makepeace wrote: I've got an exact such cheap keeper squier. Some (cheap) modifications that I have made are, and the parts for these have mainly come from generous donations (thanks):

-Replacing the pups with mex/usa pups
-Replacing the bridge block with a solid brass one (you'll have to check yours, but squires usually come with a cast bridge block of way less volume)
-Replacing saddles with real deal (not pot metal) ones
-Redoing/replacing pots, jack, cap and wires
-New nut

I will do these things. But before i replace the wiring, caps and pots. I want to put in a set of Tonerider City limits pickups (http://www.customshop.co.za/citylimits.html). Yay or nay? They seem to match what i'm looking for tone wise. Which is a combo of clear but deep lows temperate mids and tight highs. I play a lot of high gain hard rock and i dont like it when the bridge pickup makes my ears bleed.

What are pups by the way? ???
I shall have a look for a wiring diagram and let you guys know.
Thanks for all the help Alan, Royce and ryan!

Rowen Powell wrote: What are pups by the way? ???

Pickups

Rowen Powell wrote: I play a lot of high gain hard rock and i dont like it when the bridge pickup makes my ears bleed.

Wire thebridge pickup to the middle pickup's tone pot; it then functions like a master tone for both the bridge and middle pickups. You just need one short piece of wire and a soldering iron . I wired mine like this and it helps to tame the harshness (unfortunately I can't remember which lug of the switch you have to solder to what; will have a look though) . I think it's odd that the bridge pickup of a strat has no tone control when it's robably the one that needs it the most.

Here ya go:



http://www.premierguitar.com/Magazine/Issue/2008/Dec/Strat_Bridge_Pickup_Tone_Control.aspx

Rowen Powell wrote: But before i replace the wiring, caps and pots. I want to put in a set of Tonerider City limits pickups

Why not get it all one while the guitar is open. I couldn't belive the difference better wire made to the tone of my Squier. It really cleaned up.

Donovan Banks wrote:

Rowen Powell wrote: But before i replace the wiring, caps and pots. I want to put in a set of Tonerider City limits pickups

Why not get it all one while the guitar is open. I couldn't belive the difference better wire made to the tone of my Squier. It really cleaned up.

What wire did you get? And where from?

I sent my strat to Chris at Marshall music Hillcrest. he got some american cloth covered job. Not sure of specs but its great

Donovan Banks wrote: I sent my strat to Chris at Marshall music Hillcrest. he got some american cloth covered job. Not sure of specs but its great

Ah, cool. Thanks. Wiring and sheilding + new pots are on my to-do list (in a while).

Thats why I asked. It was R200 odd for the new pot and wiring. It's cheapo if they're in there anyway.

Okay sweet. So wheres the best place to order this stuff from? What manufacturers should i look out for? I pretty much wanna take all the old circuits out and put new ones in as well as the pickups. :?

Ross, Switch the pots in your washburn and upgrade the electronics. comparing two different guitars isn't comparing apples with apples.

Also, as has been stated countless times here, having a great guitar and a rubbish amp degrades your tone. as does having a great amp and guitar and horrid cables or pedals. It all adds up.

I used to be of the same opinion as you, since upgrading my strat's insides and getting better cables I like it. I'm gonna be getting a new amp and a better pedal soon too, I'm a convert...

Donovan, you're completely right. I wasn't comparing apples to apples. So I'll compare my oranges to oranges. A while ago I replaced all the electronics in my squier with a wiring kit from stewmac, and it was exactly the same as it was before the rewiring. Recently the CRL switch also started giving me trouble. +- R230 wasted? Yes I think so.

rossgve wrote: a wiring kit from stewmac

There's your mistake right there. Great place for specialised tools, but their range of electronics is lacklustre at best. They've only recently started stocking anything other than the cheapest Asian parts. R230 gets you about what your Squier had in it already - Alpha pots, a cheap jack, cheap wire and a ceramic cap.

Even with CTS - they have different ranges and a wide variety of options - taper, tolerance materials, shaft, shell, sizes, etc. The brand name alone does not guarantee you a top-of the line part. The best pots (CTS, Bourns, etc.) are usually designed specifically for guitar use - but it's only the guys selling/using tens of thousands of them that can order them directly from the manufacturer - the rest are buying the same budget pots from a middleman.

Recently the CRL switch also started giving me trouble.

