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Guitar electronics (off topic)
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So I got given a Fender Mexican Strat (2001).
Turns out it's not been used in an age and the electronics are water damaged.
I was thinking of getting one of those all in one replacement plates with the whole electronics in one go. Like this: https://www.andertons.co.uk/p/EMGDG20/electric-guitar-pickups/emg-dg20-david-gilmour-set-of-pickups-pickguard
Will take me a while to save up, but do you guys think the Mexican Strat is worth spending the money on? The rest of the guitar seems in very good condition and feels pretty good to my uneducated hands.
Comments
Have you tried it with an amp ? Are the pots really noisy or is it completely dead ?
That replacement plate is pretty pricey. Can you solder ? new pots / wiring / output jack etc. would be much cheaper if the pick-ups are okay.
I've not had a mexican strat, but I would imagine they're pretty good. The Japanese ones I had were as good as the US ones.
Might be worth looking on ebay for something cheaper, the one you linked to costs more than the guitar is worth. Would get something else unless you just loved emg pickups.
Sometimes people sell their old pickguards with the electronics in them. The keyword is stratocaster pickguard "loaded". Do a little research before getting one, if it is off a strat other than a made in mexico ("MIM") , because the different places of manufacture may use slightly different pickguard screw spacing (USA/mexico/japan, etc). Not sure if mexico uses the US spacing or the Japanese.
I've got a Mexican strat, bought around the same time. Good guitar, and cost me around £800 so definitely worth maintaining.
Yeah seems to be just a crackling noise. Not sure if the pickups are salvageable or not. I suppose I could buy the stuff separate and solder it all together. I have done soldering before albeit a very long time ago.
The 5 way switch and the pots are definitely buggered. They have visible rust on when I opened it up. The pickups seem cleaner, but as I say, it's pretty much just a crackling noise at the moment. The neck, bridge, springs, tuners, frets etc all seem pretty good nick though.
Try spraying electronic contact cleaner in the switches and pots. If you are hearing some sound when tapping the pickup pole pieces with a metal screw driver even if there is crackling it might mean the pickups are good and you just need to replace the pickup switch and pots
I have a 2003 MIM Strat, and I love it. It was fine when I got it, but I made several upgrades that made it one of my top guitars. (For comparison, I also have a Les Paul Standard, Gibson SG Classic and G&L ASAT.) I replaced the entire electronics bay with a Kinman noiseless kit, had the board re-fretted with medium jumbos, and installed locking tuners. It feels great, it sounds great, and I'll have it for years and years to come.
The beautiful thing about Fenders is they're so customizable and upgradable. I don't have a problem with upgrading something like this. Lots of MIM Strats are great. If it feels good to you, make it playable.
Thanks all. Yeah think it's definitely worth saving and doing up. I will go read up on the different upgrades possible
Absolutely! I have a 20+ year old MIM strat and I am getting it re-fretted and replacing all the electronics and PUPs. No doubt in my mind its worth it, its a very fine instrument IMHO.
Axesrus based in the UK have that sort of thing in, starting from £100
North west guitars had them in at £25.99 , there are sold out at the moment but are supposed to be getting more in (no idea of the quality though.)
Good advice so far, and... yes totally check eBay for 2nd hand Strat pickups - people are flipping them all the time - you think us Appaholics are bad - guitar players swap pickups when the wind changes :-) IMHO, can't go wrong with Seymour Duncans and 2nd hand prices will be good (half retail) - if you've a sound in your head, check out their tone charts and samples and you'll probably find what you're after.
Also, budget for a pro set-up - that can make a world of difference too and the same tech will be able to wire-up your new pickups ;-) It's quite an old guitar so truss rod may need a look at if water's been involved, frets too.
Believe it or not, I've been a guitar player 30x longer than an iOS developer :-) Good luck and enjoy your new instrument!
Thanks and yes, good advice by all. Looking around I seem to be coming up with around £65 for a set up that includes fret dress. Does that sound about right?
My #1 guitar is my 1991 Fender Standard Stratocaster Made in Mexico. I got it at 16yr old in 1992 and the MIM (Made In Mexico) Strats had just started being made in the Fender Ensenade factory in late 1991.
It is a great workhorse guitar, preferable to me more than US made Strats I have. The MIM Strats have been modified a bit over the years with a better tremolo block and different logos but a 2001 is still a great year for MIM's (some later 2000's MIM's get some shit for being a bit "off", but mostly MIM's are great.)
My Strat pictured is my '91 MIM with a new pickguard assembly I put in it earlier this year. MIM's ship with ceramic pickups that are quite good. I dug them but wanted a Noiseless Pickup because I was recording more than gigs. The pickup's in it now are Fender Vintage Noiseless Pickups with a the normal volume pot, but a TBX tone control & pickup blend pot in the tone control spots.
It is so quiet and Noiseless but still retains the signature Strat sound. If you want Noiseless they are great, if not a concern any Fender, Seymour Duncan or DiMarzio AlNiCo pickup set will be cool. Just do some research on the type of sound you want: bluesy, clean, metal, jazz, etc. If you want an all around pickup set I have Fender '65 Strat Custom Shop Pickups in another Strat and they're very versatile and can do most styles.
Sigler Music, 920 Custom Shop, Guitar Center and other sites have prewired pickguards that have everything ready, pickups, pots, pickup switch, etc. All you have to do is solder the hot & ground output wires to the 1/4" output jack, or have a guitar tech do it along with a set up since you just got it and I know I'd want it set up cool.
Enjoy and hope this info helps. Like I did when I jumped into iOS music production, read read and read some more stuff online because there is so much great info & sites on guitars, Pickups, etc...
