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Post subject: Fender Squier Mini Strat - upgrades
Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2018 7:33 am
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Hi Guys,

I wanted some suggestions on upgrading my kids new Mini Strat. I have done a lot of searching and found a fair amount of threads on the subject, but none of them had the same objective as me in their upgrades.

I was really impressed with this little guitar, for the price that is, but recognized right away that it needed some work. A setup for sure, but probably more. My kids love my other Fender guitars, ( I have an american elite strat, an american original telecaster, and a custom shop tele) but at only 5 and 9 years old, they are too big for them. This little strat is a great size.

What I want is to get this mini strat to feel and play more like an american made strat, but for a youth player not an adult. My budget isn't overly restrictive and I would have bought an american made mini if one were available. I note right away that the nut seems poorly cut, the thing buzzes like crazy, the frets are rough and corroded, and there is a loose screw or something rattling around in the body. The pickups sound funny to me too, but they might be fine with a proper setup.

I have already replaced the tuners with the fender locking tuners, which I took off of my elite strat and replaced with sperzels. The stock tuners on the mini weren't very good. I will definitely have the guitar professionally setup, but I am thinking that I want to have the nut replaced, the frets dressed, and maybe the pickups/electronics replaced.

The guitar came with 9s on it, but I am thinking of having it setup with 10s. The 9s on it are like spaghetti noodles and buzz all over when strummed. I want to keep the playability for smaller players but tame a little bit of the slack/buzziness from the 9s. Does this seem logical?

I dunno about the pickups, but I don't have a lot of confidence in any of the electronics with something loose and rattling around in the body. I am leaning toward having all of the electronics replaced. I think I would like a very "vanilla" set of pickups in it. I was leaning toward the vintage noiseless or the 57/62 set. I assume these would be an improvement over the stock set, which are called "fender single coil"...? Can anyone suggest a good set of pots and pickups?

Thanks in advance for your time and any other suggestions would be appreciated.


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Post subject: Re: Fender Squier Mini Strat - upgrades
Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2018 12:25 pm
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To me it seems you got the hot-rodding just about covered. :lol:

The nut, frets and a pro(per) setup are are IMHO the main things with playability, the rest of your plans falls to the 'upgrade to better' category.

On the string gauge, check with the kids - go for the .010 set if they both feel comfy with it.

One thing: if you do upgrade the pickups, replace the whole electronics pack while at it. Typical Squier electronics problems are like scratchy pots, output jack loose/broken wires, faults with switches. Check the routing depth; it may not accept a full size switch. Pot brands, well, CTS, Bourns, Alpha are the top trio.
Your pickup choices are fine for vanilla, plus they stretch for a lot of other flavors, too.

Oh, and shield the beast. With gold foil, maybe? (Sorry, I couldn't resist that one...)


Last edited by jmattis on Mon Jul 09, 2018 10:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Post subject: Re: Fender Squier Mini Strat - upgrades
Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2018 3:16 pm
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Well, I took it apart today. It was less than awe inspiring. I look st this thing as mostly bones though. The rattling noise was a large piece of stray solder.

I want to replace the electronics entirely. I measured the route depths. Under the pickups its .75” and under the pots its 1.25”. Is that enough for full sized fender strat electronics?

The pick guard is shielded around the controls but not elsewhere. The routing is half assedly coated with some dark shielding paint or something. The pick guard is really soft.... probably swap that out too, although I know thats a custom job.

If I want to replace the jack which switchcraft one do I want?

I assume I will have $500 in this thing by the time I am done but it should be pretty awesome. I do wish the rosewood on the fretboards grain ran parallel to the neck, but what can you expect for $130 and free 2 day shipping?


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Post subject: Re: Fender Squier Mini Strat - upgrades
Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2018 3:44 pm
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Output Jack; American guitar use this one


https://www.tubesandmore.com/products/j ... en-circuit

Electronic, dimension ; https://www.tubesandmore.com/products/s ... -way-strat


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Post subject: Re: Fender Squier Mini Strat - upgrades
Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2018 4:38 pm
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baronvonk wrote:
I measured the route depths. Under the pickups its .75” and under the pots its 1.25”. Is that enough for full sized fender strat electronics?
That sounds about right.

baronvonk wrote:
pick guard is shielded around the controls but not elsewhere.
That is all that is required. If you open up your MIA guitars your will find the same thing.

baronvonk wrote:
The routing is half assedly coated with some dark shielding paint or something. The pick guard is really soft.... probably swap that out too, although I know thats a custom job.
The shielding paint should be adequate for the cavity. There are lots of places to get aftermarket guards but you'll have to shield them yourself as they come unshielded .... unless you buy a Fender guard. Be sure to specify model, country of origin, number of screwholes, etc. when ordering a guard. The number of holes and the hole pattern(s) are not universal.

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Post subject: Re: Fender Squier Mini Strat - upgrades
Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2018 8:34 am
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Quote:
There are lots of places to get aftermarket guards but you'll have to shield them yourself as they come unshielded .... unless you buy a Fender guard.
To be fair, I haven't bought one for a couple of years, but WD's were always shielded. Not the cheapest, but they'll do you any configuration you want. In the UK, WD custom 'guards involve a long wait and high cost, but if you're in the US it's easier & cheaper!

