While its a nice add on I could still instantly tell the Tele from the Strat since I own the Tele. For me too many sounds gets to be a distraction from playing.
Anthony Rosa eh, it was close enough. Also too many sound is never an issue... Just more tools to do more cool stuff. But yea i guess it can be overwhelming when you start playing guitar
@@anthonyrosa5006 It means I don't need a tele too! Also it was a bit bright, so roll off some tone or use a humbucker and it will sound a lot more tele.
Delighted with myself. I got both blind tests right. The strat, to my ear at least, was brighter and chirpier, while the tele was warmer, thicker and wanted to break up more.
@@DarrellBraunGuitar I heard the same thing as Sean did. I have a Strat also, but put a telecaster bridge pickup in it and have the same mod in the lower tone knob. I still get that thinner, chirpier tone and I want that thicker warmer sound. Is it the wiring that's different or the cap that's different? than the tele? Could you explain? And maybe suggest what I could do to achieve that thicker, warmer tone? I did put a tele neck pickup in their also. Thanks...
I never liked fenders. After watching your videos for long time, you are one of them who inspired me to buy fender... I dont prefer stratocaster much but man telecaster... that sound... just melts inside your ears... I would totally buy telecaster someday
I love telecasters, however I'm strat user... I think the sound comparison is way different from one guitar to another, I mean, although the blender gave you some extra crystal to the sound it wasn't as crystal as the telecaster and you could easily heard the "sparkle" sound of the strat when pickup are combined. I don't there's a way to make a strat sound like a tele, but this is definitely a good way to add some extra tones to your guitar and take advantage of that knop, cause nobody use it anyway.
The sounds you get blending pickups with the Stratocaster gives a closer approach to Telecaster sounds, but just close. The unmistakable crystal clear sound from a Fender Telecaster is a trade mark that Strats can´t reach. Nevertheless, using this blender onto a Strat will provide endless tone combinations, that is, blender plus pickup switch. Awesome electronic kit indeed! Great video. Like!👌
I did this mod on my '75 Strat. Sounded great. A little "thinner" sound than the Tele middle position. I also own a Strat Dlx Plus, which comes with the Blender card to achieve this mod.
So I purchased this blender because of this video. My main reason for purchasing was because of how confusing the bottom control knob was, or simply how it didn't work with the bridge pickup. Blending just sounded like a cool plus to me. After installing, WOW! It seems like everything on my Mexican strat just got better. The volume seems louder to me. The tone knob and blender knob work brilliantly. Funny thing is the pickups sound better even without the blender being used. Input jack is rock solid. Pickup switch solid. Plus I can swap pickups out in minutes now. WOW! Thank you for this video.
If you bought the wiring kit from someone, chances are you got upgraded pots,caps, and Jack. That alone makes a HUGE difference on the mim strat. I bought a 4 way kit for.my.tele.and it completely transformed the tone for the better because of the upgraded electronics.
I got myself a blender kit from Mojotone, and it was a big upgrade over the electronics I had. Same pickups but more sound out of them. It kind of depends what quality your baseline components have, but I sure wasn't disappointed!
I heard the differences in the blind test, and I preferred the Telecaster through and through, but the blender switch is a great mod for an extra hint of versatility. Great stuff as always! 👌
IMHO, some of the best sounds available with this mod are blends, neck with a little bridge, bridge with a little neck, and also with the 2&4 in between positions.: Bridge/middle plus a bit of neck etc. OR ALL 3 ON. All with just the simple blender and the stock 5 way switch. : COOL.
I could hear the difference (strat for me is so unmistakable) but it’s super close enough - going through the right amp setup this’ll work great. What a simple solution! Great stuff!
Finally, some ingeneous use for that bottom tone control which I never used actually. I love the blended sound. I got me a Tele now within my Square Strat with Tex-Mex pick-ups. Thanks for that demo. Awesome tip!
Great video - as good as a RUclips demo can get really! As a Strat owner without much experience of a Tele, I was more judging which sound I preferred than guessing which was which and was pessimistically thinking the better sound would be the Tele but was pleasantly surprised that my favourite was the Strat. Totally off topic - I've never before realised how beautiful a white/rosewood Strat is!
I could definitely tell the tele from the strat in the blind tests. I'm a tele guy. It's really a tone you can only get from a tele I think . But the blender mod is awesome for strats. I like versatility when it comes to tones.
I don't play on a tele, but there was something about the sounds that just screamed "this is a tele!" The blended sound seems to be more natural and smooth with the telecaster, but hard and crisp on the strat. It's a weird way to describe it, but that's just how it seems to me.
Hello Sir, just wanna thank you for this video. It gives me inspiration to mod my strat. After havin hard time to buy the obsidian, i decide to wire it my self. Havin a hard time finding a blender pots too. So I mod my stock pots to "No Load" pots, and it works well. Now my strat have blender mods, and i really love the combination of sound from it that i can't get from standard factory wiring. Can't thank u enough sir. 👍👍👍
It is a very useful mod. I have this on one of my strats, and while I did not use it a ton, I did make use of bridge and neck. It is a telecaster-like sound, but I would not say it is identical. The telecaster is warmer, which might have something to do with the fact that there's more wood, being a single cut. Strat bridge pick ups are just brighter overall, borderline shrill, to be honest. That is why my new pick guard for my Strat that a friend did for me will have some tone control on the bridge (It's a passive treble-bass). That way, I can tame the highs without getting the "quack" of the two pick ups together.
