My 10-year-long STRAT project | Gear Corner

#stratocaster #strats
What can you do if vintage or custom shop strats are not an option? That's right. You can start a massive 10-year-long modding project with your existing strat. Haha! I got really lucky, mine turned out really well. Here's the full story of my sunburst beauty.
Enjoy Gear Corner!
Follow me on instagram: @kris_barocsi
** Why the "Includes paid promotion" message? **
According to german laws everyone has to mark their videos as advertisements as soon as there's a single "subject relevant" product, tag or link in it. Even if you didn't get paid for making that video. Sounds confusing and it really doesn't help the viewer to see which is a paid review and which isn't.
--- The line of truth: Is this actually a paid review? No it isn't, but I use affiliate links. (I update this line for every video).
Timestamps:
Introduction
0:20 Intro Song | w/ Kasleder Toxic Twins Overdrive
1:32 Let's start at the beginning...
2:34 The current specs of the strat
2:55 PLAYING | w/ Kasleder Toxic Twins Overdrive
3:42 More specs: pickups and the wiring
5:20 PLAYING | SRV style drive + clean
6:18 The tremolo
7:28 PLAYING | fuzzzzzzz
8:04 The pots, capacitors and wiring
8:29 The neck
9:08 PLAYING | spongy low gain drive
9:50 Frets, nut, tuners
10:17 PLAYING | more fuzz
10:44 The guitar's history
11:30 Ugly aging...
12:03 PLAYING | clean
12:35 The neck swaps
13:34 PLAYING | tight drive
14:10 Finally refinished it
14:56 PLAYING | All pickup positions
15:44 Will I keep on modding it?
18:02 PLAYING | outro jam
Gear used in this video:
(the Bitly links are Thomann affiliate links)
-Barocsi "Frankenstrat"
-Kasleder Toxic Twins: bit.ly/2VJRDiO
-Honey Bee Double Trouble: bit.ly/33COaU3
-UAFX Golden Reverb: bit.ly/3vS36JN
-Analogman King of Tone analogman.com
-Dunlop Gypsy Fuzz pedal: bit.ly/2VKw4K0
-REVV Dynamis 7/40 head: bit.ly/2IxwoId
-Universal Audio OX BOX bit.ly/2IyOeuj
-Two Notes Captor X: bit.ly/33FPfcW
-One Control Agamidae switcher: bit.ly/2YZgiib
-Ernie Ball cables and strap: bit.ly/2Io0dfg
-Cordial CRI series cables: bit.ly/2XiVLBR
-Evidence Audio patch cables: bit.ly/2Ixylo1
Other gear I use in my videos:
-Fender Telecaster Custom Shop '53 reissue
(a similar custom shop tele: bit.ly/2KFVJld)
-Harley Benton Fusion-II Roasted SSP bit.ly/31FVawf
-Gibson Les Paul Custom Shop '58 reissue bit.ly/2FxKvek
-Gibson Les Paul CM 2015 - heavily modified (thin nitro refin; Lollar Dog Ear P90; Emerson electronics)
-Barocsi Troublecaster - Custom built T-style guitar with Gretsch Filtertrons
-Kasleder Time Trap delay: bit.ly/3jQkha6
-Xotic Super Clean: bit.ly/36fsHka
-Coppersound Foxcatcher: coppersoundpedals.com
-Walrus Audio D1 Delay: bit.ly/2W4McqU
-Supro Tremolo
-REVV G2: bit.ly/2NbpV9R
-Walrus Audio Lillian phaser: bit.ly/3czfxB8
-Tate FX Raise the Dead Ge: tatefx.co.uk
-J Rockett Archer overdrive: bit.ly/2Ges1z8
-Morgan 1x12 cab Twilight: bit.ly/2KFihDq
-NUX SOS Looper bit.ly/31TMxPx
The speech mic:
-SENNHEISER MKH 416: bit.ly/2w1EAMP
Audio Interface:
-Audient iD44: bit.ly/2Jo73zN
Check out the Thomann Music channel for some wicked guitar videos:
/ musikhausthomann
Cheers,
Kris

[@Nocean831]

Favorite mod on my strat is having a “blender” knob on the second tone pot. My first tone is a master tone knob and the second tone knob blends in the neck pickup. So I could be on the bridge pickup and blend in any amount of the neck pickup that I want, doesn’t have to be full on. I could dial in just a tad of the neck pup if I want. Suuuuper useful mod!

[@voxshall]

I spent so many hours on my strat partscaster modifying, building and playing and all those hours of blood sweat and tears definitely increases that bond I have with it. I started out with a strat body from 1964 that had about five refinishes, a spent 60 hours sanding it down to the original finish which was thankfully still underneath no refin needed and it came out great, the neck is off a 1963 Jazzmaster and the hardware off another 63 strat that had been messed with, the neck from the other 63 strat when on my number two strat because the Jazzmaster neck just had the most amazing sound and feel and matched the 64 body so well I had to leave it on my number 1.

