Malmsteen has stated that he prefers the Stratocaster (from the period of 1968–1972); he claims that the bigger headstock on these generates more sustain. Malmsteen customizes his guitars by fitting a brass nut, removing the middle string tree, scalloping the fretboard, converting the neck from 3 to 4 bolt configuration (when necessary), installing Wilkinson springs on the tremolo, and refretting the neck with Dunlop 6000 fret wire. He previously disconnected the tone controls on his guitars but since Fender initiated the use of the "no load" potentiometer no longer does this. Malmsteen now uses his signature Seymour Duncan YJM Fury pickups. Before using the YJM's, he used DiMarzio pickups – most notably the HS3 model and the YJM (now known as HS4) model. Malmsteen would use an HS3 in the bridge and two YJMs in the middle and neck positions. The YJM/HS4 is simply a staggered magnet version of the HS3. In some early recordings, Malmsteen instead used the HS3 model in the neck and bridge positions and a disconnected stock Fender single-coil pickup in the middle. In even earlier recordings, Malmsteen was using DiMarzio FS-1 pickups.