I have the same Obsidian Wire Solderless Blend / Treble Bleed Wiring Harness in my Artic White HSS Strat with Suhr Pickups / Electronics for about a year now. The guitar sounds amazing. I love white Strat period! I'm sure you're happy with the Obsidian system since you it in your Tele too (4-way switch).
The tele chime was unmistakable, I picked it out in both tests. The blend switch does work really well on the strat, If I didn't know how they sounded I might have mistaken them, great video as well.
I ordered one the minute I saw your unboxing video. It saved my US strat that had some bad cap or pot when I asked a tech to install the "Gilmour" mod on a push/pull pot. I don't regret my purchase one bit, it's a really great kit. Also, with the solderless system, I can consider switching pickups more often. Highly, highly recommended.
Damn......I just added a push-pull volume switch to my Strat to get the same sound, but this mod is definitely cleaner, both inside and out......maybe next time. Thanks, Darrell. Keep this kind of stuff coming.
I had my Luthier install an Emerson Blender on my MIM Strat. It's a subtle difference, but my friends like it when they play it. Best is having parts of all three pups on at the same time in position 2 and 4. In position 1 and 5 it sounds something like a Tele switched to middle position. You can balance how much it sound like a mid position Tele with the Tone control. I agree, it should come from the factory this way.
I really love the blender mod. I did mine by adding a small extra potentiometer. So I can keep all my tone control which makes it even more versatile. So easy to do even if you hate soldering. A good soldering iron with adjustable higher power can makes things much easier.
I made a Frankenstrat out of a cheap squier with an epi humbucker between the neck and middle (had to position it down^^).. I soldert it like this: every pickup has its own volume nob and theyre linked to a master volume with a killswitch on the output! It took hours and hours but this thing plays and sounds like hell! Now no hum and I can mix every sound i want :) Keep reseaching and try out :) have a nice day!
I'm not a very experienced guitarist and I guessed both tests correctly. However that doesn't mean it didn't sound great to me. I own a strat and can't seem to justify spending the money on another guitar right now while I'm still learning to play. BUT every time I hear a cool song played on a tele, it makes me want one so I was wondering how to set up my strat to possibly mimic some tele sound and by god I think this is exactly what I hoped to find! Great video!
I love this mod. I've done this with one of my Strats and I owned the Strat Plus Dexluxe with the Blender Card The thing is, l play a Tele and I realized that the Blender mod doesn't sound just like a Tele middle sound. It a little thinner sounding. On the whole, I've always felt that Tele bridge pickup sound a little "fuller" than the Strat bridge pickup. Strat bridge pickups always sound a little too brittle to my ears. Take away: it's a great sound, but it's own sound, not a Tele.
I did this mod to my Strat some time ago with the Emmerson no load blender pot, and I don't know how I ever played without it. I do feel that the tones however are suited to more of a country sound. But either way, it really increases the versatility of the Strat and the sounds are awesome.
Happy with myself as I got both blind tests right. I felt the blender switch on the strat provided a warmer tone than the tele, which to me had a bit more of a 'harsher' bite to it. Both still sounded good though to me, although I do like the tele sound more than the strat blend as it still showcases its own personal characteristic
I did a similar mod once on a strat, just with a switch though - no blend control. I wanted that "middle position tele" sound & I got a good sound out of it. Problem was that it was indistinguishable from just selecting the middle p/u on it's own. The mod I REALLY like is when you wire both pickups on a tele in series - beautiful warm sound.
Great mod in my opinion. I first noticed this Strat mod watching guitarist Scott Totten who has been the lead guitarist for the beach boys band for the past several years. His Strat always sounds like a telecaster playing those great guitar leads that can clearly be heard all over RUclips of their live videos.
If you put in a switch connecting neck and bridge with a small resistor (about 6.8k) that gives you 9 different sounds on a strat, Just a push/pull switch, a resistor and 2 wires.
A blend knob can be a nice add-on to a Tele. That's the original Broadcaster circuit, I believe. I added the blend knob to a Tele with a PAF in the neck position and it gives a whole new range of sounds.
I just got that exact same coloured Strat! Cost me a 100 buck, by Aria Pro II. Exceptional guitar. Strats and Teles do sound a bit alike. Definitely some overlap. A Tele is more shrill in the bridge position. And the in-between of the Tele doesn't 'quack' like the out of phase positions on 2 and 4 on the Strat. But they don't sound a million miles apart. I love the Stratocaster. I know they aren't so in vogue at the moment, and some say 'they aren't a real man's guitar'. Lol. It's a pretty versatile instrument. Just make sure you wire up the bottom tone knob so you can get a bit of roll-off of the bridge pup. It's a very easy mod. Even a Strat bridge pup can sound a tad harsh. Leo wanted it that way, but still... But I love the Telecaster too. The first one I ever played - only a couple of years ago in fact, in my long life playing guitar - the first thought I had? Bloody 'ell, this sounds like t'Stratocaster! Every guitarist needs at least one of each.
I am doing a little conversation with my box kit Squier affinity Strat in a few days. Swap the factory HSS pickups for a SSS setup, driven by a solderless wiring kit with a blend control (from mojotone, as this was the only available in my area), cherry on the cake, all installed on a new pickguard. Expectations are quite high, having two types of guitars in one (wife also happy, me not buying another guitar).
I modded a blender knob to my strat so that the middle pickup is dialed in with the blender and I replaced the standard five way selector switch with a Telecaster three way. So the selector switch positions are exactly the same as on a Telecaster and you can dial in the middle pickup in any position.
The strat is pretty convincing of sounding like a tele, (great job by the way) but in my opinion, the strat, sounds like a strat. I love both guitars either way. Nice telecaster by the way!
