Invisible Gilmour Mod - Strat

[Bricksnbeatles]

Do you guys ever use the tone knobs on your strat?

Yes. All the time!

I'm thinking about ordering a custom pickguard with only 1 knob for volume. Is that crazy?

A little bit— I prefer the EVH location: sorta between where the volume and first tone knob are. Can just order a pickguard without any pot holes, and drill it yourself. As it is, I think the current config you have there is a bit silly, personally

 

[giovanni]

I use the tone knobs on my S500 all the time, but they are wired differently. I believe the tone knob affects to all pickups. The second tone knob is actually a bass control (also affecting all pickups) which is very useful to tame a boomy overdrive.

 

[andare]

Oh man I wish I would have know about this sooner.
The Gilmour Mod adds a toggle switch which allows the neck position to be turned on, which unlocks the neck/bridge combo and the all three combo on a Strat.
I rewired the five way switch so now I can get neck/bridge combo. It sounds so good. And is holding off my Tele gas for now.
My five way now goes B, BN, N, NM, M. View attachment 66488

Mine has been like that for years. Who needs BM anyway? I'm neither Mark Knopfler nor Lynyrd Skynyrd.
And to make it even more counterintuitive, I've added a phase switch (where the 2nd tone knob was) that is in phase when the toggle points outwards - wasn't intended
Currently master tone but I might disconnect the middle PU from it

 

[andare]

I’d think the easiest way to do it would be to just switch the middle and neck pickups in the pick guard if you don’t mind losing the B/M combo

that's what I did, back when my soldering skills were much more questionable

 

[Fama]

Do you guys ever use the tone knobs on your strat?

I do, usually with some drive pedals which are too bright with the bridge pickup and tone at full.

 

[xefned]

Yes. All the time!


A little bit— I prefer the EVH location: sorta between where the volume and first tone knob are. Can just order a pickguard without any pot holes, and drill it yourself. As it is, I think the current config you have there is a bit silly, personally

It’s weird when you’re not accustomed to playing a Strat (but still own one.) The volume knob is always in the way of where I naturally strum. I can't get used to it.

I will research the EVH location. Thanks.

 

[chris.knudson]

The volume knob is always in the way of where I naturally strum.

That volume knob is actually there for that exact reason. It's right there where your hand naturally goes, which makes it really easy to tweak while you're playing. The volume know on my Jazz bass is just a little too far toward the bridge for me, and I feel like I almost always miss a beat when I have to reach for it.

 

[coltonius]

Do you guys ever use the tone knobs on your strat?

I'm thinking about ordering a custom pickguard with only 1 knob for volume. Is that crazy?
(The normal volume knob placement is always in the way.)

View attachment 67836

My Strats are wired to have a Tone knob for the neck pickup (rarely use) and one for the bridge pickup (always use with this knob rolled back a bit). If the Volume knob bothered me, I'd opt for a pickguard with it moved down slightly: