I Always wanted to try this on a Fender Stratocaster..

HUMBUCKER ON A STRAT??
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[@TheAtariCreep]

The 3 screw setup was never the issue. CBS Strats had sloppy neck pockets. Rad find, man. I dig it.

[@soulagent79]

In fact, the three bolt neckplate was designed by Leo Fender himself. It only took CBS a couple of years, before they decided to used it.

[@MatthewScottmusic]

Yes, I've seen many very poor neck pockets. But also from the 50's and 60's.

[@Dreyno]

@@soulagent79The design itself wasn’t at fault. The manufacturing was. G&L used, more or less, the same design but manufactured with far tighter tolerances and it worked perfectly.

[@jonahguitarguy]

Agreed, still has two screws where the force is.

[@jonahguitarguy]

I’ve been using 300K pots and .033 caps on combo pickups and went to using those values on everything. Sounds good all around.

[@williamweiss6128]

You are the right guy to get these instruments. Showing them to the world.

[@GraemeCampbellMusic]

70s Strats with a maple board are my favourite Strat. Love this one, looks and sounds great

[@jl5544]

Hi Matthew Instead of 2 vol pots you can install 500k vol pot, then install a500k resistor on neck and middle p\u from p\u selector lug on toggle switch to ground, then the single coils will see 250k and hb 500k

[@moj0ryzin]

I don't know if the seller knew who the left handed player was that owned it but it makes me think of a great player I used to go watch back in the 80s named Gregg Wright. He played 70s right handed strats without reversing the order of the strings. He was an fantastic player and a real friendly dude. I would talk guitars with him during his breaks - just a cool guy.

[@matthiskes2011]

My bet would be Doyle Bramhall II is the upside down player. Not only does he play left handed, he doesn't restring it (leaves the high strings on top), so it would make perfect sense to just drop a new strap button on the other side

[@cedarbay3994]

Yup

[@BIZARBIES]

Yup 2

[@duanewelsh5611]

Yup 3, he and Derek both toured with Clapton.

[@MatthewScottmusic]

this is correct. But I can't yet verify it.

[@chadwilliams8583]

​@@MatthewScottmusicEric Gales had one just like it too

[@motorosso3349]

I love your classic guitar videos - keep them coming, Matthew. More playing at the end of the video is always appreciated.

[@forresta65]

The sound when you dig in is full and amazing with that combo

[@DrDooDah]

I love the sound of humbuckers in a Strat. My one and only electric 6 string is a Strat with 2 humbuckers and a blanked off centre pickup hole. I put a Tele 3 way selector switch in too. It sounds phenomenal!

[@scottycasteel]

My favorite strat are the 70s double black with white pickups. I'm a big Hughie Thomasson fan and that's what he played in the Outlaws in the mid 70s.

[@benpowersguitar]

Nothing wrong with a good humbucker in the bridge, depending on use/need of course. Cool strat. Another great find man.

[@nationalduo4945]

They are still around. I bought a 1966 Olympic White Strat 6 months ago for 1200 usd. Orig pickups long gone but Fender Custom Shop Pickups put in, and that’s the only mod. A pro player passed away and his wife called in a friend to price all his gear. He failed to take the neck off and listed it as a Frankenstrat. This guy is a collector and pro Player who most of you know.i bought it as a Frankinstrat because I loved the guitar. Took it to my tech who pulled the neck and said wow you hit the jackpot.Not quite sure how it happened but it did.

[@cedarbay3994]

@@nationalduo4945 Nice score. Anyone who knows anything about vintage Strats would know a ‘66 by the headstock alone.

[@nationalduo4945]

@@cedarbay3994 I totally agree….but it seriously happened just like I said it….I actually expected her to call me and say…ohh it was 12000, it was misprinted on the list…it’s bizarre..

[@brianbishoff]

@@nationalduo4945 Same exact thing happened to me and it turned out to be one of Jimmy Hendrix's old strats.

[@zaxmaxlax]

you didnt instantly know it was a pre 70s strat by the lack of a bullet truss rod and big headstock?

[@brianbishoff]

@@zaxmaxlax of course, who wouldn't?

[@DCMO60]

You always inspire me to pick up a guitar and jam. Love your sound, touch etc.

[@ashleyroper8633]

Time off is always needed!! Glad to see, and well….hear, you back! 🧡

[@brandonthompson8413]

Beautiful sounding humbucker there too. Not too dark nor too bright. Sounds great on the strat.

[@tony_dms350]

Listen to me please, Gibson guy here! A strat with HSS configuration a maple neck and in my humble opinion 22 frets is just a different kind of animal! It took me a while to experience it but now I’m beyond sold on them! Amazing find man! She rips!