First....i did 100% on the test ! But my input is that the Tele bridge is fatter so to do a perfect comparison then you need to change that Strat Bridge pickup and put a Tele one ! Then It is a fair game !!! Also i have read that that Tele bridge plate is part of the Tele sound anf that in the old days it was made out of Brass !! Now days it is an alloy plate !!!
I had the kit installed a year ago! Very Happy. Also, went to Vintage Noiseless Pickups. My 300 dollar Mexican Strat now sounds better than my Gibson Les Paul.
That bright Strat tone was unmistakable. I preferred the Tele. I guess one could slightly roll off the tone and get a warmer tone from the Strat. :) Great video!
Same, I'm not an expert, but the Strat sounded like a Strat, not like a Tele, well of course a bit different, more teleish, but still Strat beyond doubt.
Great video, Thanks! They sound closer than I thought they would. I bought the Mojotone Strat Blender for installation on a Squire 50s Classic Vibe, Sherwood Green. I wanted to upgrade the pots and switch, and I liked the idea of the blender also. In the first 30 seconds I could hear the difference, cleaner and warmer, and the pots have a better roll off on the volume, ie going from 10 to 8 does not cut the volume down by 75%. And as DB said, I never have used the middle tone knob on any guitar, so you are loosing nothing there.
I did the blend mod to every Strat Ive owned UNTIL.... I found the Schaller E Type switch that let me have neck and bridge together in the middle position of a 5 way :) Free'd up a pot to install the G&L Passive Treble/Bass tone circuit. Perfect!
I had a US Lone Star Strat which came standard with the 5-way Super switch which allowed for the humbucker to be split in position 2. I rewired the switch to get the back coil of the humbucker (Pearly Gates Plus) in parallel with the neck pick up in position 3 and it sounded very much like a Tele.....plus it was noise cancelling. The only true single coil setting on that guitar was the neck by itself.
Yes, it did a good job of sounding like a Tele but that does not matter because it really brought that ice pick bridge pickup to life. The neck and bridge together sounded sweet. I am thinking about it long and hard now.
I'm a tele guy and could hear a clear difference in both examples. The strat always sounds slankier/scoopier to me. Tele's sound more flat/straightforward (EQ-wise). Love the blend knob idea though. Definitely brings some more versatility to your strat sound. Great vid!
The strat with the Obsidian upgrade just saved me the cost of a tele and a hardshell case.I put the Obsidian with 500k caps in my Bucchass Gplayer TRL strat and it now has so much tonal range I can't put it down!
I don't mind soldering and would love to have seen "how" this is wired up without the Obsidian Wire. Perhaps even a small schematic. But still enjoy your videos. Thanks...
I think it did a pretty good job of sounding like a tele. I missed blind test #2 becuase they sounded so similar. The tele just had that tiny bit more.
Another awesome video Darrell! I must say that this tone blend is very versatile. You kinda get the best of two worlds. This surely inspired me to look into this mod. Do you think it will work for Squiers?
Years ago I installed a simple switch that connects both bridge and neck pickups. It occurred to me to make it a blender but I figured I’d only use them on or off. Soon I’ll try to connect them also in series an out of phase, endless tone versatility
I had one of these and it is a bit of a mess on-stage. If your are blending the neck pickup and you want a position four you have to move the selector and turn down the tone pot. Sound was killer thow, I ended up using the neck and blended position esclusively.
Aw dude, I loved. I wish you would add a clip of what position 2 and 4 sound like... I'd also love to hear an in series mod on that guitar. All 3 in series would be sick.
I just used a DPDT push button switch to engage my bridge pickup when my neck pickup is selected. That way I can still have a dedicated tone control for my bridge pickup.
Well if you just wanna try this out without real mods to see if it sounds good....you can always switch the lead wires between the middle and the bridge pickup to see if you like the sound........that way your middle position..now engages the bridge pickup....and the 4 position(which was the neck and middle before) now engages the neck and bridge..... so you can get an idea..... The blender mode though is much more useful cause it allows u to bring just a bit more of the sound of one pickup..not just full on full off....and that helps in so many ways...cause the blender pot on 10 is out of the circuit and your strat functions and sounds as always....only when you start bringing it down it blends the other pickups in.....so you can have the original sounds and quite a few more without changing your guitar or drilling new holes for switches.
Great & simple review, thank you Darrell! I have a Fender AM Pro 2 HSS that I want to convert to a SSS (I already have a Squier HSS with the Obsidian 7-Way Switch & several dual humbucker guitars so it's kind of redundant). The blender looks like a great option as I don't like the raised tone knob on either push/push or push/pull knobs and I prefer a master tone knob.
It sounds very close, cool. But I think the fingerboard on them makes a difference. I tried to listen for that difference and it helped more. Maybe there are more things in play.
My DonGrosh retro classic have this blender knob by default, it's useful and give you more option about the sound. Although it cannot replace the sound signature from telecaster, I do like the change from other normal strat.
Darell, does the tele have a bridge pickup with a plate behind it? This might affect the tone. Some people think it adds chime to the bridge pickup. Now a blend on a tele would be great to dial in the extra chime on a neck pickup that it too warm.
Picked both of them. The Tele is a little hotter and a little more top end. I always wanted to put a Tele bridge in my start and I might just do that with this mod.
I have done this mod on 3 of my Strats. (Did mine the "old fashioned way" by soldering) It does not sound like a Tele. But it is still super. I love blending in the neck in position 2 so all 3 pups are on! A Tele is a Tele though. They stand alone and this mod is great for your Strat but don't expect it to sound exsctly like a Tele.
