Red Ensign Stratocaster Build Diary

[CascadiaGuitarGeek]

Time for an overdue update. Sadly no one is willing to pay me to build guitar kits yet so my real job impedes progress. Anyways I thought it was time to wire the pickguard (or scratchplate for my UK friends). I started by throwing my pickups and a pre-wired strat electronics into the pickguard, but had some little modifications to make. I decided to add in the Guitarfetish mid-boost circuit to see how well it could replicate the Clapton signature strat tones.

This was my starting point.


And this was where I ended up with the mid-boost.




Hopefully if this long and dreary Canadian winter ends I can get back to putting a final coat of paint on the body so I can put it all together. I guess it's just more motivation to set up an indoor paint booth.

[Simon Barden]

Anyways I thought it was time to wire the pickguard (or scratchplate for my UK friends).

I think the internet has made both terms understandable for most people. I'm now using the terms interchangeably, often depending on what I feel like using that day.

I would say that it will be beneficial to you to screen your cavities and the underside of the scratchplate. There's a lot of cables in there to pick-up noise, plus you've got a boost circuit which will amplify any noise picked up. You may also find it beneficial to twist the pickup leads around one another and tape them together. This is how Fender used to do it to minimise noise. e.g.



I'd also look at reducing the lengths of any cables that can be shortened. Obviously make sure first that the wiring can be routed through the path in the body. But the more wire there is, the more noise that can be picked up.

[CascadiaGuitarGeek]

Thanks for the tips Simon. I've already got the copper shielding tape for the cavity for whenever I can actually complete finishing the body. I'll definitely look at shortening the pickup leads and strapping them together to make it all a little neater and less noisy. The concern about boosting a noisy signal is definitely real, so hopefully the extra steps will make sure this all ends up playable in the end.