Prewired HSS Strat Pickguard
The Ultimate Pickguard for HSS Strat
$465
New & Improved Design
Premier Pro Upgrade Available
Transform your HSS Stratocaster into the powerhouse of your dreams with our HSS Prewired Strat Pickguard. Instantly achieve world-class Fralin tone and discover what you’ve been missing. Expertly crafted using the highest-quality materials possible, we guarantee that our HSS Prewired Strat Pickguard will inspire you for years to come.
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Prewired HSS Strat Pickguard Info:
Want to learn more about our Prewired HSS Strat Pickguard? Here's all the information you'll need:
Features
At Fralin Pickups, we’re always trying to make you sound your best. With our Prewired HSS Pickguard, you can rest assured that you will have the best-sounding pickups available, with the highest-quality parts on the market. And the best part? You get to design it. We guarantee that the unique tone and look will continue to empower you to sound your best.
- Designed by you, expertly crafted by us: the ultimate “Build Your Own” Stratocaster Pickguard
- USA-Made pickups & electronics for superior quality and tone
- Hand-wired with USA-Made vintage cloth lead for a traditional look
- Fully customize your appearance, tone, and wiring for a truly personalized HSS Strat Pickguard
- Hand-assembled signed and dated by our pickguard craftsman
- Backed by our 10-year warranty on materials and craftsmanship
How It's Made:
Sound & Look
You get to design your Prewired HSS Pickguard to your liking, from the ground up. Choose your desired pickups, pickguard look, and wiring. Are you confused about any of the options? Contact Us, and we’ll walk you through it. To help you get started, here are some popular combinations that are guaranteed to sound amazing:
- Blues Special Neck & Middle, Pure PAF Bridge
- Vintage Hot Neck & Middle, Pure PAF Bridge
- Vintage Hot Neck & Middle, Big Single 42 Bridge
- Steel Pole 42 Neck & Middle, Pure PAF Bridge
- Steel Pole 43 Neck & Middle, Modern PAF Bridge
HSS Strat Pickguards can sound a bit daunting, as getting Single Coils and Humbuckers to play nicely can be tricky. Rest assured, we’ll help you craft your dream pickguard and work some magic behind the scenes to ensure all positions are inspiring.
Our USA-Made Pickguards are some of the best in the industry and will fit most Strats*. These are USA-Made standard 11-hole Stratocaster pickguards. We have them available in the following styles and colors for HSS:
Available Pickguard Colors
These are the colors available for our Pickguards.
Note: All of our Tremolo Covers (Backplates) are available in these finishes as well.
Available Strat Cover Colors
These are the cover colors for our Strat Pickups.
Available Humbucker Finishes
These are the cover finish options for our Humbuckers.
Wiring
Customize your pickguard’s wiring by selecting between two powerful wiring options. Select between Fralin Pickups Wiring and Standard Stratocaster® Wiring.
Fralin Pickups Wiring features an intuitive layout: a Master Volume, Master Tone, and a Blender Pot. The Blender Pot delivers incredible versatility by allowing you to combine the Neck and Bridge, for Telecaster-type tones, and more. Fralin Pickups wiring is Lindy’s favorite way to wire a Stratocaster.
Standard Stratocaster Wiring delivers a classic take on the Strat – a Master Volume, Neck & Middle Tone, and a separate Bridge Tone. This wiring allows you to select multiple cap values for a bit more tone versatility.
Custom Requests can be made using the “notes” field.
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 HSS Strat Pickguard FAQ's
Product FAQ's
People frequently ask these questions about our Prewired HSS 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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How long will my Pickguard take?
Since we’re building it from scratch, give us about 7-10 days to put it together. We will always try to get it out beforehand.
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Can you wire it up without the Pickguard?
As it turns out, No. You can purchase an inexpensive pickguard, and you can pull out all the wiring once you receive it to put it in your pickguard. It’s just too time-consuming and unsafe to ship without a solid pickguard holding everything together.
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Can I return my Pickguard?
No. Since these are so custom and made to order, all pickguard sales are final, and not available for exchange or return.
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What output should I choose?
For simplicity, we’re keeping out outputs the stock outputs, but you can always request something different. Let us know in the notes field.
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Why don't I see Ground Jumper wires between all my parts?
The metal shielding connects all metal parts and all parts are properly grounded. If you transfer pickguards, make sure your new pickguard has metal shielding or else you will experience ground issues.
Premium parts. Pro results.
