fun ideas for a CHEAP Squier Strat ?

[threewordname]

Doug Martch from built to spill has a strat with no switch and no tone pot, just all the pickups soldiered straight to the volume pot then straight to the output.

[preservation]

^
Sounds beefy


Could I do it where I still have all 3 PUs switchable but just not wore anything to the tone pot ?

[rumfoord]

ohhh I thought Doug Martsch left the pickups in, but only the middle pickup is wired. I thought I read something more specific at one point, but here he talks here about not actually ever bothering with that aspect of the signal chain (emphasis added):

Have you kept it stock or modded it?
At one point I had the pickup switch and tone knob removed, so all it has is the volume control. I took the tone knob off because I always had it turned all the way up and never touched it—I dialed in the tone on my amp instead. As for the selector switch, I’m pretty sure that the middle position is the only setting I can use now. The in-between settings were completely useless to me.

I do all the sound-shaping stuff with pedals. I’m not a tone junkie. I don’t even know if a Strat is the best guitar for me. I just got it because someone at the guitar store where I bought it recommended it. To get the best sound, I always have to jack it up with a preamp. At first I didn’t understand that stuff, but once I started using a preamp, I got a much bigger and more satisfying sound.

You can totally wire it to switch but leave out the tone control. A simple mod I have plans for (but no time and no urgency) is to leave the pickups in their right spots but wire it as if the neck and middle were swapped. This would give:
1 - bridge
2 - neck+bridge
3 - neck
4 - neck+middle
5 - middle

[preservation]

here's what i know for sure:

i'm spraying Duplicolor Cordova Brown over the semi-gloss black that's been on there for a few days:


i MIGHT match the headstock but right now it's been stained with a roasty chestnut Minwax so it's a pretty colour instead of that ugly white-maple.


i'd love to just put a Charlie Christian in the bridge position and have Volume be the only knob but i dunno how to route the pickguard (or if the CC would
fit in the bridge Hum-size slot) - the only thing i DON'T want to do right now is route the body.



i'm considering sealing-in some old vintage/Japanese stickers onto the paint but it all depends if i can get a hold of anything cool.

[threewordname]

ohhh I thought Doug Martsch left the pickups in, but only the middle pickup is wired. I thought I read something more specific at one point, but here he talks here about not actually ever bothering with that aspect of the signal chain (emphasis added):

Have you kept it stock or modded it?
At one point I had the pickup switch and tone knob removed, so all it has is the volume control. I took the tone knob off because I always had it turned all the way up and never touched it—I dialed in the tone on my amp instead. As for the selector switch, I’m pretty sure that the middle position is the only setting I can use now. The in-between settings were completely useless to me.

I do all the sound-shaping stuff with pedals. I’m not a tone junkie. I don’t even know if a Strat is the best guitar for me. I just got it because someone at the guitar store where I bought it recommended it. To get the best sound, I always have to jack it up with a preamp. At first I didn’t understand that stuff, but once I started using a preamp, I got a much bigger and more satisfying sound.

You can totally wire it to switch but leave out the tone control. A simple mod I have plans for (but no time and no urgency) is to leave the pickups in their right spots but wire it as if the neck and middle were swapped. This would give:
1 - bridge
2 - neck+bridge
3 - neck
4 - neck+middle
5 - middle

Whoops, looks like you got it straight from the horse's mouth. I guess I must have misunderstood a different interview with him, or I assumed 3 pickups with no switch meant all on.

[docleelau]

made a Duosonic-Strat out of a cheap beaten Squierbody...

Jagstang how'd you get this look - Just go sonic blue over stock sunburst?

Want to do this so desparately to a jazzmaster i just got... share with me your secrets

[Mike S]

Well whatever you end up doing, I've found that arranging the springs into the classic three-spring triangle pattern and putting on Blue Steel LTHB strings results in a floating vibrato that stays in tune remarkably well.

[preservation]

^i'll give that a shot- thanks !


now hypothetically let's just assume i wanted to add some glitter or seal something in b/w the autopaint & the clear lacquer.
any tips ?

[lunaticjaguar]

Cordova brown looks like a beauty.

I have a 94 MIC Bullet Strat (swimming pool) that i cant decide what to do with myself. Its got alot of charm but i cant decide between traditional strat and getting real weird and putting some effort in.

[preservation]

i've never regretted getting weird

[docleelau]

i've never regretted getting weird

Its impossible to ever go wrong when you get weird

[Stratelejazzuar]

^i'll give that a shot- thanks !


now hypothetically let's just assume i wanted to add some glitter or seal something in b/w the autopaint & the clear lacquer.
any tips ?

duplicolor makes a clear glitter spray - https://duplicolor.com/product/effex-gl ... clear-coat
i just saw a video on YT the other day about some guy using it over a blue strat to make it glittery