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Thread: My latest project... FrankenStrat lives!

  1. #1
    Forum Member mmcquain's Avatar
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    My latest project... FrankenStrat lives!

    A while back I picked up a cheap Squier ProTone series Strat - one of the old blue ones that had turned a dark green over the years. For those of you who don't know about the ProTone series you should check them out if you're looking for a nice guitar at a decent price. They were only made for a couple of years (96-97 I think) in Korea and they used hardware similar to what was coming on the MIM and some MIA Strats at the time. They were so nice that Fender finally shut down the line as it was cutting into sales of the higher end Fender-branded models at the time. In the past I've owned a couple of these ProTone Strats and a Thinline Tele, and all have were great guitars.

    Anyway, this latest latest one was a little dinged up on the headstock and body but was otherwise a good guitar. I did pull the pickups as I just prefer the Vintage Noiseless (I had hum from single coils) and have used those pickups in all the Strats I've owned over the years.

    I also decided to replace the pots with CTS 500K and put a new switch in. I found a couple of old (circa 1970s) ceramic caps (473) in my parts box and used those on the tone controls. I wired the first tone knob (next to the volume knob) for the bridge pickup only. The other tone control (down by the input jack) handles the middle and neck pickups.

    Since these pickups and the higher pot values can make the guitar a little too bright sometimes I figured putting the brightest pickup (bridge) on its own tone control made sense. And I wanted that one within easy reach so I made it first. I tend to run the neck and middle pickup tone wide open so I made it the knob farther away as I don't reach for it as often.

    I also threw on a black pickguard (the original was white pearloid) to match the pickups and knobs. And the backplate is now black too. Otherwise, the hardware is the stock gold ProTone (tuners, bridge, springs, etc.) and I think the overall look turned out pretty cool.

    I still have to install the Dunlop straplocks and give it a good setup (the action needs lowered a little and the intonation needs a few minor tweaks) but overall I think I've got a decent guitar that is on par with ones like the Deluxe Players Strat (MIM) but I saved a couple hundred bucks by building my "FrankenStrat" myself :)







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    MMCQUAIN * Rock, Blues, Christian player * mmcquain@mcquain.com
    Gibson Les Paul Studio 60's Tribute, Breedlove Acoustic/Electric
    Egnater, Dean Markley, D'Addario, various effect pedals
    http://www.youtube.com/mmcquain * http://www.facebook.com/mmcquain

  2. #2
    Forum Member ch willie's Avatar
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    Re: My latest project... FrankenStrat lives!

    Excellent. Love the gold hardware. I like VNs too.
    If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison

  3. #3
    Forum Member Don's Avatar
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    Re: My latest project... FrankenStrat lives!

    Nice! I had a Pro-Tone Strat. It was blonde with a Maple neck. The neck was very thin but the guitar sounded and played great. Oddly, it came with 500k pots although it had traditional alnico single coil pickups. I replaced them with 250k pots for a more traditional sound.

  4. #4
    Forum Member refin's Avatar
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    Re: My latest project... FrankenStrat lives!

    Beautiful guitar!
    "My flesh and my heart fail...but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."
    PS. 73:26

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  5. #5
    Forum Member D'Mule's Avatar
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    Re: My latest project... FrankenStrat lives!

    Looks like a nice V shape to that neck profile.

  6. #6
    Forum Member mmcquain's Avatar
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    Re: My latest project... FrankenStrat lives!

    Quote Originally Posted by D'Mule View Post
    Looks like a nice V shape to that neck profile.
    Actually the neck profile of the ProTone series is thinner and flatter than the V-shape Fender uses on some guitars. My favorite profile is a slim 60's Gibson (Les Paul, etc.) and the ProTone profile comes in a little thinner than that (but I make do).
    .
    MMCQUAIN * Rock, Blues, Christian player * mmcquain@mcquain.com
    Gibson Les Paul Studio 60's Tribute, Breedlove Acoustic/Electric
    Egnater, Dean Markley, D'Addario, various effect pedals
    http://www.youtube.com/mmcquain * http://www.facebook.com/mmcquain

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