Spray it with some isopropyl and switch it back and forward a few times and it'll be fine.

Thank you for your input Allen. I fail to see how it can be scientifically explained that the quality of the components make any difference in the sound whatsoever. Can someone please explain what makes a high quality jack high quality?

With regards to the switch: It didn't make proper contact so I've already replaced it, but thank you anyway for the advice.

rossgve wrote: I fail to see how it can be scientifically explained that the quality of the components make any difference in the sound whatsoever.

Passive guitar circuits are very high impedance and very reactive. Even something as simple as a pot can make a big difference to the response of the circuit:
- tolerances can make a huge difference to the tone, shifting the resonant peak of the circuit - a standard +/-20% tolerance means a range between 200 and 300K Ohm, which is a massive variation, particularly in a Strat or other single-coil circuit;
- The same variation in the tone pot means a very different amount of treble being bled off, even when the control is turned all the way up;
- The smoothness of the taper can make a big difference to those of us who use our volume controls a lot to control drive or for volume swells as can the physical feel of the movement.

Things like caps are a bit more nebulous (or outrageously snake-oily) in some respects, but once again, tolerences do make a measurable difference. With wire, anything that makes soldering easier and helps guarantee a better connection is good. Insulation that doesn't melt (cloth or teflon) reduces the chance of shorts, thicker wire and better conductor quality means less resistance (not a biggie considering the small lengths involved, but it all adds up). Any contact that is more corrosion resistant is going to last longer. etc., etc., etc..

Then again, the best pickups and electronic parts in the world won't help much if a player is using a cheap multieffect, a cheap solid-state amp and connecting it all together with cables that come free with cheap guitars. Weakest link and all that. So mileage does vary.

Can someone please explain what makes a high quality jack high quality?

High tolerances, ruggedness, durability. While the durability is the biggest thing for me, even the difference between metric and imperial sizes can mean a tendency to making bad contact.

One key thing is that you're often replacing the values of the caps and the taper of the pots - those things undoubtedly make a difference even if the quality of the parts does not, or exerts a marginal influence. Mostly the higher quality parts are about reliability. Reliability is great when you play gigs or simply don't want to replace these parts every 5 years.

And of course replacing the nut and the tailpiece can make a big difference to the feel and playability of the guitar.

My LS160 is freakin' awesome, but there's no substantial difference the parts make compared to my friend EZ's LS92 - except for feel and reliability (although, as an aside, I don't know why all stop tailpieces aren't aluminium. Even if it does little for the tone, they really are substantially lighter). The values make a difference though. My Gibson Les Paul and SG on the other hand I can't do much with the volume pots because of the taper. I have to basically leave them on 10, and I'll change them one of these days. My perception is that they go from almost no volume to full in less than a quarter turn. Not so with the pots on the LS160 which give me excellent control of volume and drive.

I went a-measuring on some pots and wire here at home and these are the results:
Resistance of multimeter wires: 1.5 Ohm (this value was subtracted from the actual readings of the following components)
Unbranded 100kOhm logarithmic pot turned down: 1.3 Ohm. (0.0013% of the pot value)
Unbranded 100kOhm logarithmic pot turned Up: 99.7 kOhm. (0.3% error)
Other unbranded 100kOhm logarithmic pot turned Up: 100.5 kOhm. (0.5% error)
Unbranded 50kOhm logarithmic pot turned Up: 49.7 kOhm. (0.6% error)
1m long, 1mm thick wire: 0.1 Ohm.

Even if a CTS pot reads zero when turned down, it differs very little from other brands of pots and one cannot justify the huge difference in cost. I understand that the taper of the pot is important especially if you do volume swells, but this is why manufacturers make logarithmic taper pots. The values of the respective components have a much more direct impact than the quality of the part. As for reliability; over the years I've had only one selector switch break. Corrosion isn't an issue because we use rosin core solder.

some interesting things that i came across a while back:

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/just-pickups/317926-video-demo-pickups-half-out-phase.html

http://www.harryj.net/voltone.xls

they may be of relevance. the spreadsheet is particularly cool.

You can get Bourns guitar pot and the Bourns Model 95 Premium Guitar pots from RS Electronics in SA

Be very specific when ordering about Audio or linear taper, and knurled or plain shafts and shaft lengths

http://za.rs-online.com/web/c/?searchTerm=guitar+&sra=oss