Intro
I worked with a lot of different arrangements of Dual Stratbuckers, Tribuckers and Spank Switches. I found that lower output pickups do really well and even medium ones. But often the higher output pickups begged for a special addition to the mix. I also thought, well, if I’m going that far, I might as well add….
Introducing QUADSTAR™
It is based on 3 + 1 of GG USA’s popular circuits in one package. The Quadstar Plus is the HSS model which also includes a coil tap.
- DUAL STRATBUCKER – A single switch action that turns an SSS Stratocaster into a HSH stratocaster.
- SUPERSPANK™ – Which parallelizes the neck and bridge pickups.
- BASSTAMER™ – MASTER BASS CONTROL (with Master Treble)
- TREBLE BLEED – Preserve some of the treble when reducing the volume
- TONE OPTIONS (one of these)
- COOLTONE™ – This is a lower roll off cap which drains LESS bass out of the circuit
- GREASE BUCKET – A fender standard mod that comes on US Performers and other US strats occasionally
- HSS Specific Circuit: On HSS Models they sometimes come with a Coil Tap switch. (QUADSTAR PLUS)
These circuits aren’t a new idea; trust me, in the world of guitar wiring there really isn’t a new idea, there’s been tons of years for dedicated guitar dudes to figure out another one. In my experience
it’s the application and implementation of them that really make things work out great.
You can use any pickguard color theme or pickups with this design. Some pickups, however, are best of the best.
QUADSTAR EX
The EX version employs more circuit modifications than the stock QUADSTAR version.
Design Requirements
Some of the requirements I design for is:
- #1) Always allow a Stratocaster to be able to run with Stock Switching is Default
- Make it EASY to switch use while playing live
- Make it EASY to understand what sound it will make before you switch it
- Make it flexible in terms of ways it can be implemented
- Let there be NO dead spots in the switching
And I added
- Control over all the extra bass and allow fine tuning of the bottom end
- Added bonus of having a treble bleed to reduce the bass lost when volume is turned down.
- A mod to the Master Treble
- treble tone cap to have less of a dark roll off, and use a > 250K pot (“Hot Pot”) often
I found myself going back to this design over and over and loving how it implements so well.
Implementation options:
- Two Micro Switches
- One Micro Switch and One Push Pull
- Two Push Pull Switches
- HSS QUADSTAR Plus add a Coil Tap for the Humbucker.
Tone:
Any values of caps can be used for the tone controls so that’s in individual preference. I usually pick those based on what pickups and pots are in installed. My default is COOL TONE or occasionally WOMAN TONE.
- Tone 1 – MASTER BASS CONTROL
- Tone 2 – MASTER TREBLE CONTROL
Pots
Any pot value will work but usually larger (500k) pots are used for higher winding pickups to do more treble compensation with 250K being the standard otherwise. The Master Bass has it’s own pot size and depends on the pickups. Often it’s 1 MEG. They are selected to work with the choosen pickups.