MIM Strat - replacement parts questions

[progrmr]

I picked up a MIM Strat last night (very nice, 2005 white with maple board...pics tonight ) and I'm going to have a luthier do a bunch of upgrades for me - but I want to buy the parts.

I'd like to source everything through MusiciansFriend.com if I can, but I don't know very much about the potentiometers.

I have a question on the pots to use for volume and 2 tone controls. Do I need to stick with Fender 250K? I only see 250K on the MF website, but wouldn't a 500K permit finer tuning of the volume/tone controls?

And are there different pots for the volume and tone - meaning that the volume gets a different kind of pot than the tone?

I'd also like to replace the switch and input jack while they have the thing up on the blocks - do you all think these should be replaced? If so what "brand" is a good switch? They seem to work fine but I figure I might as well do everything to make it a really solid player all at once rather than have to do stuff at different times down the road.

thanks for any advice! I know nothing about the details of these parts lol

[Bloozcat]

Provided that all three pickups are single coils, stick with 250k pots. CTS pots are the most popular, well made replacement pot for the import pots found on the MIM guitars. They're the same as what Fender uses only without the Fender name. For the 5-way switch, go with a CRL. For the input/output jack, use a Switchcraft. For a good but inexpensive tone cap, go with a Vishay Orange Drop P-215 or a Mallory 150 in .022uf (Orange Drop 1st choice). You might want to pick up some vintage style cloth covered wiring while you're at it, and think about getting a good cold rolled steel tremolo block from GFS as well. The steel trem block will greatly improve the sustain and note clarity as well as improving the bell-like tones the Strat is known for. Since they're inexpensive from GFS, you might think about getting the SS bridge saddles as well. Not a necessity, but can add a little sustain.

What about the pickups? Are you planning to keep the stock ceramic magnet pickups or replace them with something better?

This is pretty much the basic tune-up/rewiring for a Mexican/Import Strat to bring it up to MIA specs. As you've probably noticed, most of what I've shown here can't be purchased through Musician's Friend. Most of it (except for the GFS stuff and the capacitors) can be purchased here:
http://www.internetmusicsupply.com

[progrmr]

Provided that all three pickups are single coils, stick with 250k pots. CTS pots are the most popular, well made replacement pot for the import pots found on the MIM guitars. They're the same as what Fender uses only without the Fender name. For the 5-way switch, go with a CRL. For the input/output jack, use a Switchcraft. For a good but inexpensive tone cap, go with a Vishay Orange Drop P-215 or a Mallory 150 in .022uf (Orange Drop 1st choice). You might want to pick up some vintage style cloth covered wiring while you're at it, and think about getting a good cold rolled steel tremolo block from GFS as well. The steel trem block will greatly improve the sustain and note clarity as well as improving the bell-like tones the Strat is known for. Since they're inexpensive from GFS, you might think about getting the SS bridge saddles as well. Not a necessity, but can add a little sustain.

What about the pickups? Are you planning to keep the stock ceramic magnet pickups or replace them with something better?

This is pretty much the basic tune-up/rewiring for a Mexican/Import Strat to bring it up to MIA specs. As you've probably noticed, most of what I've shown here can't be purchased through Musician's Friend. Most of it (except for the GFS stuff and the capacitors) can be purchased here:
http://www.internetmusicsupply.com

thanks for the details! Yes, 3 single coils.

For the pickups I was going to get the Fender Custom Shop Texas Special Strat Pickups. They run about $150.

I have to contact the luthier and make sure they do all this stuff too.

I forgot about the tone caps - I'll need 2 of those right? one for each tone pot?

[progrmr]

I just called the luthier - totally awesome, they have all the pots/caps/switches/jacks/wiring there, and if they don't have the pickups they will order and do everything after they talk to me about the tone I want.

Pretty awesome - that means I don't even have to do anything except pay :)

[markb]

You might have a look at loaded pickguards on eBay for a Texas Special setup. It might save you a few bucks. They'd be all wired up and ready to drop in too. Here's a search result (http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trksid=p3907.m570.l1313&_nkw=strat+loaded+pickguard+texas&_sacat=See-All-Categories).

[Bloozcat]

thanks for the details! Yes, 3 single coils.

For the pickups I was going to get the Fender Custom Shop Texas Special Strat Pickups. They run about $150.

I have to contact the luthier and make sure they do all this stuff too.

I forgot about the tone caps - I'll need 2 of those right? one for each tone pot?

One tone cap is all for the std. Strat wiring, however....

You could opt for a Jimmy Vaughn type wiring scheme where one tone control is moved from the middle pickup to the bridge pickup. This makes the bridge pickup much more versatile and at the same time allows you to tailor the tone caps to the respective pickups that have a tone control. All of my Strats are wired like this with a .010uf PIO cap (Paper In Oil) on the neck pickup tone pot, and a .022uf PIO cap on the bridge pickup tone pot. You can bridge the tone control on the selector switch to connect both the bridge and the middle pickups to the one tone pot as another option. I personally prefer to leave the middle pickup "wide open" with no tone pot attached and the pickup cranked way down until it's about flush with the pickguard. The tone is incredible with super quack in the notch positions and a great snarly, hollow tone in OD when the middle pickup is used alone. Great crunchy rock rhythm tone as well this way.

