Your top 5 upgrades to a MIJ 60s RI strat

[peel]

OK, here you go... take my 60s reissue MIJ strat. Its stock. Rosewood fingerboard. Now, what would YOU do to beef up tone and playability? Im going to get mine upgraded after I check these responses.

**I play in coverband (rock, blues, new rock etc.) and need an all round axe, not just say, a blues specific axe. I want to retain the overall strat sound, so I wont be putting a mini HB in this guitar.**

 

Heres a list to choose from, but add your own items and please be specific about mods or changes. Thx in advance for your help.

 

pickups

pots & tapers

switches

trems & trem systems

bridge & saddles

sheilding

frets

nuts

tuners

 

Peel

[signal1000]

Originally posted by peel:

pickups

pots & tapers

switches

trems & trem systems

bridge & saddles

sheilding

frets

nuts

tuners

Pickups: Lace Sensor Hot Gold's or Lace Holy Grails or a nice set of Kinmans

Pots: CTS

Trem: block off

Bridge and saddles: either an American Standard or some Graph-Techs

Shielding: do the guitarnuts work to it

Nut: LSR roller (if using trem), if not a Tusq

Tuners: Sperzel Locking

[peel]

Signal...hows it hangin?

..hey I said "5" thats like 8!

 

Thanks. 'Splain me the sheilding thing?

 

peel

[Gabriel E.]

pickups:

 

Kinman AVTs in the neck and middle. Either a Seymour Duncan JB jr. or Screamin' Deamon Jr. in the bridge.

 

pots & tapers:

 

500K volume. 250K tone for neck pickup. 500k tone for middle and bridge pickups. Mouser pots.

 

switches:

 

Monster switch from Stewart MacDonald . It gives you these options:

1)neck pickup

2)neck and middle pickup

3)Neck and bridge pickup (Like on a Tele. Way better sound than middle pickup).

4)Bridge and Middle pickups.

5)Bridge pickup.

 

trems & trem systems:

 

1) Leave stock. Keep flush against the body using 4 or 5 springs. Replace saddles with Graph Tech String Savers.

 

2)Replace with Wilkinson system if whammy use will be more than subtle.

 

sheilding:

 

Lots of it.

 

frets:

 

What you are comfortable with. I like tall but narrow frets.

 

nuts:

 

Graphite. Graphite string trees too. Just as good as LSR Rollers but without the fuss.

 

tuners:

 

Leave stock unless you are using Wilkinson trem. If you go with the Wilkinson, replace with Sperzels.

 

Have fun!

[rog951]

I just upgraded my Mexican Strat and it made all the difference in the world.

 

1) I put in the EMG Dave Gilmour pickup set. This is a VERY versatile setup. The only problem is, it doesn't quite have the same "Strat-ness" as it used to for clean sounds. You can get kinda close with the two dual-pickup settings, but no cigar. This isn't to say it's bad, just different. It's also almost dead-quiet now. If this were my only Strat, I'd probably either leave the pickups stock or go with more traditional replacement pickups, but I've also got an American Standard Strat that is fine just the way it is. So, my mexicaster is my test mule

 

2) I replaced the trem with a Stewart MacDonald version. Here it is:

 

http://www.stewmac.com/catalog/images_1lg/1264_1lg.jpg

 

It's much heavier than the stock Mexican version...I really like it! But there was one thing I hadn't bargained for: the six screw holes where the trem mounts to the body were spaced differently on the new bridge than on the stock one...the new one is wider. So, I had to drill out the existing holes, fill them with dowel rod and drill new holes at the proper spacing. A big pain in the ass but it worked. It's beautiful!

 

3) I found a set of Fender (Shaller) locking tuners on ebay and slapped them bad boys on there. They're better than the stock tuners but I'm slightly underwhelmed. I guess it was worth it for $25 but the tuners were pretty much ok to start with...I'm glad I didn't pay full price.

 

4) A Graphtech string retainer at the headstock. The best $5.00 I've ever spent. I'm thinking about their bridge saddles too but I'll wait at least until I wear this set of strings out.

