but at the same time it is also what

drying sealer that was paintable within an hour.

tends to give a vintage guitar its unique look.

In terms of the final coat, until 1968—shortly after

Some players will swear that they can hear the

the CBS takeover—all Fender Stratocasters had a

difference between a nitro and poly finish. On a

nitrocellulose lacquer finish. This was changed to the

properly finished instrument, at best this is likely to

more robust polyurethane, which has been used in

be a minimal effect. The truth is, any finish, if applied

different forms and thicknesses ever since. Only

in thick enough coats, will have an impact on the

certain vintage replica Strats are now given a

natural tone of the wood. Nitro finishes are always

nitrocellulose finish.

applied in thinner layers, but the poly finish on a

This evolution has led to another of the many

Fender is likely to be no more than 0.002 inches.

overstated debates that afflict the guitar world,

(Furthermore, many nitro finishes are, in fact, applied

namely “nitro” versus “poly.”

to a base coat of polyurethane wood sealer.)

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5

Now take the toothbrush to the tuners on the

6

Use naptha solvent solution or spray if the tuners are

headstock—the edges where the metal casing comes into

contact with the wood are likely to attract dust and grime.

greasy. Wipe off any residue with a cloth—especially

important on older Strats with a nitrocellulose finish.

7

On modern Fender Standard tuners, check that the keys are not too loose—if they turn too easily then you may

find it difficult to keep your guitar in tune. You can tighten each one using a small flat-head screwdriver, carefully rotating clockwise. When turned, the tuners should feel firm—if they are difficult to turn then this means you have overtightened them. Reduce the tension by turning the screwdriver counterclockwise. This operation will not be possible on older Fenders with Kluson Deluxe or Fender “F” tuners which have no screw in the end of the button. The “closed” tuners used on Strats are not designed to be taken apart by the player, and generally require only the minimum of maintenance.

STEEL WOOL Sometimes known as wire wool or wire sponge, wire wool is a material comprising bundles of extremely fine, sharp-edged steel filaments, and is widely used as an abrasive in polishing wood or metal. Wire wool comes in a variety of grades from 4 (extra coarse), to 0000 (super fine). We’ll be using steel wool to polish frets and corroded parts, as well as for cleaning grime off the fingerboard. For guitar maintenance you should only be using grade 0000—anything more coarse may cause damage to parts or lacquered finishes. When wiping down after using steel wool, always make sure that the residue doesn’t find its way onto the magnets of the pickups.

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CLEANING THE FINGERBOARD Since the fingerboard is the part of the instrument that comes into contact most frequently with your skin, it’s also the area that will attract the most sweat, dirt and grime. Consequently, your heavy-duty cleaning regime should really address the accumulation of undesirable materials that build up over time along the edges of the frets, as well as dirt on the surface of the fingerboard itself. This is not only a cosmetic operation, it will also make your fingerboard feel nicer to play. While most guitar repair professionals and techs are pretty sceptical about the need for special polishes for the body and neck, most have a preferred treatment for the fingerboard. This is not so surprising since any wood left deliberately without a polyurethane or lacquered finish will require some

1

If your guitar has been used only moderately and mostly around the home, then you might be able simply to clean

form of conditioning or “feeding.” If your Stratocaster has a maple fingerboard then the

the fingerboard with a dampened paper towel—your own

polyurethane finish will prevent it getting as grimy as its

saliva is as good as anything for this operation. For slightly

rosewood counterpart. So if you are working on a maple

heavier grime on an untreated rosewood neck, use naptha on

fingerboard, you may not need to perform Step 1, and you

a rag and leave for a few minutes before cleaning it off. A

should not perform Step 2, as doing anything too abrasive may

simple trick for scraping off heavy dirt is to use the edge of a

damage the finish. Furthermore, a maple fingerboard will not

credit card or a ruler (see above). Push down between the frets

require conditioning.

and wipe off the accumulation with a dampened paper towel.

2

3

a paper towel over the tip of your thumb and run the nail

using a solvent such as naptha, since a side-effect of this

firmly along each side of the fret. You’ll be surprised at the

will be to draw natural oils from the wood. Pour a few

accumulation of dirt. For a more thorough cleaning of the

drops on a clean rag and apply it firmly to the

fingerboard and frets use 0000 grade steel wool (see left). Go

fingerboard. Leave it to penetrate for a few minutes and

with the grain of the wood (sideways strokes may cause

then wipe it off with a paper towel. Finally, you can give

visible scratching) and push hard into the corner of the fret.

the fingerboard a good buffing with a clean cloth,

Don’t do this on a maple fingerboard!

including the frets.

There is also likely to be a build-up of grime along the edge of the most heavily used frets, which if left alone

can speed up their corrosion. A good starting place is to wrap

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Once you’ve cleaned the dirt off a rosewood fingerboard it’s time to apply a conditioning fluid.

This is especially important if you’ve previously cleaned

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CONDITIONING THE FINGERBOARD With the exception of special models, Stratocaster fingerboards take two forms—they are either cut from maple or rosewood. Maple fingerboards are given a thin coat of polyurethane (or nitrocellulose lacquer on vintage models), and so can be cleaned as shown on the previous page. Rosewood fingerboards, on the other hand, are “unfinished” and require additional care and attention. This means that from time to time the wood needs to be treated to protect it from the ravages of human sweat and the local climate.

The biggest danger is of the wood drying out, making it split or crack. Clear evidence that this is happening on a rosewood fingerboard would be the sudden appearance of random patches of fading color; you might also notice the edges of the frets beginning to feel slightly jagged. As with body polishes, there are numerous specialized fingerboard fluids available, with no clear consensus on which is the best one to use. Lemon oil is far and away the most commonly used type of conditioner, but even then there are some who suggest that if overused it can react with and corrode the fret wire. Lemon oil is actually a slightly misleading description—it isn’t oil from a lemon, but a scented mineral oil. Anything containing actual citrus is likely to have corrosive impact. (NOTE: There are certain lemon oils that are intended for use with furniture—avoid these as they are likely to contain unwanted additives. This is one occasion for sticking with products created specifically for the musical instrument fingerboards—it might seem expensive for a tiny bottle, but for most players this will last for years.) In truth, fingerboard conditioning is one of the many topics that seem able to get guitar players hot under the collar, and there are some commonly used treatments that certainly divide opinion. One such conditioner is linseed oil, which comes recommended by a number of prominent luthiers. Others have even sung the praises of olive oil, while critics would claim that it creates a sticky mess, goes rancid, and attracts bacteria. (Olive oil is definitely not being recommended here, by the way, although if you read any online guitar forum you’re almost guaranteed to find

A selection of fingerboard conditioners (clockwise from top left): D’Addario, Goerlitz, Dunlop, Fender, Kyser, Fret Doctor, Music Nomad.

someone claiming to have been using it for four decades on their valuable collection of vintage 1950s Strats with no ill effect!)

ROTARY TOOLS A hand-held rotary tool may not be an absolute necessity for guitar repair, but it’s extremely useful. With an endless variety of attachments, rotary tools made by brands such as Dremel, Black and Decker, and Proxxon, can be used to drill, route, saw, grind and polish—in short, it can cover many of the small tasks involved in guitar maintenance. And if you don't have a dedicated workshop or garage, then it’s an absolutely indispensable household tool.

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GRIME AND PUNISHMENT So what do you do if you find yourself in possession of a guitar that’s been poorly treated in the extreme, or has spent years laying around, exposed, in someone’s basement or attic? However it may look right now, as long as the neck isn’t warped or badly skewed, it can be cleaned up and rescued—and even if it is, the modular nature of the Strat means that everything can be replaced with ease. For this kind of extreme cleaning you’ll need not only your trusty can of naptha solvent but probably a rust removal

oxidization or verdigris on the top and side edges of

agent (Loctite Naval Jelly is excellent), a household

the frets should be removable with 0000# wire wool

oil (such as 3-In-One), and wire wool (or a rotary tool

but if the growths are too “solid” then the frets will

with a wire wheel).

need filing or replacing. (See pages 86–89).

INITIAL STATE Hold the guitar as if it were a rifle,

PLASTIC PARTS Remove the knobs and switch/

aligning your eye along one side; flip it over and

tremolo arm tip and leave them to soak in a bowl of

look at the other side. If the neck is seriously bowed

lukewarm water mixed with a drop of detergent.

then however much you adjust the truss rod it might

Wash them vigorously and then dry them off.

be too damaged to fix. Now swivel the guitar so that it’s horizontal, and you can see whether the

METAL PARTS If these show signs of rusting,

fingerboard is perfectly flat. If it is “in twist,” then

discoloring or corrosion then they’ll need treatment.

the neck won’t be playable without specialist

If the tuners are just dirty then make up a mix of

attention, and that would entail removing the

three parts naptha to one part household oil, put a

fingerboard altogether and skilled planing of the

little on a rag, and give it a vigorous rub down. If the

neck surface—and even then repair might not be

tuners look in a horribly poor state and won’t turn

possible. If you’re talking about a potentially

easily, then don’t force them or else the pegs may

valuable vintage Strat, then get an assessment from

snap off. Begin by applying some naptha to the

a specialist as this really isn’t the kind of work suited

screws, which should enable you to remove them

to the enthusiastic amateur. Otherwise, the simple

from the headstock. Soak the tuners and the screws

solution is a replacement neck.

in a bowl of Naval Jelly for about twenty minutes and then dry them off and oil them as described

BODYWORK Wipe it down with a rag, removing as

above. The bridge, tailpiece, and strap buttons can

much of the loose dust as possible. This will enable

be treated in much the same way. To remove any

you to see what kind of state it’s really in. For any

residue, a small wire brush will be useful; if you have

mold or other residue, mix up a small bowl of water

a rotary tool (see across the page), use a wire

with detergent, slightly dampen a cloth with the

wheel—although set it to a slow speed.

mixture, and go at the bodywork vigorously. For thickset grease and grime, apply a small amount of

If the woodwork is basically sound then the guitar

naptha to the affected area, leave it for a few

really can be rescued without heavy duty workshop

moments, and then rub it away. Repeat for the back

effort. If you don't fancy a few hours of rust

of the neck and the headstock.

removal, a set of replacement tuners and a new bridge can be bought for as little as one hundred

NECK AND FINGERBOARD Follow the “Big Clean”

dollars. (That said, there is a lot of satisfaction to be

steps. If there are open cracks in the fingerboard this

had in renovating and bringing a guitar with all of its

would indicate that the wood has dried out. Any

original parts back to life.)

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THE OUTPUT SOCKET Unless your Strat rarely comes out of its case, it’s inevitable that at some stage it will suffer from some kind of electrical malfunction—buzzing, sound intermittently cutting out, or crackling noises when you turn the volume and tone controls or flip the selector switch. These can usually be addressed without having to reach for a soldering iron or multimeter.

NOISE ANNOYS

In most cases the problem will be caused by the plug not

The humble quarter-inch jack socket found on almost every

making solid connections with the two contact points inside

electric guitar is the means by which the signal from the

the socket—the live “hot” signal and the ground (or earth)

Strat’s single-coil pickups is connected to the amplifier. Its role

wire. This can usually be fixed by taking a few simple

is simple but critical, and it can sometimes become a problem,

cleaning steps. The ultimate fix—the removal and

generating unpleasant crackle and hum noises.

replacement of the socket—is more advanced and so is

Any guitar fitted with single-coil pickups, such as the Strat,

covered later (see page 120).

will be prone to degree of electrical interference: the humbucking pickup you find on most Gibson guitars was designed specifically to resolve this problem. But if you fit humbuckers to a Strat, while it can sound really great, you do lose a great deal of the essence of the Stratocaster sound. (On pages 154–159 we will look at some steps you can take to reduce this kind of interference.)

FIRST CLEANING STEPS Sometimes the problem will be much simpler to diagnose. You can usually tell when there’s something up with the output socket as every cable you connect will crackle to some degree if you disturb the plug in the socket. Before reaching for the screwdriver, though, do thoroughly check your cables first, as these will be the most likely cause of any failure. Indeed, it’s worth investing in a dedicated cable testing unit— especially if you run a pedal board with multiple patch cables.

1

Begin by giving the socket a quick clean. Take a can of naptha or electrical contact cleaning spray and place the

nozzle close to the socket. Apply a small amount of the spray—don’t leave a puddle in the socket cavity.

2

Take a cotton swab and poke it around thoroughly on the inside of the socket, making sure that you push hard

enough to clean the contact points. Finally, connect a cable,

Behringer CT100 Cable Tester

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wiggle it around in the socket, and then switch on to test.

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KEEPING YOUR BITS SAFE REMOVING THE OUTPUT SOCKET Sometimes a simple clean might not be enough. Over time, it’s

Make sure that any parts you take off your Strat are

possible for the contact points in the output socket to become

kept in a safe place—and mark them if necessary.

worn, oxidized, or clogged by grime or rust. If this happens it

Always keep a small container at hand for these

will badly affect the quality of the signal. To fix this you will

delicate operations. Failing that, for small crews, a strip

need to remove the socket housing from the body of the Strat,

of sticky tape will prevent those tedious moments

but you still won’t need to disconnect any of the internal

spent scouring the floor with a flashlight.

wiring. The housing is simple to remove, and only held in place by a pair of small cross-head screws. The socket itself is screwed in place by a hexagonal nut. While you have access to the socket, make sure that the nut has not come loose, as this can also cause sound breakages. The enclosed space makes it difficult to tighten the nut with a spanner, so use a pair of long-nosed pliers.

1

2

very easy to lose.

internal circuitry.

3

4

sandpaper into a tube small enough to insert into the socket.

residue with cleaning spray, reassemble the socket and test.

Take a small cross-head screwdriver and remove the two screws that hold the socket housing in place. Make

certain that you keep the screws somewhere safe—these are

Take a small piece of very fine sandpaper (240 grade) and carefully rub at the tip of the “hot” connection point

inside the socket. Blow away any residue. Now roll the

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Gently pull the socket panel away from the body. Make sure that you don’t pull too hard or too quickly as

you might accidentally disconnect the wires in the Strat’s

Push the sandpaper into the socket. Move it around vigorously so that surface of the sandpaper makes

contact with the inside of the socket wall. Remove any

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STORAGE AND TRANSPORTATION Even when it’s not being played, your Strat needs protecting, whether it’s in storage at home, in the studio, or when it’s being moved between locations.

OPEN AND SHUT CASE Even though many of us grew up with our guitars propped precariously against our bedroom walls, there can be little doubt that the best way to look after a guitar when it’s not being played is to keep it packed away safely. The high-end American-built Fender Stratocasters will generally come with a sturdy, hard-shell carrying case made from vinyl-covered wood, which makes an ideal home for your guitar. Apart from cosmetic protection, the fur-lined padding also acts as something like a duvet, limiting some of the impact of changes in temperature and humidity. If bought new, some of the lower-priced Mexican Fenders and Asian-built Squier models come in little more than corrugated cardboard packaging, which means at the very least you should get hold of a gig bag (see right). These are made from padded canvas and include a variety of handy zipper compartments for keeping cables, picks, and other bits

A specially built, padded hard–shell case is ideal for storing

and pieces. They’re cheap (they should cost you thirty dollars

and transporting your Stratocaster.

or less), lightweight, and will provide your instrument with a very basic level of protection from everyday knocks and

For all-out protection, the ultimate solution is a flight

scratches. Gig bags are fine for basic transportation—putting

case. As the name suggests, this kind of case is designed to

on a car seat or carrying it around on public transport, but if

protect a guitar from anything that the most careless or

you accidentally drop it down a flight of stairs it’s unlikely to

malign airport baggage handler might inflict upon it.

emerge unscathed.

Traditionally these cases are built from aluminum, with

THE STRING-SLACKING MYTH There’s a common idea that if you plan to leave a guitar

climate, the neck becomes used to a consistent tension.

in storage you should completely slacken the strings to

If strings are slackened or removed for a long time, the

alleviate tension to the neck. This is most likely a practice

truss rod will still be exerting its counter-tension on the

that harks back to the days before guitar necks were

neck. On this basis, if you remove strings for a long

fitted with a metal support in the form of a truss rod. A

period of storage then, logically, you should also reduce

modern guitar is designed so that, when in tune, the

the tension of the truss rod. In short, there’s no

string tension is offset by the truss rod. (This is why

compelling argument for this practice at all.

moving to heavier string gauges can require the resetting

However, if you’re traveling between locations where

of the truss rod to prevent further bowing of the neck.)

the temperature or humidity is likely to shift quickly—as

This means that completely slackening the strings won’t

would be the case on an aircraft—you should tune the

benefit the neck at all. If anything, the reverse is more

strings down by something like a step—strings are

likely to be the case: just as a guitar likes an unchanging

heavily affected by climate and so might snap in transit.

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HOW NOT TO STORE YOUR STRAT Guitars are created from wood, which by its very nature means that they are especially responsive to extremes of climate. This is a significant factor as far as the safety of your guitar is concerned. If there’s one rule to apply, then let’s paraphrase an old saying—never expose your guitar to conditions to which you wouldn’t expose yourself. The ideal temperature range for a guitar is between 65–75 degrees Fahrenheit. For humidity (or “relative humidity” to use the correct term) the figure should be between 45–55 percent. The wood typically used in a Stratocaster

Your Stratocaster may once have looked a bit like this—alder tree (left); maple tree (right). These matters need to be considered when you

can easily adjust to

are not playing your guitar. This may seem like plain

moderate conditions,

common sense, but it needs to be said: if you hang

but sudden extreme

your guitar in direct sunlight, leave it exposed in a

shifts will cause stress,

car during hot summer days, or frozen winter nights,

drying, and expansion or

leave it outside in the rain, or rest it against a

contraction of the wood.

radiator or heater, your Strat will be wrecked before

This can result in neck

you know it.

warping and cracks.

Prolonged exposure to direct sunlight will cause

Particularly vulnerable

dehydration, resulting in brittleness in the woods

are glued joints, such as

(and especially the fingerboard if your Strat is a

where the fingerboard is

rosewood model). Over time, you will also begin to

attached to the neck.

notice discoloration and fading in the guitar’s finish.

This Fender canvas gig bag will keep your Strat clean and

If you travel by air, an aluminum flight case will provide

protect it from minor dings and scratches.

maximum protection for your Strat.

heavily protected corner-pieces and they’ll weigh about four

extensively, this kind of protection is a necessity, but perhaps

times that of a standard hard-shell equivalent. There are also

overkill for most amateur players.

lighter options, with some flight cases built from military-

A Stratocaster will work with pretty well any rectangular

grade polyethylene and claiming the same levels of protection

hard case, but the protruding upper horn means that it won’t

as aluminum. A top-quality flight case can easily cost in

fit inside contoured, figure-of-eight cases typically used for

excess of $500; for professional musicians who travel and gig

Gibson Les Pauls or Gretsch semi-solid electrics.

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Hercules Tri-Stand

Planet Waves Guitar Dock

GUITARS AT REST What is the most common cause of accidents to guitars? It’s when they’ve been propped up against a convenient vertical surface before toppling over or sliding onto the floor. We’ve all done it, and it’s horrible when this happens—a moment’s thoughtlessness and there’s a ding on the edge of the body or bent tuning peg. Although the “urethane” finishes on modern Fenders make them pretty hardy, it’s still better to avoid this happening altogether. The best solution is to keep some kind of guitar stand handy in your playing area. There are other possibilities, such as wall hangers (see page 76) or gadgets like the Guitar Dock (see above) which can temporarily turn the edge of any desk or table into a stand—especially useful for recording sessions. If you don’t want to put your guitar back in its case, then at least let it rest on a soft surface like a sofa or bed.

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D’Addario’s Guitar Rest can sit on any small ledge.

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HUMIDITY AND YOUR STRATOCASTER Relative humidity is a measure of air moisture. More precisely, it’s the ratio of the amount of moisture in the air at a specific temperature to the maximum amount of moisture the air could hold at that temperature—and that ratio is expressed as a percentage. As the temperature increases the spaces between the water molecules also increase, making the air able to hold more moisture. Relative humidity depends on your regional climate: at 75.9 percent, New Orleans has the highest average relative humidity of any city in America; at the other end of the scale, Las Vegas has only 30 percent. It’s also seasonal, falling dramatically during the winter months. Surprisingly, though, not too many

Simple hygrometer (left); Air-O-Swiss programmable room humidifier (right).

guitarists give much thought to the impact their home environment has on their instruments. And it’s a topic worth investigating.

If you want to investigate humidity at home you’ll need to get hold of a basic hygrometer—you can find

It’s generally reckoned that the optimum humidity for

these in any hardware or electrical store—and take some

a guitar will be between 45–55 percent. Instruments

measurements of your own. Digital hygrometers are

exposed outside of that range can suffer a variety of

usually cheaper but less accurate than analog models.

issues (see table below). It’s true that with their delicate

Take a variety of measurements covering the extremes

construction, acoustic guitars are much more susceptible

for the rooms where your guitars are located.

to the effects of humidity, but solidbody electrics are by

If you think there’s a problem, there are two

no means immune. (Although as a rule of thumb, older

approaches you can take to controlling domestic

Fenders finished with nitrocellulose lacquer will be

humidity. If you store your instruments in their hard

affected more than those with polyurethane finish.)

cases—and that is the safest way to look after them

Regional climate is not the entire story, though, since

anyway—a number of manufacturers make miniature

the humidity of any home will also be impacted by air

humidifiers designed to fit into the case. Some of these

conditioning, heating systems, and the way in which the

were developed from cigar humidors, and either use gel

space is ventilated.

systems or water to control humidity—although most of

HUMIDITY + 60 percent

IMPACT Tarnished strings and frets; corrosion to plating of nickel/chrome/ silver hardware; binding separation.

45–55 percent

Ideal conditions.

40 percent

Fingerboard cracking; sharp fret-ends.

- 30 percent

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Wood begins to dry out; shrinkage may be evident; sharpened fret ends more pronounced or fret lifting.

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these are aimed at protecting acoustic guitars. If you have a larger number of instruments, or you store them on wall hangers, a more workable solution is to buy a room humidifier. You can pay anything from fifty to a thousand dollars, but they essentially all do the same kind of thing. Make sure that the unit you choose is appropriate to the size of your room—it’s actually a good idea to buy one for a slightly larger room, as that way you can run it on a slower speed and won’t have to refill the tank with water so often. You should also make sure that it has a humidistat so you can program specific relative humidity figures. You’ll not only be giving your guitars a new level of protection, but, in the winter months when central heating causes dryness in the air at home, it will also make you’re skin feel really nice!

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CHAPTER 2 | BASIC CARE

GUITAR HANGERS Okay, we’ve already said that keeping guitars in their cases is much the safest storage option. For many of us, though, guitars are not only musical instruments but objects of art, and as such, we like to have them on display. So long as the guitars are not hanging in the sun or above a heater or radiator, they’ll be safe enough suspended from a guitar hanger. The downside is that they’ll be exposed to the open air the whole time and so will need regular dusting and cleaning—whether or not they are actually used. You needn’t worry about dangling your valuable Stratocaster from its headstock; the amount of tension it places on the neck is only fraction of that applied by the guitar strings. Although because of the asymmetrical nature of the Strat’s headstock curves, you need to ensure that the hanger has rotating arms.

1

Hangers usually have a three holes. For maximum support, two of them should be horizontal at the top.

Take a spirit level and ruler and draw a straight line.

Here is how to fix a hanger on a wall.

2

Take the hanger and mark the holes. Drill the three holes using a ceramic drill bit. For solid walls, tap in three wall

plugs; for stud walls you’ll need to use metal lugs which open out on the other side of the plasterboard wall.

3

4

plugs on a stud wall—they won’t support a guitar’s weight.)

be wise to wrap a cloth around the headstock before hanging.

Screw the wall hanger onto the wall. If using metal lugs, they will usually consist of a threaded mechanism, so

these will have to be bolted in place. (Never use ordinary wall

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You can now hang your guitar on the wall. If your Strat has a nitrocellulose finishes there’s a danger it may react

with the foam covering on the arms of the hanger, so it may

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TRAVEL WITH YOUR STRAT In June 1965, a young Mike Bloomfield showed up at

AIR TRAVEL Taking a guitar on an aircraft used to be a

Studio A of Columbia Records in New York City to play

nightmare, the standard rock star method being to buy

on sessions for Bob Dylan on what would become the

two seats, one for the musician and one for the guitar.

album Highway 61 Revisited. He walked in with a

More recently, this was made somewhat easier when

Fender guitar draped over his shoulder, dripping wet

President Obama signed into law the FAA

from an afternoon downpour. After wiping it down

Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, which explicitly

with a towel, he plugged in one of the studio amps,

states: “An air carrier providing air transportation shall

and proceeded to help make music history. Bloomfield

permit a passenger to carry a violin, guitar or other

may have been at the vanguard of the blues-rock scene,

small instrument in the aircraft cabin.” It also clarifies

but he clearly knew (or cared) little about how to look

that this is only valid if “there is a space for such

after a guitar. (He eventually lost his famed, battered

stowage at the time the passenger boards the aircraft.”

and bruised 1959 Les Paul Standard, having, according

In spite of the law, it still doesn’t seem to be uniformly

to one tale, simply left it behind after a gig in Toronto.)

accepted and the process is still fraught with plenty of

Most people nowadays have a better idea of how to

potential problems that should be considered.

treat an electric guitar, but if there’s one rule to follow it has to be this: any travel involving a guitar must also

1. Check the airline’s musical instrument policy before

involve a guitar case!

you book your flight, and print a hard copy. There are

Taking your Strat on most forms of transport should

numerous stories of musicians being told at the

be a fairly safe business, with the notorious exception

departure gate that their guitars will have to go in the

of air travel, and even that seems to be getting easier.

luggage hold. If possible, get written confirmation from the airline that you will be permitted to take your guitar

AUTOMOBILE There’s little to worry about here except

as hand luggage.

preventing the guitar case from sliding around inside the car. Laying the case long-ways in front of the rear

2. The guitar case dilemma. If you could be ABSOLUTELY

seat is a tried and tested method; it’s been known for

GUARANTEED that your guitar would go on as hand

guitars to travel in the passenger seat strapped in by

luggage then a well-padded gig bag would be sufficient

the safety belt.

to go in the overhead lockers and would make life easier for all parties involved. If it was not allowed on for any

MOTORBIKE Some gig bags can be worn rucksack-style

reason, however, a gig bag would give scant protection

on the back. A hard-shell case can be strapped onto

in the luggage hold. So take the most solid case you can

bikes with rear luggage compartments. (Make that very

afford and pad the guitar inside as much as possible—

heavily strapped!)

you can use some of the clothes you’ve packed, like underwear, socks, and T-shirts.

BICYCLE A gig bag worn rucksack-style is often seen, but is frankly a little on the risky side. It can affect your

3. Don't overcomplicate the packing. You may have to

balance on the bike, and if you fall off, both you and

unpack again for the x-ray machine at security.

your guitar are likely to be damaged. A hard-shell case in a bike trailer is a much safer option, but it does need

4. Tune the strings down by about a half-step or two—

to be strapped in.

this will stop strings snapping due to changes in temperature and humidity.

BUS, COACH, AND RAIL Very safe. The guitar case can either be stored in the seat alongside you or in an

5. If you book your seats in advance, go for the back of

overhead rack. Avoid the luggage hold on coaches if

the plane—these usually board first. (The most likely

you can, especially if your guitar only has a gig bag

reason your guitar case will be rejected is because

for protection.

overhead locker space runs out on full flights.)

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3 ADVANCED MAINTENANCE This chapter looks at the mechanics of the Stratocaster, in particular how to set it up to play in a way that suits you best. We’ll look at adjusting the action, intonation, and neck relief; how to replace damaged nuts and frets; and how to correctly set a vibrato unit.

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CHAPTER 3 | ADVANCED MAINTENANCE

NECK ADJUSTMENT If the neck on your Strat is not well maintained then it will never play well. Here we’ll look at ways in which you can change the contour of your neck, the angle at which it’s set in relation to the body, and even how to remove it altogether. Slight concave neck relief

NECK RELIEF If you hold your Strat like a rifle, with your eye aligned with

disadvantage to working with this “vintage” system is that to

the edge of the fingerboard, you will get a clear indicator of

gain access to the screw you have to loosen the neck screws

the contour or “relief” of your Strat’s neck. The model in the

to the point where the heel of the neck can be lifted around

picture (see right) has been nicely set up, and, as you can see,

half an inch out of the neck pocket.

exhibits a very slight curve. Although some players actively

During the 1970s, this was superseded by a protruding

prefer a straight fingerboard, Fender has its own

“bullet” screw on the headstock at the back of the nut that

recommendations, and these are linked to the radius of the

was adjusted using a 1/8-inch hex key; this was replaced in the

neck. So you first need to establish the neck radius of your

1980s with a simple access channel behind the nut, which

Strat (see pages 54–57). As a rule of thumb, most pre-1980s

works in the same way and remains the norm for most

models (or vintage replicas) tend to have a

71/4-inch

radius;

Fender and Squier Strats. (Although given how important

since then, 91/2 inches has been the norm, with a small

heritage and signature models are to the Fender business, the

number of models—such as the Eric Johnson signature

former “obsolete” methods adjustments can still be found on

Strat—fitted with a flatter 12-inch radius.

specialist Strats.)

You alter the neck relief by adjusting the truss rod. Since

The Bi-Flex truss rod is used on some of the upmarket

the birth of the Strat, Fender has employed two different

Fenders, such as the American Standard, American Deluxe,

types of truss rod, generally known as “standard” and

Fender Select, and Special Stratocasters. The name is a little

“Bi-Flex.”

confusing as it indicates that there might be two truss rods (a system used by some guitar makers for added stability),

ROD TYPES

where as, in fact, it means that the truss rod works in both

The vast majority of models are fitted with standard truss

directions: a standard truss rod can only straighten undue

rods, although there are some differences in the way in which

concave neck bowing; a Bi-Flex truss rod can also straighten

the adjustment screw is accessed. On Stratocasters produced

the rarer convex neck curvature. In terms of the adjustment

up until 1971, all adjustments were made using a crosshead

itself, though, it’s made in the same way, using a hex key

screwdriver at the heel of the neck (see bottom left). The main

behind the nut.

Vintage truss rod screw

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1970s “bullet” truss rod screw

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Standard modern truss rod screw

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NECK ADJUSTMENT

ADJUSTING THE TRUSS ROD

Radius

Relief (8th fret)

71/4"

0.012" (0.3mm)

nut. The principles are also good for the other types of truss

91/2"

0.010" (0.25mm)

rod although if you are working with the vintage system you

12"

0.010" (0.25mm)

Let’s look at how to make a truss rod adjustment for a standard modern Strat with the adjustment screw behind the

81

might have to go through the back-and-forth process of slackening the strings and loosening the neck screws a few times before you get things absolutely right. As ever, Fender has added a few complications, not least in that, rather annoyingly, different types of Strat may require different sizes of hex key. Most modern American Fenders require a 1/8-inch key; Mexican Fenders (and some American models) use a 3/16-inch key; a 4.5mm metric hex key is most commonly used on Squier Strats. (This is one good reason why owning a comprehensive set of imperial and metric hex keys is strongly recommended.) We’ll use Fender’s suggested settings, but—as should always be the case with any guitar—your hands, fingers, and ears should be the final arbiters.

1

Check the radius of your neck using a radius gauge as shown on page 55.

2

Look down the edge of the fingerboard and assess the curvature on the neck, so that you can see, within a little,

how much adjustment needs to be made.

3

Place a capo on the first fret and measure the action using a feeler gauge or a steel ruler at the 8th fret. Use the guide

measurements in the table above.

4

5

too low, turn the adjustment screw counterclockwise.

recommended measurements are only intended as a guide.

If the neck is too concave—the action at the 8th fret is too high—turn the truss rod adjustment clockwise to

remove some of the relief. If it is too convex, and the action is

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Check the action at the eighth fret again. If the measurements still don’t match, then re-adjust the neck

relief as required. Note: this is not an exact science, and the

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REMOVING THE NECK There could be any number of reasons why you might want to take the neck off your Strat. For extensive work on the fingerboard, such as a refretting job, having the body out the way will make life a lot easier. Equally, your neck might need shimming (see page 84) or replacing altogether: it might be badly damaged, or you may like the idea of a different type of neck—a new contour, fingerboard material, number of frets, or even a modified scale length. Changing a like-for-like neck—for example, taking a neck from one Strat and fixing it to the body of another—can be extremely simple—and is likely to require little more than unscrewing one neck and screwing the other on in its place.

1

With the strings removed, take a large crosshead screwdriver and unscrew the four attachment screws that

pass through the neck plate.

Attaching a new “partscaster” neck (see right) requires a little more work as a new set of holes have to be drilled. Fitting a non-Stratocaster neck is a more complex business, though, requiring you to consider three factors: how much working on the pocket is required to accommodate the new neck; whether its height is within the range of the existing bridge adjustment; and the intonation of the new neck. The latter is absolutely critical: if you were to fit, say, a Gibsonstyle 243/4-inch scale length neck, then the bridge (positioned for a standard Fender 251/2-inch scale length) would be in the wrong place. To check this out, measure the distance from the nut to the 12th fret, and take that figure from the 12th fret toward the bridge; it must be within the range of horizontal adjustment or the entire bridge unit would have to be brought forward—which for a standard synchronized tremolo unit

2

Check that the replacement neck fits smoothly in the neck pocket. (A brand new neck may require some very

gentle sanding at the sides of the pocket to fit.)

would require extensive body routing.

BARITONE STRAT? Although baritone electric guitars have existed since the 1950s, they have found a twenty-first-century niche in metal and indie-rock bands. A baritone guitar has a longer neck, hence a longer scale length than the standard 251/2 inches (the measurement from bridge saddle to nut) found on a Strat. This means that when fitted with baritone strings the standard open-string tuning intervals can be “droptuned” between a major third (C on the bottom string) and a perfect fifth (A on the bottom string) to give that characteristic lower-register growl. All of the well-known guitar parts companies produce a retrofittable Stratocaster baritone neck

Baritone Stratocaster neck made by Allparts

designed to fit a standard 251/2-inch heel, and provide a new scale length of 273/4 inches; buying

your Strat and that the intonation will be correct for

this way will ensure that it will fit the neck pocket of

the existing bridge.

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83

MORE STRATOCASTER VOODOO! Let’s now visit one of the most nit-picky areas in what we might call “Stratlore.” There is a body of thought that suggests for the best possible tone and sustain we need to strive for maximum wood-to-wood contact between the heel of the neck and the point at which it makes contact with the body. And that one of the simplest mods we

3

If the neck is brand new, holes need to be marked and drilled. With the neck held firmly in place with a clamp,

take a center punch and pass it through each of the holes in the body to mark their positions on the heel of the neck. (If you don’t have a punch, you can use one of the neck screws.)

can make to a Strat is to remove the neck and file down any extraneous paint that may have made its way into neck pocket during the spraying process. Does it make a blind bit of difference? Well, we’re not entirely convinced, but there seems to be quite a few folks who swear by it. In truth, paint overspill is rarely that great these days, so if you do happen to be taking your neck off for any reason it would probably only take you a few minutes with a fine jewelry file to remove residue paint. So why not do it anyway?

Masking tape depth marker

4

When drilling in the neck, its critical that you drill at an angle of 90 degrees and that you don’t drill too deep into

the fingerboard. Fit a 1/8-inch drill bit and roll a piece of

masking tape 7/8 inch above the tip—this gives you the depth for your holes. Carefully drill all four holes.

When it comes to the joint between the neck and the body, the whole “wood-on-wood” issue continues to be debated. This, of course, includes the guitar fundamentalist’s question of whether a Fender-style bolt-on neck joint could ever truly be a match for the glued “set” necks found on Gibsons and Gretsches, or the “neck-throughbody” constructions of Rickenbackers. It’s true that a non-bolt-on design will transfer the resonance more efficiently between the neck and the body, which may create more sustain and a different type of tone.

5

Reposition the neck plate and screw all four holes back in place. If you are happy that the neck is in position, fix the

tuners and string trees in place. You are now likely to need a complete bridge reset for action and intonation, as well as possibly for neck relief.

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Although set-neck models have been produced by the Fender Custom Shop, the Strat’s continuing popularity among professional musicians does rather suggest that this is not a significant issue for too many players.

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CHAPTER 3 | ADVANCED MAINTENANCE

NECK ANGLE In the majority of cases, the angle at which the neck is set when bolted onto the body at the factory, parallel to the surface of the body, is just fine—and it stays that way. Over time, however, the constant string tension can occasionally cause the relatively thin body of the Strat to become slightly concave, changing its neck angle. If this becomes too extreme you may find that however you alter the height of the bridge saddles, you can nevertheless no longer achieve a satisfactory The classic carved ice–pop stick shim

action. The only solution may be to compensate by altering the angle of the neck.

The problem is what might happen in the long term. Since gaps are left in the pocket between the neck and the body, the

WHAT IS A SHIM? On a standard four-bolt Stratocaster, changing the neck angle is achieved by fitting a wooden shim between the heel of the neck and the pocket, the purpose being to raise the height of the neck very slightly at the bridge end, changing the angle. The exception here is Fender Stratocasters fitted with a Micro-Tilt neck. This simple lever mechanism first appeared

tight screws will exert a pressure on the heel to fill that space, which can sometimes cause a warped neck. The way to avoid this happening is to cut a shim that fits the full size of the pocket, and which is higher at one end than the other. This will take longer but will be safer and it will also maximize the desirable wood-on-wood surface area.

on Fender’s three-bolt necks in 1971, but is now used on a small number of retro three- and four-bolt models. The Micro-Tilt is simply a screw fitted into the heel of the neck, controlled using a hex key, which pushes up the rear end of the neck. (This is such a notorious period feature that some guitar technicians would ignore it altogether in favor of a installing a shim from scratch.) There are two distinct approaches we can take to fitting a shim. We can take the quick and easy path, which many regard as perfectly adequate, or we can do go the “ideal world” route.

1

Remove the guitar strings and turn your Strat on its front. Remove all four of the attachment screws on the neck

FITTING A SHIM For the simplest of shims, all we are looking for is some kind

plate and detach the neck from the body.

of material that can be placed on the bottom of the neck pocket, at the end closest to the bridge, so that when the neck is reinserted it will be slightly higher at that end. Ask any guitar repair technician what materials they’ve seen used as shims, and you’ll hear tales of guitar picks, one-cent coins, small washers, corrugated cardboard, and collapsed matchboxes. All of these materials will do the job in hand— even if some shouldn’t be trying in the first place. One of the better popular shim types is a simple carved ice-pop stick (see above). Cut it to the same width of the neck, round the corners with a file or some sandpaper, position it in the pocket behind the two lower screw holes, and refit the neck. You’ll now see that you’ve raised your neck angle very slightly—certainly enough to make necessary

You now need to make the shim a wedge shape. To help you with this job, scribble thoroughly all over one side

with a soft pencil or smear with graphite powder.

adjustments to the bridge.

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4

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MICRO-TILT The Micro-Tilt is essentially a variable shim. It first appeared on Fender three-bolt necks in 1971, and whilst it has been reintroduced on a few modern models (including some four-bolt Strats), it remains a generally unpopular innovation. The Micro-Tilt is very easy to use, though, in that it doesn’t require the neck—or even the strings—to be removed, and so makes for easier fine-tuning of the neck angle. All you do is slacken the strings a little, slightly loosen the three (or four) neck screws, and then take a 3/32-inch hex key to the small hole at the bottom of the neck plate. Turning the key clockwise will raise the angle of the neck—ideally between 0 and 5 degrees. Use gentle quarter turns, Micro-Tilt screw accessed from the small hole

as you may be surprised how a small movement can

near the bottom of the neck plate

alter the angle noticeably.

2

3

5

6

Place the heel on a piece of 1/16-inch veneer, draw round the edge with a pencil, and cut out with a sharp knife.

Place the shim inside the pocket to ensure that it fits.

Take a sanding block with medium-grade sandpaper, and create a wedge by sanding the shim from front to back,

removing all the graphite at one end but none at the other.

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With the shim in place in the neck pocket, poke a screw into the four neck holes and mark their positions on the

shim. Drill out the holes using a 1/8-inch bit.

Lay the wedge-shaped shim in the neck pocket with the shallow end pointing away from the bridge. Refit the

neck. Sand the shim further if the angle is still not correct.

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FRET MATTERS Taking care of the frets on your Strat’s fingerboard should be a fundamental part of your care and maintenance procedures. Certainly, if you don't wipe down the front and back of the neck after a session, for example, the strings, frets, and wood might well be affected by dirt, as well as moisture, acids, and salt from your sweat. The frets also determine, in part, the intonation and clarity of the notes you play—worn frets may result in string buzz; a poorly finished fret job will make your Strat less comfortable to play.

STATE OF YOUR FRETS

vibrato. And this is not so surprising when you consider that

If a brand new American-built Strat has just winged its way

one of them may be ten times the cost of the other.

into your life, there’s a pretty strong likelihood that the frets

In fact, this is a relatively simple problem to remedy—and

and fingerboard will arrive in a near-pristine state. The same,

one to which every owner of a Squier Strat (and arguably

of course, cannot be said of used models that may have been

some of the cheaper made-in-Mexico Fenders) should devote

poorly maintained or repaired—or, for that matter, some of

some time. Indeed, an hour with some wire wool and a fine

the cheaper Squier models built in Asia.

jewelry file can leave you with the impression that you have a

A Squier Strat represents excellent value for money, with a

completely new instrument.

sound broadly in the same ball park as its American counterpart. The basic components may not be quite of the

FRET DRESSING

same standard, but the main reason they can be sold at these

Let’s begin by polishing the tops of the frets. You’ll need some

prices is that far less time will have been devoted to the labor-

fine steel wool (no more than 0000 grade), and some masking

intensive parts of the process, such as setting up the bridge

tape (preferably the type that doesn’t leave a residue). As an

and nut and dressing the frets. If you compare an American

alternative to taping around the frets, with a small piece of

Standard Strat with a Chinese Squier Affinity, you'll feel the

card and a modeling knife you can create your own fret

difference immediately when you slide your hands along the

template (see below). The aim of this procedure is to bring a

edges of their fingerboard; the Fender will have a smooth feel;

gently abrasive material—fine wire wool—to the top and

the Squier will be a little rougher along the edges, or when

edges of the fret but minimizing the contact with the

you slide the strings across the frets when bending or playing

fingerboard itself.