Cheers - Peter.


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Post subject: Re: Fender Squier Mini Strat - upgrades
Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2018 10:07 am
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I think you're right about that and come to think of it, I believe Warmoth plates come shielded as well.

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Post subject: Re: Fender Squier Mini Strat - upgrades
Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2018 9:35 pm
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The "floppy" strings is a side effect of the short scale.
Look at it this way... the Guild Brian May is the same scale as a Fender with a capo on the 1st Fret... 24", thus, the string feel would be comparable to a Strat tuned down 1/2 step.
Now on the mini, you're looking at a scale length that is 1.25" shorter still.. roughly like putting a capo on the 2nd fret, then tuning down to pitch... a full step "looser" than a Strat.

Alternatively, you could stick with the lighter strings and tune up 1/2 step or even a full step to maintain the feel.
Heck, "back in the day" it seemed like all of my turntables ran fast so I had to tune up if I wanted to play along with a record anyways :D

Compare the neck width to your Strat... if the width is comparable, you could buy a Tusk nut and provide it to the tech that you have do the setup, but it is probably better to just ask him to replace the nut.
Ultimately, it's going to be a fair sum of cash for a $130 guitar, but being for the kids, it's worth it!

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Post subject: Re: Fender Squier Mini Strat - upgrades
Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2018 9:04 am
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Hello Baronvonk –Your post resonates with me as I had gone through a similar project with my son. He is currently 16 years old, but started playing guitar around 7. When he was 12, he decided he wanted to learn about the inside of guitars and bought himself a Bullet Squier with the goal of upgrading all of the components himself. Of course, other than the initial guitar purchase, I funded the project. As it turns out, he was able to upgrade the tuners and the bridge himself with drop in replacements, but the electronics, pickups and nut didn’t work out so well and needed to be redone by a professional guitar tech.

The result is that the guitar sounds great. Even better, my son loves playing it. The overall cost was well worth it as he is spending his free time playing his guitar and not video games. My regret about the project is that no matter how good the guitar sounds, it still plays and feels like a Squier. If I could do it all over again, I would have started with a used Fender USA Strat and upgraded that. It would have taken my son farther along his guitar playing path.

I bought an electronic upgrade kit from http://www.toneshapers.com. George E. there helped me pick the right kit and educated me about the differences in size and how to measure the cavity to see if the USA components would fit. He was extremely helpful. In my case, the components fit. It is not just the depth of the cavity you need to be concerned with, the diameter of the pots are sized differently as well. You will likely also need to replace the knobs and tip to fit the USA made pot shafts and switch. All-in, the kit, knobs and tip cost around $50 (not including the tech’s cost to install after my son attempted to do it himself).

Good luck with your project!

P.S. – Please forgive me for being a proud papa. Below is a link to my son playing his upgraded Squier.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPl4C2ouakY


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Post subject: Re: Fender Squier Mini Strat - upgrades
Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2018 12:29 pm
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Hi Guys,

I finally got the electronics upgraded. I used copper shielding tape on the cavities and the pick guard. I decided to keep the factory pick guard, as it is fine. I swapped the pots with some CTS pots and then the .022 orange drop cap. I couldn't get the upgrade 5 way switch to fit, because it was too deep, so I had to stick with the factory squier type. I forget what brand it was, but it was more shallow. COR-TEK maybe? meh

I couldn't swap the jack either. I realized that I would have to have a spot for the jack plate routed and that seems excessive.

Anyhow, I haven't soldered anything in about 25 years. I had to relearn to solder which was a chore, then I got the 57/62 pickups installed and was just stumped. The neck pickup wouldn't work at all. I got a fair amount of noise out of the other 2 as well. I resoldered and still no dice, so I decided to swap positions and sure enough it was the pickup and not my soldering. I bought a multimeter and confirmed that the pickup was dead. So, I returned the 57/62 and decided to try a set of N4s instead. I got them installed and they all wok fine. Not sure how I feel about the sound out of the N4s vs a true single coil, but my only strat has N4s, so it sounds familiar.... albeit somewhat sterile.

I liked the look of the off white plastic pickups against the white pick guard, so I also swapped the control knobs and switch tip to off white.

Next step is to get it in to swap the nut and be set up. As of now I am in about $375 on the guitar, but I feel like that is pretty reasonable. Even, if the luthier work costs another $250 I will still be okay with this little strat, because it should be pretty close to the real deal.


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Post subject: Re: Fender Squier Mini Strat - upgrades
Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2018 2:50 am
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Sounds like a lot of work for for a Mini. Mind the kids don't come over all Blackmore or Hendrix on it, and I don't mean in respect of playing style.

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After all this time I should be better.


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Post subject: Re: Fender Squier Mini Strat - upgrades
Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2018 11:06 am
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...One can never give too much TLC to a guitar, be it mini, normal or baritone. Basses maybe, but not guitars... 8)

On the output jack; I just realized that baronvonk probably has the new, "v2" Mini Strat which doesn't have the "old Mini's" Strat style jack (where all Squier version's solders/wires were prone to problems). The new version has a Tele (style) jack.

And Baron, a pic or two is always a nice way to say thank you...


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