Prewired HSS Strat Pickguard

The Ultimate Pickguard for HSS Strat

$395$415

New Soundclips Coming Soon

( 44 genuine reviews)

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.

 

 

 

 

Options

Select options for our Prewired HSS Strat Pickguard:

Select Options Above To Display Add-Ons

Add A Cover To Humbucker?

Customize your look further. Matching screws included.

Left Handed Pickguard

If you want your pickguard Left-Handed, we can do it! Selecting this option removes all Push-Pull Pot modifications.

Volume Pot Push-Pull Mods

Add an extra dimension of tone by modifying your Volume Pot with a Push / Pull Pot. Please use the “Additional Information” field below to tell us how you want it to work. Choose between the Bright Switch and the Engage / Disengage Volume Kit.

Tone Pot Push-Pull Mods

Add even further functionality to your guitar with a Tone Pot modification. Choose between the Bright Switch and Two-Tone Cap Mod.

Tone Cap

Select your Tone Cap(s). Please be sure to let us know where each tone cap goes if selecting different values. If selecting higher output pickups, be advised the Magic Cap will not work normally.

Browse additional Add-Ons, like Output Jacks, Tremolo Covers, Modifications, and more. The Baseplate and Volume Kit can add tonal functionality to your Prewired Pickguard.

Additional Info:

To speed up your pickguard, please include any additional information here. If you have selected more than one Tone Cap, let us know where each value goes.

Notice

Due to the nature of Raw Nickel, Raw Nickel may contain slight cosemetic defects or abrasions.

Recommendation

We recommend using 2-Conductor With Shield Lead when purchasing a single pickup. 2-Conductor lead allows you to reverse the phase should you have phase issues. Learn About Lead Choice

Notice

While we do our best to match double-white bobbins, there may be subtle differences in color due to different dye lots from the manufacturer.

Upgrade To A Prewired Pickguard

Express Checkout

Skip the checkout and buy now. Purchases made through Express Checkout are bound by our Terms and Conditions.

More Payment Options Offered At Checkout:

Heads up!

We may make minor changes to your order to optimize your pickguard's wiring with your pickup selection. However, we will not make any drastic changes without your consent.

What's Included?

Fully prewired and assembled and includes a set of Knobs, a Matching Switch Tip, and Mounting Hardware.

Prewired HSS Strat Pickguard Info:

Want to learn more about our Prewired HSS Strat Pickguard? Here's all the information you'll need:

Prewired HSS Strat Pickguard 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

 

 

 

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:

  1. Blues Special Neck & Middle, Pure PAF Bridge
  2. Vintage Hot Neck & Middle, Pure PAF Bridge
  3. Vintage Hot Neck & Middle, Big Single 42 Bridge
  4. Steel Pole 42 Neck & Middle, Pure PAF Bridge
  5. 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.

CHOOSE YOUR PICKGUARD:

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:

Fralin Pickguard Colors

*Be sure to check your Stratocaster to make sure how many mounting holes you have


CHOOSE YOUR KNOB AND COVER COLOR:

We have White, Parchment, Mint Green, Yellow, and Black covers and Knobs available. Note: we only have plastic knobs available.

 

Lindy Fralin Strat Covers In A Line

 

 

Add Ons

We have a ton of add-ons available for your pickguard. Want to coil-split your bridge pickup? How about our Volume Kit? Need new pickguard screws? Just let us know!

MATCHING BACKPLATES:

Complete your look with a matching backplate for your Strat. We have matching backplates for all of our pickguard colors.

Fralin Pickups Matching Backplates

 

 

 

 

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.

Lindy Fralin Wiring

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.

Standard Strat Wiring

Custom Requests can be made using the “notes” field.

FAQs

  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • What Pots should I use? Most of the time, 250K Split Shaft pots will work best for guitars with single-coil pickups and plastic knobs. If you have metal knobs at home, go with Solid Shaft Pots.
  • What if I don’t see what I want? Use the “Notes” field on the checkout screen to type in any special requests. Use this field to describe how you want it wired as well if you wish to have anything customized. We’ll make it to your specs.
  • What does a Magic Cap do? Our Magic Cap is a very low capacitance tone cap. It doesn’t roll off highs as much as it seems to boost the mids. This works well on the bridge pickup only.
  • What does a Blender Pot do? Our Blender Pot takes the place of Tone #2, and it allows you to blend between the Neck and Bridge. You can get all three pickups on with a Blender Pot.
  • Why don’t I see Ground Jumper wires between all my parts? Our pickguards have a metal shielding that connects all of the metal parts; thus we don’t need to use jumper wires.

