Pick up wiring

[Bluesnote]

I cant see the point of Hank going to the bother of connecting the bridge pu with the neck. I tried it in one of my strats once and the end result was it sounding like a Telecaster A guitar which I hate incidentally I think they are way too thin sounding, ok for c&w and the like, but not a instrument with character(ducks down now awaiting the flack from all the tele owers in here)like you get from a Strat or Burns imo

[David Martin]

Maybe not, Hugh. But that's how Hank's Signature guitars are wired... as is the modern Marvin, Legend and my early Marquee too...

[Bluesnote]

That surprises me. Always learning something I guess. You'd think with all the types of amplification and effects nowadays, you'd not need to change the wiring on these instruments. All I know is that I got a lousy sound when I did it to mine. It took away the true Strat sound I thought.
I think it sounds really thin. I suppose we all hear things differently

[David Martin]

That PU combination always reminds me of Bert Weedon!

[bor64]

David, "nothing" surprises me anymore regarding guitarsound diffrentces.....
I have two slabboard strats from 1960 just a couple of months apart and they sound so diffrent...it must be the color the high bell like sounding one is F red and the warm/dark sounding one is a D Blue one the later is just 100 gram heavier and has slightly fatter neck...
Your 40th anniversary Marvin is one of a very early or pre series made, Hank and Bruce just both had two so maybe the one you own was number 5 that was made...maybe the specs are a little different from the later series? Bodiewood etc is maybe closer to wards the more valuable Legend then the later series?
I bought two 40th AHM no 61 and 62 and I gave 61 to a friend,but both sounded more to wards a strat comparing my real Marvin......
Later I bought a GB made Marvin in greenburts just for the color and the correct neckpocket and I was pleasantly surprised how well build it was comparing with the 40th and surten the original 65....
The sound of the greenburst was nearly the same as the 65 only louder.
I understand your wish to own an original,but David it isn't the holly grail either...I think I handle between 25 and 50 original Marvins... at one time 7 in one room they all differ..... bodies where smaller and larger,scrolls,scratsplate ...the lot.
Buildquality was not special.....
3999 GBP ouch I paid 720 GBP in 88 for mine.....
Most are raving about the Apache Burns as top notch,but sorry I don't fancy one...also the Shadows Custom...is not on my list....
I could buy them in a jiffy if I want, but something is holding me back... call me oldfasioned or so but a Marvin should be white or greenburst and a rosewoodboard neck etc....
The 50th Shadstrat you bought, well you know my collection and again something is holding me back on that also...not the price but mostly the one that always must be obeyed ....the power inside said " you have already 9 red guitars"
Not really ...I played Apache (acoustically) on the original 34346 and direct after arriving home I grabbed my aug 58 f red and it didn't feel any diffrent...
I don't know if you listen to my Happy Birthday soundfile (more than 200 downloads, not one comment)you can hear the old girl on the left channel and soundwise it's in the same ballpark....IMHO

Over to you David

[ernie1958]

Hey Rob....boy, you're making me hungry just to come over to your place and go banana's trying out all of your axes!!
Could bring along my '63 L-series Strat and see how that is compared to some of those you have.. Same as you I guess,as I also
have tried loads of Strats but my '63 has got "the balls" if you know what I mean.I'll bet the 50th anniversary Shads Strat is also a great guitar
but imo not worth the 5000 gbp as being just a "player" if you catch my drift.Being it a collectors item so to speak then it would justify the amount
of cash you have to dish out for it...( have to win the lottery if I want one of those... ).
Btw Rob,thnx for filling me in on the answers concerning my attempt to modify my Marquee, which is NOT a bad guitar in my opinion...I've held
worse budget guitars in my hands,believe me!One more thing though Rob...does a Marvin use only one cap or more for the tone circuit?
And what exactly are the values they use for them?

Hartelijk dank Rob,
Ernie

[cockroach]

Hugh,

That is precisely why I fixed my Strat so that I could also get the neck+ bridge combination- because sometimes I needed to use that particular sound- which as David says, was a favourite of Bert- but then I also really like dear old Bert's playing too!!

I also have a Tele style guitar, and as James Burton said, don't forget to use more middle on the amp to beef up the typical thin treble sound.

Generally, when using Fender/single coil type guitars, the thin sound which they seem to produce naturally can be quickly "beefed up" by simply adjusting the amp and guitar tone and volume controls to taste- you can make a Fender sound very like a Gibson in fact, but it is very difficult to do the opposite- unless you have a graphic equaliser handy, built into the amp, or an outboard effect...years ago, by using some extreme settings, I once was able to make a mate's Gibson Les Paul Custom (which he kindly let me use) sound just like a Strat, when played through the amp I had back then, which had an active graphic EQ unit built into the amp....

[Bluesnote]

John.
I first heard of the wiring conversion in the mid-eighties from a guitar repair book I have. I just thought it took me way too far from the natural Strat sound that we all know and love, it also ruins the wide choices you have for sound changes I think. I cant for the life of me think of the recordings that Hank uses it for Maybe I've been to long away from this music now and somewhat out of touch. As to the Gibson sound, I put in a split coil humbucker(Seymour) on the bridge when I played in the eighties and it sounded just like one of the Gibson models when I used the double coil switch, it sounded really beefy, and the single coil clear as a bell The eighties songs needed quite a lot of different sounds for all the weird and wonderful hits of the time. We had a couple of resident gigs that required learning a couple of chart numbers a week, so I needed the modification as I only had one guitar at the time. Ahh, poverty eh?

[ernie1958]

John and Hugh...listen to 36-24-36 from the Shads...then you'll hear the typical "neck/bridge" pickup combination and sound of course.
I've tried that with my Strat and imo it's "spot-on" ....

[David Martin]

Sorry Ernie, but 36-24-36 is a middle pickup tune... no mods on Hank's early Strats.