Fender Squier Yako Factory  50th Anniversary Stratocaster  Sunburst 1996 w/ Iron Gear Texas Loco pickups and series wiring

One of the rarer pre-Affinity models that was manufactured at the famous Yako factory in 1996. It has the Fender 50th Anniversary sticker on the back of the headstock. These guitars have become popular owing to the full-sized solid body which makes for an excellent modding platform and the neck - 42.2mm at the nut (not as thin as the modern Squier necks).

The pickups are Iron Gear Texas Loco’s, a hotter single-coil design that provides a touch more output and mid-range boost than a standard wound Fender pickup. The balance of power, tone and clarity make them perfect for Texas blues and SRV tones, but also very capable all-rounders.

A push/pull volume pot has been fitted to enable series wiring in positions 2 and 4, providing a boost like quality by increasing the output of the pickups. To prevent the tone from getting muddy in the series settings, the capacitor values have been reduced to 0.015 μF for the middle and 0.01 μF for the neck pickup, to compensate for the loss of some of the high end.

With the switch in the down position, both pickups are wired in parallel—the standard setting—when you select position 2 or 4 (bridge + middle or neck + middle).
With the switch up, in position 2 or 4, the respective two pickups are then wired in series,  to deliver a beefier tone and for extra loudness when engaged.
(The switch in the up position also provides series wiring in the single-pickup positions 1 & 5, and acts as a kill switch in position 3).

Player-friendly features include a 22-fret fretboard and roller string trees at the headstock to ensure more stable tuning. A whammy bar is included.

•              Colour: Sunburst

•              Body: Alder

•              Neck: Maple

•              Fingerboard: Rosewood, 9.5” Radius (241 mm)

•              No. of Frets: 22 Medium Jumbo

•              Headstock Style: '70s Style

•              Pickguard: White single ply – faded to off white/cream

•              Scale Length: 25.5" (648 mm)

•              Width at Nut: 1.66" (42.2 mm)

•              Pickups: Iron Gear Texas Loco

•              Hardware: Chrome

•              Bridge: Synchronous Tremolo

•              Controls: Master Volume Push/Pull
                                      – push = standard Strat positions on 1-5,
                                      – pull converts // to series wiring on positions 1,2,4,5 and kill on 3

                                     Tone 1. (Neck Pickup)  - with 0.01 μF orange drop capacitor
                                     Tone 2. (Middle Pickup) - with 0.015 μF orange drop capacitor
               

Generally the guitar is in great condition and plays very well, though for a 28 year old guitar there are understandably some dings and scratches. The worst of these are confined to the rear of the guitar and have been repaired.  I have tried to show the areas of repair in the pictures. The neck is in very good condition, with only a small amount of fret wear.

The guitar has been set up with a low action to Fender specifications for neck relief, intonation, string, nut and pick up height. The treble end of the pickups has been raised slightly to suit my taste and even out the string levels to the slight height stagger of the magnets.