CUTTING A FRET TEMPLATE A neat alternative to fixing masking tape on each side of every fret on the fingerboard is to make your own template from a piece of card. It’s a simple idea whereby you cut a slot—around 1⁄8 inch (3.1mm) in width— so that when the card is positioned on the fingerboard it allows access to a single fret, which can then be smoothed without damaging the surface of the fingerboard. To do this you'll need a piece of card 41⁄2" (114.3mm) around 4½ inches (88.9mm) by 3½ inches (114.3mm) in 31⁄2" (88.9mm)

1⁄ " (3.1mm) 8

size. The template design is shown on the left. The dimensions are not strictly critical; as long as the slot covers the length and width of the fret and protects the fingerboard, either side it will be fine. Similarly, the thickness of the card is not especially important— something like 100 lbs will do the job nicely.

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FRET MATTERS

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FINGERBOARD MATERIALS Almost all Stratocaster fingerboards are made either from

Rosewood fingerboards are unvarnished and so less

rosewood or maple. These are finished in different ways

susceptible to such damage. (Indeed, the finest wire wool

and, to certain extent, require different treatments when

can be used to clean the surface of particularly grubby

working on the frets.

rosewood fingerboards.) Our recommendation is still that

Maple fingerboards have a covering of polyurethane

you follow the steps below, though—any abrasive

which can easily be scratched or dulled by abrasive

material will, by definition, remove some of the surface

materials such as wire wool, sandpaper, or fine files.

wood, so you should only take the wire wool to the bare

When polishing fret tops you need to ensure that maple

fingerboard when you want to remove the dirt and grime

fingerboards are protected.

from the rosewood.

1

2

designed to pull off without leaving a sticky residue.

touch the very top of the fret.)

3

4

wipe away the residue you’ll be able to feel if it needs more

wool; if any of the frets seem to protrude further than others,

work. Do the same along the edge of the fret on both sides.

you can tidy up the rough edges using a fine jewelry file (see

Don't go crazy—you’re not trying to file the fret down.

Step 5). Don’t apply too much pressure with the steel wool.

Take two pieces of masking tape and lay them directly on either side of the fret being polished. The kind of tape

used by decorators to paint window frames is ideal since it is

Rub back and forth across the length of the fret with the wire wool, applying gentle pressure with the index finger.

Ten strokes in either direction should be enough, but if you

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Alternatively, use the design in the box across the page to cut out a cardboard mask. Lay it over the fret you intend

to polish. (Note that if the card is too thick you will only

When you’ve polished the tops of all of the frets, slide your thumb and fingers along the edges of the frets. If

they feel rough or bumpy they will need cleaning with steel

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CHAPTER 3 | ADVANCED MAINTENANCE

5

6

each pass. Use only downward movements as filing

good clean, making sure that none of the wire wool residue

upward can push the fret out of its slot.

gets attracted to the pickup poles.

REPLACING A FRET

standard Fenders and Squiers (0.046 inch high [1.17mm];

We’re now moving into some potentially serious territory, so

0.103 inch wide [2.62mm]). The two are visibly different, but

if you do view your Strat more in terms of its investment

if at all in doubt, the safest bet is to go with Fender’s own

value then this kind of work is best left to the experts.

pre-cut nickel silver fretwire; not only will it be the correct

However, an understanding of how the refretting process

size, but the frets are also curved for the appropriate neck

works should enable you to gauge the level of work needed,

radius (71/4 inches for vintage; 91/4 inches for contemporary).

If there are any protruding frets, carefully take a flat jewelry file to the offending edge. Make one pass at a

time, moving from top to bottom, feeling the edge after

Run a piece of wire wool the full length of each fingerboard; a half a dozen times up and down each side

should be enough to improve the feel. Finally, give the neck a

If you are going for a total refret, it’s worth considering

so it’s worth reading through. If you are confident in your crafting skills, you’ll see that

stainless steel as an alternative to nickel silver. This tends to

there is nothing fundamentally complicated in the process,

give a slightly brighter tone and also has a smoother feel, but

and that replacing a worn-out fret is a matter of delicacy,

is also well-known as a string killer. If you’re having the job

care, and patience. (In truth, pulling out the old frets and

done professionally then be prepared to pay a premium—

putting new ones in is the easy bit—the hard work comes

repair techs generally hate them for the wear and tear they

with leveling them off, so you can imagine the effort involved

exert on their tools.

over an entire fingerboard.) Before you get started, you’ll need to buy some

REMOVING THE FRET

replacement fret wire, which is sold either in a spool or in

There are three stages to consider when replacing a fret:

pre-cut lengths. Since fret wire is produced in many different

removing the old fret, preparing the new fret, and fitting the

shapes, widths, and materials, you need to ensure that you

new fret.

have the correct wire. The diagram below shows a cross-

Removing a fret needs to be done with care as it’s easy for

section of a piece of fret wire. The vertical segment—the

slivers of fingerboard to come away at the same time. While

“tong”—slots into the fingerboard, leaving the curved

there are bespoke tools for this purpose, a pair of end nippers

“crown” protruding. Fret sizes are described in terms of the

will do the job perfectly well.

Height

height and width of the crown. As ever with the Stratocaster,

Width

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You can prime the fret in a couple of ways. First, take a

there is no one definitive

modeling knife and run it underneath the crown on both

“standard,” although there are

sides; this will minimize the likelihood of the tong damaging

two sizes that dominate—

the fingerboard as it comes away. Before using the nippers,

“vintage” for older or modern

place some masking tape either side of the fret to protect the

replica Strats (0.037 inch high

fingerboard from accidental slippages. If the fret doesn’t come

[0.94mm]; 0.080 inch wide

up easily then it may have been glued in place, so heating the

[2mm]), and the larger

fret with a strong hair dryer, or even applying a soldering iron

“medium jumbo” used for

to the crown, might help to loosen its hold.

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FRET MATTERS

1

2

PREPARING AND FITTING THE FRET

popular among repair techs). You could use a “superglue” on

To prepare the fret, you’ll need a radius gauge and a pair of

rosewood fingerboards, but its not advisable on varnished

cutters; to install the fret, you’ll need glue, a cloth, a steel

maple as it can be really difficult to remove the residue. Only

ruler, a jewelry file, and some wire wool. For fixing the frets

use a small amount, and clean the residue immediately—it

in place, use a strong wood glue (something like Titebond is

will be a real pain to remove if you let it dry off.

1

2

fret wire to the correct shape.

small hammer to very gently tap it home.

3

4

Take the end nippers either side of the crown and very gently ease the fret out of its slot.

Take a modeling knife to the slot and clean out any extraneous dirt or glue.

Having established the neck radius of your Strat, take a piece of fret wire, cut it very slightly longer than the

width of the previous fret. Using the radius gauge, bend the

Take a steel ruler and place it on top of the fingerboard; if the new fret stands proud it needs to be delicately filed.

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Apply glue to the slot in the fingerboard and push the fret evenly in place, making sure that the bottom of the crown

rests flush against the fingerboard. If you wish, you can use

File the crown, making sure that you maintain the radius, until the fret is the correct height. Finish with wire wool.

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CHAPTER 3 | ADVANCED MAINTENANCE

THE NUT The nut plays an absolutely crucial role in the performance of your Strat. In conjunction with the individual bridge saddles, it defines both the spacing between the strings and the action. If the slots in the nut are too high, the action and intonation in the lower frets will be horrible; if they are too low, it will result in fret buzz; if they are too wide you can get so-called string ping as they move laterally.

NUT MAINTENANCE AND REPLACEMENT

TUSQ, which is as tough as bone and also contains a

Before we proceed, it’s important to remember that all of the

lubricating agent. There have also been past vogues for nuts

procedures undertaken to improve the playability of your

made from graphite and brass.

Stratocaster are interconnected. For example, you won’t necessarily gain much benefit by taking the time to adjust the

CHECKING THE NUT

truss rod or bridge saddles if the nut is left in a poor state.

Because action is matter of personal preference, at the factory

Often overlooked, perhaps because it isn’t simply

nuts are cut to a maximum tolerable height, which will be

adjustable with a hex key or screwdriver, the nut nevertheless

fine for many players. Here is a very simple way to check this

plays a role not only in the mechanical sense of governing

out without having to resort to the feeler gauge. You can use

action and string spacing, but in the way it can affect the

this is a start point for the process.

sound. When open strings are being played, the nut is one of the two points of contact between the body and the string, so the material from which the nut is made can have a genuine impact on your tone. One of the problems with adjusting the nut is that anything you alter is permanent—if you accidentally file the string slot too deeply, you can’t “unfile” it. So work of this nature needs to be undertaken very gradually with plenty of stops to check (and recheck) measurements along the way. Guitar nuts were traditionally made from natural products such as bone and ivory. (On ethical grounds, the use of the latter can, of course, no longer possibly be recommended.) Although bone from cows and oxen remains heavily used, some of the best nuts are now produced from human-made materials such as Corian, or Graph Tech’s ivory equivalent,

1

Place a capo on the 3rd fret. (If you don’t have a capo, place your finger on the 3rd fret of the bottom string and

follow steps 2 and 3. Then repeat for the other five strings.)

2

3

then the nut is too low; a tiny gap is ideal.

gap suggests that height of the nut slots could be lowered.

Looking at your Strat fingerboard side-on, for each string, check the gap between the top of the 1st fret and the

bottom of the string. If the string makes contact with the fret

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If you can’t see clearly, tap the string above the 1st fret. If there is a gap you should hear a little click as the string

makes contact with the top of the fret. In this example, the

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THE NUT

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LIKE-FOR-LIKE REPLACEMENT It’s clearly critical that any replacement nut must of the same width as the original. Surprisingly, there have not been too many different widths in use since the Stratocaster was launched. For the first four decades, all Fender electric guitars had a uniform fingerboard width of 15/8 inches (41.3mm) at the nut. Things changed in the early 1980s, since when the vast majority of standard American-built Strats moved to a nut width of 111/16 inches (42.8mm). Asian Squier Strats, the majority of Mexican Fenders and some of the American-built signature models have nuts measuring 113/20 inches (42mm). For fans of particularly slender necks, the Squier Affinity range checks in at just 13/5 inches (40.6mm). Some specialist parts manufacturers produce pre-slotted nut upgrades. The advantage here is that much of the work is already done for you, although leaving you to make the fine height adjustments. In this example we’ll replace a stock nut

1

Take a small screwdriver or chisel, hold the tip against one side of the nut and gently tap with a small hammer

until the nut slides out. Don’t strike too hard as you may

with a Graph Tech TUSQ equivalent.

damage the fingerboard or side of the neck.

2

3

4

5

with a damp cloth.

you can use a fine flat jewelry file.

Remove the old nut from the fingerboard. Take a fine jewelry file and remove any residue glue from the bottom

or the edges of the nut slot.

Titebond is especially popular among guitar technicians.

Only put a small amount on the bottom of the nut.

Push the replacement nut into the slot and tap it very gently in place with the small hammer. Quickly wipe

away any glue that has found its way onto the fingerboard

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Fix the new nut in place using a strong wood glue.

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Restring the guitar and carry out the checking procedure shown on page 90. If the action is too high, then carefully

deepen the slots using a fine razor saw blade—alternatively

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CHAPTER 3 | ADVANCED MAINTENANCE

CUTTING A BONE NUT

DIY NUT FILE

A genuine bone nut is still seen by some as the best upgrade that can be made—especially players who have some kind of

There are many ways to get the string slots to the

aversion to human-made materials, such as Fender’s own

desired height in the nut, the most traditional being

slightly mysterious “synthetic bone” used on modern Strats.

a fine razor saw (or even a razor saw scalpel blade)

(Although having worked on both synthetic and real bone,

or a very narrow, flat jewelry file. One particularly

we’d say there is very little to call between the two.)

good makeshift tool is to use one of the thin

In this example, we’ll remove a synthetic nut from the

cutting/grinding disks designed for a rotary tool

fingerboard and replace it with a bone equivalent. Although

(such as the one shown in Step 2 below), only

you can buy pre-slotted bone nuts easily enough, this time

removed from the shaft and used as a hand-held

we’ll cut one from scratch. It’s very easy to get hold of

file. Others have recommended drill bits wrapped in

suitable bone “blanks” online or, if you’re lucky, from a local

emery cloth, again used as a hand file. One neat

guitar store. To make a tricky job a little easier, start off by

trick used by a number of professional guitar techs

getting the correct width, which is 1/8 inch (3.2mm) for a

is to take a small length of roundwound guitar

Strat, otherwise you’ll have to file down one of the faces.

string—around 3 inches (76mm)—and tape it top

This job does require skill and patience, so put aside a

and bottom to the shaft of a screwdriver. It can then

good few hours, and perhaps keep a small supply of blanks in

be used as a precision file. The advantage of

case things don’t go quite according to plan!

finishing with this tool is that it’s not coarse enough to take too much depth out of the slot in one go.

1

Remove the existing nut as shown on page 91—we’ll use this one as a rough template. Lay it over the blank piece

of bone, aligning the bottom edges of both, and draw around it with a sharp, soft lead pencil.

2

3

well-ventilated as bone dust will linger in the air.

nut to continue fine-tuning the size.

Use a coarse file or grinding device to get the blank into approximate shape. Using a rotary tool with a grinding

wheel will do the job well, although make sure the area is

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With the new nut broadly in shape, use a fine jewelry file to remove the final residue. Temporarily fit the new nut

in the slot to ensure that it’s the correct width. Remove the

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THE NUT

93

LUBRICATING YOUR NUTS Tuning stability is a problem that can be caused by string friction at the nut. You can sometimes tell there’s a problem when the string “pings” at the nut while you’re tuning. What’s happening here is the string is actually getting caught in the nut, which can cause you to slip easily out of tune, especially if you are heavy user of the tremolo arm. One solution to this problem is some very careful filing of the sides of the offending nut slot; a cheap and easier fix, though, is to lubricate the nut slots. The idea here is for the string to pass through the slots as smoothly as possible between the bridge and the shaft of the tuner. Although there are plenty of professional concoctions that are widely used—Big Bends Nut Sauce

cure for sticking locks. Failing that, try this time-honored

is a popular brand—we’re fans of simple graphite

guitar tech’s trick: simply shave the tip of a soft lead

powder, which can be bought in any hardware store as a

pencil with a sharp knife, liberally apply the powder to the nut slots, and finally wipe away the residue with a brush or vacuum cleaning attachment. Fender came up with its own solution to this problem with the development of the LSR Roller Nut (see above), which is fitted as standard to American Deluxe and HSS Stratocasters. The strings effectively rest on ball bearings so friction is minimized. The LSR can be retrofitted to a Strat, but it’s by no means a slot-in replacement—you need to widen the nut slot, in fact. Since the top two strings of a Strat pass through a string tree between the nut and the tuners, this can also be a potential friction point—these can be replaced with roller string trees (see page 95).

4

5

mark against the original string notches.

across the page. The key here is taking small, delicate steps.

With the nut now the correct shape, very carefully mark the string notches. You may find it easiest to slot in the

old nut and hold its replacement alongside so that you can

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There are numerous ways of filing the new strings slots. One that we recommend is using the finest razor saw you

can find to start the notches, and then finish off as suggested

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CHAPTER 3 | ADVANCED MAINTENANCE

CLEANING AND REPLACING TUNERS It’s hugely important that your Strat’s tuners are in full working order or else you won’t be able to stay in tune. Sometimes a tuner will malfunction, but replacements of Kluson-style American Vintage, 1970s-type “F” tuners or modern American Standard tuners are widely available and easy to refit.

LOOKING AFTER YOUR TUNERS All of the tuners used on Fender guitars are of the “closed” type, meaning that they are built with a metal cover that hides the internal gearing. These tuners are essentially lubricated, sealed at the factory and, as far as their inner workings are concerned, designed to be maintenance-free. The Fender American Vintage tuners, and their original Kluson counterparts, do have a tiny hole in the back of the cover into which a lubricant can occasionally be applied. Brand new Vintage tuners shouldn’t need lubricating for a good many years, and it’s probably fair to say that many long-term owners have never once felt any such need. If the tuners suddenly start feeling tight or hard to turn, that’s the time to consider lubrication. In this case, a tiny amount of household oil (or sewing machine oil) dripped into the hole should do the trick; or a small dollop of petroleum jelly on

Lubricating a Kluson or Fender Vintage tuner

the end of a cocktail stick will go straight to the gear wheel. any holes—this way you can also retain the original features

REPLACING A SINGLE TUNER

of your Strat.

Making a like-for-like replacement is the most convenient

Below we illustrate how simple it is to remove all three

way of dealing with broken tuners. All three main types are

Fender tuners from the headstock. Aspects of the designs may

very easy to remove from the headstock, and if you replace

change slightly over time, but the basic principles remain the

with a similar unit you are unlikely to need to drill out or fill

same, on both Fender and Squier Strats.

1

2

screws will also hold an adjacent tuner in place.)

some heat from a hair dryer to become loose.)

For an American Vintage tuner, take a small crosshead screwdriver, remove the two screws at either end of the

tuner, and slide from the back of the headstock. (Most of the

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If you need to remove the “bushing” that surrounds the string post, slide the blade of a modeling knife under the

edge and carefully prise it out. (On older guitars, it may need

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CLEANING AND REPLACING TUNERS

95

ANGLES AND FRICTION The headstock angle on a Stratocaster is parallel to the fingerboard. Because the two tuners at the top of the headstock are further from the nut than the bass strings, there is less of a natural angle from the nut slot to the tuner, reducing the horizontal stability of those strings at the nut. Fender’s solution to this problem was a tiny bracket fitted in the middle of the headstock under which the two top strings were threaded, forcing a greater angle

1

The “F” tuner works in the same way as the Vintage

from nut slots. These are known as ”butterfly string

tuner, so just needs the two screws to be removed at the

trees.” Although this has always been a standard

back of the headstock and the bushing at the front.

feature of any Stratocaster, in solving one problem the string tree created a new one: it also increases the friction on the strings between the nut and the tuner, and this can be a very big problem for heavy tremolo users. A simple solution to this problem is to replace the butterfly string guide with a roller string tree (see right); the string passes beneath the roller, which turns when the string moves as the tremolo arm is engaged. Installation is

1

The American Standard tuner is held in place from the

a simple matter of unscrewing the original butterfly

front of the headstock by a threaded tube with a

tree and fitting the replacement. If you are a heavy

hexagonal collar—circular movement is prevented by the two

user of the tremolo arm then you are likely to notice

small pegs on the base of the tuner’s casing, which fit into two

an improvement in tuning stability

holes on the back of the headstock. These are made by either Schaller or Ping.

A more fundamental solution is to take the issue right back to the tuners themselves, replacing your existing set with a “staggered” set. These tuners

TUNER GEAR RATIOS

feature string holes positioned gradually closer to

Most players have few preferences when it comes to the type

the headstock from top to bottom. This forces the

of tuners they use—we generally just go with what the

angle in the same way as a string tree but without

manufacturer originally installed. But although all tuners

any of the friction problems.

essentially do the same thing in the same way, they are by no means identical. This is mainly due to what is called the gear ratio. This simply describes the number of times that the tuning button has to be turned for the string post to make a single rotation. A higher ratio enables the string post to move in smaller increments, allowing a finer degree of control over tuning. Most tuner sets will have gear ratios of between 14:1 and 20:1. Older tuners tend to be lower—toward 10:1; some modern sets boast extraordinarily high figures, such as Graph

Staggered tuners: the string hole on the top E

Tech’s Ratio tuners which claim to be 39:1, enabling very fine

tuner is positioned lower down the capstan than

tuning control.

the string hole for the bottom E tuner.

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CHAPTER 3 | ADVANCED MAINTENANCE

LOCKING TUNERS Once a new set of strings has “bedded in,” one of the main causes of pitch drift is string slippage at the tuner. There can be many other underlying reasons causing tuning issues, but this kind of issue can be avoided by fitting locking tuners.

SLIPPERY STRINGS

tune. A locking tuner clamps the string firmly to the tuner so

Locking tuners are great. They make stringing a guitar

that it can’t slip.

quicker and require no particular knowledge of special

The first true locking tuners appeared on Hamer guitars in

winding techniques. That said, the main cause of slippage

the early 1980s, the brand’s own Hamerlock system

when using conventional tuners is rarely about the hardware

developed by cofounder Jol Dantzig. Now every major

but the fact that many guitarists simply don’t fit their strings

machine head manufacturer produces a variety of sets.

effectively in the first place. As such, you’ll find a good few

The easiest way to convert your Strat is to replace your

experienced players who consider them to be a waste of time

current set of tuners with like-for-like locking equivalents.

and money.

Here you can see how a set of Fender American Standard

First, though, let’s clarify what a locking tuner—or locking

tuners can be replaced with a set of Schaller M6 locking

machine head as it’s sometimes called—is and what it is not.

tuners. Vintage tuners have locking equivalents produced by

A locking tuner is not the same thing as a locking nut, which

Kluson and others, as do the 1970s “F” models.

literally clamps your strings between the bridge and the nut,

Locking tuners broadly come in two styles—those that

keeping it in tune—usually so you can perform dive-bomb

clamp from behind the tuner (shown here) or those that

whammy-bar antics on a Floyd Rose without going out of

clamp from the top.

1

2

Remove the existing set of tuners, keeping safe the screw shafts and washers that hold them in place.

3

Securely screw the new tuner in place from the front of the headstock. Tighten with spanner.

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You’ll see two tiny peg holes above the main hole; insert the locking tuner and align the two pins with the holes.

4

The six Schaller tuners have a large screw lock on the back of each unit.

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LOCKING TUNERS

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One o’clock

STRINGING THE SCHALLERS First you need to align the holes to get the best string path. If you think of the flat edge of the Strat’s headstock as pointing to the number twelve on a clock face, then the 1st string

Two o’clock

should be turned so that the string hole points to one o’clock; the 2nd string to two o’clock; the third and fourth strings to three o’clock; the fifth string to four o’clock; and the bottom string to five o’clock. Three o’clock

Three o’clock

Four o’clock

1

Take the top E string and pass it from the bridge in the

Five o’clock

usual way, threading it counterclockwise into the string

hole. (Note: make sure that the thumbscrew lock has been opened first or else the string won’t go in the hole!) Pull the string tightly as you can from the end.

2

With the string still pulled taut with one hand, turn the thumbscrew lock clockwise as tightly as you can with the

other. The string should now be locked in position.

3

You can now safely cut off the excess string with a pair of wire cutters, leaving no more than about a quarter of an

inch. Repeat for the other five strings and then tune.

TOP-LOCKING TUNERS Perhaps because they are able to retain the original

clamping principle only the large thumbscrew is

look of the guitar at the front of the headstock, it’s

replaced by a smaller screw that is tightened at the

more common to see locking tuners with a

top of the string shaft. (The Tronical system shown

thumbscrew on the casing at the rear of the

on pages 99–101 uses a top-locking screw.) Both

headstock. Top-locking tuners use exactly the same

versions work equally well.

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ROBOT TUNERS Here’s an interesting little bit of guitar technology magic. It goes without saying—or at least it should— that a perfectly tuned instrument is absolutely fundamental as a starting point for making music. Electronic devices that measure the tuning of individual strings have been available for decades, but what about a guitar that can actually tune itself? And in a matter of a few seconds?

WE ARE THE ROBOTS

TronicalTune can be fitted to virtually any production-line

The year 2007 saw the launch of a seemingly radical new

guitar made by most of the leading manufacturers.

instrument—the Gibson Robot Guitar (GRB). At first glance this appeared to be no more than a cool-looking blue

WHY BOTHER?

sunburst Les Paul; a closer look revealed a Master Control

This is impressive technology, but is it really that worthwhile?

Knob (MCK) among the on-body hardware. This was the

There’s no doubt that there has been some hostility to this

interface for some very smart processing circuitry that

type of technology from the guitar community. But there is a

enabled the tuners to rotate by themselves, setting string

sense that self-tuning is gradually finding its way from novel,

tensions to predefined pitches. For many of us, seeing this

nerdy curiosity toward the mainstream.

system in action for the first time felt like real guitar voodoo. Although Gibson claimed the Robot Guitar as a “world’s

There are some clear practical benefits. Tuning can be tricky, especially for those without a naturally “musical ear.”

first,” this was not the only such technology around. In fact,

Some players can take several minutes to tune up—self-tuning

a computerized tuning system built by Transperformance had

systems can do the job in seconds.

been created more than a decade earlier, and can still claim

Its greatest potential, perhaps, is for players with interests

players such as Jimmy Page among its users. Although an

that go beyond standard tuning (E-A-D-G-B-E). Every

undoubtedly brilliant and effective technology, the

automated tuning system on the market has alternative tuning

Transperformance system also required invasive modification

features; on stage, if you want to shift from standard to

to the guitar, could only be fitted by specialist technicians,

DADGAD tuning it can be done at the push of a button. And

and the installation costs placed it well beyond the means of

you can even program your own bespoke tunings. At over three hundred dollars this still isn’t exactly cheap,

the average player. It was German guitarist Chris Adams who devised the

but it does bring the costs usually associated with such

alternative system used by Gibson on the GRB and

technology down toward something affordable. What’s more,

subsequent models. The original system featured piezo bridge

installation is very straightforward—it shouldn’t take any

saddles that communicated with a microprocessor run from

more than about twenty minutes of your time—and, above

the Master Control Knob, which then transmitted data to the

all, the additional components add very little weight to the

servo motor in each of the six tuners, causing them to turn

headstock, and so won’t affect balance.

automatically until the string tension created the correct pitch. Adams’ company, Hamburg-based Tronical, went on to

INSTALLING TRONICALTUNE

develop a simpler system which in 2013 Gibson introduced to

The TronicalTune system is based around a central mounting

some guitars under the name Min-ETune (updated as G-Force

board that houses both the circuitry that connects to the

a year later). The main benefit of this update was self-evident:

tuners and the control unit. This is simply clamped into place

the workings were now confined to the rear of the headstock,

on the reverse of the headstock by the six tuners, secured with

meaning that it could be installed on any production-line

hexagonal nuts in the same way as any standard Fender tuner.

Gibson without the need for any additional modification.

For it to work, however, the holes on the circuit board must

At the same time, Tronical began selling the system as an

align perfectly with the six tuner holes in the headstock. For

easy-to-install retrofit—under the name TronicalTune.

most Fender and Squier Stratocasters TronicalTune—or the

Although the tuners themselves are standard six-in-a-line or

faster TronicalTune Plus—Type C or C1 kits will be needed.

three-a-side sets, the company produces a wide variety of

(If in any doubt, templates are available online that you can

circuit boards on which they are mounted, meaning that

match against your headstock.)

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1

2

powered by a small lithium battery, so before you begin,

the original tuners and their fittings safe in case you decide to

connect it to the mains charger so that it’s ready when needed.

reinstall them at a later date.)

3

4

it doesn’t slot into position, you'll feel that it’s in place when

using the little spanner that comes with the kit. Turn the nut

the electrical contact points are aligned.

as far as it will go, but don’t tighten it fully.

5

6

you thread the tuner. When this is in place, the circuit board

gentle, though: if they are too loose the electrical contact may

will be secure.

not work; too tight and it can damage the circuit board.

The TronicalTune kit comes in two boxes. One houses the six tuners (RoboHeads) and their fittings, the other

contains the circuit board, battery, and charger. The system is

Take the circuit board and place it on the rear of the headstock so that the six holes are aligned. Carefully take

one of the RoboHeads and push in the lowest hole. Although

Repeat Step 3 and Step 4, this time for the RoboHead at the top of the headstock. At this time, there may still be

room for the circuit board to move, so keep hold of it while

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Remove all the strings from your Strat and all of the tuners. Check pages 94–95 if you’re unsure about which

type of tuner is fitted to your guitar. (Make sure that you keep

Holding the tuner so that it locks the circuit board in place, fit the washer over the string shaft on the front of

the headstock and then screw the horizontal nut clockwise

You can now repeat Step 3 and Step 4 for the remaining four RoboHeads. When all six are in place, give the nut

on each one a final turn to ensure that they are not loose. Be

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String recess

STRINGING UP

Lock nut

The TronicalTune system uses a locking tuner mechanism— for it to work at all there can be no string slippage. Strings are held with an unusual winding technique, and are then secured in place with a screw-on lock nut. Even though it may feel like you are forcing the servo motor in the RoboHead, you can rotate each tuner by hand in the conventional way. Before you begin the stringing operation, you must first remove the lock nut (which sits on

Indentation 90 degrees from the edge of the headstock

the end of the string shaft) and then turn the tuning key until the indents on either side of horizontal string recess are roughly perpendicular to the edge of the headstock. You can do this one string at a time or for all of them before you begin

1

Thread the string at the bridge, pull it tightly, and wind counterclockwise around the string shaft beneath the

string recess, bringing it up through the recess.

to string your Strat.

2

Pulling the string against the lip of the recess, wind it clockwise above the recess until you are pulling the string

towards the tuning key.

3

Holding the end of the string tightly with one hand, apply the lock nut with the other, turning it as tightly as you

can with your finger and thumb.

4

5

the RoboHeads.

other strings.

Tighten the lock nut by fitting a small coin in the slot at the top (a one-cent coin is ideal for this). Turn clockwise

until tight. Don’t overtighten the lock nut as it can damage

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Since the string is now locked securely in place, you can take a pair of wire cutters and trim the end of the string

as close as possible to the shaft. Repeat Steps 1 to 5 for the

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STRATS AND SELF TUNING As far as the Strat goes, there are two issues

pencil lead. Replacing existing string trees with roller

to consider, one is string friction and the other is

trees can also make things work more smoothly.

the tremolo unit. For the system to work most

Tronical claims that the vibrato system on a Strat

effectively the “flow” of the strings across the

poses no problems—although from experience it

hardware needs to be as smooth as possible, so

does require care when stringing up for the first time

low-friction nut and bridge saddles are a good idea

on a lightly set vibrato. It can’t deal with Floyd Rose

(see pages 93 and 103), or at the very least give your

units, though—even if you were to unlock the nut,

nut some lubrication with graphite powder or a soft

the calibrated floating bridge would send it crazy!

SWITCHING ON So how does the TronicalTune system work in practice? Actions are controlled using the arrow keys on the back of the control panel. The illuminated string letters change color—red, green, blue, yellow, pink, and white—to indicate different banks of tuning settings, as well as more complex functions such as pitch fine-tuning. As far as mainstream guitar playing is concerned, the area of self-tuning is uncharted territory, and it remains to be seen whether it becomes commonplace or remains a niche interest. But just as Roland have doggedly pursued the idea of the MIDI-equipped guitar for more than three decades, Gibson is also beginning to look unlikely to ditch its support of

1

If you charged the battery earlier, check its status—if the light on the wall wart is red then the lithium battery is not

fully charged; if it’s green then you’re ready to go. Unplug the

automated tuning any day soon. TronicalTune really has far too many facilities to cover in

battery from the wall wart and slot it in the left-hand end of

detail here, so for now we’ll just show an example using

the control panel. If it doesn’t click solidly in place then you

standard tuning. It is pretty cool!

have it the wrong way up.

2

3

Strum all six strings, from the lowest to the highest, and the

self tuning will resume. When the guitar is in tune the system

tuners will begin rotating of their own accord! As the pitch of

will shut itself off. The whole process can take as little as five

each string is being calculated the string letter turns yellow.

seconds to complete.

The on/off switch is the circular button alongside the navigation arrows. Press and hold it until the unit

switches on, the individual string letters lighting up red.

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As each note is successfully tuned, the string letter turns green. If any of the letters remain red it means they are

still not in tune; pluck only those strings once again and the

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THE TREMOLO

DIFFERENT TREMOLOS

Leo Fender’s original design for the synchronized

The instructions below also work for Fender’s

tremolo bridge has been through a few upgrades,

American Standard Tremolo unit, the only

but the basic idea remains the same—a pivoting

operational difference being that instead of the sixhole fixing, there are only two pivot screws, making

bridge is held in balance by the tension of the

Step 3 is a little simpler. Tremolo bridges found on

strings from above and the opposing tension of a

Squiers are generally based on the synchronized

set of springs in a cavity at the back of the body, with a lever used to vary the pitch.

tremolo, if a little lower in build quality than those used on American models; while the sizes may not be identical, the principles are. Although the Floyd Rose units found on a small

A MATTER OF BALANCE

number of Strats are trickier to prepare, the spring

Because of the relationship between the tension of the strings

adjustment works in the same way.

and that of the springs, by definition there can be no single ideal setting for a Stratocaster tremolo bridge. One clear reason is that different string gauges will create different tensions, meaning that the springs in the back cavity need to be adjusted to maintain that balance. So if you decide to try out a different string gauge—and many guitarists do experiment with new sizes as their playing styles evolve—you may find that you have to make adjustments to the springs in order to compensate.

American Standard Tremolo

At the factory, the bridge units are set up to appeal to a broad range of players, but it really is worth experimenting because, in spite of its vintage, the synchronized tremolo can be set up to accommodate the needs of pretty well any kind of guitar player. The number of springs fitted to a synchronized tremolo can vary between two and five, but three is the most common

Four classic Stratocaster spring configurations

configuration. Generally speaking, the more springs fitted, the “stiffer” your tremolo will feel to play: users of very heavy strings might be happier with five springs fitted; extra super light-gauge players may only need two springs. Unfortunately, the whole story is not quite that simple. Fender has more than one different spring strength, and nowadays every parts manufacturer also sells its own equivalent. It’s important that your springs are matched or else the vibrato will never perform well. The advice here is if you want to increase the number from two to three, or from three to five, then buy a new complete set, rather than adding one or two potentially mismatched individual springs.

SETTING THE TREMOLO Let’s now take a closer look at setting up the Fender six-hole synchronized tremolo bridge. In this example, we’ll try to set a nice floating bridge action—by that we mean the capability for bending the pitch both down and up.

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1

Any major adjustment of the tremolo is likely to have an impact on the overall height of the strings, so take a note

of the action on the top and bottom E strings at the highest fret on the fingerboard (21st or 22nd).

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THE SADDLES As one the nodal points where the string vibration is

Guitars use TUSQ for their nuts and saddles with great

passed through to the body of the guitar, the role of

success, it’s debatable whether the saddles are as

the bridge saddle is clearly significant. It’s rare, if not

beneficial for electric guitars, as it can slightly soften

entirely unknown, for a bridge saddle to wear out—

the characteristic brightness of the Stratocaster—even if

although that’s more likely to be a result of a damaged

its self-lubricating qualities will aid tuning stability,

screw thread than a worn contact point. There may,

especially when using the tremolo arm.

however, be benefits in using saddles made from

Removing a bridge saddle is a simple matter of

different materials other than the diecast saddles

undoing the spring-loaded horizontal screw at the back

installed at the factory.

of the bridge—the one used for adjusting the

From a tonal point of view, common mods include

intonation—with a crosshead screwdriver until it comes

replacing the saddles with direct equivalents made from

away from the saddle. For the replacement, thread the

brass or other metals. Human-made materials can also

screw through the hole at the back of the bridge, pass

be used at the saddle. Canadian company Graph Tech is

the spring over the screw on the other side, and then

well known for having created its synthetic ivory

connect it to the threaded hole of the new saddle.

product, TUSQ, which is widely used for replacement

Of course, replacing a set of saddles does mean that

nuts, but it also produces Stratocaster saddles from the

you’ll have to reset the action (saddle height) and

same material that can be retrofitted. Although Taylor

intonation, so it’s a good idea to note for each string the measurement from the front of the saddle to the rear of the bridge. And if you replace the saddles one at a time you should be able to measure the height of the grub screws and transfer these figures to the new saddles. This should keep your adjustments to the minimum. When buying replacement saddles make sure that you buy the correct ones. Although the process for changing a saddle is the same for both synchronized and American Standard tremolo units, the two different types are not interchangeable.

2

3

direction then the overall height will need to be altered.

repeating Step 2 until the amount of movement is correct.

Push the tremolo arm down and let it return to its natural position; pull the arm up and then let it return. If

the bridge won’t rock far enough for your preference in either

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Begin by loosening the four center screws at the front of the bridge—it will now pivot on the two outer screws.

Loosen the outer screws in small increments, each time

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4

5

plate exposes the back of the tremolo mechanism. The

tilt is too high at the back, tighten the two claw screws by

tension of the springs will alter the angle of the sustain

equal amounts; if it’s too low, loosen them. Continue retuning

block—the floating bridge.

and adjusting until you have the correct balance.

Turn your Strat over and remove the back plate by undoing the six small screws with a crosshead

screwdriver. (Keep them in a safe place.) Removing the back

6

Since you have raised the overall height of the bridge, you will have to lower the height of the bridge saddles (see

pages 55–56) to match the measurements you made in Step 1.

Most players prefer the tilt of the floating bridge to be parallel with the body. To fine-tune the tilt bridge, you

need to adjust the spring claw screws. Tune the guitar. If the

7

Tighten the four middle bridge to the same height as the outer two screws. Finally, refit the backplate—or perhaps

leave it open! (See More Stratlore! across the page.)

BLOCKING THE TREM

of accuracy. It’s a good idea to cut the block very slightly too

Although the vast majority of factory Fender Stratocasters are

large so that it can be sanded down for a snug fit. For the

fitted with a tremolo unit, some guitarists make no use of it at

“non-tremmers” this can be a very worthwhile mod as it

all. It would be possible to remove the bridge/tremolo unit and

should increase sustain and response.

replace it with a simple “hardtail” bridge, but this would be a

Unfortunately, because the bridge units and the cavity sizes

very demanding modification requiring the filling of the

are not uniform, you will have to make the measurements

tremolo cavity. Furthermore, one of the reasons that hardtail

yourself and cut the block to that size. Since it will be hidden

Strats have never been massively popular is because the

away in the cavity you don’t have to worry about achieving a

vibrating springs in the cavity are widely thought to play a

particularly fine finish. (Other materials can be used as

notable part in the characteristic Stratocaster sound.

blocks—aluminum will work but will be much more difficult

One solution favored by some players (among them Eric Clapton) is to block off the tremolo in the cavity using a piece

to shape.) This is by no means the only way to effectively prevent the

of wood wedged between the sustain post of the unit and the

tremolo from working. Another technique involves fitting five

rear cavity wall. This prevents the bridge moving, but the

springs, and tightening the spring claws until the sustain bar

springs remain in place, so the “Strat” sound is unaffected.

makes contact with the cavity wall. This may block the

This modification doesn’t require fine carpentry skills, but you do have to cut a block of wood with a reasonable degree

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tremolo but it will also radically alter the intonation and action at the bridge, which will then have to be reset.

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MORE STRATLORE! “Actually, the backplates are removed from all my guitars because I think they sound better with them off!” These are the words of Eric Johnson, who specified one of the most interesting of Fender’s signature Strats. And who are we to argue with one of the instrument‘s great tonal obsessives? This idea actually stretches way back to the early days of the Strat, but is there anything in it? We’ve tried it—and it

1

With the backplate removed, take a ruler and make three

certainly looks cooler—but in terms of sound, we’re

measurements. You need to record the depth of the cavity

unconvinced. That said, when you hear yourself play

behind the bridge, the length of the sustain block in the

on stage night after night at high volume, then this is

cavity, and the distance between the back of the sustain block

when you may pickup up on such small details.

and cavity wall.

2

3

of the wood are not perfect, try to make sure the two large

protrusions these can be taken out with a file; anything larger

faces are as level as possible.

can be carefully removed using a chisel.

Shape a block from a small piece wood using the dimensions you have just taken. A hard wood such as

alder or mahogany will work best. Even if the narrow edges

Check the state of the rear of the cavity wall. It needs to be flat so that it makes as firm a contact as possible

between the body and the sustain block. If there are any small

Tapered Squier sustain block

4

5

push it in by hand, or with a few taps of small hammer. When

that you’ll have to taper your piece of wood for it to fit. This

in place, the block should sit flush with the body.

will be a matter of trial, error, and testing.

Place the block longways in the space between the sustain block and the cavity wall. If it is too thin, and slots in

easily, then you’ll need to start again. You should be able

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Although both the American Standard tremolo bridge and units found on Squier Strats work on the same principle,

they won’t necessarily have a flat sustain block. This means

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COSMETIC SURGERY We’ll only be taking the smallest of peaks into the subject of altering the appearance of your Strat. It may be possible to get a nice homemade look for your guitar, but without specialist gear and a lot of hard work it will be difficult to achieve anything like a professional finish.

THE PERSONAL TOUCH There are many guitarists out there who view their instruments almost as an extension of their own personalities, so it should come as no surprise to find this desire manifesting itself in many varieties of self-expression. Think of the psychedelic endeavor that went into George Harrison’s “Rocky” Stratocaster (see page 22), Eric Clapton’s famous Gibson SG decorated by The Fool, or Tom Morello’s “Soul Power” Strat. Perhaps the most notable example is Eddie Van Halen’s home-built, home-decorated “Frankenstrat” (see right), on which he would perform some of the most celebrated solos in rock history. In principle, we’re absolutely all for this approach. But there are two considerations we ask you to make before you let rip with the spray paint. The first comes down to whether you see your Strat as a financial investment or as a tool to help you make great music. (And that’s by no means to say that those two factors are mutually exclusive.) It probably doesn’t need saying, but if your Strat is a vintage model you shouldn’t even be considering anything like this: if the body is full of unsightly dings that ideally you’d like to see tidied up, even the most skilled professional guitar finisher would baulk at the idea of undertaking such work. You will quite literally be slashing the value of your investment. If you want to personalize a Strat then start with something newer that isn’t worth a small fortune. The second point to think about is the quality of the finish. All of the examples cited above fall into the category of “self-

Eddie Van Halen’s main concern was to prevent being copied

expression.” As pieces of visual art or decoration they look

by other players: he took masking tape to a black body and

great—or at least “interesting”—but there was never any

added a series of abstract white stripes; he later repeated the

attempt at a factory-quality finish. George Harrison simply

exercise, adding swathes of red Schwinn bicycle paint. But,

went at his Strat during a few idle hours with a combination

let’s be honest, it does look pretty rough, doesn’t it?

of DayGlo fluorescent paints and a selection of his wife

The point here is that if you want to give your Strat a new

Pattie’s nail polish. He didn’t bother spending days giving it

finish, and you want the end product to look like it has been

coat after coat of nitrocellulose spray, sanding down each

factory-finished, then without access to specialized equipment

interim layer until he had achieved a smooth gloss finish! And

operating in a suitable environment, it will be a thankless job.