[@BeesWaxMinder]

LOVE Stories like this

[@3minutechannel]

Don’t change anything else, it’s perfect! I have an LP junior copy that I bashed around and then sanded it to lessen the dings and scratches, giving a more authentic ageing effect. It’s got vintage nickel tuners and a stew mac bridge, all naturally aged, now I just need to change the pickup (probably a Lindy Fralin) and it’ll be perfect

[@picksalot1]

I've got a 1982 reissue Strat that I've Modded most of the parts in one way or another. It wasn't my intent to do that, as it was myfirst electric guitar and I got it because my favorite guitarists played Strats, and I thought I was "safe" getting one. But, over time, it turned out that I liked almost nothing about it except the body shape, tuners, and name. One good thing about being so disappointed in it, is that I've learned a lot about electric guitars, what I like and what I don't like, and how to go about getting the sound I like. I feel totally comfortable doing all my own mods.

[@yanyinzhu7654]

That reverse neck head is so sick! Love it !

[@Hansten]

I really like that stratocaster, looks a lot like mine. I also went in that rabbit hole and tried a lot of pickups. Now I use 2 handwound single coils N and M and a Gibson PAF at the bridge with it's own 500k volume pot. It's really a versatile guitar! Next mod I am about to do is change the saddles and put the Graph tech piezo system!

[@jeshely]

That intro jam and baking track sounded so cool and groovy.

[@KrisBarocsi]

Thanks so much!!

[@trev_mcnaughton]

Bit old, but want to share anyway! My oldest/fav would be my Midnight Blue Fender Telecaster standard. Got it new in 2000 on a trade for an old 90's SG .. got an amp with it. Over the years I've modded it with a brass nut, some p/u toggle switches, phase switches, parallel/series etc.. I had a dimarzio fast track T in the neck position and gave it a very unique sound. Just last month tho I decided to redo it, got a nice decoboom pickguard, changed the fast tract to the bridge as was intended, put back the OG tele neck, rewired parallel switch to a 3 way with gave me a coil-tap in the middle position.. kept the toggle switches for the pickups, but swapped the caps for spragues, and changed the pots to concentrics for separate tone/vol controls.. also added brass saddles.. It was my first time do it all on my own and it's an absolute tone beast now, finally fits my current tele sound dreams. I also just refinished an F style mandolin that had a thick polyurethane finish.. I share that experience of PU finishes and how terrible they are to alter such a nightmare to work with after it's cured.

[@KrisBarocsi]

Thanks for sharing! That sounds like an amazing tele! 🙌

[@hcrockso1]

I almost did all the same to mine... I have a 2004 American Standard sunburst bought in 2006 in Budapest... Was going through all the shops in BP tried out all the strats till I found the one that suited me the most... till today the only things original on it are the body (3tone sunburst) and the maple neck... put the sd antiquities in it and a dimarzio chopper in the bridge position... Changed the bridge and saddles from the offset ones to the vintage style saddles, kept the 2point screwbridge but its fixed as I never use the whammy bar... also put in the emerson electronics... Its not reliced as yours but has some pretty good (pub and gig relics :D )natural wear as it was my main guitar for over 14 years full of gigs. I just love it still the most of all my guitars... I can lend it to you sometime to compare them.

[@davemish4163]

That Tele pickup sounds amazing in that guitar. Please don't change it.

[@The_Acoustic_Workshop]

Modding guitars gets addictive after a while…😀 all my acoustics have had multiple changes of machine heads, pickups and lord knows what else. But they’re all much better and suit my playing. It’s such a good way to get to know the instrument you’re using.

[@lfigueroa97]

Very nice mode story Kris, enjoyed it very much!!

[@fry577]

My Strat is a 2003 American standard with sunburst finish and maple neck, so exactly the same as yours :) I changed the bridge & tuning machines too, but I’ve always been reluctant to try out new pick ups. Interested by the non-reversed wound middle pick up though, will check that out !

[@davidknibbs9646]

It sounds vintage. WOW

[@2good2betrue3]

Beautiful Strat!, love the warm chimey tone and the relic vintage worn down effect, It's like a workhorse guitar who traveled with the artist for decades down the road just like Clapton's "Blackie" and Yngwies "No#1", nice insight " if you cancel the hum, you also cancel other frequencies"😉... Kris noticed your set up is so nice, the action of your strat is very low but without buzz and doesn't sacrifice the resonance. My strat is 2mm at the 12 fret. I wish I could lower mine like that without the tonal "sacrifice". haha.

[@musicplaylists59]

another interesting mod you could try on that guitar is get another pickguard and try the tele bridge pickup with a reversed angle like Hendrix's bridge pickup, I've never heard a tele pickup with reversed angle before.

[@vincentchen5341]

So much love showed when you look so proud of your mods, great tone.

[@tonebreakfast]

Love the idea of putting 2 necks pu on strat, kindof tone i was looking for , great tone and playing btw!

[@eddiejr540]

I have an original ’84 Kramer Pacer...bought it new in 85...I changed the bridge p/u a month later to a Dimarzio super distortion (so its a 1985 p/u)...other than that it’s all original...still in great shape...I play it everyday and it is a beast...Kris, that strat is a keeper...its like all guitars, if you find a gem, hang on to it!!!!

