This was my first ever guitar. I started modifying it within weeks of buying it. I picked it up used on Ebay for cheap with a hard case in pristine condition.
It's a standard MIM Fender Stratocaster.
I got tired of the single coil hum, and wanted some more agressive pickups with definition (seemed like the stock MIM pickups made everything kinda mushy and run together)
So I installed a set of three Seymour Duncan 'Lil Humbuckers.
Thats a JB Junior in the neck, Duckbucker in the middle, and Little '59 in the bridge. This is backwards from how the SD kit sells, and that only comes in white. I wanted to put the bassy JB in the neck, and the vintage treble screaming '59 in the bridge... so I bought the pickups accordingly. It has a very abrupt change in tone from pickup to pickup now. The Duckbucker, when played in 2 or 4, brings back that Strat sound with a bit of quack.
I also threw in a set of Dimarzio 500K pots, with a push-pull on the volume for splitting to single coil. The '59 and JB play really well as single coils. However, I spend 99% of my time in humbucking mode.
Here's the copper sheeting I laid in to shield the body. The pickguard was originally white, as were the pickups & knobs. I swapped it out for a black 3-ply with copper shielding on back. I also added the Gibson speed knobs because I don't like top-hats. (and those Gibson knobs are just sweet)
The rest of the hardware is stock MIM parts, and I'm pretty happy with it.
Sorry its dirty and not a show-queen... but I play the hell out of it.
| My Profile
Sunburst Strat - Seymour Duncan Humbuckers blog