Be cool...
@JRSIV
Thanks. Did you wire the setup yourself. I've found some online resources with wiring setups. It doesn't look too complicated to do it myself, so if I can find my tone for the pickups and source all the stuff cheaply enough, maybe I should go the diy route hmmm. Yep I can see that this could be fun
Wow now just reading up on changing different capacitor values to get certain sounds. Changing the nut (presuming mine is plastic). This looks like it's another route to another addiction
My guitar jones is 25 years old, my synth jones is new, just a few years & growing beyond control! Lol...so I hear you.
I took my Strat to my local tech because there was a few other setup things I needed done. I watched him do it while hanging out & it was pretty simple with a prewired pickguard. The soldering is the most important thing. A clean, solid solder will ensure that buzzes & shorts, etc don't happen. I just wanted to let a pro do it. Under $30, under an hour, out the door.
If you but everything separately you'll have to make sure to mount the pickups right, as you said research the capacitor youd want for the tone and or volume control. Pots have different ratings like 250k, 500k, etc. each that can influence the tone.
Amps make a difference of course live & for practicing but for recording I've loved the iOS guitar apps and how good they sound. Tone Stack, BIAS, etc can get very convincing guitar tones. Best of luck brother, this is what I love about music...you learn more everyday & if you're interested in production/multiple instruments there's a lifetime and then some of stuff to discover.
I'm hitting oboe next! Well...
I have most of the iOS guitar amp / fx apps. I use them for synths (mostly use ToneStack3), so that's one less expense to add
Guitar electronics are cheap and easy to fix, even if you take it to a repair shop. Mexican Strats are fine as is. My 2 cents - get it running and drive it stock for awhile before you start customizing it. You can always open the Pandora's Box of guitar mods later.
Are you sure your cord is ok? That's the first place to look for trouble.
Let me take your questions one at a time, though they have probably been answered above.
First, there is absolutely nothing wrong with a Made in Mexico ("MIM") Strat, and yes, they are a great modding platform and worth putting money into to keep in working order. There is little, if any, functional difference between an MIM Strat and an American Standard. Most of the differences are cosmetic. The guitar is made of wood, metal, and magnets. It doesn't know if it was assembled in Mexico or the U.S. - only the player knows that. In fact, most people looking at an MIM Strat on stage wouldn't know the difference either, only that it says "Fender" on the headstock.
I was in your place about 3 years ago and picked up a bit of a hobby buying (Chinese-made) Squier Strats. There are some material differences in quality between a Squier and an MIM Strat, though the Classic Vibe ones compare quite well and some small changes can make them into very functional instruments.
But I was initially afraid to try and do soldering, so I bought a fully assembled pickguard with all Fender parts and Tex-Mex pickups. I think it cost about $130, so it wasn't overly expensive considering what was in it, and it sounds great. But I later learned to do soldering just by reading some forums and watching a few YouTube videos - there's really very little you can screw up. And you get to make choices between different types of tone and volume pots, caps that affect tone
I should point out that the pre-assembled one you linked above is a VERY specialized type of pickguard. Gilmour wiring has all kinds of digital components that a normal wiring setup wouldn't have, and that's the reason for the premium price. GuitarFetish.com is one option for upgrading budget guitars, but since the pickups in your MIM Strat are probably great, I'd just look at replacing the pots and keeping what works.
This. Cable problems are the first thing to rule out before messing with the guitar itself. Even if the cable is fine, the instrument cable jack on the guitar can get fatigued over time and cause problems as well, and that costs all of $10 and two soldering connections to repair.
It might be just some one pot or wires that are damaged, or something simple like that. You can get wire and pots for really cheap. I would suggest trying to figure out where the problem is and fixing it, it will be MUCH cheaper than an expensive full set like that. Also wiring a strat is pretty easy if you know how to solder.
Also i highly suggest making a gilmour mod to a strat while you are at it. It allows you to use all 3 pickups at the same time(sounds really great, especially if you adjust the pick up heights to mix really well), neck + bridge and ofc the basic configurations, and you will only need to get one switch and wire, which costs you just a few bucks. I think i used this schematic when i did it to my strat http://i40.tinypic.com/2r4mxdi.jpg
The switch with the black box around it is the extra thing you need to add.
Also comparing the loaded pick guard you posted, i bought wilkinson pickups and all new electronics and pick guard to my strat and it cost me like 120€. Ofc the emgs are better than wilkinsons.
To be honest I'm inclined to take advice here and try to fix the original electronics first. Going to replace the switch and pots. Then replace the cable socket and rewire, see how this all goes.
If that gets her up and running, will get to practicing first before I decide on anything else. Have found a friend of my wife, who's husband does guitar lessons and will do a set up, then can see if the frets and tuners need replacing long term.
That's my plan.
Thanks to all you guys for taking the time to respond. I've learnt a lot in a short space of time, and hopefully saved some money
You could watch a few vids by this guy...he gets a lot of stick..and dishes some out too, but a lot of what he says makes sense
Yeah he seems funny, a bit annoying too, but funny
He does give out a lot of advice about how to not waste money...i.e. What works and what is just a gimmick.
And yeah I get his sense of humour
Beware there is an awful lot of 'snake oil' (mis) information out there on electric guitar 'tone' / nos tubes / vintage wiring etc.
I just read too much and had overload....went and programmed a few wacky patches in Addictive Pro to soothe the nerves lol
I second the recommendation for Axesrus in the uk, they have loads of parts for guitars, you just need to know which ones you need
I think you have a fun project there, starting with a decent bit of kit & minimal outlay to start trying to fix & then upgrade it !
Totally this. Be careful.