Prewired Strat Pickguard
The Ultimate Prewired Pickguard Choice
Don’t settle for some one-size-fits-all generic pickguard. Design your own with the finest-quality materials in the industry. Our Strat Prewired Pickguards are the perfect product for anyone who wants the Fralin Tone, instantly. We use the finest materials available: from CTS® Pots, USA-Made Pickguards, and CRL® Switches.
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Jump to Sound Clips and more info
Our Pickups, Your Personality.
Want to learn more about our Prewired Strat Pickguard? Here's all the information you'll need:
Features
At Fralin Pickups, we’re always trying to make you sound better. The Fralin Prewired Pickguard offers the best tone and highest quality available. We use our world-famous pickups with the best ingredients we can get. We hand-wire our prewired pickguard with painstaking attention to detail.
Furthermore, you can customize your pickguard exactly how you want it! With this Prewired Pickguard, you can have the famous Fralin tone and ease of mind. All you need to do is solder a few wires, screw it in, string it up, and you’re off rocking!
- The ultimate “Build Your Own” Stratocaster Pickguard
- USA-Made pickups & electronics for superior quality
- Hand-wired with USA-Made vintage cloth lead for a traditional look
- Fully customizable – from appearance to function
- Features a variety of Push-Pull mods for a personalized tone
- Hand-assembled signed and dated by our pickguard craftsman
- 10-year warranty on materials and craftsmanship
Sound & Video
Load your pickguard with a Complete Set or Mix and Match between our entire Strat® pickup line! Check out our sound samples below.
Sound Samples for Prewired Strat Pickguard:
Additional Outputs
We have 7 outputs of our Prewired Strat Pickguard. Compare them below.
About these Sound Clips:
All sound samples are played from Neck Position First and Bridge Position Last.
Videos for Prewired Strat Pickguard:
Appearance
We only use the finest-quality, USA-Made pickguards available. Our pickguards are standard USA-Made 11-hole Stratocaster pickguards, unless you choose Single Ply, which is an 8-hole vintage-style pickguard. See below for the color options:
Installation Instructions
Installation of our Prewired Stratocaster Pickguard is a breeze, and most can handle it with basic soldering skills. If you are uncomfortable with soldering or working on a guitar, take the pickguard and your guitar to a local, experienced luthier for installation.
Installation Overview:
Remove your existing strings, pickguard, and output jack (if replacing), and replace with a new Pickguard and Output Jack. Test the installation with a "tap test" by tapping on the pickups while plugged into your amp on low volume to make sure the installation was successful before stringing your guitar.
Tools Needed
- Soldering Iron & Solder (We use Kester 60/40)
- Phillips head screwdriver (For removing pickguard, backplate, and output jack mount)
- Wire cutters (for trimming excess wire, if needed)
- 1/2" Hex Nut Driver (for uninstalling and installing the output jack)
Step 1: Remove Strings and Prep For Installation
Perform the following steps to get started:
- Remove the strings from your instrument
- Optional: Unscrew the tremolo cover and save all screws in a safe place - See note below
- Unscrew the Jack Mount plate to expose the output jack
- Use the 1/2" Hex Nut Driver to unscrew the hex nut while holding the output jack from the back to uninstall the output jack from the plate
- Unsolder the leads connecting the output jack (if replacing the jack, simply snip the leads off)
Step 2: Uninstall the existing pickguard
Next, simply unscrew all pickguard screws and put in a safe place. The pickguard should wiggle free and lift out of the guitar.
Cut or unsolder any of the ground connections holding the pickguard in the guitar. You will need to solder these connections back on the new pickguard.
With all the Ground connections removed from the pickguard, you may now remove the existing pickguard from your guitar.
Step 3: Install your new pickguard
With the old pickguard out of the way, we can now proceed to install the new pickguard! It's a good idea to lay the pickguard down to make sure everything fits and the holes line up. If the mounting holes do not line up, mark the new location and drill a 1/16" pilot hole for the new screw location. This is a simple, non-invasive way to make sure the new pickguard fits perfectly.
Here's how to wire up the new pickguard:

Install the Jack to the Jack Plate, wire it up, screw everything back in, and plug the guitar in before stringing it up to make sure everything works.
Final Step: Adjust Pickup Heights
Finally, adjust the height of your pickups to the appropriate height. We have a whole guide for you to follow here. Here's a cheat sheet to get it up and running quickly:

Prewired Strat Pickguard FAQ's
Product FAQ's
People frequently ask these questions about our Prewired Strat Pickguard. If you have a question that you don't see listed here, click "Ask" in the Quick Links section above.
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Can I return my pickguard?
No. Your pickguard is completely custom-built for you, so we cannot accept returns.
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What warranty applies to the pickguard?
10 Years on our Pickups, 1 Year on electronics, parts, and pots.
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What does the baseplate do?
The Baseplate adds a touch of power and output to the Bridge pickup. This mod is removable and is only available on certain models.
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What does the Bright Switch mod do?
The Bright Switch modification adds a bit of clarity, brightness and output when you pull up on the push-pull modification. This mod only affects pickups installed with 250K pots, so it won’t work on our Steel Pole 43’s and High Outputs.
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What does the Volume Kit do?
The Volume Kit (or Treble Bleed circuit) prevents your tone from getting darker when you roll your volume down.
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Does my Pickguard come with Hardware?
Yes! We ship all pickguards with the screws needed to install your pickguard.
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Do you sell Matching Backplates (Tremolo cover)?
Yes, we do! Simply check “Add matching backplate” in the “Options & Upgrades” box.
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Can I send you my pickguard to wire up?
