Best electric guitar parts according to redditors
We found 438 Reddit comments discussing the best electric guitar parts. We ranked the 284 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
We found 438 Reddit comments discussing the best electric guitar parts. We ranked the 284 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
Swap the knob out for one of these they look and feel so much better.
The specs:
Guitar is 2002 Squire Tele, Affinity Series (don't laugh)
Neck has Seymour Duncan, 50s Vintage
Bridge has Seymour Duncan, Hot Rails
[Link to bridge and tone plate] (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FYM3D5J/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_tyxCDbS5VXY4H)
The channels are basic three way but the blend sounds beautiful.
Note: The hot rails were too big for the bridge plate but the folks at Century Music (San Antonio) were cool enough to do a little handy work on the plate to get it to fit.
Porque no los dos?
https://www.amazon.com/Shadow-SH-124-500K-Kill-Pot/dp/B002XUCZI0
500k pot with momentary push switch. Wire the push as a killswitch and you can have the best of both worlds.
This paint from Home Depot
These pickups
if you're not interested in aesthetics and you want something fairly cheap, you can do what i did:
1.) arrange your pedals how you'd want them on the board and make sure to account for any other things you'd want to attach to it and measure the perimeter.
2.) drive on down to your local home depot or lowe's or what have you, and look for some boards that suit you. i don't know much about wood so this is where i can't really offer a suggestion, but you should be able to eyeball what would work and what wouldn't. ask someone to cut the wood for you in the dimensions you need. (they do this for free at home depot, but not sure about lowe's.) i got 1/2" thick because the 1/4" looked a little flimsy for the weight of the pedals.
3.) i recommend doing this step first, unless you can find it in a store near you, but i bought it on amazon. This velcro-ish tape is super heavy duty and actually sometimes hard to pull off once attached, but it did the job for me. I had about 8 or 9 pedals attached to the board and used two rolls with a little left over i think. for less of a death grip, try pairing it with regular velcro.
4.) with your freshly cut board and your super hardcore velcro, cut the velcro and attach it to the bottom of your pedals. i always try to put two small strips on each side of the bottom of the pedal because otherwise it'll lean one way or the other when you put your foot on it. It's more of just a feel thing. then, cut off some more velcro tape to hook onto the pedal velcro but don't take off the sticky stuff until you're ready to place it on the board.
5.) lay out the pedals how you'd like them on the board and maybe even draw the outlines around them so you know what goes where if necessary. When I was setting mine up, i was hooking the pedals up as i was placing them because i was really excited to try it out. But otherwise, peel off the sticky stuff and place them. Be sure to let them sit for about 24 hours before doing much else with it because the velcro tape needs some time to form a bond with what it's stuck to. (it's not permanent, but it sure tries to be.)
Once you're all plugged in and hooked up, you should be all ready to go. I recommend attaching a power strip with a fairly long cable to the board so you're able to have the power supply plugged into the board and use an extension cord without much mess. it seemed easier that way to me. if you want it raised, you can use the spare wood from when they cut it and nail it on the side farthest from where you'd be standing.
It won't be pretty, but at the end of the day, i didn't really care what it looked like so long as it allowed me to not have to spend half an hour setting up and tearing down any time i wanted to play somewhere with them.
Good question! Particularly on the SE models for some reason mainly the G string tends to get stuck,out of tune. The nut isn't setup properly on a good amount of these. I just did another one last month. I can either file it down or I replace them with a graptech/tusq nut.
http://www.amazon.com/Graph-Tech-Black-TUSQ-Electric/dp/B0037NVSYY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1425655941&sr=8-1&keywords=PRS+SE+nut
Other than that issue with a nice setup these guitars a awesome one to have in the arsenal. They are versatile, comfortable and able to be played for extended periods of time.
