Yet another budget guitar option

[Ian B]

Good effort, I'll be interested to find out what you make of the single coil sized ones. Mine only took a week to arrive as well, and were marked as worth $9, so they weren't taxed at all, although I don't know if they would be at the full price. Even then, it would only be a fiver or so.

It's fairly easy to do all the electrics. If the wiring diagram isn't good enough for you then check out the ones on the seymour duncan site, It think GFS use the same colour co-ordination, and there are loads of different combos to choose from.

Hi Hanglow,
Yeah, I'm muchly looking forward to getting these

I'm sorely tempted to fit a coil tap for the Lil Killers, and that'll be the main problem for me. I could probably muddle my way thro' fitting the new pups and pots, but including a coil tap as well maybe stretching my ability a bit too far I can't decide whether to get a push/pull pot, or a seperate switch. I'm a bit stuck for room for a seperate switch, it'd fit between the volume and tone pot, but If I did it, I'd only have the one chance to get it right.

[Hanglow]

I'd go with the push pull in that case if there are only two knobs.

I modified my strat copy to have a master TBX tone control instead of separate ones and in the other hole put a switch for bypassing the tone control completely to get a touch more high end and output. In hindsight I would have used it for a coil tap switch and had a master no load tone control instead, I just didn't think it through. I could change it easy enough but can't be bothered at the moment, too busy making up effects to bother working on the guitar

[Ian B]

I'd go with the push pull in that case if there are only two knobs.

I modified my strat copy to have a master TBX tone control instead of separate ones and in the other hole put a switch for bypassing the tone control completely to get a touch more high end and output. In hindsight I would have used it for a coil tap switch and had a master no load tone control instead, I just didn't think it through. I could change it easy enough but can't be bothered at the moment, too busy making up effects to bother working on the guitar

Like I say, I'm tempted to 'try' and fit a coil tap, but I'm wanting to get away from the stock single coils, so I'm still undecided I'll probably end up fitting them as humbuckers

[Hanglow]

Probably a good thing if you are anything like me, the more knobs and switches there are to tweak the less time I spend actually doing something constructive

[tonalaxis]

Found this http://www.dvguitars.com/invt/25064/

Anybody got a Stagg guitar?? They look pretty good for a basic cheap guitar.

[Ian B]

I've settled on just a humbucker setup, I'll be ordering the pots/capacitors/5 way switch, later today. I had a coil tap on a Cort M400 (?) some time back and I barely used it if memory serves, so I reckon I'll be able to live without it on this guitar.

Probably a good thing if you are anything like me, the more knobs and switches there are to tweak the less time I spend actually doing something constructive

@tonalaxis,
I've never seen/played a Stagg guitar, but the majority of reviews I've seen have been positive.

[tonalaxis]

I've ordered a basic strat type Stagg, and as I'm a complete novice any tips or guides around for setting up a guitar for a decent sound?? I've also ordered some Ernie Ball strings to replace the factory supplied ones.

Cheers

[Hanglow]

You will probably want to adjust the action, by using an allen key to raise/lower the height of the strings at the bridge.

Check for excessive fret buzz after that, if there is you may need to mess with the truss rod - make sure you read up on this, although its easy you can still do damage to the guitar if you over do it. might be best to get someone who knows what they are doing for this. A lot of guitars even cheap ones don't really need truss rod adjustment.

check for correct intonation and adjust the saddles for this. easy to do.

Then play it loads and decide if its a keeper - if it is, wait for Iain B's assessment of the GFS single coil size pickups from GFS Purchase similar if necessary.

[Ian B]

I've ordered a basic strat type Stagg, and as I'm a complete novice any tips or guides around for setting up a guitar for a decent sound?? I've also ordered some Ernie Ball strings to replace the factory supplied ones.

Cheers

Ditto Hanglows advice, just bear in mind the electrics on budget guitars are usually the weakest point. If the overall build quality is good enough, upgrading the pups/pots/etc, isn't really that expensive and can make a world of difference. The only catch with doing this is, you'll never get your money back if you upgrade then decide to sell this guitar later.

