Strats, pickups and TONE

So, one of the conclusions I came to after playing around with the Epiphone Valve Junior amp was that maybe my guitar pickups weren't doing the job they were designed for. At full volume, the pickups sounded great, but when I turned down the guitar volume, the tone was muddy and dull - not what you expect from a 'strat' style design.

Fortunately, I'd recently discovered guitarfetish.com, who claim to supply 'boutique' class pickups at bargain prices. Even better, they feature a set of vintage style mid sixties strat pickups where the middle pickup isn't reversed polarity (a modern invention) - so it really is proper retro. The set is named after Jimi Hendrix - wow! - but best of all I found I could buy the pickups locally through AxesRus.

A word of warning to the more sensitive of my readers: the sites linked above are design-free zones. Please view with caution and preferably with your hands over your eyes.

I already had a duplicate scratchplate; I had a variety of potentiometers (pots), knobs and switches, so I ordered the new pickups and on their arrival, started the transformation of my guitar.

HA! As if!

I used to think of myself as a budding artisan, patiently nurturing the skills that would transform me into a dedicated craftsman, but now all I notice is the constant swearing, the steady flow of minor disasters and the final sigh of resignation whenever I tackle any job that doesn't have an 'undo' keystroke.

Still, having spent approximately 3 hours soldering up 3 pickups, 3 pots and a switch, and cursing both soldering irons until I run out of swear words, I finally get to the point where I can turn the scratchplate over and pop the knobs onto the pot shafts.

Traditional Fender wiring gives you one volume control and two tone controls and the knobs are labeled as such, so Strat knobs are usually sold in packs of three. Because my custom wiring gives me two volume controls and one tone control, I had to buy two packs of knobs to get two volumes. If you see what I mean.

Anyway, I have to dig deep for new swear words when the volume knob refuses to pop down onto the split shaft. The tone knob springs into place with little effort, but the volume knob won't budge.

Don't know my own strength

One more push... There we go! Except the knob hasn't sprung into place, the pot has collapsed. The lugs bent over the fibre top of the pot have unfolded and the base has fallen away because of the pressure I'd put on the shaft.

I clamp the pot back together, and then pinch the split shaft so it isn't quite so split. The knob slips on fine, and slips off again just as easily. OK, I just need to prise the split shaft apart very slightly. I insert a screwdriver into the gap and wiggle it a little and one side of the split shaft snaps and falls off.

Fortunately, I have another pot, so I just have to heat up the soldering irons again, and spend another hour reassembling and soldering.

Brainwave

Now, it might have been the inhalation of too much burning flux, but it was at this point that I had the brainwave. What is it that every guitarist seeks? What is it that every luthier strives to supply?

Tone. No, more than that - extra tone. Bags of tone.

Tone, tone and more tone!

And my guitar has it.