Hey man, not trying to be a dick, but you'll probably have better luck selling it for less than they go for new...
http://www.amazon.com/Ernie-Ball-6180-Junior-Pedal-Mono/dp/B0002GZ052/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1426873351&sr=8-1&keywords=ernie+ball+volume+pedal
I had to do this as part of my senior design project in college! To make things easier, pick up something like this and solder some wires leads to the two holes on the end, one will be the guitar signal and the other will be ground. You can attach the scope probes to these lead wires to see the signal, or connect it to a breadboard. The shaft of the 1/4" jack is the ground point and the tip is the signal.
Keep in mind the signal is going to be very weak (roughly 100mV, depending on how hard you pluck the string). Run it through an amplifier (I used an op-amp) and set the gain appropriately to get a better signal. Of course, this will require a bit of knowledge of op-amps to design a good amplifier.
Here is an image of my guitar captured on a scope. This was taken after the guitar signal was fed through a non-inverting amplifier and low-pass filter. Notice how the period of this signal is roughly 13-14ms? The frequency is about 74Hz, or a slightly flat "E" string. Hope this helps!
Hum buckers go Seymour Duncan for value. Not only are they a good price but they also sound really good.
Option 1: SH-4 and SH-2
That's the cheaper option but will sound absolutely tank.
Option 2: Slash Sig
A little bit more and different. Probably better for some higher gain stuff.
Sorry I was tracking down the link for you. There are a few sellers of the exact same piece, THIS is the best price I found.
I think this is similar if not the same thing.
I think 3m makes some as well but sold in much smaller quantities. Like what vewy_nice said I've only known it to adhere to itself (not standard velcro)
I used this stuff on my board. It works well with only a single 1-inch patch per pedal.
The only issue you'll encounter is that the stock nut is slotted for 9s and the bridge is set up for 9's. Switching to a 10's is a good excuse to replace the nut with one of these graphtech's. It fixed the issuse I was getting with the g string getting stuck in the nut and improved the tuning stability of my SE.
> It is less desirable wood, lesser electronics, hardware quality is iffy (China is getting better but is not quite there yet), paint and finish are partial.
I call BS. The Epiphone LP Custom Pro goes for $600. Meanwhile Gibson is claiming the "Historic" '57 Les Paul Custom is worth more than 10x that, at $7,700.
They do claim "the Historic '57 Les Paul Custom model includes all "True Historic" plastics and parts, chemically and structurally re-engineered from vintage examples." - OK so they ordered some custom knobs & such.
I'd believe them if they marked the guitar at $2,699. Maybe even $3,299. But $7,699? Bullshit.
Hey - I had the exact same issue on my Classic Player Jaguar and there is a very simple fix to this.
Purchase these Strat trem springs, drop one into the socket and screw in your tone arm - it'll stay in position really nicely without having to screw it in a lot.
Evidence
Ernie Ball VP Jr. P06180 250K Potentiometer for Passive Electronics https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002GZ052/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_KtubzbH8EXH2S
I hope you don't mind me linking to Amazon, but this is the one I have. A great pedal for the price.
With a preslotted nut like this require filing? or is this just something I can glue in the socket? Sorry for noob questions, never had to deal with this.
You can get single coil sized humbuckers if you don't fancy cutting up your pick guard or if your guitar's not routed for a 'bucker, I put an artec dual rail in my Squier, amongst other mods. Artec are also significantly cheaper than SD if you're not 100% on whether you'll like the sound.
You don't - you just replace it.
This is a very easy job if you have a soldering iron and aren't a complete moron.
Document/photograph/label the wires as they are on the current switch and put them in the same respective spot on the new switch.
Curl the wires into a hook shape and feed them through the holes on the new switch to form a physical connection to make a stronger connection and the soldering process easier.
Steal the knob tip from the old one and put on the new switch.
If you want to go through all the trouble of sending a guitar back to a manufacturer/store for this kind of repair that's your business but it's kinda like sending your car away because you've got a flat tire.
Fender Vintage Style Stratocaster/Telecaster Electric Guitar Pre-Slotted Bone Nut https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FW84QMI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_17W8BbAXQV6MW
The pot's value (250K vs 500K) will make you decide if you want to swap out the pots.
