TommyK Posted March 21, 2010 Share Posted March 21, 2010 Okay,,, I took my used-to-be-my-son-in-law's-Squire-strat-now-it's-my-Squire-strat for it's first plugged in for me foray this week-end. I plugged it into my sister's cast-off Crate amp she used for keyboarding. I mean this is a gas to play, I was just hoping for more variety of tone, that's all. Eventually this will probably land back in the hands of my grandson, but for not it's works until the LesPaul can be afforded. The volume, high, mid, low knobs work on the amp. The volume knob on the strat works. The tone knobs don't seem to do much of anything to the tone. What am I doing wrong? Bad tone pots? bad set-up? bad player? The amp has a low hum .. or maybe hiss ... without the guitar plugged in. Is this normal? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murph Posted March 21, 2010 Share Posted March 21, 2010 Tone knobs don't work on Strats, because Strats don't have any tone...... Bwahahahahahaha. (it's true, I had one.....) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brundaddy Posted March 21, 2010 Share Posted March 21, 2010 When you say the amp hums 'without the guitar plugged in' do you mean that the cable is plugged into the amp on one end but not the guitar on the other, or do you mean the amp hums without a cable plugged in? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted March 21, 2010 Share Posted March 21, 2010 The two tone pots are for the front and middle pickups only; the bridge pickup has no tone control, it's wide open. Maybe you only tried tweaking it when using the back pickup? Disclaimer: This is how Fender traditionally did their Strats. I'm sure there are exceptions. I lost track of Fender variations about 20 years ago. I think their goal is to make a unique variation for every citizen of the United States and they will lie about where they're made the whole time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S t e v e Posted March 21, 2010 Share Posted March 21, 2010 Tone knobs don't work on Strats' date=' because Strats don't have any tone...... Bwahahahahahaha. (it's true, I had one.....)[/quote'] :-k [YOUTUBE] [/YOUTUBE] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deepblue Posted March 21, 2010 Share Posted March 21, 2010 Tone knobs don't work on Strats, because Strats don't have any tone...... I find single coils are much less forgiving than humbuckers. More of your touch comes out with a Strat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted March 21, 2010 Share Posted March 21, 2010 The two tone pots are for the front and middle pickups only; the bridge pickup has no tone control' date=' it's wide open. Maybe you only tried tweaking it when using the back pickup?[/b'] Disclaimer: This is how Fender traditionally did their Strats. I'm sure there are exceptions. I lost track of Fender variations about 20 years ago. I think their goal is to make a unique variation for every citizen of the United States and they will lie about where they're made the whole time. You beat me to it, KS...I had my Strat rewired, so the bottom tone control works on the bridge pickup, and the other one, works for the middle and neck pickups. Sure is NICE, to be able to cut back that "ice pick" like treble, on the bridge pickup, now. Made a Big difference! CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackie Posted March 21, 2010 Share Posted March 21, 2010 ............Strats don't have bridge tone controls...?........I did not know that........hmmm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyK Posted March 22, 2010 Author Share Posted March 22, 2010 It's got two rows of pick ups, the ones that have silver dots under each string. Two rows butted up against each other at the bridge. There is a another single row about where the sound hole would be if'n it had a sound hole then another one up towards to neck that is mounted in an askew fashion. The selector switch has 5 positions. I'm not sure where I had this switch positioned when I tested the two tone pots. I'll have to double check when I play it again. The amp hums with nothing plugged in at all, just 'on'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artie Owl Posted March 22, 2010 Share Posted March 22, 2010 Often times hissing or humming in the background is ambient interference bouncing off the pickups from other electronics/ radio waves. Best bet is to play somewhere without lots of plugged in electronics and see if that helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted March 22, 2010 Share Posted March 22, 2010 It's got two rows of pick ups' date=' the ones that have silver dots under each string. Two rows butted up against each other at the bridge. There is a another single row about where the sound hole would be if'n it had a sound hole then another one up towards to neck that is mounted in an askew fashion.