JimmyBlood
December 20th, 2005, 04:07 PM
Hey guys,
I just wanted to share some Stratocaster tips, since I've finally narrowed in on that elusive vintage strat sound! I always heard players get really big sounds out of Strats, but I never could get one to sound big enough to hold its own against my other guitars. I bought strat after strat trying to find one that felt good and sounded good. Little did I know, I had a good one all along, it just needed some help.
I sold all my american strats and kept my old mexican one that I had since 93, because none of the american ones sounded any better, and my old one is supremely broken in. I bought a handmade body from a guy in california and it has a nice thin sunburst nitro finish, and put that on the guitar. It did make it more lively, but I think the standard body would still be ok.
Next upgrade was pickups. I put a set of Van Zandts in it, which were highly recommended by a lot of people for being one of the best classic Strat pickups you can buy. They deliver the goods in a really nice way, smooth being the main word I'd use for them. Not too hot, not weak. I got the vintage plus models in the neck and middle and the rock model in the bridge. What's really cool is they aren't too expensive either.
Then comes the holy grail of tone improvement... a Callaham inertia block! When strats were first made, the prototypes were sent into the field and one of the top players at the time Bill Carson (who helped with a lot of the ideas regarding the Strat) said they sounded like a cheap banjo. The reason was the steel block that weights the bridge was way too light. Fender went to a heavy steel block that made them sound great. Starting with the CBS guitars, they saved money by replacing the good sounding steel block with a lighter one made of cast metal or zinc. I feel that this is the main reason CBS guitars got a bad rap. The thing is, it never improved. Zinc or pot metal blocks are being used on everything but the custom shop guitars. American series guitars all have the cheap blocks, as do mexicans and squiers and basically everything but the original 50's to mid 60's strats and boutique brands like Suhr and Melancon and whatnot.
Callaham makes a proper strat inertia block, and I bought one to put on mine. They say it makes more of an improvement than replacing the stock pickups and boy are they correct! The whole guitar comes to life, with full bass, crystal clear mids and treble, and singing sustain. I bet a stock mexi Strat or even Squier would sound great with stock pickups and a good block on it. It's only $55 too. Their block has about twice the mass of the one I pulled off, and the holes in it aren't so deep. In the 70s fender started drilling the string holes way deeper to accomodate their new bullet strings. But Callaham makes an accurate reproduction, and it will make a big difference in the tone of any Strat. The thing here is that a lot of your sustain and tone are lost in that lightweight block, making the acoustic sound of the guitar suffer, so no matter what electronics you put in, you start at a loss.
So, with those improvements I have a phenomenal sounding strat. I just needed to make sure the playability was on par, so I did some minor fret dressing since it was quite worn. With that done I could do a setup.
Dan Erlewine is the world's most famous guitar technician, and he wrote an awesome book called "Guitar Player Repair Guide." In there is a really good 10 step Strat setup. I'm gonna write it out for you guys, because I did it and it worked like a charm! I've never had a perfectly set up Strat with a floating trem.
You will need:
A Capo
A Ruler that can measure 64ths of an inch
A feeler guage (this and the ruler are a couple bucks at auto zone or wal mart).
Allen wrenches for your truss rod and bridge saddles
A screwdriver for intonation.
A wedge of wood 1" wide and 2" long that tapers from 1/4" to a 1/2"
(I improvised here since I didn't have one, and used a couple quarters stacked, you'll see how later)
*bonus* if you have some nut files from Stewart Macdonald, to cut your nut if you need to.
Before you start: Take out the tremolo springs. Loosen the claw to where you have about an inch from that to the body, so the springs will be easy to install later.
1 String up lightly, but not nearly to standard pitch.
2 Shove the wedge (or stack of quarters or pennies, you'll probably need 2 or 3 of them) in until the bridge has a gap of 3/32 between it and the top of the guitar. String it to pitch, and the tension of the strings will hold your wedge in place. This is a method of blocking the tremolo while you finish the setup, and will allow for the trem to float once it's removed.
3 Put a capo on the 1st fret.
4 Adjust the neck relief. Hold either the A or D string at the 17th fret and use your feeler guage to measure the gap between the bottom of the string and the top of the 9th or so fret. Standard relief is .012, but I like very little relief, more like .004 or .006.
5 Set string height at bridge. With the capo still on, at the 17th fret each string should be 4/64ths between the bottom of the string and the top of the fret.
6 Remove the capo.
7 Cut the nut (if you can, you may not need to). Standard is .02 between the bottom of the strings and top of the first fret. I set mine very low, like .008.
8 Adjust pickup height. Fret both E strings at the last fret and set each pickup to 1/8" on the bass side, 3/32" on the treble side. That is the measurement of the gap between the bottom of the string and the top of the pole piece beneath it. I then adjust the middle and neck pickups to match the bridge pickup in volume, so that I get a tone change, but not a volume change when switching pickups.
9 Play it and set final intonation. You check intonation by tuning the 12th fret harmonic and then checking the note at the 12th fret. If it's sharp, lengthen the string (move saddle away from the neck), flat, do the opposite.
10 Install the tremolo springs and start tightening the claw. The wedge (or stack of change) will fall out the moment the springs are at the right tension.
Perfect!
I just wanted to share some Stratocaster tips, since I've finally narrowed in on that elusive vintage strat sound! I always heard players get really big sounds out of Strats, but I never could get one to sound big enough to hold its own against my other guitars. I bought strat after strat trying to find one that felt good and sounded good. Little did I know, I had a good one all along, it just needed some help.
I sold all my american strats and kept my old mexican one that I had since 93, because none of the american ones sounded any better, and my old one is supremely broken in. I bought a handmade body from a guy in california and it has a nice thin sunburst nitro finish, and put that on the guitar. It did make it more lively, but I think the standard body would still be ok.
Next upgrade was pickups. I put a set of Van Zandts in it, which were highly recommended by a lot of people for being one of the best classic Strat pickups you can buy. They deliver the goods in a really nice way, smooth being the main word I'd use for them. Not too hot, not weak. I got the vintage plus models in the neck and middle and the rock model in the bridge. What's really cool is they aren't too expensive either.
Then comes the holy grail of tone improvement... a Callaham inertia block! When strats were first made, the prototypes were sent into the field and one of the top players at the time Bill Carson (who helped with a lot of the ideas regarding the Strat) said they sounded like a cheap banjo. The reason was the steel block that weights the bridge was way too light. Fender went to a heavy steel block that made them sound great. Starting with the CBS guitars, they saved money by replacing the good sounding steel block with a lighter one made of cast metal or zinc. I feel that this is the main reason CBS guitars got a bad rap. The thing is, it never improved. Zinc or pot metal blocks are being used on everything but the custom shop guitars. American series guitars all have the cheap blocks, as do mexicans and squiers and basically everything but the original 50's to mid 60's strats and boutique brands like Suhr and Melancon and whatnot.
Callaham makes a proper strat inertia block, and I bought one to put on mine. They say it makes more of an improvement than replacing the stock pickups and boy are they correct! The whole guitar comes to life, with full bass, crystal clear mids and treble, and singing sustain. I bet a stock mexi Strat or even Squier would sound great with stock pickups and a good block on it. It's only $55 too. Their block has about twice the mass of the one I pulled off, and the holes in it aren't so deep. In the 70s fender started drilling the string holes way deeper to accomodate their new bullet strings. But Callaham makes an accurate reproduction, and it will make a big difference in the tone of any Strat. The thing here is that a lot of your sustain and tone are lost in that lightweight block, making the acoustic sound of the guitar suffer, so no matter what electronics you put in, you start at a loss.
So, with those improvements I have a phenomenal sounding strat. I just needed to make sure the playability was on par, so I did some minor fret dressing since it was quite worn. With that done I could do a setup.
Dan Erlewine is the world's most famous guitar technician, and he wrote an awesome book called "Guitar Player Repair Guide." In there is a really good 10 step Strat setup. I'm gonna write it out for you guys, because I did it and it worked like a charm! I've never had a perfectly set up Strat with a floating trem.
You will need:
A Capo
A Ruler that can measure 64ths of an inch
A feeler guage (this and the ruler are a couple bucks at auto zone or wal mart).
Allen wrenches for your truss rod and bridge saddles
A screwdriver for intonation.
A wedge of wood 1" wide and 2" long that tapers from 1/4" to a 1/2"
(I improvised here since I didn't have one, and used a couple quarters stacked, you'll see how later)
*bonus* if you have some nut files from Stewart Macdonald, to cut your nut if you need to.
Before you start: Take out the tremolo springs. Loosen the claw to where you have about an inch from that to the body, so the springs will be easy to install later.
1 String up lightly, but not nearly to standard pitch.
2 Shove the wedge (or stack of quarters or pennies, you'll probably need 2 or 3 of them) in until the bridge has a gap of 3/32 between it and the top of the guitar. String it to pitch, and the tension of the strings will hold your wedge in place. This is a method of blocking the tremolo while you finish the setup, and will allow for the trem to float once it's removed.
3 Put a capo on the 1st fret.
4 Adjust the neck relief. Hold either the A or D string at the 17th fret and use your feeler guage to measure the gap between the bottom of the string and the top of the 9th or so fret. Standard relief is .012, but I like very little relief, more like .004 or .006.
5 Set string height at bridge. With the capo still on, at the 17th fret each string should be 4/64ths between the bottom of the string and the top of the fret.
6 Remove the capo.
7 Cut the nut (if you can, you may not need to). Standard is .02 between the bottom of the strings and top of the first fret. I set mine very low, like .008.
8 Adjust pickup height. Fret both E strings at the last fret and set each pickup to 1/8" on the bass side, 3/32" on the treble side. That is the measurement of the gap between the bottom of the string and the top of the pole piece beneath it. I then adjust the middle and neck pickups to match the bridge pickup in volume, so that I get a tone change, but not a volume change when switching pickups.
9 Play it and set final intonation. You check intonation by tuning the 12th fret harmonic and then checking the note at the 12th fret. If it's sharp, lengthen the string (move saddle away from the neck), flat, do the opposite.
10 Install the tremolo springs and start tightening the claw. The wedge (or stack of change) will fall out the moment the springs are at the right tension.
Perfect!