250K cause single coils to be less "Harsh" since single coils are bright pickups. Humbuckers on the other hand are usually darker in tone, so they'll normally be paired with 500K pots as 500K pots cause the tone to be brighter.
Some people have no issues with 250K pots on a humbucker, so I say give it a shot. If you don't like it and find that it's too dark, buy a 500K pot to swap out the 2nd Volume Knob that goes to the humbucker.
For Resistors, you should be fine, but if you're looking to swap out, then I recommend these. I just put them in my Les Paul with a Classic 57 and Seymour Duncan SH-4. Sounds great!
Here are the exact tuners that I use but in gold that should match your hardware.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B002B3CFP2/ref=mp_s_a_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1488094924&sr=8-9&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=grover+tuners
This is the roller bridge I got (it was cheap, but works fine): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00T4B6W44/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
And these are the locking tuners: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002RX7JD4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Installing them is really a no brainer. Best of luck with your Wildkat!
Try this spring https://www.amazon.com/Fender-American-Stratocaster-Tremolo-Tension/dp/B0002KZIKU/
Edit: forgot to add, I love that guitar. Congrats!
Or:
https://www.amazon.com/4-Strips-Replacement-ZPass-Mounting-Strips/dp/B002DZJQ0A
or:
https://www.amazon.com/Power-Grip-Pedalboard-Velcro-Alternative-Mounting/dp/B004ZKIHVU
as other not-velcro alternatives to glue.
If you ever want to have a kill switch and still have all you knobs. This thing would be perfect. I've thought about getting one myself.
If you DO replace your output jack, I fully recommend a switchcraft 11
I buy these in bulk and put them in every single guitar that comes through my hands because they're worth it.
It's a 5 minute job if you or anyone you know has ever soldered before.
http://www.amazon.com/Switchcraft-11/dp/B00C5B20QE
If anyone cares, here's a comparison of switchcraft vs whatever probably came in your guitar:
http://i.imgur.com/qR3MgLB.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/OhX6ioo.jpg
Get one of these, and replace your volume pot with it. Everything else stays standard.
EDIT: I see that you also use an Ibanez RG. I use one of these on mine.
I bought the fender vintage noiseless off of amazon for my squier strat. It made a pretty big difference. They cost around 100 USD. It comes with everything you need under the pick guard except an output jack and 5 way switch, which are pretty cheap and worth the upgrade if you're rewiring everything. They sound great and are pretty noiseless but it was a tight fit with the larger pots that come with it. A bit of sanding and drilling and it fits nice and makes it sound a lot clearer.
amazon
Yes, that's a standard Mono jack, but in that image, it's not seeming to include the lock washer.
This one includes and illustrates the lock washer, but doesn't seem to include the outside flat washer. However, you may be able to re-use your existing flat washer (no gaurantees though). If there are electronics supply houses near you, they will have all these parts in stock.
https://www.amazon.com/Fender-2-Conductor-Guitar-Bass-Output/dp/B003AYK8XW/ref=pd_sbs_267_5/145-1156546-1180615?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B003AYK8XW&pd_rd_r=0bd03d18-fbde-4e45-9283-257155f8c78b&pd_rd_w=7xMlC&pd_rd_wg=TX8wL&pf_rd_p=5873ae95-9063-4a23-9b7e-eafa738c2269&pf_rd_r=67Y9H37C97Q667RZJAXB&psc=1&refRID=67Y9H37C97Q667RZJAXB
Man, a $60 set of locking tuners would probably clear that right up.
That switch should work fine, provided it wasn't assembled poorly, those are the dice you roll with the cheaper parts. They're not complex machines at all, so if you get one that was put together poorly, you may be able to fix things yourself. And you may get one that works fine, or works fine at first. But if you can afford a Switchcraft for about twice the cost, you'll have something that should be more reliable and durable.