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TREATING UNFINISHED WOOD One area where high-end home finishes are possible without specialized gear—and can also look very attractive—is in polishing bare wood. To do this you need to remove the existing paint and varnish from the body. There are three different ways in which you can do this: chemical stripper; heat gun, or sanding. Using a paint stripper is effective, but only if you have a well-ventilated area, since the fumes can be toxic. Sanding is simply hard graft: you can

The key to achieving a fine finish is in applying a

use an electric sanding device, but there’s always a

large number of thin coats, leaving each one to set

danger of taking off too much of the original wood,

(follow the instructions on the label), and then

or gouging the surface.

buffing with a cloth or grade 0000 steel wool. This

For home use, though, a heat gun and a scraper is much the safest way. You apply heat to the surface of the body and when the paint begins to bubble

process is repeated until you get the desired finish— expect to do this at least a half a dozen times. End with a finishing polish—something like 3M

you push the scraper through in long strokes.

Finesse-It, which is widely used in boat maintenance,

Remove any residue paint using an 80 grade

is especially good for this.

sandpaper, and get scratches out with a finer 440

The alder and ash found on most Strat bodies may

grade. Give the body a final clean with 0000 wire

not be the most attractive or interesting of wood

wool, and then wipe down thoroughly.

grains, but it can nonetheless look quite beautiful

There are plenty of options for finishing bare wood—Danish oil, Tru-oil, and tung oil are all

when presented in this way. A polished finish can also work on the neck, and is

popular alternatives. These are commonly used as

a good way of achieving a nice feel on some of the

furniture finishes, and they are applied to the body

cheaper unvarnished Squier necks—although they

of a guitar in the same way.

will need to be “steel-wooled” first.

FIXING A DING

automobile paint store. A good one will stock most of the

If you do find that the odd minor chip in your body is

standard finishes used by any car brand in recent years, and if

annoying you then there are a few homebrew strategies that

there is nothing readily available an expert eye might even be

might help. But these are by no means professional solutions.

able to mix something that works.

Since Fender don’t sell their paints directly to the public, the most difficult task here is to find a close match for your existing finish. For the tiniest of dents a small drop of nail polish may be enough to cover it up. The best way to match the color here is to take your guitar into a department store and head straight for a sympathetic cosmetics salesperson. You can, in fact, mix colors using nail polishes, although since each brand has a slightly different chemical composition it’s best to stick within the same brand. Take a pin and dip the sharp end into the nail polish. Let a single droplet fall onto the affected area.

1

If the dent goes deep, begin by building up with a cellulose filler—you can buy this from any automobile

store. Carefully fill the affected area—make sure that you don’t get any on the surrounding paint. Allow it to dry.

2 3

File down the filler until it’s smooth and the same height as the surrounding paint.

Take a fine paintbrush and paint only the filled area.

Leave it to dry. That’s it. There’s a long history that links the colors and paints used in cars and guitars, so for larger dings the most successful approach we’ve found is to take the guitar along to an

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Here is a brief step-by-step as to how you might go about completing the job.

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When dry, rub with grade 0000 steel wool. Apply paint

again, this time carefully working it around the edge so that it blends with the surrounding paint. Repeat until you’re happy.

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4 BENEATH THE HOOD Unscrew the scratchplate and you’ll find your Stratocaster’s engine. In this section we’ll look at all things electrical, from replacing broken components and overcoming unwanted crackle, clicks, and hum to installing alternative pickups and different types of circuitry.

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TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES All of the topics we’ll look at in this chapter deal with the electrical parts of the Stratocaster. In terms of the knowledge you need, it’s all very simple stuff: indeed, you don’t have to know what the components do—even though we’re going to tell you anyway. Before we begin, though, if you want to work on any of the electrical aspects of your Strat there are two tools that you’ll need to know about—the soldering iron and the multimeter.

THE SOLDERING KIT Over the next few pages we’ll look at how to use a simple electric-powered soldering iron, the type necessary to make permanent connections between electrical parts. The soldering iron is a relatively simple piece of technology. When you plug it in at the outlet, electricity passes through the unit creating “resistance heat.” This causes the tip of the iron to get extremely hot. The iron continues to heat up until it reaches and maintains its maximum temperature. To make a connection we use an alloy called “solder,” which is a thin roll of wire usually comprising 60 percent tin and 40 percent lead (there are also lead-free solders available). Solder melts at a low temperature (around 356 degrees Fahrenheit) and sets again within a few seconds. The soldering iron is hot enough to melt the solder across a joint, which will set and be ready for use almost immediately. Soldering is used to create the cable between the guitar and the amplifier—the plugs soldered to the wires—and, within

Soldering kit: (left–right) Soldering iron placed in soldering station, rolls of solder, “Third hand” clamp/magnifying glass, solder sucker pen

the guitar itself, to connect the pickups, potentiometers, capacitors, switches, and the output socket. Although not strictly needed for the soldering iron to

SOLDERING LESSON: WIRING A JACK PLUG For your first soldering experience, we’ll go for something

work, we strongly recommend you use a “soldering station,”

fairly harmless—soldering a jack plug onto the end of a cable.

which usually comprises a base unit with a protruding spring

Apart from the kit shown above, you’ll need a pair of wire

in which the hot iron can rest while not in use and a

strippers, a 1/4-inch jack plug and some screened cable (the

dampened foam pad for cleaning old solder from the tip of

type used to make guitar cables).

the iron. These units only cost a few dollars and are well worth the outlay both for safety and convenience. Another useful tool, which also costs next to nothing, is a

We’ll begin by preparing the soldering iron for action. Before you begin, make sure that the foam in the base of the soldering station has been dampened. Place the iron in the

solder sucker, and is essential if you remove components and

spring holder, plug it into a power outlet, and allow it to heat

want to clean them up before they are used again. You apply

up. You can tell when it’s ready by touching a piece of solder

the iron to the solder that you want removing, and when

against the tip—if the solder doesn’t melt then leave it a little

molten, apply the suction device.

longer. (If your iron is cordless or battery powered, then make

Soldering can be a fiddly business, ideally requiring more

sure that it is charged fully.)

than one pair hands: one to hold the component, one to hold

If you don’t have a soldering station, place it on a raised

the soldering iron, and a third to apply the solder. There are a

surface, such as cardboard box, with the tip sitting over the

variety of table-top “third hand” devices available—the

edge so that it doesn’t make contact with the surface. You

model shown above has a pair of crocodile clips, as well as a

can stop it moving by resting the handle on some reusable

magnifying glass for detailed work.

putty. Keep a damp cloth beside you.

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SAFETY WARNING! It should go without saying that care needs to be

You do need to take some precautions when using

taken whenever electricity is involved. But can any

a soldering iron, though, as the tip is extremely hot

of this “under the hood” work be potentially

and can cause severe burning; it can even be a fire

perilous? In terms of the electric guitar itself, no.

hazard if it comes into contact with combustible

The circuitry inside your Strat operates at a very low

materials like paper or carpet. (Another good reason

current. There have been cases of guitarists

for investing in a soldering station)

receiving electric shocks—in a few tragic instances,

The bottom line, though, is if this kind of work

fatal electrocution—but these are invariably caused

makes you nervous, or you’ve flicked through the

by faulty grounding in peripheral equipment,

chapter and found it all baffling, then give it a miss.

usually an amp where the ground has become live.

Any of the work shown here can be performed on

In terms of the harm you can do to your Strat,

your behalf in any guitar repair shop, in most cases

this is minimal. Most of the components are robust, so if you make an error, or are heavy-handed with a

probably for less than a hundred dollars. (Please note: none of the above advice relates to

soldering iron, damage is unlikely to be irreparable.

working on electrical equipment connected to a

The one exception we’d suggest you consider is in

household power outlet, which, beyond changing a

using a heat sink when soldering capacitors. We’ll

fuse, should never be undertaken unless you

cover this on page 122.

SERIOUSLY know what you are doing.)

1

2

3

4

When at full temperature, clean the tip of the iron, dragging it along the damp foam (or wet cloth) making

sure that all the old solder is removed.

to as “tinning.” Hold the iron in one hand and the solder

in the other; touch the solder against the tip of the iron.

Place the soldering iron back in its resting position. Take the cable and a pair of wire cutters; snip carefully around

the outer casing until it can be slipped off.

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Preparing a metal surface with a layer of solder is referred

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This should leave a thin insulated wire (the “hot” signal) with a surrounding copper shield. Twist the shield

between the thumb and first finger into a single cable.

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THE RIGHT TIP Soldering iron tips come in a wide variety of shapes

fine point is good

and sizes and are intended to cover a variety of

for accuracy; a

functions. Many modern soldering irons are designed

fine spade tip is

with versatility in mind, and have detachable tips

also commonly

that fix onto the end of the shaft. When soldering

used for this kind

delicate electrical components a conical tip with a

of work.

5

Strip the plastic the tip of the wire (see Step 3). Tin the wire. Hold the tip of the iron against the wire until hot;

touch the solder against it until the bare wire is covered.

Repeat Step 5 for the copper screening. Trim the ends of the tinned wire. The hot wire should be about 1/8 inch

(3.18mm); the screened wire about 1/2 inch (12.7mm).

8

9

10

two connection points on the jack plug. The small prong

connects to the hot wire; the longer prong, the screened wire.

Repeat the procedure for the screened wire. Gently tug the wires to make sure they are solid. With a pair of long-

nose pliers clasp the collar of the plug around the cable.

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Conical tips

6

7

In the same way as you did with Steps 5 and 6, tin the

Spade tip Chisel tip

Hold the hot wire against the smaller prong and apply the tip of the soldering iron until the solder on both

surfaces melt together; take the tip away to secure the join.

Screw the plug cover in place. If the cover is metal it will have a plastic insulating shield inside to prevent

it accidentally making contact with the hot wire.

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TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES

MEET THE MULTIMETER

(sometimes denoted as 2 MW [mega-ohms]. Each figure

A multimeter is a device that measures voltage, resistance,

represents the maximum measurement for that setting, so

and current in electrical equipment. A pair of metal-tipped

200 W measures readings between 0–199 W; 20 KW measures

probes are held against different terminals on an electrical

from 200–19,999 W, and so forth. We can use resistance mode

component, or points within a circuit, and a measurement is

to test a Strat’s potentiometers, which are usually 250 KW

made on what passes between. Not only can you use a

and so need a range setting of 2000 KW on the multimeter.

multimeter to measure the value of components under the

A standard Strat will also feature at least one capacitor as

scratchplate of your Strat, you can also check the power of a

part of its tone control circuitry. Some multimeters have a

battery or test whether or not cables are working.

dedicated capacitance mode, enabling you to make precise

Multimeters come in two forms, analog and digital: the

measurements. This is useful if want to test a capacitor which

former give readings using a needle on a dial; the latter,

has been installed but that can’t easily be read. If your

provides an LCD readout.

multimeter is unable to measure capacitance, you can

Digital multimeters usually require you first to set a range switch: if you are measuring resistance, the Ohm section of the meter will have five slots on the dial, marked 200 W (ohms), 2 KW (kilo-ohms), 20 KW, 200 KW, and 2000 KW

1

Set the multimeter to resistance (W), and at the highest range setting (2000 KW on this model). With the probes

held apart the reading should be “1” (or “infinite”).

113

nevertheless use resistance mode to make a simple check if a capacitor is defective. Let’s look a simple example of how we can use a digital multimeter to test whether or not a guitar cable is working.

2

Test the multimeter by touching the two probes together. The reading should change to “0.” You can now test

your cable.

Tip (hot) Shaft (ground)

3

4

probes against the two shafts, which should also read “0.” If

is no connection between the two. Otherwise it indicates a

not, it means the shielding or its connection is broken.

short between the hot signal and the shielding.

Simultaneously, touch the two probes against the two tips (the hot signal). The reading should be“0”. If it isn’t, this

means the cable or the connection is broken. Now touch the

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Finally, touch one of the probes against one tip, and the other against the shaft on the plug at the other end of the

cable. This should read “1” (“infinite”) indicating that there

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BEHIND THE SCRATCHPLATE Accessing the electrical components of a Fender Stratocaster is made all the easier because the three single-coil pickups, selector switch, and volume and tone potentiometers (including capacitors) are all secured on the underside of the scratchplate. The only other component fixed to the body of the guitar is the output socket to which cables from the circuit are channeled; these are sufficiently long to enable you to remove the scratchplate and turn it over without having to disconnect the output socket.

REMOVING THE PLATE Before you can access the components behind the scratchplate you must first remove the strings. To do this, slacken each one

• • •• •• •

by turning the tuners counter-clockwise and then chop them off using a pair of wire cutters. If you’ve “knotted” the strings well at the tuner you might just be able to get away without removing them.

• •• • • •• • •• • •

1

2

the strings they need to be loose enough for the scratchplate

not remove the screws marked in red; these hold the pickups

to be lifted a few inches away from the body.

and the selector switch in place.

Loosen the string tension using the tuners. Take a pair of wire cutters and snip the string near the nut. Remove the

residue with long-nose pliers. If you want to avoid removing

Locate the eleven holding screws marked above in green around the scratchplate. (On some older models there

may be fewer screws holding the scratchplate in place.) Do

CLEANING POTS AND SWITCHES It’s horribly annoying when you flick the pickup selector

Potentiometers always need to be sprayed from the

switch and you start hearing all kinds of nasty clicking

rear, which means removing the scratchplate. On every

noises, or when you rotate a volume or tone control and

pot you will find an access hole, which is where you need

experience a crackle or a brief break in the signal. This

to aim the spray. If possible, use a spray that comes with

might mean that the part needs replacing, but in most

long pipe nozzle—this will enable you to target the area

instances a quick blast with some electrical contact

more accurately. Spray into the hole and then turn the

cleaning spray will solve the problem.

knob back and forth so the cleaner is spread over the

Most sprays will do the job perfectly well, but always check out the label before you put it to use: in particular

wiper as it makes contact. Cleaning the switch from behind the scratchplate

make sure that it’s safe for use with plastics or else you

enables you to spray directly onto the contact points. Flick

may end up damaging the finish or harming the

the switch back and forth a few times so that the cleaning

scratchplate.

fluid reaches all of the switch contact points.

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BEHIND THE SCRATCHPLATE

3

4

the body of the Stratocaster—you can pull on the pickup

entirely. That’s fine for now. To protect both surfaces, lay a

selector switch to get a little initial lift before getting your

soft cloth on the body of the Strat and then gently turn over

fingers under the plastic around the edges. Don't pull too

the scratchplate and place it on the cloth. We’re now ready to

hard as there are still wires connected.

carry out a number of maintenance functions.

One at a time, remove each of the eleven screws with a small crosshead screwdriver. Place them safely in a small

container. Carefully bring the entire scratchplate away from

115

You will now see that these external wires disappear into a small hole inside the body. These connect to the output

socket, which means the scratchplate can’t be removed

THE STRATOCASTER: BENEATH THE HOOD Center pickup (Middle pickup)

Neck pickup (Front pickup)

Bridge pickup (Back pickup)

Cable to output socket and tremolo ground Shielding foil Volume control

Tone control (neck) Pickup selector switch Capacitor Tone control (center)

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POTS, CAPS, AND SWITCHES Let’s take a more detailed look at the electrical components at the heart of the Stratocaster—the potentiometers, capacitors, and switches.

VOLUME AND TONE CONTROLS The components inside a standard Stratocaster are very straightforward. In addition to the three pickups, all you’ll find are three potentiometers (or “pots”), a capacitor (or “cap”), a five-way switch, and a 1/4-inch jack socket. That’s all there is. Let’s take a brief look at what these components do. Bourne split-top, splined potentiometer

Since a potentiometer is a kind of resistor it is measured in ohms (W). The pots found in a Strat or any other single-coil

Carbon ring

electric guitar are usually rated at 250,000 W (referred to as 250 kilo-ohms [K W] or more usually “250K”)—which represents the maximum resistance when the pot is on full.

Wiper

Guitar stores tend to sell either 250K pots or 500K pots (which are traditionally used on guitars with humbucking pickups, such as most Gibson Les Pauls or SGs). Both will work in either type of guitar, but using 500K pots on a Strat will result in an even brighter sound—a characteristic that Strats are hardly known for lacking! As with many aspects of the Stratocaster, it isn’t really possible to describe a definitive potentiometer. During the 1950s, Fender mainly used Stackpole pots, changing over to Potentiometer with outer casing removed, exposing wiper and carbon ring

the more famous CTS brand at the start of the 1960s. Numerous types have been used since then. Depending on where they were built, on Squier models it’s possible to find

Every Stratocaster is kitted out with a set of three variable resistors—or potentiometers—one for the volume, one for the

miniature pots—sometimes even rated 500K. Potentiometers come with one of two types of fitting. The

center pickup tone, and one for the neck pickup tone. A

top of the shaft, to which the knob is fitted, will either be

potentiometer converts rotary motion, by turning the

solid or split with a jagged “splined” edge—the Stratocaster’s

protruding stem, into variable resistance. Each of the pots

“universal fit” knobs are designed to slot onto the latter.

has three terminals, which we’ll label “1,” “2,” and “3.” When used in a volume control, terminal 1 is connected to

POT BEHAVIOR

the ground; the input is applied to terminal 3; the output is

The relationship between the position of the wiper and the

taken from terminal 2, which is connected to the pot’s wiper.

level of resistance at that point is known as the “taper.” There

The value of the output is governed by the position of the

are two different types of potentiometer used in guitars—

wiper making contact with a carbon ring inside the pot,

logarithmic and linear—each of which behaves in a specific

which is controlled physically by turning a knob fixed to the

way as the control is turned. Their differences can be shown

center shaft.

graphically when output is plotted against the rotation of the

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STRATOCASTER WIRING Secondly, the switch configuration shown is for the

Here is a schematic layout of the Stratocaster’s internal wiring. (We won’t be worrying you with “proper”

standard Fender five-way unit found on MIA and MIM

electronic circuit diagrams in this book!) This is accurate

models, where four terminals are grouped on either side

for almost all standard Strats, be they Fenders built in

of the switch; the “international” switches found on most

America, Mexico, or Japan, or Squiers built elsewhere in

Squiers have the eight terminals in a single line: you can

Asia. (Although not for specialized models, such as those

interpret these as the four terminals of the input stage

with active tone circuitry.)

stacked above the four terminals of the output stage. A third difference you might see is in the way the

The colors used in the diagram are not intended to mirror the wires inside the Strat, which in most cases will

potentiometers are grounded. The diagram below shows

consist mainly of black and white cables. The blue, pink,

the volume pot as the ground ”hub.“ This means that

and green lines show the inputs to the switch from the

soldered ground connections from other components are

three pickups, and their subsequent paths out of the

made to its metal casing, which is ultimately soldered to a

switch. As you can see, the bridge pickup’s “hot” signal

wire connected directly to the bridge (behind the tremolo

comes from the switch and goes directly to the volume

cover plate); this means that the ground connects to the

control—the tone controls only apply to the center and

strings themselves. The ground connections are shown on

neck pickups.

the diagram by the black lines. Note that there are

Don’t panic if the diagram doesn’t match exactly what

separate ground connections joining the casings of the

you see under the hood of your own Strat as there could

two tone controls, which may not exist inside your guitar.

be a number of differences you might encounter. Let’s

If your Strat has shielding on the inside of the scratchplate

look at a few of them now.

and in the pickup cavities themselves (using conductive tape or lining paint), then this should make contact with

The capacitor is usually soldered to the neck pickup’s tone control, but sometimes it may be seen hooked up to

the casings of the pots; that provides the ground

another tone pot. Whichever way it’s wired, both pots are

connection. Some modern-day Fenders are shielded in this

connected to one leg of the capacitor so it will make no

way; older Fenders and cheaper Squier models are

difference to the sound.

generally not. Cavity shielding (see above)

Pickups Neck Center Bridge

Bridge/Strings Ground

Output socket Hot

Volume pot Hot

Hot Ground

Ground

Hot

Ground

Tone pot (center pickup)

Five-way switch 1 1

2

3

1 5

2 6

Tone pot (neck pickup)

2

3

Capacitor 1

2

3

3 7 4 Switch Input Stage

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8 Switch Output Stage

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100%

Since its launch in 1954, the Stratocaster has been fitted with capacitors of different values and made from a variety of

Percent output

materials. On the first models, the capacitors were made from wax paper, and were rated at 0.1μF, which now seems like a Linear

very high capacitance. By the mid-1960s, these had been

50%

replaced by ceramic disc (or “pancake”) capacitors and the rating had changed to 0.047μF. The relative merits of Logarithmic

materials and capacitor values are open to debate, but they can make a difference to the sound. Just to ensure that there is no misapprehension here, it should be stressed that if you always play your Strat with the

0% 0%

60%

120%

180%

240%

Degrees rotation

Logarithmic and linear potentiometer taper graph

wiper (see above). With a linear potentiometer, for example, a ten percent movement in rotation at any given point will produce the same difference in output. The human ear, however, hears in exponential changes, so for the volume control on a guitar to be perceived as working consistently, a logarithmic potentiometer needs to be used. (Logarithmic pots are also known as audio, audio taper, or log pots, and are usually marked with the letter “A”; linear pots are usually marked with a “B.”) The choice between these two types is not, in fact, as clear cut as it might seem. Since both respond in exactly the same way when on “0” and “10” (it’s only what goes on in between that differs), either could be used. All single-coil Fender guitars are routinely kitted out using logarithmic pots for both volume and tone; modern-day Gibsons, on the other hand, tend toward linear pots for both functions. Our recommendation for a Strat is to use log pots for volume and linear pots for tone.

tone controls on “10” the capacitors will have next to no effect on the circuit; the most dramatic impact will be heard when rolling off a touch of treble between “7” and “9” on the tone dial.

SWITCHES Since the 1970s, all Strat’s have featured a five-position pickup selector switch. With standard wiring, positions 1, 3, and 5 choose the bridge, center, and neck pickups respectively; positions 2 and 4 combine either the bridge or neck pickup with the center pickup. Even though these are universally known as “five-way switches,” this is actually something of a misnomer. The original Strats were kitted out with three-way switches, each position selecting just one of the three pickups. Guitarists quickly discovered that by forcing the lever to sit between the notches of positions 1 and 2, or 2 and 3, combinations of the pickups could be engaged at the same time. (This only worked because the wiper wedge attached to the lever—the part that makes the electrical contact in the switch—just happened to be sufficiently wide to cover two contacts.) In 1977, Fender finally got the message and implemented these two interim positions on their standard Strat switches, but the basic three-way unit remained. In fact, all Fender really did

CAPACITORS A capacitor stores and releases electrical energy; it consists of

was to “notch” those two new switch positions at the points

two conductive plates separated by an insulating material called a “dielectric,” which can be made from a variety of different materials. On a conventionally wired Strat, a single capacitor is used with the tone pots as a basic EQ control. The capacitor’s job in the guitar is to channel high frequencies away from output jack and feed it into the ground; the range of the frequencies diverted is determined by the value of the capacitor. By hooking the capacitor between the output of a pot and the ground, the wiper, you can control the amount of the signal that reaches the capacitor, and hence the amount of treble that’s rolled off.

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Fender Pure Vintage tone capacitor—modern replica of the wax paper originals used in the 1950s

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where the wiper touched both terminals (connecting two pickups) rather than one—just as guitarists had been doing by jamming matchsticks into the switch slot for the previous two decades. If we look at the switch itself, we can see that it’s wired using eight connection terminals; on a standard Fender “open” switch these appear as four input stage terminals on one side and four output terminals on the other (see diagram on page 117). Squier models generally use what’s sometimes called an “international” switch, where the input and output stages appear in a single line within a “closed” unit. There is nothing intrinsically inferior about this kind of switch (although on some of the cheaper models they can feel flimsy

Fender’s standard five-way open switch is, in fact, an adapted three-way switch.

and unreliable); it could even be argued that this construction protects the contacts from dirt and grime.

THE SUPERSWITCH A relatively recent development in the Strat timeline, Fender’s Superswitch is a genuine five-way unit, with contact “lugs” for each position. Produced in the past by many other guitar part manufacturers, these can be found on Strats fitted with humbuckers (HSS—with a humbucker in the bridge position; and HH, with two humbuckers) where they are used to provide more advanced switching options. Some of the switching ideas mentioned later in this chapter—using mini-toggle switches or push-pull pots—could also be adapted for use with a genuine five-way switch. If you’re completely happy with standard Strat pickup switching,

The Squier five-way closed switch features all eight connection points in a line.

however, then there really is no need to think any further about making upgrades in this area.

OUTPUT SOCKET The 1/4-inch (6.35mm) jack socket built into its own metal casing just under the bridge, has one role only: to pass the signal to a cable connected to an amplifier and loudspeaker. It may be the simplest component but is also very often the first thing to go wrong. As far as the circuit on the Stratocaster goes, irrespective of any clever modifications you might have made, in the end it all comes down to one hot/live wire and one ground wire, both connected to the jack socket. If the socket becomes loose

Fender’s Superswitch is a genuine five-way unit and is used on HSS and HH Strats.

or wears away, or the connections are poor, then your whole completely inexperienced in this field then that’s wholly

sound will be compromised. The output socket of a very heavily used guitar will wear

understandable as some of the mods here may seem quite

out at some time: the barrel will lose its tightness, the spring

daunting—then this is the one area that we strongly suggest

tip will gradually be pushed out of position, and the contact

you pursue. There are only two wires to solder and you

points will wear. But even if you’re worried by the idea of

won’t even have to remove the scratchplate. It will be worth

making electrical alterations to your Strat—and if you’re

the cost of buying a twenty dollar soldering iron, honest!

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CHAPTER 4 | BENEATH THE HOOD

REPLACING THE OUTPUT SOCKET

Hot tip

One of the simplest electrical fixes you can make is to replace the output socket. This sometimes needs to be done if the center barrel or hot tip becomes worn and overly loose.

Hot connector: links directly to

Ground connector:

the hot tip.

links directly to the center barrel.

TOOLS AND TIPS You’ll need your soldering kit, a pair of long-nosed pliers, wire cutters, a crosshead screwdriver, and some masking tape. When doing any electrical work on your Strat it’s always Center barrel

smart to label your wires—taking a photograph with a digital camera is also good way to recall how things should look.

1

Unscrew the socket casing on the front of the body using a small crosshead screwdriver. As ever, keep the screws

and any other parts you remove in a safe place.

3

Disconnect the jack socket from the socket casing. Given the tight space around the nut, the easiest way to remove

it is with a pair of long-nose pliers.

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2

Now mark the cables. Wrap a small piece of masking tape around each wire; mark the cable that connects to

the long tip “H” (“hot”) and the other “G” (“ground”).

4

You should now be left with the bare output socket which is connected to the two wires—one live and the

other ground.

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REPLACING THE OUTPUT SOCKET

5

6

from the connector. Repeat for the other cable.

very useful for this kind of work.

7

8

9

10

Hold the socket thread with the pliers and press the tip of the soldering iron firmly against the soldered joint. When

the solder melts you should be able to pull the wire away

Snip the tips of each cable down to the plastic covering using the wire cutters. Strip away about 1/4 inch

(6.35mm) of the plastic, leaving the bare wire exposed.

Thread the wires through the holes in the connectors and solder them in place. Remember, the “hot” wire connects

Take the brand new replacement socket and tin each of the two connectors, making sure that you avoid blocking

up the two small holes. A “third hand” clamp will come in

Generously tin the tips of each cable. Make sure that no solder accidentally drips onto the body of your Strat—if

it does, remove it as quickly as possible.

Thread the socket back into the casing, place the washer over the thread and tighten the nut. Snip off

the identifier tags and screw the casing back onto the body.

to the terminal with the long tip.

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CHANGING CAPACITORS

USING A HEAT SINK Most of the components inside a Strat are fairly

As far as Stratocaster voodoo is concerned,

robust and won’t be

debating the qualities of different types of

harmed if over-heated

capacitor in the tone circuit sits near the top of the list. Over the course of six decades, Fender has

during the soldering (or desoldering) process. The one exception is the

used a wide variety of capacitors, so it’s worth

capacitor used with the tone control, which can be

looking at some of these differences, especially if

damaged, especially if you’re using a more powerful

you’re refurbishing an old instrument or want to capture the sound of a specific vintage.

soldering iron—say above 40 watts. In such cases it’s a good idea to use a heat sink of some type. This is a small metal device that you can clip to the leg of the capacitor so that when you solder the tip, the heat

MATERIALS AND VALUES A capacitor consists of two metal plates that are separated by a nonconductive dielectric material that stores electrical energy. Widely used in every imaginable field of electronics, in a guitar the function of the capacitor is to combine with a potentiometer to bleed the higher frequencies to ground, and so acts as a tone control—or more accurately, a high-

making its way towards the dielectric material separating the two legs dissipates, preventing it from getting too hot. Special low-temperate clips can be bought in any electronics store for a few dollars. If you don’t have one on hand, a regular crocodile clip (or even, as a last resort, a metal paper clip) will do the job to a degree. Capacitor

frequency filter. Experimenting with capacitors is one of the cheapest and most effective mods that you can undertake if you make extensive use of your tone controls. The unit of measurement associated with capacitance is

Low heat

Iron

the farad (named after our old friend Michael Faraday,

High heat

and denoted by the letter “F”). For most practical uses, the

Heat sink

farad is an absurdly large unit of capacitance: the capacitors used in Strats and other guitars are usually expressed in millionths—or micro-farads (μF). Although the capacitor will mainly be removing high frequencies, its rating will determine the tone of the sound as it is engaged. The broad rule is that the lower the value, the brighter the sound. If you replace your pickups with 1950s replicas, for example, to have any hope of chasing a vintage tone you’ll need a 0.1μF capacitor, and preferably a wax paper replica. A value of 0.047μF is standard in most Stratocasters, but for an even brighter sound you can go as low as 0.022μF.

Orange drop

Ceramic disc

Paper in oil

Capacitors also have a voltage rating. Those used in guitars fall with the range of 100 volts to upwards of 600 volts. For the very low voltages found in a guitar circuit this figure is not relevant at all. So what are these different types of capacitor, and how might they alter your sound? Here is a breakdown of some of the most commonly used guitar capacitors and their perceived

Paper in wax

Metal film

audio characteristics.

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CAPACITOR POLARITY

CERAMIC DISC Also known as a “pancake,” these are the

most widely used modern guitars capacitors. They are very cheap, and while they do the job, most of the alternatives shown here can be regarded as an upgrade. Original ceramics that appeared in Strats from the mid-1960s are not the same as the modern equivalents, though. Handmade reproductions by companies such as Luxe may help to achieve a period sound. ORANGE DROP Widely used in high-end valve amplifiers,

these are made from polypropylene or polyester film. Originally made by Sprague, these make for an excellent upgrade. Although there are numerous variations, the 225P is particularly suited to the classic Strat tone. They will cost around three dollars each.

123

One of the most curious aspects of experimenting with guitar capacitors is what can happen when they are reversed—the legs are connected the other way round. Some capacitors, like the electrolytic example shown above, do have a specific polarity, the positive side having a longer leg than the other, and when these are used in a circuit, connecting them correctly will be critical. The capacitors used in guitar circuits have no specific polarity, and although it shouldn’t make any difference which way round

PAPER IN WAX (“PIW”) The original capacitors used in the

first Strats, they were made from strips of metal divided by waxed paper. They produce a bassy tone which is necessary if you want a mid-1950s sound. Out of large-scale production for many decades, a small number of guitar specialists

they are installed, it sometimes seems possible to hear a slight change in tone when in use. This is another good reason for experimenting with capacitors and one where our breadboard project on the next page will assist.

produce replicas, including Luxe and Fender. Very much a niche mod, these caps are likely to set you back up twenty dollars each.

METAL FILM/FOIL Capacitors such as Mallory 150s or

Mojotone Dijon are made using metalized film as the

PAPER IN OIL (“PIO”) Produced by companies such as Jensen,

Angela, and Emerson, costing thirty dollars or more for each component, this could be viewed as an expensive experiment. It also polarizes opinion among the modding community, some of whom would claim they produce a warmth of sound that makes them worth every last cent.

dielectric produce a rounded sound in both high and low frequencies, and are well regarded for their reliability. SILVER MICA Thought by some to be the best possible option,

these capacitors can produce clarity in the upper, helping to avoid tonal muddiness.

REPLACING A CAPACITOR A very simple operation, whichever type of replacement you choose, you will simply be desoldering the two legs of the original capacitor and soldering the terminals of the new component in exactly the same position. To be on the safe side, it’s advisable to use a heat sink to prevent any possible damage to the capacitor (see previous page). (Use it when removing the old capacitor just in case you want to reinstall it at a later time.) The only other consideration is the physical size of the capacitor. Some of the paper in oil components are comparatively large and if they are soldered in place so that they “float” above the bottom of the casing then you may struggle to refit the scratchplate. In this case, you may have to solder the legs so that body of the capacitor can be pushed so that it sits alongside the tone pot.

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1

Remove the scratchplate and flip it over so that the circuitry is exposed. Switch on your soldering iron and let

it heat up. Take your heat sink and clip it onto one of the legs of the capacitor.

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CHAPTER 4 | BENEATH THE HOOD

SLEEVING When fitting some of the larger capacitors you need to ensure that the exposed wire of the legs doesn’t unintentionally come into contact with another part of the circuit—for example, the non-grounded leg making contact with conductive cavity shielding. If this looks to be a possibility, then a good precaution is to use a small length of PVC/silicone/rubber sleeving, which you can get from any electronics store. Measure a length that’s slightly shorter than

2

Two joints need to be desoldered: the joint between the

the leg of the capacitor and slide it over the leg

capacitor and the end terminal (pin 3) on the tone

before soldering. If you use a heat sink, apply

control, and the connection between the capacitor and

between the end of the sleeve and the dielectric

ground on the casing of the pot. Remove the capacitor and

body of the capacitor. Don’t worry if the end of the

store it safely in case you wish to reinstall it in the future.

sleeve near to the tip of the soldering iron begins to

Take the replacement capacitor and, one leg at a time, quickly

melt a little—this is to be expected.

tin the tips. Tin the terminal on the pot and then tin the edge of casing for the ground connection. One leg at a time, connect the replacement capacitor: apply the heat sink and solder one tip of the capacitor to pin 3 of the pot, and the other tip to the ground on the casing of the pot. Reassemble the scratchplate, restring your Strat, and give it a test run. PVC sleeve

THE BREADBOARD EXPERIMENT It can be difficult to assess the impact of different capacitors, because you have to keep desoldering and resoldering new components, and the time it takes can make it hard to make

a time, the different capacitors can then be slotted into the

any meaningful judgement. Here is a little contraption you

breadboard and tested out without having to do any

can rig up quite easily that will make the comparison process

soldering: alternatives can be tried out in a matter of seconds.

a little easier. We’ll take out the existing capacitor and at each

(If too long, the wires connected to the breadboard may

of the two connection points we’ll solder a piece of shielded

themselves have a small impact on the sound, so keep them

wire. These wires will be connected to a breadboard. One at

as short as practically possible.)

1

2

(76.2mm) in length, tin the ends, and solder one of them to

case you want to test out reverse polarity—mark the cables

the ground on the casing of the tone pot.

with masking tape labels.

Unscrew the scratchplate and lay it on its back on the body of the guitar. Remove the existing capacitor as

shown above. Take one piece of shielded wire, about 3"

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Take a second piece of shielded wire with the ends tinned, and solder it to terminal 3 of the tone

potentiometer. To differentiate between the two wires—in

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CHANGING CAPACITORS

3

4

three of the screws.

spend an eternity cleaning it off your Strat.)

5

6

the capacitor between F1 and E1 you are creating the same

“9” to hear the difference—and don’t forget to try reversing

circuit as if it had been soldered to the pot.

the direction of the caps.

Replace the scratchplate but with the two wires poking through onto the top of the body alongside the volume

and tone controls. Hold the scratchplate in place with two or

Slot the ends of the two wires into holes A1 and J1 on the breadboard. Holes B1/C1/D1/E1 are all connected to hole

A1; similarly, F1/G1/H1/I1 connect to hole J1. By plugging

125

Take a small breadboard, a lump of pressure sensitive adhesive, and fix it to the body. (Note: Breadboards often

have a self-adhesive backing; don’t use this or you’ll later

Take a selection of capacitors of different types and different values, and try them out one at a time.

Remember to move the tone control around between “7” and

TREBLE BLEED MOD Up until now we’ve been discussing the use of capacitors

the capacitor across the two non-grounded terminals

as part of the tone circuitry, but there is a further use we

(1 and 2) of the volume pot. These components are

can put them to in the volume department. You’ll

available from any electronics store.

probably have noticed that as you roll off the volume counterclockwise from “10” you not only hear a decrease in loudness but also some of the high end—in fact the whole sound can end up a little muddy. One very simple remedy is to employ a treble bleed modification to the volume pot. This is very simple to do and will cost you no more than a couple of dollars. There are plenty of different approaches you can take, but this solution works well. You take a 0.001μF capacitor and solder a resister (somewhere from 100–150K) across the two legs (using a heat sink as shown above). Make the soldered joints near the top of the legs. Then solder the tips of

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CHAPTER 4 | BENEATH THE HOOD

CHANGING POTS

TAKING OFF THE KNOBS

There are two good reasons you might want to

Before you can

change one or more of the potentiometers in your

remove a volume or tone potentiometer

Strat: to remove a damaged or broken pot or to

you first have to take

upgrade to something better. And it’s really not a

off the knob to access

terribly difficult piece of maintenance.

the holding nut. Although knobs on the Strat are only held

THE RIGHT COMPONENTS

in place by friction,

Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a definitive

they can be very

Stratocaster potentiometer—many different varieties have

difficult to remove,

been used over the years. But if you are replacing either

especially if the knob

volume or tone controls you do need to ensure that the

was fitted to the pot

replacement is a correct type. Although pots come in all sorts

from new. If you’re lucky you might be able to get it

of shapes, sizes, and values, guitar stores will generally only

off simply by gripping the edge and pulling upwards;

stock units rated at 250K and 500K—for single-coils and

if not, you’ll have to resort to other means. At this

humbuckers respectively. So ensure that you buy 250K pots.

point you might be tempted to jab a flat head

If you are replacing a volume control you need audio taper

screwdriver beneath the edge in an effort to lever it

(log) pots; for tone controls you can use log or linear pots

up, or take a pair of pliers to the knob. This is not

according to preference. (Either will “work” for both

recommended as you may force the entire shaft away

purposes, but volume changes will not be at all smooth or

from the potentiometer—this is especially true when

consistent with a linear pot.)

dealing with the cheaper components found on

The other factor you need to consider is the fitting. The top of the shaft, to which the knob is fitted, will either be solid or have a jagged “splined” edge—Strat knobs are designed to fit the latter.

budget Squiers. You’ll also end up with a scratchplate that truly lives up to its name. Here instead is a foolproof method that Strat owners have been using for decades. Find an old piece of cloth and tear off a strip around 12 inches

WHEN TO REPLACE

long and ½ inch wide. Take the center of the cloth

If you’re getting a lot of audible crackling or noise when you

and slide it underneath the edges of the knob. Bring

rotate the knobs on your Strat then at the very least they

the ends of the cloth above the knob and loop one

require some attention. If cleaning them fails to solve the

end over the other. Jiggle and pull both ends of the

problem (see page 114)—which in most cases it will—then

cloth from above, and the knob should be safely

replacement becomes the only viable option.

eased from the potentiometer.

Reasons for removing working pots are less clear-cut. Certainly on some of the cheaper Stratocasters the potentiometers have a less robust feel to them, especially when compared to vintage models. Some guitarists also believe that they can significantly affect the tone. One issue to consider, though, is how much practical use you make of the onboard controls: if you’re a “tenner” who, like many, largely leaves the volume and tone on full, then changing these components will make little difference. The only recommendation here is if you want to replace the pots then make the components an upgrade—even those manufactured by CTS, and still widely used on Fenders, will cost you little more than five dollars each.

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CHANGING POTS

1

2

pot from underneath.

and carefully desolder the joint; repeat for the other leg.

3

4

insert from the back of the scratchplate. Secure at the front.

you reconnect the capacitor.

5

6

This example looks at changing a tone control with an attached capacitor. Remove the broken pot by unscrewing

the nut. Remove the scratchplate from the body and pull the

Desolder the wire attached to the center leg and then the ground wires attached to the casing. Take the

replacement potentiometer, remove the nut and washer and

Tin the outer leg of the capacitor. One leg at a time, attach a heat sink and resolder the capacitor between the

If you’re not feeling too confident, mark all of the wires attached to the pot with masking tape labels. Attach a

heat sink to one leg of the capacitor as shown on page 122,

Tin the center leg of the pot and attach the wire that connects to the five-way switch. Now tin the casing and

solder the ground connections. This needs to be done before

Check that the wiring is secure and reattach the scratchplate. Align the knob so that “10” is facing

towards the bridge pickup and press in place.

outer leg and the ground.

