This was my first six string guitar...my parents purchased for me in 1980's, brand new. I believe it was made in Japan, but information on these guitars is not definitive. The string spacing is more narrow than that of even vintage Fender Stratocaster, so parts are not interchangeable in this situation. Replacing single coil pickup with humbucker does not leave many options. To use Fender size pickups, one would need to widen cutouts in pickguard...not what I would like. (A Fender pickguard will not fit.) Memphis factory pickup housings could be utilized to produce new single coil pickups, and this may be an expensive option to pursue in future. However, I have found these cheap Musiclily hot rails humbuckers that may be "forced" into Memphis pickup opening. The spool plastic is flexible enough to bend and pop into place! They are very high output, as well, so volume knob must be utilized for clean sound.
BEST upgrade, as with all guitars from my opinion, is installation of locking tuners. Some will argue value of locking tuners, but in fact I must say they will greatly improve tuning stability...even compared to "locking" style of wrapping strings on posts. Even on guitar with Floyd Rose locking nut, ease of changing strings is worth upgrade to locking tuners, from my perspective. Hipshot products are among best, and their locking tuners are excellent. In this case, I chose Hipshot vintage style 8.5mm posts, to get closest to very small diameter mounting holes on Memphis...which still needed to be widened a small amount.
Since I had headstock disassembled, I went ahead and replaced old metal string trees with Graph Tech TusqXL trees. I believe these provide a more solid force upon strings, and a worthwhile upgrade for small price.
Existing wiring was not original; I have previously installed a cheap pre-wired harness to repair failed pots. In this video, I again replace with a new cheap pre-wired harness. These cheap harnesses are made with small components that fit into the Memphis cavity, and entire cost is less than cost of one single CTS pot. I also installed some chrome knobs...simply because I had some laying around, and these type are easier for me to use than strat style.
Thank you for watching this video, and please comment with questions or helpful tips for everyone. Subscribe to see guitar building and modification videos in future!
Parts list:
4pcs Silver Metal Dome Tone Knob for Electric Guitar Bass Parts
Musiclily Dual Hot Rail Blaster Humbucker Humbucking Pickups
Graph Tech TUSQ XL Sleek String Trees model PQL-7004-00
J.B Weld 8237 2 oz. PlasticWeld Plastic Repair Epoxy Putty
Hipshot Vintage 8.5mm Chrome Staggered Enclosed Grip-lock Tuner UMP Upgrade Kit
Prewired Guitar Wiring Harness Electronics Kit, 2T1V 500K Pots Control Knobs 5-Way Switch with Jack for Strat Style Guitar Replacements, Cream Cap
Total Material Cost: $130.64
