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Modifying a strat
Submitted by Spacedementia87 on Tue, 06/06/2006 - 20:58.
As a test project i want to put a fuzz effect into my strat with a switch coming to the surface somewhere.
I have never done anything more than electronics to my guitar so don't know how i would make a new cavity for the effects pcb.
Also i would want to take out to tone pots from my strat as i don't use them and replace them with the pots for the effect. How could this be done?
Thank you.
With a screw-driver and a soldering iron, I'd say.
I mean i can't just take out the tone pots, i have to do something with the rest of the wires to make sure i still got the tone.
And i would need to carve our some more wood to fit the fuzz effect in.
For a first project it will probably be quite difficult, i take it your idea is to take the PCB from a favorite fuzz pedal, and stick it inside a standard strat?
You will need to route out a cavity on the back of the Strat, also a cavity for the 9v battery, extend the wiring from the PCB up to the existing tone pots and fit a toggle on/off switch.
It sounds quite straight forward and it probably is, but to start with something like this is a little ambitious. How handy are you with a soldering iron, Router, a multimeter, and a schematic?
I did GCSE DT which involved electronics and simple wood/plastic work.
And i am currently stadying science at uni.
I have built many electronics projects, that won't be a problem. I am really quite good at soldering, i know how to use a multi meter and scematics are pretty simple to follow.
It is really the wood work that is the difficult bit.
And how to wire up the pickups so they are on full tone all the time.
OK, Very roughly this is how i would do it, schematics are easy, just type Fender strat schematics in google and take your choice.
Get your Fuzz box and take out the PCB. Measure the height width depth,
get your strat, take it to peices, so you only have the body, mark up the measurements width and length on the back of course, set your router to the depth and get grinding, you will need to cut a flange all the way round the cavity to take the plastic cover that you will need to cut to shape and fix later.
You may need to cut another cavity next to it to take the battery.
drill a hole through from the cavity to the Vol/Tone pot area, and you can then poke all your wiring through. Wiring from the DPDT toe switch on the Fuzz PCB, can go to the DPDT toggle, that you would need to buy and install on the scratchplate.
Getting a 2 pot fuzz box will make an easier project as you can chase the wiring straight up to the newly freed up pots (tone) on the scratchplate.
Take the 2 wires going to your 1/4" output socket on the guitar and redirect them to the input socket on the fuzz PCB, then take the 2 wires from the output on the Fuzz PCB and solder it on the 1/4" output jack on the guitar, you may need some sheilding in the PCB cavity too.
2 things imedialty jump to mind
1) why the hell do you want to do do this?
2) any hopes of ever getting any money back on either the guitar or the fuzz box are zero.
why shouldn't i want to do this?
I have an old strat that i don't use and want practice at modifying guitars.
I don't plan on getting any money back.
I have already used the start to do all sorts of fiddling with so wouldn't wxpect any money anyway!.
But still noone has answered how i should take the tone controls out.
If i just remove the pots i will have 2 hot pick up wires that need to go somewhere.
I would take the wiring from the 2 tone pots off the 5 way switch and bridge the 2 tags that served to two pots.
get rid of the small cap on the tone pot too.
anyone else want to give him some advice?
the 2 hot pickup wires go to the 5 way switch, not the tone pots.
won't that leave me with the tone off all the time.
As in bassy
why dont you try it and see?
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