I've been listening to other videos of this blender configuration and I'm really intrigued by it. What surprises me is that you didn't show off the all three pickups together sound which I think is one of the coolest aspects of this configuration. I also have found some sites that show off a Dan Armstrong configuration which is similar to this, but puts the pickups in series or parallel with the blender pot. Kind of like that telecaster you showed off with the series design. Would love you to hear you show off this Dan Armstrong option.
The blender mod is maybe the most useful strat mod out there....all your regular strat tones unaltered ....you got a master volume and a master tone.....and when you want some extra ooomp or just a slightly different color you blend pickups together.....plus its non destructive....all wins.
I prefer a Strat over a Tele any day. But that blend control can definitely do the trick in makin' that Strat sound like a Tele. It was kinda hard fer me to tell the difference.
I added a baseplate under my bridge pickup, twice as thick as fralin and those guys sell . Bought some wax from kroger and wax potted it in a slow cooker. Added a neck on switch for parallel connections, and then i added a bridge in series connection with any pickup selected at the 5 way switch. So i can get the gilmour mod with the neck switch. everything parallel. And i have bridge on, but its series. Anything at he 5 way switch gets put in series with the bridge on the way to the volume pot . But put the bridge on the 2nd tone control by itself with a 015 tone cap and roll it almost all the way down with the neck tone all the way up, and there my friends.....is the secret TELE twang with its own little secret pocket inside the strat. Think "merle haggard - I think ill just stay here and drink" guiar solo #2. Overdriven Tele twang so thick and juicy your nuts will drop lol There are some songs that if played with anything other than a TELE violates the Geneva convention, but my guitar just gets dirty looks., They at least give me props on the TWANG as they snub me lol
Check out the Dan Armstrong Blender Mod (good walk-through on the breja toneworks channel). Converts a Strat from SSS to HSH, or blend between. Hot humbuckers from relatively regular Strat pickups.
Very nice mod. Strat sounds amazing, Leo would be proud but I have a soft spot for the sound of a Tele.... coming from a die hard LP Standard guy. Think I have an instrumental tonal disorder.
I was just searching to see if there was anyway I could have a Strat with Telly sound. But when I saw the title for a second I thought it was one of those "CAN IT BLEND ?" videos 😉 But as usual it was something I found very interesting. Thanks Darrell 😎 Edit: I just read the reviews of the Custom Blender for Strat and the reviewers really love this mod. The upgrade seems to help a lot. (I'm not affiliated with Obsidian)
Seriously a great video, very informative. Love the sound of the Tele. Love the sound of the Strat. I think a Tele will be my next guitar purchase! Even if I don't MOD a Strat to fit the Tele sound to have most of both. But both in one package would be mint! Good stuff and keep up the great music and video work.
I have this mod on my strat for a couple of years now and I'll tell you this: it's worth it just for the master tone control. The blend is a bonus.
This is how Strats should be from the factory. Awesome mod. Thanks.
+Sean L Totally!
While its a nice add on I could still instantly tell the Tele from the Strat since I own the Tele. For me too many sounds gets to be a distraction from playing.
Anthony Rosa eh, it was close enough. Also too many sound is never an issue... Just more tools to do more cool stuff. But yea i guess it can be overwhelming when you start playing guitar
Somebody sells the 6-vay blade switch for Strat!
@@anthonyrosa5006 It means I don't need a tele too! Also it was a bit bright, so roll off some tone or use a humbucker and it will sound a lot more tele.
Delighted with myself. I got both blind tests right. The strat, to my ear at least, was brighter and chirpier, while the tele was warmer, thicker and wanted to break up more.
+Sean Creagh Nicely done!
@@DarrellBraunGuitar I heard the same thing as Sean did. I have a Strat also, but put a telecaster bridge pickup in it and have the same mod in the lower tone knob. I still get that thinner, chirpier tone and I want that thicker warmer sound. Is it the wiring that's different or the cap that's different? than the tele? Could you explain? And maybe suggest what I could do to achieve that thicker, warmer tone? I did put a tele neck pickup in their also. Thanks...
Let me know if you think the Strat could cover a convincing sounding Tele middle position!
I never liked fenders. After watching your videos for long time, you are one of them who inspired me to buy fender... I dont prefer stratocaster much but man telecaster... that sound... just melts inside your ears... I would totally buy telecaster someday
+Melodic Goals 🙌🙌🙌
I love telecasters, however I'm strat user... I think the sound comparison is way different from one guitar to another, I mean, although the blender gave you some extra crystal to the sound it wasn't as crystal as the telecaster and you could easily heard the "sparkle" sound of the strat when pickup are combined. I don't there's a way to make a strat sound like a tele, but this is definitely a good way to add some extra tones to your guitar and take advantage of that knop, cause nobody use it anyway.
The sounds you get blending pickups with the Stratocaster gives a closer approach to Telecaster sounds, but just close. The unmistakable crystal clear sound from a Fender Telecaster is a trade mark that Strats can´t reach. Nevertheless, using this blender onto a Strat will provide endless tone combinations, that is, blender plus pickup switch. Awesome electronic kit indeed! Great video. Like!👌
I did this mod on my '75 Strat. Sounded great. A little "thinner" sound than the Tele middle position. I also own a Strat Dlx Plus, which comes with the Blender card to achieve this mod.
So I purchased this blender because of this video. My main reason for purchasing was because of how confusing the bottom control knob was, or simply how it didn't work with the bridge pickup. Blending just sounded like a cool plus to me. After installing, WOW! It seems like everything on my Mexican strat just got better. The volume seems louder to me. The tone knob and blender knob work brilliantly. Funny thing is the pickups sound better even without the blender being used. Input jack is rock solid. Pickup switch solid. Plus I can swap pickups out in minutes now. WOW! Thank you for this video.