Those are standard sized humbuckers and you should be able to replace them with any standard sized humbuckers (aka Gibson sized, not Fender sized - Fender sized are larger, but almost no one makes Fender sized pickups). For your budget, I'd highly recommend GFS pickups. GFS pickups are just fine and a great value for the money.
But pickups are just wire wrapped around magnets when it comes down to it. Where is the rust? On the pole pieces? Are the lead wires from the pickups intact and not corroded? If it's just the pole pieces that are rusted, that shouldn't be a big deal actually, you can clean that off. The real problem would be corrosion of the coil wires and/or breaks in the wire. If you have the patience and focus of attention to do it right (and to research how to do it right!), then it's actually feasible to unpot the pickup (remove the wax), unwrap the wire, clean it, clean the poles and the magnet, rewrap the pickup wire, and repot the pickups. It's extremely tedious and time consuming (you're talking about at least 6k to 7k wraps around the coils!), and humbuckers are more complex than single coils because you have to make sure that the two coils (north and south -> as in magnetic north and magnetic south) are reverse wound and reverse polarity.
Honestly, unless you have the right tools, patience, a keen sustainable interest in the work, and a LOT of time, it does just make the most sense to buy new pickups, but hopefully if you dig around the links in this post, you'll stumble on some useful information about pickups and guitar maintenance that you can dig into. Youtube has a metric ton of resources for guitar maintenance, repair, setup, and building. Dig in!
Even if you want to replace your pickups with new ones, you'll still need tools. What tools do you have or have access to? Do you have a soldering iron, solder, and a solder sucker? Do you have contact cleaner for electronics? Do you have anything to use to clean rust off contacts (be mindful of toxic chemicals)?
Is there any chance you can get your hands on a multi-meter? Maybe borrow one? These are indespensible when you're trying to figure out whether you have a broken component or bad wiring.
While you're working to replace the switch and pickups, be absolutely certain to check the existing wiring and make sure that nothing's corroded, loose, or broken. Most problems with pickups (assuming the pickup wires aren't corroded or broken), are actually problems with the control electronics and wiring. Since you'd be in there soldering up a new switch and possibly new pickups, it would be a good time to replace the wiring. You can get shielded guitar circuit wire from Amazon, but it's cheaper elsewhere, like Guitar Electronics.
A solid paint job is easy, especially on a bolt-on body with no binding. I did a Strat in candy apple red with gold metalflake when I was 13 (56 years ago). It took forever, but it came out looking like custom shop quality. Make sure the temperature is high/humidity low enough (weather can screw you up), watch some Youtube videos, take your time and you'll be fine.
If you upgrade your pickups, get 4 wire rather than 2 wire if available if you ever want to coil splits, in/out phase or series/parallel setups. I've got some of these mounted in these and the Triple Shots made for an easy install.
Harness and pots? This one is probably okay for a low end stock setup.
You could just make a harness yourself if you can do some simple soldering. (TIP: Cut a piece of cardboard and transfer the vol/tone and switch hole positions to it, then flip it over and mount your pots/switch. Now you can wire without risking your new paint job.)
For a medium quality setup, I might consider something like these and some Orange Drop caps.
For highest quality, I would use these for volume and these for tone and wire it up myself with a couple of Orange Drops. $80 or so for everything.
Be careful of the "vintage toan filled pots/wire/magic-ingredient capacitors" hype. Quality doesn't have to cost and arm and a leg.
Seymour Duncan has a great database of wiring options. Look through the list for some ideas.
A standard 2 vol, 2 tone with a 3 way switch is pretty easy to do.
I prefer push/pull (or push/push pots) and splittable (4 wire) humbuckers pickups for maximum versatility.
Lap Steels are fairly simple, so you don't really have to spend that much to get a good one. But there are some accessories you will need.
For a first lap steel the SX Lap Steel is very well made and includes a stand and case. Its only $150.
You will also need a good tone bare. Dunlop chromed brass For $20.
Also I would get him a volume pedal Ernie Ball Volume pedal For $65.
Other little nice gifts, would be a clip on snark tuner, a couple of instrument cables, song book, and some extra strings.