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CHAPTER 4 | BENEATH THE HOOD

INSTALLING A TBX TONE CONTROL Fender’s Treble Bass Expander (TBX) system was introduced on a few Stratocasters from the mid-1980s, notably the Ultra series and the Eric Clapton signature model. Based around a stacked (“dual-ganged”) potentiometer notched at the center point, it offers an interesting addition to the usual highfrequency cut. When installed, in knob position “5” it behaves like a no load pot and is effectively removed from the circuit. Turn the knob counterclockwise (towards “0”) and it behaves like normal Strat high-frequency cut; turn it clockwise toward “10,” however, and it begins to cut bass, making it especially Fender TBX potentiometer kit

useful for soloing. It’s a great modification and should cost no more than forty dollars for both tone control and components, and it can be installed inside thirty minutes.

component and is produced exclusively by Fender, so it may

The three pieces you need to work this mod are a 250K

seem a little costly for what you’re getting. Experimenting with

TBX potentiometer, a 0.022μF capacitor, and an 82K resistor.

the resistor values is worth a try if you have the time and

Unfortunately the TBX pot is not a standard electrical

inclination—anything up to around 180K works well.

Stack A 2

Stack B

1

1

Tin terminal lugs 1 and 2 on both stacks A and B. For the ground connection, carefully tin the case on the bottom

of Stack B.

on page 127. Insert the TBX potentiometer and secure in

the scratchplate using the washer and nut.

3

Solder the 82K resistor between terminal 1 of stack A and ground. Solder the 0.022uF capacitor between

terminal 1 of stack B and ground.

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2

Remove the existing pot as shown from Step 1 to Step 3

4

Take a small piece of wire with both ends tinned. Solder it across terminal 1 of stack A and terminal 2

of stack B.

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129

Stack A Resistor 1

2

3

Switch Ground (case) Stack B 1

2

3

Capacitor

5

6

pot to the case of the other tone control.

cable from the case of the TBX to the case of a volume pot.)

Solder the wire from the five-way switch to terminal 2 of Stack A. If your cavity is not grounded then you should

solder an additonal ground wire from the case of the TBX

KILLSWITCHES AND KILLPOTS

Here is a schematic diagram of how the final wiring should look. Repeat the process if you wish to convert

the other tone control. (And, if necessary, solder a ground

KNOBS AND SWITCH TIPS

As far back as the early 1960s, electric guitarists could sometimes be heard creating a rhythmic staccato effect by

Some players go to great

playing long, sustained, distorted chords, and then rapidly

lengths to personalize

moving their pickup selector switches back and forth in time

their Strats. Changing

with the music. This effect worked well on Gibson Les Pauls

the knobs is one of the

and SGs as they had separate volume controls on each

simpler and more

pickup, so by setting the bridge to “10” and the neck to “0”

mundane possible mods.

the selector switch acts as an on-off switch. These effects were

A common replacement

not possible to produce in the same way on a Stratocaster

among those trying to

with its single universal volume control.

replicate vintage models is to buy a set of “aged”

Later players like Tom Morello and Buckethead took this

knobs (not forgetting the switch tip) which have been

approach a step further by wiring a push switch—sometimes

given a “dirty” cream look as if they’ve spent the past

called a “killswitch”—into the circuit, so that when the

five decades in a smokey concert hall. Similarly, you

button was pressed the signal cut out. This is a very simple

can buy unofficial sets of Strat knobs in virtually any

modification that can be fitted to the Strat. (The wiring

color imaginable.

diagram is shown on the next page.) The only real problem

(Tangentially, for players who use the tone and

with installing a killswitch is that you will need to cut into

volume controls, a tiny dot decal positioned alongside

the scratchplate to fit the switch, and if want to position it

“10” when the knob is on full can help you to set

beneath the center or bridge pickups then you will also have

volume and tone with a greater degree of precision.)

to cut a cavity into the body.

Although it may seem a little counter-intuitive,

One solution to this problem is to fit a “killpot.” This is a

another similar modification is to replace the Strat

component that looks like a potentiometer but also acts as a

knobs altogether in favor of the larger, heavily

switch when you push down on the top of the knob. The two

knurled chrome knobs found on Fender Telecasters.

functions are actually separate and unrelated, but are housed

These may not have the number markings but do

in one unit for convenience. A similar—and much more

have a more solid, tactile feel, and are easier to use

common—unit is a “push-pull” potentiometer. Again, this is

quickly. Telecaster knobs are not friction-held but are

a standard pot, but if you pull the shaft up it activates a

secured by a tiny grub screw. (If you make this mod,

switch mechanism. This is often used for switching the coils

ensure that the screw is aligned with the slot at the

on humbucking pickups without having to integrate a

top of the split-shaft pot; otherwise it’s liable to

separate toggle switch.

come loose.)

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KILLSWITCH WIRING

FITTING A KILLPOT In this example we’ll replace a volume control with a Shadow

Wiring a killswitch is extremely simple. For it to work,

250K logarithmic killpot. If you hold the unit with the end of

though, the switch needs to be of a non-latching type,

the shaft pointing downwards you’ll see that it has the

so that it doesn’t physically click into place—you want

standard three potentiometer terminals (labeled 1, 2 and 3

it only to make contact as long as pressed down,

below), and then two further terminals for the switching (4

otherwise the characteristic “machine gun” effect

and 5) on the top of the unit.

won’t be possible to do at high speed.

Begin by removing the original volume control, labeling

The diagram below just shows the volume pot, as

the wires with masking tape. (Note: It’s probably a little

no other wiring has to be changed—you’re simply

easier to solder wires to the killpot if it has first been attached

adding it to what’s already there. The switch is wired

to the scratchplate and so stays solidly in place. In this case,

to the volume pot rather than using the outgoing

for visual clarity we’ll leave this step to the end.)

signal at the socket—if you do that it can sound like the nasty buzz you get plugging and unplugging a guitar into an amplifier each time you press the switch, which is not a desirable effect. Don’t forget, though, that this method will also require you to cut into your scratchplate to accommodate the switch.

4 1

5 2

Volume pot

3

1

1

Switch on your soldering iron. Tin all five terminals on the killpot (labeled 1 to 5 above) as well as the metal

2

3

Pickup/switch

casing. Take three pieces of shielded cable a little more than Output

an inch in length, and strip and tin the ends. Connect one of the cables between terminals 1 and 4; connect a second

Killswitch

between terminals 3 and 5; and connect a third between terminal 3 and the casing.

3

Before you solder the other ground wires on to the casing, it’s time to fix the killpot in place on the

scratchplate. On the threaded shaft of the killpot you will find a pair of nuts with a washer in between. Remove the top nut and washer. Rotate the remaining nut until the distance from the nut to the tip of the shaft is close to 5/8 inch (15.8mm), thread it through the hole in the scratchplate and lock in place with the washer and nut. (Note: if the distance between the tip and the nut is much shorter than 5/8 inch then there

will be no space beneath the edges of the knob to activate the killpot; too far in the other direction, though, and the volume

2

Solder the input wire from the five-way switch to

knob will sit too high above the scratchplate—it will work,

terminal 2 of the killpot. Solder the output (hot) wire to

but it will also look untidy.) Fit the knob and make any

the output socket to terminal 1 of the killpot.

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further necessary height adjustment.

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DIGGING A CAVITY The body of the killpot will sit snugly in the cavity of a

In this example we’ll make a one-inch-square

standard Fender Stratocaster. But the switch cavities on

extension to the switch slot. This is not microsurgery, so

some Squiers are not routed to the same depth, which

precision is not crucial—the only thing you need to be

means that you’ll need to do some butchering of your

concerned with is digging so deeply that you go through

own. We won’t assume that you have professional

to the other side of the body. Here you can begin from

routing facilities in your home workshop, but you can do

an open edge, but if you were routing a shape away

the job easily and cleanly using a rotary hand tool with a

from the switch recess, you would drill a hole in one

routing bit attached.

corner and then use that as your start point for routing.

1: Take a ruler and felt-tipped pen.

2: Mark the shape you want to remove.

3: Route around the perimeter.

4: Carefully remove the block using a sharp chisel.

From five-way switch Scratchplate Washer Nut

To output Nut

GND

”

5/8

4

Finally, solder the remaining ground wires to the metal

1 4 2 5 3

Ground to casing

casing of the killpot. Ensure that the wires are all well

connected and that the holding nut is sufficiently tight.

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Killpot installation: cross section

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CHAPTER 4 | BENEATH THE HOOD

SWITCH REPLACEMENT The Strat’s five-way pickup selector is a mechanical switching device. Each time the lever is moved, a new electrical contact point is made. A heavily used switch will eventually begin to show signs of wear. It may be possible to clean or repair minor faults, but in many cases the simplest course of action will be the replacement of the unit.

CLOSED-TO-OPEN

standard components can sometimes leave a little to be

There is one very good reason for replacing the pickup

desired—and certainly on some of the cheaper models, the

selector switch other than to change a broken component,

pots and switches can most charitably be described as

and that is to upgrade to something superior. As you’re

“flimsy.” In this example, we’ll replace a cheap and nasty

doubtless aware by now, we’re huge fans of Squier Strats:

Squier closed switch with a more reliable open five-way lever

they’re great value for the money, and with some nice mods

switch. (Of course, if you’re going “open to open” or “closed

they can be turned into killer guitars. But the quality of the

to closed,” the basic principles remain the same.)

1

2

much of a struggle. Now remove the scratchplate.

the output side. Number them as shown across the page.

3

4

output terminals.)

two screws for safekeeping.

Remove the plastic switch tip. If it doesn’t come off after a vigorous tug, wrap an old cloth around the tip and then

grip it with a pair of pliers. It should come away without too

Switch on your soldering iron and when it’s ready desolder the six labeled wires. (You don’t need to worry

about removing the jumper link that joins the switch’s two

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Using masking tape, label all of the wires that connect to the switch—the three hot pickup wires on the input side

and the two tone and one volume pot wires that connect from

Turn over the scratchplate and remove the two screws that hold the switch in place—they are located at the two

ends of the switch slot. Remove the switch unit and refit the

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THE GOLDEN RULE (AGAIN) Immediate action is called for when a switch, potentiometer, or output socket starts to play up. These components are all in some way mechanical in the way they work and so will, with time, wear out. This will result in crackles, pops, audio cut-outs, or extraneous noises. (Don’t go pulling your Strat apart until you’ve established that the problem isn’t external, though, such as a damaged cable, amplifier, or effects pedal.) If the contact points inside the

5

Take the new switch unit. Undo the two holding screws (and remove the switch tip if it has one fitted), and bring

the lever through the slot in the scratchplate. Screw the switch unit securely in place and replace the plastic tip.

switch have become dirty then a burst of a cleaning fluid through the slot on the scratchplate might be enough to sort out the problem. If, however, you are in any way reliant on your guitar for studio recording or live performance, the safest course of action is to replace the component as soon as possible. The golden rule here is simple: A damaged component won’t mysteriously right itself! Nobody wants the embarrassment of a catastrophic failure halfway through a gig, or an otherwise perfect studio take wrecked by a badly timed crackle.

6

Tin the switch terminals. Solder the labeled wires to the switch according to the diagram (see below). Don’t

forget that the output terminals for both the input and output stages of the switch need to be joined: in a closed switch, these terminals are next to one another and can be soldered using a half-inch piece of bare wire; on an open switch (see photograph) it will require a piece of tinned shielded wire.

Five-way open switch (Fender)

Ce nt er To ne po N ec t( k w To ip ne er ) po t( w ip er )

po t( in ) Vo lu m e

Br id ge

pi ck up Ce (h nt ot er ) pi ck up N (h ec ot k ) pi ck up (h ot )

Five-way closed switch (Squier)

Apply switch-cleaning fluid to the contact points

Bridge pickup (hot) 1

Volume pot (in) 5

Center pickup (hot) 2

6

Neck pickup (hot) 3

Center Tone pot (wiper) 7

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

4

Neck Tone pot (wiper) 8

Switch Input Stage

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Switch Output Stage

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Switch Input Stage

Switch Output Stage

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CHANGING PICKUPS In principle, altering a pickup can be as simple as decoupling the two wires on one unit and resoldering the two wires of its replacement to the same terminals. The process can be made more demanding if you decide to bring humbucking pickups into the equation. A humbucker consists of two coils that are connected electronically out of phase and with opposing magnetic polarities, which has the effect of canceling out the hum and electrical interference that plagues single-coil pickups. Four-wire humbuckers give you direct access to the ends of each coil, and by bringing a simple switch into the circuit it can be used to alter the behavior of an individual coil—current flows can be altered or interrupted to create a variety of tonal effects.

WHY CHANGE WHAT’S THERE?

ones in place; and if you’re not happy with the sound of the

The pickup is the single most significant element affecting the

new pickup then you can just as easily restore the old one. It

sound of an electric guitar. Fender’s two most famous models,

really is a very low-risk modification.

the Telecaster and the Stratocaster, both have immediately identifiable sounds that derive from their unique

INVASIVE SURGERY?

configurations of pickups. So as a Strat owner, why on earth

For basic pickup replacement there are two approaches you

would you want to modify the very thing that defines the

can take. Every manufacturer produces at least one set of

character of your instrument?

like-for-like replacement Stratocaster pickups. This means

For starters, we guitarists can be a whimsical breed, and

that whatever their specific design differences may be, they

sometimes we simply just fancy a change. And there’s no

are nonetheless built into a standard Stratocaster housing,

better way of achieving that on a Strat than trying out

and so can be swapped around without the need either to cut

different pickup units.

a new shape into the scratchplate or chop away at the body

Of course, we could just swap for another instrument

to increase the size of the pickup cavity. This is by far the

altogether, but ask any great guitarist if they have past regrets

simplest approach and can produce outstanding results.

and there’ll inevitably be a tale of the “one that got away,”

Fender, for example, produces a wide array of its own

the guitar they still mourn having let go. And, in truth, if you

upgrades, such as the Hot Noiseless or Vintage ’59 sets, or

have a guitar with which you feel completely comfortable,

the excellent Fender Custom Shop Custom ’69 units. These

and that is perfectly set-up for your own playing style, then it

all use traditional alnico V magnets, rather than the cheaper

does make more sense to see if there are any ways in which

ceramic equivalents found on some of the lower-priced

you can take that instrument in a new direction.

Fenders and most of the Squiers, and they can produce dramatic results for less than a hundred dollars for an

PICKUP DIFFERENCES

individual pickup or two hundred dollars for a set.

As we’ve already seen, the Stratocaster pickup has undergone

Of course, Strat players will always face the noise and

plenty of changes over the past six decades in terms of the

interference issues associated with single-coil pickups, so

magnets used and the way in which they are wound, all of

makers such as Seymour Duncan, DiMarzio, and others have

which impacts on the overall sound. Over the past two

produced Strat-sized humbuckers that use twin coils to reduce

decades, Fender and many other contemporary pickup

noise yet still attempt to retain the basic characteristic sound.

makers have gone to great lengths, using reverse-engineering,

It’s possible, of course, to fit any type of pickup to any

to create replicas of pickups from different Stratocaster eras.

type of guitar. But if, for example, you decide you want to fit

So the prospect for precisely getting the Strat sound that you

a standard-sized humbucker to your Strat then there can be

want has never been greater.

no shying away from the fact that you will have to perform

As should be quite clear by now, the modular nature of the

some irreparable surgery, both to the scratchplate and body.

Stratocaster’s design means that the vast majority of

Naturally, this is not a recommended course of action on a

modifications can easily be reversed. Changing a pickup can

valuable vintage Strat, but can be an excellent mod for a

be as simple as desoldering two wires and soldering two new

cheaper modern instrument.

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135

FITTING A NEW BRIDGE PICKUP Let’s take a very detailed look at how relatively straightforward it is to remove and a replace a pickup on a Fender or Squier Stratocaster. There are now many hundreds of third-party pickup makers dotted around the globe, almost all of whom build sets that are identical in size to the Fender originals. This means that unless you have a very specific requirement, there Seymour Duncan Little ’59 humbucking pickup

is an enormous range of units available from which you can choose, and that can be installed without even having to modify your scratchplate, let alone cut into the body to

and is a popular retrofit for players looking for a bit more

enlarge the pickup cavities.

tonal variety.

For this project we’ll remove the bridge pickup from a

The first thing you’ll notice about the Little ’59 is that,

modern-day standard MIM Fender and replace it with a

unlike the Fender single-coil pickup, it has four connection

Seymour Duncan Little ’59. This is an attempt to achieve a

wires. This enables a variety of configurations to be created

classic Gibson PAF humbucker sound (with all its associated

(and we’ll look at some of these shortly), but for now we’ll

benefits in noise reduction) out of a Stratocaster-sized pickup,

wire it up as a straight humbucker.

1

2

Remove all of the screws holding the scratchplate in place with a crosshead screwdriver. As ever, keep the screws in

a safe location.

Tilt the scratchplate and remove the screws on either side of the bridge pickup. The pickup will lower into the

scratchplate until the screws become detached from the unit.

3

4

should fit the new pickup.

the wire so that it comes away from the switch.

Bring the pickup away from the scratchplate. You can leave the two pickup screws—they’ll be held in place by

the rubber tubing used to set the pickup height. The screws

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Switch on your soldering iron. When it has heated up, hold the tip against the pickup’s “hot” connection on the

five-way selector switch. When the solder begins to melt pull

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CHAPTER 4 | BENEATH THE HOOD

SOLDER PANIC It you’re worried about desoldering the wires on the

cutters and snip the two cables from the original pickup

original pickup and then forgetting where those on the

just above the label. In turn, desolder each of the labeled

replacement unit should go, here are a few ideas to help.

ends and replace them one at time with the wires from the new pickup.

PHOTOGRAPH Almost everyone now has a digital camera (or a smartphone with one built in). Before you begin Step 4, label the two wires close to their soldering points by wrapping around a small piece of masking tape (see right). Take a photograph so you have a pictorial backup, and then continue to desolder the pickup. MARK AND CHOP Label the two wires close to their soldering points using masking tape. Take a pair of wire

Green (screw coil start)

Black (slug coil start)

Red (screw coil end)

White (slug coil end)

5

6

ground connections while you’re desoldering the wire; if you

and the white cables, twist the tinned ends and solder them

do they will need to be resoldered.

together. The black cable is hot; the green cable is the ground.

Repeat Step 4, this time for the pickup’s ground connection, which will be soldered to the casing of the

volume control. Ensure that you don’t remove any other

Take the Seymour Duncan pickup and tin the ends of all four cables and the bare screened wire. (Color codes and

terminology are explained on pages 138–142.) Take the red

SINGLE-COIL REPLACEMENT One of the most commonly undertaken pickup modifications among modern Strat players is simply the replacement of an existing pickup with one of Fender’s own upgrades—for example the Hot Noiseless or Vintage ’56 units. Replacing a Strat pickup with an alternative single-coil unit is simpler than the instructions shown for the Seymour Duncan humbucker. Since there are only two separate wires coming out of a single-coil pickup, in Step 6 all you

7

The bare ends of soldered the red and white wires must

need to do is tin the tips of the hot and ground wires.

be insulated making it impossible for them to come into

Step 7 is omitted altogether. In Step 10 and Step 11

contact with other conductive surfaces. Use PVC electrical

you solder the hot and ground wires to exactly the

insulating tape (see above) or rubber/heatshrink sleeving.

same terminals as the original pickup.

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CHANGING PICKUPS

8

9

tubing; if not, use the screws provided by the manufacturer.

clockwise until the pickup is held in place in the scratchplate.

10

11

connections with terminals 2 or 3 respectively.)

newly soldered joints are solid.

Fit the new pickup into the scratchplate. Check that the existing screw thread fits the new pickup by removing the

rubber tubing and the screw. If it does, replace the screw and

Take the hot wire—in this example, the black cable—and solder it to terminal 1 on the switch.

(For replacing center or bridge pickups, you need to make

12

Before trying out the pickup, check once more that the red and white cables are well insulated and won’t

come into contact with other parts of the circuit.

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137

Push the pickup through its hole from the underside of the scratchplate so that the screws align with the threads

on the pickup. Take a crosshead screwdriver and turn

Take the two ground wires—in this example the green and the bare ground wires—and solder them

both to the casing of the volume control. Check that all the

13

Replace the scratchplate, restring your Strat, and test that the pickup is working. You can adjust the pickup

height in the usual way using the screws on either side.

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CHAPTER 4 | BENEATH THE HOOD

SWITCHES AND HUMBUCKERS A simple switch can be brought into a humbucker’s circuitry to alter the behaviour of an individual coil. A more elegant solution, however, which requires no butchery of the scratchplate, is to use a push-pull potentiometer. This functions as a regular potentiometer, but the stem can also be pulled outwards (by gripping the control knob) so that it may also work as a switching mechanism—the two functions, though, are entirely separate. The “Gilmour” switch you’ll encounter in a few pages could equally be wired up using one of these instead of using a toggle switch. Here we’ll take a look at how such a switch can be employed with a humbucker to provide different types of sound.

HUMBUCKER WIRING 6 switch terminals

The four wires of the humbucker—connecting to each end of the two coils—can be wired in a variety of ways. The

3 potentiometer

example on pages 135–137 saw the two coils connected end

terminals

to end in what is known as a series configuration, where current flows through the first coil and then into the other. This is the way most humbuckers are wired. An alternative to this is parallel wiring, where the coils are connected to one another at both ends, so the current flows through the both coils at the same time. This produces a brighter sound but with a considerably lower output. It’s also possible to wire up only one of the coils: this is known as coil splitting and it turns the humbucker into a single-coil pickup, so it has more bite, but loses all of the noise-reduction and tonal effects of a humbucker. (This is often also referred to as coil tapping,

Push-pull potentiometer/switch combination

although it’s not actually the same thing at all: some guitar companies even get it wrong—genuine coil-tapping is relatively rare.) By bringing a switch into the humbucker circuit it becomes possible to flip between some of the above configurations. Although it’s possible to use a switch to alter the phasing between the coils, it’s more usual to switch either between series and parallel wiring, or between series wiring and a split coil. Over the next few pages we’ll look at this in practice as we remove the Strat’s volume control potentiometer and replace it with a push-pull pot, and then rewire the Seymour Duncan humbucker for split coil use. You’ll need first to get hold of a 250K push-pull potentiometer. (Although conventional wisdom claims 250K for single coils and 500K for humbuckers, we’re using the former because two other single coils will still pass through the volume control—and it’s also what the manufacturer

1

Before you can remove the volume control you first have to take off the knob. Use the trick shown on page 126.

Take the strip of cloth and wrap it underneath the edges of

recommends for this pickup.) You will also need a pair of

the knob. Loop one end over and then jiggle and pull from

long-nose pliers, a strip of cloth (see Step 1), some shielded

above. This should release the knob. Just another reminder,

wire, masking tape and a pen to mark the cables, and your

don’t go poking around the edges with a screwdriver to lever

soldering equipment.

it off—you’ll end up with a broken spindle.

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2

3

remove the scratchplate. Poke the volume potentiometer from

wires on the terminals that connect to the switch and the

the stem so that it comes away through its hole.

output socket respectively.

4

5

solder on the casing takes a while to remove.)

take a small length of wire and make the connection yourself.

6

7

Solder the other end of the wire to casing.

hot signal to the output socket.

Space is tight around the volume control, so unscrew the nut with a pair of long-nose pliers. Turn

counterclockwise until the nut comes away. You can now

Power up your soldering iron and when it’s ready for use desolder all of the wires connecting to the terminals and

casing of the volume potentiometer. (Don’t be surprised if the

Once you’ve soldered one end of the wires to the end terminal, tin the casing. Apply a large amount of solder

as this also has to accommodate other ground connections.

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139

Using masking tape tags, label all of the wires that connect to the volume control—this means all of the

grounds that are soldered to the case, as well as the two hot

On a standard volume control, one of the end terminals connects to the ground by bending it back and soldering

against the case. This isn’t possible on a push-pull pot, so

Solder connections to the center and outer terminals of the push-pull pot. The wire from terminal 5 of the switch

goes to the outer terminal of the pot; its center terminal is the

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CHAPTER 4 | BENEATH THE HOOD

STRATOCASTER WITH HUMBUCKER (PUSH-PULL POT WITH COIL SPLIT) Output socket (hot) Ground (pot casing) Humbucker hot (black) (via the five-way switch) 1

8 9

Solder all of the ground wires to the cable casing. The volume potentiometer is now wired up.

Humbucker coil ends (red/white) Humbucker ground (green/bare)

2

3

1

4

2

5

3

6

Turning to the humbucking pickup, leave the black wire in place connected to the five-way selector switch.

Remove the insulation covering from the red and white wires and ensure that they are still solidly soldered together. Take the green wire and the bare ground wire and solder them together. (See photograph right.)

10

If you are making this mod from scratch, and still have the original single-coil pickup connected,

desolder the two wires from the neck pickup, one of which goes to terminal 1 of the five-way switch and the other you will have already removed from the casing of the volume control. Unscrew the pickup and fit its replacement. Ensure that the wires are soldered together as shown in Step 9.

11

12

Take the red and white wires and solder them in place to the

soldering iron. Remove all of the masking tape tags from the

center terminal.

back of the scratchplate.

Holding the push-pull pot up by the spindle, so that the switch terminals are above the potentiometer

legs, tin the two lower switch terminals on the left hand side.

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Now take the green/bare ground wire and solder it to the bottom switch terminal. Check that all of the

newly soldered joints are solid. You can now switch off your

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141

SERIES/PARALLEL SWITCHING You can rewire the switching part of the push-pull potentiometer to enable you to flip between series and parallel wiring. The schematic diagram for the switch is shown below. This can also be applied to a simple double-pole double-throw (DPDT) toggle switch. (As before, the color codes used refer to the Seymour Duncan humbucker; for other manufacturers

13

The push-pull pot is now full wired and ready to be fitted. Remove the nut and washer and thread it

use the chart on page 142.) Desolder the existing humbucker connections—the two connections to the switch terminals on the push-

through the back of the scratchplate.

pull pot, and the black wire from the five-way switch terminal. You also need to separate the red and white wires—this might be easier to snip them off, before stripping and tinning each one. (The green and ground wires should remain together.) Solder the red, black, white, and green/ground wires to the switch terminals as shown below (5, 6, 2, and 3 respectively). You will also need three shielded wires. Two of these only need to be about 1 inch (25.4mm) long— one is to connect the ground terminal (3) to the casing

14

Place the washer over the thread and secure the

of potentiometer, the other is a jumper between

potentiometer in place with the nut. Screw it on by

terminals 1 and 4. The third cable needs to about 3

hand and then tighten it with the pliers.

inches (76.2mm) long and connects terminal 6 of the push-pull pot switch to the pickup selector switch. When the push-pull volume control knob is in the down position, the humbucker will have parallel wiring; when the knob is pulled up, the humbucker is reconfigured for series wiring.

SERIES/PARALLEL HUMBUCKER SWITCH DIAGRAM Knob in “up” position

15

Before you fit the knob, turn the spindle of the potentiometer as far as it will go in a clockwise

direction. With the number “10” on the dial lined up at the height adjustment screw next to the neck pickup, push the

Humbucker slug coil end (white)

1

4

2

5

3

6

Pickup screw coil start (green)/bare

Humbucker screw coil end (red) Humbucker slug coil start (black)

knob in place. You should now be able to rotate the knob and also lift it up so that it clicks in place raised above the body. When the knob is down, you have the full humbucker effect; When the knob is raised, the humbucker is split and so

Ground (pot casing)

Hot (five-way pickup selector switch)

plays as a single coil.

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CHAPTER 4 | BENEATH THE HOOD

WIRING VARIANTS

COVERED OR NOT?

When you first take a humbucking pickup out of its box you’ll notice that instead of there being two wires (hot and ground)

Many humbuckers are supplied with a cover, usually

attached to the single-coil pickups of the Strat, there are four

made from nickel or chrome, so the coils are not seen.

separate wires. This is because a humbucker is made up of two

The use of covers will have an effect on sound since, in

separate coils of opposing polarity. The coils are referred to as

a small way, the metal disrupts the magnetic field.

the slug coil and the screw coil—the latter is identifiable

When played clean, a covered pickup tends to sound

because the pole pieces are threaded and can be adjusted for

smoother and sweeter, with a gentler attack;

height. The four wires are simply the beginnings and the ends

uncovered humbuckers are arguably better suited to

of each of the two coils, and, as you’ve already seen, they can

raunchier, hard-edged sounds. Also, removing the

be wired up in a number of different ways to give a variety of

cover makes it possible to bring the pickup closer to

tonal options. In the case of the Seymour Duncan pickup we

the strings, increasing output and changing the tone.

installed on pages 135–137, we used standard humbucker wiring, joing the the ends of the two coils and leaving a hot

Slug coil

terminal (slug start) and a ground terminal (screw start) that could then be connected as a regular single-coil pickup. But by integrating switching into the circuitry we can cut out an entire coil, or alter the direction of the flow. All four-wire humbuckers are color-coded red, white, green and black. Annoyingly, though, there is no conformity in what these colors mean from one manufacturer to another! So if you plan to install a humbucker then it’s critical that you check out specific wiring instructions. Below you can see the coding used

Screw coil

by some of the leading pickup manufacturers. (For clarity, the white wire is shown in gray.)

Bare Knuckle/Tom Anderson

DiMarzio/Benedetto

Bartolini/Jackson

North polarity (slug)

North polarity (slug)

North polarity (slug) Hot

Hot Coil end

Coil start Ground

Coil end

Coil start Ground

Hot Coil start

Coil end

Ground

South polarity (screw)

South polarity (screw)

South polarity (screw)

Fender/Kent Armstrong

Gibson/Bill Lawrence

Lindy Fralin

North polarity (slug)

North polarity (slug)

North polarity (slug) Hot

Hot

Hot Coil end

Coil start Ground

Coil end

Coil start Ground South polarity (screw)

South polarity (screw)

Coil end

Coil start Ground South polarity (screw)

Lollar

Peavey

Seymour Duncan

North polarity (slug)

South polarity (slug)

North polarity (slug)

Hot

Hot

Hot Coil end

Coil start

Coil end

Coil start

Ground

Ground South polarity (screw)

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North polarity (screw)

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Coil end

Coil start Ground South polarity (screw)

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SWITCHES AND HUMBUCKERS

143

POWERED STRATS Perhaps it’s because of the hugely characteristic sound of its standard single-coil passive pickups that Fender has never seemed particularly interested in the idea of active guitar electronics. But if you really want to push your Strat to the limits this is an area worthy of some investigation. Active electronics can apply both to pickups and some types of on-board circuitry, and usually entail having to fit a 9-volt battery somewhere in the guitar. The purpose of active pickups is to get a higher output with less noise. Standard passive single-coil pickups (those that don’t require additional power) have

EMG SA active pickups for the Stratocaster

a number of limitations when it comes to getting a hotter output. A higher electrical output requires more

battery fails during a concert then so does your guitar, so

wrappings of wire around the magnet, which increases

“active” players get used to the rigmarole of endlessly

both the inductance of the coil and the capacitance

unscrewing the cover plate to insert new batteries to

within the windings, which acts as a high- and mid-cut

ward off such an occurrence.

filter, and makes them susceptible to electrical

Perhaps the most significant maker of active guitar

interference. In this way, the single-coil pickup has to be

circuitry, EMG’s active SA pickups are designed to fit a

carefully balanced.

Strat. It comes as a kit with a complete set of components

An active pickup reduces the number of windings,

that clip into place on the side of the selector switch. You

and so reduces the impedance and output to a level

need to gut your scratchplate entirely and then insert and

much lower than that intended to drive a guitar

clip together the new parts. The only soldering you need

amplifier. So the pickups are hooked up to a powered

to do is to the output socket. The SAs retain some of the

preamplifier circuit within the body of the guitar which

Strat’s single-coil character and come into their own

boosts the signal and at the same time addresses some

especially for recording. This is an interesting modification

of the issues inherent in single-coil pickup design.

that should take less than forty-five minutes to install,

But this does come at a price: if you install active pickups on a Strat it will simply no longer sound quite like a Strat; secondly, any active circuitry requires a

but at around two hundred dollars it’s not exactly the cheapest of experiments. Fender’s best known foray into the active guitar field

power source, so you must forever expect to be

came in 1988 with the introduction of the Eric Clapton

replacing batteries (which are usually stored behind the

Signature Stratocaster. Although kitted out with

tremolo cover plate on the back of the body). And if the

standard passive pickups, it featured a battery-powered tone circuit intended to boost the mid-range by upwards of 20dB. The popularity of the company’s first and most enduring signature guitar was such that Fender introduced the Stratocaster Mid Boost Kit that could be retrofitted to any standard Strat. This is not the easiest of mods to install, and although it’s just about possible to fit the circuit board and battery into existing recesses, it really does require a rectangular cavity to be routed directly beneath the center and bridge pickups—like on the Clapton model. It is, however, one of the most dramatic mods you can make to a Strat while still

Fender Stratocaster “Clapton” Mid Boost Kit

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retaining it’s defining sound.

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BLENDED PICKUPS Here are a few of the more unusual mods you can apply to your Strat. Rather than switching between or combining pickups, they are all concerned with blending different volumes. The first of these mods removes the selector switch and the two tone controls and replaces them with a volume control for each pickup. Afterwards we’ll look at using a blender pot.

TRIPLE VOLUME CONTROL

dispense with the step-by-step photographs since we figure

It’s clear that for many guitarists the onboard tone controls

that by now you’ll either be perfectly happy soldering the

are largely superfluous and vary rarely used. This mod may

components inside your Strat or you’ll have decided that it’s

well appeal to players of that persuasion in that it removes

not for you.)

the switching and tone controls altogether and replaces them with a volume control for each pickup. In theory, this enables an unlimited range of possibilities for blending different levels

1

Remove the three knobs from the volume and tone controls. (Use the looped strip of cloth method shown

earlier.) Unscrew the scratchplate.

of output from each pickup. To try out this modification you will need three 250K log potentiometers and around 12 inches (304.8mm) of shielded cable—it’s probably wisest to buy both of these from a guitar

2

Switch on your soldering iron. When ready, desolder the following connections: (i) the three hot pickup

connections to the five-way selector switch; (ii) the three

retailer. And if you want your Strat to look tidy afterwards, you’ll also need a new scratchplate (see page 145) and a pair

ground connections from the pickups at the volume control;

of extra “volume” knobs.

(iii) both hot and ground connections from the output socket at the volume control; (iv) the ground connection from the

The schematic diagram below shows you how the wiring

bridge/tremolo unit at the volume control.

should go. As you can see, it’s quite simple to follow. (We’ll

Pickups Neck Center Bridge Bridge/Strings

Ground

Output socket Hot

Volume pot (bridge) Volume pot (center)

Volume pot (neck)

1

2

3

1

2

3

1

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2

3

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BLENDED PICKUPS

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3

Unscrew the nuts for the three potentiometers at the front of the scratchplate and remove them. (Keep the

parts in a safe place in case you want to reinstall the original electrics.) Insert the three new volume pots in the three holes.

4

Tin the three terminals of each volume pot. Bend back the outer right terminal of each one so that it comes into

contact with the casing—solder them in place.

5

Take the three hot wires from the pickups and solder each one to the outer left terminal of its volume

potentiometer. The bridge pot should be the one closest to the bridge pickup (in the position of the original volume control); the neck pot should be the one furthest away.

6

Take the three ground wires from the pickups and solder

required holes for the pots, pickups, and fixing screws around

them to the casing of the bridge pot. (You could connect

the perimeter. A costlier approach is to have a new

these to any of the other pot casings, since they will all be

scratchplate cut out to your own specification—guitar parts

connected to the ground.)

companies such as Warmoth can do this kind of thing. (Our recommendation is that you first fit the three volume

7

Take the hot wire connected to the output socket and

controls into your existing scratchplate just to see if the

solder it to the center terminal of the bridge pot. Take the

configuration works for you, and only then worry about a

ground wire from the output socket and solder it to the pot casing on the bridge pot.

new scratchplate.) From a sound perspective there are also a few things to bear in mind, the first being the matter of whether you can

8

Cut two pieces of shielded wire to around 3 inches

live without tone controls on your Strat—if you use them

(76.2mm) in length. Strip and tin the ends. Solder the

extensively then this idea is a non-starter.

first wire between the middle terminal of the bridge pickup

The second concern is that with standard passive single-

pot and the middle terminal of the center pickup pot. Solder

coils you’ll quickly realize that the pickups do not work

the second wire between the middle terminal of the center

entirely independently of one another: if you turn just one of

pickup pot and the middle terminal of the neck pickup pot.

the controls down to “0” you will lose all volume. This means that if you do want to play just from your bridge

9 10

Solder the ground wire connected to the bridge and

pickup you need to allow at least a small amount of signal

tremolo unit to the casing of the bridge pot.

from the other two pickups—a setting of between “0” and “1” will be enough to solve the problem, and will have a

Refit the scratchplate. Before fitting the volume knobs, turn all of the spindles as far as far as you can

negligible impact on the overall sound. Of course, existing tonal quirks of the Stratocaster’s single-

clockwise; the number “10” on each knob should be facing

coil pickup/volume control configuration remain, so a small

towards the bridge pickup.

cut in volume—from “10” down to “8,” for example—will result in a noticeable drop in treble response. Although many

CAVEATS

veteran Strat players, of course, use this treble roll-off as part

There are a few downsides to consider before you install the

of their sound. This is an issue, though, that can be solved by

blending volume pots. Firstly, if you worry about such things,

using active electrics.

the removal of the selector switch will leave an unsightly slot

These may sound like significant compromises, but the

and a pair of screw holes in the scratchplate (see above). This

variations in tone made possible by blending the three

can be remedied by buying a replacement blank scratchplate;

pickups in this way are simply impossible to match with

you can mark it up from the original and drill out just the

crude switching and a single volume control.

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CHAPTER 4 | BENEATH THE HOOD

THE BLENDER POT

step-by-step instructions assume that standard wiring is in

The idea of using a balance control between pickups is well

place. The only additional parts you will need are four pieces

established. On twin-pickup guitars, instead of a three-way

of shielded wire, each around 4 inches (101.6mm) long, with

switch, a center-notched potentiometer can be installed to

the tips stripped and tinned.

control the balance between the two pickups—when rotated

1

Unscrew the scratchplate. Switch on your soldering iron.

to either extreme, one of the pickups is switched off

Begin with the five-way switch. Leave the three hot wires

altogether; for anywhere in-between, the sound will be a

from the pickups in place at terminals 1, 2, and 3, but remove

balance of the two. This idea can’t really work in this way

all the others, including the jump connector between

with a Stratocaster, though, because it has a third pickup. The modification we’re going to look at now integrates a blender control with the existing five-way switch. Depending

terminals 4 and 5.

2

Desolder the wires attached to the terminal legs of all the

on the switch position, different pairs of pickups can be

three potentiometers, leaving in place only the terminal/

blended together—for example, switch position “1” (where

ground connection in the volume control, and the capacitor

the switch is pointing towards the bottom of the guitar) selects the bridge pickup, with the blend pot adding a variable amount of signal from the neck pickup. This modification is

connection between the terminal and the ground.

3

Take one of the new pieces of wire and solder it between

particularly appealing in that it makes use of the existing

terminal 1 of the switch and the middle terminal of the

components—only the wiring is modified.

blender pot.

To make this work, the original center tone pot is converted to a blender, and the neck tone control is rewired

4

Take the second new piece of wire and solder it between

to become a universal tone control. (Yes, you can now have

terminal 3 of the switch and the right terminal of the

a tone control on your bridge pickup!) The diagram below

blender pot.

shows you how relatively simple this is to carry out. The

Pickups Neck Center Bridge Bridge/Strings Ground

Output socket Hot

Volume pot Tone pot

1

2

3

1 5

1

2

3

Blender pot

Capacitor

2 6

1

2

3

3 7 4 8

Switch

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BLENDED PICKUPS

147

5

Take the third new piece of wire and solder it between terminal 4 of the switch and the middle terminal of the

volume pot.

6 7

Take the fourth piece of wire and solder it between the middle terminals of the volume and tone pots.

Check the wiring carefully against the diagram across the page. If you’re satisfied that it’s correct then you can

screw the scratchplate back onto the body.

BLENDED COMBINATIONS By combining different switch and blend pot positions you will be able to get a variety of different sounds. The selector switch engages both a “live” pickup (or a combination of two

CTS No-load Potentiometer

pickups) and a blended pickup. By rotating the blender pot downwards from “10” you gradually increase the volume of the blended pickup in relation to the other pickup; at “0” the

SWITCH

LIVE PICKUP

BLENDED PICKUP

blended pickup will be at its maximum volume. So, if put the

1

BRIDGE

NECK

selector switch in position 2, where the bridge and center

2

BRIDGE + CENTER

NECK

pickups are engaged, you can also add signal from neck

3

CENTER

NONE

pickup using the blender pot. The chart on the right shows

4

NECK + CENTER

BRIDGE

you exactly what is happening.

5

NECK

BRIDGE

POTENTIOMETER ISSUES

leading manufacturers of potentiometers, such as Bourne and

In this example we made the simple and expedient decision to

CTS, all produce such components: they cost quite a bit more

use the existing tone pot as the blender. What you ideally

than their standard counterparts, although still well under

want to be happening here is for the blender to remove itself

ten dollars each, so it won’t exactly break the band. Make

altogether from the circuit when it reaches “10.” In practice,

sure that you get a 250K unit and install it according to the

this won’t happen using the existing potentiometer because a

instructions across the page.

small amount of signal will always get through—although

(You can, in fact, convert a regular potentiometer to a

whether this is actually significant is open to debate. To

no-load type fairly easily by opening it up and scraping away

achieve total shut-off you need to use a special kind of pot—a

the carbon at the end by the right terminal—or covering the

“no-load potentiometer.” Typically this “clicks” off at one

end with nail polish— but, to be perfectly honest, it’s hardly

extremity, removing itself from the circuit altogether. The

worth the hassle for the money you’ll save.)

