Dying/staining wood, replacing nut and wiring questions!

[_tom_]

I'm doing up my old strat, and have come into a few problems:

-I oiled the body with gun stock finishing oil to stop unwanted cr@p getting in, however now I'm thinking about staining the wood a bit to darken it. Is it possible though, seeing as the wood has oil soaked into it?

-I want to replace the nut with a graphtech one as I'm gonna be installing a Wilkinson trem and want to be able to use it without going really badly out of tune.. How do I get the old nut out and how do I "fasten" the new one in place?

-Position 4 (middle pickup and bridge humbucker slug coil) sounds very thin compared with the rest of the pickups. Is that a wiring fault, or just what happens in that position? The humbucker is a SD Custom Custom.

Cheers for any help!

[deg0ey]

I have the wiring schematic you were after here Mr Tom. It's the same as the wiring in my strat (except you have a master tone) so I can vouch that it works.



It gives you the following options:

Push Pull Down
Pos 1 = Bridge (full)
Pos 2 = Bridge (split) + Middle (parallel)
Pos 3 = Middle
Pos 4 = Middle + Neck (parallel)
Pos 5 = Neck

Push Pull Up
Pos 1 = Bridge (full)
Pos 2 = Bridge (split)
Pos 3 = Off
Pos 4 or 5 = Middle + Neck (series)

I used the BK humbucker colour code in the diagram, but I'm sure you're sensible enough to be able to work it out. (and if not, maybe you need to buy the BKs)

I've noticed a weaker sounding mid&bridge combination, and I hink that's just how it's supposed to be :drink:

[_tom_]

Yay! Thanks for that. The two pots, which is tone and which is volume? Oh and when you say push pull up/down, do you mean a switch, or pot? I'm guessing switch..

[Searcher]

I can't see you having a problem with wood stain if you sand the guitar a bit first and use an oil or alcohol based stain, rather than a water based one.

[WezV]

If theold nut has anylaquer round it score it with a sharp knife first.  Then get a small block of wood  and give it a sharp blow from the side, it will probably come straight out .  Some starts are more difficult because the nut can have a little extra tab underneath it  and obviously they are in a channel.  If its wont come out with the sharp tap then you will need to saw it with a very thin saw along its middle from the top side of the fretboard to the bottom (perpendicular to the strings). You can then squeeze the nut and it should collapse in its slot and come out cleanly.

Clean up the slot ready for the new nut, which you will probably have to get cut to the right depth because it wont be straight out the pack.

[deg0ey]

Yay! Thanks for that. The two pots, which is tone and which is volume? Oh and when you say push pull up/down, do you mean a switch, or pot? I'm guessing switch..

The one with the switch portion underneath it is the volume, and the one with the capacitor on it is the tone.

By push/pull, it's the potentiometer shaft that you can press in and pull up...not sure if you've seen one before or not

But when you pull on the knob, it switches to series rather than parallel - and when you press it in, it goes back to your standard wiring :drink:

[_tom_]

Right.. so is the 6 terminal thing actually the bottom of the push/pull pot and not a separate switch, or am I missing something? Sorry, I'm not really very good at interpreting diagrams (I'm surprised I rewired my strat correctly first time!)

[deg0ey]

No, the switchy bit under the pot would actually be attatched to the back of the pot shell - but if I drew it there then the diagram would be all smushed up and unable to be read :drink:

http://www.guitarworlduk.com/shop/prod141.htm that's what one looks like - in case you were wondering :)

[_tom_]

Ahh! Makes sense now I see it! Cheers.

[deg0ey]

They're a bitch to wire though - the connectors are so close together, I ended up wrapping electrical tape around them on mine because I was convinced they'd end up shorting otherwise :lol: