Nocaster question..

[Dylan61]

Today I received my Nocaster, a lightweight 6.85 beauty!

As it is the first time I have hold one in my hands, I have a question.

Postion 2 and 3, middle and bridge, does have the same volume.
but,
position 1, neck, does have a big volume drop and sound not bright att all.

This is normal on a Nocaster?

,,,

[MSS]

While I do not claim to be an expert, just checked my Custom Shop Nocaster Relic and it has a perfectly bright neck tone.......but I think yours may still have the vintage wiring which if I recall correctly makes the neck pup very dark and bass-like. (Leo wanted you to be able to play bass if need be!!)

[Chrissy]

If it's wired to original specs you have:

Switch facing bridge pickup = bridge pickup on and blend knob (where the tone pot would be) lets you blend in neck pickup
Switch in middle = neck pickup
Switch facing neck = neck pickup with a capacitor in line (bassy sound)

Some guys like this setup as the blend is a nice option, others go to modern wiring with a tone control.

Regards
Chris

PS I changed to modern ;)

[Dylan61]

While I do not claim to be an expert, just checked my Custom Shop Nocaster Relic and it has a perfectly bright neck tone.......but I think yours may still have the vintage wiring which if I recall correctly makes the neck pup very dark and bass-like. (Leo wanted you to be able to play bass if need be!!)

Yeah it is like you say, it is still 'stock' dark and bassy.

As I am mostly a lead player I was expecting to get some clear notes out of the neck pickup.

So modern wiring will bring the solution to get the neck bright.

[fishlog]

I put Nocastor PUPs in my parts-castor...great sounding pups but I have the same problem. I have not really tried to resolve the problem as I seem to gravitate to my strat every time i play.

[Chrissy]

Yeah it is like you say, it is still 'stock' dark and bassy.

As I am mostly a lead player I was expecting to get some clear notes out of the neck pickup.

So modern wiring will bring the solution to get the neck bright.

If the wiring is Nocaster style then you already have the neck pickup clear on its own - it's in the middle switch position! That's where neck/bridge usually are but to get that you need to switch to the bridge pickup and turn the "tone" knob (which is actually a blend) fully counter-clockwise.

Plug in your guitar to an amp and lightly tap the pickups with a metal screwdriver as you switch the toggle and turn the knobs on the guitar - you'll hear which pickups are active when.

I would suggest playing for a while before you change to the modern - you might come to appreciate the blend in that bridge position on your lead work - you can add in just the right amount of neck pickup.

Have fun!

Chris

[Dylan61]

Thanks Chriss,

I will keep it stock like it came, for awile, I can always change later.

thanks al.