Like a fine wine, some musical instruments get better with age. Sometimes, due to age, neglect and abuse, older guitars needs some work and TLC to be returned to playable condition. This blog documents some of the work I have performed on musical instruments for myself and others over the years.
This is your big debut It's like a dream come true So, won't you smile for the cam'ra? I know they're gonna love it, Peg
The guitar in the following picture isn't likely to be featured in a photo with it's name in lights anytime soon, but my son sure enjoys it. When my son started playing guitar in his middle school jazz band this past fall, we decided it made sense to have a guitar he could leave at school for practices and performances in addition to the Epi LP Junior he plays at home. Wanting a contoured body and something with a tremolo bar, we started looking online and locally for a used Stratocaster. We found a few Squier Strats at our local Guitar Center in our price range that were in playable condition. After trying a few of them, and missing our chance to pick up a sweet Sunburst model, we settled on a gently used Chinese-crafted 2010 White SSS Bullet Strat.
After playing her for a few months, my son mentioned that a couple of the tuning pegs didn't work well. So, when he brought his Strat home for a new set of strings over winter break, we figured we'd also look into upgrading the tuners with a higher quality set. Very soon, winter break was over, and that Strat was back at school before we put any more thought into replacing her tuners.
Although I knew little of the finer points of Fender tuning pegs, I knew a few different styles have been used over the years. Not knowing the history of this Strat, I also wasn't sure if she had all of her original parts. In efforts to avoid having to overbore peg holes and redrill screw holes, I asked my son to describe what the machines looked like from the rear. When that proved fruitless, I asked him to identify the the machines by the orientation and number of screws holding down each machine. The best that I could tell was that a 70s style set should work fine. The genuine Fender slotted peg set I found on eBay arrived in the mail, just in time for a long stretch of teacher work days and a weekend. With a few turns of a screwdriver, we figured we'd end up with something that looks like this.
Right away, we noticed a major difference in the screw orientation these two sets of tuners.
After a little more internet research, I confirmed that this difference in attachment screws was typical with Fender tuning peg upgrades. Since it would result in a higher quality tuner, we decided this still was the way to go. With any luck, we figured we'd end up with only two extra holes - one at the high E string tuner and one at the low E string tuner. Instead, it was necessary to redrill holes for more than half of the screws. Swapping out these tuners also entailed overboring
the peg holes from the rear about 3/16" in depth, just to the edges of the
grommets, to accommodate the bushing shoulders of the new machine
shafts. The tuner in the next two pictures during fitup is shown with the genuine F-logo stamped cover removed.
After removing the grommets, enlarging one of the holes and replacing a grommet, I was pleased to find that the original grommets would work with the new pegs. That's a very good thing, since the 70s style grommets have a larger outer diameter and a very different outer profile. Fun fact, a No. 2 pencil is a great tool for pushing out grommets.
I modified the remaining peg holes the same as the first one. After making the necessary screw hole modifications, I attached the pegs and reattached the stock string trees with the Bullet's screws. All but one original screw hole, the one near the high E tuner, is not concealed by the new machine
covers. I plugged it while it was on the work bench, minimizing the imperfection resulting from this upgrade. Looking at the front of the headstock, the way you can tell the pegs have been upgraded is by the concave surfaces of the peg buttons and the slots in the peg shafts.
Those buttons and slotted shafts sure do make restringing and tuning This Old Guitar quicker and easier!
Hot summer streetsAnd the pavements are burning, I sit around
It has been another hot summer in my part of North Carolina, and I had to put things aside until the fall weather made it here. A long to-do list added to the delay of work at the This Old Guitar workbench. To help fill the gap, I've enlisted my old high-school pal / fellow guitar enthusiast /fellow engineer bj to be a guest blogger. I hope you enjoy this posting that originally appeared on the Fender Forums:
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This posting will chronicle the steps to swap my bridge pickup and a few
other parts. I’m working with a mostly-stock 1975 Strat. Aside from
being on the rotating pickup plan, I’ve rewired the selector switch to
have the second tone control work the bridge and middle pickups. None
of the changes I’m doing are innovative or otherwise special…I’m just
gathering together a lot of information I’ve learned from this forum and
other sources in one place, and hopefully clearly documented in case
anyone is inspired to try it for themselves.
