I've done a great many mods to my Strat. Two of my favorites are going to a single humbucker in the Bridge location, and re-radiusing the "frets" to test if I want/need to re-radius the fretboard from 7.25 to 9.5 inches. To my surprise, re-radiusing the just the frets actually worked! YMMV I couldn't stand the hum and noise from the original Strat single coil pickups, so changed those to Kinman Noiseless pickups. Over time, I discovered that I usually prefer humbuckers, so I have Swapable Pickguards/Scrathplates set up with different pickups types, etc. when I want something different. I haven't tried a "Dummy Coil" yet with the single coil pickups, but am curious how well that actually works.
@ishancooper8 ай бұрын
Prob this one! I’ve been using it for years! Still have 2 prototypes!
@steveeckert83968 ай бұрын
I've got a '90 Strat that came with noiseless pups. I wanted the the classic bell sound. Replacing the pups got me some of the way there. I was shocked when the installed a Callaham bell steel trem bock WOW it really does ring like a bell now.
@tmartin67178 ай бұрын
I'm a great fan of Kinman pickups. They are quieter than a DGT humbucker, (not split), yet the best sounding strat pickups that I've heard. I even replaced the pickups in my vintage 65 strat. (yes, I saved the old pickups and pickguard).
@LeonTodd8 ай бұрын
I really need to try some Kinman strat pickups. Chris is an Aussie legend! @@tmartin6717
@mattyh21808 ай бұрын
$250 for an induction loop / Faraday grounding circuit with some heat shrink around it is pretty steep.
@iridios61274 ай бұрын
You can't put pups in the shield - they will stop working.
@peterharvin27758 ай бұрын
This is just great. I usually try to tame mine with a gate, but you know what happens there-- you just lose so much. Thx for the introduction (and the intro lol).
@LeonTodd8 ай бұрын
My pleasure mate!
@cs838 ай бұрын
The green sticker was from the QC process back then, basically just to verify the body had been cleared to use in an assembled guitar
@LeonTodd8 ай бұрын
Cool to know!
@zaphodrahja8 ай бұрын
Yeah they looked at the neck pocket and went, "all good" 😄
@murrayguitarpickups95458 ай бұрын
I'm a bit embarrassed to admit ive never heard of such a product and its blown my mind, will definitely be researching this one. Thanks Leon
@matrix12x8 ай бұрын
that looks awesome. I wonder if they are putting a coil (of similar impedance) in opposite polarity to the main coils between the coils ground and chassis ground. so that it causes a cancellation of the noise, kind of like a humbucker (kind of). Kudos to these guys for developing this thing.
@Livelaughlimpbizkit7 ай бұрын
I'm pretty sure that's exactly what they're doing
@hanovergreen40918 ай бұрын
7:30 for some most excellent SNARLishisness tones. Interesting concept. Good of you to give them a bump! Thanks for everything in 2023 and Best Regards and Best Wishes for 2024!
@LeonTodd8 ай бұрын
My pleasure!
@S69Classic8 ай бұрын
Thank God for Dave Ulbrick for inventing little gadgets like this to solve the single coil hum, his amps are beasts too. I love the big CBS Strat headstocks, but the 70's quality control went out the window. Not only sloppy neck pockets but also the body contours got smaller and smaller. I agree with you Leon its criminal for what 70's Strats and Teles are going for.
@LeonTodd8 ай бұрын
Yeah for the money they go for now you may as well try score a used Suhr or Anderson
@S69Classic8 ай бұрын
That's exactly what I did 13 years ago and design my Suhr Classic. It took about 10 months to get it and its the best guitar I've owned and haven't change a thing on it. My only regret is I didn't get the stainless steel frets which was only $100 upgrade. The only other Strat I own is a 95 USA 62 reissue that I've poured money into like most of us (3 sets of pickups that sounded awful so the original ones went back in). Now all I have to do to that guitar now is get a Ulbrick NRS system.@@LeonTodd
@zaphodrahja8 ай бұрын
Not only is your playing killer, you have some of the best stank face in the business 🤘🤘
@LeonTodd8 ай бұрын
😁
@hoosierdaddy23088 ай бұрын
Oh man. I saw this and am drinking my first cup of coffee. I love all your axes, but there's just something special about that guitar brother.. What a great idea. I've always hated the hum with singles, but love their time. So I used single coil EMGs.. What a great product man and what a great idea. Love the stainless frets and all the stuff you did to that thing. Very cool man.. You must have a great luthier. I have to travel a couple hours to find one . Is that a 3 screw plate in the back or did you convert it to 4? I've probably already asked, but can't remember in my old age, but have you gigged it? and if so do you have to setup your FM3 to work with it versus the Humbuckers guitars? Love this product and great review sir. The difference is amazing if you ask me. Good video my friend. Thank you for showing this product. I have to have one.. so when I'm healed up I can put my custom strat together with stainless Xtra jumbo frets and maybe dump the active humbuckers for some singles! Very cool . Have a great weekend brother. Any gigs this weekend? ❤❤
@LeonTodd8 ай бұрын
Still rocking the 3 bolts!
