Stratocaster Guitar Wiring Harness

Description

Where it all began…

Leo Fender launched the original Stratocaster in 1954. Since then the Stratocaster has gone on to become one of the most recognised musical instruments in modern times.

It was the first guitar to feature three pickups and a spring tremolo system. These features coupled with its contoured, dual “horn” body helped to differentiate it from the Telecaster.

The original Stratocasters were fitted with 3-way switches and it wasn’t until 1977 that Fender began producing Stratocasters with 5-way switches. Prior to this, players would find ways to “jam” the switch between the 1st and 2nd position to emulate that Stratocaster “quack” tone made famous by players such as Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton.

Fortunately, these days we are lucky to have a number of tone-shaping options at our fingertips!

The electrical low-down…

The electrical components inside your guitar are almost never seen and thus, easily forgotten. A number of large guitar manufacturers know this and often “skimp” on the quality of components used and the way they wire them to save on costs.

Something not every player considers…

Replacing your guitar’s pickups is an easy way to improve or alter your tone. But what a lot of players don’t think about is how their signal is carried from the pickups to the amp.

Your signal passes through the guitars wiring harness before travelling to your amp. You do not want crappy components or dodgy wiring robbing you of tone!

This is where Guitar Sauce comes in…

I build your wiring harnesses using the best premium components available and I build them with 110% attention to detail. I also offer unlimited support for the lifetime of your harness.

Your new wiring harness will also help if your guitar is suffering from any of the following:

• Scratchy pots
• Signal cuts in and out
• Tone controls make no difference to your tone
• Tone becomes too muddy when rolling back the volume
• Volume or tone controls have no “sweep” and are very abrupt

Your Stratocaster wiring harness includes:

3x Premium CTS 250k audio pots
I’ve tried CTS pots from various suppliers and these are the best I have found. Solid brass shaft and bushing. C-clip reinforced shaft and a 30% taper which offers a perfect sweep. I make sure they are all matched to within a +/- 2% tolerance.

CRL 5-way switch
The original American made CRL switch used in Fender guitars since the 1950’s. These are improved versions of the originals and are often considered “lifetime” switches as you should never have to replace them again.

Sprague Orange Drop .047uf capacitor
Sprague/CDE Orange Drops are classic capacitors used since the 1960’s. Known for their tone and reliability, they are used by many high-end guitar manufacturers and builders around the world.

Switchcraft mono output jack
The industry standard for output jacks. Solid and dependable.

Vintage style cloth covered 22 gauge black wiring
This quality vintage style wiring is pre-tinned which means it holds its shape and makes soldering a lot easier for you.

All kits are wired with 50’s style guitar wiring.

Some extra info to help you out…

Two tone pot options

Our wiring kits can be wired in the traditional way or with the bridge tone mod:

• Traditional: Master volume, 1 tone for neck pickup and 1 tone for middle pickup
• Bridge tone mod: Master volume, 1 tone for neck pickup and 1 tone for middle and bridge pickup

The bridge tone mod helps control a little of the harshness which Stratocasters can experience when played through the bridge pickup.

Compatibility with your guitar

Your new wiring kit will fit directly into American made Fender Stratocasters and any other Stratocaster style guitar which use imperial sized pots.

If your guitar is a Stratocaster style guitar which currently uses metric sized pots then you will need to slightly widen the holes in the pickguard to fit the upgraded CTS pots.

I have written a helpful guide here which covers the difference between imperial and metric guitar pots, how to check your current pots, and making sure your knobs will fit your new pots.