Shining up my ol' strat

[javert]

After not playing for about 10 years, my old strat was in need of an overhaul. The electronics needed to be replaced (or at least it was in need of resoldering and contact spray) and it didn't look so good anymore. I've always had a problem with noise in the bridge pickup and I had an extra TB4 lying around since I put a Custom in my KV2, so I decided to put it in my strat. That should also make it more diverse. The TB4 was black, so I decided to try out black pickups, knobs, etc. I wasn't sure how it would work out.

As I remember it, the guitar was bought back in '92 or '93 when I was a teenager. I slaved for a long time handling return bottles at the local super market so a lot of sweat, blood and tears went into this guitar and I'll never sell it, even if it doesn't fit my style anymore.

Anyways, here are some before and after pics.

[zenridaz]

hows that humbucker sound,i just bought 1?

[chrisolson]

Now it totally looks like the '95 San Dimas guitars! Well done.

[javert]

hows that humbucker sound,i just bought 1?

Which one, the Custom or the TB4?

[javert]

Now it totally looks like the '95 San Dimas guitars! Well done.

Ah, I didn't even think about that. Cool. I wasn't sure how the pearl pickguard was going to work out, but I'm pretty happy about it and it does spice things up a bit compared to the boring white or black ones.

[Joe_Steeler]

Love it! the black pups and knobs gives it a boost, plus it is my fav pup combo HSS.
Sweet.

[javert]

Love it! the black pups and knobs gives it a boost, plus it is my fav pup combo HSS.
Sweet.

Thanks. Yeah, the black provides a nice contrast. It feels almost like I got a new guitar.

[zenridaz]

Which one, the Custom or the TB4?

the tb4

[toejam]

Very cool! I like it a lot better now with the black pups and pearloid guard.

[javert]

the tb4

Ah. It's a good versatile pickup that can be used for a lot of different genres. And it sounds good in combination with the stock Fender pickups, although there's a bit of a output level difference. The strat still has the nice twang when the TB4 and the mid pickups are combined. I like the Custom and the Distortion better for heavy stuff, though. The reason I took it out of my KV2 was that I already have TB4s in two other Jacksons and I wanted to try the Custom.

[skorb]

that is very very nice.

[MartinBarre]

Yeah nice! I'm doing up an old Marlin cheapo strat right now, so can you tell me this:
What kind of pots did you use? Audio taper or linear taper? And 250 or 500K? And (!) what size of cap?
Ta!

[Bengal65]

Nice job! Looks great! I'm curious about the rusted screws I see on the pickguard. Did you buy it new or used back then? I've never seen the chrome/nickel screws rust. I've got Strat's I had since the 70's and they as good as new. Of course, they are stored in cases. The nickel will get a slight dulling film, but no rust at all. With the chrome screws, zero rust. Just wondering.

[javert]

Yeah nice! I'm doing up an old Marlin cheapo strat right now, so can you tell me this:
What kind of pots did you use? Audio taper or linear taper? And 250 or 500K? And (!) what size of cap?
Ta!

I used 250kOhm pots and a a 0.022uF cap. I justed looked up the pots i used, and looks like I got linear pots, but that was certainly not my intention.

Have a look at

http://www.guitarelectronics.com/

where you can find parts lists, wiring diagrams for various configurations.

[javert]

Nice job! Looks great! I'm curious about the rusted screws I see on the pickguard. Did you buy it new or used back then? I've never seen the chrome/nickel screws rust. I've got Strat's I had since the 70's and they as good as new. Of course, they are stored in cases. The nickel will get a slight dulling film, but no rust at all. With the chrome screws, zero rust. Just wondering.

Well spotted! Those are the original screws. I had bought a set of new black screws, but I hadn't bought enough, so I ended up using the old ones. I sweat a lot when I play guitar and I have problems with rust on several of my guitars. The Floyd and pickup screws usually rust. It's really annoying and I've been meaning to ask in here about it for a long time. Here's what my KV2 looked like one month after I purchased it: