Reconnecting with an old friend. 2007 Highway One Stratocaster mods and upgrades .

In this video series I return my 2007 Highway One Stratocaster back to it's former glory.
This was my main guitar for many years. After lots of experiments with necks and electronics it's time to finally make it the best possible strat it can be.
We start by removing the adonized gold pickguard and cheap pickups. We install a Solo Music Gear Pro Relic Mint Green pick guard and pick guard shielding. We then install an Obsidian Wiring harness for solderless pickup changes so that we can make future pickup changes a breeze! This wiring harness adds a treble bleed circuit and a tone control for the bridge pickup.
In the next video we will install Tone Emporium Big City Custom Dippers. These pickups are supposed to resemble the Big Dipper pickups John Mayer used to use in his strats. We shall see!
We will do a tone comparison in the next video to see how close these pickups get me to that John Mayer tone.
We will then take the guitar to one of my favourite shops in Toronto and have them refret and plek the guitar.
The final step will be to install locking tuners. Once done this should be a workhorse guitar that will last me forever!
www.solomusicgear.com
obsidianwire.com/
www.toneemporium.com/
www.fender.com
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[@LucasCrossleyGuitar]

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[@KRAZEEIZATION]

Great guitars, they’re very sought after today. Biggest Fender myth of the last 20 years. You should hear the crap talk on forums about them. Ridiculous! “Theyre MIM but assemble in USA.” “They’re USA but MIM” They’re not. They’re an entry level USA made guitar with a dead cool nitro or acrylic finish with Asian hardware and MIM pups! I should know, I own three HW-1 guitars, one is a Strat, two are Teles!

[@LucasCrossleyGuitar]

They are really good. I have used the heck out of mine. :). Cheers.

[@fanoboss]

just got my second highway one and those stock pickups are golden ... i've put those pups in MIJ guitars and they are always awesome

[@TREVORJB101]

Great video! I have a 2011 HW1 in black and absolutely love it! 🎸🔥🤘

[@LucasCrossleyGuitar]

They are really good guitars

[@d3nn771]

Keep it going Bud. Thanks for the vids. I really love it because I have an old HW1 and just upgraded it recently with fender locking tuner, obsidian pre-wired, aged pickguard along with Tex-mex and Texas special pickups and also re-fret it. now it becomes my favorite guitar once again.

[@LucasCrossleyGuitar]

Thanks Danny. Sounds like your highway one is quite a bit like mine. They are really great guitars. Amazing bang for the buck. What color is yours? Cheers!

[@robertdavis5616]

Glad you reconnected!

[@LucasCrossleyGuitar]

Thank you Robert!!! You have no idea how happy that comment makes me. Life has been a bit of a zoo lately :) Thank you so much!!!!!!

[@HigzyTeflon]

I have the 50th Anniversary 2004 USA Highway One Strat in Honey Blonde. It has the larger headstock and a very dark rosewood fretboard which almost looks ebony. I haven't seen one like it yet, anywhere online. I got mine for an absolute steal at $500 CAD from a friend and was buying with the intention to buy and flip for a decent profit but after 5 minutes of playing her... I just knew I could not part with it. I like all 3 noiseless pickups but I did swap the bridge pup with a Seymour Duncan Hot Rails. I love all aspects of the neck. Satin-smooth with rolled edges. It feels great and it plays like an absolute dream! I was offered $1,000 CAD for mine a month ago and I (somewhat reluctantly) turned down the offer. These truly are great instruments. Nice upload. Thanks for sharing.

[@LucasCrossleyGuitar]

A buddy of mine a Gilbert Guitars had a blonde one that was just awesome. I had it for a while while he was doing fretwork on mine. I loved it too. They are great guitars!! Thanks for taking time to watch and comment. Cheers!!

[@74dartman13]

It looks and sounds great! Nice work!👍😎🎸🎶

[@LucasCrossleyGuitar]

Thanks Buddy!! Hope you're well!!

[@74dartman13]

@@LucasCrossleyGuitar yep...you too!😀

[@CapstoneTider]

It certainly sounds like a USA Stratocaster. Highway One is a great value template. I put vinterra 50s and a push-pull pot in mine. Love it. Thanks for the video.

[@LucasCrossleyGuitar]

Thank you! It’s definitely one of my favourite guitars. I live the hell out of it. Cheers!

[@kimurajack8364]

I've got a 2002 Highway One Strat and have also upgraded the electronics, and now it plays great. Thinking of adding a Callaham tremolo system at some point.

[@LucasCrossleyGuitar]

Yeah those trems are amazing! I have one on my 77.

[@tonchristopherdepp1236]

Pretty cool

[@LucasCrossleyGuitar]

Thank you:)

[@DarkoP9.13]

Put Copper shielding with conductive adhesive in the cavities,then grounding the shielding to the volume pot. i dont have experience, but from videos that do et proper i hear alot of difference, otherwise its usless(or harmful,gathering EMI even more,what they say). With Respect

[@spcwf98]

Nice wear on that guitar. I have a 2007 highway one as well and play the heck out of it but not paint wear. Was starting to doubt it is nitro finished.

[@LucasCrossleyGuitar]

This one has been to lots of sweaty gigs haha. I love the highway ones. Great guitars in my humble opinion. Thanks for taking time to watch the video and comment. What color is yours? Cheers!

[@LucasCrossleyGuitar]

Not sure how to set your pickup height? Click the link to learn how kzbin.info/www/bejne/eHTWd359gr2HZ8U

[@FistPie]

Hi, Lucas. I'm looking at picking up a highway one. Do they also have a nitro finish on the neck? Love the playing.

[@LucasCrossleyGuitar]

Hi J! The back of my neck is very satin feeling. Nice and smooth. It's the exact opposite of the '77 which is coated pretty thick. I would recommend HWY 1's all day. You're getting all the ingredients of a great Strat in terms of the wood. You could upgrade until your heart is content! Cheers!!

[@robertclarkguitar]

I want one of these so bad. I'm keeping eye out for trading up for a US standard or any US strat in good shape.

[@LucasCrossleyGuitar]

Hi Robert! I love mine. Great guitars. Definitely snap one up if you can find one.

[@jahkristjanfari]

Did you ever get the Big Dippers installed? I didn't see a video with the tone samples

[@LucasCrossleyGuitar]

I did. If I get some time I’ll do some sound samples. My pc dies. I’ve ordered a replacement. Hope to get back to making videos once I get it in the next week or so.

[@NealCaen]

just bought a highway one stratocaster , im thinking my first mod on it should be the obsidian wire kit ! are the instructions clear on the manual ?

[@LucasCrossleyGuitar]

Hey 4reely. Yeah I found it to be a very easy mod. I'm quite happy with mine. They have a bunch of different options. Have fun!!

[@LucasCrossleyGuitar]

Oh and congratulations on the new guitar too!

[@andresfelipeclavijo273]

Does a 2005 Highway One HSS come with Mexican or American pickups?

[@LucasCrossleyGuitar]

Hi Andres, I'm not sure to be honest. Sorry :(

[@lionelmeyer1992]

Yes, it's a very very good idea to upgrade a Highway One, but with a controlled cost. I very much like your "new Strat sound", even I did it differently. Now my H-One have EMG pickup (both, as second-hand) with active electronic -DG20- and more recently a Wilkinson tremolo. Of course the result is different (an exemple here :kzbin.info/www/bejne/p2LChJawg8eIb7M but not in a blues/Rock sound).