06 60th Anniversary MIM Strat - help please

[Sylvia]

Hi all you geeetar geezers! ;o)

Ok, so today is my birthday and I bought myself a really pretty Strat from a local pawnshop. I now have two strats, one is an SSS the new one is an HSS. Now... one of the Tone pots' post is broken off the new (to me) one. My husband is an electronics technician and can replace it for me... but I have a few questions. In my research I see pots that are 250 ohm, 500 ohm or 1meg ohms. Which one do you think this originally had in it? Of course there is a huge blob of solder right on the part numbers... so looking at it isn't helping much .

Second question: Intonation. I've followed instructions on how to do this, but on both my Strats I can't seem to get the e1 string to intonate. My saddle is maxed and only a few threads of the screw and the strong are holding it on.... yet still when I fret the 12th fret, it's flat. Any ideas?

Thanks!

Sylvia

[tunghaichuan***]

Welcome to the Fret. Be sure and stop by the Fret Players Forum and introduce yourself.

Hi all you geeetar geezers! ;o)

Ok, so today is my birthday and I bought myself a really pretty Strat from a local pawnshop. I now have two strats, one is an SSS the new one is an HSS. Now... one of the Tone pots' post is broken off the new (to me) one. My husband is an electronics technician and can replace it for me... but I have a few questions. In my research I see pots that are 250 ohm, 500 ohm or 1meg ohms. Which one do you think this originally had in it? Of course there is a huge blob of solder right on the part numbers... so looking at it isn't helping much .

If it is a stock single coil pickup, it is probably a 250K ohm pot. 250 ohms is too low as is 500. A humbucker would have a 500K pot.

Second question: Intonation. I've followed instructions on how to do this, but on both my Strats I can't seem to get the e1 string to intonate. My saddle is maxed and only a few threads of the screw and the strong are holding it on.... yet still when I fret the 12th fret, it's flat. Any ideas?

No idea on this one, I'll let one of the more knowledgeable Fretters answer this one.

Regards,

tung

[WackyT]

Hi Sylvia. Welcome to The Fret!

Can you tell us if this is an American or Mexican Strat? It should say on the headstock.

Concerning intonation, have you tried a new set of strings?

EDIT: Never mind. Should've read the title better.:

Couldn't find a 60th Anniversary MIM Strat on the Fender Support page. According to what I've found on the net, this is called by Fender the Standard Strat® HSS (Upgrade) with a part # of 0134700. This crosses over to the Standard Fat Stratocaster® (HSS) with a part # of 013-4700/02 on the Support page. According to the Parts List for this, it has 3 250k potentiometers with a .022 uf tone capacitor.

[warren0728]

i have heard that sometimes you have to take out the little spring that goes over the adjustment screw for that string....cut the spring down in size to allow you more adjustment for that string (allows you to move that saddle back farther....closer to the back of the guitar) ....or maybe you can get a shorter spring from your local music store....

hope this makes sense....

also....please drop by the "the fret players" area and introduce yourself so we can welcome you proper like....

ww

[WackyT]

i have heard that sometimes you have to take out the little spring that goes over the adjustment screw for that string....cut the spring down in size to allow you more adjustment for that string (allows you to move that saddle back farther....closer to the back of the guitar) ....or maybe you can get a shorter spring from your local music store....

hope this makes sense....

also....please drop by the "the fret players" area and introduce yourself so we can welcome you proper like....

ww

I thought you had to move the saddle forward to shorten the string, not back to lengthen it, if the string fretted at the 12th is flat?

[warren0728]

I thought you had to move the saddle forward to shorten the string, not back to lengthen it, if the string fretted at the 12th is flat?

you are probably right....i guess you can tell how often i intonate my guitars! :

guess a longer screw and spring would be in order (if that can be done)...

ww

[markb]

Here's a handy mnemonic for intonation adjustments. Fret flat = forward. For the pot you need a 250Kohm. Log or audio taper (two names, same thing). I'd buy a new capacitor too, they cost pennies.

[Spudman***]

If you haven't yet done this...replace the string first and see if your intonation is still off. It could be a bad string that wont allow proper intonation.

Also, check to see that the neck hasn't shifted. Put on the guitar - hold the body with your right hand - pull the neck toward the ceiling with your left hand. If it moves then you just found your problem. You can also look at the neck pocket joint and see if it looks square and tight with the neck. I had an older 3 bolt neck that would shift all the time and throw my intonation off.

Otherwise, you might need a longer bridge saddle screw. They might have misaligned the bridge when it was mounted at the factory. You can possibly tell by taking off the tremolo cover and looking at the bridge assembly from the back to see if it looks like it is mounted squarely with the body and routing.

[Sylvia]

If you haven't yet done this...replace the string first and see if your intonation is still off. It could be a bad string that wont allow proper intonation.

Also, check to see that the neck hasn't shifted. Put on the guitar - hold the body with your right hand - pull the neck toward the ceiling with your left hand. If it moves then you just found your problem. You can also look at the neck pocket joint and see if it looks square and tight with the neck. I had an older 3 bolt neck that would shift all the time and throw my intonation off.

Otherwise, you might need a longer bridge saddle screw. They might have misaligned the bridge when it was mounted at the factory. You can possibly tell by taking off the tremolo cover and looking at the bridge assembly from the back to see if it looks like it is mounted squarely with the body and routing.

Thanks Spud. I have a '92 MIM SSS Strat too. I think I found the issue today. And yes I discovered it was a 250k pot. Finally got it properly replaced today.

What I did was loosen the screws that hold the ashtray on and slide it back. That allowed me to intonate more toward the sharp side. The longer screw trick wouldn't have worked because I was already over the ashtray screws. Crazy person who had this before me had the bridge/trem jammed clear up by the pickguard! Anyway all is good. Thanks for the insight!

Oh yeah... I always intonate with New strings... that's the first thing I do is change strings...Even on a new guitar. Now that it's fixed and working properly.. it lays really well and has awesome sustaine.

I think I did really well for $127.00 (total) don't you??

[Sylvia]

you are probably right....i guess you can tell how often i intonate my guitars! :

guess a longer screw and spring would be in order (if that can be done)...

ww

LOL no a longer screw and spring wouldn't have worked. The saddle was already hovering over the screws that hold the bridge/trem on the guitar body.