@hoosierdaddy23088 ай бұрын
@@LeonTodd Cool brother. I love that axe. It's perfect. The green strat your father and you built is awesome too!
@Cherry_Sunburst8 ай бұрын
EXCELLENT...What a good sound!
@heavybrett-al40828 ай бұрын
What you call character marks...I call love bites 🤣 your 77 Strat oodles personality, watching you shred that beauty, is what convinced me to buy mine this year.
@LeonTodd8 ай бұрын
I like that!
@jasondorsey71108 ай бұрын
@@LeonToddI have a '70 gibson melody maker bass that was originally "sparkling burgundy"...now it's a copper color, but under the pickguard it's still red
@Studio22mix8 ай бұрын
I really like these video's Leon, great how you show us how to diy that stuff. I'm not a regular viewer but I watched some great video's from you past year. Keep that great content coming and I wish you great holidays and an awesome year ahead, and everybody that read this of course. Have fun making great music, I'm hoping to do a lot of mixing, greetings from the Netherlands 😀
@LeonTodd8 ай бұрын
Glad you enjoy it mate, I appreciate that!
@Livelaughlimpbizkit7 ай бұрын
I had one of these In my old Strat which had RWRP middle pickup. It was great in bridge and neck but noisy still in the other 3. I now have another Strat with a non RWRP middle pickup so I've just ordered another one of these. The only thing is how fragile the wires on the loop are. My first one came with the wires hanging off and had to exchange
@Mojojojoe6 ай бұрын
Hey man, I'm having the same issue where it's not cancelling out noise in position 2,3,4. Did you manage to find out why?
@rutger41317 ай бұрын
Somewhat unintentionally, the fact that strats are so moddable may be one of Leo Fender's most important contributions to guitarkind.
@LeonTodd7 ай бұрын
That's a pretty good point. So much room to customise them!
@rutger41317 ай бұрын
@@LeonTodd there's a plethora of other companies that can exist just because of this
@liys5407 ай бұрын
yngwie gonna love this
@nathancourtney20068 ай бұрын
Always enjoy your sharing your vast knowledge. Thank you
@LeonTodd8 ай бұрын
My pleasure!
@heavymetal93308 ай бұрын
Thanx dude.
@BigMateo248 ай бұрын
I was seriously looking into one of these systems for a Strat project I just finished, but ultimately decided that it's just too expensive for what it is, which is essentially just a dummy coil. I can't live with 60 cycle hum, if this was a high dollar strat yeah I probably wouldn't mind spending the dough but for a low budget beater it just didn't make sense. I ended up settling for a set of Mojotone quiet coils and a humbucker in the bridge. I could probably make a dummy coil for free out of some old spare pickups, but I wanted to try these out first. They claim to be built with all the vintage materials and specs, just with the dummy coil already wired into the pickups.
@Killerburstguitars8 ай бұрын
That neck pocket shape was typical for about 30 years, at least into the early 2000s. Google Mickey Mouse Fender Neck Pocket.
@aminahmed22208 ай бұрын
Absolutely fantastic video have a good weekend leon ❤😊
@LeonTodd8 ай бұрын
You too!
@aminahmed22208 ай бұрын
Absolutely fantastic
@curlzwalk8 ай бұрын
Very nice LT!
@harleyhexxe98068 ай бұрын
One of the best gear demos you've done Leon! I certainly could use at least six of these in some of my best sounding Strats. They aren't cheap though, and I'm wondering how much shipping to the USA would be. Probably as much as one of these NRS units I'm guessing.
@LeonTodd8 ай бұрын
Thanks my man! US dollar is pretty good at the moment against the Aus dollar atm which helps I guess.
@harleyhexxe98068 ай бұрын
@@LeonTodd I think the US dollar isn't too far off from the Aus dollar, but that still comes out to close to $600 each. I do like what it did to your Strat though. It still retains all the character of what a Strat should sound like, and sounded absolutely delicious with the high gain settings. I'm looking into another possible solution that would cost me around the same amount here. When I get it and install it in one of my Strats, I'll let you know about it.
@LeonTodd8 ай бұрын
@@harleyhexxe9806 they're pretty small so I can't imagine shipping is that much. Current exchange rate makes them about $160USD
@davidmultimedia20245 ай бұрын
Thanks for this awesome demo Leon! Do you know if it's possible to install one of these systems in an Ibanez MM1 (Martin Miller's AZ), which has a HH config. I replaced the original SD pickups with a set of BKP Silo and REALLY LOVE the split tones I get with these awesome pickups! Although, I'd really like to get rid of the noise as much as possible, especially since I'm a studio artist. Thanks!
@GuitarGears45448 ай бұрын
Having heard that guitar many many times, it seemed a bit darker in this video. Of course, there are a million possible reasons for that, but was that an outcome of this noise reduction system? And by the way, what an amazing noise reduction effect, all the way down to humbucker levels. Have you ever tried Lace Sensors, or the recent "Noiseless" Fender pickups?
