Cool! Go for it. That's not a Squier body or hardware. There were no Squiers made in that MIM Sage Green color. You're good to go.



You need to set the intonation by adjusting the saddles forward or backwards. The A through B string saddles shouldn't be all neatly lined up like that. Setting intonation will help the guitar play in tune at all frets. Click here and scroll down to "INTONATION (ROUGHINIG IT OUT)" for more info http://www.fender.com/support/stratocas ... _guide.php Actually, you might as well read the whole thing while your at it and give the guitar a good all around set up. Or take it to a tech if you're not comfortable with doing it.

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Obligatory gear list: Fender, Rickenbacker, Gibson, Gretsch, Vox, Martin, and more Fender.

The height of the saddles (and so string height) should also more or less match the shape of the fretboard...each saddle has 2 little adjustment allen screws - you want them 1st of all to be adjusted to make the saddle square, then set the height of each saddle to give proper string height (action) at the 17th fret. The Fender set-up guide available at this site under support/manuals will explain it with what measurements to use, etc.

Proper saddle height, including the tremolo/bridge height off the body, along with correct neck bow, will prevent string vs. fret buzz.

Went and picked it up today. It came with a Marshall MG30DFX, which I really like so far (I think with some tweaking I'll be able to even get the U2 sound I thought wasn't really possible without an AC30). I just love how electrics, especially Strats, can sound like anything from a cooler acoustic to my cousin's ESP LTD. It needs a good cleaning - the seller was honest when he said it has been barely used. There really is a ton of dust accumulated on it. I think it also needs new strings.

Is it normal for the bolt that you plug the cord into to be fairly loose?
Also, for some reason, if you look carefully at the bridge picture in the OP, the e saddle is slightly rotated and doesn't say 'fender' like the others. Thinking of taking it to guitar center.

The pick guard has a lot of markings on it, I'm getting the urge to change it. I'm trying to figure out how hard it would be to get this look:

(^this looks a little darker but I think it's the same color as mine, just mine is in different light and has some dust on it)

Seems I got a little too passionate about this and could have insulted others opinions..if I did I apologize. It's just that I have owned so many strats and researched so much about them, and have dissected and resurrected so many that a "fake" mexi from this century would never get by me, if any exist. If this one was a fake, no one would ever know anyhow including a Fender apprasier..I just have not yet read anything on this post that removes any doubts at all that this is a legit mexi, other then opinion with no real basis.

Sure the one who has to buy it has to live with the decision...but I would just hate to see someone pass up a deal because of unfounded or unwarranted doubt. That is not fun to live with either.

Anyhow if you decide against buying it...how much does the guy want? If the price is right I would take that one in a heartbeat, I love the body color/maple neck combo, and could use another fat in my collection. My other fat is a squire that someone gave me and it must be a freak because it has the neck best action (for me at least) then any strat I have played before..but it will never sound that great (or at least not worth the time , money and effort to improve it) so it's only a practice beater.

Although I am not a huge fan of the mexis..with good pickups, nut and a quality vintage bridge block... they smoke, no doubt.

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I'm almost out of stuff to sell.

never mind I posted the last one before I saw that you bought it..good find!

To answer your questions...

Is it normal for the bolt that you plug the cord into to be fairly loose?

Yes...If it loosens after you tighten it (use a socket..pliers will mess it up), try a little thread sealant/ loctite and I am sure there are other tricks as well..maybe a lock washer?

Also, for some reason, if you look carefully at the bridge picture in the OP, the e saddle is slightly rotated and doesn't say 'fender' like the others. Thinking of taking it to guitar center.

Yeah the saddles need attention..apparently someone must have stripped one out and it was replaced with the wrong style. Saddles are not too expensive so no worries..I think a whole set of vintage could be found for 20 bucks there abouts.

The pick guard has a lot of markings on it, I'm getting the urge to change it. I'm trying to figure out how hard it would be to get this look:

Not a matter of hard if you know how to do it..if you don't then the only hard thing may be coming up with the money to pay someone who does. If you need any specific tips just post and myself and others will be glad to advise.

Good luck with it.

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I'm almost out of stuff to sell.

So wait, would I actually have to do some wiring/soldering to change the pickguard?

I'm thinking of just getting a black pickguard and seeing how it looks without changing the pickups/knobs from white. Isn't that the way David Gilmour's is?

I would change the pickup covers and everything else except someone mentioned I'd have to change the entire humbucker and I'm not willing to do something that technically challenging.


ebaysux, thanks for the help. I paid $400ish for the guitar, the amp, a hard case, and some other stuff.

Your welcome..seems like a good deal. You do have to solder to change the guard but only for the jack and trem ground. Changing the pickups however in any case requires soldering. A pick guard change if you leave the same pickups is easy..but for the first few times can seem a little tedious.

