First of all I hope this is the right forum to put this question in otherwise please move me to the proper one. Anyways I've been playing for over a year and I want to get into doing my own adjustments and repairs on my guitars. I was thinking that I would buy a cheap guitar and rip it apart and put it together again to learn how to work with them when it hit me that if I'm going to do this then why don't I buy a lower end Strat for the body and then rebuild it with genuine high end replacement parts. Everything from the pots and pickup switch to the pick ups themselves. Now I have two questions with this 1) has anyone on here done this before and would it work using say a Squier body and Fender replacement parts. 2) Is this something that a beginner could tackle? Any comments would be appreciated. Good stories, horror stories any suggestions or advice is awesome.

Hi Hoeycow: gosh - I'll be amazed if you don't get plenty of takers on this one! A LOT of this stuff going on round here...

Would you like some pictures?

Here's the first one I ever did. This started life as a Squier: I've been modding it more or less continously for near 20 years now. The paint and wood of the body are the only things that are original by now:


And here's a recent effort. This one was almost a ground up job, including the finishing:


Good luck with your project. Ask all you want: you're in the right place for answers!

Cheers - C

yeah man, this is definitely something you can handle, just read lots of how to's online.

a few genuine replacement parts are not likely to fit a squier, but it doesn't mean you cant find other great parts that will fit. I've fully hot rodded a number of squiers that play better than some MIA's ive played.

the biggest thing is how rewarding it is. You can enjoy playing that guitar sooo much more since you put your blood, sweat, and tears into it.

check out guitarfetish.com for parts, they've got great quality and price.

have fun and good luck!


~Jag

Your idea may or may not work. Depends on the quality of the wood in the body. If you buy an el-cheapo Squire you may get a tonal turd as far as the wood goes. Putting high grade electronics on that is like putting lipstick on a pig. It dresses up the pig but underneath it's still a pig.

Then again you might get a tonally good piece of wood. Could go either way.

Wow this is great news. Great to see those pics Ceri, I'm now inspired. I guess the question is then which Squier models should I look at? Is it just a matter of finding an Alder body, certain models of Squier Strats or is it just going to be luck of the draw since the Squier line will be made of lower grade Alder then an American Standard?

I've never built a guitar before, but it strikes me that you're better off just buying a body online. Maybe take out an ad on Craigslist/Kijiji/Whatever and see what turns up. Also, it might be worth looking at Warmoth for some bodies. Or even eBay, although I think (but may be wrong) that Ceri was condemned to spend hours and hours repairing a crap body bought off of eBay.

i've got a mim strat that i've been itching to mod.
i've been doing alot of research so maybe i can be some sort of help?

holy crap, ceri's my hero.

i have a question though.

how far back are you willing to go?

and how much money are you willing to spend?

Well as far as how far back am I willing to go I take that as how much modding am I willing to do and should I buy a used Strat for a body I will take that baby apart until I am holding a chunk of Alder in my hands and if I'm going to do that then I might even sand it down and do a custom paint job of my own. As for how much money, I want the components to be all high end. Basically I want to make my own American Standard Strat only it will be built in my house in Canada...and probably have a Mexican body. It will be my NAFTA Strat! Buying a body online is also a great idea, probably better then hopping for the best with whatever I end up with too but my thinking was that as I was tearing this thing apart I would learn about the guitar as well. See these comments are extremely valuable for me and I appreciate them all!

well a mim you can sand and repaint, not sand down all the way but just sand the finish a bit and paint over.
american standards and mim standards have different screw and string spacing (tremolo) so that's something to think over.
money wise i'd go with buying a body online.
but learning wise i'd grab a used mim

yay for canada!

Yes, exactly right! Beyond all else, the purpose of that thread was a painfully learned lesson in Buyer Beware...!

Regarding the quality of timber in Squiers (mentioned above), on the one hand of course it is going to be lower than on more expensive guitars. But as it happens, take a look at the new-ish Classic Vibe Squiers: apparently those are two piece alder bodies with no front and back veneers and a review I read said the quality was good. Simply amazing value for money.

Now if you could pick up one of those on Ebay at a good price it might provide an excellent platform for a first project.

Be aware when modding Squiers that the spacing of the six bridge screws is different than on MIAs and recent MIMs. Though aftermarket bridges with the correct screw spacing for the Squier are available, it is an issue you need to be conscious of. Many aftermarket bridges won't work on a Squier body.

Good luck - C

I would suggest starting with a fender body rather than a squire. Also, there are sites like warmoth, mighty mite and stratosphere which are excelent sources of fender parts. Good luck and remember... Post pics!!!

_________________
"I started out with nothing, and still have most of it"

Hoeycow

I completed a similar project, except since i already had a really nice triple single fender strat. So i wen't a little more extravegant, 3 humbuckers, custom pickguard reverse neck, mahogony body. ETC.

My advice to you is similar to one mentioned before.

You need to break you project into Functional and Form components.

Functional:
-body wood
-bridge type
-pickup routes
-pickguard options
-pickup options
-tuners

Form:
-Pickguard material
-finish options:
-stain
-Paint
-distressed
-covered
-etc...
-Bridge options (cosmetic bridge options)
-Hardware colours

Once you've decided were to go, start pricing parts.
this is a good time to strike up a relationship with someone at your favourite guitar store.

As for bodies and were to look. you get what you pay for essentially. so if you buy a cheap squier or squier knock off, then ya it's gonna be $@!&. But if you check out local pawn shops, second hand instrument shops, guitar stores, look at what is available, what you can re-use off the original, look at how how much custom work needs to be done with one body, when you could probably spend slightly more for a body that needs less custom work. It all depends on how much your willing to spend really.

What part of canada are you in? I may be able to help you out with local suppliers.