+Jimmy Watford Nice!
The blender is very cool 👍
There is nothing to purchase you just have to rewire a bit
If you bought the wiring kit from someone, chances are you got upgraded pots,caps, and Jack. That alone makes a HUGE difference on the mim strat. I bought a 4 way kit for.my.tele.and it completely transformed the tone for the better because of the upgraded electronics.
@@rhymeortreason MIM electronics are the same as an American, aside from the pick ups.
I got myself a blender kit from Mojotone, and it was a big upgrade over the electronics I had. Same pickups but more sound out of them. It kind of depends what quality your baseline components have, but I sure wasn't disappointed!
If I were a Tele, I'd have a severe case of Strat envy! Thanks for a great tutorial, as usual, Darrell.
WOW! I could not tell the difference too much in the blind test, but hey, I'm deaf in my right ear. Great Mod & demo!
even with the solderless kits, I've found it helpful to tin the wire ends with some solder before inserting them into the plugs.
I heard the differences in the blind test, and I preferred the Telecaster through and through, but the blender switch is a great mod for an extra hint of versatility.
Great stuff as always! 👌
+Déus Herbert-Noel For sure! 👍
I got all the tests right too, but both sound great. There is a difference, but it's still a fab sound.
Nick B ugh..the stray sounded so much sweeter
IMHO, some of the best sounds available with this mod are blends, neck with a little bridge, bridge with a little neck, and also with the 2&4 in between positions.: Bridge/middle plus a bit of neck etc. OR ALL 3 ON.
All with just the simple blender and the stock 5 way switch. : COOL.
I could hear the difference (strat for me is so unmistakable) but it’s super close enough - going through the right amp setup this’ll work great. What a simple solution! Great stuff!
It's not exactly the same but it's close enough that I wouldn't bring both guitars to a gig.
I think the strat sounded cleaner than the Tele. It did a great job. Excellent mod.
Finally, some ingeneous use for that bottom tone control which I never used actually. I love the blended sound. I got me a Tele now within my Square Strat with Tex-Mex pick-ups. Thanks for that demo. Awesome tip!
Fantastic! I want the playing comfort of the Stratocaster with the sound of a Telecaster. This device may be the answer!
Great video - as good as a RUclips demo can get really!
As a Strat owner without much experience of a Tele, I was more judging which sound I preferred than guessing which was which and was pessimistically thinking the better sound would be the Tele but was pleasantly surprised that my favourite was the Strat.
Totally off topic - I've never before realised how beautiful a white/rosewood Strat is!
I could definitely tell the tele from the strat in the blind tests. I'm a tele guy. It's really a tone you can only get from a tele I think . But the blender mod is awesome for strats. I like versatility when it comes to tones.
I don't play on a tele, but there was something about the sounds that just screamed "this is a tele!" The blended sound seems to be more natural and smooth with the telecaster, but hard and crisp on the strat. It's a weird way to describe it, but that's just how it seems to me.
Hello Sir, just wanna thank you for this video. It gives me inspiration to mod my strat.
After havin hard time to buy the obsidian, i decide to wire it my self. Havin a hard time finding a blender pots too. So I mod my stock pots to "No Load" pots, and it works well.
Now my strat have blender mods, and i really love the combination of sound from it that i can't get from standard factory wiring.
Can't thank u enough sir. 👍👍👍
I did the Obsidian setup and it worked great, waxed heavy wires plug in best Thanks for the info , Great strumin Darrell
It is a very useful mod. I have this on one of my strats, and while I did not use it a ton, I did make use of bridge and neck. It is a telecaster-like sound, but I would not say it is identical. The telecaster is warmer, which might have something to do with the fact that there's more wood, being a single cut. Strat bridge pick ups are just brighter overall, borderline shrill, to be honest. That is why my new pick guard for my Strat that a friend did for me will have some tone control on the bridge (It's a passive treble-bass). That way, I can tame the highs without getting the "quack" of the two pick ups together.
I meant to say I had this on one of strats...it's gone now.
I have the same Obsidian Wire Solderless Blend / Treble Bleed Wiring Harness in my Artic White HSS Strat with Suhr Pickups / Electronics for about a year now. The guitar sounds amazing. I love white Strat period! I'm sure you're happy with the Obsidian system since you it in your Tele too (4-way switch).
The tele chime was unmistakable, I picked it out in both tests. The blend switch does work really well on the strat, If I didn't know how they sounded I might have mistaken them, great video as well.
I ordered one the minute I saw your unboxing video. It saved my US strat that had some bad cap or pot when I asked a tech to install the "Gilmour" mod on a push/pull pot.
I don't regret my purchase one bit, it's a really great kit. Also, with the solderless system, I can consider switching pickups more often. Highly, highly recommended.
Damn......I just added a push-pull volume switch to my Strat to get the same sound, but this mod is definitely cleaner, both inside and out......maybe next time. Thanks, Darrell. Keep this kind of stuff coming.
+Rick Robertson Thanks!
A push - pull switch is still very sweet too! 👍👍👍
I had my Luthier install an Emerson Blender on my MIM Strat. It's a subtle difference, but my friends like it when they play it. Best is having parts of all three pups on at the same time in position 2 and 4. In position 1 and 5 it sounds something like a Tele switched to middle position. You can balance how much it sound like a mid position Tele with the Tone control. I agree, it should come from the factory this way.
Great video explaining the blender and how it works. Thanks! I've been looking at a few vids about this but this one explains it best and quickly.
Strat sounded better. Definitely sounded more like a Tele though.
I just installed mine into my old squier that I put DiMarzios in a long time ago. This was like night and day, such a good piece of kit.
Just wanna say that riff ya did on comparison one was so awesome to me
I really love the blender mod. I did mine by adding a small extra potentiometer. So I can keep all my tone control which makes it even more versatile. So easy to do even if you hate soldering. A good soldering iron with adjustable higher power can makes things much easier.
I made a Frankenstrat out of a cheap squier with an epi humbucker between the neck and middle (had to position it down^^)..
I soldert it like this: every pickup has its own volume nob and theyre linked to a master volume with a killswitch on the output! It took hours and hours but this thing plays and sounds like hell! Now no hum and I can mix every sound i want :)
Keep reseaching and try out :) have a nice day!
+Martin Hepler Very cool!
Great device. I loved it.
Thanks for sharing Darrel. Nice video.
I could hear the difference. but it was close. Liked it
I'm not a very experienced guitarist and I guessed both tests correctly. However that doesn't mean it didn't sound great to me. I own a strat and can't seem to justify spending the money on another guitar right now while I'm still learning to play. BUT every time I hear a cool song played on a tele, it makes me want one so I was wondering how to set up my strat to possibly mimic some tele sound and by god I think this is exactly what I hoped to find! Great video!
Never knew there was a blender mod.. thanks! I picked up a new loaded pickguard with a neck on/off switch... this sounds so much better.
i guessed the first blind test due to the brightness of the strat. however it was really close...impressed
I love this mod. I've done this with one of my Strats and I owned the Strat Plus Dexluxe with the Blender Card The thing is, l play a Tele and I realized that the Blender mod doesn't sound just like a Tele middle sound. It a little thinner sounding. On the whole, I've always felt that Tele bridge pickup sound a little "fuller" than the Strat bridge pickup. Strat bridge pickups always sound a little too brittle to my ears.
Take away: it's a great sound, but it's own sound, not a Tele.
I did this mod to my Strat some time ago with the Emmerson no load blender pot, and I don't know how I ever played without it. I do feel that the tones however are suited to more of a country sound. But either way, it really increases the versatility of the Strat and the sounds are awesome.
haha, holy cow, all of your videos are awesome Darell! I must admit both the guitar tones sounded so damn similar, with very slight difference.
Thanks! I appreciate the kind words ☺
You avoid soldering? But don't you miss inhaling solder? Mmmmmmmmm!!!
I like pumping gas mmmm!!!
I dont want my solder huffing interrupted by actually soldering something
Happy with myself as I got both blind tests right. I felt the blender switch on the strat provided a warmer tone than the tele, which to me had a bit more of a 'harsher' bite to it. Both still sounded good though to me, although I do like the tele sound more than the strat blend as it still showcases its own personal characteristic
I did a similar mod once on a strat, just with a switch though - no blend control. I wanted that "middle position tele" sound & I got a good sound out of it. Problem was that it was indistinguishable from just selecting the middle p/u on it's own. The mod I REALLY like is when you wire both pickups on a tele in series - beautiful warm sound.
Dude, you are so funny. and my inspiration. you make some of the best videos out there. keep up the great work :D
+H! i! Thanks man!
Darrell Braun Guitar i wish i had the talent you had. i start lessons this coming fall. cant wait btw im not even a teen yet
Great mod in my opinion. I first noticed this Strat mod watching guitarist Scott Totten who has been the lead guitarist for the beach boys band for the past several years. His Strat always sounds like a telecaster playing those great guitar leads that can clearly be heard all over RUclips of their live videos.
great mod. I've always wanted tone control on my bridge pickups on my Strats.
If you put in a switch connecting neck and bridge with a small resistor (about 6.8k) that gives you 9 different sounds on a strat, Just a push/pull switch, a resistor and 2 wires.
A blend knob can be a nice add-on to a Tele. That's the original Broadcaster circuit, I believe. I added the blend knob to a Tele with a PAF in the neck position and it gives a whole new range of sounds.
This is a very good mod, I'd love this on my Strat. It's about the two pick-ups on together excluding the middle one.
I just got that exact same coloured Strat! Cost me a 100 buck, by Aria Pro II. Exceptional guitar.
Strats and Teles do sound a bit alike. Definitely some overlap. A Tele is more shrill in the bridge position. And the in-between of the Tele doesn't 'quack' like the out of phase positions on 2 and 4 on the Strat. But they don't sound a million miles apart.
I love the Stratocaster. I know they aren't so in vogue at the moment, and some say 'they aren't a real man's guitar'. Lol. It's a pretty versatile instrument. Just make sure you wire up the bottom tone knob so you can get a bit of roll-off of the bridge pup. It's a very easy mod. Even a Strat bridge pup can sound a tad harsh. Leo wanted it that way, but still...
But I love the Telecaster too. The first one I ever played - only a couple of years ago in fact, in my long life playing guitar - the first thought I had? Bloody 'ell, this sounds like t'Stratocaster!
Every guitarist needs at least one of each.
I am doing a little conversation with my box kit Squier affinity Strat in a few days. Swap the factory HSS pickups for a SSS setup, driven by a solderless wiring kit with a blend control (from mojotone, as this was the only available in my area), cherry on the cake, all installed on a new pickguard. Expectations are quite high, having two types of guitars in one (wife also happy, me not buying another guitar).
Surprising good tone on the blender
I modded a blender knob to my strat so that the middle pickup is dialed in with the blender and I replaced the standard five way selector switch with a Telecaster three way. So the selector switch positions are exactly the same as on a Telecaster and you can dial in the middle pickup in any position.
