Fender Stratocaster Strat wiring upgrade Kit 1 - Fezz Parka Tone Mod & Blend Pot

Brand: Assembled 'in house' for FSGuitars
;To Fit Guitar: ALL Stratocasters
;MPN: Does Not Apply
;Country//Region of Manufacture: United Kingdom
;EAN: Does not apply

Fender Stratocaster Strat wiring upgrade Kit 1 - Fezz Parka Tone Mod & Blend Pot

(Please feel free to visit https://www.facebook.com/The.Rhoadhouse/ and leave your comments/feedback on your purchase - Cheers)



Another highly competitive (if rather long winded!) offering from

  The Rhoadhouse



This time a superb 'drop in'

'Premium '  tone upgrade for your Strat  




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  INTRO: At last, a truly premium-quality control upgrade for your favourite Stratocaster that will allow it to fulfill the true potential you always knew was there...   ...and my easily installed controls upgrade will have you up and running in no time at all, thanks to the fully pre-wired screw-fit solderless construction.

On the surface, it may look like a standard Stratocaster control setup but turn it over and you immediately see this is no ordinary aftermarket accessory!

This popular setup has a full size Master Volume and Tone, the usual second tone pot. being replaced with a full size no-load Blend pot.

Science bit interlude: (for those who don't already know) a Blend pot. is actually significantly different to a Blender... A Blender is a dual-gang pot. with a centre detent that blends a percentage of the two p'ups connected to it. Fully one way you get 100% of that p'up and none of the other. Ditto the opposite. At the centre detent you get 100% of both.

This no-load Blend pot., in conjunction with the standard 5-way selector switch, has NO affect whatsoever when turned fully clockwise: however, when turned anti-clock in Positions 1, 2, 4 & 5, it gradually blends the Neck or Bridge p'up in with the standard Strat switching, like so...


                     1: Bridge.....................Add Neck with Blend pot.
                     2: Middle & Bridge...Add Neck
                     3: Middle
                     4: Middle & Neck......Add Bridge
                     5: Neck.......................Add Bridge
 
...giving you the choice of either standard 5-way Strat switching, or Tele-style Bridge & Neck in P1 & 5, and ALL THREE p'ups together in P2 & 4 (effectively a variable 9-way Strat.)


The innovation doesn't end there either: the Treble-Bleed setup, as found on my 5-way Telecaster control plates, has been omitted in favour of what has become known since the 80's as the 'Fezz Parka Tone Control Mod'  but which he will happily attribute to the great Bill Lawrence when it was known as 'Cibson (50's) Wiring' back-in-the-day.


To top it all: I have made this pre-wired, now with screw-fit solderless connectors, for true 'drop-in' capability. it can be installed in literally minutes, with minimum fuss and angst. All you need do is remove your scratchplate/pickguard, cut the p'up, bridge/claw ground and output socket wires from the OEM switch and pot's, junk the old switch and pot's, fit your new custom controls and reassemble. If you are building a new guitar the process is even easier!

As the controls are pre-mounted to the new shielding plate I would recommend the following: slightly loosen off the two switch bolts and three pot. nuts, then turn the plate upside down, and whilst holding it in one hand carefully remove the bolts, nuts and washers completely with the other; then place it in position on your scratchplate/pickguard (NB: if you are replacing an existing setup that used 'mini' pot's as standard you will need to drill the holes out to 9mm to fit). Whilst still upside down refit the bolts, washers and nuts, finger tight, then turn right way up and fully tighten - ensuring you hold each pot. carefully in position as you do!

It is then just a case of inserting your p'up/bridge ground/output socket wires into the appropriate solderless connectors as indicated in the Top R/H photo' above...

IMPORTANT: there are now two solderless Ground connectors for the three p'up ground wires, the bridge/claw ground and the Output Socket ground. All five wires should be stripped back 10mm, wound tightly together, and inserted into the connector(s) as one. This grounds them all to the volume pot. as standard. This will work for the vast majority of single coil p'ups and Strat wiring with thin multi-strand hookups, but if your p'ups have braided outer ground wires instead (ie: as used on most quality Humbuckers) or push-back cloth-covered wire, they may not all fit so I would recommend the easiest option of soldering them to the Volume pot. as illustrated in my 'fully populated pickguard' listing (I have already tinned the pot. for you)....

   
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  What you get for your money: (Standard aluminium Shielding/Control Plate as listed): Top quality high-torque (so you don't accidentally knock the volume down while playing!) Alpha A250k Volume/B250k Tone (or CTS, depending on stock levels...), and CTS B250k (no-load) Blend, 6mm split-shaft pot's; Oh-so-smooth Soviet K40Y-9 0.047uF Tone capacitor (other values avaiable on request); Fender/CRL 5-way selector switch; the latest flexible silicon wire, far more suited to the cramped environment of a Strat' than any of the alternatives (though traditional Fender 'push-back' cloth-covered wire is available on request ); all mounted on a Fender die-cut aluminium Stratocaster vintage-style shielding plate...

If you require a new output socket just let me know and I'll include one, pre-wired, for no additional cost...


 
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  What it does: See above...
  I should point out that I use an 'Audio/Log' (A) volume pot. as standard, which is really more suited to gigging as most of the control is between 7-10 (make that '11' if you are of a certain age and you know what I'm referring to! ); if you prefer a more 'controllable' volume for, say, Studio work please request a 'Linear' (B) volume pot.
  ALSO: If preferred I can build this WITHOUT the solderless connectors and include instructions how to hardwire the p'ups instead. Other mod's considered - please enquire...
   
