Guards Down

As you probably noticed, the pickguard that came with the guitar was an aquired taste. I managed to get a great 2nd hand 'old-white' pickguard off of ebay for the bargain price of £5.99. I also fitted the Callaham aluminium pickguard shield underneath the new pickguard, which makes the guitar noticably more quiet, and cost £18. It's starting to look a lot more like the £1600 Eric Johnson Strat that I originally wanted(!).

Block Party

According to the sales blurb, the biggest tonal improvement you can make to a Strat is to install the Callaham trem block. I'm not sure I totally agree, but I'm very impressed with the results. The block cost £50 and was surprisingly easy to fit. It replaced the stock zinc block, which was a little lighter. The mass and hardness of the new stainless steel block feels much better - the guitar is surprisingly more clear unplugged, and the sustain is improved too. All things considered, money well spent.

Lock It Down

The most essential upgrade to any guitar - strap locks. These Schallers cost £5 for the buttons (I already had the strap halves) and are fitted to all my guitars.

Screw It In

The guitar came with 3 springs in the back, but not being a big trem user I decided I'd rather have sustain and tuning stability over a floating trem. To get this I put in another 2 springs and screwed the claw in a fair amount to get the bridge flat on the body. Total cost of £2.50 per spring. Very pleased with the results, trem-sag is all but gone.

The Shaving of the Nut

The first upgrade I made was to install a GraphTech nut, which cost £5. The graphite nut improves tuning stability and reduces string breakage due to the fact that it's self-lubricating, and therefore free from snags. Installation wasn't easy, and required several attempts at sanding the nut's sides and base before a snug fit was achieved. I won't comment too much on the nut I replaced, other than to say it broke into 3 pieces when I gave it a gentle tap to remove it.