Need help for Strat wiring mod (5-way)

[stratwell]

Perhaps this one should go to Dan Earlewine (sp?), but I'll give the Forum a shot...I'd be interested to know if there's a solution to re-wiring a stock Strat with the stock 5-way switch so that the pick-ups would work in the following configuration: 1) bridge, 2) bridge-middle, 3) middle, and here's the mod/change I'm looking for- 4) bridge-neck and, back to stock, 5) neck. I don't want to get involved with toggles, buttons or push/pull's; I'm hoping it can be done with jumper wires. Is it possible? If so, how? I'd appreciate some expertise. Thanks in advance...

...C

[Flashback]

Hey stratwell, welcome to the forum

 

I would start Here , but need to know what model you have to be sure of how its currently wired.

[baronedo]

Try these modifications from the Kinman pickup website (kinman.com). See the wirograms for the changes. It's very inexpensive and works extremely well and will make your Strat much more versatile. I have used it on all my Strats:

 

Pickup Wiring Modifications:

 

1. Modified wiring for neck pickup mix control & master tone control:

This mod is really neat and is easy to make with no surgery to the exterior of your Strat. You basically replace the rear tone pot with a higher valued pot ( I used a 1 Meg), make the wiring changes shown and the versatility of your Strat improves dramatically. What happens is the middle tone pot becomes a master tone pot for all 3 pups (you only need one tone pot anyway) and the rear tone pot becomes a graduated blender pot for blending in the neck pup with any of the other pups selected via the 5 way switch. You really lose nothing and gain everything since if you turn the new rear pot totally off (i.e. clockwise) then the 5 way switch works as on a traditional Strat. However, if you start dialing in the rear pot counter-clockwise, you can get a progressive mix of the neck with any other pup. For example, if you set the 5 way switch to the bridge pup and dial in the neck pup, you get a neck and bridge pup blend for a neat Tele sound . Similarly if you set the 5 way switch to middle & bridge position and dial in the neck pup, you get all 3 pups for an entirely different sound. Everyone I've talked to who has made this mod is very happy with it. Some were thinking about buying Teles and have indicated they can now get a good Tele sound on their Strat.

 

Additionally, I recommend the other kinman mod called

 

2. Treble Bypass filter: You buy a 130K 1/4 watt resistor and .0012uF 63 volt polyester capacitor needed for this minor mod (for less than fifty cents). You basically wire the resistor and capacitor in series across the two terminals of the volume pot as shown on the wirogram. The end result is that you no longer get a loss of highs as you turn your guitar's volume pot down ( a common problem of Strats associated with guitar cable inductance).

 

In my opinion, these minor pup modifications should be standard issue on any Strat (then again it would probably cut into Fender's Tele sales). All of the above pup modifications can be accomplished for about $5.50 ($5 for a 1Meg pot and $.50 for the resistor and capacitor. Go for it on all your Strats - you will truly be amazed by the improvement.

[Caevan O’Shite]

I'll certainly vouch for the Volume-pot Treble Bypass cap and resistor that Lancer recommends; definitely an improvement, done it before myself.

 

And though it may sound more complicated than what you originally asked for, the neck-pickup blend scheme will give you some great tones; the combination of all three pickups on in parallel is particularly lush and beautiful sounding, you may even grow to prefer it to the neck-and-bridge combination (and you'll get that, two).

 

I'll tell you what NOT to waste your time on- those Starr-Switch gizmos (a brand-name replacement-switch using small touch-pads), I had one and it took me a while to figure out that a weedy raspy blatty distortion that was almost always underneath my sound was due to the pickups that were supposed to be off bleeding through. Ichk! Suck-city...