NO-LOAD TONE POTS In addition to their uses noted above as blender pots,

Like many Strat modifications, the results can

some Stratocaster players with regular-wired guitars have

sometimes yield a small but significant effect. In this case,

been known to replace their tone controls with no-load

giving a brighter, fuller sound with more bite to the

potentiometers. The logic behind this is clear. With the

center and neck pickups. No load pots are routinely fitted

tone set to “10” the flow of the audio signal would be as

to many American Fender series instruments, so they are

if the tone pot had disappeared from the circuit

widely regarded as a useful upgrade.

altogether: it would be like having the pickup wired to

Note: With regular wiring, you cannot use a no-load

the volume control and then direct to output—like the

potentiometer as a volume control, unless you want the

bridge pickup on a regular Strat, in fact.

“10” position to act as an on-off switch!

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CHAPTER 4 | BENEATH THE HOOD

SEVEN-WAY SWITCHING A Standard five-way selector switch only gives you limited options when it comes to combining pickups. Here is a modification that can be made for little more than five dollars, and is famously associated with Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour. By inserting a mini-switch into the scratchplate it’s possible to achieve any combination of the three pickups.

ALL PERMUTATIONS A regular Stratocaster gives you five pickup selection choices: the three on their own, the bridge combined with the center, and the neck combined with the center. What about if you want the bridge and neck combined? Or all three at the same time? As things stand, this can’t be done without a modification. In the style of David Gilmour’s legendary (and much-modified) black Stratocaster, in this example we’ll wire in a two-position miniature toggle switch that will enable us to achieve every possible pickup combination. In practice, when the switch is in position 1 there will be a slightly different set of combinations for the main five-way switch as

Double-pole double-throw miniature toggle switches

when it is in position 2. This is a modification that should take less than thirty minutes to complete, but it does require

with a single-pole double-throw switch (SPDT) use the center

you to drill a hole in the scratchplate. (Alternatively, instead

(common) terminal and either of the outer terminals. A

of using the toggle switch you could instead install a push-

double-pole, double-throw switch (DPDT) will also work

pull pot—wire the potentiometer part as shown on page 138,

(see Step 4)—you wire it in the same way as the SPDT switch

and the switch part as shown on the right.)

but only use the terminals along one side. These are the most

This modification is so simple because it requires no rewiring of the original circuitry—you’re simply adding a

common types of miniature toggle switch. In addition to the switch, you’ll also need a drill with a

tiny switch to what’s already there. There are a number of

1/4-inch

different types of switch you can use. With a single-pole

wire around 3 inches long (76.2mm), pen and ruler, crosshead

single-throw switch (SPST) you use just the two terminals;

screwdriver, long-nose pliers, and a soldering iron.

1

2

volume controls.

(22.2mm) along the line.

Unscrew the scratchplate and bring it away from the body, but keeping it connected to the output socket. Take

a piece of masking tape and fix it between the tone and

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(6.35mm) bit, masking tape, two pieces of shielded

Draw a line between the centers of the two controls. Mark the halfway point between the two. Draw a

perpendicular line from the center point. Measure 7/8 inch

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SEVEN-WAY SWITCHING

3

4

to do it in a confined space it’s even harder.

switch—as here—just use the terminals on one side.)

5

6

Drill a hole in the scratchplate using a 1/4-inch drill. We

won’t insert the switch just for the moment—mini-toggle

switches are tricky enough to solder, but when you’re trying

Now you can insert the toggle switch through the hole in the scratchplate. Secure it in place with the washer and

nut. Tighten with a pair of long-nose pliers.

149

Strip and tin the ends of the two shielded wires. Solder wire 1 to the center terminal of the toggle switch; solder

wire 2 to the lower terminal. (If you’re using a double pole

Solder the opposite end of wire 1 to terminal 3 of the switch; solder wire 2 to terminal 4 of the switch. You can

now screw on the scratchplate.

TOGGLE

FIVE-WAY

PICKUPS SELECTED

TOGGLE

FIVE-WAY

PICKUPS SELECTED

Off

1

BRIDGE ONLY

On

1

BRIDGE + NECK

Off

2

BRIDGE + CENTER

On

2

BRIDGE + CENTER + NECK

Off

3

CENTER ONLY

On

3

CENTER ONLY

Off

4

CENTER + NECK

On

4

CENTER + NECK

Off

5

NECK ONLY

On

5

NECK ONLY

Pickups Neck Center Bridge Five-way switch Two-way mini switch

1 5

1

2

2

3

Volume pot

6

7 4

3

8

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Tone pot (center pickup) Tone pot (neck pickup)

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THE SERIES STRAT Series/parallel switching is something more closely associated with humbucking pickups, the principles of which we’ve already covered (see page 138). But how can we apply this to a single-coil pickup when such switching relies on two coils? On a Strat, we can make use of positions “2” and “4” of a standard five-way switch, where two pickups are engaged at the same time. So we can incorporate an additional switch that only takes effect when those two positions are selected.

WHAT DOES IT DO?

another. When five-way switch position 2 is selected, the

The use of series wiring is fairly unorthodox in the

bridge pickup and the center pickup are both brought into

Stratocaster world, and not that common among single-coil

the circuit together—in parallel. This modification integrates

players in general. The famous Red Special, built in the early

a double-pole double-throw (DPDT) switch to run the two

1960s by teenage Brian May and his electrical engineer father,

pickups in series, which links the two coils. In effect this

Harold, was a three-pickup guitar wired in series, and that

creates one mighty “compound” pickup.

would be quite significant in achieving the characteristic

So what does this actually sound like? It’s a good deal

guitar sound of the band Queen. (It has remained May’s

louder, that’s for sure! But by doubling the length of the coil it

principal guitar throughout his career, appearing on every one

also acts as a resistor on the sound, and so reduces the higher

of Queen’s albums.)

frequencies, leaving a powerful low- and mid-range tone.

There are numerous ways of bringing series switching to a

As well as a DPDT switch this circuit also uses individual

Strat, but the one we’ve chosen here is more elegant in that it

capacitors for the two tone controls: try a lower rating than

makes use of existing switch options. When pickup coils are

the stock 0.022μF found in most Stratocasters—you can go

run in parallel it means that both are working alongside one

down as far as 0.01μF.

Ground

Ground 3

2

Hot

1

Output

Volume

3

2

1

Capacitor

Five-way switch 1

Tone (neck)

5 2 6

3

2

1

3 7

DPDT switch

4 8

Capacitor Tone (center)

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THE SERIES STRAT

151

PICKUP POLARITY If your Strat was built over the past thirty years, you

To measure the polarity of single-coil pickup, hold a

will notice that when you select switch positions 2 and

compass over the poles—the arrow will point north or

4 the single-coil buzz is reduced. This is because they are

south—so long as the center pickup is the opposite to

fitted with a reverse-wound center pickup, meaning

the other two then the principle will work.

that its magnetic polarity is the opposite of those at the

It’s always worth doing the compass test if installing

bridge and neck. When either front or back pickup is

new pickups, especially when you are not fitting a

engaged alongside the center pickup, the combination

matched set. (And even if you are, it’s not unheard of for

works like the two coils of a humbucker.

a pickup’s polarity to be mislabeled.)

This mod requires the scratchplate to be drilled to accommodate a DPDT switch (see page 148). Wire the circuit

Neck

DPDT switches Center

Bridge

Ground

Volume

following the rather daunting-looking schematic diagram on

250K Log

the left. The legs of the capacitors may not be long enough to

1

make the connection, so solder one leg to the terminal of the

2

pot and solder a piece of shielded wire to the other leg and

3

Ground (case)

make the connections with the switches from there. Of course, if it’s really the Brian May sound you’re after

Cap

then you won’t get it from a Stratocaster as there are so many

0.022μF

other differences, not least in his choice of Burns Tri-Sonic pickups. Faithful modern-day recreations of the Tri-Sonic are

3

2

1

widely available, although since these are slightly larger than a Strat pickup it would necessitate cutting the scratchplate

Ground (case)

and extending the pickup cavities. (Some manufacturers, including Burns and The Creamery, also produce miniature

Tone

sets of Tri-Sonic-style pickups designed to fit into a standard

250K Log

Stratocaster scratchplate/cavity.) The Red Special also incorporates some rather unusual switching, with no master

Output

selector, but a pair of switches dedicated to each pickup. The Hot

diagram on the right uses six DPDT switches to enable series switching with phase reversal, and is similar to the circuitry Neck

used by May.

Center

Bridge

Ground

LOADED PICKGUARDS If you like the idea of electrical mods but really don’t want to get down and dirty with a soldering iron you might consider a loaded pickguard. A scratchplate with the components fitted, wired, and ready to install, all you have to do is unscrew the existing scratchplate, detach the hot and ground wires at the socket, and slot in its replacement. Sometimes this can even work out cheaper than buying the separate components. Loaded pickguards associated with specific musicians have begun to appear in recent times, with DiMarzio marketing Billy Corgan and Paul Gilbert sets, and The Creamery Sonic ’60 Tri-Sonic-style Strat pickups

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Seymour Duncan selling Yngwie Malmsteen kits.

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CHAPTER 4 | BENEATH THE HOOD

MIDI AND THE STRAT When the first MIDI guitars appeared in the middle of the 1980s it seemed like a sneak preview of the future, a world where every guitarist could make his or her instrument sound like a drum kit, an orchestra . . . or a herd of elephants.

FITTING A HEXAPHONIC PICKUP

Roland/Fender GC-1 Stratocaster with “hex” pickup

Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) emerged in 1983 as an attempt at a universal communications protocol

proved to be the most versatile, by producing a system that

between music technology. Its usage was instant and it

can be fitted to pretty well any guitar without requiring so

quickly became the de facto method for linking synthesizers,

much as a screw hole to be drilled. This technology comes in

sequencers, drum machines, and, later, computers. Attempts

two parts: the pickup and the external unit.

to bring the electric guitar into the MIDI fold began almost

The hexaphonic pickup (in effect, six individual pickups—

immediately with the development of a hexaphonic pickup

one for each string) is positioned directly in front of the

which could convert note information coming from the guitar

bridge: this point, close to node of each string, ensures the

strings into binary data that could be interpreted by an

most accurate tracking of pitch information. The pickup

external MIDI-equipped device. In this way, for example, the

creates no audio output signal, but generates data that can

notes on the bottom E string could control the different

trigger the in-built sounds on Roland’s external module—

sounds of a drum machine, the A string could trigger a bass

since this is also equipped with a MIDI out port, it becomes

synthesiser, and the remaining four strings could play chords

possible to trigger any other kind of MIDI sound device, or

on a digital piano.

to capture MIDI note information on a computer sequencer.

As it happened, there never was a massive uptake for

Roland and Fender have, in fact, collaborated on the GC-1

MIDI guitars, but thanks to the prolonged efforts of

guitar (see above), which is regular Stratocaster with a

manufacturers such as Roland, a niche market emerged and

Roland pickup fitted and prewired. But as you can see below,

continues to grow. Roland’s approach to MIDI guitar has

it’s very easy to install this system on your own Strat.

1

2

the correct height, so can be secured in place with one of the

for an ideal place. Hold it in place with a self-adhesive pad—

supplied self-adhesive strips.

don’t worry, this won’t damage the body of your guitar.

Position the MIDI pickup directly in front of the bridge, making sure that the six notches align with the strings.

With a standard Stratocaster bridge, the pickup should be at

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Fit the pickup’s control unit to the body of the guitar. It needs to be in a position that doesn’t get in the way of

your playing, so somewhere to the rear of the tailpiece makes

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THE iSTRAT! The launch of the Apple iPad kicked off a revolution in mobile computing, with an ever-growing range of interesting music-making software emerging. One of the most popular apps is Apple’s own Garage Band, a simplified version of its professional counterpart, Logic. But with no audio inputs built into the tablet, it was left to third-party producers to come up with ways to enable microphones or line-level musical instruments to be plugged into the unit. At the low-cost end of the market, products such as IK Multimedia’s iRig enabled an electric guitar to be plugged into an iPad for recording into Garage Band, where effects and amplifier simulations could be applied. Some players have taken this a step further,

Stereo headphone jack

USB connection

using an iPad (or iPhone, even) in concert as a powerful “multiFX”

onboard stereo headphone amplifier socket. There is a

unit, chaining together software

24-bit analog-to-digital audio interface that sends out a

versions of classic distortion,

digitized signal; at the same time, the guitar receives

echo, reverb, and other types

stereo digital audio in, using a 24-bit digital-to-analog

of effect.

converter to feed the internal headphone amplifier. The

At the end of 2012, Squier introduced the USB Stratocaster,

second volume control, which is used exclusively to

a hybrid instrument that could

control the USB signal.

function as conventional guitar,

iRig iOS interface

guitar replaces one of the traditional tone pots with a

It’s debatable how age-proof the electronics are likely

but could also be plugged into

to be, and would certainly require specialist knowledge

any computer or iOS-compatible

in the event of failure. But, at the end of the day, as a

device using a miniature Type B

guitar it plays and sounds well, and at less than two

USB connection. It has an

hundred dollars it represents something of bargain.

3

4

the control unit using a small patch cable—few guitarists use

can also be programmed using separate computer software.

this type of connection, though.

Any additional MIDI devices can also be connected.

Take the 13-pin cable and plug it into the control unit. Depending on which pickup you have, you are also likely

to find an option for routing the output of your guitar into

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Plug the other end of the 13-pin cable into your Roland external device. Units such as the GR-55 contain

hundreds of preset sounds, tones and amplifier models, and

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HUM CONTROL The Stratocaster’s single-coil pickups are fundamental to the guitar’s classic sound, but there is no doubting that they are noisy and prone to electrical interference when compared to the humbuckers you find on Gibson models. There are, however, some useful steps that can be taken to bring the level of hum down to a tolerable level.

WHY ARE STRAT PICKUPS NOISY? Single-coil-pickup guitars and their associated circuitry can be highly prone to air-borne electromagnetic interference generated by all sorts of electrical devices—everything from lights, TVs, and computer monitors, to refrigerators. In effect, the magnetic coil acts as an antenna, picking up 60-cycle (Hz) mains interference (or 50 cycles outside of the United States), which manifests itself as an unwanted low-frequency hum— which is made more annoying by the fact that it isn’t even in tune, making it harder to mask. (A 60 Hz hum sits midway

between A# and B; 50 Hz between G and G #.) This hum also

contains harmonics of its fundamental frequency (see page

30), and when these become audible in the higher frequencies, the hum turns into an unpleasant buzz. Since the pickups have a small output, any interference they receive will also be amplified. How big a problem this is for you will depend on when

Fender Hot Noiseless pickups

your Strat was built, the environment in which you play, and, to some extent, the nature of your music. In the context of a loud metal band, as soon as you begin playing, any hum will

approaches you can consider. Firstly, you could change the

be effectively masked; for delicate solo guitar work it may be

pickups for humbuckers (which were designed precisely for

more troublesome. Of course, only you can judge what

this reason) or one of the other so-called “noise-free”

constitutes problematic buzz—and it’s probably fair to say

alternatives. This can be a costly business, and you also risk

that most Strat owners throughout history haven’t really

dramatically altering the sound of your guitar. (Fender’s own

cared too much about it.

Hot Noiseless pickup set for the Strat claims to retain the original sound, but will set you back at least one hundred and

HUM SOLUTIONS

fifty dollars.)

The checklist across the page shows some simple diagnostic

Another approach is to shield the guitar’s electrics using

tests for you to try out to see if you can get to the bottom of

copper tape or conductive paint to line the cavities beneath

the problem. As you’ll see, it may not even be your Strat

the pickguard. (Some have also claimed success using

that’s causing the noise. Or it might be that your guitar’s

aluminum foil.) Shielding is such a well-established practice

grounding is poor, in which case we’ll show you how to carry

that some modern-day Fender Stratocasters have painted

out the necessary modifications. It should be stressed once

cavities and foil on the underside of the scratchplate. That’s

again, though, that even in perfect working order a Strat will

not to say that the idea is universally accepted: some argue

generate some level of unwanted noise: it’s part and parcel of

that the impact is minimal; others claim it works too well, to

the Strat experience.

the point of repressing treble frequencies. The balance we

On page 159 we’ll take a look at some approaches to

offer here is that with careful application it can do a useful

accommodating buzz and hum that don’t require you to

job, but if it’s not done properly it will largely be a waste of

make any physical changes to your Strat, but these will only

time. And whilst it’s undoubtedly a fiddly operation, it won’t

be partial fixes. To go the whole way there are only really two

require major surgery with a soldering iron.

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HUM AND BUZZ CHECKLIST If your Strat is making a noise when you plug in, before you take any dramatic action look at the steps below and see how they relate to your circumstances. It might save you a lot of time and effort. 1. SIMPLIFY The more pieces of gear you have in the audio chain, the greater the potential for problems. Begin by removing all of the interim effects pedals so that it’s simply your Strat plugged into an amplifier. If that gets rid of the noise, then the problem is with either one or more of the pedals, or faulty cables. (By the way, for these tests, also ensure that the tone controls are on full, so there is

do this! Ever! Really! Seriously! The ground is your

no EQ cut at all.)

friend: removing it can have deadly consequences.

2. CABLES AND PEDALS Test all of your cables individually.

buy a specialized ground loop hum eliminator. It acts as

Insert the pedals one unit at a time until you find the

an interim between your equipment and the mains, and

culprit. If you run a variety of power supplies with your

whilst it’s not particularly cheap (fifty to one hundred

pedals, try fitting batteries instead; it could be a faulty or

dollars) for what looks like a simple wall wart (see

unsuitable adapter. Some pedals just work better on

above) it will offer a simple solution to the problem.

If you suffer with a ground loop the best solution is to

battery power, and some vintage pedals are simply noisy. In truth, if you use a large number of daisy chained

If you’re using an old valve amplifier, you might also find that this is creating noise in its own right.

effects, you really should get a single unit—something like the T-Rex Fuel Tank (see below) can accommodate ten

4. THE BRIDGE TEST Select just the bridge pickup and set

different effects from a single wall socket.

the volume to the max. Don't touch the strings or any of the hardware at all, just listen out for the noise. If you now touch the bridge on the guitar you should hear the noise level reduce; if it doesn’t then your Strat has a grounding problem (or “earthing” as its sometimes called). This will require you to check out all of the ground connections on the Strat to check that no wires have become disconnected. The two most likely culprits here will be the ground connection from the bridge

3. IS IT EVEN THE GUITAR? Plug in your Strat and switch

(which is made from the tremolo cavity at the back) or

on the amplifier. If you hear a noisy signal, turn down the

the ground connection on the output socket. (We’ll look

volume control on the guitar. If the buzzing goes away

at these on the next page.)

immediately then you know the problem is classic singlecoil airborne interference; if it doesn’t, the problem is with

5. THE MOTION TEST Strap on your Strat, select just the

the amplifier. This is most likely to be what is called a

bridge pickup, set the volume to full, make sure your

ground loop, and it most commonly occurs when using

hands are not in contact with the strings or bridge, and

two mains-connected components in a set-up that are

then slowly rotate through a complete circle. If the noise

powered from different sources. Without going into some

alters in certain directions this may provide you with

unnecessarily detailed physics, this creates different

clues to where significant interference is coming from.

“potentials,” and results in a 60 cycle hum. And it’s entirely a result of the mains electricity in a particular location. Some have chosen to “solve” this problem by simply disconnecting the ground from one of the sources. Don’t

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6. THE LAST RESORT If you’re still unhappy with the level of noise, then screen the cavities of your Strat (see pages 156–158.)

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CHAPTER 4 | BENEATH THE HOOD

CHECKING THE GROUND

GROUND INVENTORY

The first stage in dealing with a hum problem is to check the existing state of the ground in your guitar. The list on the

Here is a checklist of all of the ground connections that

right shows you all of the ground connections you’ll find on a

you need to look at on your Stratocaster:

regular modern Stratocaster. Work through it as necessary. 1. Output socket

Casing of volume pot

Begin with the output socket. Page 120 shows you how to

2. Tremolo casing

Casing of volume pot

1

remove the socket from the body and then from its

3. Tremolo casing

Cavity shielding*

housing. Ensure that both hot and ground connections are

4. Bridge pickup

Casing of volume pot

both solid. If necessary, follow the instructions for resoldering.

5. Center pickup

Casing of volume pot

6. Neck pickup

Casing of volume pot

7. Volume pot end terminal

Casing of volume pot

8. Volume pot casing

Tone pot (neck) casing

9. Tone pot (neck) casing

Tone pot (center) casing

Ground *The link between the tremolo/bridge casing and the shielded cavity only applies to guitars that have already Hot

been shielded. Where this occurs at the factory, this will be done using conductive paint.

2

Turn over your Strat and remove the six screws that hold the tremolo cover in place. You should see a cable that

disappears into the cavity wall and is soldered in place to the metal casing that houses the bridge, tremolo, and springs. If this is loose or broken, then solder it in place. If it doesn’t exist—and your Strat is sure to be noisy if this is the case!— then you have to create the link yourself. Take a piece of cable around 5 inches (127mm) long, solder one end to the bridge, pass the other end through the hole in the cavity wall, and solder that end to the casing of the volume control.

3

The potentiometer casings are also used for grounding, the volume potentiometer acting almost like a hub for the

ground wires in the Strat’s circuit, which are invariably identifiable as the black cables. First use the check list above to ensure that all of the connections are in place. Then gently tug at each of the ground cables on the casing of the volume control; if any of them are loose or come away then they need to be soldered in place. On Stratocasters that have foil shielding underneath the scratchplate you may find that the wires connecting the casings of the three potentiometers are not there. If the pot casings are all touching the foil then the they will all be grounded. Check, however, that they are making good contact with the foil; if they are not, solder separate wires between the casings of the volume and neck tone, and then between the neck tone and center tone.

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SHIELDING YOUR STRAT If those previous stages failed, then cavity shielding may be the way to go. If your Stratocaster is a modern-day American or Mexican Fender then there’s every chance that it already contains some shielding—you’ll see this if you remove the scratchplate and find the reverse side covered in metal foil with the body cavity painted matt black. You should allow yourself a couple of hours for this job— longer if you use conductive paint. Let’s begin by looking at how you can create shielding using copper foil as a shield. You’ll need self adhesive copper foil, which you can buy either by the sheet or as a spool of tape; a crosshead screwdriver; a pair of scissors; and a sharp modeling knife. Conductive paint (left); copper tape (right)

(Depending on the existing grounding you may also need to get out your soldering kit.)

1

2

cavities, ensuring there’s no dust—otherwise the tape won’t

switch. (Whilst the majority of Fender Strats have three linked

stick to the surface. If it’s especially dirty, use a vacuum

chambers beneath each pickups, some Fenders with Floyd

cleaner brush and remove any further grime with naptha

Rose bridges and humbuckers, as well as some Squiers, may

spray. Cut a dozen or so 1-inch (25.4mm) strips of copper

have larger cavities.) Press the tape down firmly so that it

foil, each one no more than 4 inches (101.6) long.

sticks solidly, each strip overlapping slightly.

Unscrew the scratchplate and lift from the body of the guitar, placing a cloth underneath so that the knobs and

pickups don’t scuff the body. Clean the walls and sides of the

Peel away the backing and apply the strips of tape to the body cavities—the three areas beneath the pickups and

the larger area beneath the volume and tone controls and the

3

You need to line the floor and walls of the entire cavity area on the front of the body, ensuring that there is no

bare wood exposed. It isn’t necessary to shield the output socket cavity, as the plate protects it from the front, and it’s such a small space that there’s always a danger that the tip of the jack plug will make contact if the socket becomes loose. Nor is it useful to line the tremolo cavity as there is no hot signal passing through. Around the perimeter of the cavity, ensure that the foil creates a slight “lip” onto the top surface of the body so that when the foil-backed scratchplate is fitted Lip on top of body

it creates a fully shielded “cage.”

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CHAPTER 4 | BENEATH THE HOOD

MULTIMETER CHECKS You can also use a multimeter (see page 113) to check the grounding of your Strat. Set the multimeter to the ohm setting (W) and at the highest range setting (2000 KW on most models). With the probes held apart, the reading should be “1” (“infinite”). Hold one of the probes against the bridge and the other to the ground (the “ring”) of the output socket. If the reading on the meter now changes to zero then the Strat is grounded.

4

5

cover the entire surface. There are two approaches you can

be making direct contact with the shielding on the inside of

take. The neatest and most thorough is first to remove all of

the scratchplate. If it isn’t, though, that connection needs to

the components and then cover the underside of the

be made elsewhere—for example, from the ground wire from

scratchplate with a single sheet of copper foil, shaving around

the bridge that passes through from the tremolo chamber. In

the perimeter and the pickup holes with a scalpel or sharp

this case, a wire can either be soldered between the tremolo

modeling knife. However, it’s much less hassle, and no less

and the foil inside of the chamber or, for a neater finish, you

effective, to use 1- or 2-inch strips and work around the

could attach a solder lug to the end of the cable and screw it

assembled parts. Remember to ensure that there is good

through the foil and into the body. Finally, screw the

contact between the potentiometer casings and the foil.

scratchplate back onto the body.

Where it exists, shielding from the factory beneath the scratchplate covers only the area of the circuitry, but

rather than marking out the area it’s actually simpler just to

USING A CONDUCTIVE PAINT

It’s important to remember that, one way or another, there has to be connection between the bridge and any

internal shielding. The casing for the potentiometers should

4

You will probably need to apply three coats to achieve

As a neater alternative to shielding with foil, you can coat the cavities with a specially made conductive paint. It has exactly the same effect as copper foil lining. A small 25ml bottle should be fine to provide you with two or three coats. The paint is matt black in appearance, it dries relatively quickly, and new coats can be applied within a couple of hours. Before you begin, make sure that you are working in a well-

maximum coverage. You should be able to apply

additional coats within an hour or so. (Follow the manufacturer’s instructions on this matter.)

5

When completely dry, the scratchplate can be refitted. The grounding conditions above also apply here—to

make a direct connection to the shielding use a solder lug.

ventilated space—some types of paint can produce some very strong fumes.

1

Remove the scratchplate and clean the cavities thoroughly. If there is a lot of dust in evidence then use a

vacuum cleaner. If the cavities are dirty or greasy then clean them using naptha spray.

2

Take some thick sandpaper and roughen the surface of the cavity walls and floor. If you don’t do this the paint

will not cover properly.

3

Pour the bottle of paint into a small bowl and stir it thoroughly until it has a smooth consistency. Carefully

apply to the paint to the cavity with a small brush.

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HUM CONTROL

159

NON-INVASIVE SOLUTIONS The hum-reduction steps shown over the past few pages can be effective in cutting back on unwanted noise and providing a clearer signal. But what about if you really don’t want to pull your Strat apart and would just like a few simple ideas to work with? Begin by investigating your playing environment. Many of us have home studios that contain large amounts of electronic gear stacked up in an enclosed space, and surrounded by power supplies and mains cabling. One of the most common sources of electrical interference is a computer or laptop screen, which is unfortunate since the vast majority of recording now takes place on a digital audio workstation of some kind. You’ll find that single-coil pickups are uniquely sensitive in such spaces, to the point where merely tilting the

MXR and Pigtronix noise gates

angle of your guitar by only a few degrees may prove to be the difference between unlistenable hum and near

dimmer switches, which generate high-frequency

silence. Although it hardly constitutes a genuine

harmonics: you really need to get these away from your

solution, a good knowledge of the impact of offending

playing environment!

items in your locality can help you minimize impact. Lighting can also prove to be a problem, especially fluorescent light fittings and—worst of all—solid-state

For a simple approach to hum reduction, you can always just a fit a noise gate pedal between your Strat and the amplifier. This cuts out the entire audio signal until it reaches a preset volume threshold, for example when you play a chord or pick a note. It does nothing to prevent interference, but at least when you’re on stage your audience won’t be assailed by a wall of hum and buzz between songs. Every manufacturer of guitar effect pedals produces a programmable noise gate (see above), so this is clearly a popular route to take.

Electro-Harmonix Hum Debugger noise suppressor

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Evil has a name: the household dimmer switch!

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S S

P p m g in g li

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STRATOCASTER STARS Pretty well every significant guitarist has at some stage in their career played a Fender Stratocaster. Here is a selection of thirty outstanding musicians. Not all of them played Strats to the exclusion of all other guitars, but each one of them forged a special relationship with the instrument. These profiles feature a brief biography, details of specific guitars (including modifications), amplification, and effects, as well as listed albums on which a Fender Stratocaster was played.

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5

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CHAPTER 5 | STRATOCASTER STARS

JEFF BECK One of the most versatile, tasteful, and accomplished of electric guitarists, Jeff Beck is an enormously influential musician both in his lyrical playing style and the sounds he achieves. He could perhaps be described as the ultimate example of a “musician’s musician.” In a career that began as Eric Clapton’s 1965 replacement in the Yardbirds he has followed an eclectic path covering

NAME Geoffrey Arnold Beck

blues, heavy rock, jazz-fusion, and rockabilly, whenever the

BORN June 24, 1944, Wallington, London, UK

mood has taken hold. One of the leading proponents of the

GUITARS 1954 Stratocasters (his favorite is known

irresistible Les Paul/Marshall combination that emerged

to be the 1960s model used on the Wired album;

during the second half of the 1960s, Beck also pioneered the

Jeff Beck Signature models

use of distortion and fuzz boxes.

BANDS The Yardbirds; Jeff Beck Group; Beck, Bogart

In 2011, Beck would recall a teenage experience window-

and Appice; Jeff Beck

shopping for guitars: “The Holy Grail was the Fender Strat.

RECORDINGS Wired (Jeff Beck, 1976); Jeff Beck’s

When I went up to look at it, it was like a religious

Guitar Shop (Jeff Beck, 1989)

experience hanging in the window there.” In spite of this, he played Telecasters and Les Pauls during his time with the

Beck, Bogart and Appice. He later switched to his favored

Yardbirds and the early days of the Jeff Beck Group. In 1969,

white 1960s model given to him by John McLaughlin, and

his head was turned by a maple-neck Stratocaster built in

which he used on the celebrated Wired album in 1976.

1954—the year in which the guitar was launched—since which time the Strat has been his instrument of choice. Beck played his 1954 model (which was later given a

Beck was honored by Fender in 1991 with one of the first signature Stratocasters—a popular range of souped-up models that have at different times included Lace Sensor

1970s-style oversized-headstock neck replacement, including

humbuckers or Fender Hot Noiseless pickups. It has

a rosewood fingerboard) both with the Jeff Beck Group and

remained a production staple ever since.

RITCHIE BLACKMORE A former session player with legendary London producer, Joe

the formation of his theatrical neo-medieval project, Blackmore’s Night. Arguably the most significant classical-rock guitarist, Blackmore has been an acknowledged influence on players such as Yngwie Malmsteen and Randy Rhoads.

Meek, Ritchie Blackmore went on to be a founding member of Deep Purple, one of heavy rock’s so-called “Unholy Trinity” (alongside Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin). Beginning life in 1968 as a psychedelic rock band, Deep Purple evolved, through a progressive rock phase, to become one of the most important bands of the early 1970s and a major influence on the metal bands of the future. The Purple sound was characterized by the heavy unison riffing of Blackmore’s Stratocaster, bassist Roger Glover, and organist John Lord—which can be heard to full effect on rock

NAME Richard Hugh Blackmore

standards like “Black Night” and “Smoke on the Water.”

BORN April 14, 1945, Weston-super-Mare, UK

An interest in classical music (evident from Deep Purple’s

GUITARS Wide variety of Stratocasters

1969 performance with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra)

BANDS Deep Purple; Rainbow; Blackmore’s Night

became more dominant in his first solo project, the band

RECORDINGS Made in Japan (Deep Purple, 1973);

Rainbow, and was taken in a different direction in 1997 with

Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow (Rainbow, 1975)

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JEFF BECK | RITCHIE BLACKMORE | BUDDY GUY

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BUDDY GUY In an interview with the BBC in 1990, Eric Clapton recalled a moment of teenage epiphany when he first heard the guitar solo on “Wee, Wee Baby,” performed on a live club recording by Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, and Buddy Guy: “Buddy Guy just blazes, and it’s still to this day one of the most monumental guitar solos ever recorded. And from that point, of hearing that record years ago, he was my hero.” Clapton was not the only guitarist in thrall to a musician

NAME George Guy BORN July 30, 1936, Lettsworth, LA, US

he described as, “a quiet soft spoken guy who just was a

GUITARS 1957 Stratocaster; Buddy Guy Signature

maniac on stage.” He also recalled the impact he had on

Stratocaster

another luminary: “Long before Jimi Hendrix ever came to

BANDS Buddy Guy

England, he [Buddy Guy] played it [the guitar] behind his

RECORDINGS Damn Right I’ve Got the Blues (Buddy

head, he threw it on the floor, he played it with his feet. I

Guy, 1991); Feels Like Rain (Buddy Guy, 1995)

mean, he did everything that Jimi later did.” Jeff Beck had similar recollections: “He transcended blues and started becoming theater . . . I once saw him throw the guitar up in the air and catch it in the same chord.” In spite of signing a contract with Chess Records—the

Not everyone had been so impressed. Label-owner Leonard Chess called his playing “noise,” and refused to release any of his music until 1967—a fact that undoubtedly

home of Chicago electric blues—in 1959, Guy was unable to

held back his career. It wasn’t until the late 1980s that his

make the same kind of breakthrough as some of his older

commercial profile began to match his influence as a player,

peers. Hardly the traditionalist, Guy’s playing style was raw,

as he was swept up in a boom spearheaded by a new

loud, and aggressive, featuring characteristic dynamic

generation of young blues players like Robert Cray and Stevie

extremes, and is now widely regarded as a pivotal link

Ray Vaughan—the latter acknowledging, “Without Buddy

between electric blues and rock guitar.

Guy, there would be no Stevie Ray Vaughan.”

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ERIC CLAPTON Emerging on the English blues scene in 1963 with the Yardbirds, Eric Clapton cemented a prodigious reputation when he was the featured player on John Mayall’s celebrated Blues Breakers album. Without doubt one of the most important electric guitarists of all time, from 1965 to 1969 Clapton played Gibson guitars exclusively, initially the principal figure in the

NAME Eric Patrick Clapton

rehabilitation of the Les Paul, which had been out of

BORN March 30, 1945, Ripley, UK

production since 1960. Clapton reached a commercial peak

GUITARS “Blackie" (composite of 1956 and 1957

with his next project, the influential power trio, Cream.

Stratocasters); “Brownie” (1956 model); Eric Clapton

Debuting in 1966, with a heavy unison riffing hybrid of blues

Signature Stratocaster models

rock and psychedelia, Cream lasted barely two years, sold

BANDS The Yardbirds; John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers;

more than fifteen million albums worldwide, and—it could be

Cream; Blind Faith; Derek and the Dominos

argued—pretty well ushered in the hard rock era.

RECORDINGS Eric Clapton (Eric Clapton, 1970);

Having switched to a Gibson SG with Cream, at the end

Slowhand (Eric Clapton, 1977)

of 1969 Clapton adopted the guitar for which he remains most closely associated, the Fender Stratocaster. Starting with

dismantled the other three. From the parts, he created a new

a 1956 model he called “Brownie,” in November 1970, his

guitar, the famous “Blackie,” which he used to the exclusion

most famous instrument was created. While on tour in the

of all other electrics until he retired it in 1985.

United States with Derek and the Dominos, he bought six

The founder of the Crossroads Centre, a drug and alcohol

1950s Stratocasters from the Sho-bud music store in

addiction rehabilitation facility, in 2004 Clapton held a

Nashville, gave three of them to his close friends George

fund-raising auction in which Blackie was sold for what was

Harrison, Steve Winwood, and Pete Townshend, and

then a record price for an electric guitar—$959,500.

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RY COODER An unfathomably eclectic musician, after a brief stint with Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band, Ry Cooder first attracted attention for his slide guitar on the Rolling Stones’ Let it Bleed and Sticky Fingers albums. In 1970, Cooder began an admirable and wide-ranging solo recording career that has since spanned rock, soul, gospel, blues, 1920s jazz, rockabilly, Americana, and

NAME Ryland Peter Cooder

traditional music from across the globe—all undertaken with

BORN March 15, 1947, Los Angeles, CA, US

a rigour that verges on the academic.

GUITARS 1967 Daphne Blue Stratocaster (modified

Although predominantly an acoustic musician, for electric

with Guyatone pickup and Bigsby B5 Vibrato;

work Cooder has mostly used a pair of modified Fender

“Buddy Holly” Sunburst model (modified with Teisco

Stratocasters—frequently for slide work. These so-called

and Valco pickups)

“Coodercasters” feature some unique and highly unorthodox

BANDS Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band;

mods, especially in his choice of replacement pickups.

Ry Cooder

His first electric guitar was the “Daphne Blue” Stratocaster seen on the cover of his acclaimed Bop Till You Drop album.

RECORDINGS Bop Till You Drop (Ry Cooder, 1979); Crossroads: Original Soundtrack (1986)

This has seen several stages of modification—initially with a Gibson P-90 bridge pickup—and was his main instrument

phases of evolution. For the Crossroads soundtrack he fitted

until around 1986, when he recorded the soundtrack to the

a Gibson PAF humbucker at the bridge and a Valco pickup

film Crossroads. Soon after, it was further modified with a

from a 1950s Oahu Hawaiian guitar at the neck. At the

Japanese pickup (from a cheap 1960s Guyatone L-50) at the

suggestion of musical collaborator David Lindley, Cooder

bridge, and a replica of a Bigsby eight-string steel guitar

then replaced the PAF with a Japanese Teisco pickup, one

pickup in the neck position. He also added a Bigsby B5

most likely to have originated from a 1960s Silvertone

vibrato. Cooder fits this guitar with flatwound strings and it

guitar—the type sold at Sears department stores and widely

is generally tuned to open G.

found in thrift stores over the decades that followed. The fact

Cooder’s other main Stratocaster, a 1982 ’57 “Buddy Holly” reissue model, has also been through several different

that it creates such a pleasing sound, Cooder admits, is quite simply “a fluke.”

ROBERT CRAY Not only one of the finest blues guitarists of his generation, for many, his fingerboard dexterity is matched by possessing one of the great soul voices of recent times. Although Cray can boast five Grammy awards, his career was by no means an immediate success. It was in 1986 with his fifth album, Strong Persuader, that he made a mainstream commercial breakthrough; aided by a top thirty hit single, “Smoking Gun,” the album was certified double platinum.

NAME Robert Cray BORN August 1, 1953, Columbus, GA, US GUITARS Robert Cray Custom Shop Stratocaster (US-built); Robert Cray Standard Stratocaster (Mexican-built) BANDS Robert Cray; The Robert Cray Band RECORDINGS Strong Persuader (Robert Cray, 1986); Midnight Stroll (Robert Cray, 1990)

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Cray would go onto play with most of the important blues guitarists of the period, including Eric Clapton, Jimmie and Stevie Ray Vaughan, John Lee Hooker, and Buddy Guy. In 2003, Fender introduced two hard-tail Robert Cray signature Stratocasters, one built by the Fender Custom Shop, the other in Mexico. The latter, featuring non-standard hardware, remains highly regarded as one of the best production-line Mexican Stratocasters.

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DICK DALE Surf guitar was introduced at the start of the 1960s by Dick

further claimed that he wanted his guitar “to sound like Gene

Dale, the avid surfer producing music to mimic the sound of

Krupa’s drums.” And with his fast percussive, double-picking,

the rolling waves of the California coast where he lived. He

Dale’s playing does indeed resemble a drummer pounding away at the toms. With his band, the Del-Tones, Dale emerged in 1962 with a huge hit record, an energetic take on a popular Greek tune from the 1920s called “Misirlou.” There were a number of interesting factors that had an impact on Dale’s sound. To begin with, his gold Stratocaster, know as “The Beast,” was kitted out with unusually fat strings (.016, .018, .020, .038, .048, .058/.06) which had to be played with a heavy pick. He played through a Fender Dual Showman amplifier, later adding a Fender Reverb unit.

NAME Richard Anthony Monsour BORN May 4, 1937, Boston, MA, US GUITARS “The Beast” (Left-handed Stratocaster in gold finish) BANDS Dick Dale and his Del-Tones RECORDINGS King of the Surf Guitar (Dick Dale and his Del-Tones, 1962); Checkered Flag (Dick Dale and his Del-Tones, 1963)

A close friend of Leo Fender, together they retro-fitted the speakers in his amplifier—which he had regularly been blowing—replacing them with 15-inch JBL D-130Fs. Unusually, the left-handed Dale played a left-handed Stratocaster produced for him by Leo Fender, but strung with the treble strings at the top. The surf guitar craze was short-lived, swept away by Beatlemania—none of which would prevent Dale plowing the same furrow admirably for the next fifty years.

RORY GALLAGHER Formed in Cork, Ireland, the band Taste came to attention as the opening act at Cream’s final concert, and followed this up with a slot at the Isle of Wight Festival alongside The Who and Jimi Hendrix. With a pair of well-regarded top twenty albums behind them, singer and guitarist Rory Gallagher

NAME William Rory Gallagher

decided to step out on his own in 1971.

BORN March 2, 1948, Ballyshannon, Ireland

Leading one of the most popular European blues-rock

DIED June 14, 1995, London, UK

trios of the 1970s, Gallagher was unusual for playing just one

GUITARS 1961 Stratocaster

electric guitar throughout his entire career, a well-worn 1961

BANDS Taste; Rory Gallagher

Fender Stratocaster. The guitarist claimed it had been the first

RECORDINGS Live in Europe (Rory Gallagher, 1972);

Strat imported to Ireland—the musician who had originally

Calling Card (Rory Gallagher, 1976)

ordered the guitar had been expecting a cherry red finish, but didn’t care for the sunburst model that turned up. Extensively modified throughout the thirty-four years it

Persistently on tour, in 1995 Gallagher died from an MRSA infection following a seemingly successful liver

was used, its battered appearance was a result of heavy use

transplant. Unique among celebrity players in his loyalty to

rather than abuse. (According to his brother, this was mainly

one instrument, he once remarked “B. B. King might have

due to the high acidic content in Gallagher’s rare blood type:

several Lucilles but I’ve only got the one Strat. I don’t even

“So when Rory sweated on stage —and he sweated buckets—

call it a woman’s name. It’s what it is. I still play it every day,

it was like paint stripper.”)

