How To Wire A Stratocaster The Right Way

[@senselocke]

The moment you started calling the pickguard an asshole, I knew this video was gonna be a winner =). It's not a valid experience with a Strat if you're not bleeding from a few somewheres by the end of it. You also show, without really bringing attention to it, just how quickly the solder heats up and cools off, how short of a time you keep the iron on the wire, and when you might need a touch more. As somebody who just learned all this a year or two ago, seeing someone do this withouth really getting stressed or nitpicky really helps to show how the flow, timing, movement is supposed to go. It can be quick and simple, just like you showed, to swap a few wires, and seeing it in action can be really useful and helpful. So thanks!

[@lonerjuan]

Wow, thanks a lot for the comments! Yeah, I sometimes forget the first few times I had to solder I was really nervous and lost, but then you watch other people do it and it's actually very relaxed. I used to burn a lot of stuff before I got a job where I got to watch seasoned veterans do it effortlessly. I still don't know why they hired me though. I stunk. I guess I just lied really well on the interview. I needed the money.

[@f1s2hg3]

Good job excellent English and your wiring instructions are fast man your very fast working person with the wires and that’s talent so use that talent and start selling the electronics pre wired for guys and gals that can’t follow instructions. You may make big money and you heard it here first God Bless you for helping me see the proper way to wire it!

[@lonerjuan]

Thank you very much! It's a bit of an oversaturated market though, and a creepy one at that. Lots of snake oil sellers, mostly because there's a shortage of info and what's worse, a lot of people spreading myths and weird shit to keep things obscure and confusing. So, I'd rather just share what I've learned so far. It's not that much, but it has saved me a bunch of money. I should be a bit more consistent putting out these videos though.

[@mihailmilev9909]

@@lonerjuan oh wow ok. This convo convinced me to sub lol

[@lonerjuan]

@@mihailmilev9909 Awesome!

[@georgecovetskie6717]

What I did was add a little switch between the two terminals you just put together. This way it jumps or not any time you want. ONLY on a lower end Strat. Dont do that on your quality guitar. Even though you can replace the pick gaurd if you want to make original again. Have fun ! Great video, short and right to the point.

[@lonerjuan]

Thanks! Yeah that's also a good idea. I wouldn't worry too much about modding an expensive one if it's a definite keeper, but I do see how it can be a turnoff to drill a hole in it. Maybe a push-pull instead?

[@kervinrodriguez1833]

Thank you for this video, I’ve been very unhappy with my strat bridge pickup . Too bright . I’m definitely going to do this before buying another pickup

[@lonerjuan]

I'm happy to help. It's a quick mod anyway, so if you still don't like it afterwards, you only wasted like 5 minutes. Hope it helps!

[@kervinrodriguez1833]

@@lonerjuan thanks again for the tutorial. It worked now I can adjust the bridge pickup with the tone knob. I can’t believe how easy it was

[@lonerjuan]

@@kervinrodriguez1833 Oh man that's awesome! Yeah it is very easy, and I've always wondered why these simple fixes aren't always that common (this really isn't genius material by any means). Either I stink at searching the interwebs, or there's actually nothing much other than namedropping and trying to sell you shit on the forums, it's all Eric Johnson this, buy this Super Mega Switch or the other expensive thing, "why do you want to do that? Hendrix used a stock Strat so did Clapton git gud lol", ugh!

[@migusta9393]

Great video! It’s very well explained. For my part I like to set the neck and bridge on the same tone control because those two pickups can’t be activated togheter. And I’m already used to play with a single tone control on a HH guitar.

[@lonerjuan]

Thanks! That's a good idea too. I did add the neck+bridge mod on mine though. It's very much worth it.

[@ltfringr]

Great video, this will probably save me a lot of headache when I mod my wiring. Love the swearing too.

[@lonerjuan]

Happy to help! The naughty talk is accidental, I get weird in front of the camera.

[@ltfringr]

@@lonerjuan Update: I finally did it and it went great, thanks for the video!

[@lonerjuan]

@@ltfringr That's awesome! That's the stuff that makes me want to do these.

