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Post subject: Squier HSS Bullet Strat: worth upgrading?
Posted: Tue Oct 08, 2013 9:02 pm
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I got a Squier HSS Bullet Strat as payment for giving a friend basic guitar lessons; I really like the feel of this guitar; it's really light, and has a great-feeling neck for such an inexpensive unit; I've had 4 back surgeries and weight is a major factor in any guitar I play. Is it cost-effective to put a little money into it, or am I better off to just get a better model? A major consideration is that I'm disabled, retired, and on a really limited fixed budget. The only money I have in it is the cost of a set of better strings...

The action of the tuners is really stiff & inconsistant, and I can get a set of American Vintage Nickel Strat/Tele tuners for less than $50; will they swap out without having to make modifications to the headstock?

I noticed some erosion(?) on the headstock side of the nut at the # 4, 5 & 6 strings, and want to know how big a project it is to upgrade the stock synthetic nut to the preslotted Bone Vintage-style Strat/Tele nut (about $20). I also noticed that the radius on the bone nut is 7.25" and the neck on my Strat is 9.5". will that make the inner strings too high to fret properly?

I'm also considering putting a push/pull pot (about $17) on the lower Tone control so I can split the humbucker; is it a 4-wire pickup, or would I have to upgrade that?

If these modifications are economically feasable, and make the guitar more playable, the final step would be to upgrade the pickups to some that are better-sounding (about $200). I do realize that this step would cost more than the guitar, but if this will make it sound better, I think it would be worth it. Am I wrong?

Any advice & feedback is welcome...


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Post subject: Re: Squier HSS Bullet Strat: worth upgrading?
Posted: Tue Oct 08, 2013 9:08 pm
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The guitar cost you nothing. Have at it. I turned an Affinity Tele into an Esquire with a better pickup, tuners, bridge and electronics. I love it.

viewtopic.php?f=15&t=63493

I wouldn't put $200 pickups in it, but I buy a lot of stuff from these guys and have never been disappointed:

http://store.guitarfetish.com/

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Post subject: Re: Squier HSS Bullet Strat: worth upgrading?
Posted: Tue Oct 08, 2013 9:18 pm
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A Squier bullet strat cost $130.00 new, why would you put twice that into one when you could buy a used mim Fender strat for the money you want to put into this? :?


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Post subject: Re: Squier HSS Bullet Strat: worth upgrading?
Posted: Tue Oct 08, 2013 9:32 pm
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Minnesotastrats wrote:
A Squier bullet strat cost $130.00 new, why would you put twice that into one when you could buy a used mim Fender strat for the money you want to put into this? :?


Because he got the guitar for free. He can buy less expensive parts at Guitar Fetish and build a nice little guitar. 8)

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Post subject: Re: Squier HSS Bullet Strat: worth upgrading?
Posted: Tue Oct 08, 2013 10:05 pm
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Free guitar, a Squier II from the late 80's, and the owner gave me a set of alnico pickups from a AmStd strat. So I had great pups and a free guitar. Why not mod it nicely? Bought a set of kluson style tuners, a strat trem with full size block, and full size 250k pots. The guitar happens to have a very nice neck and even though the body is made out of plywood (I'm not kidding), she sounds and plays amazing. About 75 bucks invested, money well spent.

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Post subject: Re: Squier HSS Bullet Strat: worth upgrading?
Posted: Tue Oct 08, 2013 11:57 pm
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The "retired, and on a really limited fixed budget" caveat gives me pause.

As mentioned, the guitar is a $100 entry-level model and regardless of how much "lipstick" you smear on it, that's all it'll ever be. I think your interests would be better served by using the instrument as trading fodder on a Strat of better grade. The MIM Standards or the MIC Classic Vibe guitars are superior guitars in every way.

JMOOC

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Squier HSS Bullet Strat: worth upgrading?
Posted: Wed Oct 09, 2013 12:34 am
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tronus53, congrats, you have a new guitar! Welcome to the Forum. As a retired person a guitar project will be fun and you have the time to do it now. What ever you decide post pic's, we love pic's here. :D

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Post subject: Re: Squier HSS Bullet Strat: worth upgrading?
Posted: Wed Oct 09, 2013 7:46 am
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Retroverbial wrote:
The "retired, and on a really limited fixed budget" caveat gives me pause.

As mentioned, the guitar is a $100 entry-level model and regardless of how much "lipstick" you smear on it, that's all it'll ever be. I think your interests would be better served by using the instrument as trading fodder on a Strat of better grade. The MIM Standards or the MIC Classic Vibe guitars are superior guitars in every way.

