THE STRATOCASTER “JAZZ SWITCH” MOD BY DIRK WACKER
This month we’re checking out another Strat mod that’s
very easy to do and that offers a
lot of utility. And it’s cheap! All
you need for this mod is a simple on/off toggle and a capacitor—that’s it. The idea is based
on the stock Fender Telecaster
wiring from the early ’50s.
As you may know, until 1967
Fender used a different wiring
for Telecasters than the scheme
we know today. On standard
modern Teles, the wiring is
bridge pickup alone, both pickups together in parallel, and neck
pickup alone. But prior to 1967,
Fender used the following wiring: bridge pickup alone, neck
pickup alone, and neck pickup
alone with an additional 0.1 µF
cap engaged. (We’ll explore this
old-school Tele wiring in a future
column, when we switch from
Stratocaster to Telecaster mods.)
In Fender literature from
the era, this neck-pickup-plus-
capacitor wiring was described
as a “pre-set bassy sound,” and
the idea came from Leo Fender
himself. Leo believed guitarists
should have the capability of play-
ing bass lines without switching
instruments. After experimenting,
he came up with this solution and
the result was a boomy, bassy tone
that didn’t require an additional
tone knob. This was intended as
a “bass preset” that would allow a
guitarist to simply flip the 3-way
pickup selector to enter bass terri-
tory. For this reason, the mod I’m
about to describe is often called
the “bass switch mod.”
The preset idea is something
Fender used in several other gui-
tars as well, including the Jaguar.
However, it turned out Tele
players didn’t want to play bass
lines, and once the Fender P bass
was invented (it came soon after
the Telecaster), this bass preset
remained mostly unused or fell
victim to early modifications.
When Fender finally changed
the wiring, it was a concession
to countless customers’ demands
and an admission that this preset
tone was more or less unusable.
The “jazz switch” mod for the Fender Strat. Wiring diagram courtesy of
Seymour Duncan Pickups and used with permission
Stratocaster, I prefer the warm
and growly character of new-old-stock (NOS) paper-in-oil caps.
But there’s no right or wrong—it’s
only the tone that matters, so if
you like it, use it.
A cap’s value (or capacitance,
to be more precise) provides even
more options to tinker with. You
can stick with the original Fender
value of 0.1 µF, but most players
feel this is over the top and simply
generates too much bass. A good
range to experiment with is from
5000 pF up to 0.05 µF—and
everything in between. The results
depend on a lot of factors, such
as the pickups, the Strat’s neck
and body woods, your cable, and
your amp settings. With a Strat,
I find NOS 0.05 µF paper-in-oil
caps sound good with any Fender
amp. Marshall players should
lower the value a little—0.033 µF
is a good compromise.
Technically, this mod is very
simple. Flipping the switch, you
engage the additional capacitor
and send some highs to ground.
Just how much depends on
the capacitance of the cap you
choose. Think of it as a slimmed-
down version of the Gibson
Varitone circuit, which is based
on the same principle but uses
a rotary switch to dial in several
different caps to achieve differ-
ent tones. (We’ll talk about the
Varitone circuit in a future col-
umn on Gibson mods.)
DIRK WACKER lives in
Germany and is fascinated
by anything related to old
Fender guitars and amps.
He plays country, rocka-
billy, and surf music in two
bands, works regularly as a
session musician for a local studio, and writes
for several guitar mags. He’s also a hardcore
guitar and amp DIY-er who runs an extensive
website— singlecoil.com—on the subject.