It is really just removing the strings, the screws and knobs/pots/pups and transferring it to the new guard. Solder the jack wires and trem ground back and reverse the removal process...string her up..set the pup heights and you are done. If you can not solder this may not be the best project to learn on...either have someone skilled show you how or do it for you..or buy a good iron and practice on something not so expensive. It's not hard really but takes a bit of practice.

In any endeavor like this the key is to be careful, but not fear what you are doing. If you fear what you are doing you have already lost.

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I'm almost out of stuff to sell.

Losblancos,

Congrats on you new guitar and other stuff. Sounds like the seller was just a regular person so it went smoothly for you.

Don't be afraid to modify it somewhat Just take your time and have the right tools. The guys here on the forum can walk you through it.

Some of the MIM's have thin cheapo tremelo bars. If that is the case with your MIM one of the easiest ways to improve the sound of your instrument is to install a big fat steel tremelo bar. All it takes is a screwdriver. Look inside the back under the trem cover and if your trem bar is about a 1/4 inch thick you probably have one of the alloy zinc bars. The fat steel bars are about 3/4 of an inch thick. Boy it sure changes the sound!

I like the ones from Guitar Fetish and installed several on my Squiers. They sell steel or brass for about $20.00. There are some other sellers and brands out there but they are more expensive.

http://store.guitarfetish.com/tremelos.html

Well congrats again. When you finish doing you pickguard mods post some pics please.

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I remember when we were free!

NO. Nothing is soldered to the pickguard. It's easy to change. All you need is a screwdriver and wrench. I've done it many times. Check out all of these links to changing a pickguard.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&sour ... oEBU_QrQpj

p.s. Congrats on the new guitar!

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Obligatory gear list: Fender, Rickenbacker, Gibson, Gretsch, Vox, Martin, and more Fender.

No soldering required to change a pickguard. For changing a preloaded pickguard with all electronics and pickups attached, yes there is soldering. For changing the pickguard ONLY, no soldering. The jack and trem ground are attached to the volume pot, not the pickguard. http://support.fender.com/diagrams/stra ... 02CPg2.pdf

Check out this handy video for changing a pickguard: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=du4P7-H19sM

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Obligatory gear list: Fender, Rickenbacker, Gibson, Gretsch, Vox, Martin, and more Fender.

I disagree. It should not be loose.



I agree with using a socket instead of pliers. I learned the hard way years ago

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Obligatory gear list: Fender, Rickenbacker, Gibson, Gretsch, Vox, Martin, and more Fender.

I can't really tell, to my eye it looks somewhere in between, though probably of the thinner variety. I'll definitely keep this mind if I plan on doing any mods, though I love the sound right now even with the messed up saddles.

Well congrats again. When you finish doing you pickguard mods post some pics please.[/quote]

Thanks. I may hold off on the mods for a bit.



Thanks for clearing this up. Appreciate it. Are you guys sure that I'd have to change the entire humbucker (which involves soldering right) to turn the bridge pickup black? That's really the only thing stopping me now from doing that all-black mod (though I'm warming up to the white pickguard).


Really enjoying playing this thing so far. My fascination with guitar is kind of strange. I get bored of practicing after like 20 minutes, but then 20 minutes later I feel I've got to play some more. Definitely easier to practice for longer periods and just have some fun when you're playing around with an electric (instead of an acoustic, which still hurts my hands). I've always dreamed of owning a Strat and a Marshall amp, so this is pretty cool to me (though at some point I may swap the Marshall for a Vox).

Yes we are very sure that you have to change the humbucker if you want a black one. You cannot take apart a humbucker and replace the two bobbins with ones of a different color (well I suppose you could, but one of many problems you'll encounter is you'll have thousands of feet of thin copper wire all over your floor and you'll have to rewind it when you get the new bobbins in place).

Single coil Strat style pickups have an easily removable plastic cover over the bobbin and you can easily replace the white covers with black ones. Getting a new humbucker with black bobbins is the only way to go (yes it involves soldering http://support.fender.com/diagrams/stra ... 02CPg2.pdf ). If you don't want to do it yourself, any competant tech can do it. I've wired up humbuckers twice now, so if I can do it believe me anybody can do it.

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Obligatory gear list: Fender, Rickenbacker, Gibson, Gretsch, Vox, Martin, and more Fender.

Ok cool. Yeah I don't want to do any soldering. So unless I find a local shop that will do the job relatively cheap, I'll probably just stick with white pickups. Not sure what I'm going to do yet about the pickguard.

BTW I unscrewed the jack assembly and tightened the bolt by holding the wire assembly and simply rotating the outside assembly around the screw (which took the bolt with it). It's nice and snug now.