Hallmark '67 pickup in a Squier Strat (with video)
Posted: Mon Sep 14, 2015 2:53 pm
(I'm not sure if this is the right board for this, but it does relate to Hallmark, so here goes nothing...)
I'll try to keep the text brief. I'm a Ramones fan, and for a while now I've wanted to customize a guitar for getting a Johnny Ramone-esque tone on a low budget. I have never modified a guitar in my life, so I knew this was going to be a bit of an adventure. Here's the finished guitar:
After looking at some options, I decided to go with the popular Squier Bullet Strat — a cheap entry level guitar. Along with their good reputation for build quality, these little strats usually have basswood bodies and maple necks, just like Johnny's Mosrite Ventures II. I opted for the Green Metallic color.
The single bridge pickup is a Hallmark '67 wired up to a 500K volume pot. I went with simple electronics since I've never done this before. I purchased a cheap "blank" scratchplate online and cut out holes for the pot and pickup. I also painted the headstock black and replaced the stock Squier tuners with some Kluson-style tuners. Eventually I'll probably replace the nut and tremolo, too.
I forgot to take a picture of the guitar before I started working on it, so for a clear comparison, here's an image of the stock Bullet Strat vs the same image Photoshopped to look like my customized version:
-
For a 300$ project and first modified guitar, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. It feels good to play, and it actually stays in tune. The Hallmark pickup is fantastic — I think it's warmer and fatter than the stock bridge pickup was, and fairly bright with the 500K pot. I'll be recording some original songs with this guitar in the future, and maybe some Ramones covers. Here's a quick clip of me playing Blitzkrieg Bop to showcase my current favorite recorded tone out of everything I've tried. The amp is a cheap Line 6 Spider IV 15
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Upz__XpQLYg
I plan to upgrade my amp at some point, but for now I'm going to mess around with the settings and EQ to see if I can improve some of that muddiness. The tone I'm currently getting reminds me of Johnny's guitar sound on the Ramones' debut album specifically, and I really like it. Something reminiscent of his sound is really what I was going for. For comparison, here's an isolated clip of Johnny Ramone playing Blitzkrieg Bop from the original 1976 studio version (IMO, this still sounds better. Can't beat a real Mosrite/Marshall combo, lol)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oyTjKgR8aU
Thanks for reading!
I'll try to keep the text brief. I'm a Ramones fan, and for a while now I've wanted to customize a guitar for getting a Johnny Ramone-esque tone on a low budget. I have never modified a guitar in my life, so I knew this was going to be a bit of an adventure. Here's the finished guitar:
After looking at some options, I decided to go with the popular Squier Bullet Strat — a cheap entry level guitar. Along with their good reputation for build quality, these little strats usually have basswood bodies and maple necks, just like Johnny's Mosrite Ventures II. I opted for the Green Metallic color.
The single bridge pickup is a Hallmark '67 wired up to a 500K volume pot. I went with simple electronics since I've never done this before. I purchased a cheap "blank" scratchplate online and cut out holes for the pot and pickup. I also painted the headstock black and replaced the stock Squier tuners with some Kluson-style tuners. Eventually I'll probably replace the nut and tremolo, too.
I forgot to take a picture of the guitar before I started working on it, so for a clear comparison, here's an image of the stock Bullet Strat vs the same image Photoshopped to look like my customized version:
-
For a 300$ project and first modified guitar, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. It feels good to play, and it actually stays in tune. The Hallmark pickup is fantastic — I think it's warmer and fatter than the stock bridge pickup was, and fairly bright with the 500K pot. I'll be recording some original songs with this guitar in the future, and maybe some Ramones covers. Here's a quick clip of me playing Blitzkrieg Bop to showcase my current favorite recorded tone out of everything I've tried. The amp is a cheap Line 6 Spider IV 15
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Upz__XpQLYg
I plan to upgrade my amp at some point, but for now I'm going to mess around with the settings and EQ to see if I can improve some of that muddiness. The tone I'm currently getting reminds me of Johnny's guitar sound on the Ramones' debut album specifically, and I really like it. Something reminiscent of his sound is really what I was going for. For comparison, here's an isolated clip of Johnny Ramone playing Blitzkrieg Bop from the original 1976 studio version (IMO, this still sounds better. Can't beat a real Mosrite/Marshall combo, lol)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oyTjKgR8aU
Thanks for reading!