[@arto9775]

I'm updating my mexican strat almost exactly like this. It's a guitar I never fell in love with, hoping this is what it needs.

[@tony_dms350]

@@arto9775 I hope it will suit you!

[@arto9775]

@tony_dms350 thanks man, it's a 2010 standard strat and I find myself playing my cheaper harley bentons and home builds more, I hate seeing it sit in the corner.

[@jakemar.490]

I did a similar wiring on my 70s Replica strat. However, I swapped all pickups for two PAF humbuckers. Two volumes, and one no load tone knob. It's one of my fav builds and It plays so nice.

[@scottreynolds6317]

That Strat is badass!!!!!! Love the humbucker in the bridge!!! 🎸🔥🎸🔥🎸

[@killeenvanhorn1970]

Our beautiful Blues Guitar JESUS Christ is Back , thanks to Matt once again !

[@shawnbell6392]

Always like your playing and your dedication to the craft. I have an HSS partscaster with 300K pots and that has been fine (Bare Knuckle pickups recommended that) but I am told Fender now makes pots that allow 250 to single coils and 500 to the humbucker. And I totally like a humbucker in the bridge on a strat.

[@Bona-Who]

Blessed with a 74 strat- had been Kahler’d- I had that removed and converted back to hard tail. And just got a 75 from the original owner. Heavily played - Stage 4 on the Trogly scale! Early 70s Dimarzio in the bridge on that one. Love them both. But everyone else keep hating them so the price stays down!

[@thibaat1]

Great playing as always. Love the vibe. My guess is Doyle Brahmall ii

[@BIZARBIES]

Exactly what I thought as well.

[@ryanintopeka]

Same here. Came to say the same.

[@justinguitarcia]

Or Eric Gales, cause he plays a strat with a humbucker in the bridge

[@dmatt1116]

True vintage sound 👍🇺🇸🎸

[@incredifunk]

Actually SRV played his guitar in a similar fashion. At least for a bit. He would either turn it upside down and string it the proper way, or he would buy a left-handed trem system. Due to the fact that his trem bar would be on the top not the bottom. Which is ingenious if you examine it. The bar being on the bottom is always kind of a pain in the butt to reach down to and swing it back around, but if you have it on top and you use say some pipe tape or something of that nature to hold it steady it's always within an easy reach of your wrist. Action being made by the wrist almost without a crowd being able to see what you're doing. You know come to my think of it, SRV played a Les Paul before switching over to strat. That's something unknown by a lot of people but with those things being the case, this very well could be SRV's guitar

[@claysmell]

we threw an old Gibson humbucker into a Carlo Robelli strat back in the late 70's after seeing Eddie Van Halen's guitar on their first album. fantastic ripper

[@DenisBurbach]

really a special strat with the modification. with vintage strats that have been played for years... for a more advanced player it is more noticeable what it is compared to modern guitars or customshops. I own an old 79 Tokai Stratocaster myself. Tokai used to be allowed to produce for Fender. It has an original 70s headstock. Maybe Tokai will tell you something... it's a small workshop in Hammatsu, Japan. They were allowed to make custom guitars for Fender back then and even with the Spagetti logo design... only Tokai instead of Fender on it. For me personally, vintage guitars play and sound more resonant and simply better when they have been played a lot over the years. The Strat you played in this video has a certain soul to it. Great video Matthew. Greetings from Germany.

[@riccorman2799]

dude i could sit and listen to you noodle a strat All. Day. Long. Great musical mind and appreciation for the vintage gear. i love the reverence you give to these amazing instruments.

[@RyanGunns]

Welcome to the club lol Once you have a bridge humbucker, it’s so hard to go back

[@DavidFernley]

Nice to see you back cool guitar

[@paydro248]

That tone is crazy, especially in your hands, man 💪🏻 love the maple on black look as well. That’s one helluva Strat.

[@Csharpflat5]

Neck for tele, and bridge for the strat PAF classic mod.

[@ovash1]

The three bolt neck is a misnomer. On the back of the guitar, there are two screws and a machine bolt. On the heel of the guitar, facing the body, there is a large metal washer sunk into a routered, or hollowed out space in the neck, with two wood screws holding it firmly in place. The neck pocket, facing the heel of the neck also has a space routered, or hollowed out for a washer to fit in snugly and held in place by two more wood screws. The machine bolt passes through the body and into the large washer on the heel of the neck. That makes a total of six wood screws and a machine bolt being used to hold the neck to the body, plus the two washer shaped areas routered out for the washers to fit snugly into. All of this together replaces one wood screw, and that does not make for a loose neck. I should know, I have three guitars with this setup.

