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Post subject: Fender MIM Squier Series...bridge question
Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2013 12:39 pm
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So last night I picked up this little '94 Fender MIM Squire Series (sorry no pics yet)...actually got her in trade for a set of Roto-toms. Anyways, it's the black Fender logo with "Squier Series" on the mouse ear. I've been doing a bit of research on her this morning...while there's some debate as to whether the body and neck are Mexican or American (something about a fire at the Mexican plant where they weren't actually making bodies and necks for a while), she's the model with the single ply pickguard and the cheap hardware (tuners and bridge). Now I have to say here, this guitar REALLY surprised me...the "feel" is about what I expected (very nice) but the pickups actually blew me out of the water...not sure if they're stock or not yet, but this thing sounds -sweet-. So yes, I'm going to do a few upgrades (and possibly a refinish...ugly $@! mint green body!). I already have a set of vintage style Kluson's I'm going to drop on her at the first string change and I'll pickup a 3 ply pickguard my next trip to GC, but I have a question about the bridge...

In the smallest nutshell, does anyone know if I can drop an MIM Standard bridge on this sucker? I -know- the Callaham bridges/blocks fit both of my MIM Standards like a freakin' glove, but I also know that cheaper Squier bridges (which is clearly what this thing has) can be a bit...errmmm...dicey sometimes (in theory, the metric spacing should be consistent but reality is seldom that clean cut with these suckers) . What I would like to do is put an MIM standard bridge plate & saddles on her with a Calliham block...seems to be the combo that's worked best for me over the years...but I don't want to make the investment unless I'm fairly certain it will fit (my Dad's in the hospital so money's a bit tight at the moment). Thoughts?

I know I haven't been around much lately (school, family issues, etc), but as always...thanks!
Jim


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Post subject: Re: Fender MIM Squier Series...bridge question
Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2013 2:07 pm
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Jim,

You know the rules, lets see it!! I've heard good things about those models and I used to have one with a floyd rose fitted to it years ago.. It had 'squire series' on the headstock, even though it was branded fender. Best guitar I've ever owned IMO

Nick has one that you describe in black it think :wink:

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Post subject: Re: Fender MIM Squier Series...bridge question
Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2013 6:28 pm
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Blertles wrote:
Jim,

You know the rules, lets see it!! I've heard good things about those models and I used to have one with a floyd rose fitted to it years ago.. It had 'squire series' on the headstock, even though it was branded fender. Best guitar I've ever owned IMO

Nick has one that you describe in black it think :wink:


Yea, yea...just haven't had time to do pics yet (have some family issues going at the moment..Dad's in the hospital). What I may do is there's a guy who specilizes in vintage gear out near my Dad's house (Timeless Guitars) so next time I'm out that way, I may pop in and see if he's got an MIM bridge laying around to space it out. I need to see him anyways for a pre-amp for a Vinci acoustic/electric that I'm also working on so (this guy has parts out the wazoo) so...

With that though I gotta say that this thing has genuinely been a very pleasant surprise to say the least. Even the setup on this sucker is just spot on...even with the crappy blue light special tuners and bridge, this sucker just don't go out of tune...and believe me, I tried this afternoon! LOL!!! Seriously...I spent a good two hours cranking on some Who, SRV, etc and that tuning just stayed dead on all the way. I don't think she's gonna replace Ol' Blue as my #1 ('96 MIM Standard, heavily mod'd) but I think after a few upgrades, she's gonna be in the top 3...she may even beat out Blackie as my #2 ('87 MIJ with Fender VN's). And for the $75 I wanted to get out of the Roto-toms, she really was a complete steal to boot. Now if I can just decide what to do about that damned uglyass almost green finish......


L8r,
Jim


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Post subject: Re: Fender MIM Squier Series...bridge question
Posted: Fri Jan 11, 2013 8:01 am
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Just measure the string spacing at the saddles, it should be 2-1/16", or the "narrow" spacing. Be sure that the strings are lined up with the holes in the plate.

