This is an example of an "early" loom for a strat, using a 3 way switch and a larger cap to give simpler switching (no reverse wound middles back in the day!) and a slightly warmer tone.
Wired up, to order, here at Axes Towers in Hull, East Yorkshire, using CTS pots (250k, vintage audio taper) a Cornell Dubillier orange drop capacitor (0.1 @ 100v), an Oak Grigsby 3 way switch, all using 22 AWG vinitage cloth cover wired for the cleanest signal path possible.
And to top it off, its supplied with a top of the range Switchcraft Mono socket (short thread)
All in all, couldn't be easier to install - simply a case of connecting your pickups to the switch, connecting the jack socket, and connecting the spare ground wire to the trem claw to ground out the strings.
Please note, these are not official Fender® parts.
Fender®, Squier®, Stratocaster® and Strat® are registered trademarks of Fender Musical Instruments Corporation and Axesrus® has no affiliation with FMIC
Please note – these assemblies are made to order, and as such, come under the rules and regulations pertaining to custom work in regards of returns.
Worth having a look at the looms in a little more detail - just to see some of the nice points on there, and why we do it the way we do it.
Heres the volume pot - CTS 450 Series, brass shaft, brass threaded collar, and a 24 spline split post, ideal for our UFO knobs. Notice the heat shrink on the input and output terminals? Strictly speaking, its not essential, but it does offer extra protection to the solder joints, against shorting and with a little mechanical strength.
This one, weirdly, causes a little confusion occasionally - the Fender® Stratocaster® comes with 2 tone controls - one handles the neck pickup (the yellow heat shrink) and the other handles the middle (blue heat shrink) - there is no tone control for the bridge pickup. This was actually a consious design choice way back when, and its stuck to the modern day. The idea is, that the bridge pickup should be "unbridled" to give a mroe aggressive tone. Whilst not to everyones taste, because this is a standard loom, we've stuck by that principle.
Officially, the Stratocaster® didn't start coming with a 5 way switch, or pickups that could utilise it properly, until the 70s - prior to this, all pickups were wound in the same direction, and magnetised to the same polarity, so the "inbetween" tones would have been very thin, very wishy washy. Nowadays, we're all used to the 5 way switching, but its worth noting that early strats only ran Bridge, Middle or Neck, and thats exactly what this loom is set up to do.
Switch - Oak Grisby (3 way)
Pots - Short, Split Shaft CTS pots (250k Vintage Audio Taper)
Caps - 0.1 Cornell Dubliner Orange Drops