Ignore what the other person said about fret wear and action height. You are not pushing the strings down to the frets, you are sliding on the string with a tone bar or a guitar slide. Higher is better in this case.
Does he have an amp? Any other effects pedals?
edit: Also a capo like this will be helpful if he is just playing along with random songs.
Not the most attractive instrument, but in terms of functionality, you really can’t beat Traveler guitars. Their Acoustic-Electric is a full scale guitar, can be plugged into an amp or headphone amp (like the the Traveler Acoustic headphone amp), and is otherwise very quiet. There’s a full electric version for about twice the price, but the only major difference is that the Acoustic-Electric sounds like an acoustic guitar when plugged in while the Electric will sound like an electric.
While the JamStick might work for some practice, it isn’t a real guitar. The Traveler is, and it stands to reason that practicing playing guitar on a guitar will be more effective than practicing guitar on an expensive toy.
Strat all the way for the Chili Peppers.
I'd recommend Squier Classic Vibe since they come with proper AlNiCo Pickups, so it'll sound great, and the main problems are the input jack and gloss neck. The neck is completely subjective, so you might actually dig that, and a new input jack is like $15 max, and it's about as easy as it can get when it comes to soldering. Even if you pay someone to do it for you, you'll still save money over what you would pay for a MIM Strat.
The one that looks the most like John's main Strat is the '60s Classic Vibe
If you have the $600, I'd say put locking tuners on to make string changes eaiser, a new nut for tuning stability and tone on open strings, and a good input jack since Squier's are notorious for their loose input jacks.
Nice. I have an SG Special and the stock tuners were shit. I'd recommend changing them especially with that Vibrola.
I recommend these.
You don't need to change springs - that guy doesn't know what he's talking about.
At most you would add a spring, which is typically included with new guitars and is only necessary in extreme cases.
Personally, I'd buy one of these. https://www.amazon.com/Neck-Check-Guitar-Nec-0348-Tremolo/dp/B00FUTXO8G
It's not necessary, but it makes everything easier for a one-time ten buck outlay.
If you looking for really something cheap you may find a good deal on a used pickup like this . Or you could get a basic one for amazon like these the Amazon ones sound pretty good in a cheap epiphone I have but they seem to be more fairly low output
"dirt" pedals are overdrive, fuzz, or distortion pedals because they 'dirty' up your signal
if you're okay with waiting, used is always the best to go in terms of cost. if not, here's a small list of cheap, simple pedals that work
delay:
tc electronic the prophet
joyo d-seed
boss dd-3
joyo delay
donner yellow fall analog delay
reverb:
mosky spring reverb
tc electronic drip
caline snake bite
behringer dr-600
chorus:
mxr analog chorus
joyo classic chorus
biyang chorus
danelectro fab chorus
volume pedal:
ernie ball
boss fv-50h
power supply:
cs7
mxr iso brick
here's a cheap/basic place to start. since you're going simple, most pedals you come across will honestly work with what you want you want to accomplish, it's mostly down to your budget. if you're looking used, you can't go wrong with MXR, boss, and EHX pedals, they're usually everywhere on the used market
The best option may actually be a 3 way toggle switch. It won't be 24/30mm, rather a much smaller toggle. Try a guitar switch or something of that nature, here's a link!
https://www.amazon.com/Switchcraft-Short-Frame-Toggle-Switch-Black/dp/B00LYFFW9O/ref=pd_lpo_vtph_267_lp_t_3?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=PD3K1NNRJR25BK5SYZXP
I assume your reason for wanting to replace the bridge is so that you have a floating bridge tremolo system (wammy bar). Otherwise, I can't really think of a good reason to replace a fixed bridge, other than just for cosmetics. If that is the case, you can't really replace a Tune o Matic with a Floyd Rose, unless you're willing to pay someone with a CNC router to cut out the area around the bridge and on the back of the guitar to install it. Suffice to say, it's not worth it for that particular guitar in my honest opinion. If you feel like you need a Floyd Rose down the line, buy a guitar that comes with one.