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Post subject: Re: Fender MIM Squier Series...bridge question
Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2013 8:00 am
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shimmilou wrote:
Just measure the string spacing at the saddles, it should be 2-1/16", or the "narrow" spacing. Be sure that the strings are lined up with the holes in the plate.

That's what I was looking for in a response. Something was jogging my memory about the string spacings being different on Squiers. Maybe we'll have some additional enlightenment on the subject. :wink:

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Post subject: Re: Fender MIM Squier Series...bridge question
Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2013 9:36 am
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ZZDoc wrote:
shimmilou wrote:
Just measure the string spacing at the saddles, it should be 2-1/16", or the "narrow" spacing. Be sure that the strings are lined up with the holes in the plate.

That's what I was looking for in a response. Something was jogging my memory about the string spacings being different on Squiers. Maybe we'll have some additional enlightenment on the subject. :wink:



Yea...that was kind of my concern too. Even though she's not actually a Squier, since it's got the el' cheapo bridge, kinda put a knot in my thinking on this one. For all I know it could just be a MIM plate and block with Squier saddles...no real way to know until I tear her apart and I don't really want to tear her apart until I have the new parts.

That said, I'm swinging out to Timeless Guitars today...the guy has a ton of parts and such. Gonna see if he's just got a complete MIM trem that I can drop in before I order anything...this way I can be sure whether it will fit or not. I needed to run out there anyways to see if he's got a pre-amp for a Vinci acoustic I'm trying to restore so at least I can kill two proverbial birds with one drive.

I'll let ya know how it goes...
Jim


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Post subject: Re: Fender MIM Squier Series...bridge question
Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2013 9:37 am
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I also have a 1994 MIM Squier Series that I love. I believe the bodies and necks from this era of Mexican strats are USA made, great wood work and one of the Best necks I've ever put my hands on. I payed $125 for mine and then put around $250 worth of upgrades on her. I had a left hand USA vintage Ri bridge installed, a slip stone nut, vintage style USA tuners, and then I fully upgraded all the electronics with USA CTS pots, nos vintage 60s .1 capacitor (found in my dads stash of nos electronics) and the pups are a custom shop 50s in the neck and 2 MIJ pups changed to alnico 2 magnets in the bridge and middle.
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These guitars are definitely worth upgrading and as said before measure the bridge spacing to find a higher quality bridge for a quick swap or just buy a vintage style USA/Callaham bridge and have it installed, I paid the best local luthier in my town $90 to install the bridge, nut, and tuners + set up.

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Post subject: Re: Fender MIM Squier Series...bridge question
Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2013 10:43 am
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Nice guitar stratohawk. Your pictures show a clue to the string spacing. Since both E strings line up over the pole pieces on the neck pup, and are outside the pole pieces of the bridge pup, this indicates the wider string spacing of 2-7/32" (2-3/16"), assuming that the pups are standard size.

Did your luthier dowel and re-drill the mounting holes for the bridge, in order to mount the vintage RI bridge? I thought that the Squier Series originally had the narrow string spacing. :?:

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Post subject: Re: Fender MIM Squier Series...bridge question
Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2013 10:57 am
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shimmilou wrote:
Nice guitar stratohawk. Your pictures show a clue to the string spacing. Since both E strings line up over the pole pieces on the neck pup, and are outside the pole pieces of the bridge pup, this indicates the wider string spacing of 2-7/32" (2-3/16"), assuming that the pups are standard size.

Did your luthier dowel and re-drill the mounting holes for the bridge, in order to mount the vintage RI bridge? I thought that the Squier Series originally had the narrow string spacing. :?:

Thanks, your fist paragraph makes sense due to the fact that the neck pup is USA and the middle and bridge pups are MIJ.

Yes the original bridge screw holes were filled with dowel rods and re drilled for the USA bridge.