[@PowerInOne22]

was just talking about you with a buddy of mine dude! glad to see you upload. hope life is good on your end Matt.

[@scottmcgee9469]

Sounds great.

[@emanueldesouza793]

About the humbucker thing, i think its okay and everyone who has an intense gig routine would need more gain or more volume than a common single coil pickup. Playing in church, i miss the power of an humbucker in live.

[@b.rodclark334]

The black pickguard changeover took place in 1976 before Fender started giving Strats 5-way switches around '77 with a few still received the 3-way. The first time experiencing a Stratocaster was a white maple neck '75 (in a band my brother played keyboards in) that the guy later repainted charcoal gray. As for this naturally black beauty... WHOA JACK, it is THAT! Bridge humbuckers were being installed in Strats before the 80s superstrat phenomenon was common; I was late to it when I bought my first Strat 28yrs ago. The HSS configuration of my MIM '95 Stratocaster Special didn't have that BMQ (bridge middle quack) with a dark humbucker so it became a Telecaster gateway when I moved the middle pickup to the neck position. The backstory's long so I'll sum it this way: my Mexicali Angel's loaded with stealthy stacked humbuckers that sound like they look thanks to a 1-Meg volume pot.

[@viggogrendahl1]

I always loved these CBS strats. I own 3 of CBS era strats with humbuckers in the bridge. Really great sound & playing. Very nice video as always. Thx so much.

[@kentpierce9910]

Personally I think humbuckers in strats sound awesome but look weird if that makes any sense. I own a 70s fender guitar and have no complaints. Great video.

[@jjulch]

Had a 1976’. Looked exactly like that one. It was black, three way switch. Chiseled (not routed) for HSH. Great guitar. 70’s pickguards have date stamps, might be there underneath. Color in the 70’s was common, not custom. Black, burst, natural, and mocca were the common four.

[@howardcoleman4748]

Hy Mathew I'm from Australia and I had a very old CBS telecaster deluxe with 2 Seth lover pickups and a blonde neck with the big headstock it had massive Jumbo frets and was incredible tone this model has 2volume and 2tone pots so similar to a Gibson if you find one you will be so happy you would love slide or blues anything on it so high quality only think that it should of been a 4 screw neck backplate

[@Sammywhat]

Funny how far forward that low E string saddle was sitting. Sounds great, Matthew!! Choppers are the best... Guilt free mods and pricing all in one!

[@snapfinger1]

Nice score & backstory. Your playing style varies between Strats & LP’s. You’re sneaky good.

[@j505Kiteshop]

I’ve Always wanted to do this to my strat, just never wanted to ruin it. After seeing this video think I might need to make it happen

[@leonwhildenjr4483]

Hey Matt Man,😎👍 Nice to see you back in action it’s been a while. Nice Black Stratt and it sounds great good find! Things are Calm over here right now but that’s going to change soon so I’ll be in touch when the smoke clears.😎👍⭐️🕊🦋🕊☮️🖤🌅🎉🇺🇸

[@chrisdaviesguitar]

Always a delight watching your demos. Awesome guitar and playing as usual.

[@mikemccourt6225]

My old HSS strat is wired sorta like yours: V1 500k to bridge humbucker, V2(middle tone pot) 250k for mid and neck volume, T1 is global tone control at 250k (actual reading 266k, but whatever). It was necessary to get some nice volume/tonal variation for covering a lot of different music as the sole guitarist. Cool vid

[@_RLP]

Killer find.

[@estenray5385]

Hey Mathew great to have you back! But you certainly deserved a vacation! Very glad to hear that’s the reason for your scarcity! I Have a 1971 Stratocaster white and black (saddle shoe) with rosewood fretboard it’s a great guitar! I also own a HSS FSR Stratocaster MIM 1998 a great guitar as well! So I certainly appreciate the one you’ve got your hands on in this video! Definitely a place for both SSS and HSS!

[@jinjxmusic]

Great looking and sounding fiddle. I'm personally a fan of the 500k volume and 250k tone when mixing single coils and humbuckers. I associate that with the DiMarzio thing and having that done on a few of my HSS and HSH guitars I'm a believer that it covers all the headroom challenges while not having things sound so brittle.

[@averydeadhorse]

1976 is when they started black guards on Strat. They still used white until they ran out and same for the knobs and pickup covers

[@tekstephens]

hey matt- good to see you posting again. hope you're well brother!

[@MatthewScottmusic]

Good to hear from you my friend.