As for humbuckers, you sound like you need versatility, so I would pick up these Seymour Duncan Hotrodded Pups.
There are plenty of resources regarding what gain in audio is, but put simply, it's a measure of distortion. The higher the gain, the more distorted the audio is, which is what gives you that heavy metal sound.
EDIT: I forgot to ask, but what kind of amplifier are you using? You didn't mention it in your post. I ask because amplifiers are pretty critical for your sound. It doesn't make much sense to drop $130 on new pickups that cost almost half as much as your guitar if you probably won't even notice the sound difference due to playing on a cheap, 15-watt beginner amp.
Maybe a trem-no might fix 75 percent of your needs? Are you using vibrato for both tuning?
https://www.tremol-no.com/
Q- Why do I want a Tremol-No™?
A- The Tremol-No™ was designed with the 'all-around' player in mind.
If you love your tremolo unit, but hate it when double-stops and other pedal steel-type licks don't come out in tune because of the trem, then the Tremol-No™ is the answer.
If you love the feel and/or tone of your favorite electric, but wish it was a hardtail (or 'dive-only') instead, then the Tremol-No™ is the answer.
When the Tremol-No™ is locked, you will not only increase sustain, but also expect an improvement in overall tone as well.
With a Tremol-No™ installed, you can now do all your favorite alternate tunings on guitars you previously couldn't. Yes- even those with full floating trems. Add a Deep-C™ on, and you can drop tune, while still having 'dive-only' trem use.
Last, but certainly not least, is in the event of a string break if your Tremol-No™ and/or Deep-C™ are locked, you'll remain in tune.
You won't be moving your tuning around with a floyd though with the locking nut and the fine tuners...
There's a tremstopper from FU tone...
https://www.amazon.com/Neck-Check-Guitar-Nec-0348-Tremolo/dp/B00FUTXO8G
I've also found these, will they work the same way as the first one I linked? Either way thanks for the help man. Someone in my other post mentioned something like this to put some pressure on the bar so I wouldnt have to tighten it down all the way thus creating the sticking. What are your thoughts on this method? I don't have a reall problem with the trem other than the sticking bar so if this works I'll be happy for now.
I've also found these, will they work the same way as the first one I linked? Either way thanks for the help man.
you can get a SH-4 /sh-2 set from amazon for 120€ sh-4 is imo, a very good pickup and sounds great on any guitar, from superstrats to lespauls. It splits wonderfully too. https://www.amazon.es/Seymour-Duncan-SH-4-SH-2-Pastillas/dp/B0007TYPYQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1519601734&sr=8-1&keywords=sh-4
if you like more bluesy tones https://www.amazon.es/Seymour-Duncan-SH-1-Pastillas-eléctrica/dp/B0007TYPZA/ref=pd_sbs_267_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=R362E52CEQWEPSFJWKDV
i have not tried the sh-2, but I've tried a sh1 (59') and it was good, tho ill rather keep the burst bucker pro (neck position in a les paul).
For the price, and as those are in amazon i would buy the set and if you like them both, you are done, if you don't like the sh-2 resell it and buy a 59 with the price difference, and if you don't like neither, just return them (use as little wire as possible, so you just cut like 2 cm of the cable and it will be new looking).
you can also buy the sh4 for the bridge and the 59 for the neck:
https://www.amazon.es/Pastilla-Seymour-Duncan-SH-1N-humbucker/dp/B0002D05ZA/ref=sr_1_1?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1519601854&sr=1-1&keywords=seymour+duncan+59
https://www.amazon.es/Seymour-Duncan-Niquel-Pastillas-guitarra/dp/B0002EKNQ0/ref=sr_1_5?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1519601839&sr=1-5&keywords=seymour+duncan+jb
without cover the 59 is like 20€ cheaper, available in zebra/white too.
You can get Behringer pedals for 25 bucks — less money than it’d cost you to source the parts yourself. Mooer, Caline, and Donner pedals are priced similarly.
