Beautiful Work!!! A lot of the parts, shielding, wiring surgical tape...they were showing their age. Lyle updated and fixed everything with excellent parts and craftsmanship. This guitar is a keeper and will play and sound great for years to come. Thanks Lyle!!!!
For live stage use around dimmers I like to wrap those single coils in Kapton (NO ADHESIVE) tack the Kapton over the coils then wrap the open coils with copper foil, and lay combs of copper foil around over the tops and bottoms of the bobbins and shield each pickup with copper foil. Those old Strand Lighting dimmer banks can induce hum into almost anything. I have an older John Suhr hard tail Strat and I absolutely LOVE IT! Try even finding a Fender hard tail Strat. My backup is a Carvin hard tail with Suhr pickups. My tremolo Strat is a 1968. Backup for it is a Japanese Strat, with Suhr pickups.
I had a loose neck pickup in my Telecaster- the pickup actually sat at an angle. Took me ridiculously long to find someone on Reverb who sells longer cute rubber tubing! Worked out great-
Great tips as usual. I'm probably going to order some Probe Master test leads. They seem to have good reviews and check all the boxes for me. Silicone wire, Sharp, gold plated tips for low resistance. Made in USA is important to me because of the safety ratings/certifications. With offshore stuff, who knows? Actually cheaper to order directly from their web site. BTW, I'd like to see a tour of your work shop and test equipment etc.
A tip for avoiding metal shavings from sticking to your pickups, or getting them off if they are already on there: blue painter’s tape. I put it over a pickup if I expect metal shavings and then put another piece on top after the work is done and shavings are visible. Remove and it’s all gone. Or, if shavings are already on the pickups, just use painter’s tape to remove them.
Main reason for those tiny metallic strands is the steel wool people use for polishing frets. Those tiny fibres can get inside your microphone and short it out which is not nice. Therefore people should avoid using #0000 steelwool or any steelwool that can shed those steel strands and fibres. Use fretrubber (Hosco/Gotoh and StewMac make them). Or polish them with a rubbing compound and tiny polishing wheel on cordless drill or something like that. If you use steelwool... you can remove the pickups altogether or at least tape over them so well those tiny strands don't get to your pickups. You may also use a magnet under the neck when you use the steelwool. It will pick up most of the steel fibres before they get to the guitar's pickups.
All the maple necks of my JPN builds of that era have not only beautiful grain patterns but stuff from both Matsumoku and Fujigen have this really nice buttery caramel color the finish takes on with aging (I assume). Only the satin/barely finished necks stayed remotely white, but they darkened up some too.
If you play a Single Coil Strat, Always keep a dryer sheet handy for the pickguard static. Keep it in your case, or?? Wipe the pickguard near the pick strike area and around the knobs, it definitely helps!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
When did that surgical tubing thing come to these guitars? I have one japanese Strat from late 80's and it has original metal springs supporting pickups. And those white pickup covers have turned quite a bit brownish in colour but the pickguard has not. It is as white as it has always been.
The pickguard and pickup covers are made from different material, my strat aged almost like you described, it´s important if the guitar was exposed to different lights , or if you keep them hanging on the wall or in the case. I prefer the case or a stand with covers. In all honesty i baby my guitars and amps, don´t have a lot , just enough for "the wife factor" :)
Nice work! Do you prefer the solid shield in the pot area as opposed to copper shielding the whole pickguard? Also, I’ve noticed you seem to like MojoTone parts. What makes their CTS pots better than from other places? Thanks!
My preference is a full aluminum plate but that’s harder to implement well with import pickguards. I’m out of the big copper shielding sheets and heavy duty aluminum foil works just fine. The guitar came with the solid pots area shield so I retained it. I like both Mojotone Vintage Tapers and RS Guitarworks Superpots. Both made by CTS to a better spec. But you can’t get the RS now without buying their stupid kits.
It prevents noise from getting inside and the back of the pickups and wiring, that way you "only" receive noise from the front. If you don´t shield you pick up noise from anyware, a nightmare.
@@PsionicAudio I did a lot of research on this. This model is the top of the line for 90-91. In the 80's it was an called an ST-57 115. If you check the specs it is nitro. This model is an ST-57 90 or 900. Per the specs....it's nitro.
Beautiful Work!!! A lot of the parts, shielding, wiring surgical tape...they were showing their age. Lyle updated and fixed everything with excellent parts and craftsmanship. This guitar is a keeper and will play and sound great for years to come. Thanks Lyle!!!!
For live stage use around dimmers I like to wrap those single coils in Kapton (NO ADHESIVE) tack the Kapton over the coils then wrap the open coils with copper foil, and lay combs of copper foil around over the tops and bottoms of the bobbins and shield each pickup with copper foil. Those old Strand Lighting dimmer banks can induce hum into almost anything. I have an older John Suhr hard tail Strat and I absolutely LOVE IT! Try even finding a Fender hard tail Strat. My backup is a Carvin hard tail with Suhr pickups. My tremolo Strat is a 1968. Backup for it is a Japanese Strat, with Suhr pickups.
Bostik Blu Tack works great for getting metal filings off the pick-up poles. :-)
Fun to watch.. have been using the toothpick trick for decades but never used the glue with it. Might try that from now on?
your channel is awesome!!!!