I just love playing it.”

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DAVID GILMOUR The year 1973 saw the release one of the benchmark albums of rock history; with worldwide sales now approaching the fifty million mark, only Michael Jackson’s Thriller has sold more copies than Pink Floyd’s influential progressive rock classic, The Dark Side of the Moon. Yet barely four years earlier this was a band on the verge of extinction. Guitarist and singer David Gilmour had been brought into the fold

NAME David Jon Gilmour

when the erratic behavior of Syd Barrett, the main creative

BORN March 6, 1946, Cambridge, UK

force of the group, made him an increasing liability in live

GUITARS Wide variety of Stratocasters (personal

performances. When Barrett was expelled in 1969, Pink

favorite is a modified black 1969 model)

Floyd lost its singer, lead guitarist, and main songwriter. Yet

BANDS Pink Floyd

surprisingly, the band was able to thrive, gradually shifting

RECORDINGS The Dark Side of the Moon (Pink Floyd,

from lengthy psychedelic rock workouts towards cleverly

1973); On an Island (David Gilmour, 2006)

crafted songs musing on universal existential themes. A Saucerful of Secrets (1968) was the first Pink Floyd

II effects pedals. He would quickly move on to British-built

album on which Gilmour played. This saw in transition from

Hiwatt amplifiers—100-watt heads played through WEM

Telecaster to a Stratocaster. Influenced both by the existing rig

4x12 speaker cabinets—the brand with which he has

of Syd Barrett and the guitars and effects used by Jimi

remained loyal.

Hendrix, Gilmour first played through Selmer amplifiers with Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face, Vox wah-wah and Binson Echorec

It was in 1970 while the band was on tour in the United States that Gilmour acquired what would become his signature guitar, a black maple-neck 1969 Stratocaster, soon to be heard on countless classics such as “Shine on You Crazy Diamond,” “Money,” and “Comfortably Numb.” Originally a sunburst model given a black paint job, the guitar would see numerous modifications, from simple knob replacements taken from a Telecaster, to rewiring and experimentation with different necks. And this is one of the reasons why guitarists of an experimental bent like Gilmour forge such an affinity with Strats; treating the guitar as a kit, he can adopt a pickand-mix approach. At different times over the past four decades, the Black Strat has been fitted with Gibson PAF, DiMarzio FS-1, and Seymour Duncan SSL1-C pickups, Fender necks with both maple and rosewood fingerboards, a Jackson/Charvel neck, and different vibrato systems. One of the best-known features of Gilmour’s Black Strat is what is sometimes referred to as the “seven-sound” wiring. The addition of a small toggle switch allows for two additional combinations of the three pickups—neck and bridge, and all three together—that are impossible with standard wiring for the five-way switch. (This simple modification, which can be made for less than ten dollars, is shown on page 148.) Gilmour owns a number of other notable instruments, including a white 1954 Fender Stratocaster with the serial number “0001.” The guitar is not, however, thought to be the very first Strat but possibly a model built for an employee.

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GEORGE HARRISON Always overshadowed by Lennon and McCartney in the Beatles, George Harrison was an underrated figure, both as a songwriter and a guitarist. And yet, as one quarter of the most famous group in history, his influence was nonetheless immense. From 1964 until the band split in 1970, where the

NAME George Harrison

Beatles went musically others would quickly follow. His early

BORN February 25, 1943, Liverpool, UK

patronage of Rickenbacker guitars led to the manufacturer’s

DIED November 29, 2001, Los Angeles, CA, US

factory in California receiving fan mail at the height of

GUITARS 1961 Stratocaster (painted by Harrison in

Beatlemania; and his interest in Indian music was almost

1967 and known as “Rocky”); an assortment of

single-handedly responsible for its profile in the West from

1960s models

the late 1960s.

BANDS The Beatles; George Harrison; The Traveling

Harrison first began using a Fender Stratocaster in 1965

Wilburys

during the recording of Rubber Soul, and it can be heard to

RECORDINGS All Things Must Pass (George

great effect on the song “Nowhere Man.” An unassuming

Harrison, 1970); Concert For Bangladesh (George

Sonic Blue 1962 model, in early 1967, Harrison gathered a

Harrison and Friends, 1971)

selection of DayGlo enamel paints along with some of his wife’s nail varnish, and gave the guitar a dramatic psychedelic

Perhaps the most famous of any celebrity guitar, Rocky

makeover (see page 22). It would become known as

remained in regular use until Harrison’s death in 2001, after

“Rocky”—the name he painted on the upper horn.

which it was passed on to his son Dhani.

EDDIE HAZEL

renamed his band Funkadelic, and—taking influences from

It was in 1967 that the teenage Eddie Hazel was recruited by

Jimi Hendrix and Sly Stone—produced a radical mixture of

George Clinton’s well-established doo-wop/soul curiosity, The

funk, social awareness, and psychedelic rock. Hazel

Parliaments. Following a contractual dispute with his record

absorbed the new guitar sounds of the period and

label that prevented him using the name, Clinton simply

introduced them for perhaps the first time into a soul-based musical environment. The first pair of Funkadelic albums would be hugely influential on the way funk evolved during the 1970s. (Curiously, in 1972, Clinton won the right to use his original name, which he shortened to Parliament; he then proceeded to operate what was essentially the same band under both names!) Although Hazel enjoyed only a brief time in the limelight—in 1974 he was jailed on assault and drugs charges —he left behind one of the great guitar performances. Recorded in a single take, “Maggot Brain” is more than ten

NAME Edward Earl Hazel

minutes of the most intense, uplifting, melancholic,

BORN April 10, 1950, Brooklyn, NY, US

shamanistic, mind-melting fuzz/echo/wah-wah guitar. The

DIED December 23, 1992, Plainfield, NJ, US

story goes, that Clinton instructed Hazel to play his Strat as

GUITARS 1954 Stratocaster

if he’d been told that his mother had died, before

BANDS Funkadelic; Parliament; The Temptations

discovering that she was still alive.

RECORDINGS Free Your Mind… and Your Ass

When Hazel died at the age of forty-two from internal

Will Follow (Funkadelic, 1970); Maggot Brain

bleeding and liver failure, a recording of “Maggot Brain”

(Funkadelic, 1971)

was played at his funeral.

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JEFF HEALEY When Canadian blues player Jeff Healey emerged in the 1980s, audiences were struck by his unorthodox approach to playing the guitar. Healey would play with his instrument held horizontally, either on his lap or mounted on a support so he could play standing. This stance was not unusual for slide players, yet Healey would fret notes with his left hand, pressing down claw-like from above.

NAME Norman Jeffrey Healey

Born in Toronto, Canada, Healey went blind before his

BORN March 25, 1966, Toronto, Canada

first birthday, a result of a rare eye cancer. He began playing

DIED March 2, 2008, Toronto, Canada

the guitar at the age of three: “I tuned it to a chord and

GUITARS Mainly 1980s Japanese-built Squier

altered the chord with a steel bar,” he recalled. “Around the

models with retro-fitted Evans pickups

age of seven or eight, I learned standard tuning and began

BANDS Jeff Healey Band; The Jazz Wizards

working with all five fingers over the top of the neck—as I

RECORDINGS See the Light (The Jeff Healey Band,

had done with the slide before. I’d just become accustomed to

1988); Hell to Pay (The Jeff Healey Band, 1990)

holding it that way.” As a teenager, Healey’s interests were also unusual. He

Although Healey mainly chose Stratocasters for playing

divided his time between playing in local clubs, while also

electric, he generally went for Japanese-built Squiers rather

hosting a local radio show that only played vintage 78 rpm

than Fenders, although modified with Evans pickups. His

jazz and blues gramophone records.

amplifier of choice was a Marshall 800, and he used a wide

Healey made an immediate impression with his debut album, See the Light, which also gave him a Grammy-

After nearly three years of cancer treatment, Jeff Healey died on March 2, 2008.

nominated hit single, “Hideaway.”

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array of pedals by DOD, whom he endorsed.

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JIMI HENDRIX

of the time, formed Jimmy James and the Blue Flames. After

As far as the electric guitar is concerned, there is one name

a performance in Greenwich Village he was signed by Chas

that towers above all others—James Marshall Hendrix. In a

Chandler, the bass player with the Animals, who was looking

solo career that lasted barely four years, Hendrix took the

to start a new career in management. Chandler brought him

electric guitar into uncharted territory setting new standards

back to London where he formed the Jimi Hendrix

for rock and blues improvisation, influencing a generation of

Experience, a power trio featuring English musicians Mitch

musicians like nobody before or since. He remains one of the

Mitchell on drums and Noel Redding on bass.

most celebrated musicians of the twentieth century. Hendrix began playing an acoustic guitar at the age of

He moved to New York in 1966 and, using his stage name

With a fast-growing reputation as one of the most dynamic live bands in Britain, May 1967 saw the release of

fifteen, teaching himself by listening to Chicago blues players

Are You Experienced. An immediate success, it is now widely

Elmore James, B. B. King, and Muddy Waters.

viewed as one of the most important rock albums of all time;

Following a reluctant year of military service with the

with virtuoso playing, radical use of distortion, feedback and

101st Airborne Division, Hendrix spent three years in the

wah-wah effects, it provided a blueprint for a new generation

backing bands of the Isley Brothers and Little Richard.

of rock musicians.

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further enhanced his celebrity status with a performance at the legendary Woodstock festival, immortalized on film, as Hendrix gave a jaw-dropping solo rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” accompanied by feedback and distortion effects replicating the sound of rockets and bombs—it was generally interpreted as an eloquent statement against the war in Vietnam. NAME James Marshall Hendrix (birth name Johnny Allen Hendrix) BORN November 27, 1942, Seattle, WA, US DIED September 18, 1970, Kensington, London, UK GUITARS 1964, 1965, 1966, and 1968 Stratocasters (all standard factory models). His favorite guitar was a black 1968 model; His 1968 Olympic White model was at Woodstock; he set fire to a handpainted 1965 model at the Monterrey Pop festival in 1967. BANDS The Jimi Hendrix Experience; The Band of Gypsys RECORDINGS Are You Experienced (The Jimi Hendrix Experience, 1967); Axis: Bold As Love (The Jimi Hendrix Experience, 1967); Electric Ladyland (The Jimi Hendrix Experience, 1968); Band of Gypsys (Jimi Hendrix, 1970)

The final release to emerge during his lifetime was a live album, Band of Gypsys, performed with drummer Buddy Miles and former army colleague Billy Cox on bass. During this period Hendrix seemed to spend most of his waking hours in recording studios, improvising alone or with anyone (literally) who happened to walk in. In a career that saw the release of only four albums during his lifetime, these recordings (and endless live tapes) have resulted in more than five hundred releases since his drugrelated death on September 18, 1970—the details of which still remain a matter of mystery and dispute. Hendrix primarily played Stratocasters after 1966 and would sometimes take a dozen or more models on tour. His favorite Strat, however, was said to be a black 1968 model. The guitar he played (and set alight) during his legendary Monterrey show had been given a psychedelic paint job by Hendrix himself. In 2011, Fender produced a limited-run replica of this guitar. A left-handed player, Hendrix always used standard

Still relatively unknown in his home country, his fortune

right-handed guitars with the strings reversed. This

changed almost overnight in June 1967 when, at the

allowed him easier access to the volume and tone controls,

recommendation of Paul McCartney, the Jimi Hendrix

which he integrated into his playing style. It also had an

Experience was given a slot on the bill of the Monterey Pop

impact on the tonal balance of the instrument; because of

festival in California. Hendrix gave a performance that defied

the slant of the bridge pickup, his lowest string had a

the eyes and ears of a massive outdoor crowd, ending a

brighter sound than when strung normally.

powerful set by pouring lighter fluid over his guitar and

In his days as a backup musician, Hendrix had used

setting it alight. Rolling Stone magazine later called it “one of

Fender Twin Reverb amplifiers, but on coming to London

rock’s most perfect moments.” The event was captured on

he had been introduced to Jim Marshall and quickly

film by documentary maker D. A. Pennebaker for his film

bought three 100-watt Super Lead amplifiers with

Monterrey Pop, and was instrumental in the guitarist’s

matching 4x12 cabinets. Hendrix was said to have owned

popularity in America.

between fifty and a hundred Marshall amplifiers, the

Concluding the year with Axis: Bold as Love, a second bona fide rock classic, and ten months later, Electric

owner calling him his company’s “greatest ambassador.” Hendrix distinctively used Vox wah-wah and Dallas

Ladyland, both albums showed Hendrix to be in a league of

Arbiter Fuzz Face pedals on many of his greatest

his own.

recordings. English electrical engineer Roger Mayer built

By 1969, Hendrix was the world’s most highly paid rock

the Octavia pedal that was used on the track “Purple

musician, but relationships within the Experience became

Haze.” Hendrix also used a Univox Uni-Vibe, which

strained as Redding and Mitchell were increasingly regarded

simulated the effect of a rotary speaker cabinet used by

as little more than back-up men. In June the group gave its

organists. This can be heard to full effect during his

final performance. Two months later, nevertheless, Hendrix

performance at Woodstock.

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BUDDY HOLLY The Crickets were one of the most significant bands in the transition from late-1950s rock ’n’ roll to the beat group-era of the early 1960s. The group’s self-contained line-up—two guitars, bass, and drums—provided a template for instrumentation that remains popular to this day. And in singer Buddy Holly, the Crickets also had the first major pop star to find fame by writing his own songs, a list of timeless

NAME Charles Hardin Holley

classics such as “That’ll Be the Day,” “Words of Love,”

BORN September 7, 1936, Lubbock, TX, US

“Raining in My Heart,” and “Peggy Sue.” In a career that

DIED February 3, 1959, Clear Lake, IA, US

lasted barely three years, Buddy Holly would exert a huge

GUITARS 1954, 1957, and 1958 Stratocasters (all

influence on a generation of teenage musicians, none more so

Sunburst)

than John Lennon and Paul McCartney, who covered his

BANDS The Crickets; Buddy Holly and the Crickets

songs extensively throughout the Beatles' Hamburg era, as

RECORDINGS The Chirping Crickets (The Crickets,

well as being inspired to try their own hand at pop

1957); Buddy Holly (Buddy Holly, 1958)

composition. (They even once named themselves the Silver Bassman with four 10-inch speakers, and later a Fender Twin,

Beetles in honor of the Crickets.) Holly himself was hardly a virtuoso player, although his unusual hybrid style of lead and rhythm guitar would influence many rock guitarists of the following decade. He was also the first significant rock ’n’ roll musician to use a Fender Stratocaster. Appearing on the Ed Sullivan Show on

which he began using on the ill-feted 1959 Winter Dance Party tour, during which Holly perished in an air crash. Holly’s popularity would endure and, indeed, the hit singles continued until the mid-1960s. As a curious postscript, 1978 saw the release of The

December 1, 1957, three years after its launch, gave the Strat

Buddy Holly Story, a low-budget “biopic” that was highly

its first nationwide coverage—although by this time Holly

entertaining but took extreme liberties as far as accuracy was

was already on his second model, the first Strat having been

concerned—not least when Holly (played by Gary Busey) is

stolen two months earlier.

seen throughout the movie playing an assortment of post-CBS

Holly played through a Fender Pro, a low-output amplifier

Strats with oversized headstocks, as well as a Fender

with a 15-inch loudspeaker. When the Crickets began playing

Bronco—none of which would appear until at least eight

larger venues he opted for the louder 50-watt Fender

years after Holly’s death.

ERIC JOHNSON Grammy Award-winning multi-instrumentalist Eric Johnson is probably best known to mainstream audiences as a member of Joe Satriani’s G3 project. That he more than holds his own in the company of Satriani and Steve Vai on G3: Live in Concert (1997) is a good indicator of his standing within the guitar world. His hallmark is a clean, spacious, valve tone. A massive fan of Jimi Hendrix, early in his career Johnson

NAME Eric Johnson BORN August 17, 1954, Austin, TX, US GUITARS Assorted vintage Fender Stratocasters; Fender Eric Johnson Signature Stratocaster models BANDS Eric Johnson RECORDINGS Ah Via Musicom (Eric Johnson, 1990); Venus Isle (Eric Johnson, 1996)

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gravitated towards vintage Stratocasters. On stage he runs an unorthodox multi-amplifier switching setup, with two Marshall heads—one for clean lead and another for “dirty rhythm”—and a pair of clean Fender Twin Reverbs run in stereo. Each of the amplifiers also has its own effects chain, including an Electro-Harmonix Memory Man delay pedal, Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face, and a TC Electronic Stereo Chorus.

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BUDDY HOLLY | ERIC JOHNSON | MARK KNOPFLER | YNGWIE MALMSTEEN

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MARK KNOPFLER Dire Straits burst onto the international scene in 1978 with the song “Sultans of Swing,” a six-minute single about a pub jazz band, sung in Dylanesque tones, and laden throughout with sumptuous lead guitar licks that culminated in a jawdropping display of high-speed precision arpeggiating. At a time when virtuoso guitar had all but been outlawed by punk and the new wave, and any musician playing in a band

NAME Mark Freuder Knopfler

beyond their early twenties was seen as a “dinosaur,” singer

BORN August 12, 1949, Glasgow, Scotland, UK

and guitarist Mark Knopfler—a former journalist and English

GUITARS 1960 Stratocaster; Mark Knopfler

teacher closing in on his thirtieth birthday—shot swiftly from

Signature Stratocaster

obscurity to a place at rock music’s high table; within a few

BANDS Dire Straits; Mark Knopfler; The Notting

years he would be working with Bob Dylan.

Hillbillies

Between 1977 and 1979, Knopfler’s main guitar was a 1961 Stratocaster which was used through the band’s first

RECORDINGS Dire Straits (Dire Straits, 1978); Communiqué (Dire Straits, 1979)

two albums. Knopfler had only got hold of his first Strat a few months before Dire Straits was formed, previously

Knopfler was using a Fender Twin Reverb on stage, and is

favoring a Les Paul Special/Selmer combination. The Strat

most likely to have used this amplifier for the new version.

had previously been stripped of its paintwork which he then

In the future, Knopfler would sometimes return to his

had finished in red, emulating his dream guitar—Hank

Les Paul, and has also championed Pensa custom guitars.

Marvin’s Fiesta Red model he had so admired as a teenager.

He is also largely responsible for the renewed interest in

Knopfler matched his Strat with Fender amplifiers, first an

metal-bodied resonators during the 1980s. His key

early 1960s Vibralux, which was used on the original album

instrument was a 1937 nickel-plated National Style “O,”

recording of “Sultans of Swing.” Wanting a less polished,

which features prominently on the cover of Brothers in

more rocky sound for the radio, the band’s label made them

Arms—with worldwide sales of over thirty million, one of

re-record the song for the single release—by this time

the biggest selling albums of all time.

YNGWIE MALMSTEEN The premier exponent of neo-classical metal, on sheer technique, Yngwie (pronounced “Ingvay”) Malmsteen is about as advanced as it’s possible to get—even if some critics have argued that his prowess as a master shredder has come at the expense of subtlety. Since the mid-1980s when he first emerged with the band

NAME Lars Johan Yngve Lannerbäck

Alcatrazz, Malmsteen has played Stratocasters, favoring in

BORN June 30, 1963, Stockholm, Sweden

particular models made from 1968–1972; he claims that the

GUITARS 1972 Stratocaster (known as “The Duck”

bigger headstock on these models generates noticeably more

or “Play Loud”); Fender Yngwie Malmsteen

sustain. His guitars are heavily customized, most famously by

Signature models

“scalloping” the fingerboard—scooping out wood between

BANDS Alcatrazz, Yngwie Malmsteen

the frets. This enables him to achieve his distinctive cello-like

RECORDINGS Rising Force (Yngwie J. Malmsteen,

vibrato. He also replaces the Fender pickups with DiMarzios

1984); Concerto Suite for Electric Guitar and

(HS3 at the bridge; two HS4s in the center and neck

Orchestra in E Flat Minor Op.1 (Yngwie J.

positions), and favors a brass nut.

Malmsteen, 1998)

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CHAPTER 5 | STRATOCASTER STARS

HANK MARVIN Arguably Britain’s most significant musician in the era before the emergence of the Beatles, Hank Marvin was an important influence on a generation of rock guitarists, providing many teenagers of the late 1950s with the impetus to take up the electric guitar in the first place. Formed in 1958, the Shadows—originally called the Drifters until they discovered the existence of the American group of the same name—ran concurrent careers both as backing band for a young singer named Cliff Richard and as a chart-topping instrumental group in their own right. The Shadows’ sound was enduringly unpretentious, based around a simple tune and Hank Marvin’s clean, spacious electric guitar work, with his characteristic use of the vibrato

NAME Brian Robson Rankin BORN October 28, 1941, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK GUITARS 1959 Fiesta Red Stratocaster; Hank Marvin Signature Stratocaster BANDS The Shadows RECORDINGS The Shadows (The Shadows, 1961); Out of the Shadows (The Shadows, 1962)

arm. And they were popular—indeed, only Elvis Presley and Cliff Richard have enjoyed more hit singles in the UK. Before

to his sound. “The guitar itself and the fact that it had the

they were eclipsed by the Beatles, the Shadows were globally

vibrato bar,” he would later recall, “helped me to develop a

successful—pretty well everywhere, in fact, except the United

style that wouldn’t have happened without that . . . and it’s

States, where a misguided attempt to market their first two

not a heavy instrument, so therefore you could swing it

albums on the back of the American surf boom failed badly.

around a little bit for posing and leaping about. It lent itself

Marvin was the envy of every teenage guitarist in the country in 1959 when he became first British musician to

very much to the visual aspect of rock ’n’ roll.” After a brief dalliance in the mid-1960s with British-built

own a Fender Stratocaster. A trade embargo at this time had

Burns guitars, including the now highly collectable white

meant that American-built guitars were almost impossible to

Hank Marvin model, he returned to the Stratocaster, and

obtain in Europe—and this would be the principal reason for

Fender has since issued a signature model based on his

the ubiquity of cheap Japanese exports. Cliff Richard, by this

original guitar. He remains a fan: “They’re as tough as old

time one of Britain’s biggest pop stars, bought Marvin his

nails and you’ve got a variety of sounds available . . . it’s an

famous Fiesta Red Stratocaster which would be fundamental

incredibly versatile guitar . . . they got it right first time.”

JOHN MAYER At the age of thirteen, singer, songwriter and guitarist John Mayer was inspired by hearing a cassette tape of Stevie Ray Vaughan, leading him to check out earlier Chicago blues players. His first serious guitar was a Fender SRV Signature model he saved up for by working at a gas station. Mayer found immediate success with his debut album Room for Squares, which included the Grammy-winning pop song “Your Body is a Wonderland.” Later projects have seen him broaden his musical horizons with a greater emphasis on his guitar playing. In 2005 Fender produced the first of his own signature models, featuring custom “Big Dipper” pickups, with a dropped mid-range output. Well-known to tabloid readers for his vibrant personal life, his utterings in interviews and via social media have often seen him courting controversial subject matter.

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NAME John Clayton Mayer BORN October 16, 1977, Bridgeport, CT, US GUITARS 1996 Stevie Ray Vaughan Signature Stratocaster; John Mayer Signature Stratocaster with “Big Dipper” pickups BANDS John Mayer RECORDINGS Heavier Things (John Mayer, 2003); Continuum (John Mayer, 2006)

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HANK MARVIN | JOHN MAYER | CURTIS MAYFIELD | TOM MORELLO

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CURTIS MAYFIELD One of the most important soul musicians of his generation, as a songwriter, much of Curtis Mayfield’s work reflected the racial and political tensions that began in the 1960s, his sweet, plaintive falsetto vocals acting to add further poignancy. As such, his talents as a guitarist were sometimes overlooked, and yet his delicate understated style places him in the same league as other rhythm masters such as Steve Cropper and Willie Hale. Some of Mayfield’s unorthodox chord work and phrasing result in part from a unique approach to tuning. Teaching himself to play in his early teens, and with no one around to tell him otherwise, he began matching his open guitar strings to the black notes on the piano (F #-A #-C #-F #-A #-F #), and

NAME Curtis Lee Mayfield BORN June 3, 1942, Chicago, IL, US DIED December 26, 1999, Roswell, GA, US GUITARS Various stock Stratocasters (tuned to F #-A #-C #-F #-A #-F #)

BANDS Curtis Mayfield; The Impressions RECORDINGS Curtis (Curtis Mayfield, 1970); Super Fly (Curtis Mayfield, 1972)

developed his playing and songwriting from there. This is a

values of peace, social equality and warning of the harmful

tuning system that he would use throughout his career. Later

impact of drugs on the African-American community.

he would recall: “It used to make me proud, because no

Mayfield always favored Fender guitars and was often seen

matter how good a guitarist was, when he grabbed my axe he

using a Telecaster Thinline during the early 1970s. But more

couldn't play it.”

often than not he would play a Stratocaster set to the center

Mayfield first found success with the Impressions, the

pickup. His unorthodox, untutored, open playing style would

1964 hit “Keep on Pushing” one of the first overt examples

often see him strumming the strings gently with the thumb and

of social commentary in soul music, which struck a popular

fingers of his right hand, and the thumb of his left hand

chord with the fledgling civil rights movement. Throughout

stretched around the neck to fret notes. It’s clear that

his solo career, which kicked off in 1970 with the album

Mayfield’s rhythm work, in particular the use of hammer-ons

Curtis, he continued to send out messages espousing the

in chords, influenced the playing of Jimi Hendrix.

TOM MORELLO Harvard-educated Tom Morello emerged in the early 1990s with Rage Against the Machine, creating an influential sound that combined metal with a heavily polemical rap, frequently targeting capitalism and US government oppression. His musical influences include Led Zeppelin and Public Enemy. Morello has always heavily modified his own instruments, NAME Thomas Baptiste Morello

among them his “Soul Power” Stratocaster and “Arm the

BORN May 30, 1964, Harlem, NY, US

Homeless” (both named for the graffiti scrawled on their

GUITARS “Soul Power” (customized "Guitar

bodies), the latter a Stratocaster body with a Kramer neck,

World” Stratocaster); and “Arm the Homeless”

EMG pickup and Ibanez vibrato. Morello was the first prominent player to use the “kill

(Stratocaster/Kramer hybrid) BANDS Lock Up; Rage Against the Machine;

pot” technique—effectively switching the guitar output on

Audioslave; The Nightwatchman

and off to create sample style stuttered rhythmic effects. Over

RECORDINGS Out of Exile (Audioslave, 2005);

the years he’s employed several different mods to achieve this

World Wide Rebel Songs (The Nightwatchman,

effect. (See page 129 to replace the volume control with a kill

2011)

pot, and page 130 for fitting a kill switch.)

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ROBBIE ROBERTSON In 1967, while the Summer of Love was in full swing, and Jimi Hendrix was busy setting fire to his guitar at Monterrey, five musicians who had formerly been Bob Dylan’s backing group were at work in the basement of a large pink house in West Saugerties, New York. The music they were creating

NAME Jaime Royal Robertson

was an epic hybrid of folk, blues, gospel, country, and rock.

BORN July 5, 1943, Toronto, Canada

On stage, Dylan had referred to them simply as “the band,” a

GUITARS Modified 1958 Stratocaster; Robbie

monicker they decided to adopt. The Band’s home-recorded

Robertson Signature Stratocaster

debut, Music From Big Pink, would give birth to a genre that

BANDS The Hawks; The Band

would later be termed “Americana”—ironic, since four of the

RECORDINGS Music from Big Pink (The Band, 1968);

five musicians were Canadian. According to legend, when

The Last Waltz (The Band, 1978)

Eric Clapton heard the album he decided to leave Cream and abandon heavy rock.

shoes.” He also had the middle pickup, moved alongside the

The Band’s guitarist, Robbie Robertson plays a wide

pickup at the bridge, claiming that “they have a different

variety of acoustic instruments, but mainly uses a Stratocaster

sound when they’re tied together.” Robertson used the guitar

when playing electric. His most notable instrument is a 1958

in Martin Scorcese’s concert film The Last Waltz but had to

model for which he had the body dipped in bronze “like baby

take it off before the end due to the additional weight.

NILE RODGERS

Bernard Edwards (bass). Their core sound combined a

Disco music may have dominated the clubs, charts, and

clinical syncopated rhythm guitar, and topped off with an

airwaves of the late-1970s, but with its emphasis on a catchy

irresistibly memorable tune. The complete package was pop

melody and a solid dance beat, it was not an environment

music as danceable art.

where virtuoso instrumental skills were particularly valued. One of the few exceptions, the band/production team Chic were built around a creative hub of Nile Rodgers (guitar) and

pounding four-to-the-floor beat, a supple, funky bass groove,

As Chic, Rodgers and Edwards created monster dancefloor hits such as “Le Freak,” “I Want Your Love,” and the heavily sampled “Good Times,” as well as providing the same backing and production for the likes of Diana Ross (“I’m Coming Out”), David Bowie (“Let’s Dance”), Sister Sledge (“Lost in Music”), and Madonna (“Like a Virgin”). Nile Rodgers’ unique, clipped rhythm sound has generally been performed using a well-worn Olympic White 1960 Stratocaster—retrofitted with a 1959 neck with a maple fingerboard. For a reason that requires no explanation, Rodgers calls it “The Hitmaker.” Rodgers mainly uses three-string triads, keeping the sound uncluttered, combined with a skilled left-hand muting

NAME Nile Gregory Rodgers

technique. His hyper-clean sound is produced in the studio by

BORN September 19, 1952, New York, NY, US

plugging directly into the mixing desk with some added

GUITARS “The Hitmaker” (composite

studio compression—so no guitar amplifier is needed.

Stratocaster—1960 model with 1959 neck)

Although Bernard Edwards died in 1996, Rodgers has

BANDS Chic

continued Chic with great success, his trademark guitar

RECORDINGS C'est Chic (Chic, 1978); Random Access

sound the main feature of Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky,” one of

Memories (Daft Punk, 2014)

the biggest-selling hit singles of the decade.

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ROBBIE ROBERTSON | NILE RODGERS | RICHIE SAMBORA | KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD

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RICHIE SAMBORA Formed in 1983 in Sayreville, New Jersey, Bon Jovi are one of the most commercially successful rock bands of all time, having sold more than 100 million albums worldwide. When twenty-four-year-old Richie Sambora was invited to join shortly after Bon Jovi’s formation he had already been in

NAME Richard Stephen Sambora

several bands with record deals, toured with Joe Cocker, and

BORN July 11, 1959, Perth Amboy, NJ, US

was under consideration as Ace Frehley’s replacement in Kiss.

GUITARS Assorted Stratocasters; Richie Sambora

Taking up the guitar at the age of twelve, his main

Signature Stratocaster models

influences were blues and 1960s rock music, in particular,

BANDS Bon Jovi

Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Winter, B. B. King, Jeff Beck, and Stevie

RECORDINGS Keep the Faith (Bon Jovi, 1992);

Ray Vaughan.

Undiscovered Soul (Richie Sambora, 1998)

Sambora is said to have a guitar collection in excess of 120 instruments, more than a third of them Fender Stratocasters—mainly vintage, Custom Shop, and American

and a pair of Fender Texas Special single-coils in the center

Deluxe models. By 1991, such was his close association with

and neck positions. Later, Japanese and Mexican-built

the Strat that Fender issued a signature model. One of the

versions were made available.

more unusual variations, it featured an official Floyd Rose

Sambora has used Marshall, Fender, and Mesa Boogie

locking vibrato, and a Superstrat-style HSS pickup

amplifiers and a state-of-the-art racked effects system run

combination—a DiMarzio PAF Pro humbucker at the bridge,

by a MIDI controller.

KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD Exploding onto the blues scene in 1996, Kenny Wayne

after founder Irving Azoff saw a film of his first ever live performance at the Red River Revel Arts Festival in his home town of Shreveport, Louisiana. A child of the music business, Shepherd’s father was a

Shepherd—nicknamed “The Kid”—had been awarded a

local radio celebrity with a huge private collection of blues

multi-album deal by Warner Bros. subsidiary Giant Records

recordings. He began studying the guitar seriously at the age of seven, having met Stevie Ray Vaughan who was playing a show being promoted by his father. Vaughan remains an important influence on his playing. After an impressive recording debut, Shepherd made his mark with the follow-up, the platinum-selling Trouble Is, which broke records for the length of time spent on the blues chart, and spawned four mainstream rock chart hit singles— including what has become his signature song, “Black on Blue.” All of his albums have topped the blues charts and he is a five-time Grammy nominee.

NAME Kenny Wayne Brobst BORN June 12, 1977, Shreveport, LA, US

Shepherd is a Fender man through and through and has

GUITARS 1961 Stratocaster; Kenny Wayne Shepherd

always used Stratocasters—“every inch of the guitar is

Signature models

perfect”—mostly combined with Twin Reverb amplifiers. At

BANDS Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band; The Rides

the age of sixteen he bought the well-worn 1961 sunburst

RECORDINGS Trouble Is (Kenny Wayne Shepherd

model with jumbo frets that has graced all of his albums and

Band, 1997); Live On (Kenny Wayne Shepherd

in 2008 provided the template for the Fender Kenny Wayne

Band, 1999)

Shepherd signature Stratocaster.

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RICHARD THOMPSON Richard Thompson is not only a masterly craftsman of poignant songs but also perhaps the finest guitar player to have emerged from the British folk scene, equally adept with acoustic or electric instruments. Producer Joe Boyd, who first encountered Thompson’s playing when the guitarist was

NAME Richard John Thompson

barely eighteen years old, remarked that “he can imitate

BORN April 3, 1949, London, UK

almost any style, and often does, but is instantly identifiable.”

GUITARS 1959 Sunburst; ‘57 Reissue

Boyd signed a deal with Thompson’s first group, Fairport

BANDS Fairport Convention; Richard and Linda

Convention, who developed a peculiarly English form of

Thompson; Richard Thompson

electric folk music, initially giving new arrangements to

RECORDINGS Liege and Lief (Fairport Convention,

traditional folk songs, gradually integrating original material.

1969); Rumor and Sign (Richard Thompson, 1991,

The band’s fourth release, Liege and Lief, is arguably the

2004)

greatest album of the genre. Having left Fairport Convention in 1971, Thompson’s rare

In 1968 he began using Fender Stratocasters: “It was

songwriting abilities emerged fully formed in a new project

unfashionable because everyone in England was playing

with his wife, Linda. Recording three highly regarded albums,

Gibsons and trying to get a big, fat sound like Eric Clapton

in 1975 the Thompsons temporarily retired from the music

had in Cream. I just wanted a little more bite . . . [single

business. They recorded three further albums before the

coils] provide a sound closest to the one I hear in my head.”

breakup of their marriage in the early 1980s. Immediately he launched into a highly respected solo career.

PETE TOWNSHEND

His favored Strat is a 1959 sunburst model with a 1955 maple neck.

Townshend later began using his Stratocaster in the studio, its unmistakable single-coil tones chiming throughout The Who Sell Out. As the band’s sound became heavier in the

The Who’s Pete Townshend has never been one to remain

early 1970s, Townshend switched to Gibsons—finding that

faithful to any particular type of guitar. During the band’s

the Strat “wasn’t quite right for what I wanted.”

early mod period he used Rickenbackers exclusively, moving on to Fender Telecasters and Stratocasters from 1966 to 1968, settling for a while on Gibson SGs and then Les Pauls. After which, he had no strict favorite, simply choosing the instrument that suited the job in hand. Townshend initially shifted to Stratocasters in 1966 purely for live use as they were more robust than Rickenbackers and thus better equipped to handle the Who’s notorious instrument-smashing stage show. And, as Townshend’s friend and rock photographer Tom Wright noted, they were much easier to fix: “Pete was always repairing smashed guitars . . .

NAME Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend

In most cases, the neck had just fallen off, but if the neck was

BORN May 19, 1945, Chiswick, London, UK

indeed broken, Pete simply replaced it. Since all Fender necks

GUITARS 1960s and 1970s Stratocasters

were interchangeable, Pete had boxes of necks—new and

BANDS The Who

repaired—as well as boxes of bodies, extra pickups, and

RECORDINGS The Who Sell Out (The Who, 1967);

knobs, and switches.”

Quadrophenia (The Who, 1973)

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RICHARD THOMPSON | PETE TOWNSHEND | ROBIN TROWER

ROBIN TROWER

Shade of Pale,” one of the most celebrated singles of all time.

A popular figure in the 1970s leading his own power-rock

Before the band performed live or made any further studio

trio, Robin Trower first glimpsed minor success in 1964

recordings, Brooker invited Trower to join the line-up.

playing with beat group the Paramounts. Three years later,

179

Trower would remain with Procol Harum until 1971,

the band’s singer, Gary Brooker, founded Procol Harum, who

contributing to five albums that played a significant role in

kicked off a long and much-respected career with “A Whiter

the evolution of progressive rock. With nearly all of the band’s material composed and sung by Brooker (with lyrics by poet Keith Reid), Trower had little opportunity to air his own music, which veered more closely toward blues-rock. These stylistic differences proved impossible to accommodate. The guitarist re-emerged eighteen months later with the Robin Trower Band, a classic rock trio that would match the commercial success of his former collaegues, Trower’s powerful soloing frequently drawing comparisons to Jimi Hendrix. With Procol Harum, Trower had largely played Gibson Les Pauls, but, as he would recall in 2010, “I always

NAME Robin Leonard Trower BORN March 9, 1945, Catford, London, UK GUITARS Fender Custom Shop Robin Trower Signature Stratocaster BANDS Procol Harum; Robin Trower RECORDINGS Bridge of Sighs (Robin Trower, 1974); Robin Trower Live (Robin Trower, 1976)

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felt there was something missing . . . They had a good fat sound, but they never had that ‘musical’ sound. When I played a Strat I realized it had that strident chord.” From his first solo album in 1973 to the present day, Trower has used only Stratocasters—like Hendrix, using Marshall amplifiers (100-watt heads), 4x12 stacks, and a custom-built Uni-Vibe.

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EDDIE VAN HALEN

applying masking tape and white paint. A year later he added

Perhaps the most influential rock guitarist of his generation, it

modifications, including different necks and pickups. Van

was Eddie Van Halen who single-handedly kicked off the

Halen also installed a non-functioning pickup at the neck in

vogue for two-handed finger-tapping, which he brought to a

to mislead imitators who tried to capitalize on his success by

mainstream pop audience in spectacular fashion with his

selling unauthorized copies. (He would later produce three

guest appearance on Michael Jackson’s “Beat It.”

hundred Frankenstrat replicas, selling them for twenty-five

The Van Halen brothers, Eddie and Alex, played together

red stripes in the same way using Schwinn bicycle paint. The guitar has since been through numerous further

thousand dollars each under his own EVH brand.)

from an early age, in 1978 adopting the family name for their band. Four years later, Van Halen’s self-titled debut album was acclaimed by a music press usually hostile to metal. It is now regarded as one of the greatest rock debut albums. Eddie Van Halen is not a Stratocaster player in the conventional sense, but constructed his own guitars from selected parts. His most famous guitar is the “Frankenstrat,” which emerged in 1979 from the ashes of a previous build. An attempt to combine the classic sounds of a Gibson and Fender, it originally combined a damaged Strat body with a Charvel neck. Van Halen fitted a Fender vibrato bridge from

NAME Edward Lodewijk Van Halen

a 1958 Strat (later replaced with a Floyd Rose) and placed a

BORN January 26, 1955, Nijmegen, Netherlands

Gibson PAF humbucker in the neck position, leaving the

GUITARS “Frankenstrat” (composite instrument

center and neck pickup cavities empty. The electrics were

with numerous modifications)

basic, consisting only of a single humbucker, a 500K

BANDS Van Halen

potentiomer (volume), and a quarter-inch output socket.

RECORDINGS Van Halen (Van Halen, 1978); 1984

Of course, the guitar is equally famous for its iconic finish.

(Van Halen, 1984)

Van Halen had originally painted the body black before

STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN When Stevie Ray Vaughan made his mark on the music world, electric blues guitar was something of a heritage pursuit, with crossovers into the commercial mainstream increasingly rare. Vaughan formed his band, Double Trouble, in 1978. They

NAME Stephen Ray Vaughan BORN October 3, 1954, Dallas, TX, US

quickly became a popular live draw in his native Texas but

DIED August 27, 1990, East Troy, WI, US

struggled to find a wider audience. Still without a record deal,

GUITARS “First Wife“ (composite Stratocaster —1959

Double Trouble made an impact at the 1982 Montreaux Jazz

pickups, 1963 body, 1962 neck); “Lenny” (refinished

Festival, and although the group’s dynamic performance

1965 model)

divided the audience, David Bowie was sufficiently impressed

BANDS Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble

to ask Vaughan to play on his new album.

RECORDINGS Soul To Soul (Stevie Ray Vaughan and

The massive success of Let’s Dance—by some distance

Double Trouble, 1985); In Step (Stevie Ray Vaughan

Bowie’s biggest selling album—helped win Vaughan a major

and Double Trouble, 1989)

record deal. Around the same time, a support slot at the

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EDDIE VAN HALEN | STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN

Bottom Line in New York City was picked up by the New

many times.” The guitar was also fitted with a left-handed

York Post, who declared that the stage had been “rendered to

vibrato, which was likely to been a homage to Jimi Hendrix.

cinders by the most explosively original showmanship to

Two years after his death, Fender issued the popular SRV

grace the New York stage in some time.” Variety concurred

signature model closely based on Number One’s specification.

that Vaughan was “the guitar hero of the present era.” Throughout the remainder of the 1980s, Double Trouble

Vaughan’s other favorite instrument was a 1965 model that he spotted in a pawn shop in 1980. His wife, Lenora,

released a succession of popular blues-rock albums, with Jimi

presented it to him on his twenty-sixth birthday—he named it

Hendrix and Lonnie Mack among the clearest influences on

“Lenny” in her honor.