[@jasonsapp792]

Wow that hits all the buttons for me....maybe on the bridge pup....what about a quality single coil size humbucker that is wired for single coil or split and to get the humbucker use a push/ pull or get the Fender S1 switch ? I like it as is ...really appreciate the 2/4 positions with no reverse wound middle

[@mikeyjhn]

I like your videos of mods, pedals, guitars etc but what I really love is the way you play and your personality that comes through your music. Have you ever thought of making vids of just your noodlings and music? You have a distinct and individual way of playing that is a joy to listen too. Also the quality of tone you achieve in your recording process makes everything you play sound 👍🏻

[@KrisBarocsi]

Thanks so much man!! My favourite part of making a video is coming up with the tones and the licks / tracks. I will definitely start working on an album soon. I can feel the urge rising. Haha! I really appreciate your words, again, thank you!! 🙌🙌

[@WW-1995]

Mine is a 00s Made in asia Stratocaster bought 2nd hand. Always thought it sounded good only because I didn't owned another strat. When I opened it a decade later, I realized that the previous owner has modded the electronics (treble bleed, strange capacitor, alternate wiring, etc.). Liked it so much, I learnt a lot of luthier stuff on it (setups, nut adjustement, modding, refrets, etc.). I've refinished it with a handmade wipe-on poly and it has reliced in a pretty good way for a poly finish (which I didn't expected). I plan on doing a Placid Blue Nitro over natural poly soon.

[@lfigueroa97]

Love your strat project Kris!!🔥

[@donald-parker]

Another good one! Sonny Landreth uses a strat with a tele bridge PU. But he also used a Tele bridge (and cut the strat pick guard to fit around it). I think it looks very cool. I have a 3/4 size strat (warmoth body, Moses Graphite neck) with 24.75 scale length and 24 frets, and custom 4x2 headstock (so no string trees needed), LSR tuning machines, and an LSR roller nut, that uses Kinman pickups (including a Tele bridge PU, and a mini-toggle that engages the neck PU in all settings of the blade switch). One of the things I like best about this is that I can hear 5th fret and "4 3/4 fret" harmonics with all PU selections. A normal strat neck PU will not ... pick up ... these harmonics because it is too close to the node of the vibrating strings. I'm a big fan of "doing your own thing".

[@GraniteSoundtrack]

Definitely sounds very good. I got a complete Warmoth strat I love. It began as a transplant of vintage electronics on a an old Greco Japanese Strat copy that was done and busted up. The Warmoth has an alder body and I'm an all maple neck and fretboard guy. But since transplanting the pickups and electronics I went on to swap the pickups for Fender 57/62s (non RWRP middle) and an Emerson Custom blender wiring harness with a treble bleed. I love it. I feel it competes well with many more costly Strats. Only thing I would change now (for now) is the mistakes I made when assembling it that only I can see.

[@MartinCliffe]

I have an Ibanez JS100 (the hard to find white one) that I bought new in 2004. I've lost track of how many sets of pickups it's had in it, at least 4. Changed the tuners, added a tremol-no to lock the bridge (I never use whammy bars), replaced the pots a couple of times. It needs a refret now, but it's one of those guitars that's been around for so long now, I can't imagine not having it, even though I hardly play it. The finish, of course, as Ibanez poly finishes tend to, still looks perfect, if a little yellowed compared with the brilliant white when I got it! I've modded so many guitars over the years, mostly only pickups and wiring though.

[@thunderoz1254]

That intro song is so smooth and tasty.👍

[@evamalmberg]

That guitar sounds great!

[@rudolfbittnermusic]

Amazing Guitar with amazing ton.

[@TVoltG]

I have two old Telecaster pickups from the early 70's that both have a great sound to them. I have been saving them for myself to make a a couple of strat style guitars like yours. Unfortunately I have sat on this idea for years now. 2022 is the year. I am making the time to make them thanks to your video. Happy New Year!

[@johncarpenter440]

Thanks for sharing! My first guitar is probably the one with the most sentimental value to me and the one that is most comfortable for me to play. It is an '06 or '07 MIM Strat Standard in 3 ton-sunburst. I got it originally with the ceramic HSS configuration. I did a few basic mods to it, locking tuners, and a number of pickup changes. Then on a whim decided to rout the neck S route in the body to an H-ish route, so that I could make it a humbucker bridge and hum sized p90 neck. This was alright for a while, but at some point I decided to go back to the original electronics and MIM pickups, but got a single coil bridge and replaced the pickguard with a genuine Fender Tortoise guard. I am considering completely upgrading and redoing the electronics and pickups (likely with vintage N/M and slightly hotter than vintage bridge), but I haven't gone down that rabbit hole yet. I have also considered, many times, putting a Tele bridge pickup in it, but I want it to have a clean look with the proper tele angle and a clean cut pickup hole, so I would need to a custom guard as well.

[@camaderrygoat1314]

Nice new jingle at the start 👌🏻

[@KrisBarocsi]

Thanks! I wanted one for a loooong time. Haha! I finally took the time to make it. Cheers

[@Gaslight.Guitar]

My first great guitar was a 2009 Mexican Standard Tele in Candy Apple Red. I refinished it like 3 times. It now has Pure Vintage 64 pickups, new pickguard, new bridge, new tuners and a new output jack. So it also has seen a few mods. ;) Still love playing it.

[@jarihankiala3871]

That Strat is amazing! Don’t change a thing! Happy also I discovered this channel. Immediately clicked follow. I haven’t taken modding that long as relicing but my 99 strat is the one for me after 20 years of modding it has stayed and will stay like it is now. I bought the guitar as a teenager after my first summer job. I was gonna buy a new mexican one, but my dad recommended to buy a used american. Not knowing it was actually ”traditional” model (made in Usa with mexican parts). I played it few years actually mostly unplugged cause my amp was really crappy the first year. Later learned soldering and started switching all electronics switches, potiometers, pickups and pickuards etc. when I got money for a good amp. Pickups that I used were Seumoyr duncan hotrails, coolrails for a while and finally a set of 57/62 fender pickups that have that same vintage spec with not reverse wound. I love those pickups and the feel of the guitar. But for years I’ve had treble bleed, 50’s wiring and a lot of mods in it. Finally about 6 years ago I changed all the potiometers as 60s spec and noticed I had no issues with the treble loss anymore. Allways had 500k (460k when i mesured it) potiometer there. Now after changing to brass bridge block (cause I wrecked two metal ones in two years with my whammy) I think I’m finally done with modding it… well maybe it’s gonnna need a second fret job soon and tuners cause of wear. But with the feel, looks and electronics I’m happy and have been for years.

[@KrisBarocsi]

So cool, thanks a lot Jari! Also thanks for sharing the story, I love it. Cheers

[@dezionlion]

Looks and sounds great!

[@michaelnugent9758]

Such a cool Strat. Fantastic playing and tone as always, Kris!

[@RicardoCoya]

great work ..awesome guitar... but hearing you playing is the real pleasure!

[@KrisBarocsi]

You have no idea how much that means buddy. Thank you!! 💛

[@averydeadhorse]

Install a 10 way blade switch. When you want to have it in standard Strat mode you can flip the blade switch up and have the other 5 positions wired normally.

[@yjmsrv]

That guitar- in it's current state- does indeed hold up very well against all the Custom Shop versions out there. I'm very impressed with the newest Nitro relic you've done. I'm modded MANY of my guitars and like you- the only way to "relic" one is to refinish it in nitrocellulose lacquer- then either play the $hit out of it or "relic" it with abrasives and such- I have 18 guitars now- and about half are HEAVILY modified- my latest- a olympic white over sunburst relic (originally a Nash) has Mojotone quite coil pickups in them- the jury is out on those pickups- not sure their going to stay in there- I don't love 60hz hum- but when it's gone something seems to be missing- so I may put back the Fender Fat 50's that were in there before- those pickups are amazing.

[@KrisBarocsi]

Thanks a lot! I don’t mind hum at all. All I care about is the guitar “not getting in the way” of the dynamics of my playing. If a guitar feels like it has the brakes pulled in a little, that drives me nuts. Haha! Most of our guitar heroes had to deal with hum and we still want to nail their tone, so… 🤷‍♂️😁 Cheers

[@yjmsrv]

@@KrisBarocsi Yep! If it worked for SRV, Jimi, Richie and the rest- it should work for us too! Excellent point!

[@slimsantilli4476]

I saw Jeff beck a few years ago. He played a reverse headstock strat. Stayed in tune all night. One thing I recommend is an aluminum trem block. I have one in a partscaster that is just amazing. Great job on your guitar!

[@Steven_SK]

Kris!!! With this and your Tele you are pretty well covered. You have found the sweet spot on this one and I would be afraid to change anything. But everybody gets that wild hair once in a while! Need to start another 10 year project! You know the guitar that has my heart is my 74 Les Paul Deluxe. All stock as well. Good vid man. Sounding sweet AF!

[@KrisBarocsi]

Hey Steve, this strat is perfect for me. I agree with you, I don’t feel like changing anything else on it. The matter of the bridge pickup is a practical thing, nothing else. I’d havea free video ideas that would recommend a „full on strat“ and I don’t feel like getting another strat only for that. Haha! That’s why I’m thinking of maybe putting a strat bridge PU in there. I‘ll figure out something I’m sure. 😅

[@danielflintknapping]

Great video Kris, very interesting!

[@mikefromusa6902]

It’s perfect don’t change anything

[@TheBedroommusician]

I have a Jolana Strat made in 88-89. It was my first electric guitar that I bought from a friend in 1999 for 100$ and I still keep it. Unplugged it sounds just awesome! The body and neck are maple, the fingerboard is some dark wood, but not rosewood or ebony. Originally it was a hardtail HH configuration. I swapped humbuckers on it for 5 times in different combinations over the years, but never liked the sound of it. A few months ago I ordered a ready made pickguard on Reverb with SSS configuration and THAT WAS IT!!!. The pickups are dimarzios area 58 and 61 I believe. I had to carve the body to fit them but it was worth it!. Other modifications were nut replacement with a bone. The block under the bridge that holds the strings was made of plastic and I replaced it with a steel one. Also the neck was refretted. It is now my favourite guitar again after so many years!

[@KrisBarocsi]

That’s an awesome story! Do you know on which guitar I started playing? On my dad’s old Jolana Star. 😅 If a really old one (has to be late 60‘s) and he still has it. Cheers!

[@PooNinja]

My 92 Jackson Rhodes Has a lot of relic marks from one of my exes using it as a battle axe to destroy a practice room. She smashed a pair of three-quarter inch thick MDF speaker cabinets with it, a tascam cassette mixer into a billion pieces and then , then smashed all the tubes out of the back of my fender super twin…. I used the syringe to pump a little glue into the top horn that had cracked, wrapped it with leather and clamped it. it’s got a lot of dings and dents but it still plays like a champ and from 20 foot away you’d never see any of the marks ( thanks black sharpie) . I never have to see that girl ever ever again, I feel sorry for anybody who does she krazy! My Yamaha SE 300h has a shady past with some gun runners from Sudan, but it’s in a much better place now. I’ll save that story for another time.