Not that I'm trying to talk you out of the Fender Custom Shop Texas Specials, but there are other options out there that are less expensive and IMO have better tone. One such example is the Tonerider line of pickups. I have a set of their Pure Vintage pickups and they certainly live up to their name. The two sets that are comparable with the Texas Specials are the City Limits (TRS2) and the Classic Blues (TRS3). These pickups receive near universally great reviews for their tone and construction. You can hear sound clips of these pickups here:
http://www.tonerider.com/pickups/stratpickups.html

And you can purchase either set for $99.00 here:
http://rhfactorguitars.mybisi.com/products/tonerider?pagesize=40
Ralph Halsey who owns this site is a good guy who posts regularly on many music sites. I bought my Pure Vintage set from Ralph.

I don't think you'd be disappointed with either of these sets.

Edit to add: Here's another set of pickups I forgot about before. They're called "Nicos" and are hand wound by a guy in Colorado. I've heard nothing but great reviews on these pickups including some from others who I know by reputation and whose opinion's I trust. They're $95.00 a set with free shipping. You will have to provide your own covers for them as they don't come with the pickups (which is common with custom winders). Your current MIM covers may fit. I have no personal experience with these pickups but from the feedback on them I'd opt for a set of these before I'd get the Toneriders. Nico has already started raising the prices on his pickups now that people have found out how good they are.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Nicos-Vintage-Pickups-59-Overwind-Set-3-/150380992124?cmd=ViewItem&pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item230367d67c

[progrmr]

GREAT info Bloozcat -

The luthier I talked to actually makes their own guitars (J Thomas Davis) and pickups and they will probably try to push their pickups on me. They're actually really nice guys as I've dealt with them before.

When I talked to them on the phone the guy said a couple times "come in and lets talk about the tone you want". I like this, because it's actually forcing me to put terms to the tone I'm looking for and I've never done this - terms like "glassy", "bell-like", "ballsy", "punchy-mids" come to mind. If they make some pickups that can deliver that I'd hear them out for sure.

I'm pumped I put Ernie Ball 10's on it last night - it's a good player but it needs new electronics for sure. With all the work they can do, I'm sure it'll come out a different beast.

[Bloozcat]

Got any soldering skills, progrmr?

If so, this could be the ideal time to try the modding game for yourself. Wiring a Strat is about as easy as it gets and there's plenty of resourses, information, and help right here to get you through your first project. Besides being a lot a clean, healthy, fun, it's also a benign addiction...and who doesn't need more of those? :dance

[progrmr]

haha, I've given upgrading a shot - actually wired a DiMarzio pickup in an old Samick years ago. It worked, but it wasn't pretty. If I did it and it wasn't 100% and didn't sound good I'd wind up at the luthier anyway and just be a lot more frustrated :)

It does depend on the price though - if they quote me some insane price, I'll do it myself. I'm willing to pay if it's reasonable, but if it's crazy I'll definitely do it myself.

I'm getting ready to head to the luthier in about 30 minutes...will post up my experience when I get back.

[Bloozcat]

haha, I've given upgrading a shot - actually wired a DiMarzio pickup in an old Samick years ago. It worked, but it wasn't pretty. If I did it and it wasn't 100% and didn't sound good I'd wind up at the luthier anyway and just be a lot more frustrated :)

It does depend on the price though - if they quote me some insane price, I'll do it myself. I'm willing to pay if it's reasonable, but if it's crazy I'll definitely do it myself.

I'm getting ready to head to the luthier in about 30 minutes...will post up my experience when I get back.

BTW: If you do get an insane price from your luthier, check the pickersparts.com website. That's the site that sells the Nico pickups. From a quick totaling of cost it looks like you could get a std Strat wired 3-ply white pickguard from them for about $150.00. And that's with 3-CTS pots, an Oak Grigsby 5-way switch (an excellent switch), an Orange Drop cap, and the pickup set of your choice selected from the $95.00 a set group. The only other thing you'd need is a Switchcraft input/output jack which they sell for $2.50. The only soldering you'd have to do is to connect the string ground to the back of one of the pots, and connect the hot and ground wires to the input/output jack. Piece of cake...:agree

[progrmr]

Wow, that sounds right up my alley.

Talked to the luthier, they're going to open the guitar and let me know. He said that in a lot of MIM fenders that are newer the pots and jack are what they put in the MIA fenders.

They're going to investigate and get back to me with recommendations, price and timeline.

[progrmr]

Update:

Had the luthier do the enhancements for me. They checked the guitar and the pots/cap/switch were the same stuff that goes into MIA fenders so they recommended not upgrading those. They also recommended against the bone nut upgrade.

They installed Texas Specials, switchcraft jack, fret dress/setup. Guitar sounds and plays great - really nice and smooth the sound just says "quality". Very nice upgrade - a bit pricey at $340 for the whole deal, but $215 was for the pups which I'm sure they had shipped overnight. Next time I will buy the pups myself to save a few bucks but overall this guitar is a real keeper now.

Pics tonight :)