Vaughan’s fluid paying. On August 27, 1990, following a

Unlike many modern lead guitar players, Vaughan

show with Eric Clapton, Vaughan died when his helicopter

preferred an unusually high action and heavy strings

crashed into a hill in Wisconsin.

(.013 top E). Martinez remarked that Vaughan “had very

Throughout his career, Stevie Ray Vaughan played a

strong hands. The way he attacked the guitar, it all came from

number of modified Fender Stratocasters. His main

his hands. Plus, he had his guitar tuned to E-flat, which

instrument, which was described as “First Wife,” or

compensated for other variables.”

“Number One,” was a composite model—a heavily worn

Vaughan remains an influence on the generation of blues

1963 body with a 1962 neck and 1959 pickups. According to

players that followed in his wake, and he will be remembered

his guitar technician, Rene Martinez, “I refretted the guitar

as one of the musicians that took blues guitar out of the

maybe once a year, and I replaced the ivory nut probably as

commercial doldrums.

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6 APPENDICES We’ll end with a selection of reference material. We have interviews with a couple of experts in the field who talk about pickups and considerations to make before undertaking a modification project. You’ll also find exhaustive information on how to figure out the date of manufacture for pretty well any Strat ever built. Nowadays, all of the parts needed to maintain, repair, or modify your guitar are readily available, if not at your local guitar store then online—they can be found using the links in our extensive contacts list.

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TALKING HEADS Over the next six pages we’ll talk to a couple of experts in the field. Jaime Campbell is the founder of The Creamery, one of Britain’s leading handwound pickup makers, and he has some interesting thoughts on how to select the right pickup for your needs. Jim Barber is a session guitarist with more than two hundred album credits to his name, including appearances on releases by the Rolling Stones; an inveterate modder, he was formerly Keith Richards’ guitar technician and has views on the subject of vintage guitars that some might consider controversial.

JAIME CAMPBELL Based in Manchester, England, The Creamery was founded by Jaime Campbell and specializes in the production of custom-built pickups, including a range sized specifically for the Stratocaster. All of Jaime’s pickups are handwound, so each one is unique—rather like those produced in the early days of the Strat. (For the record, we’re particular fans of the Black Cat, Jaime’s take on the Gretsch Filter’Tron.) The Creamery also produces a small range of custom guitars based on classic designs of the 1950s. Tell us a bit about yourself, The Creamery, and the artists who use your pickups.

The Creamery Black Cat pickup

I used to book bands whilst at University in Glasgow and often spent time helping to set up before the gigs. This got me

of the coil, the strength of the magnets, the type of material

interested in how the guitar works, what makes each one

used in making the covers and baseplates, whether the

sound different, the woods, the hardware, and, of course, the

magnets/poles are covered or uncovered, whether coils are

pickups. I played guitar but its through setting up and sound

offset or identical, handwound (scatterwound) or machine

checking in venues where the real interest in the inner

wound, wax-potted or not, or if thicker or thinner coil wire is

workings grew.

used. A pickup—just like a guitar—is only the sum of its

I don’t publicly name all the bands and artists I work with,

parts and even then the overall sound is affected by the value

figuring that 95 percent of any guitar company’s customers

and quality of the volume and tone pots, the value of the

are regular guitar players—whether they be at home or in

capacitors and the circuit, the nut material, the bridge, the

local bands—and to flaunt the “big name” artists seems, to

saddles—and even though much less so than an acoustic, the

me, to be a little arrogant, as though all the other customers

actual wood of the guitar has a part to play in the overall

don’t matter. When I started I had a top five hit-list of the

sound too as it will affect the vibrations of the strings.

artists I’d love to make custom pickups for; I’m at four out of five now, but I don’t think Tom Waits is in the market for

So how would you recommend choosing a pickup?

new pickups—but I’ll settle with that. When working with a guitarist on the right design of pickups What makes one pickup different from another? The

for them, first we agree on the actual size and style, and that’s

magnets? The wire? The number of windings?

often dependent on the guitar (humbucker-sized pickup or single coils, Strat or Tele). With this in mind I simply ask

There’s so much involved in pickup design that affects the

more about the guitar hardware, the value of the pots and

overall sound, whether it be the size, shape, height, geometry

caps, the amplification and backline used—and more

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importantly I always ask the same two questions: “What

handwound pickup is that it can be customized to each

sounds are you after? And what styles do you play?”

individual player, the specification modified slightly to suit—a

I avoid using the word “tone” as it clouds the

little underwound, a little overwound, for example. Generally,

conversation. Of course a player would love to sound like

though, handwound pickups—when wound well—will be

Jimi Hendrix, etc., but what sounds do they really want—

richer with a more dynamic response and open sound,

sweet or crunchy? Bright or warm? Once you remove the

ultimately an extended frequency range. (It must be said,

desire to be your favorite guitarist and concentrate on what it

though, that some of the most sought after pickups of all time

is about their sound that you like then we can really dig down

were machine wound!)

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into the right design and specifications for the custom pickups. Ultimately I enjoy making pickups so guitarists can

In your view, how have Stratocaster pickups evolved over

find their own sound and start playing/writing rather than

the years? Are the old ones really that much better?

imitating another player’s tone—pickups help to produce a The big guitar companies have always modified their designs

sound; fingers shape a tone.

to be both cost effective and to suit the times, and its Is there a “best” way to set up pickups?

fascinating to see how often such a simple thing as a Strat pickup has changed over the years—and hearing the effect in

It’s really a personal thing. I’ve spent a lot of time by the side

bands and artists of each era. I personally love the late-1960s

of the stage adjusting the pickup heights and even individual

Strat sets which had a little lower output for a brighter sound,

pole screws or—in the case of my favorite pickup, the Wide

and that can often be heard in the dry funk riffs of the early-

Range Humbucker—adjusting the height of the individual

and mid-1970s. But I love the mid-50s P90, the 1970s Wide

magnets under each string, which can work in a similar way

Range Humbucker, plus there are other wonderful designs

to each string having its own EQ. There’s a sweet spot which

such as the DeArmonds and Dynasonics, the Filter’Trons and

is personal to each player. If the pickup is too close to the

Rickenbacker Toaster Tops . . . I could honestly bore you for

strings there will be too much “boom”; too far away and you

hours on this stuff!

lose clarity and definition. There will, however, be that spot

With the actual specifications of the pickups, some of the

with just the right balance between warmth and brightness,

major brands took cost-cutting steps in the late 1960s and

clarity and definition, attack and sustain which is just right.

early 1970s, which meant less coil wire and cheaper ceramic

The big brand guitar makers have their own technical

magnets, and that created brighter sounding pickups. There

guides as to the best height for their models and these are

were also some much-loved new designs and modifications on

great starting points but guitarists shouldn’t be afraid of

existing specs: original T-Top Humbuckers are now highly

getting their hands dirty and adjusting to find the right sound

sought after; Wide Range Humbuckers were launched by

for them.

Fender in the early 1970s with a completely different internal design, and originals now command high prices. Companies

There’s been something of a vogue for handwound pickups

designed higher output pickups to push amps for more

in recent years. Is there any fundamental benefit in using

saturated sounds, and that helped launch the metal genres.

them over their machine-wound equivalents?

There’s always been innovation moving things both forward and in an ever increasing number of directions.

Handwound pickups—or to correctly put it, “scatterwound” pickups—can produce a richer sound with more dynamics,

Have you any specific wiring or modification

but tighter machine-wound coils can often be better for

recommendations?

higher-output pickups. A handwound pickup can be warmer with a little more mid-range simply by the nature of scatter-

Simple in/out-of-phase switching, while not great for live

winding: whereas this really does make a difference in lower-

work, really cuts through the mix in recording. Coil splits for

or medium-output pickups, high-output designs will have a

humbuckers are always a popular way to increase the array

tendency to focus more on the midrange; this is naturally due

of sound available and series/parallel switching for single coils

to the increased amount of coil wire, so the tighter focus can

together can give you a fuller, fatter palate of sounds to

actually be a benefit here. But I guess the best advantage of a

choose from.

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They were nearly all vintage guitars back then, quite a few

JIM BARBER

very early Teles and Strats. The Teles were modified, mostly

Having performed professionally since his early teens, Jim

with Schecter bridges and Sperzel machine heads, and Keith

Barber was employed as Keith Richards’ guitar technician

also had a PAF in the neck position on his Tele, which he

during the 1980s, both in the studio and on tour. His

never ever used—I think he just liked the look of it. And there

playing has not only graced albums by the Rolling Stones

was his famous Tele, “Macawber,” although he certainly

and Mick Jagger, but he was also an original member of The

never used to call it that when I was working for him.

Law with ex-Free/Bad Company vocalist Paul Rodgers. He currently fronts his own project, The Barberians.

I used to make sure the strings were changed all the time, which he preferred—they were nine to forty-twos—and the Telecasters were all tuned to open G, with the bottom

Tell us about your involvement with the Rolling Stones.

strings removed—he picked that up years earlier from Ry Cooder. And I’d always have to slot a plectrum between the

I took over in 1982 for their European tour. I was looking

strings on the fourth fret. He didn’t like his guitars set up

after all of the Stones’ guitars—on tour I believe there were

with too low action—he liked to “get under the strings,” as

forty-two of them! That was not just Keith, but Ronnie,

he put it.

and also Mick Jagger, who was playing Ovation acoustics

It was interesting working with him. Although he wasn’t

as well as a couple of SGs. For every guitar that Keith and

what you’d call a “great” guitarist, I never ever heard him

Ronnie used on every song, I’d had to have a spare one

play a bum note, and he’d never fumble around the

ready and in tune in case they broke a string. So I was

fingerboard. He’s a guitarist who I think is aware of his own

constantly tuning about half a dozen guitars during

limitations and sticks to them.

every song. You also worked with Jeff Beck, who I know is someone you admire a great deal.

Yes, that was on Mick Jagger’s solo album. After I’d stopped working for the Stones, Mick asked me if I’d play rhythm guitar on his album, as well as recording the demos at his chateau in the Loire Valley. I wasn’t sure about doing the engineering as I assumed he’d have a state-of-the-art studio, so I went on a three-day intensive course to learn how to use a digital SSL desk. When I arrived in France, I discovered his “studio” was a four-track Fostex cassette recorder! Jeff Beck played lead on the album, and I sat in on all his recordings, which were done in the control room, and got to know him really well. I’d get these little lessons off him—I’d watch him play something and then I’d run out, grab a guitar and try and copy what he’d done. He’d very often see me and come up and correct me. At the time he was using the prototype of what would become his signature Fender Stratocaster. It was yellow and had the fattest neck you’ve ever seen—it was like a floorboard! It was horrible to play but he liked the sound. I think it had those stacked humbuckers, the ones that became the Fender Noiseless pickups. I did some work on it because he was having such a lot of problems keeping it in tune. Actually, like any Strat, Jim Barber (right) with Keith Richards (left) during

you need to be prepared to spend a lot of time setting it up

sessions for the Rolling Stones’ Undercover album

because there are so many variables.

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You began heavily modifying your guitars right from the beginning. How did that first come about?

The first modification I did was on a fifteen pound Japanese Woolworth’s Top Twenty guitar, which was a really bad copy of a Stratocaster with a “cardboard” fingerboard. I ordered a set of humbuckers, Tune-o-matic bridge, and one of those Maestro Vibrola tremolos from Gibson in America. They turned up about ten months later and cost a fortune, but I fitted them to the Top Twenty and used it for about five years until I got a Les Paul. So very early on I realized that you could put pickups, bridge, machine heads—all the parts that make a difference—onto what was basically a plank of wood, and it would sing. It had quite a distinctive sound.

Jim Barber (right) playing Grover Jackson’s original Soloist, with Doug Wimbish (left), and Jeff Beck (center)

After I’d been playing Strats and Les Pauls for a while I realized I wasn’t happy with either one because neither could

suit because people realized that they wanted that sound. In a

do exactly what I wanted: the Les Paul was too meaty, too

way, though, that’s even a bit of a myth. I see guitarists on

big, and too fat; the Strat was too thin. Then I started playing

forums nowadays and they go on about the handwound

with putting humbuckers on Strats, which produced a sort of

pickups they’ve got, but each guitar is different. To be honest,

hybrid sound. You got the tonality of the Strat to a degree but

I never recommend pickups to anybody because I don’t know

you could also push the humbuckers and it wouldn’t feed

the guitar they’re putting them on. They resonate differently,

back, and so it almost crossed over to a Gibson sound.

the woods they’re made from, the fingerboards, the necks . . .

I was ordering parts from America but they took forever

there are so many variables. I think it’s wrong to claim that,

to get here. Then in about 1975 I got what I think were the

say, fitting a DiMarzio Super Distortion to a guitar will make

first Seymour Duncan pickups to come into the country,

it sound just like another one. It just doesn’t happen.

which I modified so I could coil-tap them. I’d been doing that previously with DiMarzio humbuckers but although they

You were one of the early converts to the Floyd Rose

were powerful I couldn’t get much clarity so was never too

locking tremolo system. What was its appeal for you?

happy with the tone. The Seymour Duncans were based on early Gibson PAFs, a bit brighter and a lot more consistent

I’ve always used the vibrato very heavily and sometimes had

than the originals, which I’d also used and were all different.

problems getting Strats to stay in tune. When the Floyd Rose

I think it’s a bit of a myth when people talk about how

came out it was bit of a dream. When I picked up a

great PAF pickups were, or early Strat pickups, because they

damaged 1982 Les Paul Custom I thought I’d fit a Floyd

were all handwound and sounded different from one another,

Rose to that—this was before Gibson had produced any Les

and that means you never know exactly what you’re going to

Pauls with Floyds. I’d had plenty of Strats with Floyds and

get. Only a couple of weeks ago I was looking at a ’67 SG

humbuckers I’d put on but I’d never done it the other way. I

Standard for a friend: we plugged it in and found that the

thought it would be interesting because a big part of the

bridge pickup was twice as loud as the neck pickup; when we

Strat sound is obviously the bridge mechanism and the

took it apart there were literally half the number of windings

springs. If you get a hardtail Strat they don’t sound the same

on the neck pickup. It had never been touched before—

as a normal Strat. It’s a bit of dead sound. When Leo Fender

someone at Gibson probably just wanted to go home early

designed that bridge it was to float, it wasn’t to stay flat on

that Friday afternoon!

the guitar and then be lifted up when you wanted to. Floyd

Back then there weren’t that many companies actually making pickups, though. There was Schecter and DiMarzio, and then Seymour Duncan sort of changed the game when he

Rose actually took that idea a stage further, but instead of six pivot points there were two. If the Floyd Rose is set up floating, you automatically get

came along because he was making very good copies of early

that springy Strat open sound. I wanted that on a Les Paul,

Gibson PAFs, and I think it made the other companies follow

so I routed out the back, and immediately made the mistake

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the sustainer, all connected up through a five-way switching mechanism. It’s a pretty heavy guitar, about 14.5 pounds, which most guitarists would faint at the thought of using, but after years of playing a double-neck it feels like a lightweight Telecaster, to be honest! But it’s a very functional guitar that I can use on stage to do everything. I got fed up with changing guitars and having to worry about the tuning and settings. What are your thoughts on vibrato springs?

On a Strat you can change from eights to nines [string gauges] and although you’ll notice a difference in the tremolo it should still work okay. On the Floyd, though, even if you just change a top eight to a nine it will throw the whole thing out and you’ll need to adjust the springs. But the springs really make a difference to the sound. In the 1980s when people started putting Floyd Roses on Strats I used to go around trying to buy up old Strat springs. Basically, when they’re worn in they’re so much better than when they’re brand new. And there’s something about the steel they used in An earlier version of “Frankie,” Jim Barber’s attempt at the ultimate stage guitar.

those days, as well. I don’t know what it was, but it had a sound, and that’s what I use on my Floyds now. I don’t think it’s just me being anal. I tried out some new shiny chrome

of going right through the humbucker cavity as well! So it’s quite an “open” guitar! But it worked like a dream. After a while I started to get into the guitar synthesizer and

springs the other day, and you could hear the difference. I’ve been doing this [playing the guitar] long enough to know that there are little things that make a big difference to

realized there was still a lot of room in the body for added

me personally . . . and if they make a difference to me then

electronics, so I fitted a Roland 13-pin MIDI pickup and then

they’re likely to make a difference to someone else as well. It’s

put a Fernandes sustainer in the neck position wired up to a

learning about what those small differences are, that’s what

“push-push” pot. I never liked

it’s all about. It’s not about ripping your guitar apart for the

“push-pull” pots for the simple reason of having to grab the

sake of it, but there really are things you can do that can turn

edge of the knob to lift them up.

an average guitar into something really good.

I then started looking at adding a third pickup, but I didn’t want to rout out the middle so I bought a Seymour Duncan

You’ve owned some legendary instruments, including

Little ’59, which is Strat-size humbucker that could fit

late-50s Les Pauls. Are they really that good?

alongside the sustainer in the neck humbucker cavity. The guitar, which I call “Frankie,” has become a bit of a

Well, personally I think it’s a myth usually touted by

project for me and my mate Steve Hoyland. [He’s the man

collectors trying to get top dollar for their instruments! Years

who carries out the mods to Jimmy Page’s legendary Les

ago I bought my first Les Paul, a Custom, brand new in 1974.

Pauls.] Next we’re replacing the original Floyd Rose unit

At the same time the shop had three ’59s for sale. They

with one made by Graph Tech, which has piezos built into

weren’t pristine models, and, to me, they didn’t play or sound

each bridge saddle. I’m not saying it sounds like a Martin or

as good as the Custom. Maybe I was lucky, because that was

Ramirez, but it does give a reasonable acoustic sound. I’m

a particularly good guitar—and it still is. But I must have

also replacing the Roland MIDI pickup with a Fishman Triple

played at least sixty Les Pauls from that period, and I don’t

Play wireless MIDI system. So there are four different types

really get it—only three or four of them I’d call incredible

of pickup: the usual magnetics, the piezos, the Fishman and

instruments. One belonged to Paul Rodgers and was the one

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Paul Kossoff used on “All Right Now.” There’s Page’s two

That’s why I wouldn’t necessarily use the word

’59s. And then the famous “Brock Burst,” which I was

“craftsmanship” in conjunction with Fender, whereas I

offered for fifteen thousand dollars in 1982. The ’59 Les Paul

probably would with Gibson.

I owned would probably now be worth about two hundred fifty thousand pounds!

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As for what you should and shouldn’t do? Well, if you can’t use a soldering iron then you need to find someone who can if you want to change the pickups, which is the most

Is there such a thing as a quarter of a million pound sound?

important thing for changing the sound. There are other aspects to the pickups, of course, like the height. You can get

That is the million-dollar question. I don’t know if there is.

this problem with Stratocaster pickups where you get a kind

Years ago I was offered a 1958 three-pickup with a Bigsby,

of magnetic pull that makes it sound out of tune. So you

which I had for about six months, but I kept comparing it to

don’t have to have the pickups as close to the strings as

my 1974 Les Paul, which I preferred, and I thought why

possible. Also really important is the positioning of the pole

would I pay all that money for an old guitar that doesn’t play

pieces under the strings. If you’re moving pickups around

that well or sound as good as the one I already have?

between Les Pauls and Strats, then you need to understand

I’ve now owned two ’58s and one sunburst ’59. Were they

that the spacing of the bridge saddles is not actually the

killer guitars? I don’t think so. Were they each worth between

same—and I found that out to my cost when I first started to

eighty thousand and a quarter of a million pounds? I can’t see

put humbuckers on Strats. So if you’re replacing a pickup

it. For me, my ’74 plays and sounds better than all three of

make sure that the spacing between the poles matches your

them. But if I said that to a collector they’d probably hold up

strings. If the spacing is wrong it will affect the sound and the

the sign of the devil and brand me “unclean!” But that’s

volume of individual strings.

where I come from. I’m a player. I’m not a collector.

But my advice to anyone would be just to try stuff out. I’d say get something like a Squier Strat, be prepared to spend

As a professional, how often do you change your strings?

twice as much again on good parts, but you can end up with a much cheaper guitar that will easily match an expensive

I change them when I break one! But different things can

Fender. And you can use it—it’ll be a good workhorse guitar.

affect the way strings change. Anyone who drinks alcohol

But, again, I am a player, not a collector!

will sweat through their fingers, and that eats into the strings and will rust them really quick—which is why I very rarely let anyone play my guitars, especially if they drink. Someone who drinks heavily will sweat like anything and that will rust the strings more quickly—they’ll also have to be careful with the fingerboards as well, in terms of keeping them clean and feeding them with lemon oil, or whatever, otherwise they’ll end up getting ruined, especially rosewood fingerboards—I’ve seen those absolutely wrecked on some old Fenders. It’s not only alcohol and strings. If someone eats fried chicken at gigs, which used to be quite common in America, the grease can actually damage the plastic on the bindings— and that’s also why you see those old Kluson machine heads shriveled up. There are all sorts of bizarre things like that! Is there any work that should be left to the professionals?

The Stratocaster is so modular and I think that’s why I was always happy to experiment on them, but also why I was reluctant for a long time to do the same thing to a Gibson.

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Jim Barber’s 2014 album, The Light Warriors

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DATING YOUR STRATOCASTER

DATES AND SERIAL NUMBERS

It's always nice to know the provenance of your guitar—and if you own something collectible then it’s a basic necessity. Whether you own a 1950s American Fender or a Squier built in Korea it should be possible to work out with a reasonable degree of accuracy when and where your guitar came into being.

THE HIDDEN CODES Fender have made it relatively easy to identify the age of pretty well any Stratocaster going right back to the earliest models produced in 1954. All Stratocasters have a unique serial number either on the headstock or stamped on the neck plate, which should get you within a year of its construction date. If this is not close enough for you, though, you’ll need to be prepared to dismantle your guitar, as other dates may be found on the heel of the neck, inside body cavities, or on pickups, pickup switches, or volume and tone pots. The main impediment to achieving total accuracy, though, is the modular nature of Fender guitars; separate parts may have been made a number of years before the construction date. Neck plates, for example, would have been bulk-produced— individually marked by an incremental number stamper—and then poured into a huge crate. As each guitar was constructed, the assembler would reach in the crate and randomly draw a neck plate to use.

SERIAL NUMBERS (US MODELS) To begin with, let’s look at just at the serial numbers, since for most Strat owners this will be sufficiently close. There are four distinct phases. From 1954, the serial number was always stamped on the Stratocaster’s neck plate—the slab of metal through which the screws holding the neck and the body together are passed. Fender abandoned this practice at some point in 1976, instead adding the serial number to

Different ways of dating a Stratocaster (clockwise from

headstock decal. This system remained in place until around

top left): neck plate serial number (up to 1976); front

2008 and covered all Fender and Squier Strats wherever they

headstock serial number decal (1976–c. 2008); neck

were built; after that time the serial number was given a

plate serial number (some modern-day specials); dated

separate decal and moved to rear of the headstock. Some

back of 1970s three-bolt neck heel; dated vibrato cavity;

special models, including vintage replicas, go back to the

dated pickups; dated base of heel; rear headstock serial

earlier neck plate system.

number decal (present day).

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ONLINE DATING There are a number of useful online sources that can be used for working out the age of your Strat. The Guitar Dater Project enables you to key in the serial number and model of your guitar. If it exists on the database it should return the details of your Fender Stratocaster. It can also date potentiometer codes (see page 197). It will work for American, Japanese, and Mexican Fenders, but not for Squier branded guitars.

www.guitardaterproject.org/fender.aspx

SERIAL NUMBERS 1954–1963

THE “L SERIES” (1963–1965)

When the Stratocaster was launched, Leo Fender had only

The previous system worked reasonably well until 1962,

been in the guitar business for four years and he ran separate

when the Fender production began to approach the magical

sequences of serial numbers for each model—which in

100,000 mark. With the five-digit serial number no longer

addition to the Strat was only the Telecaster (and its relatives)

able to guarantee a unique identification, a sixth digit was

and the Precision bass. So all of the Stratocasters produced in

required. What in fact happened was that the original five-

1954 are numbered between 0 and 6000. This also means

digit code was reset, only this time prefixed by the letter “L.”

that there are likely to be earlier Telecasters and Precisions

Nobody knows for certain why this happened. It’s been

that share those serial numbers.

widely suggested that the letter was deliberately chosen as the

At some point later in 1954 Leo Fender decided to

initial of Fender’s Christian name. It’s far more likely,

abandon this idea, instead working from a single sequence of

however, to have been a simple mistake—when serial number

serial numbers covering all Fender instruments. For reasons

99999 had been reached, it should have been followed by

we’ve already discussed, however, there have been significant

100000, but the letter “L” was inserted in the stamper by

deviations from Fender’s own number ranges—the listings on

accident instead of “1.”

the right also show the lowest and highest serial numbers

These Fenders guitars are often referred to as the “L

known to have been produced during a single year, and in

Series,” and were produced from the end of 1962 through to

many cases there is a very substantial crossover. To confuse

the beginning of 1965. (In fact, only a handful were actually

matters further, during 1958 and 1959 there also seems to

produced in 1962.)

have been a zero or dash randomly placed at the front of

Although Stratocasters produced during this time are not

some serial numbers. Here are the number ranges used from

in themselves unusual, they are notable in that this period

1954–1963.

represents the final years of the Leo Fender era.

SERIAL NUMBER

LOW

HIGH

1957

17000–24999

10604

28522

1962/63

L00001–L19999

L0001

L60330

1958

25000–33999

022878

51593

1964

L20000–L59999

L08825

L92560

1959

34000–43999

022878

51593

1965

L60000–L99999

L23537

L99944

1960

44000–58999

39993

66626

1958

25000–33999

7895

1958

THE “F” SERIES (1965–1976)

1959

34000–43999

7895

1959

The year 1965 was traumatic for many employees of Fender

1960

44000–58999

7895

1959

when the owner of the company sold out to the CBS

1961

59000–70999

7895

1959

corporation for thirteen million dollars. Over time, alternative

1962

71000–93999

7895

1959

practices laid down by the new management and cost-cutting

1963

94000–99999

7895

1959

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SERIAL NUMBER

LOW

HIGH

during the production process would have an impact on the

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CHAPTER 6 | APPENDICES

SERIAL NUMBER

LOW

HIGH

1965

100000–119999

100173

158977

1966

120000–179999

100173

158977

1967

180000–219999

112172

261343

1968

220000–251999

156657

263115

that featured the stylized “F” from the Fender logo. This is

1969

252000–291999

204352

262774

known as the “F Series,” which ran until 1976. This period

1970

292000–298999

224160

290835

also saw the controversial introduction of the three-bolt neck

1971

290000–344999

278916

304089

system—replacing Fender’s usual four bolts. These have been

1972

345000–379999

261863

331031

much reviled over the years, although, in truth, there’s

1973

380000–539999

258495

654030

nothing fundamentally wrong with the idea, it’s simply that

1974

540000–599999

316987

602615

1975

600000–656999

417024

677199

1976

657000–669999

595121

717257

1971–77

670000–799999

670000

799999

quality of guitars produced during the CBS period. Immediately after the sell-out, the serial numbering system was altered, in favor of the six-digit code that should have been introduced three years earlier. The new serial number began at 100000 and was stamped on a new style neck plate

guitars produced by Fender at that time were lower in quality. Serial numbers for F Series models are shown in the box on the right.

HEADSTOCK SERIAL NUMBERS In 1976, Fender phased out the practice of stamping the serial

DECADE

LETTER PREFIX

number on the neck plate in favor of a decal on the headstock

1970s

S

beneath the logo. At the same time, a whole new numbering

1980s

E

1990s

N

2000s

Z

2010s

US

would have been water-tight if the up-front production of

SERIAL NUMBER

DATE RANGE

decals exactly matched the numbers of guitars produced. In

760000–799999

1976–1977

fact, as had been the case with neck plates, they were not

800000–899999

1979–1981

1000000–8999999

1976–1981

S100000–S699999

1979–1982

the decision to move the serial number to the reverse side of

S700000–S779999

1977

the Strat’s headstock.

S740000–S899999

1978

S810000–S879999

1979

system was conceived, which featured a six-digit code prefixed by a letter. The aim was for the letter to indicate the decade, with the first digit being the last number of the date; so any Fender guitar with a serial number beginning “S8” would be immediately identifiable as a 1978 model. This

rigorously applied, and so once again—as becomes evident from the tables shown—there is plenty of overlap. At some point around the end of the 2000s, Fender took

FIRST TWO DIGITS

DATE RANGE

S880000–S989999

1980

S7

Jan 1977–April 1978

S950000–S999999

1981

S8

Dec 1977–Dec 1978

E000000–E199999

1979–1982

S9

Nov 1978–Aug 1981

E110000–E129999

1980–1983

E0

June 1979–Dec 1981

E200000–E299999

1982

E1

Dec 1980–Jan 1982

E300000–E319999

1983

E2

Dec 1981–Jan 1983

E320000–E399999

1984–1985

E3

Dec 1982–Jan 1985

E400000–E499999

1984–1985, 1987

E4

Dec 1983–Jan 1988

E800000–E899999

1988–1989

E8

1988–1989

E900000–E999999

1989–1990

E9

1989–1990

N900000–N999999

1990

N9

1990

N000000–N099999

1990

N0

1990–1991

N100000–N199999

1991–1992

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SERIAL NUMBER

DATE RANGE

SERIAL NUMBER

DATE RANGE

N200000–N299999

1992–1993

Z500000–Z599999

2005–2006

N300000–N399999

1993–1994

Z600000–Z699999

2006–2007

N400000–N499999

1994–1995

Z700000–Z799999

2007–2008

N500000–N599999

1995–1996

Z800000–Z899999

2008–2009

N600000–N699999

1996–1997

Z900000–Z999999

2009–2010

N700000–N799999

1997–1998

US1000000–US1099999

2010

N800000–N899999

1998–1999

US1100000–US1199999

2011

N900000–N999999

1999–2000

US1200000–US1299999

2012

Z000000–Z099999

2000–2001

US1300000–US1399999

2013

Z100000–Z199999

2001–2002

US1400000–US1499999

2014

Z200000–Z299999

2002–2003

US1500000–US1599999

2015

Z300000–Z399999

2003–2004

US1600000–US1699999

2016

Z400000–Z499999

2004–2005

SPECIAL EDITIONS, REISSUES, ANNIVERSARY SERIES, SIGNATURE AND CUSTOM MODELS

the “S,” “E,” “SN,” and “CZ” Signature Editions (the dates

Fender has always produced non-productionline specials, and

number), you’ll need to check the heel of the neck to get

with an ever-growing interest in vintage replicas, this

closer to your date of manufacture.

for all of which can be identified by the first digit of the serial

approach has become increasingly lucrative for Fender. The

Guitars beginning with the letters “FN” were built in the

serial number guidelines for production models shown above

United States to the standard Stratocaster specification but

don’t apply to these instruments. In most cases there will be a

were marked for export only—most likely to Japan. A small

one- to four-letter prefix that covers just that specific range

number of these didn’t leave America as intended, or later

followed by a unique number sequence. With the exception of

may have found their way back into the country.

SERIAL NUMBER

MODEL/RANGE

YEAR

25+5 digits

25th Anniversary Stratocaster

1979–1980

AMXN+6 digits

California Series

1997–1998

C+6 digits

Collector’s Series

Up to 1965

CA+5 digits

Gold Stratocaster

1981–1983

CC+5 digits

Walnut Stratocaster

1981–1983

DN+6 digits

American Deluxe Series

1998–1999

DZ+5 or 6 digits

American Deluxe Series

2000–present

FN

US-built guitars destined for export

Date cannot be determined from number

G+6 digits

The Strat

1980–1983

GO+5 digits

Gold Stratocaster

1982, 1982–1983

I+6 digits

Export Models

1989–1990

SE+6 digits

Signature Models

1980s (1st digit indicates year)

SN+6 digits

Signature Models

1990s (1st digit indicates year)

SZ+6 digits

Signature Models

2000s (1st digit indicates year)

T+6 digits

Fender Tribute Series

Check heel of neck

V+4, 5 or 6 digits

Vintage Reissue Guitars

Introduced in 1982 (check neck for year)

3 digits

35th Anniversary Stratocaster

1989–1990 (run of 500)

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CHAPTER 6 | APPENDICES

DATING POTENTIOMETERS

SERIAL NUMBER

DATE RANGE

JV+5 digits (MIJ)

1982–1984

SQ+5 digits (MIJ)

1983–1984

A+6 digits (MIJ)

1985–1986

B+6 digits (MIJ)

1985–1986

vintage guitars. Around the

C+6 digits (MIJ)

1985–1986

edges of the base of the

Understanding the coding on the volume and tone controls is another useful tool, especially when dating

E+6 digits (MIJ)

1984–1987

potentiometer is a seven-

F+6 digits (MIJ)

1986–1987

digit number known as the

G+6 digits (MIJ)

1987–1988

“pot code.” It can tell you the manufacturer of the

H+6 digits (MIJ)

1988–1989

I+6 digits (MIJ)

1989–1990

J+6 digits (MIJ)

1989–1990

K+6 digits (MIJ)

1990–1991

Stratocasters built before 1980. The first three digits of

L+6 digits (MIJ)

1991–1992

the code indicate the manufacturer; the fourth and

M+6 digits (MIJ)

1992–1993

fifth tell you the year; the sixth and seventh, the week

N+5 digits (MIJ)

1995–1996

number. In the above example from a 1970s Fender,

N+6 digits (MIJ)

1993–1994

the code 304–7316 tells us that the potentiometer was

O+6 digits (MIJ)

1994–1995

P+6 digits (MIJ)

1995–1996

Q+6 digits (MIJ)

1993–1994

S+6 digits (MIJ)

1994–1995

potentiometers are the originals installed when the

T+6 digits (MIJ)

1994–1995

guitar was built.

U+6 digits (MIJ)

1995–1996

V+6 digits (MIJ)

1996–1997

A+6 digits (CIJ)

1997–1998

O0+5 digits (CIJ)

1997–2000

P0+5 digits (CIJ)

1999–2002

Q0+5 digits (CIJ)

2002–2004

manufacturing of these instruments began in 1982, when the

R0+5 digits (CIJ)

2004–2005

Fender Japan division was created. Until 1992 they were built

S0+5 digits (CIJ)

2005–2006

by the Fuji String Company (FujiGen Gakki) in the city of

T0+5 digits (MIJ)

2007–2010

Matsumoto, and initially sold only in Europe—they would

component as well as the date it was produced. American potentiometer manufacturers can be identified by a three digit-code—CTS (137) and Stackpole (304) are the most widely found on

manufactured by Stackpole during the sixteenth week of 1973. This doesn’t date the guitar, but it does indicate the earliest time it could have been produced. Of course, this technique will only work if the

JAPANESE FENDERS AND SQUIERS Usually known among aficionados as “MIJ,” standing for “Made in Japan” or sometimes “CIJ” (“Crafted in Japan”)— as opposed to “MIA” (America) and “MIM” (Mexico)—

U0+5 digits (MIJ)

2010–2012

later be made available in the United States. These guitars are

JD12+6 digits (MIJ)

2012–2013

identifiable by the “Made in Japan” decal on the heel of the

JD13+6 digits (MIJ)

2013–2014

JD14+6 digits (MIJ)

2014–2015

JD15+6 digits (MIJ)

2015–2016

neck directly above the serial number. With FujiGen unable to commit to additional production, in 1992 Fender also began using the Dyna Gakki factory in Nagano. For reasons of differentiation, Fender was contractually obliged to label these instruments as “Crafted in Japan.” From 1997, Dyna

the duplication of sequences on “MIJ” and “CIJ” models.

Gakki and Tokai took over all production so from that date

For the first two years of Japanese production Fender used a

until around 2007, these Strats were all marked “CIJ.” After

numbering system of two letters and five digits before shifting

2007 the labeling reverted to “Made in Japan.”

to a single-letter, five- or six-digit code. Broadly speaking, you

Numbering on Japanese Stratocasters is prone to the same inconsistencies as those found on American models—not least

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should be able to tie up the letter(s) to a specific year (see table above).

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THE FENDER LOGO The most famous branding in the guitar world, it is

throughout the company into a single logo. He took

said that the iconic logo—which appears on the

a slightly amended version of the previous logo,

headstock of every Fender guitar—was based on Leo

fattened the text, and set it only in gold with black

Fender’s own signature, with the top stroke of the

outline. This is now known as the “Transition” logo,

“F” reversed. Like every other major brand, across

and it appeared on Stratocasters produced from 1965

time the logo has been given periodic updates.

until the end of 1967.

Understanding these changes can also be used as a rudimentary form of dating.

In 1968, Fender altered its branding once again, this time to what is now called the “CBS” logo—

There are three easily identifiable Fender logos

named after the earlier takeover of the company by

that might be found on a Stratocaster. In each case,

the Columbia Broadcasting System. Perine’s original

there will also be other elements on the headstock

design was given an update with a black typeface

that may differ depending on date, notably the

and a gold surround. This remained the standard

sizing and positioning of additional text.

Fender logo until 1983.

The original Fender brand is widely referred to as

At the same time, the typography of the word

the “spaghetti logo.” It graced all Stratocasters

“Stratocaster” was radically altered, almost taking

produced from 1954 to the end of 1964, thin lettering

parity with company name, and wrapping around the

appearing either in silver or gold with a black outline.

curves of newly designed enlarged headstock.

During 1964, graphic designer Robert Perine, then

From 1983, Fender abandoned the practice of the

a partner in a Newport Beach advertising agency,

standardized logos, and have since use all three, with

signed Fender as a client. As well as conceiving

vintage replicas featuring those that are historically

Fender’s famed “You Won't Part With Yours Either”

accurate. A 2015 Special Edition Classic Series ‘60s

campaign, he also consolidated the trademarks used

Stratocaster headstock is shown below.

Fender “spaghetti” logo (1954–1964)

Fender “transition” logo (1967–1967)

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Fender “CBS” logo (1968–1983)

Special Edition Classic Series 60s Stratocaster (2015)

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CHAPTER 6 | APPENDICES

SERIAL NUMBER

DATE RANGE

SERIAL NUMBER

DATE RANGE

MN0+5 or 6 digits

1990–1991

MX14+5 digits

2014-2014

MN1+5 or 6 digits

1991–1992

MX15+5 digits

2015-2016

MN2+5 or 6 digits

1992–1993

MSN0+5 digits

1990–1991

MN3+5 or 6 digits

1993–1994

MSN1+5 digits

1991–1992

MN4+5 or 6 digits

1994–1995

MSN2+5 digits

1992–1993

MN5+5 or 6 digits

1995–1996

MSN3+5 digits

1993–1994

MN6+5 or 6 digits

1996–1997

MSN4+5 digits

1994–1995

MN7+5 or 6 digits

1997–1998

MSN5+5 digits

1995–1996

MN8+5 or 6 digits

1998–1999

MSN6+5 digits

1996–1997

MN9+5 or 6 digits

1999–2000

MSN7+5 digits

1997–1998

MZ0+5 or 6 digits

2000–2001

MSN8+5 digits

1998–1999

MZ1+5 or 6 digits

2001–2002

MSN9+5 digits

1999–2000

MZ2+5 or 6 digits

2002–2003

MSZ+5 digits

2009-2011

MZ3+5 or 6 digits

2003–2004

MS0+5 or 6 digits

2000–2001

MZ4+5 or 6 digits

2004–2005

MS1+5 or 6 digits

2001–2002

MZ5+5 or 6 digits

2005–2006

MS2+5 or 6 digits

2002–2003

MZ6+5 or 6 digits

2006–2007

MS3+5 or 6 digits

2003–2004

MZ7+5 or 6 digits

2007–2008

MS4+5 or 6 digits

2004–2005

MZ8+5 or 6 digits

2008–2009

MS5+5 or 6 digits

2005–2006

MZ9+5 or 6 digits

2009–2010

MS6+5 or 6 digits

2006–2007

“10”+“space”+8 digits

2009–2010

MS7+5 or 6 digits

2007–2008

MX10+6 digits

2010–2011

MS8+5 or 6 digits

2008–2009

MX11+6 digits

2011–2012

MS9+5 or 6 digits

2009–2010

MX12+6 digits

2012–2013

AMX7+6 digits

1997–1998

MX13+6 digits

2013–2014

AMX8+6 digits

1997–1998

MEXICAN FENDERS AND SQUIERS

sequence number was logged. Although the decals were

It was during the mid-1980s, with the soaring costs of

printed correctly and appear on many 2010 Strats, this

overseas production, not to mention shipping, that Fender

approach was quickly abandoned during the year.

contemplated setting up a new plant closer to home. In 1987,

The subsequent system is still used today. The letters

Fender Mexico was launched, and a massive 200,000-square-

“MX” (denoting that the guitar was built in Mexico) is

foot plant built in the coastal town of Ensenada, 60 miles

followed by an eight-digit code, the first two of which

south of the US border. The plant took two years to build,

indicate the year. The remaining six digits uniquely identify

with the first “MIM” (“Made in Mexico”) models rolling off

the instrument but are not sequential—a guitar produced in

the production line in 1990.

December may legitimately bear a lower number than one

Mexican Fenders are relatively straightforward to date, even if the advanced production of decals means there is

manufactured nine months earlier. As ever, there are exceptions to this set of rules. Before

always a possible one-year overlap. Up to 2009, the first

2010, some of the signature models, such as the highly

character was always “M” (Mexico); the second, the decade

regarded Jimmie Vaughan, Buddy Guy, and Robert Cray

(“N”=1990s, “Z”=2000s); and a five- or six-digit sequence.

Stratocasters, substituted the “MX” prefix with “MS” (or in

Things went awry in 2010. A new serial number system was created with a two-digit year identifier, followed by a

a few cases, “MSZ”). Finally, the “AMX” denotes the California Series guitars, a

space, and then by a seven-digit sequence. However a

range of instruments produced and assembled in both the

problem with Fender’s computer system meant that only the

United States and Mexico.

