Electronic Component Quality? (Guitar Guts)

[p0pNfr3sh]

I wanted to post this to see what all the people on the forum thought.

The question is, do you think high quality potentiometers, wire, and switches
make a difference. I have a 88 strat that I put a mojo tone pot kit and a set of 1996 strat pickups and it made all the difference.

Why I ask is I just got a MIJ jaguar, and I was thinking about upgrading the pots and switches. Would it make a noticeable difference. What do you think?

[J M Fahey]

Very short answer: non detectable difference. Of course placebo effect is always powerful, so, if that's the case .... go on.

[Chuck H]

There is another side to this. Cheap parts are often not ideal in thier operation (ie: pot taper, rotational torque, switch make/break characteristics, etc.). Parts that Mojo sells that are selected as 'good for the job' should improve the players overall experience. Cheap parts in budget instruments selected for cost suck.

Chuck

[p0pNfr3sh]

that would be a very good reason for changing the components. the switches in the jaguar do look a bit cheep, and the previous owner complained himself about the backing of one of the switches falling off.

Another thought that came to me today.

Original electronic components can make or break a vintage guitar, mind that the guitar in question is MIJ but MIJ squires from the 80's are an up and coming. although the components are cheep, do you think to remove them would hurt the resale value of the guitar in twenty to thirty years?

[Chuck H]

Hard to say. I do know the Japanese strats are considered very good guitars and have a high resale. But I don't think it's because of collectability, I think it's just because they were well made. IMHO the vintage collectability thing is never going to apply to such instruments. But there are US made "limited edition" instruments from that era that may some day be valuable, so who knows.

Chuck

[Bruce Johnson]

Original electronic components can make or break a vintage guitar, mind that the guitar in question is MIJ but MIJ squires from the 80's are an up and coming. although the components are cheep, do you think to remove them would hurt the resale value of the guitar in twenty to thirty years?

Take out the complete harness as a unit, put it in a ziploc bag, mark it, and save it. Make up a whole new harness out of better components, fitting into the same holes. Then, if you ever sell it, include the bag in the sale. That's even better for the buyer, because he gets the original parts, and they aren't worn out.

The big reason to buy good quality components is long term reliability. They won't necessarily immediately improve the tone (although they might in some cases), but they'll last longer. Switches, pots and jacks wear out with use and time. Cheap ones wear out faster.

[Steve Conner]

Expensive parts feel better.

My old Peavey bass had a volume control that crackled when turned, because the wiper wasn't making too good a contact. I didn't realise it, but it also crackled slightly under the vibrations from the strings. When I replaced it, the tone of the bass was improved a good deal, the crusty edge was gone.

If I was shopping for a used MIJ Fender, and you told me that you replaced the pots and switches, that wouldn't bother me. (Unless you made a mess of the job...)

Another thing to bear in mind is that Japanese guitar pots can have a different size of shaft. If you switch them for US-made pots, the knobs may not fit any more. Any kludge you think up to remedy this probably counts as "making a mess of the job" as defined above.

[p0pNfr3sh]

I know what you mean about making a mess of the job. I once got a 1977 les paul custom for $650 dollars because someone bought the short shaft pots. Instead of just buying the right ones they took a chisel to the electronics cavity. talk about bad ideas, that stuff will really hurt the resale.

[David Schwab]

Original electronic components can make or break a vintage guitar, mind that the guitar in question is MIJ but MIJ squires from the 80's are an up and coming. although the components are cheep, do you think to remove them would hurt the resale value of the guitar in twenty to thirty years?

Do you buy a guitar to think about how much it will sell for in the future, or to play it? If you want to keep it to sell, by it new and never play it. Leave the tags on too. But you want to do that with an import Fender? Not worth it.

Squiers are cheap guitars, and work better with better hardware. Same is true of Epiphones. They will never have great resale value.

[Albert Kreuzer]

If you want to keep it to sell, by it new and never play it. Leave the tags on too.

Don't even point at it.

[Enzo]

I put a mojo tone pot kit and a set of 1996 strat pickups and it made all the difference.

What am I missing here? You replace the tone pot AND THE PICKUPS, and you think the major difference is the pot?

[Mark Hammer]

How do manufacturers manage to produce budget versions of their "name" guitars?

The simple answer is that they find a bunch of small ways to cut production costs. A dollar's worth of labour here, 25 cents on a part there, and pretty soon you have something that still plays good enough to not shame the brand name, but can be be priced much lower than the flagship.

So, the wood will be...pretty good though not great, the pickups will be...acceptable, the controls will be good enough...for now, the tuners....smooth enough, the frets will be...accurately placed but in need of dressing or smoothing, etc etc. The punchline here is that, if there is one specific thing that really and truly stands between this guitar and greatness, then changing that one thing may make a big difference to you. But for the most part, changing one thing here and there provides small improvements but no conversion of sow's ear to gold-embroidered silk purse.

At the same time, one of the things I like to tell people is that money buys you quality control, and budget buys you hit and miss. It CAN happen that changing a couple of parts on a budget instrument that came out as the rare exception results in a great piece. Not often, but it happens.

[Chuck H]

Don't even point at it.

"You've seen enough of that one."

Chuck

[Chuck H]

It CAN happen that changing a couple of parts on a budget instrument that came out as the rare exception results in a great piece. Not often, but it happens.

When I'm in the market to buy I always play the "affordable" guitars hanging on the wall at the store too, not just the primo models. Sometimes you find one that really rings nicely. Check it for a straight neck. No bogus photo finishes either. If it passes muster I know that I can dress the frets and replace the pickups. Wood is a fickle material. If you find a guitar that sounds the way you like and other things can be remidied it's worth considering. Especially if you don't find what you like that often.

Chuck

P.S. My MIJ strat WAS the budget guitar when I got it. Brand new for $249.99 (decades ago of course). I'm still sorry I sold that guitar.

[J M Fahey]

I guess the keyword here is:
mojo tone pot kit
mojo tone pot kit
mojo tone pot kit
mojo tone pot kit
mojo tone pot kit

Oops !!! Perhaps I'd better