New Squier Strat coming....

[duhvoodooman***]

Yeah, the painted headstock seems to be a "love-it-or-hate-it" feature, and I'm in the former camp. The fret markers on the side don't seem to be difficult to see--I rely on them a lot, as well.

The last couple of days I've been looking into how I want to re-wire the guitar when the humbucker arrives. I intentionally selected the DiMarzio Air Norton model because it's got just about twice the DC resistance of the Squier CV single coils, so when it's coil-split, it should match up with the middle pickup well. That's important in order to get the best possible "quack" from the bridge-middle pickup combination at position 2 of the pickup selector switch. The Air Norton also uses alnico 5 magnets, as do the Squier CV '60s single coils, which should also help. I came across a very clever way to wire the 5-way switch so that the bridge humbucker will be automatically coil-split when the selector switch is at position 2, but nowhere else. Saves the hassle of installing a push-pull pot, which is how I've always done coil-splitting in the past.

The wiring is more complicated than you might think, though. First of all, I don't know if DiMarzio humbuckers and Squier single coils are phase compatible with the stock wiring, so it may be necessary to connect the 'bucker in reverse to keep it in phase with the two singles. Also, that will affect which of the two coils is active when they're split. And that's important because if the winding and polarity of the active coil isn't the opposite of the middle (RW/RP) single coil, then the 2 position won't be hum cancelling. In which case, I'll probably need to swap the positions of the neck and middle pickups. Also, I've read that you'll get the best "quack" between the split humbucker and the middle pickup if the active humbucker coil is the one closest to the middle pickup, so the physical orientation of the humbucker mounting in the guitar matters, too. So you can see what I mean about it being complicated, and that's not even getting into the possibility of changing pot values....

[ZMAN]

Yeah, the painted headstock seems to be a "love-it-or-hate-it" feature, and I'm in the former camp. The fret markers on the side don't seem to be difficult to see--I rely on them a lot, as well.

The last couple of days I've been looking into how I want to re-wire the guitar when the humbucker arrives. I intentionally selected the DiMarzio Air Norton model because it's got just about twice the DC resistance of the Squier CV single coils, so when it's coil-split, it should match up with the middle pickup well. That's important in order to get the best possible "quack" from the bridge-middle pickup combination at position 2 of the pickup selector switch. The Air Norton also uses alnico 5 magnets, as do the Squier CV '60s single coils, which should also help. I came across a very clever way to wire the 5-way switch so that the bridge humbucker will be automatically coil-split when the selector switch is at position 2, but nowhere else. Saves the hassle of installing a push-pull pot, which is how I've always done coil-splitting in the past.

The wiring is more complicated than you might think, though. First of all, I don't know if DiMarzio humbuckers and Squier single coils are phase compatible, so it may be necessary to connect the 'bucker in reverse to keep it in phase with the two singles. Also, that will affect which of the two coils is active when they're split. And that's important because if the winding and polarity of the active coil isn't the opposite of the middle (RW/RP) single coil, then the 2 position won't be hum cancelling. In which case, I'll probably need to swap the positions of the neck and middle pickups. Also, I've read that you'll get the best "quack" between the split humbucker and the middle pickup if the active humbucker coil is the one closest to the middle pickup, so the physical orientation of the humbucker mounting in the guitar matters, too. So you can see what I mean about it being complicated, and that's not even getting into the possibility of changing pot values....

I love a tech's take on modding a guitar. Most of the guys I read about seem to make their choices of components on what other guys use, and what is the "flavor of the month pickup". DC resistance has always been a big factor, for me in choosing a guitar and pickups. Also the pot values can make a huge difference in tone as well. A well thought out swap will make a huge difference in the outcome. Really like your take on it. I love to hear someone is as "anal" as I am when it comes to this type of
thing, and mean that in a good way!.

[duhvoodooman***]

....I love to hear someone is as "anal" as I am when it comes to this type of thing, and mean that in a good way!.

What can I say? That's how God made me!!

[Duffy]

The wiring is more complicated than you might think, though. First of all, I don't know if DiMarzio humbuckers and Squier single coils are phase compatible, so it may be necessary to connect the 'bucker in reverse to keep it in phase with the two singles. Also, that will affect which of the two coils is active when they're split. And that's important because if the winding and polarity of the active coil isn't the opposite of the middle (RW/RP) single coil, then the 2 position won't be hum cancelling. In which case, I'll probably need to swap the positions of the neck and middle pickups. Also, I've read that you'll get the best "quack" between the split humbucker and the middle pickup if the active humbucker coil is the one closest to the middle pickup, so the physical orientation of the humbucker mounting in the guitar matters, too. So you can see what I mean about it being complicated, and that's not even getting into the possibility of changing pot values....

When you determine exactly what has to be done with the wiring in for your full sized humbucker, you can talk to a Dimarzio tech and make arrangements to have the humbucker custom made so all you will have to do is drop it in and wire it up and it'll noise cancel and produce the optimum quack.

I had to call Seymour Duncan when I put the pickups in my Fender Nashville Telecaster. It only cost about ten dollars more for them to custom wind a neck pickup for my set of Alnico II Pro's.

After I found out what I needed I took the info to my local Seymour Duncan dealer and had them order it the way they told me, from Seymour Duncan.

It worked out great and when finished it actually noise cancelled completely in the two and four switch positions; where the stock Tex Mex pickups never noise cancelled hardly at all. It pays to think it out, needless to say.

You are going to have some fun with this one. I know you already knew the stuff I mentioned, but I thought I'd mention it for those that might not be aware of how complicated a seemingly simple pickup swap can sometimes be.