custom strat

NoQuarter

hey guys,
i have an old squire strat that i painted up like van halens frankenstien guitar for the craic, its a crappy guitar like but i was thinkin about sticking in some crazy funky switches and mad buttons and all that sort of stuff to do it!

anyone have any sites where ya can learn easy wiring for weird switches and sites that sell parts for guitars just for a project to keep me occupied!!

Dord

Check out http://www.guitarelectronics.com and also http://www.seymourduncan.com < they have some great diagrams and schematics there.

Any idea's on exactly what options or sounds you want out of it. What pickups have you got?

leninbenjamin

www.guitarnuts.com

has pretty much all the info you need.

adding in switches is pretty easy, soldering takes a wee bit of of getting used to, that's about it. the electronics in your average Strat type guitar are pretty simple, there's not much of a learning curve once you have a basic knowledge of how a circuit works.

if you're getting pickups get humbuckers, they offer a bit more options in terms of switching etc. two things i would have a look at would be being able to switch between serial or parallel and way of being able to have both the neck and bridge pups on together. guitarnuts has explanations and schematics for both anyway (and so does the Seymour Duncan site somewhere).

NoQuarter

thanks lads thats great,

a basic idea on what i want(im thinkin of maybe just building one from scratch now) is strat type, maple neck, some custom machine heads, humbucker > single > humbucker (not sure what pickups to get yet though), would love a floyd rose or similar but not sure if one can be put on a strat!??! and then apart from the usual tone controls and the volume control id love a little pull/push toggle that does something special! ive dont soldering a few years ago in school and circuits so its just a case of remembering!

can effects be put into the guitar itself?? as in have a switch on the guitar that would activate a phase or something like that??

theres no time limit on this so i think ill do a lot a research first and plan out what im gonna do well before i start wearing out the credit card!!

Dord

king-stew wrote: »

thanks lads thats great,

a basic idea on what i want(im thinkin of maybe just building one from scratch now) is strat type, maple neck, some custom machine heads, humbucker > single > humbucker (not sure what pickups to get yet though)

->Depends on your budget of course, if you're trying to do it on the cheap but still get a fairly good sound I recommend checking out http://www.guitarfetish.com Nice sounding pickups, scratchplates, other bits and bobs and some other nice stuff.
If you're willing to spend a bit more, there's plenty of other great pickup manufacturers. Seymour Duncan spring to mind, also DiMarzio.

would love a floyd rose or similar but not sure if one can be put on a strat!??!

->Yep, its possible to put a floyd on a strat, I'm sure there are guides somewhere on the net. Otherwise you could get a tech to install it for you if you're a bit weary of doing it yourself.

and then apart from the usual tone controls and the volume control id love a little pull/push toggle that does something special! ive dont soldering a few years ago in school and circuits so its just a case of remembering!

->Push/pull pots are cool, and useful if you're running out of space. I had one on my old project strat (another boardsie owns it now). The way I wired it was, when you pulled up the knob you coil tapped the humbuckers so you got single coil sounds. Very nice and it meant I had much more options.

can effects be put into the guitar itself?? as in have a switch on the guitar that would activate a phase or something like that??

->You can put effects in your guitar too! There ain't much you can't put in 'em. Hahahaa. That site I linked above, http://www.guitarfetish.com sell drop in effects circuits. Look very interesting.

theres no time limit on this so i think ill do a lot a research first and plan out what im gonna do well before i start wearing out the credit card!!

I posted some advise above, good luck with it. If ya have any more q's don't be afraid to ask us here.

NoQuarter

ah joe great advice, thanks a mil, its tough goin trying to take in all the ideas at once! loads of options to choose from anyways.

budget of course is an issue although im in no rush to do it so i can buy the parts bit by bit every week so it at least doesnt feel like im burning a hole in the pockets!:D

ill have a good look at all those sites tomorrow when i have a proper chance, i cant wait to have my pimped out axe haha!

p.s, GLOWGUARDS! google them bad boys haha

Dord

Small piece of advise about those glowguards, they can cause extra noise in your signal chain. If you shield the guitar well it might not be as bad, just worth thinkin' about.