 

5) Well, I dunno. I didn't really do anything else. Oh yeah, one other thing: the day after I finished all this crap, I managed to knock the guitar off its stand and take two big chunks outta the finish...all the way to bare wood. Right where your right forearm sits on the body. So, I'm calling it a "relic" job. I just can't have ANYTHING nice!!!

[signal1000]

Originally posted by peel:

Signal...hows it hangin?

..hey I said "5" thats like 8!

 

Thanks. 'Splain me the sheilding thing?

 

peel

: ) I'd look at the pickups, pots, tuners and possibly the bridge for sure.

 

The shielding thing is best explained at: http://www.guitarnuts.com

Great site and great tips and techniques.

[peel]

Just want to thank everybody for the suggestions and tips. Much appreciated.

 

Peel

[Guitarzan]

cool ideas guys, hey this must be the canadian content section? hey signal, i can get a set of gold sensors and one red/red dually sensor for 175 canadian, what can you tell me about the improvement i will hear. my godin sd is presently stock so the old pickups have to go.

[baronedo]

Here's my 2 cents which worked well on my Mexican Strat:

 

Pups: Replace with either Kinman AVn Blues Set or Seymour Duncan SSL-5 Custom Staggered calibrated set of 3. I've done my homework on these and the sound improvement will be significant.

 

Bridge and Saddles: If you keep your current bridge, add a Tremsetter from Hipshot Products (www.hipshotproducts.com) for trem stability and Graph Tech saddles for better tone and to eliminate string breakage at the saddle.

If you want to replace the Trem, check out the newly designed Tremolo Bridge, also by Hipshot products. I hear it is the cat's meow as it is much smoother and more stable due to its ball bearing friction points vs. the standard knive and post design on most trems.

 

Nut and String Retainers: I installed a Fender LSR nut which I really like (it has ball bearings to eliminate string binding in the nut). Also, install a graphite string tree for the same purpose.

 

Tuners: Get Locking Tuners (either Sperzel or Schaller). In addition to more stable tuning, the slightly increased mass of these on the guitar head will give you better tone. Also, since these tuners have staggered or very low heights, you can eliminate the string tree (note: on the factory Strat Plus model which has locking Schaller's, there is no string tree as none is needed due to the tuner increasing the string angle over the nut.

[peel]

Originally posted by Lancer:

Here's my 2 cents which worked well on my Mexican Strat:

 

Pups: Replace with either Kinman AVn Blues Set or Seymour Duncan SSL-5 Custom Staggered calibrated set of 3. I've done my homework on these and the sound improvement will be significant.

 

Bridge and Saddles: If you keep your current bridge, add a Tremsetter from Hipshot Products (www.hipshotproducts.com) for trem stability and Graph Tech saddles for better tone and to eliminate string breakage at the saddle.

If you want to replace the Trem, check out the newly designed Tremolo Bridge, also by Hipshot products. I hear it is the cat's meow as it is much smoother and more stable due to its ball bearing friction points vs. the standard knive and post design on most trems.

 

Nut and String Retainers: I installed a Fender LSR nut which I really like (it has ball bearings to eliminate string binding in the nut). Also, install a graphite string tree for the same purpose.

 

Tuners: Get Locking Tuners (either Sperzel or Schaller). In addition to more stable tuning, the slightly increased mass of these on the guitar head will give you better tone. Also, since these tuners have staggered or very low heights, you can eliminate the string tree (note: on the factory Strat Plus model which has locking Schaller's, there is no string tree as none is needed due to the tuner increasing the string angle over the nut.

any idea whether that hipshot trem will install on a MIJ strat w/o drilling or defacing the stock looks??

 

thx peel

[signal1000]

Originally posted by guitarzan:

cool ideas guys, hey this must be the canadian content section? hey signal, i can get a set of gold sensors and one red/red dually sensor for 175 canadian, what can you tell me about the improvement i will hear. my godin sd is presently stock so the old pickups have to go.