[@joeltunnah]

I have mine as: master volume, master tone, dummy unwired 2nd tone knob (to keep the looks stock). Never understood the point of the vintage or modern Strat wiring versions. A three pickup guitar should either have 3, 1, or zero tone controls… but 2?!? Leo, Leo, Leo…

[@lonerjuan]

I think the original idea was to have the most treble position as trebly as possible, in a time when Hawaiian lapsteel and stuff like that was all the rage, and when amps weren't as chimey as some of the stuff we use nowadays. Still weird. I think I like your solution.

[@robertbaldwin177]

Thanks very much for this, did exactly as you said and now have a dedicated bridge tone control, awesome! Thought my second hand guitar was broken for a while there.

[@lonerjuan]

Thanks! I'm glad it was useful.

[@user-qr7ee2cp4y]

Moved the tone to my bridge pickup and like it...gonna move my other tone from neck to middle pickup. I never find the neck pickup to be too bright so why have a tone on that one?

[@lonerjuan]

Seems logical if that's the case, and you still have a tone in the other 4 positions. And if you ever feel like having a tone back on the neck, all you need is an extra jumper.

[@Ιωάννης-ΠάριςΠαχής]

While you are at it, you can replace the bottom tone pot with a TBX control. More sounds and neck/middle tone, for a small cost.

[@lonerjuan]

I don't know on this Strat in particular because it's already bright enough, but I have experimented a bit with low-cuts and yeah, they can open up a bunch of options. I wonder why they're not more popular.

[@Raybaehn]

I just bridged all of them to one tone-Control poti. So i got one Tone and one volume. My personal plus of that Option is that u can remove one poti and put the volume poti more away from the Pickups. So u dont turn turn the volume down accidentaly by Heavy strumming. ( happened alot before)

[@lonerjuan]

Yeah, I've heard of that move a few times. I haven't had that issue personally but I can see how it might get old real fast. I've also seen people stick some foam or rubber underneath the volume pot to create friction if the pot turns too easily.

[@unabonger777]

I have the tone 1 controlling the neck and bridge together, tone 2 middle only. I thought this was good because on a strat the neck and bridge pickups are never used together, and I can blend neck or bridge with the middle with complete independence. What do you think of this mod?I don't even remember how I did it, but it was easy.

[@lonerjuan]

I've seen that around and it makes total sense, but it's not possible on some switches though. I think any mod that's functional for what suits you is great. And now that you mention it, it did do the neck + bridge thing with a push pull, quite an interesting sound, like a straty Tele. I should make a video of that.

[@josephsolvason6535]

i have this guitar and i think i may have a ground issue. I tried checking for continuity between the metal stem of the pickup switch (just under the rubber grip, the stem that is visible even when the electronics compartment is closed). there is no continuity there. Does that indicate an issue?

[@lonerjuan]

But do you have any noise issues? Which other points are you testing continuity with? Because yes, the body of the switch should be grounded to the rest of the circuit, but I don't think the lever should measure anything. I haven't tested it, but since it moves between live signal positions I would expect it not be be grounded at all.

[@josephsolvason6535]

@@lonerjuan Thank you for the reply! Yes there is a lot of background noise (at times) which seems to go away sometimes. When the noise is present, touching the strings and other metal parts of the guitar would decrease the noise substantially. I did all the typical checks that i saw on youtube and from looking at the circuit diagram. Pickups, tune and volume, bridge, quarter inch jack, and the body of the switch as you said. One interesting thing is that the bridge was only continuous some of the time. When i press it more firmly down it will be continuous, but if i touch gently it doesn't. If it continues I may see if pushing the bridge with a little force fixes the noise

[@lonerjuan]

If touching the strings reduces noise in a very noticeable way, and everything measures continuity, then grounding should be good. What I'm not sure about is what you said about the bridge. What are you pressing? Because on strats, the bridge is grounded via the claw by a ground wire that comes straight from the control cavity.

[@kevinjackson4237]

BRILLIANT! Thank you very much

[@lonerjuan]

Thanks! No problem!

[@leanspo]

I'll keep it mind when it comes the time to buy a Strat 😁

[@lonerjuan]

It's always time to buy a [insert guitar name].

[@krito2thegreatest38]

Master tone master volume blender pot to the next pick up

[@lonerjuan]

I've seen that one around. I might give it a shot some day. I'm kinda wondering how the treble-bleed arrangement would be in that case. I hate it when impedances jump all over the place and mess with the frequency response.

