New wiring setup on “The Phantom”.

[Jakedog]

I never really had a problem with the volume knob placement on a Stratocaster. Then I got my Silver Sky. It’s ever so slightly different. Now any time I pick up a Fender Strat, the volume knob is RIGHT in my way.

I also generally dislike tone knobs. I find that they generally serve no useful purpose whatsoever. The exceptions are Strat bridge pickups. Gotta have a tone knob on Strat bridge pickup. But this one is a humbucker, so it doesn’t need one.

Removed all the pots, chucked the tones. Installed a 300K volume with a resistor to make it 270K. A little something I stole from PRS. Put it in the middle hole, and now it’s completely out of my way.

Used a “tone” knob instead of one that says “volume”, as a subtle nod to EVH’s hot rod Frankenstein. Because this thing is now pure hot rod. There is nothing subtle or polite about it in the least. 3/8” nickel plated hole plugs from Ace Hardware.

 

[Jupiter]

volume IS tone, amirite?

 

[BB]

Do what makes it work for you is my motto.

 

[SixStringSlinger]

volume IS tone, amirite?

It controls more of the tone than the Tone does!

 

[cousinpaul]

Hey Jake. I'm interested in your mod. What value is your resistor and where does it go?

 

[Jakedog]

Hey Jake. I'm interested in your mod. What value is your resistor and where does it go?

It’s a 300K pot, with a 2.7 meg resistor. One end of the resistor goes on the hot lug, the other grounds to the back of the pot. Actually makes it about 270K after all is said and done. I edited the original post to correct the number.

 

[swervinbob]

I’ve thought about seeing if I could make my Les Pauls have just one volume and a pickup toggle switch down low and that’s it. I hate a volume and tone for each pickup. And I’d rather have the pickup selector down low instead of where it is.

 

[Jakedog]

I’ve thought about seeing if I could make my Les Pauls have just one volume and a pickup toggle switch down low and that’s it. I hate a volume and tone for each pickup. And I’d rather have the pickup selector down low instead of where it is.

My favorite Les Paul I ever played was a special order. Some kind of dealer exclusive. It was a ‘57 Gold Top reissue that had just the bridge pickup and a volume knob. It was an amazingly cool guitar.

 

[cousinpaul]

Thanks for the info. I'll try it next string change.

 

[cousinpaul]

I found some info and diagrams of the Silver Sky wiring harness on the Tone Geek website. Apparently, some SS guitars use a 3.3M resistor in place of the 2.7M. The change in value is said to make the guitar a little brighter. I'm still waiting on parts and the next string change to try the mod in my strat but got the itch to try something similar with my tele. Working with what I had, I added a 2.2M to the tele's 250k volume pot. It's a subtle but noticeable change; maybe a little more springy sound but without harshness. Also, possibly a smoother taper on the pot? I'll be looking forward to trying it on the strat with the correct value parts. The SS tone cap is a .1uf Mallory 150 if anyone is interested.