Yes, you can! Order a Prewired Pickguard from us and let us know in the “Notes” field that you are sending us a Pickguard. Don’t select Tortoiseshell / Pearloid options as they are more expensive. Reference your invoice number on the new pickguard you send to us. Please note, you do not get a refund if you send your own pickguard in.
Premium parts. Pro results.
Upgrade our Prewired Strat Pickguard with the best pots in the industry.
We are thrilled to announce the latest upgrade to our Prewired Lineup: Emerson Custom’s Premier Pro Pots! Our partnership with Emerson Custom guarantees that your next Prewired Pickguard, Control Plate or Harness will feature the highest-quality pots available in the industry.
At Fralin Pickups, we are committed to sourcing the best parts, and when it comes to pots, Emerson Custom’s Premier Pro Pots are the finest we have ever used. These pots boast a sturdy build quality, a custom audio taper, and exceptionally tight tolerances. You can confidently upgrade, knowing that each pot is reliable and built to last a lifetime.
Need Guidance?
Contact our Prewired Craftsman Directly
Builders Love Our Prewired Strat Pickguard
These are just some of our talented builders that use our Prewired Strat Pickguard
Featured Reviews
Reviews We Worked Hard For, and Are Proud Of
Customer Reviews
332 Genuine Reviews for Prewired Strat Pickguard
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Love the tone. I wish I would have upgraded all the potentiometers, the standard ones feel cheap. The assembly was great and the sound is really nice.
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These pickups provide god like clean tones. I’m beyond grateful! You guys kick ass!
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Best pickups I have ever tried. The pick guard being the same design and screw hole number did not fit my strat but it’s not Fralins fault. Two screws were slightly off from the holes, keep in mind this was a master built guitar and they are all different.
I used my original pick guard and installed the pickups with much delight. They are the best sounding single coils I have ever heard and the guitar came to life. In fact I have another custom shop strat I am going to be ordering a full set for as well. Thank you Team Fralin!
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I wanted some new mojo for my first guitar, a late 80’s lefty mij Fernandes le2 strat. The visual aesthetic in all black is fully present, but the sound of these blues wound split blade pickups (along with the mustard cap and treble bleed) is a gaaame changer both in tone and lack of noise. Ready for the next 40 years ?
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I’ll give 4 stars for quality. I emailed ahead and asked recommendations between the blues special set and vintage Strat set. I had read a number of times online to get the blues special bridge and vintage neck and middle. My email was answered back recommending stick with one type and with what I had mentioned tone wise, was told to get the blues special set. Quality of course is second to none. But I think I wish I didn’t listen and went with the vintage neck and middle. The middle isn’t bad but I’m finding the neck to be dark and not as clear and articulate as I’d like. I didn’t go with the blender pot, I’d be more unhappy. The blender at least allows me to add some of the bridge to the neck clearing it up. The bridge with added baseplate is excellent!
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You wanted me to let you know how I liked the loaded pickguard with the vintage hot pickups that I was putting in my Masterbuilt Todd Krause Clapton strat. The loaded pickguard had one hole slightly off and that was not a big deal. I stripped the Clapton pick guard and put all the Fralin components on it.
I think the masterbuilts might be hand drilled possibly to where there is some variance. The hole was off near a screw width. But the pickups are so perfect and unreal and I love them and the blend pot. I may be ordering a set for my other strat soon.
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I just received the prewired strat pickguard I ordered. Looks great!!! Can’t wait to finish this build. A buddy and I decided to start building guitars and the Fralin name came up and I decided to use your pickups on our builds. We have completed one tele with your pickups and it sounds great. Thanks for the quality pickups.
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Purchased the Blues Special single coil pickups mounted on a single-ply 8-hole pickguard. Pickups and wiring are as expected – sound amazing and professionally wired. Where Fralin fell short is in the pickguard. Very cheap thin plastic and received an 11-hole instead of the 8-hole I had ordered. Would buy the pickups again for sure but they could do better with the cheaper stuff. Purchased a WD bakelite pickguard to replace the Fralin one and it’s night and day difference in quality. Hope this helps someone, cheers!
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Hey Rodrigo, we’re sorry about the pickguard mix up! FYI, We get all of our pickguards from WD Music.
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I recently purchased a pickguard from y’all and I thought what the heck I’ll throw in the upgraded Emerson pots to see how they are.
Well long story short, they are so good I now have to get them for my other guitars.
They have a great solid feel when turning, not loose or flimsy at all but also not too stiff. The taper feels just right for the volume pot on a strat with no treble bleed.
Thank you for introducing me to these!
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Put together a partscaster and ordered a loaded pick guard with vintage hots in the neck and middle and blues with steel plate in the bridge. Brought it in to my local music store to try out amps and the workers said it was the best sounding Strat in the building. Fralin is Best in the Business!!!!
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Wow! These things sound really amazing! Serious strat twang
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I ran the wired Pickguard with Real 54s on my Standard strat and holy cow, this thing really came to life! I played it for 3 hours straight right after install. ha. So worth it!!
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NOTES ON COLOR:
- Please note that while we strive to provide the most accurate color representation possible, different computer monitors, manufacturer dye lots, and other circumstances may prevent the color from matching perfectly.
- Since we cannot guarantee color matching, we cannot provide a return to you if you are unhappy with the color matching of our Prewired Strat Pickguard.
HARNESSES:
- Our parts and wire lengths are designed to work seamlessly with our Prewired Strat Pickguard. Due to various guitar and instrument designs, we cannot guarantee that our parts will fit properly, and due to this, we do not offer Wiring Harnesses.