[@7thString84]

WTF man!?!?! :DDD Please tell us the reasons for that! Seems like a new way of relicing. "Mad-Ex-Axe-Relic-Department" - get a half for one! :D

[@PooNinja]

@@7thString84 I thought I did??? “She Crazy” always ask “ have you ever been institutionalized ? if yes why?” Before cohabiting. I’m much more selective now about which humans I associate with. Humans are an interesting, irrational, emotional and violent species. If there had been a reason ie infidelty or abuse it would be justified but there were no such occurrences ? I was at work and Captain Morgan was there spinning the waterwheel of crazy? And 💥 Crazsplosion all over the gear I loved more than her apparently. I guess she may have been right I still have the gear (that survived) haven’t seen her in over 30 years 🤣

[@martinclayton7260]

My oldest guitar is my Ibanez RG550, it's a late 1980's one. It's had the pickups changed twice, it's had a new neck, new wiring, new pots, new knobs, and it's having a new Schaller trem fitted to it at the moment. I've missed both my Strats, my Tele, my Jackson, and changed the pickups on my SG, and both my Les Pauls!

[@dprudhotube1]

Great Mayerish tone. Maybe a video on to get that tone?

[@zd351]

Ok, my first electric guitar. Bought new in 1986. A non-Fender lefty strat in faithful L-Series specs, but all black- body,pickguard, pickups and knobs. Aroind the early 90s, I cut my own pickguard out of mirrored plastic. Put in SD JB in bridge, SD Quater Pounder in middle, and DiMarzio Fred in neck. Master Volume, Master Tone 5 way switch moved down between knobs where the middle knob would normally be. Also a mini toggle switch to spit the humbuckers.

[@Filhelm]

So I have this Candy apple red Mexican tele from about 2013. Bought it new when I started Music school after graduating "normal" kind of mandatory school. (explaining education systems cross countries gets old real fast). Previously I had only owned a total of two rather thin necked shredder guitars with floyds but with my music tastes broadening I started to feel almost held back by my PRS SE Torero. The tele I got served me well and just the fact that it's so simple to work on made it so that I honed most of my guitar care skills by just living and working with that guitar for years. Two years in to excessive practicing and poor playing habits made it so that I got som injuries in my wrists/forearms. One of them being that I pushed down my forearm over the edge of the body. This became a huge problem and stays with me to to a degree even this day years after. However instead of only relearning posture or selling the guitar I cut down what some feel is the ugliest armrest/bevel on a tele in telecaster history. This worked for me tho and it made it easier to readjust once I started getting more into playing it again. This was the spark that lit the fuse that in the end resulted in a rea-shaped heel joint (much like the fender ultras today), belly cut locking tuners "for the fun of it" and a Dimarzio chopper t with a series/single/parallel toggle and a Dimarzio True velvet in the neck. When i look at that guitar it feels like I can see soon to be a decade of becoming my own type of guitarist with my own tastes and preferences and that's one of the few things in life that makes me remember that things are actually moving on and I'm not just stuck in a rutt all the time.

[@Luislazarosolana]

I started my guitar mods projects with a strat as well. But mine was around 70 € and I got it for free (the body was broken in two pieces). Once it was fixed and improved I started working on guitars from scratch. It is like GAS but with a chisel in the hand LOL. Thanks for sharing your experience Kris!

[@markosimonic]

Very interesting topic about RWRP middle pickup. I always thought that it is a must, but I really like your bridge-middle position without RWRP option👍

[@cobravinci]

Before you tell your strat holds the road against more expensive strats, I was thinking the same. It seems to be a very nice instrument, and the result of years of research, which explains why you love it and why it sounds so nice. All the sounds are really great. My second electric guitar is a 89 US American Strat, bought 2nd hand when I was young. Tried to "relic" years ago, without knowing that with a polyurethane finish it was nearly impossible. I changed the bridge pickup (for a SD Little 59), the tuners (for Schaller locking ones), blocked the tremolo bridge (same issue as you : impossible to keep in tune) and now my guitar is in the hands of my luthier for a refret. Maybe on day, I'll change the neck because I find it too skinny (same problem as you, again)... Cheers

[@KrisBarocsi]

Thanks a lot for sharing your strats story. I enjoyed it. 🤩 cheers buddy

I really wonder why your channel can not get more attention, you are great.

[@KrisBarocsi]

Thanks a lot! There are many reasons for it. 1. YT is a very crowded place and it’s super hard to grow your channel. 2. My channel is not at all attractive to teenagers, which are the vast majority of YT viewers; 3. I don’t really do mainstream „fun but nonsense“ content, which makes my channel immediately boring for many who just wanna have fun on yt; 4. YT doesn’t really help these medium-sized channels with recommending the videos to possible new viewers. They mainly do that for biiig channels only. That’s all I have. 😂 I don’t mind though, this is me and I will not change things only for more success. At least we don’t have a lot of brainless trolls here. That’s awesome. 🥳

[@MrBossei]

That strat sounds really, really great! And the playing is outstanding 🤩

[@KrisBarocsi]

Thanks a lot man!! 🙌🤩

[@Fksu]

always hated my strat, until i got rid of the noiseless fot yosemites and also added an antiquity p90 on the bridge like Henrik Freischlander!