You can get a generic loaded, prewired Strat pickguard for 17 bucks or a set of generic humbuckers for 14 bucks on Amazon.
There is a shitload of gear to fit any budget. You want handmade in the first world by the original designer? Pony up. You want inexpensive factory stuff that’ll get you in the ballpark? There ya go.
I can use three pedals. But for some reason each position in chain has different pedals available. And noise gate uses the same position that is used by pedals I enlisted above. Playing with volume helps a bit, but not much.. Anyway thank you for you help, it's clear. I found that there are noiseless single coil pickups are exist. Like these ones https://www.amazon.com/Fender-Vintage-Noiseless-Stratocaster-Pickups/dp/B0002E3D44 Do you know any pros/cons about it?
Why not a kill pot? A pot that you can tap down, no drilling holes required.
Shadow SH-124-500K Kill Pot https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002XUCZI0/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_y5dcBbDBP10X2
It seems that your comment contains 1 or more links that are hard to tap for mobile users.
I will extend those so they're easier for our sausage fingers to click!
Here is link number 1 - Previous text "$20"
Here is link number 2 - Previous text "$72"
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^Please ^PM ^/u/eganwall ^with ^issues ^or ^feedback! ^| ^Delete
My band's other guitarist uses these in his blacktop jag:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0007TYPYQ/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
along with
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002AKONB0/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Those mounting rings took some work to install without destroying the original pickguard, but now that he has them in there, he really goes to town dialing in some wide varying tones.
The acoustic can last quite awhile compared to my electrics, which usually need a string change every month because of breakage.
As an experiment I put a TUSQ nut on one of my electrics and started rubbing graphite in the saddles to see if that would improve string life. The TUSQ was delivered May 5th. So far it's been two months.
Instrument level signals are not intended to be plugged straight into consumer playback equipment. There needs to be something in between first to make the signal stronger and make a signal with the right impedance to be fed into a playback system's low-impedance input. Imagine plugging headphones into an electric guitar's output jack straight - this is more or less what you're trying to do right now.
The cheapest external preamp box for piezo pick-ups to do this which I know of is the Behringer ADI21 (a clone of a Sansamp Acoustic D.I. according to Google). A device like this outputs a line level signal, which you can then plug into any number of things such as effects units, instrument amplifiers, mixers, or other equipment, and they often come with various other features buit in such as multiple outputs and EQ.
Guitar amps, or acoustic guitar amps can have headphone outputs as a practice feature, and ones intended for acoustic guitar generally have a preamp circuit designed for piezos so you can plug a passive violin into one directly. These are fine too, and are easy to use since you only need a single unit to directly plug your passive violin into to get sound, whether you're using the speaker, or the headphone output. I recommend this option personally, as you sound like you're looking to plug and play and aren't familiar with technology.
There's also products intended for the specific thing you're trying to do with this consumer headphone amplifier - small dongles that plug directly into an acoustic instrument and provide a preamp circuit and headphone output and tone shaping features in a single box specifically for headphone practice in a small form factor. Using these on a violin may be awkward depending on where the instrument's output jack is, but shouldn't be impossible depending on the exact use case: https://www.amazon.com/Traveler-Guitar-TGA-1A-Acoustic-Headphone/product-reviews/B075VTWHYG/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_paging_btm_next_2?ie=UTF8&reviewerType=all_reviews&pageNumber=2
RoPro from KinglyKeys
1u DSA PBT Keycaps from KPRepublic
Aliaz silent tactile switches from KBDfans
Abalone Guitar Knob from Amazon
Thinking of mixing the neck and middle positions to:
Seymour Duncan Hot Rails: https://www.amazon.com/Seymour-Duncan-11205-02-SHR-1b-Guitar/dp/B0002D0B8G/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1520456723&sr=8-2-spons&keywords=seymour+duncan+hot+rails&psc=1&smid=A252JZGF55BU5P
Cool Rails:
https://www.amazon.com/Seymour-Duncan-SCR-1n-Rails-Pickup/dp/B0002F57EC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1520456767&sr=8-2&keywords=seymour+duncan+cool+rails
Dimarzio Super distortion: https://www.amazon.com/DiMarzio-DP189-Strat-Humbucker-Pickup/dp/B001DF65XM/ref=sr_1_1?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1520456988&sr=1-1&keywords=dimarzio+strat+tone+zone
https://www.amazon.com/DiMarzio-DP218-Distortion-Humbucker-Pickup/dp/B001AN2O6E/ref=sr_1_7?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1520457001&sr=1-7&keywords=dimarzio+super+distortion
Here's one on Amazon for ten bucks:
https://www.amazon.com/Neck-Check-Guitar-Nec-0348-Tremolo/dp/B00FUTXO8G
I just put one of these in my PRS SE Akerfeldt.
