What is it?This is a pre-wired solderless Stratocaster wiring harness upgrade designed for SSS American or Mexican Fender Stratocasters. Hand wired with the highest quality parts and cleanest solder connections from a professional guitar tech. This wiring harness can give you up to 14 different pickup combinations with no soldering required.
WHAT DOES IT DO?
-With this pre-wired harness loaded in your guitar, you will have a Swiss Army knife for tones. No soldering required. Use the solderless connectors with a small philps head screw driver for the installation (screw driver not included).
SERIES/Parallel (humbucker) SWITCH
-The volume push/pull, when pulled up, will put the neck/middle and the bridge/middle pickups in series for a fat humbucker tone. When in the neck or bridge position on the 5 way, simply pull up on the volume knob for a fat humbucker tone!
PHASE SWITCH
-The middle master tone knob is a push/pull that allows you to reverse the phase of the middle pickup. This allows for 'out of phase' tones when using the neck or bridge pickup with the middle pickup. When two pickups are out of phase it produces a very distinct tone kind of like a wah pedal half way on. You get a squawky snarly sound that is great for funk rhythms and leads. The out of phase sound was made popular by guitar players like Jimmy Page and Brian May and can be heard in many Led Zepplin and Queen songs. Note: the middle knob also severs as a master tone.
BLEND POT
-The bottom tone has been changed into a blend pot that allows you to blend the neck and bridge pickups together. This produces a unique tone similar to a telecaster in the middle position. It has a balanced bass and treble response with a softer attack. Sounds great for rhythms. When the blender is all the way up on 10 there will be no effect to the tone. The more you turn the knob down the more the neck and bridge pickups blend together. This also allows for all three pickups in the 2/4 position of the 5 way with the blender engaged.
TREBLE BLEED MOD
-Have you ever noticed how the tone gets muddy and lacks definition when you roll the volume back on the guitar? The treble bleed mod's purpose is to retain your high end or treble response when cutting back on the volume. I have spent a lot of time playing around with different caps and resistors to find the perfect treble bleed mod. The roll off of the volume is smooth and retains a clear bright signal at lower volumes.
14 DIFFERENT TONES!
1. bridge
2. bridge/middle
3. middle
4. middle/neck
5. neck
6. neck/bridge (with blender engaged)
7. neck/middle/bridge (with blender engaged in 2/4 position)
8. neck/middle out of phase (with middle push/pull up in 4 position)
9. middle/bridge out of phase with middle push/pull up in 2 position)
10. neck/middle/bridge out of phase (with blender engaged and middle push/pull up in 2/4 position)
11. bridge/middle series (humbucker). (with volume push/pull up)
12. neck/middle series (humbucker). (with volume push/pull up)
13. bridge/middle series/out of phase (with both push/pulls up)
14. neck/middle series/out of phase (with both push/pulls up)
I might have missed something...??? Let me know if you find more tones not listed!
Installation
Installation is about a simple as it gets. Use a small Philips head screw driver (not included) to connect pickup, jack, and ground wires to the numbered solderless connectors.
1. Neck Hot
2. Middle Hot
3. Bridge Hot
4. Middle Ground
5. Neck Ground
6. Bridge Ground
7. Jack Hot
8. Jack Ground
9. Ground from bridge claw
10. Extra ground for control cavity if needed.
SPECS
-DIRECT FIT FOR AMERICAN OR MEXICAN STRATS-10 solderless connections
-250k Bourns Push/Pull master volume and "series" potentiometer
-treble bleed mod on volume (100k resistor and .001uf cap)
-250k Bourns push/pull master tone and middle pickup phase reversal
-.022mfd Orange Drop capacitor (produces a smooth and even treble roll off when cutting back on the tone controls)
-CTS 250k no load blend knob
-Oak Grigsby 5 way switch
-Vintage style pull back cloth wire (7 strand 22 gauge wire for the clearest signal path)
-extra ground wire for the bridge claw
-Fender Vintage Stratocaster Aluminum Shield
-Pre-Wired 1/4" Switchcraft Jack
-Wiring Diagram included
About Smokey B's
I am a guitar electronic specialist and tone enthusiast located in Oak Grove, Oregon. My custom wiring has been installed in over 11,000 guitars world wide. I was a lead tech and artist rep for many years with Seymour Duncan. I have helped guitar and bass players from bands like The Foo Fighters, Guns N' Roses, Slash, Ozzy, Joe Walsh, Weezer, 311 and many more in search for their perfect tone. More than anything else, I am a guitar exploring sound surfer. Always chasing the new. I feel honored to be able to do what I love and share it with so many. My main goal is to help you fall in love with your guitar again. I offer pre-wired set ups for most any guitar. Custom orders are welcome! Visit my eBay store for my pre-wired harnesses!