The first thing you will notice with these pickups is that they are dead quiet. No 60 cycle hum at all. You get a nice classic strat sound with the Golds that sounds great clean or overdriven. The sound is very consistent and even since you don't get drop off when bend strings.

 

The Reds are hot classic sounding pickups. You'll get a very hot humbucker that has a bit of a classic vibe to it.

 

$175CDN for all three would be a very good deal. I paid almost that much for each pickup several years ago.

 

Check out http://www.agi-lace.com the user forum is moderated by Don Mare. He can answer any questions you have and is incredibly knowledgeable and a really nice guy. He's very prompt answering questions and is a pickup guru who is a big Duncan and Kinman fan as well.

[baronedo]

Concerning the Gold Lace Sensor pickups, I have a set of Three that are in excellent condition that I am looking to sell at a reasonable price if anyone is interested.

[baronedo]

Peel,

The installation of the Tremsetter is easy and should not devalue the guitar. In the tremolo cavity (which is covered by its plastic back cover and totally out of sight, There are two minor modifications made. The Tremsetter replaces the center trem spring and a small hole is drilled in the trem cavity to allow the Tremsetter's movement rod to function. There is also a small mounting plate attached with two small screws, again within the tremolo cavity. These mods are totally hidden. After making these mods (trust me these are easy to do) the Tremsetter just slips in place and attachs to the intertia block of the bridge in place of the center trem spring. After you adjust it properly, it works like a charm. In addition to trem/tuning stablility, it also provides better tone and sustain and prevents other strings from going flat when bending notes (unlike a Floyd Rose which is abominable in this area).

[peel]

Originally posted by Lancer:

Peel,

The installation of the Tremsetter is easy and should not devalue the guitar. In the tremolo cavity (which is covered by its plastic back cover and totally out of sight, There are two minor modifications made. The Tremsetter replaces the center trem spring and a small hole is drilled in the trem cavity to allow the Tremsetter's movement rod to function. There is also a small mounting plate attached with two small screws, again within the tremolo cavity. These mods are totally hidden. After making these mods (trust me these are easy to do) the Tremsetter just slips in place and attachs to the intertia block of the bridge in place of the center trem spring. After you adjust it properly, it works like a charm. In addition to trem/tuning stablility, it also provides better tone and sustain and prevents other strings from going flat when bending notes (unlike a Floyd Rose which is abominable in this area).

Lancer,

 

I was referring to the tremelo replacement you mentioned from same co. Same Q applies ..?

 

As for the tremsetter is it mainly for floating trems? Also, I read they have noticeable unpleasant effect on the smoothness of the trems movement and that you can feel a clunky movement. Any experience with this?

 

thx Peel

[baronedo]

Peel,

With respect to a complete trem replacement, the degree of surgery required will depend on the type of bridge you have. If you have a vintage style 6 screw bridge, then some surgery would be required to install the Hipshot tremolo bridge as it works on a dual post system similar to an Fender American Standard type bridge. If you have a two post, American Standard type bridge then you only have to replace the Fender posts with the Hipshot posts which operate with ball bearings. My advice is that if you have a vintage trem, just get a Tremsetter and try it.

 

With respect to the Tremsetter, all of mine operate quite smoothly. They are a little firmer as they have a better adjustable compression spring set-up, which is what provides the stablility vs. the slinky springs of a standard trem which DON'T WORK. But when adjusted properly the tremsetter works fine. I suspect that users that feel the tremsetter was rough operating do not have it adjusted properly and possibly have the spring tension adjusted too tightly. A friend of mine bought a used Strat Plus which came with a Tremsetter installed and with no instructions. He could not get the trem to be stable and brought it to me. The thing would make noise, was rough, and did not keep the guitar in tune. When I removed the back plate I could see why. Whoever "adjusted" the Tremsetter had in fact taken all tension off the stop collar which full relaxed its compression spring and in essence, totally deactivated it. When I adjusted it properly, it worked great and was stable and smooth.