What's the most difficult guitar wiring mod you have ever done?

joshua.tay

New member
For me it was the ultra strat mod. Here's the configuration and more details can be found at the link below

http://www.1728.org/guitar2.htm

For those hot mod lovers, do share your projects that you have done so that we can keep this comminity alive in exchanging wiring ideas and modification ideas on electric guitars. I shall start my recent most difficult project.

For this ultra strat mod i tweaked it a bit from the original schematic from the website link above. Basically i wired 2nd tone control to bridge pickup instead of middle pickup and installed a treble bled mod 100kohm resistor with 0.002uF capacitor in parallel at the volume lugs pot to prevent treble from bleeding when turning down the volume at lower levels. I found these values suitable as the volume taper was not drastically affected when lowering the Vol level.

Pickups used were lindy Fralins Blues special pickups single coils with added baseplate at the bridge pickup for added bass.

Removal of the 5 way switch is required and we replace this switch with 5 individual switches. For my project, i used 5 dpdt switches instead of 3spdt and 2 dpdt.

Cheers

Based on original schematic from the website, here's the explanation


1) The five switches required for this modification (2 DPDT and 3 SPST), are very easy to obtain and are inexpensive. Yes, you could even get these at Radio Shack™ or other electronic retailer and the cost would probably be about $20.

2) The guitar is switched from the exact same location. Unlike some guitar modifications which utilize switches mounted on the "pots", all 5 replacement switches are located precisely where the old switch was. Also, the five switches line up neatly and it is easy to see which option is being used. For example, you do not have to remember which "pot" controls, series, parallel, out of phase, etc.

3) You'll still get all five sounds you had from the old switching.
• Three Single Coil Sounds - Neck Middle Bridge.
• Neck & Middle in Parallel
• Middle & Bridge in Parallel.

4) You'll get the following new sounds:
• Neck & Middle in Series
• Middle & Bridge in Series
• Neck and Bridge in Series and Out of Phase
• All 3 pickups in Series
• Neck and Bridge in Series
• Middle Pickup In Parallel with Neck and Bridge in Series


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One of my friends had me completely gutting out his guitar, installing an XY MIDIpad (with all the switches/whatnot), solo/bypass switch, and 50's spec wiring... Took me a while.

Another one was troubleshooting a Sustainiac-equipped guitar, but don't even get me started...
 
This project took me around 3 nights to get it right.. Includes troubleshooting too. Experience wise it was worth while.
 
Joshua, that is a frustrating mod. The "ultra" strat. So far, I'm still sticking to the usual standard wirings. The weirdest I've got is the triple coil tap on a Strat, two rails and a humbucker. The other is a two optioned capacitor. Not as complexed as your's and adamr's.
 
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