Upgrading my cheap crappy Fender Black Label Strat

Chubbles

Chubbles

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This is my 90s Fender Black Label strat: Artic white, maple neck.
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(Sorry, upside down)

I bought it in the 90s. I was even more stupid than I am now. I liked the neck and body (still do), but the rest was crappy. I replaced the bridge wiih a mexican standard (bent steel saddles), I installed American string trees, and installed a Fender "F" neck plate. Recently, the switch died. I opened it up and found the following...
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a box switch, mini pots, and some of the connections are a metal rod with a plastic straw for insulation.

I swapped out the electronics: Dimarzio custom tapers 250k, a standard type Fender switch, and added poly caps I had. I also got a 3 ply pickguard. I wired the electronics and added a jumper to add tone control for the bridge pickup (the middle tone also controls the bridge). The pickups sounded hollow, so I installed a set of Fender Tex Mex pickups.
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I like it a lot better now. I put more money than I should have for such a cheap guitar. But it plays good and sounds a lot better. I also added some shielding. It's very quiet. I done with this one. The tuners are original, no problems yet. I put Fender locking tuners in every other strat I have. I did nothing fancy, and nothing hard. It was fun working with this one.
 
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Nice work. I never compare the amount I put into it with the purchase price. I think a better indicator is what it has become as compared to what something like that would cost.
 
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Me too. It was my first strat. It reminded me of Jimi's at Woodstock.
 
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Almost forgot, I lowered the pole pieces for the D and G string. I read that it helps cut some of the treble. I put each pickup in my palm and pressed with a popsicle stick. It pushed out some wax. I think it holds the piles in. I dripped some melted wax on the bittom of both poles. The pickups are not wax potted.
 
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The Tele you see in my avitar has the Tex Mex Tele pups in it and i actually like them.Now this Tele is a bone stock 2015 Fender Road Worn series.
 
It seems most people either love then or hate them. I really like them. Mine seemed Straty with more output, just what I was looking for!
 
well thats what Fender specs say there a tad hotter than normal but compered to my other Tele clone it has Fralin Broadcaster pickups in it they are mellower.I really like them both
 
I had a '95 black logo CAR MIM Fender Strat. I got it in a trade ($160 trade value). It had a nice body and an awesome neck! The trap tuners were crap and the bridge/trem was cheap and oxidized. I installed vintage Gotoh tuners and a big block Fender bridge. The electronics in it were acceptable. I ended up selling it in December for $300 after I got a '05 MIM Strat.
 
Sounds just like mine, except for the tuners. If I have any trouble, I'll rip them out.
 
jjudas got me thinking (hey, gotta blame someone) about the tuners. I got a set of Fender Vintage Style tuners. They'll fit the hole size. If I enlarge the holes, the wood's gonna split (too old). It'll be my first vintage style tuners
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