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FENDER OR SQUIER?

SERIAL NUMBER

DATE RANGE

E2+6 digits

1992–1993

E3+6 digits

1993–1994

S9+6 digits

1989–1990

S0+6 digits

1990–1991

in Japan (by Fender Japan) from 1982, at Fender’s

S1+6 digits

1991–1992

Mexican factory at Ensenada from 1990, and in limited

S2+6 digits

1992–1993

editions in Korea.

S3+6 digits

1993–1994

Fender guitars were originally built in Fullerton, California. The top-of-the-range Fenders are still built in the United States—now based in Corona, California. Guitars bearing the Fender brand have also been built

The Squier brand was originally built in Japan in

CN0+5 digits

1990–1991

1983, before moving to Korea (1988), China (1995),

CN1+5 digits

1991–1992

Indonesia (1997), and India (1989). Some top-end Squier

CN2+5 digits

1992–1993

CN3+5 digits

1993–1994

CN4+5 digits

1994–1995

KOREAN SQUIERS AND FENDERS

CN5+5 digits

1995–1996

In 1988, Fender began building guitars for its budget Squier

CN6+5 digits

1996–1997

range in Korea. For the first five years no records were

VN0+5 digits

1990–1991

maintained regarding the serial numbers: all we know is that

VN1+5 digits

1991–1992

they were made up of six-, seven-, or eight-digit numbers, or

VN2+5 digits

1992–1993

VN3+5 digits

1993–1994

VN4+5 digits

1994–1995

VN5+5 digits

1995–1996

used to represent the year—although not the calendar year,

VN6+5 digits

1996–1997

but a sequence that begins with “1” representing 1988, the

KC97+6 digits

1997–1998

first year of production at two plants.

KC97+7 digits

1997–1998

KC97+8 digits

1997–1998

KC98+6 digits

1998–1999

KC99+6 digits

1999–2000

KC00+6 digits

2000–2001

KC01+6 digits

2001–2002

factory and yet another system of serial numbers was

KC02+6 digits

2002–2003

initiated, this time with a prefix of “KC”—denoting the

KC03+6 digits

2003–2004

guitar was made in Korea at the Cort factory. The first pair of

KC04+6 digits

2004–2005

the remaining digits indicates the year of manufacture. This

KC05+6 digits

2005–2006

system remains in place today.

KC06+6 digits

2006–2007

KC07+6 digits

2007–2008

models have also been produced at the Fender factories in California and Mexico.

that they were six-digit numbers prefixed with the letters “E” or ”S”—which denoted the factories in which they were made (“S” for Samick; “E” for Young Chang and Sung-Eum). We also know that the first digit of the “E” serial numbers were

In 1993, production was switched to the Cort and Sunghan plants, and a more coherent numbering system with two letters followed by six digits. The first letter denotes the factory (“C”=Cort, “V”=Sunghan), the second letter the decade, and the first digit the calender year. In 1997, all Korean production was moved to the Cort

SERIAL NUMBER

DATE RANGE

KC08+6 digits

2008–2009

6 digits

1988–1996

KC09+6 digits

2009–2010

7 digits

1988–1996

KC10+6 digits

2010–2011

8 digits

1988–1996

KC11+6 digits

2011–2012

E1+6 digits

1987–1988

KC12+6 digits

2012–2013

E2+6 digits

1988–1989

KC13+6 digits

2013–2014

E0+6 digits

1989–1990

KC14+6 digits

2014–2015

E1+6 digits

1991–1992

KC15+6 digits

2016–2016

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CHAPTER 6 | APPENDICES

CHINESE MODELS

and a low-output practice amp—the box attractively priced

In 1995, with a price differential of only around sixty dollars

as an affordable present for a beginner.

between the cheapest Mexican Squiers and the cheaper

Models produced at Yako take a prefix of two letters and

Korean Squiers, Fender looked for ways to produce and sell

one digit before the five-digit sequence number. “Y” denotes

their budget models even more cheaply. The solution they

it was built at the Taiwanese-owned Yako factory; the second

found was to set up a manufacturing base in China. They

letter shows the decade (as with other Fenders (“N”= the

made a deal with a Taiwanese company called Reliance,

1990s); the first digit gives the specific year. So a “YN6”

which had set up factories across China, becoming one of the

prefix shows a Strat built at Yako in 1996. These models are

biggest mass-producers of musical instruments in the world.

characterized by the legend “Made in China.”

Unusually for Fender, the history of production in China is

The most commonly found Squier Stratocasters from this

quite well documented, records showing that the first order—

region were built at the Axl factory usually take the “C”

for two thousand Squier rosewood Bullet Strats was placed in

prefix followed by a two-digit year. The serial number

May 1995 and delivered three months later. Initial

appears above the logo “Crafted in China.”

manufacture took place at the Yako plant, in Zhangzhou.

As you can see from the table, there are many other serial

These guitars were destined to for what would soon become

number prefixes used on Chinese models, and they may be

the hugely popular Squier Strat Pak, which comprised a

found variously on the front or back of the headstock, the

cheap-but-playable Squier Strat with strap, cable and picks,

heel of the neck, or the neckplate.

PREFIX

LEGEND

YEAR/NOTES

CA

Made in China/Crafted in China

First digit denotes year

CAE

None

First two digits denote year

CD

Made in China/Crafted in China

First digit denotes year

CGRL

Crafted in China

First two digits denote year

CGS

Crafted in China

First digit denotes year

CJ

Made in China/Crafted in China

First digit denotes year

CO

Crafted in China

First digit denotes year

COB

Crafted in China

First digit denotes year

COS

Crafted in China

First two digits denote year

CT

Made in China/Crafted in China

First digit denotes year

CXS

Crafted in China

First two digits denote year

CY

Crafted in China

First digit denotes year

NC

Made in China

First digit denotes year

YN

Made in China

First digit denotes year

INDONESIAN SQUIERS

Indonesia.” Of course, there are exceptions to the above. (A

Following the success of the Chinese operation, in 1997

prefix of “ICS” indicates that it is a Squier Standard model

Fender began building some of the Squier models in

built at Cor-Tek.) The “SI” prefix can be found on a small

Indonesia. Widely viewed as above China but below Korea in

number of plywood-bodied Indonesia models destined for the

the Fender/Squier pecking order, these instruments are

Strak Pak.

manufactured either at Cort’s Cor-Tek factory or by Samick. The general rule regarding Indonesian serial numbers is

INDIAN SQUIERS

that the first letter of the prefix (“I”) denotes the country of

Information about Squier models built in India is relatively

origin. The second letter indicates the manufacturing plant—

thin on the ground. From 1989 through 1990, a number of a

“S” is Samick; “C” is Cort/Cor-Tek. The first two digits give

new Squier II Stratocasters appeared with the legend “MADE

you the year of manufacture. All bear the logo “Crafted in

IN INDIA” on the headstock and a serial number prefix of

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DATING YOUR STRATOCASTER

199

NECK STAMPS AND THE BODY On many older Stratocasters, both the body and the neck

used, with the Strat model number returning to “22.”

can provide clues as to the age of a guitar—as ever, this

However, this system ran concurrently with the previous

comes with the rider that it will only tell you when the

one, so a neck could be marked with either! This version

part itself was made, not when the whole instrument was

also includes a mystery three-digit code, most likely to be

constructed. Over time, the neck identities have taken

a batch code covering the production of a number of

different formats.

necks. The neck stamp number using this system is best

From 1954 to early 1959, the date was penciled on the

interpreted from right to left. In the example of number

butt-end of the neck, with one or two digits representing

“22101119B,” the letter “B” indicates a medium (1 5/8-

the month, followed by a dash, and then two digits

inch neck width); “9” stands for 1969; “11” denotes the

denoting the year. At some point in early 1959, the

month of November); “101” is the batch code; and “22”

practice was halted when—according to some reports—a

shows that it’s a Stratocaster neck.

customer complained that they had found an obscenity

An eight-digit stamp was introduced in 1972 which

scribbled on the base of the neck! By the middle of the

ran until 1990 (although again, concurrent with the

year, neck dating resumed in the same fashion until 1962.

previous system, which operated until March 1973). This

A coded stamping system was then introduced. A red

included a pair of digits denoting the fingerboard

or blue ink stamp marked below the truss rod adjustment

(“01”and “01” for rosewood; “03” and “10” for maple.

at the butt end of the neck. The first two digits represents

The code for Stratocasters was also changed to “09.”

the type of neck—all Strats had the code “02”—followed by the month and year, and ending with the letter “A,” “B,” or “C” denoting the thickness of the neck—“A” is the

From 1980, small date stickers were applied to the butt-end of the neck in month/day/year format. On some of the older vintage models, it’s also possible

thinnest; “C” is the thickest. From 1966 to 1969, the code

to tell the date from the body, usually penciled in one of

for a Stratocaster neck changed to “13.” To confuse

the pickup cavities or the rear vibrato cavity. This practice

matters further, from 1969, a new green neck stamp was

died out during the mid-1960s.

“N0” followed by a five-digit sequence. Produced at the Greeta factory in Chennai, the quality of the guitars produced was said to be inconsistent—it was even rumored that Fender destroyed more of these instruments than were sold—and the experiment was deemed a failure. Production of Squier II models was moved to

PREFIX

NUMBER

DATE RANGE

CH

07+6 digits

2007–2008

N0

5 digits

1998–1999

NHS

10+6 digits

2010–2011

NHS

11+6 digits

2011–2012

NSHA

09+6 digits

2009–2010

NSHD

09+6 digits

2009–2010

began large-scale Indian production in 2007, where the

NSHE

09+6 digits

2009–2010

Vintage Modified Strat and Strat HSS models were built.

NSHF

09+6 digits

2009–2010

NSHG

09+6 digits

2009–2010

NSHH

09+6 digits

2009–2010

NSHI

09+6 digits

2009–2010

number, the first two denoting the year (see table on the

NSHJ

08+6 digits

2009–2010

right). To make matters confusing, some serial numbers

NSHJ

09+6 digits

2009–2010

on Indian Strats are printed on a sticker which is usually

Korea. With quality control issues presumably sorted, Fender

These instruments are identifiable as having a “Crafted in India” logo. The new run of Indian Strats has seen a number of different prefixes in use, all followed by an eight-digit

NSHK

09+6 digits

1984–1985

placed near the body/neck joint. Since these are

SH

07+6 digits

2007–2008

removable it’s not at all uncommon to find an Indian

SH

08+6 digits

2008–2009

ZSSH

07+6 digits

2007–2008

ZSSH

08+6 digits

2008–2009

Stratocaster with no visible serial number; others have the number on the reverse of the headstock.

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CHAPTER 6 | APPENDICES

RESOURCES Here is a selection of links that should be useful when looking at different aspects of your Stratocaster. For anything major your first port of call should be the manufacturer—or if you’ve bought your guitar new then head back to the retailer. For replacement parts, such as nuts, fret wire, copper shielding, etc., then the best deals are usually to found using an online auction site.

FENDER MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS CORPORATION 17600 N. PERIMETER DRIVE, SUITE 100 SCOTTSDALE ARIZONA 85255 USA

All web addresses require the prefix http://www unless shown

fender.com

otherwise; all telephone numbers are US unless stated.

480-596-9801

FENDER RESOURCES

ROBOT TUNING

FENDER LIBRARY

TRONICAL tronical.com

http://www2.fender.com/support/library

NUTS

FENDER GUITAR OWNER’S MANUALS http://www2.fender.com/support/articles/fender-guitar-

GRAPH TECH graphtech.com (604-940-5353)

owners-manuals FENDER STRINGED INSTRUMENT SERVICE DIAGRAMS

PICKUPS

http://www2.fender.com/support/articles/?section=downloads

AMALFITANO amalfitanopickups.com (817-917-8707)

&category=stringed-instruments-service-diagrams

KENT ARMSTRONG kentarmstrong.com (800-449-2171)

STRATOCASTER SETUP GUIDE

BAREKNUCKLE bareknucklepickups.co.uk

http://www2.fender.com/support/articles/stratocaster-setup-guide

BENSON bensoncustom.com (716-207-2641) CREAMERY creamery-pickups.co.uk

INTERNET RETAIL RESOURCES

DIMARZIO dimarzio.com (718-981-9286)

EBAY ebay.com

EMG emgpickups.com (707-525-9941)

GUMTREE (UK) gumtree.com

GUITAR FETISH guitarfetish.com

REVERB reverb.com

IRONGEAR irongear.co.uk LINDY FRALIN fralinpickups.com (804-358-2699)

GENERAL GUITAR PARTS

FISHMAN fishman.com (978-988-9199)

ALLPARTS allparts.com (713-466-6414; 01494 410050 [UK])

LEOSOUNDS leosounds.de (208-371-6418)

GUITAR PARTS USA guitarpartsusa.com (515-306-4800)

LOLLAR lollarguitars.com (206-463-9838)

STEWART-MacDONALD stewmac.com (800-848-2273)

MOJO mojopickups.co.uk

WARMOTH warmoth.com (253-845-0403)

OX4 ox4pickups.co.uk PORTER porterpickups.com (208-371-6418)

TUNERS

REILANDER CUSTOM GUITAR reilandercustomguitar.com

DER JUNG derjung.com (886-6-3563256 [China]

RIO GRANDE riograndepickups.com (713 957-0470)

GOTOH g-gotoh.com (270-25-3608 [Japan])

SCHECTER GUITAR RESEARCH

GRAPH TECH graphtech.com (604-940-5353)

schecterguitars.com (800.660.6621)

GROVER grotro.com (216-391-1234)

SEYMOUR DUNCAN www.seymourduncan.com (805-964-9610)

KLUSON kluson.com (239-543-3625)

SKATTERBRANE skatterbranepickups.com

PLANET WAVES planetwaves.com

SMITS smitspickups.com (615-390-7181)

SCHALLER schaller-electronic.com

TV JONES tvjones.com (360-779-4002)

SPERZEL sperzel.com (216-281-6868)

VOLTAGE voltageguitarpickups.com

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RESOURCES / CONVERSION CHART

ELECTRICS

ERNIE BALL ernieball.com (800-543-2255)

ALPHA POTENTIOMETERS alphapotentiometers.net

ELIXIR elixirstrings.com (800-367-5533)

BOURNS POTENTIOMETERS bourns.com

GALLI STRINGS gallistrings.com (081 759 00 29 [Italy])

CTS POTENTIOMETERS ctscorp.com

DEAN MARKLEY deanmarkley.com (800-800-1008)

201

ROTOSOUND rotosound.com (01732 450838 [UK])

VIBRATO HARDWARE

THOMASTIK-INFELD VIENNA thomastik-infled.com

BIGSBY bigsby.com (912-748-7070) FLOYD ROSE floydrose.com (732-919-6200)

MISCELLANEOUS

KAHLER kahler.com (702-997-3049)

STEVE CLAYTON EXOTIC GUITAR PICKS steveclayton.com (541-535-4440)

VIBRAMATE vibramate.com (609-466-8160)

JODI HEAD HANDMADE STRAPS

WOOD

jodihead.com (212-995-5116)

LUTHIER’S MERCANTILE lmii.com (800-477-4437) ED ROMAN edroman.com (702-597-0147)

GUITAR VALUATIONS/AUCTIONEERS

TONEWOOD tonewood.com (888-767-9860)

BLUE BOOK bluebookofguitarvalues.com (952-853-1486) BONHAMS bonhams.com (212-644-9001; 0207 447 7447 [UK])

STRINGS

CHRISTIES christies.com (212-636-2000; 0207 839 9060 [UK])

D’ADDARIO daddario.com (631-439-3300)

GRUHN GUITARS gruhn.com (615-256-2033)

DUNLOP jimdunlop.com/products/strings (707-745-2722)

GUITAR GALLERY guitargallery.tv (724-746-9686)

CONVERSION CHART You’re likely to find a degree of inconsistency in the units of measurement used in different aspects of the guitar. These tables will help you when converting between imperial and metric measurements, and should be especially useful in finding the correct tool. Imperial measurements are shown in their fractions, decimal values, and in increments of half-sixty-fourths. MILLIMETRES 0.1

INCHES

INCHES

HALF-64TH

(DECIMAL)

(FRACTIONS)

MEASURES

MILLIMETRES

INCHES

INCHES

HALF-64TH

(DECIMAL)

(FRACTIONS)

MEASURES

0.004

0.2

0.008

0.5/64

0.5

3.4

0.133

8.5/64

8.5

0.4

0.016

1/64

1

3.6

0.140

9/64

9

0.6

0.024

1.5/64

1.5

3.8

0.148

9.5/64

9.5

0.8

0.031

1/32

2

4.0

0.156

5/32

10

1.0

0.039

2.5/64

2.5

4.2

0.164

10.5/64

10.5

1.2

0.046

3/64

3

4.4

0.172

11/64

11

1.4

0.055

3.5/64

3.5

4.6

0.180

11.5/64

11.5

1.6

0.062

1/16

4

4.8

0.187

3/16

12

1.8

0.070

4.5/64

4.5

5.0

0.195

12.5/64

12.5

2.0

0.078

5/64

5

5.2

0.203

13/64

13

2.2

0.086

5.5/64

5.5

5.4

0.211

13.5/64

13.5

2.4

0.093

3/32

6

5.6

0.219

7/32

14

2.6

0.101

6.5/64

6.5

5.8

0.227

14.5/64

14.5

2.8

0.109

7/64

7

6.0

0.234

15/64

15

3.0

0.117

7.5/64

7.5

6.2

0.243

15.5/64

15.5

3.2

0.125

1/8

8

6.4

0.250

1/4

16

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CHAPTER 6 | APPENDICES

GLOSSARY

FRET WIRE The material from which guitar frets are made. Available in a wide variety of shapes, widths, and heights.

ACTION The height between the bottom of the strings and

Usually described as “nickel silver,” it’s typically composed of

the top of the frets on the fingerboard. The lower the action

80 percent copper and less than 20 percent nickel.

the easier it becomes to fret notes; a very low action will GROUND LOOP Sometimes called an “earth loop,” in audio

cause the string to buzz on the fret.

terms it is when there is more than one ground path between ACTION GAUGE A luthier’s tool for measuring the height of

two connected electrical items. If these are connected to

the strings above the frets.

separate power outlets where there is a slight voltage difference between the two grounds, a low-level hum or buzz

ASH TRAY Colloquial term used for the chrome bridge cover

may occur.

fitted (and usually discarded and lost) on older Fender guitars and basses.

HARDTAIL A fixed bridge where it has been screwed down onto the body.

BALL END The end of a guitar string tied around a tiny disc that secures the string behind the bridge at the tail stop.

HEADSTOCK The uppermost part of the guitar neck where the nut and tuners (machine heads) that support the strings

BIGSBY VIBRATO TAILPIECE The first successful design of

are fitted.

the vibrato arm or whammy bar. Pressing down on the vibrato lever alters the tension of the strings and hence the

HEEL Portion of neck where the neck curves or is reduced to

pitch of the notes. Invented in the 1940s by Paul Bigsby.

join the body.

BLOCKING OFF Placing a wooden wedge behind the

H-S-S Pickup configuration found on some Stratocasters

Stratocaster’s tremolo block to prevent it moving.

where the single-coil bridge pickup is replaced by a humbucker. A common modification.

BRIDGE A device positioned on the body of the guitar which supports the strings and controls their height above the

HUMBUCKER Twin-coil electronic pickup that produces an

fingerboard and their length.

interference-free “fat” sound favored by some guitarists.

BULLET END An alternative string design created by Fender,

KLUSON Manufacturer of tuners used on early Fender

where the ball end is replaced by a small cylinder.

Stratocasters.

CAPACITOR Component used in on-board guitar circuitry to

LOCKING TUNER Tuner (machine head) that locks the string

route the high frequencies away from the output to the

in place, requiring fewer rotations to tighten, and is thought

ground, creating a softer, warmer tone.

to maintain the guitar’s tuning better than standard tuners.

CARVE The contour of the top surface of the guitar’s body.

MDX Mid-range boost active circuitry found on Eric Clapton signature Stratocasters (and other models). Also available as a

EQ Equalization or tone.

retro-fit.

FEELER GAUGE A fine engineering tool used to measure the

MICRO-TILT Neck alignment mechanism found (mainly) on

clearance between two parts; can be used in guitar

some 1970s Stratocasters.

maintenance to set the action and the neck relief. MULTIMETER A bench-testing instrument capable of FRET BUZZ The sound of a string unintentionally hitting

providing different electrical measurements, such as voltage,

frets further along the fingerboard as it vibrates. Usually a

current, and resistance. Useful to guitarists for testing

result of fret wear, poor neck relief, or an overly low action.

components and checking connections.

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GLOSSARY

NECK RELIEF The straightness of the guitar neck when

SINGLE-COIL PICKUP Pickup comprising a single coil of

viewed from the side, which is controlled by the truss rod. A

copper wire wrapped around a magnet (or set of magnets).

very slight relief, or “upbow,” is desirable; “back-bow,”

Routinely fitted to Fender guitars.

203

where the neck bends so the headstock drops down, will make the guitar almost impossible to play.

SKUNK STRIPE A different-colored wood running down the back of a Fender neck, originally used to cover the truss rod

NUT The string supports positioned at the top of the

but now cosmetic.

fingerboard. SOLDER A fusible metal alloy with a low melting point used PAF The first humbucking pickup created by Gibson and

to join together parts of an electrical circuit.

used on Les Pauls and many of the company’s electric guitars from 1957.

SPAGHETTI LOGO Early Fender logo with letters resembling spaghetti. May be used to assist in dating Fender guitars.

PHASE The effect of reversing the polarity of a DC circuit. In a guitar, this “reversal” takes place when two pickups of

STRING WINDER Mechanical device that may be fitted over

differing polarities are connected simultaneously. This results

the tuning pegs to speed up the stringing process.

in a reduction in bass frequencies. SUPERSTRAT Genre of guitars based on a Stratocaster PICKUPS Electromagnetic transducers that convert

design equipped with single-coil and humbucking pickups.

string vibrations into electrical impulses. When amplified, this enables the original sound to be heard through a

SYNCHRONIZED TREMOLO Vibrato arm introduced on

loudspeaker system.

Fender Stratocasters in 1954.

POTENTIOMETER See Resistor

TREBLE BASS XPANDER (TBX) Tone control found on some Fender Stratocasters.

RADIUS GAUGE A luthier’s tool for measuring the camber of the fingerboard and for adjusting the individual bridge

TINNING The application of heated solder to a wire or

saddles to match.

component before a connection is made.

RESISTOR An electrical component that restricts the flow of

TONE CONTROLS The two tone controls on the Stratocaster

electricity within a circuit. Variable resistors (potentiometers)

cut the level of treble the further towards “0” they are

are used for a guitar’s volume and tones controls.

turned. With standard factory wiring, the middle knob controls only the neck pickup, and the lower knob controls

SADDLE The part of the bridge on which the string rests.

only the center pickup. The bridge pickup is not connected to any tone circuitry.

SCRATCHPLATE A plastic plate fitted to the soundboard to protect the guitar body. On the Stratocaster it doubles as a

TRUSS ROD Metal rod that passes beneath the full length of

holder for the electrical components.

the neck beneath the fingerboard to reinforce the neck against string tension, and control neck relief. Older Strats are

SCREENING A metal shield connected to the ground

adjusted at the heel; newer models at the headstock.

surrounding sensitive unbalanced parts of the guitar circuit, necessary to remove interference.

TUNER Set of geared devices mounted on the headstock which control the tension—and hence pitch—of a string.

SHIELDING The creation of a partial “Faraday Cage” within

Usually called machine heads in Europe.

the cavities in which the guitar’s electrics are fitted, to reduce buzzing and other interference. Usually achieved by using

VIBRATO Bridge mechanism that enables string tension to be

copper foil tape or conductive paint.

temporarily altered by manipulating an attached metal arm.

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CHAPTER 6 | APPENDICES

INDEX A 3-In-One oil 69 3M Finesse-It 107 Action, setting 55 Adams, Chris 98 Air travel 77 Air-O-Swiss humidifier 75 Alcatrazz 173 Alder 31, 73 Allparts 84 Alnico II magnet 33 V magnet 33, 58 Aluminum flightcase 72, 73 American Series tremolo 54, 102 Antinode 32 Apple Garage Band 153 iPad 52, 153 iPhone 153 Logic 153 Ash 31, 73 Audio Vox Model 736 20 Audioslave 175 Auto feeler gauge 37, 56

B Band, The 176 Barber, Jim 184, 186–89 Baritone neck 84 Barrett, Syd 167 Bartolini 142 Basswood 31 Beatles, The 22, 168, 172 Beck, Bogart, and Appice 162 Beck, Jeff 8, 16, 38, 45, 162, 163, 177 Beefheart, Captain, and his Magic Band 165 Behlen naptha 62 Behringer CT100 70 Benedetto Pickups 142 Big Bends Nut Sauce 93 Bigsby B5 165 Bigsby Merle Travis 19 Bigsby, Paul 12–13 Bill Lawrence Pickups 142 Binson Echorec II 167 Black and Decker 68 Black Sabbath 162 “Blackie” 164 Blackmore, Ritchie 162 Blocking tremolo 104–105 Bloomfield, Mike 77

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Bolt-on neck 85 Bone nut 90 Bowie, David 176, 180 Boyd, Joe 178 Breadboard 124–125 Bridge 54–57, 102–105 adjustment 54 chocking 51 saddle, adjustment 56 set-up 43 Brooker, Gary 179 Bryant, Jimmy 13 Buckethead 129, 175 Bullet truss rod adjustment 80 Burns 174 Butterfly string tree 46

Copper foil 154 Corgan, Billy 151 Corian 90 Cosmetic surgery 106–107 Cox, Billy 171 Cray, Robert 45, 163, 165 Cream 164, 178 Creamery, The 184 Crickets, The 172 Cropper, Steve 175 Crossroads 165 Crown 88 CTS 126, 147

D

C Campbell, Jaime 184 Capacitors 113, 116–118, 122, 124–125 Capo 80 Carson, Bill 13–14 CBS-Era 16, 22–24 Ceramic disc capacitor 122–123 Ceramic magnets 33 Chandler, Chas 170 Charvel 17, 167 Checkered Flag 166 Chess Records 163 Chic 176 Chisel 36 Chrome strings 44 Clamps 37 Clapton, Eric 8, 16–17, 23, 45, 104, 106, 143, 162–165, 176, 178 Cleaning 62–69, 114 body 62, 64, 69 electrics 70 fingerboard 63–64, 67, 69 hardware 64, 66, 69 neck 64 potentiometers 114 strings 63 switches 114 Clinton, George 168 Closed “International” switch 132–133 Cobalt strings 44 Concert pitch 30 Conditioning 67 Contact cleaning spray 70 Cooder, Ry 165 Coodercaster 165

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D’Addario 44, 52, 68, 74 Daft Punk 176 Dale, Dick 45, 166 Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face 167, 171–172 Damn Right I've Got the Blues 163 Daniel, Nathan 27 Danish oil 107 Dantzig, Jol 96 Dark Side of the Moon, The 167 Dating a Stratocaster 190-199 DayGlo 106 Dean 17 DeArmond pickups 185 Deep Purple 162 Del-Tones, The 166 Derek and the Dominos 164 DiMarzio Pickups 134, 142, 151 FS-1 167 HS3 173 HS4 173 PAF Pro 177 Super Distortion 8 Dire Straits 173 Dixon, Willie 163 DOD 169 Double Trouble 180 Dremel 36, 68–69 Dressing frets 86–87 Dunlop 68 Dunlop Straplok 61 DuPont 16, 65 Dylan, Bob 77, 176 Dynasonic 185

E Eagle Mountain 61 Ebtech Hum X 155 Edwards, Bernard 176

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INDEX

Electro-Harmonix Debugger 159 Memory Man 172 Electromagnetic interference 154 Electronic tuner 37, 39, 52 EMG Pickups 143, 175 Soapbar humbuckers 26 Ernie Ball 44 Ernie Ball Superlock 61 Evans Pickups 169 EVH 180

F Fairport Convention 178 Farad 122 Faraday, Michael 32, 122 Feedback 13 Feeler gauge 37, 56, 59 Fender 44, 68 American Deluxe Stratocaster 19, 26, 80, 93 American Longboard Stratocaster 19, 27 American Standard roller string tree 95 American Standard Stratocaster 18, 24, 80 Bassman 172 Bi-Flex truss rod 80 Big Dipper pickups 174 Broadcaster 8, 13, 19 Bullet Truss Rod 22 Comfort Contour Body 20 Custom Shop 18, 48 DH1 Pickup 26 Eric Clapton Signature Stratocater 18, 143 Esquire 13 “F” Tuners 19, 48, 66 GC-1 Stratocaster 152 Hardtail bridge 48 Hellecaster 25 Hot Noiseless pickups 58, 134, 136, 154, 162 Jimi Hendrix Monterey Stratocaster 171 Kenny Wayne Shepherd Signature Stratocaster 177 LSR roller nut 93 Precision Bass 13–15, 19 Fender Pro 172 Robert Cray Signature Stratocaster 42, 48

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Select Stratocaster 80 Special Stratocaster 80 Stevie Ray Vaughan Signature Stratocaster 19, 25, 174, 180 Stratocaster anatomy 28–29 Strap Lock 61 Strat Elite 18 Stratocaster 25th Anniversary 19 Stratocaster Plus 24 Stratocaster Ultra 19 Stratocaster XII 19, 24 Stratocaster Mid Boost Kit 143 Synchronized Tremolo bridge 102–103 Telecaster 8, 14–15, 167, 179 Telecaster Thinline 175 Texas Specials pickups 58, 177 Three–bolt neckplate 19, 22 Twin 172 Twin Reverb 173, 177 VG Stratocaster 19 Vibralux 173 Vintage ’56 136 Vintage ’59 134 Fender, Leo 8, 12, 15–16, 18, 20, 166 Fender Electric Instrument Company 13, 18 Fender Musical Instruments Corporation 18 Fender Radio Shop 12, 18 Fender Visitor Center 17 Fingerboard conditioning 67 cleaning 67 maple 67–68 rosewood 67–68 twist 41 Flatwound strings 44 Floyd Rose 17, 47, 96, 157 locking tremolo 50–51, 54, 57 Frankenstrat 106, 180 Frequency 30 Fret Doctor 68 Fret template 86 Frets 42 dressing 86–88 replacement 88–89 Fripp, Robert 45 Fullerplast 65 Fullerton, George 19–20 Fundamental 30, 32 Funkadelic 168

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G G&L 16 G3 172 Gaffer tape 39 Gallagher, Rory 21, 45, 166 Gibson 20, 41, 49, 85, 101, 142, 154 G-Force 98 Les Paul 13, 73, 77, 129, 164, 173, 186, 188, Les Paul Deluxe 179 Min-Etune 98 PAF pickup 167, 185 Robot Guitar 98 SG 13, 179 Gig bag 72–73 Gilbert, Paul 151 Gilmour, David 45, 149, 167 Glover, Roger 162 Goerlitz 68 Graph Tech 90–91, 103 Graphite 90 Graphite powder 93 Gretsch 17, 20, 73, 85 Duo Jet 14 Filter’Tron 185 Grounding 117, 156 Guild 17 Guy, Buddy 163, 165 Guyatone 165

H Hale, Willie 175 Halfwound strings 44 Hamer 17, 96 Hamerlock 96 Hard-shell case 72 Hardtail bridge 54 Harmonic modes 32 Harmonics 40, 57 Harrison, George 22, 106, 164, 168 Hazel, Eddie 168 Healey, Jeff 169 Heat sink 111, 122 Hendrix, Jimi 8, 16, 45, 163, 167–168, 170, 175–177, 179, 181, 185 Hercules Tri-Stand 74 Hetfield, James 45 Hex key 36, 39, 56 Hexaphonic pickups 152 Hiwatt 167 Holly, Buddy 15, 18, 172 Hooker, John Lee 165

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Hum 154 Humbuckers 136–138 Humidity 72–73, 75

Loctite Naval Jelly 69 Lollar Pickups 142 Lord, Jon 162

I

M

Ibanez 17, 175 Jem77 17 Ice-pop stick shim 84 IK Multimedia iRig 153 Impressions, The 175 Intonation 40 setting 57–58 Isley Brothers, The 170

Machine heads (see Tuners) Mack, Lonnie 181 Malmsteen, Yngwie 45, 151, 162, 173 Maple 31 Marshall amplification 171–172, 177, 179 800 model 169 Marshall, Jim 171 Martinez, Rene 181 Marvin, Hank 173–174 May, Brian 8, 150 May, Harold 150 Mayall, John 164 Mayer, John 174 Mayer, Roger 171 Mayfield, Curtis 175 McCartney, Paul 168, 171–172 McHugh, Thaddeus 41 Meek, Joe 162 Mesa Boogie amplification 177 Metal film capacitor 122–123 Micro-tilt 82–83 Microphony 33 MIDI 101, 152 Mitchell, Mitch 170 Monterey Pop Festival 171 Morello, Tom 38, 106, 129, 175 Multimeter 37, 113 Music Man 16 Music Nomad 68 Musical bow 30 MXR Smartgate 159

J Jackson 17, 142, 167 Jackson, Michael 167, 180 Jagger, Mick 186 James, Elmore 170 Jewelry files 36 Johnson, Eric 105, 172 Jorgenson, John 25

K K&F 12, 18 Kauffman, Clayton “Doc” 12 Kent Armstrong Pickups 142 Kill pot 129–131 Kill switch 130 King, B. B. 166, 170, 177 Kluson 66, 96 Knobs 126, 129 Knopfler, Mark 45, 173 Kramer 17, 175 Kyser 68

L Lace Pickups 23, 24 Sensor 162 Las Vegas 75 Law of Induction 32 Led Zeppelin 162, 175 Lemon oil 37, 68 Lennon, John 168, 172 Let it Bleed 165 Liege and Lief 178 Lindley, David 165 Lindy Fralin Pickups 142 Little Richard 170 Loaded pickguard 151 Loar, Lloyd 32 Locking straps 60–61 Locking tuners 96

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N Naptha 37, 62–63, 69 National Style “O” 173 Neck 40 adjustment 80–82, 84–85 angle 82 radius 80 relief 41–42, 80–81 twist 41, 69 Needle files 36 New Orleans 75 New standard tuning 45 Nickel-plated strings 44 Nightwatchman, The 175

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Nitrocellulose 65 No-load Potentiometer 147 Node 32 Nut 43 cutting from bone 92 replacement 90–93

O Oahu 165 Obama, President Barack 77 Open switch 132–133 Orange Drop capacitor 122–123 Output socket 43, 119–121

P Page, Jimmy 45, 98, 188–89 Paper in oil “POI” capacitor 122–123 Paper in wax “PIW” capacitor 122–123 Parliament 168 Paul, Les 8, 13 Peavey 142 Pennebaker, D. A. 171 Pensa 173 Pickups polarity 151 selector switch 43 adjustment 43, 58–59 alnico 58 blended 144 ceramic 58 changing 134–137 Fender Hot Noiseless 58 Fender Texas Specials 58 Fender Vintage 58 Piezzo bridge 98 Pigtronix Gate Keeper 159 Ping 95 Pink Floyd 148, 167 Planet Waves 61, 74 Polyurethane 65 Potentiometers 116–118 changing 126 Procol Harum 179 Proxxon 68 Push-Pull Pot 138

Q Queen 8, 150

R Radius gauge 36, 55, 89

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al 06

INDEX

Rage Against the Machine 175 Rainbow 162 Red Special 8, 150 Redding, Noel 170 Relief 41–42, 80 Richards, Keith 186 Rickenbacker 85, 168, 179 Robertson, Robbie 176 Robot tuners 98–101 “Rocky” 22, 106 Rodgers, Nile 176 Roland 101, 152 GK-2A 152 GR-55 153 Roller nut 93 Rolling Stones, The 165, 186 Ronsonol 62 Root, Jim 26 Rosewood 31 Roundwound strings 44 Routing 131

S Sambora, Richie 177 Satriani, Joe 172 Schaller 95 M6 tuners 96 Security Lock system 60–61 Schultz, Bill 19 Selmer amplification 173 Serial Numbers 190-199 Serial switching 140 Series Wiring 150 Series/Parallel switching 141 Set neck 85 Seymour Duncan 25, 134, 142, 151, 180 “Lipstick Case” 27 Little ’59 135 SSL1-C 167 Shadows, The 174 Shamblin, Eldon 15 Shepherd, Kenny Wayne 45, 177 Shielding 154–159 Shim 82–83 Silvertone 165 Smith, Dan 18 Soldering iron 37, 39, 110–112 Squier 16–18, 23, 169 Stratocasters 38 USB Stratocaster 19, 153 Vintage Modified Surf Stratocaster 27

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Stauffer, Johann 15 Steel wool 37, 66–67, 69 Steve Clayton 61 Stone, Sly 168 Storage 72–76 Strap 60–61 String tree 49, 95 String winder 37, 46, 49 Stringing 46–51 Strings 39, 44, 55 Superstrat 17, 50 Switch 116–119 cleaning spray 114 replacement 132–133 tips 129 Synchronized Tremolo 14, 46, 54

T T. Rex Fuel Tank 155 Taste 166 Taylor Guitars 103 TBX Control 128 TC Electronic Stereo Chorus 172 Teisco 165 Thompson, Richard 178 Through-neck 85 Tinning 111 Titebond 37 Tom Anderson Pickups 142 Tone control 43, 118, 128 Townshend, Pete 164, 178 Transportation 77 Travis, Merle 12 Treble Bleed Modification 125 Tremolo blocking 104–105 Tronical 98–101 Trower, Robin 179 Tru-oil 107 Truss rod 80–81 Tuners 43 Fender “F” 48, 66, 94 Fender American Standard 46–47, 94 Kluson Deluxe 66, 94 replacement 94–101 Tung oil 107 Tuning 52–53 harmonic reference 53 matched reference 52 mixed reference 53 octave reference 53 TUSQ 90–91, 103 Tutmarc, Paul 20

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U Univox Uni-Vibe 171, 179 US Patent and Trademark Office 14

V Van Halen 180 Van Halen, Eddie 38, 45, 106, 180 Vaughan, Jimmie 165 Vaughan, Stevie Ray 8, 25, 45, 163, 165, 177, 180 Volume control 43, 118 Vox wah-wah 167, 171

W Waters, Muddy 163, 170 WD-40 63 WEM 167 Who, The 179 Winter, Johnny 177 Winwood, Steve 164 Wire cutters 36–37, 29 Wright, Tom 179

Y Yardbirds, The 162 Young’s Modulus of Elasticity 45

Z Zippo 62

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CHAPTER 6 | APPENDICES

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS PICTURE CREDITS

THE AUTHOR WOULD LIKE TO THANK

Unless otherwise stated below, all images were specially

Jim Barber for all of his help and six-string advice over

photographed for the Orgone Company by Paul Smith.

the years; Todd Berger and everybody else at Voyageur Press; Louis Burrows for hand modeling duties and

4 Outline Press Ltd. 5 Outline Press Ltd. 9 Outline Press

emergency additional photography; The Creamery’s

Ltd. 12 Fender Music Instruments Corp.; Jarret Ovek 12

Jaime Campbell, purveyor of fine handwound pickups;

Fender Music Instruments Corp. 14 US Patent and

Elaine Smith at D’Addario UK Ltd.; Fender Music

Trademark Office 15 Getty 16 Fender Music Instruments

Instruments GBI; Lee Dickson; Dave Gregory; Martin

Corp. 17 Terry Burrows; Fender Music Instruments Corp.

Howells for loan of guitars; Jane Laing for her expertise

18 Fender Music Instruments Corp.; Fender Music

in all matters editorial; Steven Marlow; Nigel Osborne

Instruments Corp.; Mike Ovett; Fender Music Instruments

for access to his photographic archive; Dennis Pernu;

Corp.; CBS; Terry Burrows; Terry Burrows; Terry

Planet Waves; Roland (UK); Paul Smith for his fine

Burrows; Outline Press Ltd. 19 Jarret Ovek; Terry

bespoke photography; Robert Wilding.

Burrows; Brian Grainger; Fender Music Instruments Corp.; Terry Burrows; Terry Burrows; Terry Burrows;

This book is dedicated to the memory of my old friend

Outline Press Ltd.; Terry Burrows; Outline Press Ltd. 20

Ralph Denyer, author of The Guitar Handbook—the

Brian Grainger 21 Outline Press Ltd.; Outline Press Ltd.

revised version on which I cut my teeth as a rookie

22 Dee Harris; Outline Press Ltd. 23 Outline Press Ltd.;

editor. He was a top fellow. Additionally, like all of

Outline Press Ltd. 24 Outline Press Ltd.; Outline Press

the music books I’ve written, by definition it’s also

Ltd. 25 Outline Press Ltd.; Outline Press Ltd. 26 Outline

dedicated to the memory of my dad, Ron Burrows,

Press Ltd.; Fender Music Instruments Corp. 27 Fender

who also helped me build my first guitars as a teenager.

Music Instruments Corp.; Fender Music Instruments

(And here, as promised, is “The Poser”!)

Corp. 30 Ahmed Ali 54 Terry Burrows 62 Behlen Inc. 68 Goerlitz; Jim Dunlop; Kyser; Fret Doctor; Music Nomad 69 J&M Hardware 70 Behringer GmbH 73 P&W; P&W 75 Humidifier Store 93 Fender Music Instruments Corp. 135 Seymour Duncan 142 Seymour Duncan 142 EMG 151 The Creamery 152 Roland (UK) 153 IK Multimedia 154 Fender Music Instruments Corp. 155 T. Rex; Ebtech 159 Pigtronix; Terry Burrows; Electro-Harmonix 163 Getty 164 Getty 166 Getty 168 Getty 178 Getty 181 Getty 186 Jim Barber 188 Jim Barber 189 Jim Barber 190 Terry Burrows 195 Terry Burrows 208 Robert Wilding

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