@chris.bradshaw8 ай бұрын
If you want to go full belt and braces noise reduction you can twist wires together and shield cavities and pick guards with copper tape.
2 ай бұрын
Amazing demo Leon! I am considering buying this system over the Ilitch one because this one is cheaper. Have you ever compared the Ilitch and Ulbrick?
@LeonTodd2 ай бұрын
Not tried the illitch unfortunately
@NickGranville8 ай бұрын
Very cool mate
@LeonTodd8 ай бұрын
Elegant little solution for the old strat isn't it?
@Tvaroh8 ай бұрын
What's the wah in the play out? I love it! Idiomatic Satchy juice. :)
@MarkRigler8 ай бұрын
Sorry got bored waiting for the adverts to stop so missed your video
@jackmeginniss63278 ай бұрын
Leon, your playing and tone at the beginning of the video sounded fantastic! What were you running your strat through please? Something available on the Axe FX III hopefully? Thanks
@LeonTodd8 ай бұрын
Yep. Carr Ambler model into an ev12 cab IR, wah and griddle cake drive up front with some tape delay and gold plate reverb
@MeTuLHeD8 ай бұрын
Cool gizmo!
@michael_caz_nyc2 ай бұрын
How does this compare to the Ilitch-system or Suhr-system ? I hesitate because ( even 3% Tonal change is unacceptable ) for me. Any Input is appreciated.
@johnoakleymusic8 ай бұрын
What were the intro and outro effects chain please and what were you using as the sound was epic?!
@LeonTodd8 ай бұрын
Using the USA Mark IV model in my Axe-Fx with some pitch detune and delay
@smoker00818 ай бұрын
Hi Leon, what do you think about SS- Frets? What are the biggest differences between nickel- frets? Do you change your guitar- strings with the SS- Frets more often, than with nickel- frets?
@LeonTodd8 ай бұрын
I love them. DR pure blues on this guitar and they seem to last a decent amount of time
@michaelmarchei85398 ай бұрын
Basically all strays are flawed in multiple different ways just the way Leo intended. . I like the sound of the bridge PUP there which mostly is useless in most strats Cool mod tho I’ve never heard of it. Just needs a sustainer now 🙏🙏
@peterschaefer16658 ай бұрын
Wow eh. That really works!
@robertclarkguitar8 ай бұрын
I would visit a haunted island alone for a year for that guitar. Lol😅
@robertclarkguitar8 ай бұрын
Why? It's got that cool unique completely even over cut neck joint. Lol
@markwood33898 ай бұрын
Why do you have so many ADA MP-1s? Just curious.
@LeonTodd8 ай бұрын
One original, one modded, one backup.
@rtbmusic11358 ай бұрын
I can’t help but think it would have been easirt to just buy a Suhr or lightly reliced butique strat of some sort. I mean the only thing left now from the original strat is the wood and crappy neck joint 😂
@LeonTodd8 ай бұрын
Buying one now, definitely. These used to be 800 bucks any day of the week when I started playing though
@rtbmusic11358 ай бұрын
@LeonTodd you know I'm just messing with you, it's a cool strat 😊
@Noscrap9098 ай бұрын
Neck joint won’t hurt a thing. No matter how tight you make the pocket radius it will never be a perfect fit.
@tonyevans99997 ай бұрын
yes, but too loose is too loose .... erm too
@tonyevans99997 ай бұрын
But man, the buzz IS my tone
@liys5407 ай бұрын
what about p90 ?
@LeonTodd7 ай бұрын
Pretty sure they do a P90 version too
@harleyhexxe98068 ай бұрын
Yes, the mid to late 70's Strats are considered to be the worst quality years of all time, with 1979 being the worst of all. CBS was more interested in profits at the time and demanded more production every year. Building a premium quality guitar is simply something that can't be rushed, especially since there were no such things as CNC machines back then. They tried to change that in 1980 when they brought in Dan Smith. The quality got better, but the profits weren't good enough, so CBS decided to put the company up for sale after a couple of years.
@robertparkans8 ай бұрын
Heh - I have a '79 - supposedly rare-ish Transparent Red finish. It was my 1st 'good' guitar. It's gotta be the toughest one to play that I have. The neck is the size of a #2 pencil, with those tiny frets. It now has a narrow width trem since I needed to replace the original one. FWIW, it sounds OK though.
@harleyhexxe98068 ай бұрын
@@robertparkans It sounds like you got the Asian, or Mexican bridge. You can still get the correct sized one for the USA Strats though. One of the places I'm looking at is Callahams hardware out of Virginia, since I need a replacement for my 1983 '57 reissue. Killer Guitar Components is another place, in case you might consider changing it.
@robertparkans8 ай бұрын
I have the narrow trem because the string spacing with the standard width has the high and low E's at the edge of the fretboard 😦 I think it's a Callaham
@EchotonesMusic8 ай бұрын
Nice system , but 250$ , too much expensive .
@manaras8 ай бұрын
250$ that’s ridicolous… hope you did not pay for that