[/b'] The selector switch has 5 positions. I'm not sure where I had this switch positioned when I tested the two tone pots. I'll have to double check when I play it again. The amp hums with nothing plugged in at all, just 'on'. Sounds like a "Fat Strat" with a "humbucker" in the bridge position. If that's the case, the guitar shouldn't "hum" in the bridge positon. It may, in the middle and neck position, as those are single coils, and they will pick up 60 cycle hum/noise. Not sure, about how "Fat Strats" are wired, to the tone controls, but I assume it's in the standard version, where the birdge pickup has no tone control, and the middle and neck, do. Easy to fix that, though. Any good guitar repair service can do it, for a minimal charge. Or, if you're good with a soldering iron, and reading schematics, you could do it, as well? CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cwness Posted March 22, 2010 Share Posted March 22, 2010 The amp hums with nothing plugged in at all' date=' just 'on'.[/quote'] If it hums without anything plugged in, it's the amp. Try the guitar in another amp and see what it does. Take the amp in to be checked. CW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyK Posted March 22, 2010 Author Share Posted March 22, 2010 I only gots the one amp. But, I'll take her in for a set-up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tulsaslim Posted March 22, 2010 Share Posted March 22, 2010 The two tone pots are for the front and middle pickups only; the bridge pickup has no tone control' date=' it's wide open. Maybe you only tried tweaking it when using the back pickup? Disclaimer: This is how Fender traditionally did their Strats. I'm sure there are exceptions. I lost track of Fender variations about 20 years ago. I think their goal is to make a unique variation for every citizen of the United States and they will lie about where they're made the whole time.[/quote'] Kinda like trying to figure out the neck profile on any Fender. They've had so many different one's that I don't think even they know how many and what guitars they put them on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted March 22, 2010 Share Posted March 22, 2010 As to the hum, I have to back up and get real basic. 1. Does the amp have a 3 prong power cord (with ground)? 2. If so, are your outlets grounded? Or maybe the ground pin was snapped off and/or you're using an adaptor on an old 2 hole outlet? 3. Is there a ground switch on the amp? This reverses polarity and can make it much quieter in the right position. 4. When you say it hums with noting plugged in, does that include "just" the cord? That will make a hellacious hum. As to the 5 way switch, here's the 'typical' layout. Position 1 (switch flipped towards the neck) - front pickup only. Position 2 - front and middle pickups together (gives that 80s Nashville goinky Strat sound) Position 3 - middle pickup only (I never use this, it's kinda blehh.) Position 4 - middle and rear pickups together (See position 2 but even more goinky) Position 5 - back pickup only. On a traditional Strat this would be like the solo in 'Peggy Sue'. With yours (humbucking pickup) the tone will be a lot beefier with some good growl to it. Tulsaslim, I've long ago forgotten how to guess at neck profiles. I've had Fenders from every decade and they're all over the place. Wanna talk a weird Fender profile? The '83 Strats, the ones with two pots, no football plate, and a drop in tremolo, had a 1-3/4" nut width. I know Californiaman has one, not sure if his has that neck width. By contrast I have a very early '83 Strat which is a little bit odd, kinda a transition model: http://www.angelfire.com/me4/ksdaddy/83strat.html The neck is pretty much normal slender Strat width but has a very low profile. I can't see how it has room for the truss rod channel or be stable, but it's rock solid. Must just be a good piece of maple. I love/hate Strats. I never use mine and I've had way more than my quota but it's a necessity in any guitar harem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyK Posted March 23, 2010 Author Share Posted March 23, 2010 3 prong plug, 3 prong outlet (house built in 1993), so I'm sure the ground is good. I can make it hum louder with the patch cord plugged into the amp, then shorting across the sleeve and pin with my finger at the other end. With no cord plugged into the amp at all, it hums. Maybe I'll open her up and make sure the ground wire is solidly attached on the inside. Maybe better get a VOM and check the power cord itself. My sis said there was a 'short' in it (the amp) somewhere. Back before her first child was born, she replaced the amp with a new one rather than have it fixed. It's been stored in her basement ever since. Her eldest son is now in college. While trying all cords, inputs and settings the only thing close to a 'short' was an intermittent signal loss at the guitar socket. It appeared not to be broken or loose wiring in the cable but a looseness or possibly oxidation inside the socket itself. Reversing the cable's ends mitigated the crackle, but didn't eliminate it all together. I suspect it needs a cleaned / new socket. But the amp seems okay.. so far, except the hum. The pots on the amp had oxidation in them, but 15 or so lock to lock rotations on all the pots cleaned them right up. I had a music theory class last night, so I didn't even touch the Strat last night. I'll do some investigating tonight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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