The 2001 birthday guitar was a brand new American Standard...
Oh BOY!

And yes, I have installed my "Chromacaster" (c) switch in this guitar. I call it the  "Chromacaster" (c) because it can get all the colors! It is a modification that I developed using a rotary switch which is installed in place of one of the tone controls. When it's all wired up, it gives you all the regular Strat tones, plus all three pups, just neck and bridge, neck and bridge in series, middle and bridge in series, bridge out of phase, and more!

The neatest thing is that, it’s like, invisible! Just install it, put the old tone knob back on, and no one is the wiser!

I’ve made a web page describing what you can get with this switch, check it out!

I used the new Fender "no-load" tone control that was on the bridge pup for the master tone - boy, does this guitar stay sparkly!

1/2003: So, how long did you think I was gonna leave it alone? I loaded a custom flamey-maple pickguard with a Rio Grande "Dual Calibrated" set (and of course another Chromacaster) and installed it. Instant improvement over the stock Fender pups. Big classic neck tone, chimey-charm out of the middle pup, and the bridge pup is a MONSTER! I now call this axe "BoB," short for "Blonde On Blonde." I switched the plastic stuff over to cream, I think it's a nicer match with the maple than the stock "parchment" white.

6/2005: I swapped out the middle Halfbreed pup for another Vintage Tallboy, and then swapped the bridge Muy Grande for the Halfbreed. So, neck to bridge it's now Tallboy, Tallboy, Halfbreed. This is a slightly less agressive setup, still hotter than stock, but so far I like it better WITHOUT that killer bridge pup. Man, that Muy Grade was so hot it almost sounded active in this guitar!

"Obie" is a '93 American Standard (left). Nicely broken-in or fairly beat-up, depending on your point of view.

Shortly after it landed, I replaced the stock pups with a the Vintage Vibe Standard-S set, and, of course, installed a FAT-O-Caster V.2. I replaced the TBX pot with a standard 500K pot, wired as a master tone.

3/2005: I loaded a set of Fender Lace Sensors (thanks, Stratman Dwight) on a one-ply white pickguard with a FAT-O V.3 and reinstalled the TBX. It looks like an EC model (right), don't it? ... But, without the preamp. However, the V.3 gives it some extra "oomph," so it does kick a bit harder than an unmodded Lace setup - so, I call this the "E.B." signature model, instead of the E.C. model. Look ma, no batteries!

While this pickguard/project started out as just a mule for testing a FAT-O with Lace pickups, there's just something about this axe... I like this setup so well that I may "excuse" it from further modding. I actually play this "beater" more than BoB, my newer, spiffier AmStd - go figure!

So how long could that incarnation last? Surprisingly, several years - but in February of '07, I finally swapped the original pups back in it, and, now that I am gigging again, it's always along as the backup axe - or, for when I get a wild hare...

... And then there's that MIM Fender Squire Series I picked up just to do the FAT-O installation demo... With new tuners and a bit of fretwork, it was a nice little player, too. Nice "old timey" feel to the axe, with its smaller (vintage) fretboard radius, rosewood fingerboard and 21 frets. The AmStd pups out of Obie landed here, with, of course, an Original FAT-O in a nice faux-tortoise shell red pickguard, and it was another great little beater!

Now it has been parted out - the neck went to the Sonic Blue Strat (John's Strat, see below), replacing the Musikraft neck (which was just too fat for me). I then mounted a Mighty Mite maple/maple Vintage "V" neck here, which I find VERY comfortable. The body got shot white - it's a classic look, white Strat with a maple neck, don't you think? - and was loaded with an Allparts Vintage steel bridge, and an H-S-S pickguard setup with a Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates in the bridge followed by a pair of Rio Grande Vintage Tallboys. It served as the test mule for the new FAT-O for Fatties switch.

Now it's loaded with a set of Lollars and a V.3, and has even more of a classic vibe.

And, here's how it wound up... ReRanch Sonic Blue on a three-piece ash body; mint green pickguard, pup covers, knobs and tips; and it now has a Callaham steel sustain block under the stamped-steel-saddles of an MIM Fender bridge. It's loaded with a set of Vintage Vibe Standard-S pickups and a Chromacaster II. And, I now have it strung up with a set of Fender FLATWOUNDS! Of course, I dropped the low E from the set, moved all the rest of the strings "down" a notch, and added an .010 high E, so the set now goes from an .010 to a .044 - practically rock and roll gauge. OK, call me whimpy fingers!

The Vintage Vibe Standard-S sets I favor always seem louder to me than their "vintage" impedance numbers (around 6k) would imply, and do have a very nice, well, vintage vibe to them. But, better than vintage, they are constructed with modern shielding and the middle pup is RW/RP. Cool stuff, great tone. THE choice for this axe.