It is currently Mon Mar 16, 2020 3:40 pm

All times are UTC - 7 hours



Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 6 posts ] 
Author Message
Post subject: Squier Strat advice and thoughts needed for project guitar
Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2010 11:48 am
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician

Joined: Fri Mar 14, 2008 9:56 am
Posts: 2766
Location: metro Chicago USA
Hey folks, 'been wanting a pink Strat for a while and there are 2 Squiers at a local shop and Frankencaster thoughts are coming in proliferation.

Couple queries:

How good are the $199.95 list price ones? This would be the starting point because it's pink.

Desired pup config is 2 black P-90s and maybe a Fender vibrato or Bigsby. What P-90s are good for jazz and surf (reverse wound or with dummy double coil to kill hum)?

'Thinking only vol and tone knobs and 3-way. Routing needed?

What does anyone think of necks and bridges on the out-of-the-box Squiers?

Thankee, folks!


Top
Profile
Fender Play Winter Sale 2020
Post subject:
Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2010 12:39 pm
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician
User avatar

Joined: Sun Jun 24, 2007 8:08 pm
Posts: 2472
Location: Virginia
The Squier Standard Tele necks and bridges are great...Can't speakfor the Strats though. However, a properly set up Squier Standard can be just as good as an MIM Tele. Don't let the price fool you. I have been so impressed with the high quality of guitars in the $200-$400 price range, I don't ever see myself paying more than $400 for a guitar ever again....

_________________
RAMA LAMA FA FA FA


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2010 8:04 pm
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Wed Jul 18, 2007 9:53 am
Posts: 5189
Location: Magnolia, Texas (just north of Houston)
Let me say the Stratocaster are great too. I have a CV 60 Stratocaster and are IMO just as good as a MIM Standard Stratocaster.

Once you start modifying a guitar to what you want, then the tone and vibe become all yours. Good luck with the modification(s). Look into the Hello Kitty one because it is already painted pink. I believe is is already routed for HSH, but I may be wrong about that.

_________________
RK

2007 Fender Highway 1
2012 American Deluxe
2015 MIM Dave Murray HHH
2010 Fender Blacktop
1987 Fender Avalon Acoustic
2012 Marshall DSL 15 watt head


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Sat Mar 06, 2010 12:18 am
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician

Joined: Sat Aug 23, 2008 2:01 pm
Posts: 1598
Ok...gotta toss my $.02 worth in here...

If the MSRP (list) is $199 and the guitar is Pink...that sounds like a Squier "Bullet" to me. Bullet's are good entry level instruments but I have to be honest here...I really wouldn't waste my time or money trying to mod one. This is -NOT- the same quality instrument that something like a Standard or CV is going to be. Typically the solid color Bullet's have plywood/laminate bodies and just really aren't worth doing a lot of work on. Further, the Bullet's have a slight odd sized body...they are much thinner than a regular Strat so things like a new bridge could be problematic at best. Also, while the necks on Bullets are nice enough, the tuning keys are complete crap...el cheapo chrome "covered" tuners and the stock bridges on those things really leave something to be desired for anyone other than a beginner (and because of the thinner body, they're really hard to upgrade as most full size trem blocks just don't fit).

Please, I'm not cracking on Squier here...I have 2 (plus one home made Strat with many Squier parts) and I love them to death. I'm not even cracking on Bullets really...they really are very good little entry level instruments for beginners but if that's what we're talking about, they really just aren't worth doing any serious mods to (IMHO).

Peace,
Jim


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Sun Mar 07, 2010 11:00 am
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician

Joined: Fri Mar 14, 2008 9:56 am
Posts: 2766
Location: metro Chicago USA
Moan, groan, waaaah!

Iomitus, the night before your post, after a few days without any more incoming, 'went out and bought the pink $119.95 cheapie.

Okay, now; what to do?

Yes, the body is about 3/16 of an inch thinner than a real MIM or MIA, The tuners are "not good."

Is the bridge/vibrato useable after a pro setup?

But still, now that it's here: yes, the neck is really "nice enough." Three springs on the vibrato and agreed; the body is likely a laminate (but the pink colour is so hip).

With that in mind, 'Am reconciled this will never be an American Standard.

'Got a set of MIJ Jazzmaster pups laying around and some Fender knobs and 'thinking of doing a homemade pickguard. Not much investment, there. New pots and 3-way, agiain, not much investment; 'know a hot tech who may have some all-but-free in his junk box.

If a $100 parts and $50 setup investment can yield a playable pink guitar, that's cool.

So, thoughts from here...? Thanks, fellow pickers.


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2010 10:31 pm
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician

Joined: Sat Aug 23, 2008 2:01 pm
Posts: 1598
JSJH wrote:
Moan, groan, waaaah!