[@Diogenerate]

Can you link to a diagram of this? I am new to this but I can tell this config is probably the best

[@lonerjuan]

As much as I hate Pinterest, this is exactly what I've got going on here, import switch and everything: www.pinterest.com/pin/726486983625872723/ If you have an traditional switch though, it's exactly the same as this only this one is all in line, whereas the US ones have one half on each side, 4 connectors for the pickups side of things on one side, 4 connectors for the tones on the other.

[@Diogenerate]

@@lonerjuan thank you very much

[@lonerjuan]

@@Diogenerate You're welcome. Let me know if I can help.

[@curtrod]

wire bridging bridge and neck is better?

[@lonerjuan]

Do you mean like having the neck and bridge pickups share the same tone knob?

[@unabonger777]

@@lonerjuan yes

[@MogliAnubis]

​@@unabonger777maybe the main problem in this case is that these two pickups have a large difference. If you set the tone to fit the bridge needs, cut the high for this pickup, maybe you will experience a neck pickup too dark and maybe set it up during a song, in two moves( 1- switch all the way up/down 2- adjust tone every time you change between these two pickups). When it comes to control like the video shows, youll keep these pickups tone better balanced and ready to change... I guess.

[@unabonger777]

@@MogliAnubis the solution is to adjust your pickup heights for both pickups on the treble and bass sides so they sound balanced with the one tone knob on 7 or 8. yes, the pickups need to be fairly well matched to begin with. if not, one might need separate controls.

[@ebeep]

Fantastic video and love the cursing!

[@lonerjuan]

Thanks!

[@famlitfamskitt2612]

Whats with the tin foil. I saw another video where some dude covered the whole back of the pickguard with like a copper sheet? I dont know anything about the electronics of guitars

[@lonerjuan]

Basically, it's noise reduction. The idea is to shield the electronics from Electomagnetic Fields, or EMF, which cause Electromagnetic Interference, EMI. Covering the pickguard alone is not enough though, which is why the cavity is usually painted with that black conductive paint. By surrounding as much of the electronics as possible with conductive material, you create a shield against EMF. Of course the front of the pickups remain uncovered, so you still pick up some noise.

[@felipealonso8409]

Juanito! 👏👏

[@lonerjuan]

Gracias, gracias!!!

[@Buttterscotched]

Cool

[@lonerjuan]

Noice

[@flaggism]

Cool!!!😁😁😁

[@lonerjuan]

Thanks!

[@Franco-qo6re]

no entiendo por qué recordaba este video en español, Argentino para ser exacto

[@lonerjuan]

Porque subí dos versiones, una en inglés y otra en español. Berretines míos nomás. Igual qué loco lo que es el paso del tiempo, cómo lo recordabas con tono argentino, cuando en realidad era uruguayo, que a simple vista es más o menos lo mismo, pero después te vas dando cuenta que es un poco más húmedo y gris, arrastrando las patas con el termo abajo del brazo recordando "tiempos mejores", sólo para darte cuenta que de mejores no tenían nada. Simplemente te dolía un poco menos la cintura, te pesaba menos la resaca y las frituras no te rompían tanto el hígado. Me hace acordar a la primera vez que vi Star Wars con mi viejo. Me estuvo hablando dos horas de la locura de película que íbamos a ver, de cómo le partió la bocha cuando era joven, de cómo se quedaban con los amigos escondidos en el cine para verla de nuevo en la siguiente función, de aquella experiencia que como pocas en la vida, había significado un antes y un después para toda una generación. Ahora me iba a hacer partícipe de ese mojón en su pasado, y te juro que sólo en el camino del videoclub a casa lo vi recuperar 10 años o más. Volver a ese pedacito del espacio-tiempo le había devuelto, aunque sea fugazmente, aquello que había perdido alguna vez, no sabría decir bien cuándo, seguro que él tampoco, pero por un momento iba a volver a ese lugar, y a ese entonces... La cara que vi cuando miré al costado me va a acechar por siempre. No iban más de 10 minutos de película, pero ahí mismo, viendo el color frío con el que el resplandor de la estufa a leña le iluminaba a duras penas la cara, el único dejo de luz en aquel semblante de otro modo vacante de luminosidad e incapaz de formar una expresión definida, pero que por un instante pude traducir como "desearía poder volver, para nunca haber vuelto", ahí mismo entendí lo que decía el viejo Heráclito cuando hablaba del río, del hombre, de las aguas. La pausamos mucho antes del final. Hablamos hasta tarde. Nunca fui muy fan de Star Wars, nunca le vi la gracia. No culpo a mi viejo, de hecho le agradezco. Lo que para él fue un intento fallido de pasarme una pequeña antorcha de su juventud, para mí fue una de las enseñanzas más valiosas que se puede dar a un hijo: nunca vuelvas a mirar los Power Rangers, dejalos quietos, están bien donde los amaste.

[@Αδιάφθορος]

W T F was it so easy?????? Thank you, what is going through everybody's minds not having a tone where indeed you need it the most?

[@lonerjuan]

I don't know, to be honest. I do understand however why Leo Fender went for that approach back in 1954. Amps sounded different from what we have today and also, there was a bit of a Hawaiian lap steel craze going on, so the as-trebly-as-possible bridge did make sense. Why not change the wiring for today's use? No idea. They could even change the switch so that no position shares a tone, they're Fender after all, they can produce a shitload of whatever they want. I suppose tradition has something to do with it, as usual.

[@Αδιάφθορος]

@@lonerjuan That was quite a good answer and insightful sure! I certainly don't think I know better than the man Leo himself, however the times have changed. At least some modern models with this standard would be nice! See how that goes.

[@markclough300]

fucking A right!!

[@nimitz1739]

Makes you wonder why they don’t just come like that anyway.

[@lonerjuan]

I'll never understand that. Tradition, I guess? Same reason why they only do two knobs on "modern" lineups, I suppose.

[@nimitz1739]

@@lonerjuan I looked into it. They were originally wired that way in order to give the bridge pickup maximum brightness. (a tone control acts like a buffer)

[@bcltdinc.8919]

A lot easier to just bridge 6,7,8 and leave the wires stay where they belong

[@lonerjuan]

If by 6, 7 and 8 you mean the ones dedicated to the tone controls, i.e. to the right side of the screen, that would leave you with both tones active at all times. I don't see that making things any better, but maybe you're referencing the pinout differently, in which case I'm interested in understanding what you mean.

[@lonerjuan]

@@bcltdinc.8919 But the result is different than what I want to achieve here. If I were to do that, I would have both tones engaged all of the time, which means redundant controls instead of independent ones for different settings, while also adding extra load to the circuit, meaning treble loss and messing with the resonant peak of the frequency response. The thing I want to do, which is one tone dedicated to the bridge, one for the rest, shared tones in position 2, can only be achieved the way I did it.

[@lonerjuan]

@@bcltdinc.8919 You're repeating something that is different than what I want to achieve by doing this, and ignoring why, which is explained in the video and was also explained to you on my previous comment. I want a dedicated tone for the bridge, which is not accomplished the way you're suggesting, because yes, there is more than one way to wire a Strat. Different ways often provide different results, which is why even though you're suggesting one, I prefer another.

[@bcltdinc.8919]

@@lonerjuan there is nothing that your dedicated tone to bridge can do, that a tone bridge to pin 6 cannot . Except by that by dedicating a tone to bridge , you also losing a dedicating tone to middle pickup which in position 2,3,4,5 of pickup selection is pretty useful Anyhow.. like you said it yourself "you don't know why, it just works" 😎

[@lonerjuan]

@@bcltdinc.8919 I love you. I would be honored if you made me your wife.

[@mgsands78]

Talk talk, talk......just go step by step, by step......quit with the talk talk. Just go from jack, to pickup to pick up to pick up.

[@lonerjuan]

Stop whining.

[@curtrod]

exactly@@lonerjuan

[@DougHinVA]

Nasty language is not 'cool' or 'hip' or useful. Skip it.

[@lonerjuan]

And you felt like you had to let me know why, exactly?

[@brokoldac9961]

@@lonerjuan breh ur the goat Keep it up

[@lonerjuan]

@@brokoldac9961 Thank you very much good sir!

[@tomhathaway4941]

Another free speech killer

[@curtrod]

to each their own