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
70 Genuine Reviews for Prewired HSS Strat Pickguard
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Customer service is absolutely top notch. Tyler went out of his way to help me with an issue with my pre-wired guard. Always prompt replies and expert knowledge is solving the problem.
Now my guard sings like a bird!
And that unbucker… oh man -
This is my third Fralin purchase. P92’s in an Epiphone Special which are simply amazing, a set of T-style pickups in a G&L ASAT to replace the stock MFD’s that I could never bond with and now a loaded strat pick guard. I have owned 4 Strats over time and sold them all because everything seemed weak. I finally found a guitar I was happy with and the Fralin pickups are well balanced and very dynamic with the 5 way switch. For my next project guitar, I’m going to try the Big Singles.
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the pickups sound great and everything works as well as you could imagine. The team was very nice and helpful when designing the switching system. The pickups sound amazing and everything feels great – the pots are super smooth and the 5 way switch feels really solid and not floppy when switching positions.
Only have 2 cons: The 2nd tone pot didnt quite fit into my MIM Strat body, but it was a easy enough fix only needed to widen the route by a tiny bit. And the pickguard could come with some more shielding to prevent noise
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I bought a loaded pick guard with vintage hot singles and a PAF in the bridge. The installation was easy and the improvement in sound quality is amazing. I can cover a very wide variety of music with one guitar without sacrificing tone. I love it.
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I installed a prewired HSS Strat pickguard on my Fender Jimi Hendrix Lefthand – Vintage Hot, Blues Special and Modern PAF in the bridge position. The sound of all pickups is outstanding and I consider this guitar now my best sounding guitar. It was a good guitar before but now it is just incredible. Thank you Fralin Team for making these suberb products also available for left handed guitars.
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Couldn’t be more happy with this prewired set. It’s even better than I thought it would be, at an extremely reasonable price, worth every penny. EVERY position on the 5-way toggle switch is Amazing!! Great investment and upgrade to my ‘89 Stratocaster
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Incredible tone…..more than I expected.
Amazing build quality
Very simple to install and set up with the provided instructions.
Highly recommend to anyone looking for great tone. -
I have used various pickups but I didn’t like the fender noiseless pickups, so I replaced them with Freilin pickups.
I love it. -
Great Pickups. I got vintage hots and a humbucker for bridge. for Very easy to install, only took about 30 minutes. The sound is killer, clear, articulate tones. The PAF bucket is a nice touch. I have already gigged with them 5-6 times this past month. I just ordered another set, vintage hots and steel pole 43 for bridge.
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Simply said , Love it !!!
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Awesome. I ordered the pre-wired blues special SSH with pure PAF. I could don’t be happier with the Tone.
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Seriously awesome pickups! Fitment and installation was a breeze. Vintage hots in the neck and middle position are the best single coils I have ever heard. Add the pure paf in the bridge and you got a party!
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The best I could ask for! I baught my fender delux hss in 2004, and it never sounds the way I wanted. during the years I repalced the Pickups so many times, seymour duncan’s, Dimarzio… I am not saying anything bad about other brands… I am just saying that the fralin pickups, are the exact sound that I was looking for!!! they are so natural, cleen and not compresed, like other brands.. they saved my guitar and raised it to another level!!!
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Everything about the prewired pickguard was phenomenal. What we hear is subjective so I’m not one to say that a certain pickup is definitely better than the other but there is great craftsmanship here and, to my ears, the pickups are great. I will always use fralin for my pickup needs.
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Fralin Pickups are the best, hands down. Every guitar I have, and purchase now I swap out the pick ups with his regardless of what they are.
I have full pre-wired Pigars and I also buy individual, they’re always top quality and top sounding pickups -
amazing product. hand tailored to my requests. I have 4 guitars with various configurations of Fralin products, and my praise can’t be effusive enough. don’t think, order.
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Fantastic pickups. Love the Real 54s, this is my second set. Bridge pickup sounds amazing. Just what I was looking for to upgrade my 2007 American Deluxe HSS Strat. Excellent service to help me make sure I got the electronic set up exactly how I wanted it. The bridge pickup matches output well with the neck and middle pickup. Fantastic “Fender” Strat sound where the neck pickup has a clean, articulate sound but still has that tubular vintage sound I love so much. The bridge vintage PAF sounds fantastic with just a little bit fuller sound over a single coil. However, still very clear ,chimey, and articulate like I was looking for. Only gripe from me is the pickup covers do not match color wise as close as I would like, but not a big problem at all as still looks great. Thank you for another fantastic loaded pick guard.
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Holy smokes, changed my strat like night and day, a whole new guitar. I don’t know why Fender doesn’t just come with Fralin Pickups, such a no brainer. Definitely would recommend, to everybody! I now have 2 strats and 1 tele with Fralin Pickups, best investment ever, I couldn’t be happier.
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I own a 2018 Fender American Elite HSS Strat that I considered selling as I just didn’t care for the sound the stock pickups provided. The guitar featured Fender’s S1 and “passing lane” switches and in theory it’s a very versatile instrument. Except I truly thought it sounded terrible. But the guitar was beautiful and I decided to upgrade it with Lindy’s pre-wired HSS pickguard. I wish I would have done it sooner since she mostly just sat in the closet for the past 3 1/2 years.
To be sure this is an expensive upgrade; but the quality, service and advice from Lindy’s folks and most importantly the sound of his pickups is worth every penny to me. I actually have two other guitars with Fralin pickups so I know how special they are. I ordered the pickguard using the on-line form and within a day or so received an email asking to clarify a couple of things. I play mostly classic rock and blues with this guitar and they suggested I install their Blues Specials in the neck and middle positions and a Pure PAF in the bridge.
Once the order got to the shop I received a phone call from Zack, who had a few suggestions based on my component selections and how I would be playing to make sure I would get the most useful product. Zack was a great guy btw. The communication from Fralin was excellent and the pickguard was completed quicker than I expected. It is exactly as I hoped. The work is immaculate. The layout is perfect and most importantly the guitar frickin’ rips! It is far more versatile now than it was out of the factory.
I ordered mine with a coil split for the PAF and a blender pot. And a few other add ons. I simply could not be happier with my Fralin Strat! Get one and transform your strat.
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Absolutely incredible!
I love my loaded pick guard. I went with the HSS variant with the vintage hot single coil in the neck, the blues special in the middle, and the modern PAF in the bridge. I also added the coil split, the two tone push pull, blender pot, and treble bleed circuit.
As a result, my Strat is now the most versatile guitar I have ever owned, and it sounds amazing!
The blender pot is a revelation for me. I love being able to select the two outside pickups, or all three at once, and blending in how much.
Highly recommended!
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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.
