Upgrading Stratocaster Pickups & Electronics | Mythos Mods

[@Espinoza_Guitars]

I love this vintage strat wiring How-To! Thank you for sharing these tips and tricks!

[@MythosPedals]

Thank you! Hope it's helpful for you

[@amysarg]

These Fender relic / mod videos are an instant watch for me

[@Danny_Hynes]

looks and sounds amazing, this series was a lot of fun. Those throbaks sound incredible.

[@sroelit]

Very cool; the before and after pickup comparison was really dramatic. ThroBaks sounded amazing.

[@EricCyr-p4c]

Never really fell in love with the pickups on my 2011 HSS American Deluxe, been wanting to do this for a while. Thank you for making such a clean and concise video.

[@Wadey1960CS]

Great video Zach! Sounds awesome with that Mythos Tone King preset 🤘🏼🔥🤘🏼

[@6stringsnoclue]

As amazing as those throbaks are, the stock pickups were actually really impressive

[@MythosPedals]

Agreed. But trust me in the room these Throbak are insane.

[@whatwilliswastalkingabout9610]

I have this McCready .. can’t speak for the throwbacks but the stock pickups are good. I actually think they sounded better on the vid .. good stuff here tho .. gave me some idea’ s👍

[@graggjoel]

The McCready's are dirtier sounding and have less headroom before they start getting gritty. The Throwbacks are cleaner with more headroom and articulation before getting nasty. Which is "better" is entirely subjective to what you are going for. Still, these videos gave a lot of info. I want to try a black pickguard on this.

[@allenwoody5909]

I agree

[@studioruangsvara]

Now thats the tone improvement that i would like to hear. Not like others with heavy distortion and shred. Good stuff!

[@denbodg9311]

I watched the whole almost 3 hours of this series & found it very entertaining. I’m on the fence about relicing, & wouldn’t even attempt it especially on a new guitar. I appreciate yours is already reliced. However I do have a 1982 AVRI 2 tone sunburst with 42 years of playwear on it. The methods you used on the hardware & plastics especially look authentic & exactly like my guitar. I take pretty good care of my guitars so the woodwork is nothing like yours but merely edge wear, arm wear, minimal dings & some buckle rash.

[@kere92]

This feels like ASMR for guitar cause you make it looks so easy! And then I realize I pay a tech to do this because I don't have time.

[@jeffdavidson3975]

I hope you are able to keep up these mod vids. They’ve all been great! Thanks for taking my mind off of work for a bit.

[@MythosPedals]

What should we do next?!

[@jeffdavidson3975]

⁠@@MythosPedals Im not a metal guy but it would be fun to do this with a metal guitar. Maybe take an inexpensive Ibanez and see how far you can push that into a guitar of destruction.

[@nobuhiroshimada163]

How about upgrading Jason Isbell Custom Tele?

[@aidanswafford]

@@MythosPedalsan Epiphone inspired by custom shop. Mythos Labs 😂

[@scottjua]

@@MythosPedalsrefinishing poly to nitro

[@RICO_SUAVE21]

GREAT video! Stock pickups sound MUCH better in this guitar!!! 😊

[@MythosPedals]

Stock pickups are good. Much hotter. The ThroBak’s absolutely kill though, more to come

[@toolittle7204]

Strat pickups are difficult, reminds me of how John Mayer asked for the Silver Sky pickups to sound like his 60's strats with the tone knob halfway down. I think people apply the PAF logic to strats when they really want a little more output and compression instead of the opposite.

[@azt3ca]

I agree, the stock pickups were my favorites as well.

[@Nowandthen-zen]

Can’t believe I watched the whole thing ,damn I need a solder hit

[@MythosPedals]

Jonesing for that 60/40

[@Nowandthen-zen]

Yeah boy, I get mine at Harbor Freight 🤟🏻

[@Nowandthen-zen]

Yeah bruh I get mine at harbor freight

[@jmccaintx]

Thanks for the videos. Really learned a lot and very enjoyable, too.

[@garygratzer9670]

I can’t help but pipe in again but I noticed you have the amazing Dewalt tool that is so controllable speed wise. It has become such a delight to use with the tuner button attachment to string guitars. 😉 By the way I am really enjoying my Mythos AU79 fuzz.

[@m.charron]

Man, I wish I could hear the before and after in the room. There were some things that really sounded great with the Throbaks, like the neck pickup alone, but other times when they seemed really stifled. Great work on the wiring though! And the plastics look way better now too.

[@RobertNolan]

Oh wow there's so much more boom in the throback pickups. Less high end clarity though, pick your poison I suppose. Fantastic before and after tone demo, btw.

[@PokePauz]

You should do this same series with the Jason isbel tele!!

[@garygratzer9670]

Nice work! I know you’re striving for vintage accurate but the best thing I ever did to my Strat was 50s wiring with the blender mod to have a bridge and neck option. It has become my favorite position.

[@SB-kw6oo]

oh yesss I want more of this

[@danielefatali5117]

Even if i agree the new pickguard and knobs look more realistic, anyway i prefer the dirty look on the old ones. I would have brownished everything more.. love the heavy relic look

[@juanmacaceres2702]

For me, having the bridge pickup wired to a tone knob is essential. I know is not vintage, but was a very common back in the day and also, it already has a 5 way switch

[@toolittle7204]

Great series, I still think the McCready strat looks crazy compared to previous roadworn efforts but this is about as close to salvaging the 'Aliexpress relic' sanding these come with

[@MythosPedals]

Oh it's not that bad lol It's a great guitar and fun thing to tinker with

[@coldcerberus9425]

wish there was a website where you can customize a whole pickguard + electronics set and order the whole thing prewired.

[@Mister_Hijinks]

As a tinkerer who has never owned a guitar that I haven't modded, these videos are like crack. Non cloth covered wire in a strat gives me anxiety even if you cant see it and I know it doesn't matter.

[@MythosPedals]

But it does matter… right? RIGHT?!

[@Mister_Hijinks]

@@MythosPedals If you know, you know

[@dancrowe7860]

Pickguard needs that crack on the upper bout screw, where the old Strat pickguards always break.

[@dancrowe7860]

Nice to watch someone with mad soldering skills! Still, I'm a little disappointed that you didn't "braid" the pickup wires, although I know that might not be vintage correct. Looks cool, though.

[@MythosPedals]

Never seen them braided. What a nightmare to change if you did that! And thanks I’ve soldered many many hours!

[@dancrowe7860]

@@MythosPedals Maybe it's called a "twist." Gear Page swears by it, apparently, and my local tech does it. So, take that with a grain of salt. Probably just more labor, but it does look cool.

[@Rolf_D]

Great Video, have you ever tried the 50's Wiring on a Strat. I use it on all my guitars. It is worth trying IMO!!

[@MythosPedals]

I have! I do like it but wanted to do this the vintage fender way

[@davroshalfbeard8368]

I wonder if a shielding would sort a scratching i get threw my amp when i touch the scratch plate on my tele .really enjoying these guitar videos cheers.

[@MythosPedals]

That's just static, use a dryer sheet on the guard. Should help

[@-rubbersoul-]

where can i find all the wiring like custom shop on internet available in europe?

[@Nico-pb9lq]

Best upgrade would be to replace the zinc tremolo by a pure vintage

[@dwillc6621]

Doesn't matter which way you put in the switch. It goes either way. It's all on how you wire it that matters.

[@danielefatali5117]

Now u guys should show a Much more complicated work: how to relic a modern poly Guitar. Nobody wants to do It, nobody thinks It Is possible, but someone does and if we get Better in doing, It would probably be a new nice trend to follow. The First Who reaches the goal makes the line

[@nerveflip]

Looks great! One comment, it really feels like its missing lacqer checking to take it nearer to a CS. Is that something you considered? Is it even feasible on these?

[@MythosPedals]

they are actually checked all over VERY FINELY I've read it's really hard to get them to check further

[@MrSongwriter2]

Preffered original pickups

[@damjanmanojlovski3055]

Can i get a link or some more information for the tone cap?

[@MythosPedals]

mythospedals.com/collections/guitar-parts

[@GaryBertolo]

How come you did not tin all the wire ends before finishing soldering to the Potts and switch.

[@MythosPedals]

Because I wanted to bend them and some of the wires were pre bond, already tinned. Either way I’ve soldered enough I feel confident soldering connections that weren’t tinned before hand

[@KevinBlank]

how hot do you run your iron?

[@MythosPedals]

720 degrees

[@alainmalo3791]

Le ton au chevalet ?

[@garygratzer9670]

Man what temp is your iron!? Tinning those pots was a snap.

[@MythosPedals]

720 Degrees! Hakko irons rule

[@garygratzer9670]

@@MythosPedals That is my iron and temp but I think your tip is easily three times the size of what I use regularly. I’m sure that is the difference.

[@andrewarcher2773]

other than the pickups, where do I buy the rest of the parts please - thanks

[@MythosPedals]

Mojotone.com is a great place for parts

[@barry_hue1552]

??? Where did that pick guard plate come from?

[@MythosPedals]

You can get them at most part suppliers

[@say_when5988]

The relic job I did on my Mike Mccready is way better. Specially with the checkering on the nitro body and neck.

[@MythosPedals]

Post a video! I'd love to see it!

[@say_when5988]

@ I could send you pics. Sorry I don’t do videos.

[@jerrylong4651]

New pickups don't sound as bright to me. Up through my cell phone speaker LOL

[@HCrockt]

The reason for not sounding as bright as the original pickups might be, that the pots were not measured before installation. Pots vary in resistance. There is „250 kOhms“ written on, but they can have 240 or even less kOhms actually. And these 10 kOhms difference can kill the highs. I always calibrate the pots to 250 or even 260 kOhms, for the tone pots I even go up to 270 kOhms before installation. The pot values have more influence to the sound as changing the pickup brand.

[@sejuyz]

It looks fake. Better than before but still fake. It needs more GUNK. The relic patterns Fender did are bad.

[@MythosPedals]

I've seen and played A LOT of vintage guitars and very rarely are they that gunky and gross. People play them but often times don't neglect them. And yes this guitar very much looks like a pattern because that's the only way to produce a relic like this en masse. That said I enjoy the guitar immensely and don't have any concerns about playing the ever loving shit out of it.