Our subject:
I’m replacing the current Seymour Duncan SSL-3, which replaced a
DiMarzio SDS-1, which replaced the original. I’ve determined a SD
SSL-6T is my pickup of choice. It is a good option for a basic
vintage-ish sound to work with the originals, and a bit more punch when
needed at the flip of a switch. The tapped/full output will be
selected using a push/push switch on the bottom of a new tone pot.
For
reference, I measured the DC resistance of the two original pickups and
the two outputs of the new one, and the others I have:
So,
going by resistance alone (Danger!)…the tapped output is a good fit
with the originals. Also, the full output should have some kick to it,
but nothing like the SSL-3. Aside from the curiosity factor, it is a
good way to make sure there aren’t any wiring problems with the pickup
before it is installed.
By the way, the SSL-6T is not an easy
pickup to buy. Not impossible, just not stocked by any of the handful
of places I checked. A special shout-out is made to Drew Bowman at Pro
Audio Land for not only ordering it without any extra fee or hassle…but
also for expediting the delivery to me when things got mis-routed
arriving to him. So…if you shop online…consider PAL, just ‘cause they
were nice to me :)
Here’s our new pickup:
In the process, I am also replacing the (well-worn) original 3-way
switch with a new CRL 5-way. It is no longer possible to find and hold
the ‘2’ & ‘4’ positions with any dependency, and certainly not in
the middle of a song. Here, I narrowly succumbed to a bit of scope
creep. During a moment of weakness, I thought of switching around which
tone controls worked which pickups and and adding a
second tone cap. Fortunately, I recovered and I’m sticking with the
original plan of just changing the pickup…and replacing the tone cap
with an Orange Drop of the same value…I can always mess with the wiring
and other cap values later.
New Switches:
When it is all done, the completed wiring should look like this drawing:
Enough planning…let’s get started…
It is easier to remove the
knobs while the pickguard is still attached to the body. Use two heavy
picks, a slotted piece of leather, or two credit cards; but nothing
metal. Work carefully and slowly until it comes loose. After removing
the strings, move to the underside of the pickguard to start the
disassembly. I like to keep a small bowl nearby to collect screws and
other small parts. Put a towel between the pickguard and the body to
avoid scratching the finish.
Before starting any disassembly, be sure you know where things are, and
where they need to go…make notes, use little pieces of tape, take
pictures…
Carefully unsolder the bridge pickup wires and pull them out of the way.
Carefully
unsolder the wire connecting the second tone control to the cap on the
first – it is usually the capacitor lead, so it might be easier to clip
it…depending on your tools and skills. Unsolder the cap. Then remove
the wires from the selector switch.
Carefully turn the pickguard
over again and remove the tone pot, selector switch, and existing bridge
pickup. Place them in a box for safe keeping.
Now...it looks like this:
Install the new pickup, switch, and pot, note location/orientation of
lugs, etc. Adjust nuts on pot to set knob height to be even with the
others.
So far, it looks like this:
Cut pickup wires to size, and twist/dress as needed to make it all fit
well and look nice…unless you have a ‘swimming pool’ route, there isn’t a
lot of space.
Solder the SSL-6T tapped- and full-output wires
to the top and bottom lugs of one side of the switch. Cut and attach a
wire from the center lug and add to ground bundle. Note: Duncan pickups
are wound backwards from Fenders. The ‘ground’ wire goes to the
selector switch. Confirm tap orientation with ohmmeter if unclear.
For
this switch model, the lug at the bottom of the stack is connected to
common when the switch is depressed. I’ll wire the tapped output to the
lower lug, so the knob will be a bit higher when the pickup is in the
full (higher) output mode.
Reconnect wires to selector switch according to the diagram.