https://www.amazon.com/Switchcraft-Short-Frame-Toggle-Switch-Black/dp/B00LYFFW9O/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1493126956&sr=8-4&keywords=switchcraft
Humbuckers are one option, but there are noiseless single-coil pickups which might alleviate your problem. Fender makes a set, that one is for Stratocasters.
From what I've heard, this pickup sounds great. You can actually coil split it too if you want, to switch it between single coil and humbucking.
That or even something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Neck-Check-Guitar-Nec-0348-Tremolo/dp/B00FUTXO8G
You can buy one of these and just use the nut and washer, keeping the new jack as a spare, or replace the jack altogether (the Switchcraft is better than a generic jack).
Hey congrats on picking that up, one thing to keep in mind with these SE models (my knowledge doesn't extend back to 2001) is they all seem to benefit from a new nut. If that hasn't been upgraded, it's an easy replacement and the perfect time to do it is when restringing and refinishing the neck. These Graph Tech black TUSQ's are what seem to fit other SE models. I've even got an extensive review on that page (it's the one with the red Tremonti headstock photos). I do still recommend proper slotting even for this model after installation for perfect intonation when fretting near the nut, but this model will take 9s and 10s well w/o binding out of the box.
[This is what I bought](Fender American Series Stratocaster Tremolo Arm Tension Springs https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002KZIKU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_qdDMDbCS3NQZD) for my MIM strat which has the standard tremelo that comes with the player series now. That should work.
I replaced the little rubber feet on each pedal with some small square cut outs of this stuff:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004ZKIHVU
Word of caution: it’s extremely strong, so use sparingly. I like it better than regular velcro as the pedals sit flat and don’t rock around as much.
I’ve had two intermediate-level guitars with this setup in them and I think you’d be quite happy with it for what you’re looking to achieve. It’s also an appropriate amount to spend on an instrument of that value; it’ll give you a great tone and spending much more would be a diminishing return.
You want the mono long thread, or spend $2 more on the Fender replacement which you can find on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Fender-1-4-Output-Jack/dp/B003AYK8XW
I think you are thinking of the 3 to 5 springs in the back of a Strat. I was asking about the spring that goes underneath the actual tremolo arm. It only comes with the American Strats (it comes underneath the circular sticker) but you can buy one for other guitars too.
https://www.amazon.com/Fender-American-Stratocaster-Tremolo-Tension/dp/B0002KZIKU
Looks like this guy - Ernie Ball VP Jr
Would this fender jack work well with it?
Trying to replace the pots on my '94 MIM Strat and have no idea what to buy. Replacing as the tone knobs are super scratchy, and the volume knob was scratchy but now just completely cuts the volume at anything below 10. I've got a tech to do the work but want your opinions on what to buy.
I know I need 250k pots, but are they all the same? Fender sells for $8, but are the Seymour Duncans for $14 better? Any other recommendations?
Are the capacitors worth upgrading on the tone pots while I'm in there digging around? Would these be a fine selection?
https://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Kill-Pot-Potentiometer-Humbucker/dp/B002XUCZI0
It's a 500k push-pull that acts as a kill switch. Think SexPistols.