Stratocaster SSS-1 Control Knobs and Switch

The ToneShaper Stratocaster SSS-1 is a circuit board prewired for Fender Stratocaster electric guitars. The circuit board features 2 potentiometers and a 5-way switch in a single unit, that is installed in a regular Strat-style pickguard. You can use any pickups of your choice”attach a jack and you've got a complete Strat-style control assembly. ToneShaper SSS-1 is easy to install and gives you flexibility that you can't get with conventional pots or switches. For installation, simply depress the plunger, put the wire in, and release the plunger. You don't need to solder anything.

A series of switches makes the controls do different things. Normally on a Stratocaster, you would have a volume control, a tone control for the neck and a control for the middle. People sometimes want variations in controlling the bridge, middle, and neck pickups individually. With the ToneShaper Stratocaster SSS-1, you can assign the tone controls to whatever pickups you want.

The ToneShaper SSS-1 also selects different capacitor values for each tone control. ToneShaper included 5 polypropylene capacitors, designed by Panasonic, for each tone control. Select these switches to determine which capacitor you want activated for each control. For instance, you could have a vintage point 1 capacitor value selected for the neck and an entirely different value selected for the other pickups. Much like amplifiers or pedals, ToneShaper includes a diagram of the control plate with graphics on how to quickly adjust the neck tone and middle tone, and augment your sound on the fly.

Some people don't want 2-tone controls, so a popular option is to use the dials as a master volume, master tone, and a blender control. If you've got your 5-way switch in the bridge position, you can use the control knobs to add in the neck pickup. This setup has been practiced for years using a mini toggle switch. The downside from this practice is that it would usually mean you are switching the pickup in or out. The features this and other options in one comprehensive unit that rests under your pickguard. With the blender control you can add a little or a lot of the pickup, or even full on. In the 2 position, the blender control adds in the neck and you can have all 3 pickups going.

With a few flips of the switch, the board becomes a series parallel control. Series configuration yields a thicker, warmer, more humbucker tone. Finally, a quick flip of the knob can return the instrument to the natural Stratocaster neck single-coil tone. The unit also includes a removable volume kit”a resister and capacitor wired in parallel across the volume control”so that as you roll off the volume, you don't experience reduction in treble.

As one of the world's premier builders of complete, prewired assemblies for the guitar aftermarket, ToneShaper has done thousands of Stratocaster prewired assemblies, and had the opportunity to learn what people really want in a Strat. The SSS-1 unit features everything ToneShaper has offered in its standard prewired assemblies and then some, adding some additional functions and features that have never been offered before.