Iomitus, the night before your post, after a few days without any more incoming, 'went out and bought the pink $119.95 cheapie.

Okay, now; what to do?

Yes, the body is about 3/16 of an inch thinner than a real MIM or MIA, The tuners are "not good."

Is the bridge/vibrato useable after a pro setup?

But still, now that it's here: yes, the neck is really "nice enough." Three springs on the vibrato and agreed; the body is likely a laminate (but the pink colour is so hip).

With that in mind, 'Am reconciled this will never be an American Standard.

'Got a set of MIJ Jazzmaster pups laying around and some Fender knobs and 'thinking of doing a homemade pickguard. Not much investment, there. New pots and 3-way, agiain, not much investment; 'know a hot tech who may have some all-but-free in his junk box.

If a $100 parts and $50 setup investment can yield a playable pink guitar, that's cool.

So, thoughts from here...? Thanks, fellow pickers.


Well, other than the laminate body, my two biggest things against Bullets are really the tuners and the bridge. For the tuners you could pick up some decent "Kluson clones"...I just saw them on Guitar Fetish and they may even fit without having to use the modded bushings. These would be nice because they'll cover any extra screw holes from the original tuners.

The bridge...hmmm.... The problem there is the saddles and the trem block....both are a pretty crappy "potted metal". Getting replacement saddles isn't really a big deal...I think the Bullets use the same metric spacing as the MIM's do (although I would certainly measure just to make sure) but I SERIOUSLY doubt you'd be able to get a decent replacement trem block to fit the Bullet plate. -If it were me- and I were trying to mod this up a bit to be a reasonably playable instrument (which personally I wouldn't because of the body), what I would do is carefully measure the bridge spacing...I have a sneakin' suspicion that the mounting screws may use the same spacing as an MIM bridge. -If- that's the case, then I'd start looking around on Ebay for a used MIM bridge with the large block...I actually found one last year for about $45 for one of my own projects. If it's a newer stock MIM trem, it's still going to be a potted metal block (a zinc alloy) but the mass alone does make a HUGE difference.

Now please note...as you've already discovered, the body -is- thinner than an MIM so if you go this route, you may need to shave the trem block down a bit to fit inside the back of the trem cavity without it sticking out (hey...I didn't say it was going to be easy! LOL!). With a good deal of care you might even be able to do this on a bench grinder but as with all of this, measure everything first! Also make sure you remove the stock from the end of the block where the strings go in and -NOT- where it screws to the plate...you don't want to mess those threads up!

ALSO NOTE: Big disclaimer here...I never tried ANY of this with either of my Bullets! I bought them, played around with them for a bit then sold them both. I've modded the crap out of my MIM, done some work to my Squier Standards and I really modded my old Kramer (including cutting the body for an extra pickup) but I never messed with my Bullets...I just didn't think they were really worth it. So if you decide to attempt any of this, again please measure everything very carefully before you order -any- of the parts to make sure they will fit or can be made to fit.

The pickups...that's really a bit subjective in my book. I had two Bullets and I really didn't think the pickups sounded too bad for what they were. No...they don't sound anywhere as good as my Duncans or my VN's but they weren't too bad...with a properly shielded pickguard, they would have been fair enough.

Now on the laminate body I do have to add that not all laminates are created equal. My old Kramer for example is a laminate and it's actually been quiet stable and it's surprisingly resonant. On the other end of things, I also had an old Rhythmline Tele copy where the laminate body was...well...it couldn't even be considered "good" plywood...it was just a serious piece of crap...I may make a clock or an end table out of it one of these days. The two Squiers I've had with lam bodies (one was a Bullet hardtail) were really somewhere in between. Never had any cracks at the neck pockets or anything but even through the completely opaque finishes you could see that they just were NOT decent wood.

That said, even with the laminate body, with decent tuners and a decent bridge (and of course a decent setup after) you could probably make this a pretty decent playing guitar. Of course the issue here really just comes down to money...a used MIM bridge like I mentioned is probably going to run around $40 to $50 and those tuners from Guitar Fetish are $23 so add that to the $120 you've already spent and you have nearly $200 in to a guitar that's still only going to be worth about $100...not exactly the most economical approach. In this day and age with what I know about guitars now, personally I wouldn't do it. That said, back when I was younger and...perhaps...just maybe a bit more adventurous, despite the money issue, I very well may have. From a money stand point it really doesn't make sense but from a personal stand point...you'll simply have to decide that for yourself.

Anyways, good luck either way you go with it and let us know how it turns out!

Jim


Top
Profile
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 6 posts ] 

All times are UTC - 7 hours

Fender Play Winter Sale 2020

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum

Search for:
Jump to: