Crayon Sky Music

How can I scratch a guitar DJ style like Tom Morello?

I did research and found out that you need a guitar with two humbucker pickups and two tone knob. I have one humbucker pickup and only one tone knob (Fender Squier Strato-caster Obey). My amplifier has a few effects, and that’s it. Is there anyway I can even play like Tom Morello without having to buy more equipment? Thanks

Hello, John! One way you could do this is to mute one of your pickups (perhaps one that you do not use), rendering one position on your pickup selector switch to be completely silent. Assuming you have the in-line import five-way switch (with the Obey HSS Collage or Dissent pickup arrangement), you could (for example) eliminate any sound coming from position 3 (by disconnecting the middle pickup “hot” lead from the pickup selector switch terminal); then by switching rapidly between positions 2 (normally the combined bridge and middle pickups) and 3 (middle pickup, now silent) you would produce the scratching effect (of course, it will wear out the switch faster!). This should be as simple as cutting the wire leading from the middle pickup to the selector switch terminal (see http://www.squierguitars.com/pdf/current/Strat/Obey%20Series%20Strats-%20Service.pdf for the wiring diagram). Another more complicated method would be to convert one of the tone controls into a volume pot (same part, different function), which would require changing the five-way switch from the in-line import style to the more standard opposing-terminal Fender arrangement. This replacement switch would allow for the custom wiring arrangement needed for the second volume pot wiring scheme. The remaining tone potentiometer could even be wired as a master tone control. If you want to take a completely different approach or install a separate killswitch, take a look at http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20091208174030AAOJzsZ , http://www.stinkfoot.se/andreas/diy/mods/killswitch.htm , and http://www.instructables.com/id/Guitar-Killswitch-Strat.-design/ for some additional information. If you don’t feel comfortable performing any of these modifications yourself, take it to a qualified shop. Let me know if I can help further. Best regards, Dana

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