But if one has a reiusse or deluxe series MIM then the string spacing is the same as the USA bridges, see Callahams web site.

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Post subject: Re: Fender MIM Squier Series...bridge question
Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2013 2:34 pm
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stratohawk wrote:
...Yes the original bridge screw holes were filled with dowel rods and re drilled for the USA bridge....


Thanks, that confirms that this model originally had the narrow string spacing, so the Callaham bridge for a MIM Std should work fine without any modification needed.

BTW, do you have a little trouble with your low-E or high-E sometimes slipping off the edge of the fret board while playing? :lol:

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Post subject: Re: Fender MIM Squier Series...bridge question
Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2013 3:46 pm
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shimmilou wrote:
BTW, do you have a little trouble with your low-E or high-E sometimes slipping off the edge of the fret board while playing? :lol:

Was just reviewed a vid on U-Toob featuring Mike Eldred and Paul Waller discussing neck designs. I remember that in my '58 Strat of old. They alluded to that issue, typical of the vintage necks which is why the modern C is a tad wider.

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Post subject: Re: Fender MIM Squier Series...bridge question
Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2013 8:19 pm
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Curiouser and curiouser...

Ok...had her into Timeless today and while Clyde didn't have a bridge that fit, we were able to verify that it's -not- 2 7/32 spacing. That said I did get a plate from him that's the exact same size and was able to match it up to another Partscaster I built a while back...it's got a GFS block and not a Callaham, but it'll due for the moment (although I still want to get some stamped bent saddles for her...Clyde was out of those too, as was Guitar Center).

Now that said, I did break her down tonight...no pics yet (at least nothing uploaded to the internet...I am documenting the whole thing as I go), but this gets rather interesting. The first thing that caught my eye was "SQUIER" stamped in the neck pocket. Now I gotta say I find this a bit unusual as of all the Squiers I have and have had (Japanese, Korean, Indo, etc), I've never seen one stamped like that before. No idea what makes me say this but it's almost as though she was maybe intended for something else then got marked for this particular line...almost as though she may have been a "factory second" (for lack of a better term/explanation). Also, while the "Jaundice Green" (ick) does indeed appear to be a factory finish, there's a few spots that show she was red at one time (particularly around the bridge mounting screws. Now I've known Fender to shoot a block color over a botched sunburst...but over another block color? What makes this even more interesting is that in a few spots around the pickup cavity (carved out H-S-S btw), there's actually some clean bare wood. The impression I almost get is that they shot her red the first time, then maybe stripped her (or just didn't finish the red) then shot the green.

Now on the color...that green had to go anyways, so I actually did a rattle can yellow enamel right over the the top (yea, yea...I know). Didn't come out nearly what I had hoped (not that I was really hoping for much)...I think the wife running the dryer probably had something to do with it...but it still looks better (TO ME) than the green did. At some point I will strip her to bare and do her proper but I just didn't want to get into that at the moment, so it'll do for now. At least I don't get sea-sick looking at her any more.

While the neck sticker is just impossible to read, the sticker in the neck pocket along with the sticker on the back of the pickguard do match the '94 date on the serial number...she's definately a '94 and she seems to be all original. Yes, she does have the smaller pots but honestly, I'm -not- going to mess with electronics at the moment as I'm very impressed with the sound as is. Again kinda freaky that...cheap pots, cheap pu's, etc., and she sounds like a Strat's supposed to sound...weird, but I ain't f'in with a good thing. I also got the new tuners mounted...they're not genuine Kluson's or anything, but they did fit like a glove (except for 2 extra screw holes at the top that the top tuner didn't quite cover) and does give her a nice vintagy look. Oh...picked up a 3 ply pickguard for her too...sorry but single plys always just looked cheap to me.

So that's where I'm at right now. I'll get her slapped back together in the morn and play her for a while....gig out once or twice with her and see how she really sounds, then I'll decide where to go with her from there.

Peace,
Jim


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