Upgrade our Prewired HSS 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 HSS Strat Pickguard
These are just some of our talented builders that use our Prewired HSS Strat Pickguard
Featured Reviews
Reviews We Worked Hard For, and Are Proud Of
Customer Reviews
69 Genuine Reviews for Prewired HSS Strat Pickguard
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Outstanding pickups and sound quality! Every attention to detail in the build and product, and people I’ve communicated at Fralin with are great.
I have a single complaint also voiced on my first Fralin pick guard build: the pre-built pick guards themselves, the plastic, vinyl pick guard that Fralin uses are in contrast to everything I said about high quality— the pick guards are the cheapest junk imaginable. Why does it matter? The cheap pick guard generates static electricity which is transferred to the pickups, and makes a loud audible crackling sound. I’ve tried adding shielding and replacing screws with no change. I replaced the pick guard with a genuine Fender pick guard, problem solved.
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Really dig it. Got help from the Fralin team to settle on the blues singles and OG PAF. Great combination. Really enjoy all 5 settings. I went with the Fralin wiring and that’s all good too. Only surprise was with how the volume rolls with a fuzz pedal. I did the upgrade volume pot and it doesn’t really clean up the way I would have preferred. All good. Live and learn.
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Buying this set of pickups was one of the best decisions I made in my life as a musician.
These pickups made me fall in love again in my.Fender Strat
Thank you guys for such a great work -
I talked to Lindy on which pickups I should go with beforehand and his recommendation was the Blues in the neck and middle and a PAF in the bridge. I have a few with a PAF style and wanted a little more but also the ability to split the bridge for normal position 2 strat tones. I went with the high output bridge and glad I did. The HO bridge is not as hot as people would think and it very articulate, open and not compressed at all as other HO pickups from other manufacturers. The tone blender pot is a great feature and allows much greater tones and flexibility on the strat. The wiring was done perfectly and I am very happy with my choice.
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I got a pair of vintage hot in the neck and middle, with a pure paf in the bridge and boy oh boy is my strat a killer guitar now! Thanks all at Fralin Pickups for making wonderful pickups, my gigging guitar has reached final form now with this pickguard!
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Wow wow wow! I had a 1993 custom Strat with Texas Special pickups. The guitar just hanging on the wall. It never appealed to me. Changing to an unbucker on the bridge and then Vintage hot was a huge upgrade! The guitar sounds like a million bucks! Clear articulate and with bite! I am a Lindy fan now!
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I’ve been using my pre-wired Fralin HSS pickguard for almost a month now and absolutely love it. I’ve been playing guitar for like 35 years, most of that time using the same two SGs. A few years ago, I bought a limited edition Fender American Professional Stratocaster with a lightweight ash body. The guitar plays great and sounds amazing unplugged—very alive. The problem I had was that every time I played it through an amp, I just wasn’t happy with the sound; it felt uninspiring. I thought I hated Strat pickups because of this and decided to try new ones.
I originally planned to get two humbuckers, but then decided to go with HSS to see if the stock pickups were the problem. I went back and forth with the friendly Fralin staff, asking many questions. I told them the type of music I like to play (70s riff rock, psych, early metal, and punk), and they recommended a Pure PAF humbucker in the bridge and two Blues Specials in the middle and neck. I don’t really play traditional blues, so I was a bit put off by the name, but I liked the idea of higher output and a thicker tone. I ordered the loaded pickguard and received it in the mail after a few weeks.
The pickguard was wired beautifully—truly a piece of art. Installation was easy, thanks to their clear instructions. I was actually stunned at how much I loved the Blues Specials! They were like night and day compared to the stock Fender pickups. It turns out I actually love Strat pickups; I just needed to get a good set. The Pure PAF humbucker is amazing, too!
The pickguard was expensive, but you definitely get what you pay for—100% American-made pieces of art. I’ll be ordering more in the future for my other guitars and basses. Thank you, Fralin—you’re the best!
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Truly unbelievable. Best sounding HSS setup I’ve ever heard. Wish I had more Strats so I could try the rest of your line up.
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As always, Fralin pickups have never let me down. Spoke with the guys with some concerns about my choices I had made prior to ordering. The helped me with my questions on my loaded pickguard and have to say it is absolutely amazing. This is my 3rd loaded pickguard from them and have never been disappointed. Thanks again!
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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 HSS Strat Pickguard.
HARNESSES:
- Our parts and wire lengths are designed to work seamlessly with our Prewired HSS 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.