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  Will it fit? YES, so long as you have a depth of at least 35mm in the selector switch section of the control cavity rout, this plate will fit ANY  Stratocaster: the pink body used in the photo's above is a standard Affinty, with its shallow pot. cavity just 18mm deep. Those guitars, as do many others, come fitted with 16mm mini-pot's and an 'Import' switch as OEM; I have deliberately built MY setup (with full-size pot's) to be as universal as possible, whilst still providing the quality and performance rarely found on many of even the most expensive models. So, as well as looking good, it WILL fit, and it will work...
 
If you are using a quality aftermarket scratchplate it will already have 10mm holes for the pot's; if you are upgrading an OEM scratchplate you will most likely need to drill the holes out to fit.
   
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  Do you really need it? Absolutely! In fact, you should really, really WANT it! You owe it to your ears to at least give it a try!

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ALTERNATIVELY: If you like the idea of fitting this to your gee-tar but you don't  like solderless setups and can wield a soldering iron with the best of them, simply message me and ask me to include in the instructions how to hardwire it yourself - all you need do is solder four ground wires to the volume pot, both the output wires to the socket, and your three p'up 'Hot' wires to the seletor switch. I'll even build it with push-back cloth-covered wire... if you must!
 
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  emailing; if you have any questions you need answering on the subject of a new control plate for your guitar just drop me a line direct to [email protected] and I will get back to you ASAP...
 
 
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  NOW: I know how good these are, and that you won't find better anywhere, but I also know it can take a leap of faith to make the step from 'mildly curious' to 'interested' to 'definitely thinking about it' to actually clicking that 'Buy it Now' button, so don't just take my word for it, read the totally unedited testimonial in the screenshot taken from my phone the other day to see why I enjoy what I do here at  The Rhoadhouse... .
 
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  This standard configuration will work equally well on any model of  Strat' or Strat-style guitar fitted with two-wire single coil p'ups; Four/five-wire Humbuckers will work as per the Manufacturers instructions for non-coil split applications without any modifications, so long as the wires are all small guage. If your Humbucker has braided shielding, or your single coils have push-back cloth-covered wire, see the 'IMPORTANT' note above.
 
   
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  These also come with a 'Limited Lifetime Guarantee' - simply make sure you keep your enclosed paperwork and in the unlikely event of any manufacturing failure occurring just return it to me and I will replace it free of charge; all you would pay is your Postage.
  ( Naturally, any damage arising from incorrect installation or misuse is not covered but ask anyway, we can always sort something out...)
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  Disclaimer: This listing is for the fully-populated aluminium shielding plate only, anything else shown in the photo's is for illustrative purposes only and not included.   * * * * *
  NB: 'Free P&P' now applies to ALL my International customers and not just to mainland UK; However, any Import Duties arising for customers outside the UK are not taken into consideration and are entirely the Buyers responsibility should they be incurred.

 
***ALL INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING IS NOW FREE***
on ALL my listings

 
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Accept nothing but the best!

 
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  The philosophy behind my hardware: Whilst researching Buddy Hollys Strat for a replica I currently have in the workshop I came across an article online showing an aluminium shielding plate fitted to the controls between the pickguard and cavity, discovered during a refurb at Fender. In the interests of authenticity I decided my rep. just had to have one, and being the perfectionist I am it had to be good...

Having built it, I subsequently found there are others available here on eBay, and there is obviously a demand. I think mine can compete with the very best, so I've made it available to anyone enlightened enough to want it for themselves.

Why choose mine over my competitors? Well, ALL those you see listed here on ebay will do the same as mine; they'll ALL make your guitar sound better than it does right now, even the ropey looking examples, but as they say, 'A picture paints a thousand words' so take a good look at mine and judge for yourself. I'm a pro engineer, not a 'Luthier' (a much over used term in my opinion) and I don't make any spurious 'Snake Oil' claims regarding the hardware I build: I'm sorry, but if you can't play for sh*t, no amount of money you spend will make a blind bit of difference and that guitar will still end up for sale on here eventually, or down at your nearest Cash Convertors!

On the other hand, if you are serious about your music then one of these is going to be a revelation: many of my customers are pro musicians and I'll often get an email out of the blue to say how their Rhoadhouse-equipped guitar is now their 'go to' instrument of choice, whether it be a Mega-Bucks genuine Fender, a later G&L, or a respectably hard-working copy. My Feedback and the 'Testimonials' in my Tele' listing speak for themselves...

So, it is what it is: What you see is what you get: I'm kind of fanatical about what I do (how many people do you know would relic a brand new nickel-plated aluminium PRS Stoptail Bridge for a Quo rep., or cut a stainless steel Callaham bridge in two!) and I wouldn't offer you anything I wasn't prepared to fit to one of my own guitars. I can't say fairer than that!

Ultimately, whoever you choose to buy from, you're most likely not going to be disappointed: I'm just biased in favour of mine because they are the best...

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  And finally, due to the increasing workload my listings generate outside of eBay, I now build-to-order only and as such dispatch can take up to 10 working days from point-of-sale during very busy periods; thankfully I have had no complaints so far; after all, MY custom hardware is all individually hand-crafted once every component has been tested, re-tested on completion, then very carefully packaged for Shipping at the soonest possible opportunity. Many thanks for your continuing interest...


Parker Rhoad
The Rhoadhouse

  ...ABSOLUTELY NOT AFFILIATED WITH ANY SIMILAR PRODUCTS TO BE FOUND ON EBAY!  

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The Rhoadhouse & FSGuitars  recommend pickups by Axesrus
(Check out the soundclips on their own website)

Fender Stratocaster Strat wiring upgrade Kit 1 - Fezz Parka Tone Mod & Blend Pot

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