[@joosboer1030]

I have a similar guitar. It started out as a Highway one Strat with thin skin nitro. I found a 60s style rosewood neck with. 9 1/2” profile and medium jumbo frets that I lapped and polished the frets on and it feels fabulous. I put Klusons on it for the same reasons as you, and a vintage reissue tremolo, the really expensive one with the steel block for that sustain. I chose a set of calibrated pickups that sound really 60s and wired it like a 60s. More recently I also put in the Duncan treble bleed in it and a jumper to the bridge tone when it needed a total rewire anyway from too many experimental pickup changes. I love that guitar, it does it all… except sound like a Tele in the bridge position. That’s why I also love Teles, which is another story. Sure Strats have great neck tones, but If only I could get my Strat to have the best of that Tele sound as well. The Strat bridge pickup is just a tiny bit weak isn’t it? Just this week, the solution was to put a copper plated baseplate under that bridge pickup like a Tele. It’s done the trick. It still has all the greatness of the Strat tones but with the balls of a Tele in the bridge position, the difference is subtle but comparing with the Baha Tele, it sounds really similar. Just a little more upper mids and drives the amp a little stronger, giving a slight lift from other pickup positions, you should try it. I’ve had it for nearly 15 years now and it just keeps getting better and best of all it makes me sound like a better player than I actually am. I love that guitar, I’ll never part with it

[@thegaindane]

Thank you for sharing your Strat project. It’s definitely a result of a guitar tech for sure 👍

[@Gaslight.Guitar]

Hello

[@gregb6387]

The Tele pickup sounds awesome. Lots of grunt for a Strat. Beautiful Guitar. I have a two tone sunburst SX Strat. I'm not sure how old it is but I love it. I sanded the back of the neck and swapped out the pick ups for hot rails in the bridge and neck, but they were to hot. The original electrics were shot and i found another SX Strat and swapped out the pickguards and it sounds amazing. I want to relic it but like unsure it will look the real deal.

[@GraniteSoundtrack]

Wow intro playing was sublime! Lovely tones.

[@KrisBarocsi]

Lewis, you’re awesome! Thank you!!

[@woulf1031]

I modified my Ibanez RG 370 AHMZ-BMT and i got a RW/RP single coil for Hum canceling and later i discovered it doesn't cancel Hum, because the used coils from the Humbucker have the same polarity. I thought about switching it, but i decided to stick to it, because i like the tone. Funny you experienced the same. Farther i removed the zero point system, added an on/off switch, new push/pull pots for coil split and 50' wiring. It is my daily guitar and i love it.

Ohhh cool intro animation! Awesome video, my friend! This strat is simply amazing. 🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻

[@KrisBarocsi]

You’re the best my dude! Thanks, I‘ve started learning animations so I wanted to improve things a little. 😅

@@KrisBarocsi Nice!!! Keep it up!!

[@Vayth]

Awesome built Kris, I like it a lot, I also like those stories about guitars! We share the same hobby, I modify all of my guitars, I buy the junk that no one wants and bring it back to life. Currently working on a parts' caster with a no name body, paired it with a Jackson neck and a top mounted Floyd, I also gave it a new paint job and a heavy relic, the list of modifications / upgrades is very long. Love these videos, keep 'em coming! 👍

[@KrisBarocsi]

Cheers dude, thanks so much for watching the video! 🤘😁

[@vincentchen5341]

I do mods on my strat early this year too, I changed the original American deluxe Noiseless gen3 to Lollar blondes, and it sounds so much better and sweet warm and bouncingly edgy.

[@KrisBarocsi]

Thanks for the comments Vincent! Lollars are insane! Congrats on your strat!

[@ranman58635]

You sound like me. I first started a year ago. Been playing for 30 year's. I have just bought a stratocaster and I'm doing this too. No relic! Lol

[@grayaj23]

I have a '96 MIM Robert Cray strat that I've done some minor modifications to (locking tuners and a different pickguard). It's a hardtail and has a fantastic sound. It was the first guitar I owned that I spent more than entry-level money on. I'll never get rid of it.

[@kevinmac59v2]

Love that soulul playing my bratha!!!!!

[@ziggylayneable]

The guitar I am bonded with most is my third guitar... first was Yamaha acoustic II was a Peavey Electric third was a 1980 Fender Stratocaster bought in 1984

[@KrisBarocsi]

Thanks for sharing it dude, no wonder you are still a strat guy. First bond is first bond, right? Cheers

[@fraenkiboii]

Yep, that's your best Tele, Kris! I LOVE your sound in pos. 4 (middle+neck) with the double trouble pedal!!!! Certainly reminds me of that dude with the cowboy hat and boots, who allegedly played 13 gauge strings.

[@KrisBarocsi]

Hey, careful with the tele bashing ☝️😆 She’s here and listening. Thanks my dude, I absolutely love this guitar, it became my dream strat over the years.

[@spudvader]

Got a Fender collector edition strat, basically was a 62 avri. Was nitro sunburst, tried to relic it, done a bad job so stripped it and painted it (nitro) fiesta red with brown tortoise guard, relic'd that, messed it up again and so now it's shell pink over sonic blue (again nitro) with no clear coat. I have also changed the frets to Dunlop 6100 jumbo frets and flattened the fingerboard from 7.25 to 12 inch radius, graphtech nut, routed the bridge out for a humbucker, changed all the pots out to CTS pots and has a PIO cap. I think that's all the mods

[@KrisBarocsi]

Wow, that’s quite a story, haha! It’s all about trials and errors, isn’t it? 😆 Thanks for sharing!