I've never knowingly heard GFS pups before, but the prices are amazing, I'll be reporting back once mine arrive and I get round to fitting them.

@Hanglow,
I couldn't resist in the end, I went for a push pull tone pot, so I'll be using a coil tap. It'll be nice to have the choice even if I seldom use it.

[Ian B]

Well, everything arrived earlier today, pups, pot's, etc, and the pups look stunning

That's the good news, I've just been looking at the Seymour Duncan schematics, and I'm now more than I was to start with. In essence, these are three humbuckers, tho' the two Lil Killers are single coil size, and I'm fecked if I can find the relevant wiring diagram. I thought it would be relatively simple, especially as I'll be starting from scratch with new pups, pots (push pull tone pot) capacitor, 5 way selector and jack socket, but the more I look at this, the more I'm getting.

I'm used to changing one pup at a time, but that's simply a matter of wiring the new where the old went, I've never attempted a 100% 'clean' setup before. Any tips would be muchly appreciated, else I'll end up paying thro' the nose having it done for me.

[Hanglow]

I would just use this diagram and have the middle lil killer as a normal humbucker(no coil tap)

http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/sc ... hpull.html





edited for clarity.

[Hanglow]

Yeah looking at your guitar (in the first post), I would keep the centre pup as a normal humbucker, then wire the other lil killer and the bigmouth as coil tapable. You will still have 9 different pickup combinations then, and they should sound quite different. Or you could wire both lil killers as coil tapable. Depends on where you want the single coil sounds

you could coil tap all three but you would need a 3PDT switch (or a different toggle switch) instead of the DPDT one that I imagine you will have.

[tonalaxis]

I got my stagg Strat copy on Monday and for a cheap guitar it aint half bad!!:)
Nice tone to it, and comfortable for me to learn with. Not bad for £65

[Ian B]

Hi Hanglow,
I d/l a few of the Seymour Duncan wiring pdf's earler, inc the one you linked to. I don't know if this will make any difference or not, but the push pull I bought was recommended for tone pot use. The coil tap in the SD schematic is on the volume pot isn't it?

My idea was to just have the neck pup coil tapped, but thinking about it, as they are 6K neck and 10K middle, having both Lil Killers tapped makes more sense (but not enough for me to know how to set about doing it ) There's no desperate rush to get it done, if I take my time I'm more likely to do it right first time (he said hopefully) The GFS wiring diagrams leave a lot to be desired imo, they're basic at best.

Yeah looking at your guitar (in the first post), I would keep the centre pup as a normal humbucker, then wire the other lil killer and the bigmouth as coil tapable. You will still have 9 different pickup combinations then, and they should sound quite different. Or you could wire both lil killers as coil tapable. Depends on where you want the single coil sounds

you could coil tap all three but you would need a 3PDT switch (or a different toggle switch) instead of the DPDT one that I imagine you will have.

got my stagg Strat copy on Monday and for a cheap guitar it aint half bad!!
Nice tone to it, and comfortable for me to learn with. Not bad for £65

Nice one Just goes to prove you can get a decent guitar for peanuts these day's.

[Hanglow]

Hi Hanglow,
I d/l a few of the Seymour Duncan wiring pdf's earler, inc the one you linked to. I don't know if this will make any difference or not, but the push pull I bought was recommended for tone pot use. The coil tap in the SD schematic is on the volume pot isn't it?

My idea was to just have the neck pup coil tapped, but thinking about it, as they are 6K neck and 10K middle, having both Lil Killers tapped makes more sense (but not enough for me to know how to set about doing it ) There's no desperate rush to get it done, if I take my time I'm more likely to do it right first time (he said hopefully) The GFS wiring diagrams leave a lot to be desired imo, they're basic at best.

No it won't make any difference, the switch part is independent of the pot. So if you were to change that diagram, all you have to do is transfer the switch part (the block of six pins with the red and white wires attached) to the tone pot. It won't affect any other wiring.

It should be easy enough to work out from that diagram what goes where. Just view each pup independently- start with the neck pickup and wire that one up first. I've had a look at another couple of wiring diagrams but they aren't any clearer for what you have in mind.