I usually replace surgical tubing with springs when I change pickups. Metal springs last longer. Just something I do.
Well done. Heck of an improvement.
Multimeter probes? For sure Probe Master, they are the best.
Kikkerland Cleaning Putty might work well for removing the small metal pieces from the magnet poles...
I had a loose neck pickup in my Telecaster- the pickup actually sat at an angle. Took me ridiculously long to find someone on Reverb who sells longer cute rubber tubing! Worked out great-
Great tips as usual. I'm probably going to order some Probe Master test leads. They seem to have good reviews and check all the boxes for me. Silicone wire, Sharp, gold plated tips for low resistance. Made in USA is important to me because of the safety ratings/certifications. With offshore stuff, who knows? Actually cheaper to order directly from their web site. BTW, I'd like to see a tour of your work shop and test equipment etc.
A tip for avoiding metal shavings from sticking to your pickups, or getting them off if they are already on there: blue painter’s tape. I put it over a pickup if I expect metal shavings and then put another piece on top after the work is done and shavings are visible. Remove and it’s all gone. Or, if shavings are already on the pickups, just use painter’s tape to remove them.
And obviously I wrote that comment before I made it to 6:00! Great minds! But to avoid the problem to begin with, the blue tape works equally well.
Main reason for those tiny metallic strands is the steel wool people use for polishing frets. Those tiny fibres can get inside your microphone and short it out which is not nice. Therefore people should avoid using #0000 steelwool or any steelwool that can shed those steel strands and fibres. Use fretrubber (Hosco/Gotoh and StewMac make them). Or polish them with a rubbing compound and tiny polishing wheel on cordless drill or something like that. If you use steelwool... you can remove the pickups altogether or at least tape over them so well those tiny strands don't get to your pickups. You may also use a magnet under the neck when you use the steelwool. It will pick up most of the steel fibres before they get to the guitar's pickups.
All the maple necks of my JPN builds of that era have not only beautiful grain patterns but stuff from both Matsumoku and Fujigen have this really nice buttery caramel color the finish takes on with aging (I assume). Only the satin/barely finished necks stayed remotely white, but they darkened up some too.
If you play a Single Coil Strat, Always keep a dryer sheet handy for the pickguard static. Keep it in your case, or?? Wipe the pickguard near the pick strike area and around the knobs, it definitely helps!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Nice work.
Great work Lyle. Maybe try Pomona test leads, they're nice!
But isn’t all the tone in the cloth on the wires? 😂 good work!!
When did that surgical tubing thing come to these guitars? I have one japanese Strat from late 80's and it has original metal springs supporting pickups. And those white pickup covers have turned quite a bit brownish in colour but the pickguard has not. It is as white as it has always been.
Pickguard is original......
probably an upgrade from someone servicing it
The pickguard and pickup covers are made from different material, my strat aged almost like you described, it´s important if the guitar was exposed to different lights , or if you keep them hanging on the wall or in the case. I prefer the case or a stand with covers. In all honesty i baby my guitars and amps, don´t have a lot , just enough for "the wife factor" :)
Lyle, where do you get you .22 gauge teflon wire?
Nice work!
Do you prefer the solid shield in the pot area as opposed to copper shielding the whole pickguard?
Also, I’ve noticed you seem to like MojoTone parts. What makes their CTS pots better than from other places?
Thanks!
My preference is a full aluminum plate but that’s harder to implement well with import pickguards. I’m out of the big copper shielding sheets and heavy duty aluminum foil works just fine. The guitar came with the solid pots area shield so I retained it.
I like both Mojotone Vintage Tapers and RS Guitarworks Superpots. Both made by CTS to a better spec. But you can’t get the RS now without buying their stupid kits.
Excellent. Thanks!
What buss wire is that? Pre-tinned copper 14g?
Good work again,expected no less. Have you tried wood glue on the pickups to remove the metal "dust"? Sorta like cleaning LP's
Great suggestion.
Laphroig and solder smoke
Rather pleased with PP BM 10A BRYMEN test leads 10a cat 3 only about 13 dollars.
Is that copper foil necessary? What does it do?
It prevents noise from getting inside and the back of the pickups and wiring, that way you "only" receive noise from the front. If you don´t shield you pick up noise from anyware, a nightmare.
@@gerardoromano3436 Thank you. is it the same effect as the black insulation spray I have seen ? What’s the best option?
Cool video. Not a fan of 50s wiring though...sounds very harsh. Tried it on several guitars. But that's all personal taste 👍
How is 50s different from 60s in a strat?
Pretty sure MIJ has a poly finish
Yes , a thin layer of poly, less than Mexican or made in usa Standards Strats from the 90´
I don’t think those 90s Japanese Strats are nitro. Mine is def poly and that one looks like poly as well.
Owner said it was a version with nitro. I didn’t pay much attention to it.
@@PsionicAudio I did a lot of research on this. This model is the top of the line for 90-91. In the 80's it was an called an ST-57 115. If you check the specs it is nitro. This model is an ST-57 90 or 900. Per the specs....it's nitro.
@@halhawkins7641 I stand corrected
😎👍❤🖖
Callaham bridges are mediocre copies at best. Wudtone six hole traditional full contact vintage or holy grail bridge will change your life...