 

 

Installation

Check out our installation guide below to put your new pickguard in! With 20 minutes a few easy steps, you can get your pickguard in your guitar and start rocking out with some of the best sounding pickups in the world!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tech Specs

Coming Soon

We don't have Tech Specs at the moment, but we will have them up soon!

Prewired HSS Strat Pickguard FAQ's

General FAQs

Here are quick answers to common questions we get:

Customer Reviews

44 Genuine Reviews for Prewired HSS Strat Pickguard

  1. Blair Latham

    Verified Purchase

    Being a professional sax player and only a learning guitarist (6 or 7rs in) I’m somewhat new to the in’s and out’s of the guitar world. Loving more and more the overall stratocaster vibe, I wanted to get the MIM strat I have cranking instead of buying a pro one, and was recommended Fralin pickups (and in particular the Blues Specials) by a killer guitarist I have played with a lot in Mexico (Bernardo Ron). They do not disappoint! Having the good fortune to have access to top horns I can only so that playing my strat is now akin to playing a Selmer Mark 6 or Cannonball Adderly era Super 20 King, it’s an instrument as it should be with all the beauty that that implies, and if it doesn’t sound good it’s all on you.
    Thanks guys, great great work!

  2. Zach

    Verified Purchase

    I ordered high-output strat in neck, steel pole 43 in middle, modern PAF in bridge. The high-output strat in the neck position sounds amazing with some overdrive through my hand-wired AC15, I mean better than any guitar I have ever played. The modern PAF sounds awesome with distortion, ie RAT type pedals. All also sound excellent clean.

    The only reason I would say 4 stars is the pickguard, which has a noticeable gap around the covered humbucker, more than what I would consider normal. Will need to replace it at some point.

  3. Derrick Ambrosino

    Verified Purchase

    I sincerely could not be happier with my Fralin purchase. I happened upon a set of Pure PAFs at a great local shop and threw them in a gifted and inexpensive guitar and was so impressed that I turned to Fralin for my Strat upgrade project. Beautiful solid pick-guard pre-wired with Blues in the neck, Real 54’s in the middle, and a pure PAF split-able humbucker in the bridge. Ability to select each pot and customize them was made silly-easy with the experts at Fralin doing all the wiring for me. I’ve been playing my Strat (to the detriment of my other guitars) almost exclusively for the past 2 months now and DAILY I am impressed with these pups, always finding new and beautiful tone in the positions and tone/volume knobs. Fralin pickups are worth every penny!!!

  4. James Carter

    Verified Purchase

    Best! Turned my strat into the machine it was meant to be

  5. Steven Shults

    Verified Purchase

    Stellar

    Pros: Too many to list here. I’m sure I haven’t even discovered all the pros yet. Cons: Now I want Fralins in all my guitars. (IoW: I can’t think of any cons.) Stop reading reviews and start your order. 🙂

  6. Randy Mantei

    Verified Purchase

    Great communication and customer service.

  7. James Carter

    Verified Purchase

    Worth it! Turned an average strat into a legend. Worth every penny

  8. James Larson

    Verified Purchase

    Great Quality and Easy Install
    I have been so impressed with my prewired pickguard. Also very happy with the professional communication when they wanted to run something by me to make sure that I was getting exactly what I wanted. Install was super easy and my guitar sounds wonderful! Would definitely recommend.

  9. Frank Leonardis

    Verified Purchase

    Quality, Tone and Customer Service!!!
    There’s no question of the tone and quality of Fralin’s work. That is proven time and again with each product I buy. Coupled with professionalism and respect and patience and communication is a recipe for the ultimate customer experience!!! Thank you all at Fralin!!! I’ll be back four more soon!!!

  10. Randall Taggart

    Verified Purchase

    The pickups sound great and have the tone we were looking for but the push-pull pot is really difficult to actuate and your fingers slip off the dial subsequently – otherwise all good

  11. Chris Rose

    Can’t install, unfortunately, it does not fit my Fender Pro HSS. The bridge pickup is way too big. For the route

  12. Kyle Wolowiec

    Verified Purchase

    Love it! Sounds amazing. Love it. Might get another one in the future.

  13. Blake Minklein

    Verified Purchase

    HSS Pickguard!

    I already knew that I love LF pickups, I have bought them a few times before. This is the first time getting a complete pickguard and it was totally worth it. The sound is amazing, the quality is amazing and I would definitely buy another one when the time arises!

