Deleting Volume Pot Position

[joemac]

One of the things I've had against Strats for all these years is the position of the volume knob. Having owned a couple back in the late sixties/early seventies, and played dozens of them over the years, I invariably would knock the volume either all the way up or down, involuntarily. That's not a good thing, and it can be bothersome and embarrassing. Right now, I have a medium guitar pick (tortoise shell, so it matches the pickguard) jammed under the volume knob, to prevent such mishaps. I think because I've spent so much of my life playing acoustic guitars, I've gotten very used to having a very large zone in which to strum. As a result, I can't stand anything in the way of a broad area above and below the strings, such as selector switches or knobs. Gibsons tend to have all the controls down on the lower bout, out of the way. There are exceptions, I know, such as the LP's position of the selector switch, something that has prevented me from owning a Les Paul. Rickenbackers are also very good in control placements and one of my personal frames of reference. I never bump the knobs or switches on my Rics.
I've been trying to decide what to do with my Strat to rectify the problem.
I've decided that it would make sense to delete the volume pot's position, installing a stacked pot for the tone controls, and move the volume pot down to what will be the upper position, which tone #2 now occupies.
Any other suggestions (other than, "live with it")?
Is there a particular stacked pot I should look for?
Thanks in advance.

[JCollins]

You could eliminate one of the tone pots, making the other one a master tone. Then, you could put the volume where the middle tone is, now, and use the outside tone control as a master tone.

[Val-tone]

I drilled new holes in the pickguard for my pots. I would have gotten rid of one of them and just had two knobs, but one of them is a blender pot to get two outer pups both on.

The middle knob is a push-pull pot and the 5-way switch is one of those megaswitches so I can go from series/parallel when the middle is on with one of the outer ones.

I had to re-solder longer leads on the pickups to move the pots though. And I just covered the old holes on the pickguard with electrical tape, as you can kind of see in the blurry photo.

This is a '77 frankenstrat I rescued from a pawnshop. The only thing that's original now is the neck and five of the tuners. And the jack cup.

[e-merlin]

I have the same problem. I usually go the master volume-master tone route. I just remove the middle pot and move the volume pot there. Sometimes, I even plug the hole where the volume pot used to be. A hardware store will have a variety of plugs. I like the half-inch chrome ones, but I have to enlarge the hole in the pickguard.

[studebaker hawk]

I've had the same problem, I found a second hand pickguard with 2 pot
holes and went with master volume, master tone.

For a little while I had played it with the volume knob removed (just the
shaft there) which helped some.

[J. Hayes]

And a couple I've sold which had it removed also. What I did is just move the volume knob to the middle position and use just one tone control which is a master and gives me a tone control on the bridge pickup which it didn't have before. It's more like a Telecaster and you've got control over the rear pickup without having to go to the amp to change it's tone. One of my Strats has three mini toggle switches for pickup on/off and the other two have the normal 5 way switch but they've been modified with a mini toggle switch which adds the bridge pickup when the main switch is in the neck or neck/middle position. To cover the holes I just cut a circle out of a white Fender thin flat pick and glued it over the hole. On one guitar I put a Happy face sticker over it..............JH in Va.

[Rock on]

live with it

[lefthandrob]

I think i would buy a telecaster---lol

[joemac]

I'm going one better- I'm building one.

[alanfc]

this is what I've always done on whichever PG I've had on this guitar, don't care about re-wiring or looks.
see pic:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...oneHotrail.jpg

[Ed P]

Does anyone have a wiring diagram for the master volume-master tone setup?

[alanfc]

Originally Posted by Ed P

Does anyone have a wiring diagram for the master volume-master tone setup?

ah I remember these ones, I never followed them (OK I may do it someday )

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/stratocas...ghlight=master

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/stratocas...ghlight=master

[c.ray.jones]

I have the same issue with the volume knob, I just took a felt washer and put it under the knob. Cant see it and it stays put. As far as the switch Im still working on that....

[bobthecanadian]

Originally Posted by c.ray.jones

I have the same issue with the volume knob, I just took a felt washer and put it under the knob. Cant see it and it stays put. As far as the switch Im still working on that....

c.ray.jones... I think you are on to something here!

After reading that people don't like Strats because they keep hitting the volume knob or pickup switch I consider myself lucky. I have never had this problem. Unless I want to adjust the volume or change pickup position my hand stays where it can do the most good, over the strings.

I have heard people say the same thing about the Telecaster as well. I am wondering what my guitar playing friends are doing. Is everybody doing Pete Townsend windmills or something? Hey, we play electric guitars, not campfire strum an acoustic, so... what gives?

Just my thoughts. I think it is fun to modify guitars to make them work better. Knowing how to move a knob or switch for covenience or some other tonal advantage is very cool. However, sometimes though, I think developing a better / different playing technique is just as, or more, important.

My .02 worth.

Cheers,

Bob

[Chicago Slim]

I have an Areodyne Strat, without a pickguard. They moved the volume about a 1/4", which gave me just enough room. I can anchor my right hand, and pick closer to the bridge, for a twanger sound.

I liked it so much, that I modified another Strat for the volume in the middle tone location, and master tone in the bottom tone position. I plugged the volume hole with a nickel sheet metal plug, from the hardware store.

Now, I have my perfect guitar. I have also switched to Tele knobs, and added a ground shut to the volume. I changed the tone value. Now the master volume and tone, is wired like my G&L ASAT Classic. I like it so much, that I will never own a Strat, with traditional wireing again.

[The Trower Freak]

Warmoth replacement guard.



Master Volume / Master Tone.

[Rick J]

+1 on the felt washer trick under the volume knob. I had the problem on a Godin TC (Tele-alike) as well as a Strat, and also found that a circle of foam rubber cut to shape under the knob-skirt works. The sort of stuff you get in new pickup box or somesuch seems to work best. It provides enough resistance to stop the knob moving around too much, but not enough to stop you actually using it.

Rick J