JMOOC

Arjay

+1, I agree. Something about making a silk purse from a sows ear. Just my opinion though. :)


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Post subject: Re: Squier HSS Bullet Strat: worth upgrading?
Posted: Wed Oct 09, 2013 8:24 am
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You don't mention it in your original post, but do you have another guitar already? You said you got this guitar as payment for giving lessons, so it would seem that you already had a guitar of some kind to use to give lessons?

At any rate, I am with Arjay on this one. If you are thinking about new tuners at $50, a new nut at whatever and maybe even new pickups at $200, you need to just trade this cheapo freebie in on something that's really worth having or just play it as is.

Good luck whatever you decide.

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Post subject: Re: Squier HSS Bullet Strat: worth upgrading?
Posted: Wed Oct 09, 2013 8:53 am
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Will you have fun doing it? Do it.
You already said you like the guitar. It may not be cost effective versus spending the same amount on buying a good used guitar. But if you do that you won't know what you get until you've played it for a bit. You know what you have now.

I'm not sure about the machines - there are two different spacings, and unless you get the right ones, extra headstock work might be required. Browse the Fender store - it should tell you which ones can be used on a newer Squier.


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Post subject: Re: Squier HSS Bullet Strat: worth upgrading?
Posted: Wed Oct 09, 2013 3:05 pm
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Pay no attention to the naysayers, tronus53. Its your guitar, do with it as you like. :wink:

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Post subject: Re: Squier HSS Bullet Strat: worth upgrading?
Posted: Wed Oct 09, 2013 4:22 pm
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bluesky636 wrote:
Pay no attention to the naysayers, tronus53. Its your guitar, do with it as you like. :wink:

Even though I might be a naysayer, this is truly the bottom line. :)


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Post subject: Re: Squier HSS Bullet Strat: worth upgrading?
Posted: Wed Oct 09, 2013 8:59 pm
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I just bought the same guitar, it sounds and plays good, with less than $20 I bought two humbuckers online and installed it all into my Bullet Strat.
I just so happened to have a HSH pickguard available, so I now have a black pickguard with zebra humbuckers and white knobs.

You can get some cheap needle files and redo the slots on your mismatched nut, the replacement of the tuning gear is not much of a problem.
So, have fun, enjoy your frankenstrat.


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Post subject: Re: Squier HSS Bullet Strat: worth upgrading?
Posted: Wed Oct 09, 2013 10:11 pm
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I agree with both sides of the arguement here.

On one hand, you are starting with a FREE guitar, so upgrades are your only cost.

On the other hand, it is a Squier and you'll not likely ever recoup these costs. There's also no guarantee that you'll end up with an instrument you'll actually want to keep after the upgrades... if you then sell it, you'll have a loss.

On the third hand, it'd make a nice downpayment on a better quality guitar such as an MIM or others previously mentioned.

On the 4th hand, who ever said all this guitar stuff has to make sense anyway..??

I have a really nice MIM Telecaster which was heavily modded prior to it being given to me. I have since modded it even further. I do have all the original parts, so if I ever sold it (and it was worth more in original form), I could return it to stock.

But, I've sort of made up my mind to make this Tele my Test Bed guitar. Something I can experiment with and not have to worry about impacting any original investment. I simply don't care about the dollars and cents of it.

Maybe this Squier can serve the same purpose for you ??

cheers!

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Post subject: Re: Squier HSS Bullet Strat: worth upgrading?
Posted: Wed Oct 09, 2013 11:24 pm
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Before you buy new tuners, check the screws on the sides of the tuning pegs. Take a screwdriver, loosen them slightly, then tighten them to where you like the feel of them. That's usually where the inconsistencies come from.

As far as the pickups, just get what you feel like you want. You might want to try Giovanni pickups. eBay is the only place I've seen them, but their line is very nice sounding and won't break the bank.

If the guitar feels nice to you, keep it and modify away. You can do it one step at a time. Doesn't have to be everything at once. If you do decide to go with something like a MIM strat, make sure you play on it first. My experience over the past few years has been that Squiers have felt better to me, and sound just as good. Recent MIM necks are awful if you ask me. I haven't picked one up in the last 3-years that didn't damn near cut my hand due to poor craftsmanship of the sides of the frets. I've written off any MIM made from 2010 to present. I have Affinity necks that feel 10 times better.

I personally don't consider a MIM strat to be an upgrade decision over upper level Squiers. But if I HAD to choose between a MIM and a bullet, I'd probably choose the MIM with the idea that going into it, I'd probably be in for some fretwork. Someone really needs to teach Mexico how to do fretwork. I'm surprised Fender lets them pass.

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