New Electronics for Strat.

  • Thread starter Thread starter elenore19
  • Start date Start date
elenore19

elenore19

Slowing becoming un-noob.
I already decided on these pickups..
http://store.guitarfetish.com/provalstpiou.html

Now I'm looking into new pots and switch.

I was lookin' at this for a switch.
http://www.allparts.com/store/electronics-switches-ep-0078-000,Product.asp

Then as far as pots go, I really don't know anything about 250k vs 500k. I don't know what makes a pot really good or not.
Maybe something like these? http://www.allparts.com/store/electronics-500k-pots-ep-4986-000,Product.asp
I sort of feel like the electronics (except for the pickups) sold at guitarfetish are cheap. So I've been looking at allparts.com
I really just have no idea how to judge what is good.


Thanks guys.
-Elliot
 
The Alpha pots and Sprague caps that GF sells are good. Strats use 250K pots and .047 caps. You can probably get a good genuine Fender Strat switch at Guitar Center.
 
apl said:
The Alpha pots and Sprague caps that GF sells are good. Strats use 250K pots and .047 caps. You can probably get a good genuine Fender Strat switch at Guitar Center.
Click to expand...

Alright, the nearest guitar center to me is 5 hours away...anywhere I can find on the internet?
Also, my guitar isn't a fender. It's a strat ripoff. Does that make a difference in what I get? I'll get those pots from GF then.
 
you're gonna like those p/ups.
No opinion on the other stuff
 
This place appears to carry the Fender switches, too, along with some other interesting stuff. Do post your opinions of those pickups when you get them; I'm considering doing a similar electronics overhaul on my old Peavey strat copy.
 
As I have mentioned before ..... I have a set in my apl strat and it's my favorite sounding git out of my 13 gits and probably the best strat p/ups I've ever used.
It's become my primary gigging guitar.
I'm sure there's better but these really do sound great and they're cheap.
 
Lt. Bob said:
you're gonna like those p/ups.
Click to expand...

I went to that web site. Those are described in several places as "Hot".....

What if I dont want hot, I want normal alnico Strat pups? Which model should i look at?

The ones I have (Fender Hot Noiseless) are good sounding, but way too hot and I have to almost turn my tone knobs off to stop the ice pick thing.....
 
soundchaser59 said:
What if I dont want hot, I want normal alnico Strat pups? Which model should i look at?
Click to expand...

The ones that are vintage but not hot or overwound. They have several to choose from, emulating pups from the 50s, 60s, and 70s.
 
soundchaser59 said:
What if I dont want hot, I want normal alnico Strat pups? Which model should i look at?
Click to expand...
they make regular classic alnico strat p/ups.
My experience with GF p/ups (the overwounds and I have a Xavier with their humbuckers) leads me to feel pretty sure that they'll be pretty great at a low price.
 
By the way, Lt. Bob, I wasn't knocking your recommendation, just looking for all the opinions I can find.

Not to hijack the thread, but I'm trying to decide on a set myself and I had a couple of related questions

1) Are the overwounds more prone to hum issues?

2) If I get the hot bridge set, is position 2 still going to be hum-cancelling, or do weird things happen when you run two pickups in parallel with widely different impedences?
 
SURELY GF has switches?? Get it all single source, save some shipping cost.
 
stevieb said:
SURELY GF has switches?? Get it all single source, save some shipping cost.
Click to expand...

They only have the cheap box switches. Or at least they look like the "cheap" ones someone has shown me. Maybe I'll just get one of them anyways, just to save money, and anything is better than what I have now.
 
danw said:
By the way, Lt. Bob, I wasn't knocking your recommendation, just looking for all the opinions I can find.

Not to hijack the thread, but I'm trying to decide on a set myself and I had a couple of related questions

1) Are the overwounds more prone to hum issues?

2) If I get the hot bridge set, is position 2 still going to be hum-cancelling, or do weird things happen when you run two pickups in parallel with widely different impedences?
Click to expand...
1. no, however you need to install a aluminum foil or copper tape Faraday cage in your pickup and control cavity's and on the back of the scratch plate if it is not already done to help minimize any potential RF line interfearance.

2.Yes and no you just get a hotter output signal.

elenore19 said:
They only have the cheap box switches. Or at least they look like the "cheap" ones someone has shown me. Maybe I'll just get one of them anyways, just to save money, and anything is better than what I have now.
Click to expand...
the 5 way switch apl linked to from MF is the better switch but the GF switch is a good switch. AS stevieb mentioned you will save on shipping by purchasing the GF 5 way switch and the 250K pots and capacitors. I will testify that the parts are all good stuff.
 
Roguetitan said:
the 5 way switch apl linked to from MF is the better switch but the GF switch is a good switch. AS stevieb mentioned you will save on shipping by purchasing the GF 5 way switch and the 250K pots and capacitors. I will testify that the parts are all good stuff.
Click to expand...

Good to know. I'll definitely just the switch off of guitar fetish then.
Thanks!
 
Unless you are doing something unusual with the switching, that switch is overkill. THIS is a more appropriate switch, if all you want is standard strat switching. The standard for pots is 250k audio taper pots. You certainly do NOT want linear taper pots. The human ear does not perceive volume changes in a linear fashion, but in a logarithmic fashion. Audio taper pots match that logarithmic taper - at least to some degree. There are a couple different tapers, but most people can't hear the difference between any two audio tapers. THESE are the standard pots for a Strat. Standard value for caps on a strat is .022 μF (that's micro farad). Use whatever you want - they are all perfectly acceptable and you will never hear a difference between them. I don't much care for orange drops, as I've had a few too many with loose leads. Also, they are much larger physically than they need to be, which makes it more difficult to keep things neat. They are cheap enough that it doesn't matter, but I can get other cheaper caps that are more consistent, so I do.



Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
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danw said:
By the way, Lt. Bob, I wasn't knocking your recommendation, just looking for all the opinions I can find.
Click to expand...
I didn't take it that way.


ummm .... well, I have the overwounds and I believe that's with the hot bridge p/up though I'm not sure.
I don't have many noise issues.
ALL single coil gits are prone to some noise but apl shielded my strat well (with copper tape) and it's quieter than many single coil gits I've used.
On those gigs where the power's so bad that everything hums, I just go to using two p/ups at once and the humbucking effect of the counterwound center p/up removes all noise totally.

I'm not a psycho tone freak obsessing over tiny differences however. Once something sounds good to me I don't pay much attention after that.
As I said, I'm absolutely sure there are better p/ups out there but for much more money and I don't personally feel it's worth the bucks.

For the record, I make my entire living playing and have played 4-7 gigs a week for 40 years (and still do).
So though I don't obsess about such things, I certainly wouldn't use anything that wasn't of at least professional sound quality.
 
hats off to you

Lt. Bob said:
For the record, I make my entire living playing and have played 4-7 gigs a week for 40 years (and still do).
Click to expand...



Can't argue with that! You're livin' the dream that most of us will never realize. Some of us haven't got the chops (me) and some of us have sold out to the corporate world(me). So, here's to the guy who makes his way doin' what he loves!
 
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