Attach
the new 0.047uF cap to first tone control in the same location and
connections as the original. It is a good idea to use a small piece of
heatshrink tubing on the cap lead going to the lug to keep it from
shorting to the grounded can. As before, use the lead to make the
connection to the second tone control. Attach a wire from the ground
bundle to the body of the pot, not the housing of the switch.
And the wiring is done:
Clean up any solder spatters, flux residue, check wire routing to prevent pinching, etc.
This is also a good opportunity to lightly squirt some contact cleaner into any switches or pots that aren’t being changed…
Time to button it all up again and see how it sounds…
Aside
from the functional changes, I’m taking the opportunity to address a
cosmetic issue. With the original bridge pickup gone for good, I got a
black cover for the current bridge pickup, thinking a completely
different color was better than a slight difference between “new white”
and “older white”. Now, I’d like them all to be the same shade as each
other and anything but "new white". I did some reading and find reports
of varying success with the “coffee soak” method, and decided to give
it a try.
I purchased a set of white pickup covers and figured
it would be too difficult to attempt a match to the existing ones, so
I’m replacing them all with what should be an age-appropriate shade of
faded white. I lightly buffed the covers with fine steel wool to break
the surface skin to allow the coffee to penetrate better…and perhaps not
completely evenly. I let all three soak for a while and check until
they get to where I think they look good against the aged pickguard.
Here they are soaking nicely:
For those of you keeping a database, I used Trader Joe’s Dark French
Roast (black, no sugar). The parts sat in the cold coffee for two
hours, and came out looking like this:
One New, Two Old, Three Coffee-Stained
If I get inspired, I
may attempt to stain a new set of control knobs as for some reason, the
volume knob is a lot darker than the tone knobs. Perhaps it’s just worn
more from being used much more than the tone knobs? Some other time…
Meanwhile, completing the assembly…
Lay
the pickguard in place, being careful not to pinch any wires. To
quickly check for problems, install one just string, more or less in
tune, to make sure the pickups are all working and the various wiring
and controls do what is expected – That nugget comes courtesy of the man
from the angry red planet
All is well so, attach pickguard with screws, add knobs and the remaining strings and tune it up.
Here is a comparison between the ‘down’ and ‘up’ positions for the push-push switch:
I’ve spent enough time adjusting pickup heights to know how thick a
nickel is, so I set the new pickup more or less where it should be…and
await the real test of the project…
The tapped output is a fine
match for the stock pickups…clear tones with that bit of sparkle I was
missing. The full output is certainly louder, but not nearly as hot as
the SSL-3 (or SDS-1) and without the loss of high-end. It’s just enough
to make a statement, without changing the tone too much…but not a
substitute for an overdrive FX or a quick twirl of the Gain knob.
What
I didn’t expect was how much the tone control would change with the new
cap. Over the years, I’ve read the discussions over values…usually
0.022 vs. 0.047, and what roll-off is better for what kinds of sounds.
The comments (and the physics) support high capacitance values giving
lower resonance peaks and otherwise ‘dark’ tone settings (higher corner
frequencies), but my stock cap (0.05) didn’t seem overly dark last week
as I worked the controls to form a reference in my mind as a
comparison…but I was curious…and as mentioned earlier, I was tempted to
throw in a 0.022 just to see the difference.
Now, I realize what
dark really meant. Apparently, and very slowly over time, ceramic
capacitors (usually Barium Titanate or similar material) lose
capacitance as the crystalline structure relaxes. After 35 years, there
seems to have been quite a shift which was totally unnoticed to me
(think about the slowly boiling frog), but after installing the fresh
capacitor the tone gets very, very dark when the control gets below
about 4. I’m not ready to swap it for the 0.022 yet, it’s actually very
cool in a jazzy, bluesy kind of way…but I mention this as an advisory
for those with old guitars…and old tone caps…that the tones you hear now
may no longer be what they were when first manufactured.
I’m
very happy with the project. It looks better with matching trim and
I’ve got a variety of new sounds to explore…enough typing…I’ve got some
playing to do…
1975 Fender Stratocaster
2012 Taylor GA3-12
1967 Epiphone Madrid EC-30