  14. Kaleb Herndon

    Verified Purchase

    Exactly What I Wanted

    I purchased a prewired H/S/S pickguard with 2 vintage hots and a big single 42. I have never liked HSS setups on guitars because I don’t think that most humbuckers go well in them. They are nearly always too compressed or hot for my style of playing. I also didn’t want a normal SSS because I never use the single coil bridge, even with a baseplate. Too noisy. So I got a big single to try and capture the uncompressed sound and feel of a single coil but the silence of a humbucker. It sounds perfect. I just told the Fralin company what my guitar was made out of and let them choose the wind. I had a set of player strat pickups in it and these blow those out of the water. I used to have to “tame” my strat with the tone and volume knobs to get rid of that ice-pick sound. Now, I usually don’t roll the tone down because there simply is no ice-pick. At all. Gone. It just sounds like a glassy, chimey, airy strat. I really couldn’t be happier. I also ordered during the covid-19 crisis and they still had very impressive turn around times. Highly recommended.

  15. Timothy Wirth

    Exactly What I Wanted

    I purchased a prewired H/S/S pickguard with 2 vintage hots and a big single 42. I have never liked HSS setups on guitars because I don’t think that most humbuckers go well in them. They are nearly always too compressed or hot for my style of playing. I also didn’t want a normal SSS because I never use the single-coil bridge, even with a baseplate. Too noisy. So I got a big single to try and capture the uncompressed sound and feel of a single coil but the silence of a humbucker. It sounds perfect. I just told the Fralin company what my guitar was made out of and let them choose the wind. I had a set of player strat pickups in it and these blow those out of the water. I used to have to “tame” my strat with the tone and volume knobs to get rid of that ice-pick sound. Now, I usually don’t roll the tone down because there simply is no ice-pick. At all. Gone. It just sounds like a glassy, chimey, airy strat. I really couldn’t be happier. I also ordered during the covid-19 crisis and they still had very impressive turn around times. Highly recommended.

  16. Brandon Lund

    Verified Purchase

    Astonishing!

    2017 American Professional Strat. The Tim Shaw single coils in it were pretty legit, but I wanted a Strat with a humbucker, so I decided to convert mine with a new loaded pickguard. I shopped it for a while and actually played a Duncan loaded Strat, but when a friend let me play his ‘87 Strat with Fralin Blues Special single coils in the neck and middle, I knew that was the sound I wanted. Once I installed the pickguard (easy install if you’re even kind of good with a soldering iron), I was instantly stunned about what those pickups did. Articulate notes and undertones come out in a good way! Add some gain and the single coils range from a warm and fat clean to a lightning sizzle with a turn of the volume knob. I chose the 8.2K Pure PAF, thinking that a little lower output humbucker would play better with the output of the single coils. I love what that pickup does. If I am gained up, there are moments that the Strat will get a Les Paul-like growl. If a player wanted to go with a higher output humbucker, I do not think you could be dissatisfied with the outcome. I’m very pleased with my purchase. This modification to my $1400.00 Strat makes it feel and sound like a guitar that came out of the custom shop at twice the price. I even called and spoke to a representative at Fralin with a few questions about the choice of capacitors and that guy was awesome. (Sorry I don’t recall his name.) The experience was great all together. I’ll definitely do business with Fralin again!

  17. Paul Daly

    Verified Purchase

    Simply the best pickups I have used, really love them…they sound great with some overdrive, nice crunch if you need to and clean up really nice. I have single coil blues specials on the neck/middle with modern PAF on the bridge for the Strat. Also did a blender on tone 2 with push/pull on tone 1. With the Tele I have blues specials on on both bridge and neck. I get compliments all the time on the overall tone for both guitars. If you are on the fence, get off the fence and go for it you will not be disappointed.

  18. Thomas Dziallo

    Verified Purchase

    The Hiwatt of pre-wired pickguards
    Amazing work. The only problem I had was the height adjustment screws for the humbucking pickup were too long and the pickguard would not lay flat. Some trouble removing the screws from the pickup, but once that was done and shorter screws were installed it was all good.

  19. Alex

    Hello there,
    I have a set of Vintage Hots and a Standard Humbucker on my Stratocaster. Absolutely great pickups!! My luthier is an official dealer of yours and we have used all the recommended specs but I think that the humbucker sounds kinda muddy.. Do you happen to have any ideas about what can we do in order to fix that? Thank you very much, greetings from Greece!!!

  20. Pekka Viljanen

    Verified Purchase

    Extremely great pickups and prewired pickguard.

More Reviews:

Add a review

Leave a review for our Prewired HSS Strat Pickguard

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

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.

STAY IN TOUCH