MOD GARAGE
DIRK WACKER
Stratocaster Master Tone Configuration
with a beautifully grained top, for example; 3) to make space for another mod;
4) to reduce the overall load—with one
fewer 250k or 500k pot, you also have
less treble roll-off, great for ultra-long
cable runs or a primarily dark-sounding
guitar; 5) to save money when you build
your own budget Stratocaster. I have a
Stratocaster with the master tone and
master volume configuration that has a
blend pot for an additional piezo pickup,
instead of the second tone control. I can
only say that this configuration works
very well, and it leaves the classic look
untouched.
Electronically, this modification isn’t difficult—you simply have to follow the drawing to the left. The differences in wiring
between the standard Stratocaster and
this modification are obvious. There is one
less tone pot and a few small differences
on the 5-way switch and wiring from the
volume pot to the tone pot. And that’s it!
You only need some wire and a soldering
iron to perform this mod, and you should
be done in ten minutes. You can choose to
use 250k, 500k or 1Meg pots—whichever
is your personal preference.
I hope you find use for this mod! Next
month, there will be no mercy: you can
put on your white lab coat and we will
start to talk about the anatomy of the
5-way pickup selector switch. Until then,
keep on modding!
Welcome back to the world of hot-rodded
Stratocasters! I hope some of you succeeded in getting rid of the penetrating
high end by adding tone control to your
Stratocaster bridge pickup. Sometimes it’s
pretty easy to mod your guitar for some
additional tones. This month, we will talk
about another easy-to-do Stratocaster
modification: the master tone/master volume modification.
The history of this mod is a little bit
funny. Introduced by Fender in 1983, the
Stratocaster’s second tone control was
retired, and the output jack lost its jack
plate and moved from its former place
into the pickguard. This was a necessary
decision, based on the need for cost-cutting, but some time later this exact
configuration became popular on the so-called “Super Strats” from other companies like Ibanez, Kramer and many more
in the late eighties. In a nutshell, this is
the standard Telecaster configuration, but
with three pickups and a 5-way pickup
selector switch. So why should someone
want this configuration on a Stratocaster?
There are several reasons: 1) to simplify
that layout of the controls; 2) to make
things more visually appealing, on a Strat
Dirk Wacker
Dirk Wacker lives in Germany and has been addicted to
all kinds of guitars since the age of five. He is fascinated
by anything that has something to do with old Fender
guitars and amps. He hates short scales and Telecaster
neck pickups, but loves twang. In his spare time he plays
country, rockabilly, surf and Nashville styles in two bands,
works as a studio musician for a local studio and writes
for several guitar mags. He is also a confessing hardcore
DIY guy for guitars, amps and stompboxes and runs an
extensive webpage singlecoil.com about these things