[@spudvader]

@@KrisBarocsi I can't help myself, even if a guitar is just fine the way it is, there is something I can do to it to make it my guitar haha. I've been looking up warmoth stuff recently, got a couple guitars in mind but one at a time lol. I've been interested in the 59 profile, was cool to hear about it from someone that had actual experience with it

[@adrian_V99]

Kris, first I must admit that this is one of the very best videos I have seen and thank you for sharing your Strat mods journey. The guitar is absolutely amazing and having played (not owned) custom shops up to $13,000, your build is right up there tonally. I've been moddding a Squier Strat for over nine years and it has gone through PAF covered humbuckers, P90s and even goldfoil pickups. Currently has hotrails which personally I find too hot.. After your video I am inspired to try a Telecaster pickup at bridge. Your guitar sounds perfect, at least for my musical style. Thanks again and cheers!

[@KrisBarocsi]

Thanks so much Adrian! Yeah I'm super happy with the guitar now, it really sounds amazing. There are some vintage ones and custom shops (and S-style guitars, like Macmull) that are even more mind blowing, but for the most part, this guitar is all I could ever dream of in terms of strats. Cheers!

[@raytorvalds3699]

Wow, holy smokes ! That is a gorgeous looking and sounding guitar. Loved the story behind it. Thank you for sharing, Kris ! Do you notice any difference between a Tele bridge pickup mounted on a pickguard as opposed to a Tele bridge ? I have a 2009 MiJ Jackson Dinky that I modded the sh*t out of. Only the wood and the frets are stock, basically. I will spare you the list of mods, but you can trust me that I went all out on it. Loved doing it and I learned a lot.

[@Gaslight.Guitar]

Sick strat man. Thats definitely a Frankenstein of all sorts.

[@guitarman1inwd]

72tele thinline,3 color sunburst,but.had 5 colors on it thru the years,,,,,i put an sg kit together my wife got me for a xmas,,i bought parts including scalloped neck malsteen,wwith gold hardware,,,iput a frankie strat painted striped 82 unkerts banana headstock ,,, i put gether a custom shop type tele ,quilt top no pickguard with gold hardware,,,i put together a hendrix monterey strat painted ,laft hand plays right handed,so as to get the complete feel jimi dealt with,i researched the paint i got it closer then anything out there ,,, and 13variuos electrics acoustics and a bass modded like a tele type pbass,,and pedals amps a pa drums etc.....whew i got more crap then need......not!

[@ericcarpenter3263]

My wife, kids and I were in Norman from Tulsa staying in a hotel for Thanksgiving about 8 years or so ago. I woke up I. The morning and checked my email, I never do that. Had an email from Sweetwater saying they had Amber top PRS SE 245s with wrap around bridge on sale for $250. I told my wife how cool it was and didn’t think more of it. Got in the shower to get ready for Thanksgiving and by the time I got out, my wife had bought it. Love the guitar, but I’ve replace a lot on it. SD Pearly Gates pickups. Emerson Custom caps and CTS pots. Cloth covered wiring. PRS locking tuners. Sanded the shine of the back of the neck with 400 grit sandpaper. Not through the finish, just enough to make it feel like baby powder. And reflector knobs. As much as I love my Collings 290 DC S…. I’m grabbing both of there is a fire, the 2014 Gibson LP Special, 1955 Martin D-18, and 1965 MusicMaster can burn. That PRS was so cheap, and so special, I’ll never get rid of it.

[@JazzStrat781]

Beautiful Strat, it sounds great! You did a great job!! 👍

[@KrisBarocsi]

Thanks so much! 👏👏

[@gianlucacagliari4327]

If you still have the original parts you could buy a new body and reassemble them to have another strat or just sell it all more easily. Also, super cool idea to have a tele bridge pickup on a strat, I wonder why we don't see more of that, or at least strat bridge pickups with plates on the bottom.

[@danec1384]

This is a perfect strat! Tele pickup in the bridge position is a great idea. I have to try the middle pickup non reverse polarity, I don't need hum cancelling and the phasey thing annoys me too.

[@KrisBarocsi]

Thanks so much! Try the non-RWRP thing. I think you’ll love it! Cheers

[@theharlequin7280]

Really impressive work and a lovely result. At this level of customization I cant help but wonder though, why even buy a US instrument in the first place? A MIM or even a Squier would provide the same quality as a modding platform at a much, much cheaper pricepoint. I get that this guitar in particular was more of a process rather than a plan, but still some people around forums seem to be set about the perceived quality of american made instruments when they then go ahead and change out every component that allegedly makes these instruments so desirable.

[@rudiyantohalim736]

I only own and play 1 guitar, mid 90's MIM strat. Your love for Tele made me want one, and that made me came across this start of yours with Tele bridge pups Since I don't wanna route the body like yours, it made me seek for other options So, I change my wiring to "Blender" to get that Tele ìn between sound

[@KrisBarocsi]

That’s awesome! There’s a DiMarzio tele bridge pickup for strats. Apparently it’s really good and it fits without rerouting the body. I never tried it but people seem to love it. You could try that too. Cheers

[@rudiyantohalim736]

@@KrisBarocsi Ok...thank you for this info 🍻

[@rudiyantohalim736]

@@KrisBarocsi What is the Dimarzio pickups name? Thank you

[@jamesonpace726]

Wish I'd met you when I was 25 years younger & playing bass. Your guitar, my poetry & bass stylings would have put us...yknow....