I was JUST wondering if I should set up my Strat to have a blender config, then this shows up in my notifications. Nice.
The strat is pretty convincing of sounding like a tele, (great job by the way) but in my opinion, the strat, sounds like a strat. I love both guitars either way. Nice telecaster by the way!
First....i did 100% on the test !
But my input is that the Tele bridge is fatter so to do a perfect
comparison then you need to change that Strat Bridge pickup
and put a Tele one !
Then It is a fair game !!!
Also i have read that that Tele bridge plate is part of the Tele sound
anf that in the old days it was made out of Brass !!
Now days it is an alloy plate !!!
dnantis the strat still sounds like a strat with this mod imo. But I like it the way it is!
I had the kit installed a year ago! Very Happy. Also, went to Vintage Noiseless Pickups. My 300 dollar Mexican Strat now sounds better than my Gibson Les Paul.
That bright Strat tone was unmistakable. I preferred the Tele.
I guess one could slightly roll off the tone and get a warmer tone from the Strat. :)
Great video!
How would that work on a hss Stratocaster?
Robert Carper I do know that Obsidian Wire make a special blender kit for HSS Strats. Not sure how it would sound though ☺
Darrell Braun Guitar I think it would be very interesting to try and blend some neck pickup to my humbucker!!!!
+Robert Carper Obsidian Wire do make a HSS blender kit, but I haven't tried it!
Darrell Braun Guitar have to dwelth into this experiment ...yahhh...more is good!
Tele still sounds like a tele. There is more to the sound than just bridge + neck... I could easily tell on both tests.
Ted Schoenling Yeah, the unmistakable Tele chime.
Jacob Reece Well, the Tele was warmer while the Strat was brighter.
it was still close
Same, I'm not an expert, but the Strat sounded like a Strat, not like a Tele, well of course a bit different, more teleish, but still Strat beyond doubt.
Agreed.
Great video, Thanks! They sound closer than I thought they would.
I bought the Mojotone Strat Blender for installation on a Squire 50s Classic Vibe, Sherwood Green. I wanted to upgrade the pots and switch, and I liked the idea of the blender also. In the first 30 seconds I could hear the difference, cleaner and warmer, and the pots have a better roll off on the volume, ie going from 10 to 8 does not cut the volume down by 75%.
And as DB said, I never have used the middle tone knob on any guitar, so you are loosing nothing there.
Your guitar channel is best guitar channel. thanks!
I did the blend mod to every Strat Ive owned UNTIL.... I found the Schaller E Type switch that let me have neck and bridge together in the middle position of a 5 way :) Free'd up a pot to install the G&L Passive Treble/Bass tone circuit. Perfect!
I had a US Lone Star Strat which came standard with the 5-way Super switch which allowed for the humbucker to be split in position 2. I rewired the switch to get the back coil of the humbucker (Pearly Gates Plus) in parallel with the neck pick up in position 3 and it sounded very much like a Tele.....plus it was noise cancelling. The only true single coil setting on that guitar was the neck by itself.
(+Russell Wiggins) That sounds awesome!
Yes, it did a good job of sounding like a Tele but that does not matter because it really brought that ice pick bridge pickup to life.
The neck and bridge together sounded sweet.
I am thinking about it long and hard now.
I like the feel of the strat and sound for fast lead but I have always loved the tele fat sound on Rhythm/JJ
I'm a tele guy and could hear a clear difference in both examples. The strat always sounds slankier/scoopier to me. Tele's sound more flat/straightforward (EQ-wise). Love the blend knob idea though. Definitely brings some more versatility to your strat sound. Great vid!
The strat with the Obsidian upgrade just saved me the cost of a tele and a hardshell case.I put the Obsidian with 500k caps in my Bucchass Gplayer TRL strat and it now has so much tonal range I can't put it down!
I don't mind soldering and would love to have seen "how" this is wired up without the Obsidian Wire. Perhaps even a small schematic. But still enjoy your videos. Thanks...
I think it did a pretty good job of sounding like a tele. I missed blind test #2 becuase they sounded so similar. The tele just had that tiny bit more.
Another awesome video Darrell! I must say that this tone blend is very versatile. You kinda get the best of two worlds. This surely inspired me to look into this mod. Do you think it will work for Squiers?
+IV-I-XIV-XIV Thanks!
It would definitely work on a Squier ☺
Years ago I installed a simple switch that connects both bridge and neck pickups. It occurred to me to make it a blender but I figured I’d only use them on or off. Soon I’ll try to connect them also in series an out of phase, endless tone versatility
on the second test i couldnt tell. but i got the first test right. so it did a pretty good job
I had one of these and it is a bit of a mess on-stage. If your are blending the neck pickup and you want a position four you have to move the selector and turn down the tone pot. Sound was killer thow, I ended up using the neck and blended position esclusively.
Aw dude, I loved. I wish you would add a clip of what position 2 and 4 sound like... I'd also love to hear an in series mod on that guitar. All 3 in series would be sick.
I just used a DPDT push button switch to engage my bridge pickup when my neck pickup is selected. That way I can still have a dedicated tone control for my bridge pickup.
+Anthony Jarrah Nice!
This seems like a very useful mod but should I tamper with a $4000 CS strat!?
The Guitar Club depends on how good a luthier you are...
The mod is totally reversible The Guitar Club, so why not? Luthiery doesn't enter into it.
no. buy an MIM strat, used, for $400. use this mod, and you have a second strat, and a tele
Well if you just wanna try this out without real mods to see if it sounds good....you can always switch the lead wires between the middle and the bridge pickup to see if you like the sound........that way your middle position..now engages the bridge pickup....and the 4 position(which was the neck and middle before) now engages the neck and bridge..... so you can get an idea.....