[@GeorgeVaaeth-kc9wc]

I love humbuckers in strats. I have a P-Rail ( Seymour Duncan) in mine and it sounds awesome.

[@grunda7619]

Hey Matt! Amazing tone as always and what a cool find. Can't wait to hear those licks again soon. Hope you had a great vacation!

[@martinmartin8871]

That guitar sounds really, really nice. Good DEMO of tones..... I also LOVE the HSS. (I been gigging one of several for 40 years I have a Tom Anderson Icon now that is lightning fast to play)...... Noise free and FULL.

[@michaelkarlsson5966]

Thank you for being back Matthew! You and your playing is always appreciated! I'm thinking of putting humbucker(s) on a Squier strat but not those silvery things. I like when they look like two single coils together. That way the look of the guitar is only slightly ruined 😅😂

[@davidkoral1673]

Sounds great! It's something I wouldn't do myself, but since the seventies was a time when mods were quite commonplace (before the eighties, when guitar makers became more sensitive to players' needs), you can regard this Fender as the perfect timepiece from that era.

[@NatureOkie]

In the 1980's one of those hair bands had a player that played Neck pointed down, with guitar up over shoulder...

[@jensk4140]

Sweet looking and sounding strat. I could probably enjoy playing it every day.

[@lyndatomlins3448]

Love seeing all the old player guitars you find. I did this to a Squier , put in a Shawbucker copy pickup [ I am a retired , low budget player now] as I always liked the look . Also thought a bridge single coil sound did not quite make it. Well, you loose the quacky sound of the original middle & bridge s.c.'s which was just too much for me. Also, the bridge Humbuck sound is somewhat different & not really 'Straty". I find that the rear p.up if wired to the tone pot controls the original single coil sound well enough. Took out the hummer , made an alloy plate to hold the single & cover the big hole & loved the old sound again. Cheers.

[@insufferablethrashelitist9305]

Considering I don't care for the strat bridge single pickup sound, I think it's awesome to put a gibson HB in there.

[@weets69]

Sweet guitar. Love all that play wear. It adds so much character to that old Strat. I don’t see anything wrong with having a humbucker in a Strat. In fact had a friend of mine add one to an my old 91 Mexistrat and love it.

[@kansasblues]

cool strat Matthew and great story, you make all these guitars sound good, thanks for your passion

[@TroubadourJuggernaut]

This cat always has some of the best tone on the internet

[@BelfastBoxingNBlues]

Sounds great man, nice playing too 👌🏿

[@DanielBobke]

Totally a fan of a bridge humbucker on a Strat. Of the four I own, three of them have a bridge humbucker. I think it makes the instrument that much more versatile. Very cool Strat, Matthew!

[@johnmarshall3903]

Great 74 strat. Many of these early 70's strats are lightweight Alder and sound and play great. Many of the greats played them

[@dragan4658]

Its probably a small thing for most but quite preferred by me, is the three screw neck plate, instead of the four screw square plate. Putting a humbucker in is fine, it throws a fifferent spin on the sound....Nice find!

[@alpenglow4243]

Humbucker sounds great! Good luck on your search for those rare finds.

[@thesymbolsproject9670]

I put a Seymour Duncan Humbucker in my bridge on my strat and I absolutely love the sound. I really cant get enough of it.

[@prolotomasi1150]

To my ears it sounds a lot more Hendrixy than your 59, also would love to see you finish the Mary Kay in the background

[@trippknotic]

Cool guitar. I have a 75 in what was once white now yellow. It’s killer. My only objection to the HB is that I love the slant of the single coil bridge pickup. Good to see you back 👍🏽

[@garysala5441]

I took a '04 MIM SSS Strat black w/ maple neck & put Duncan STK-S6-Neck, STK-S7 Vinyage-middle & Custom 5 HB in it w/500k CTS tone/volume & .22 caps & its amazing. Its got tone like no other...it sounds like a Strat but with a grittier edge if that makes sense lol. I love the combo

[@hkguitar1984]

Great find Matthew. Love the dual volume controls, it simplifies as well as adding more control (IMHO).

[@tfajsh]

That thing sounds mean as hell on the bridge selection

[@markirwin7677]

Strats sound so much better, with a set of humbuckers and no single coil pickups, and of course brass saddles.

[@spotmfd9431]

I made the same modification around 1982 to my 1976 Fender Strat. I was in High School and wanted to be like Eddie Van Halen. Still have the guitar and prefer HSS guitars.

[@MrWylde-s2k]

Mines a sunburst ‘74 registered ‘72 made neck and body, ‘73 pots and ‘74 pickups staple mix for the transition periods. Classic wear and dry sound.