[@GabiOprea]

This is a nice strat! Love the looks and sounds

[@KrisBarocsi]

Thanks a lot Filip! I love it.

[@7stringbassist]

And I always thought that RWRP middle pickups were supposed to be "better"!! I have a Jackson 'Kip Winger' bass which I bought used in the early 90s. Its not even the posh version, but it feels great, sounds great and looks cool. It's like an old pair of jeans. Worn in, but not worn out!!

[@merliphlan2]

so cooool I was waiting for this video for so long ! Realy cool vid as usual :) keep going ! Love your start !

[@KrisBarocsi]

Glad you liked it!! Cheers buddy!

[@Dialetheist]

Lovely playing and tones Kris! I have a G&L tribute series Legacy. It has a nice birdseye maple neck and the standard PTB tone system which I think is a great idea. I have yet to dare to mod it though being a bit of a scaredy cat! If I did dare I would put in one of those 10-way selector switches and a VSC preamp that you get in a Blade strat. I think that would produce an enormously versatile guitar. So, my mod story is of one that hasn't happened yet but I keep coming back to the idea. :)

[@gregs8685]

A really enjoyable video. I love how it has turned out. The relic job looks just as good as a Fender CS. I probably would have gone for a regular righty headstock but other than that I love it. I actually tried to relic a poly guitar and learned quickly it was not going to turn out well so I sold the body off as a project and took a small loss, but was happy to be rid of it. Lesson learned😅

[@KrisBarocsi]

Thanks a lot Greg! Yeah, aging a guitar is a lot harder than most people think. Since I learned that the hard way I appreciate it a lot more. I also loved the challenge of figuring out how to do it right. Cheers!

[@jinbyun]

I really like the tele pickup in the bridge. Maybe try modding the strat to have a ptb mod? cutting some bass from the tele bridge may come closer to a strat. You would lose independent tone control for bridge, but a tele only has a master tone, so would it matter as much? It would be sad to see the tele pickup go.

[@denmut]

I guess I remember the first version of this strat. I actually remember watching your first videos with the Edwards Laiho model (I used to have the ESP version) :)

[@KrisBarocsi]

How cool is that, wow! There’s an old video of this guitar on my channel (maybe even two) with the original finish, old pickups and possibly the original neck. Or was it already the first Warmoth with the reversed headstock? Can‘t remember. Haha! Thanks for sticking around Deniz, I appreciate it a LOT! 🙌🥳 Side note: I loved that Edwards and regret selling it. 😅

[@bernddoolmann247]

I have an used Squier Bullet Strat with a hell of Mods , locking tuner, new electroniks , tex mex single coils an a DiMarzio PAF Pro and a vintage wilkinson trem with a steel block

[@BeesWaxMinder]

4:19 -slip out the slugs; reverse & resolder the two leads and you’re HumCancelling!! (reverse wiring is a myth…). 😉

[@jameswilson3554]

AWESOME Man..sounds excellent looks ...sweet as brown sugar. 2thumbs up

[@axelchavez2107]

Thats a dream strat..

[@Oilid]

Nice!

[@KrisBarocsi]

Thanks buddy! Cheers!

[@sfla99]

great Strat and content, have subbed as your channel is great, the action on that thing looks insanely low, mind sharing some tips to get it so low with out buzzing and what the E measures on the bass and treble?

[@mesfigas]

I had no idea that the non reversed polarity mid start pickup gives that vintage vibe First time i hear it after 30 years of guitar playing thanks for video and thanks from my heart for the tip i ll try find a non reversed Suhr mid single coil for my strat i did the same project like you did exept relic

[@KrisBarocsi]

Very cool to hear that! Thanks a lot for watching! :)

[@dejanostojic5496]

Tvoja gitara ima bas lep zvuk,nemoj nikad da je prodas,bravo😎⚡️✨

[@sasmitha8446]

Man that tone is awesome! Can you tell us your signal chain please?

[@KrisBarocsi]

It’s pretty simple: strat - one overdrive (except for clean) - Revv Dynamis clean channel - Ox Box for cab sim - Audient iD44 interface - laptop. You‘ll find the drive pedal in the timestamps in the description box and the gesr listed too, with links if you wanna check them out. Thanks so much, I really appreciate your words!

[@paulcowart3174]

Looks cool and sounds good How did you manage the weather checking ? Yeah I have a 72 that went through a lot.,.Khaler, different pickups So eventually put the original bridge back in and stripped to the thick black poly and had MJT do a nice nitro relic refin I actually use it now even though I have a 65

[@paulwalter7294]

If you want to change the bridge pu maybe you should have a look at LeoSounds Pickups. He does fantastic Stevie’s 59 Player that are non reversed wound and have an awesome pre cbs sound and they sound amazing in the combination with the 🐝 DoubleTrouble Pedal (my rig basically 😂) and they are made in Germany ✌🏻

[@insidious.92]

Dude, leave it as it is, it's perfect. After your comparison with the tele you convince me to replace the humbucker with a tele bridge pickup. 🤣🤣

[@KrisBarocsi]

That's awesome dude! How do you like the tele bridge pickup?

[@insidious.92]

It hasn't arrived yet, but I ordered one

[@insidious.92]

b.t.w. I found another strat mod. and this is #12 You can put a neck pickup into your midle position to get more of that vintage sound, hahhaa ... just jokin' :D

[@542magoo]

You’re videos are amazing! What model is the ABM tremolo and does Thomann carry it?