Custom Works: HH Loaded Pickguard for Strat®

Exactly as promised.

The hardware itself consists of very high quality components with equally high quality assembly.

The packaging was also very good for protecting the loaded pick guard, and considering it was shipped from NZ to Canada (surprisingly quickly) that’s a good thing.

A couple of suggestions to make life even better:
1) More choices of noiseless pickups. I probably would have chosen the APEX HSS set or a milder humbucker (my current favourite is the Thornbucker), but only the APEX+ set was offered.
2) Offer anodized aluminum pick guards. I have an Ultra 2 strat and was hoping to find a loaded pick guard with such an option but couldn’t.
3) Check dimensions of the pickup covers for consistency. The cover of the neck pickup scraped against the slot in the pick guard while the middle was fine.
4) Provide suggestions for better balancing the volume between the single coils and the humbucker. With the APEX + set at the recommended heights, there a pretty big difference

Item came beautiful packaged with good instructions. The quality ofnthe wiring is outstanding.
Pick guard was easy to install and fitted perfectly on my American deluxe strat.

Tone was awsome once i set the pick up height. The band noticed that I had changed something so it wasnt just me.

I just couldn’t get along with the single coils in my MIM strat so was looking for a HH loaded pick guard to drop in. Obsidian Wire had a good balance of price and features. I chose the Alnico 2 classic set. Easy to install, just needed to clean up the corners of the body cavity with a dremel. Neck sounds fat but still articulate and balanced between high and low strings. I would like a bit more mids in the bridge pickup but rolling the tone down does help. I find I just play 95% on the neck now because it is so good.
Pickups handle gain really well. Enjoy playing this guitar so much more now.

Tried to order the Gilmour loaded pickguard, but it wouldn't ship to Sweden. Pointed this out and the owner opened up this possibility to me and a week later I got the pickguard. As with all ObsidianWire products (bought three before this one), it fitted well and was very easy to install. However, I wasn't prepared for the wonderful tones I got out of my CV Stratocaster. It is now my goto guitar and I have lots of fun with it!

The prewired SSS Stratocaster Pickguard with Tonerider Classic Blues pickups has brought new life to my 2012 MIM Strat. It went from my least played guitar to the one I pick up most often. It’s pretty much a new guitar - the pots, pickups and puretone output jack all contribute to an amazing sound. On top of that The ObsidianWire Custom Blender Gen2 allows for some interesting tones. The installation is very simple and only took maybe 20 minutes all together including a restring. With that being said, if I could go back I would get the HSS variant due to the style of music I like to play.

Easy to install, good customer service

Excellent product, easy install, very clean wiring.
Most importantly, tone is amazing - loving it

I bought the loaded pick guard to upgrade my old Squier Strat, which I have had for over 15 years but was getting a bit tired. The package came with extraordinary speed from NZ to the UK. The install was amazingly quick and the no-soldering electronics worked seamlessly. The guitar looks and sounds reborn. Couldn't be happier with it. Thanks Obsidian wire!

Great quality and easy install.

Great Product and really well assembled.. Extremely good high quality components
Pickups sound great

This product is rock solid. Just what you expect. Excellent craftmanship - definately worth the money! I'm blown away by how good this thing is. Also, customer service is the best. They helped me out with everything and were great to talk to. Shipped fast too. 10 / 10 from me.

I replaced by Strat’s SSS pickups with HSH. The obsidian buys built the whole thing, all I had to do was connect the input jack. The wiring is so neat and tidy! From the order online to playing with the new pickups was about a week or so. Amazing

I had tex mex Pickups that couldn't cut thru the mix. The new setup 7 way with blender sounds awesome. I can maintain the original strat sound and also blend in the humbucker for more rounded sound when Needed

Every step of this experience has been amazing!!! Received John Mayer loaded pick guard in Australia incredibly well packaged, four business days from placing the order.
Install was quick and simple and believe me, I’m not gifted at hands on repairs or upgrades etc.
The result?
Stunning….. My Mexican strat is now my #1 guitar…..
I will be back for more, going to swap out in my American made HSS strat too.

HHS Loaded Pickguard for Strat
ObsidianWire™ Universal Blender G2
ToneRider® THE ALNICO II - TRS4 & (AC2 NICKEL)

I am partial to the versatility of the HSS configuration and wanted to bring life to my SSS guitar. (USA 2009 Fender Standard Stratocaster). This universal blender harness made it even more versatile with the ability to blend neck & bridge pickups to taste, bringing tonal capabilities to a minimum of 9 tones. The quality pots allow you to find the sweet spot in just about every configuration. Plus, I really needed a tone bleed circuit. The ToneRider® pickups are absolutely amazing and have a clarity and articulation that totally achieves that "sound" I've been yearning for. The sound that makes your eyes close in sheer satisfaction.

The build and the components used feel extremely high-quality and you can tell someone put a lot of love putting it together with it's intricate lines and precise wire cuts. Everything down to the switch and provided PureTone output jack just scream quality. Better yet, the shipment only took less than 7 days to get to my doorstep. That's over 12,000 kilometers my friends.

The installation only took me about 25 minutes to perform, simply by following the provided instructions. I'm not a very technical person, but I can follow directions. If I'm being completely honest, the most difficult and time-consuming part of the install, was the removal of the plastic from the pickguard and humbucker after the fact. Again, be slow and methodical about it. Go grab a scotch neat, and chill. Overall, ObsidianWire® gave me an exquisite experience from the unboxing to strumming my first chords, pure magic and delight. I guess my only complaint now is that all my other guitars will be closet queens. Thank you ObsidianWire® for everything!

Brilliant tone and well built. Definitely helped being solder-less!

I just purchased the SRV loaded pickguard for a partscaster I’m putting together. I previously purchased the John Mayer, John Frusciante, Mike McCreafy ones too. The quality is top notch and the sounds very, very good on all of them. I think the only left is the Pompeii/ Gilmore pickup. Did I read “buy 4 and the 5th free”???

First, I want to start by saying I was very impressed with how fast my order made it all the way from NZ! When the package arrived I was very impressed an pleased with how everything was packaged. I love the look and sound of the the loaded pickguard/pickups I went with and overall I am very happy with my purchase. I would definitely purchase from Obsidian Wire again in the future! My only note would be to include item specific instructions for products. I had some trouble with my install when I ended up following the wrong diagram because I'm not technically minded at all, Once I had someone smarter than me point out I was following the wrong diagram, I was able to get everything working perfectly. Product specific instructions would have been helpful in my case.

I chose Obsidian so I could fix a Strat from my youth that’s been out of commission for 20+yrs. No one could figure out the issue, probably a fried board, so I replaced all the electronics with Obsidian just to save the trial and error headaches. It took some fitting due to my particular model, but Obsidian brought the Strat from my teen years back to life and it sounds much better than it ever did before. ...I should have done this years ago. You will not be disappointed with this upgrade. If I have any other needs like this in the future, I’m going straight to Obsidian first.

Easy install into my old Squier Strat. I will have to get another one for my American Strat now I've heard how good this sounds.