The blender mode though is much more useful cause it allows u to bring just a bit more of the sound of one pickup..not just full on full off....and that helps in so many ways...cause the blender pot on 10 is out of the circuit and your strat functions and sounds as always....only when you start bringing it down it blends the other pickups in.....so you can have the original sounds and quite a few more without changing your guitar or drilling new holes for switches.
@@Dreamdancer11 awesome Idea! To switch bridge middle!
Great & simple review, thank you Darrell! I have a Fender AM Pro 2 HSS that I want to convert to a SSS (I already have a Squier HSS with the Obsidian 7-Way Switch & several dual humbucker guitars so it's kind of redundant). The blender looks like a great option as I don't like the raised tone knob on either push/push or push/pull knobs and I prefer a master tone knob.
Cool! the Strat has even more bite than the Tele. Great video Darrel!
It sounds very close, cool. But I think the fingerboard on them makes a difference. I tried to listen for that difference and it helped more. Maybe there are more things in play.
I own both a Strat and a Tele and couldn't tell the difference. An entertaining and informative video. Are you from Canada originally?
My DonGrosh retro classic have this blender knob by default, it's useful and give you more option about the sound. Although it cannot replace the sound signature from telecaster, I do like the change from other normal strat.
Darell, does the tele have a bridge pickup with a plate behind it? This might affect the tone. Some people think it adds chime to the bridge pickup. Now a blend on a tele would be great to dial in the extra chime on a neck pickup that it too warm.
Picked both of them. The Tele is a little hotter and a little more top end. I always wanted to put a Tele bridge in my start and I might just do that with this mod.
I have done this mod on 3 of my Strats. (Did mine the "old fashioned way" by soldering) It does not sound like a Tele. But it is still super. I love blending in the neck in position 2 so all 3 pups are on! A Tele is a Tele though. They stand alone and this mod is great for your Strat but don't expect it to sound exsctly like a Tele.
I've been listening to other videos of this blender configuration and I'm really intrigued by it. What surprises me is that you didn't show off the all three pickups together sound which I think is one of the coolest aspects of this configuration. I also have found some sites that show off a Dan Armstrong configuration which is similar to this, but puts the pickups in series or parallel with the blender pot. Kind of like that telecaster you showed off with the series design. Would love you to hear you show off this Dan Armstrong option.
Great Review!!! Obsidian kit sounds quality, grabbed DarkMoons Blender kit couple weeks back. Awesome Mod🤘
Great video! Enjoyed it! Have you noticed does it get rid of any single coil hum since more then one pickup is working now?
greetings from colombia love ur vids it sound very similar but teles are unic and you can recognize it instantly
+Daniel Urbina Espitia Thanks Daniel!
I identified each one. It doesn't make it sound like a tele, but still very cool.
The blender mod is maybe the most useful strat mod out there....all your regular strat tones unaltered ....you got a master volume and a master tone.....and when you want some extra ooomp or just a slightly different color you blend pickups together.....plus its non destructive....all wins.
I prefer a Strat over a Tele any day. But that blend control can definitely do the trick in makin' that Strat sound like a Tele. It was kinda hard fer me to tell the difference.
could definitely tell that the tele was way brighter than the blender strat, nonetheless sounded really good
Darrell, could you teach us some "Hip" songs?
+Paul S I haven't typically done song tutorials, but maybe if people are interested I could mix a few in :)
I added a baseplate under my bridge pickup, twice as thick as fralin and those guys sell
. Bought some wax from kroger and wax potted it in a slow cooker. Added a neck on switch for parallel connections, and then i added a bridge in series connection with any pickup selected at the 5 way switch. So i can get the gilmour mod with the neck switch. everything parallel. And i have bridge on, but its series. Anything at he 5 way switch gets put in series with the bridge on the way to the volume pot
. But put the bridge on the 2nd tone control by itself with a 015 tone cap and roll it almost all the way down with the neck tone all the way up, and there my friends.....is the secret TELE twang with its own little secret pocket inside the strat. Think "merle haggard - I think ill just stay here and drink" guiar solo #2. Overdriven Tele twang so thick and juicy your nuts will drop lol
There are some songs that if played with anything other than a TELE violates the Geneva convention, but my guitar just gets dirty looks., They at least give me props on the TWANG as they snub me lol
Great invention, I like it. Is this Obsidian blender device available for lefthanded Strats?
Check out the Dan Armstrong Blender Mod (good walk-through on the breja toneworks channel). Converts a Strat from SSS to HSH, or blend between. Hot humbuckers from relatively regular Strat pickups.
Very nice mod. Strat sounds amazing, Leo would be proud but I have a soft spot for the sound of a Tele.... coming from a die hard LP Standard guy. Think I have an instrumental tonal disorder.
I was just searching to see if there was anyway I could have a Strat with Telly sound. But when I saw the title for a second I thought it was one of those "CAN IT BLEND ?" videos 😉 But as usual it was something I found very interesting. Thanks Darrell 😎 Edit: I just read the reviews of the Custom Blender for Strat and the reviewers really love this mod. The upgrade seems to help a lot. (I'm not affiliated with Obsidian)
Seriously a great video, very informative. Love the sound of the Tele. Love the sound of the Strat. I think a Tele will be my next guitar purchase! Even if I don't MOD a Strat to fit the Tele sound to have most of both. But both in one package would be mint! Good stuff and keep up the great music and video work.
Thanks for the kind words Brian! I really appreciate it :)