[@jonathanstrand2474]

I’ve got an SG Junior, that had a Gibson patent humbucker in place of the soapbar, I couldn’t do it to a mint one, but I bought it that way, and interestingly, the only routing was for the PU adjust feet, 1/4” x 1/4” x 1/2”of removed wood both sides, the PU bottom plate rested directly on the body, the PU slot is still Soapbar width, although I put a Seymour Duncan JB, and added a Tonemater wrap around bridge

[@deanallen927]

I had a black Tele Thinline that was dated November '71 with Wide Ranges and the three bolt neck. The Fender dealer where I lived as a kid (I was born in '61) in the '70s had some black, natural and sunburst guitars but more Olympic White than anything else.

[@markgregory52]

Nice find. Sounds great. I think the humbucker's kinda cool. Glad you're back.

[@frankieconcepcion7860]

Definitely Doyle although you rarely see him with Maple Neck Strats. EG usually has the strap lock on the lower horn is completely upside down

[@NéstorDaríoFigueiras]

My own Fender Stratocaster is a 1997 Lonestar model, featuring a Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates humbucker. No Strat sounds better than one with a humbucker in the bridge.

[@Nozmo_King_NJ]

I'm digging it!

[@jared_z28music42]

I agree with the comment section that it’s probably Doyle Bramhall II, but it could be Eric Gayles, I suppose. Otis Rush and Albert King played that way too.

[@wilfredmcgillicuddy7902]

Wonderful sounding guitar.

[@richardturner5463]

You make everything sound fantastic, love your tone. Really liked that old 70’s cigarette stained Tele you used to have too.

[@Storm.13]

I use a 500k vol pot and leave the 250k tone pots for only the middle and neck pickups on HSS Strats....you get a tiny bit more bite and output out of the single coils in the process.

[@eerievon2946]

really dig the sound. Kool vibe too. I thought of Eric Gales when you said lefty. Saw him when he was 17 maybe... Happy trails with that axe

[@dougww1ectebow]

I think it sounds great.

[@prosperfireson]

Hey Mathew, I don't know much about creating content like this but, there certainly has to be some stress involved man so I don't blame you for taking a break. Between the band and this channel that is enough stress to choke a horse man. hahaha I dig what you are doing man and wish you nothing but, the best. I think those of us who like what you are doing will wait for you. Take care man and keep rockin' in the free world! Peter St. John Clovis, CA

[@MatthewScottmusic]

Peter, this was a really nice comment to hear. Thank you.

[@prosperfireson]

@@MatthewScottmusic the pleasure is mine Mathew. Are you familiar with the light bulb joke? It can be adapted however necessary but, it goes something like this: How many content creators/guitarist's does it take to screw in a light bulb? 100. 1 to screw in the bulb and 99 to say I could do that better. Hahaha Fatigue for creative people is real man. I chased performing/singing for about 15 years and ran out of steam so I have some idea of how hard what you are striving for is man. I love what you are working for and no matter how crazy things may get Mathew you come across as a really cool, unassuming, smart, talented, passionate and decent person. Hold fast to the center man and no matter how crazy everything may get don't lose sight of who you are at your core man because that is what comes across so strongly in your video's and your music. People like me will pull for you every time man and cheer you on when times get tough. Every time man. Every time.

[@cliveburgess4128]

Hey, Matthew, i just wanted to share this with you, being a big strat fan, you may already know of it, but anyway, if not, check out this pretty much unknown band from italy, one of my favorites, great strat tone and music,, released in 73 I believe, Garybaldi Astrolabio

[@DaveDeAndrea]

Great find, Matthew! Congrats!

[@willkupers]

Smart move to put a 500 k on the PAF. Humbucker at the bridge is nothing wrong with. Have also a HSS Strat besides the SSS. Love it. Awesone guitar. ❤

[@EricJohnson-iv7ne]

Sounds great! I dig it.

[@fredfloyd68]

It does look like a Doyle axx... Mathew has some great chops...

[@shauncrissc]

Ya definitely CBS years has the transitional logo like the the American Satin Blue Performer I just purchased and it's got 21 frets for a true classic fender

[@ralphwest8156]

The classic early - mid 70's mod ' ...and still has the PAF, wow. Later 70's mod was to use Di Marzios or Seymour Duncans. This one sounds fantastic, great find.

[@randykintzley5923]

Nice sounds. No quarter is echoing through my head now.

[@SlipknotAstronaut]

Matthew Scott & Chris Buck should do a solo tour together

[@jubei7259]

Totally dig the T-top in the bridge. It might finally tempt me to use any pup other than the neck on my old strat (probably not though lol)