The main goal of a neck-on (aka blender or tele mod) mod is to make a Stratocaster sound similar to the single-coil Telecaster with the 3-way switch in position 2 (the middle), which activates the bridge and neck pickups in parallel.  However, most “neck-on” mods offer at-least a few new tones.  There are two main types of neck-on mod.  A “blender” knob that uses a pot to blend the neck pickup into any of the standard 5-way switch positions.  A neck-on switch engages the neck pickup on in-parallel with the bridge, middle, or both.

Blender or Switch?

A neck-on switch fully engages the neck pickup with the other pickups while a blender knob engages the blended-in pickup at an adjustable level.  Depending on the 5-way switch position, most pre-wired blender kits will activate either the neck or bridge pickup.  So, the switch is the simple solution, and the blender can be more complicated, but the blender allows you to dial-in a perfect sound. The big downside of a neck-on switch is simply the lack of fine-tuning.  The big downside of a blender pot is that (unless you install a 4th pot on strat) the blender pot itself takes over the dedicated-bridge tone pot location, and all 3 pickups share the middle tone knob.

Neck-on switches are a fairly easy DIY project, and plans are all over the internet.  Be careful though, because 5-way switch wiring can be trickier than it seems.  A neck-on switch will (obviously) require the installation of some kind of switch. Some people use a mini switch mounted in the pick guard either near the 5-way or between the bridge and the two tone pots. Some people replace the bridge tone pot with a push-pull pot, using the push-pull for the neck-on switch.  In fact, the latest American Professional II Stratocaster uses the bridge tone push-pull pot for a factory neck-on feature.  To make a blender pot, that replaces the bridge tone pot, you can wire the blender just like a neck-on switch and route the bridge pickup wiring to the center tone knob (like the other two pickups).  MojoTone, Emerson Pro,  and CTS all make a blender pot. It is important that the blender pot is “no load” and 100% bypassed when adjusted to the lowest amount of blend.  Sometimes the blender pot has a “detent”, which means that it clicks when turned between off and on positions.

Perhaps the best options are to either buy a brand new American Professional II Stratocaster with factory neck-on push-pull pot or install a pre-wired blender kit.  Obviously a new American Pro Strat is the more expensive solution, and if you have the money and space, it’s a hard option to argue against 😊.  However, you may be surprised how cost-effective the pre-wired kits are compared to buying a few parts for DIY, and you minimize the potential for mistakes.  If you already need to replace some of the old pots or 5-way switch, it may be no-brainer. Most pre-wired kits have the added bonus of blending the bridge pickup into the neck and neck + middle positions. When comparing pre-wired blender kits, consider the following:

  • Detent or no detent: kits with no detent are “off” when dialed to 10 and fully blended when dialed to 1. Kits with a detent will click when the dial is turn past the off/on position.
  • "Solder Free" or "Solderless" kits and have a push button terminal to connect the pickups and input jack to the pre-wired switch and pots. On other kits, the switch and pots are pre-soldered, but the jack and pickups must be soldered to the 5-way switch and pot ground during installation.
  • Potentiometer quality and tolerance. Lower tolerance means more accurate and predicable blending.
  • 250K Pots for most normal single coil strats.  500K Pots for humbuckers. 500K volume and 1Meg tone for noiseless.
  • Knob fit. Most kits are designed for 24 spline USA spec knobs. If your knobs don’t fit that, you will need a new set for your kit.

Here are a few kits.  I’m very happy with the Emerson Pro 5-way blender on my 1997 American Standard Strat.

If you are considering DIY wiring, when choosing a pot consider the detent option and the tolerance range. Pots with a low tolerance will usually cost a few more dollars more, and produce a more accurate sound.

If you want to DIY, here are some parts and helpful links: