1993 Fender Strat Plus w/Custom Pickup Switching,

Description

I’ve had this custom pickguard for years and we finally got around to using it.  It’s cut for an extra pickup to be installed between the bridge and middle pickups and a wider tonal variety.  We used a prewired ’96 American Standard Strat assembly and added another American Standard for the 4th pickup.  We removed the bottom tone pot and replaced it with a mini 3-way switch, wiring the middle knob as a master tone for all 4 pickups.  The three way control is:  bridge pickup, bridge and extra pickup, extra pickup alone.  With the 5-way selector all the way back you get:  mini-switch in middle = back two pickups, mini-switch up = added pickup only, mini-switch down = bridge pickup only (standard Strat).  With the 5-way in the 4th position you get your choice of  middle/extra/bridge, middle/extra, or middle/bridge (standard Strat).  You get some very cool tones with this set up and when you roll back the tone it gives you a partially-depressed wah sound, heavy in the mids.  The only other mod is GraphTech “String Saver” graphite  saddles, which reduce breakage and stay in tune better than the stock cast saddles.   As you can see in the pics, the fretboard has plenty of wear on the face as well as the edges.  Some manufacturers offer “rolled” fretboard edges to emulate the feel of a well worn neck, making it faster up and down the neck and generally better feeling to the hand.  The back of the neck has some fine cracks in the finish only – no wood cracks anywhere on this guitar.  Other than the pickups and saddles, this guitar is 100% stock ’93 Strat Plus.  The back of the body has one area that is worn down to the wood but that’s the only area that’s worn through.  The Plus also features precision locking tuners, Hipshot Tremsetter, and LSR roller nut, all of which are enhancements to keep the guitar in tune, especially for players who use the tremolo to great measure.  This “Tremsetter” by Hipshot is attached to the tremolo block inside the tremolo cavity.  It adds tuning stability by returning the trem to the “zero” position when not in use.  You can play right-hand bridge harmonics, aggressive rhythm, palm mute the strings, or do bends without the other strings going out of tune and the bridge stays put.  Other features include Schaller locking strap pins, TBX tone control, tilt-adjust neck accessible through a hole in the neckplate, 3-ply pickguard, modern 9.5″ radius, truss rod adjustment on the headstock, and bold silver logo (near the end of the run for this logo).  Despite the heavily worn fretboard, the frets are in decent shape and since it has an excellent neck, devoid of twists and humps, the action is very comfortable. At around 8 lbs., it’s a good weight for an American Standard with a nice lively body and good sustain.  Includes more recent Fender molded case and trem arm.  If you’re looking for a Strat to give you some unique tones and not afraid of some honest wear, you can have this very cool Blackie for $950.

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