@@who3033Such is the harsh reality of this lifestyle. Sometimes you end up with an amazing finished product, sometimes you spend way too much money on an absolute turd haha
it depends on how much you wanna mod. the big perk of an expensive guitar is that everything is just that little bit more playable and put together well
@@msheldon10 never ever considered a Gibson for most of my playing career, until one day I tried an SG. It was the easiest playing and most comfortable guitar I’ve ever played, and I am very picky. There was 1 thing annoying me after 3 months: pickups rocked side to side but I fixed that easily with electrical tape. Some people may have had issues with the brand, but each instrument is different and thus they must all be judged differently. Also ALWAYS TRY OUT BEFORE YOU BUY!!!
@@soterudsvarten8356 you’re totally right that each instrument is different and sometimes you find the right one that just works. One of my first guitars was a squier telecaster that somehow just felt awesome to play for me and my friends so I decided to swap out the electronics and I still play it to this day.
@@soterudsvarten8356with certain brands guitars are like fingerprints, quality I’ve heard from Gibson isn’t always great but there will always be that one that’s great to one person and unique to that person.
The most important thing to do to a cheap guitar is a fret job. A good level, crown, and polish will vastly improve the playability, even if you can't really hear a difference.
But some guitars are just scuffed. I bought an SX strat from the pawn shop (with the goal of modding it) and the bridge was so out of alignment with the neck that the high E string was finnicky to play. The fix for this is non trivial, i ended up retrofitting a floyd rose and redrilling the pickguard holes (as i initially planned)
That crispiness is actually come from your pickup height. If you want fatter tone, just increase the height..if you want crispier just decrease it. The further the string, the lesser amount of vibration captured, thus create a thinner and crispier tone.
I use my volume knob a lot when I play and I’ve always blindly assumed you should have the pickups as close to the strings as possible without the strings hitting it when you palm mute or play finger style and that the volume boost can be mitigated by turning down the volume on the guitar. I always see people that just leave the guitar volume on ten, but I personally hardly ever have it above 6 or 7. Am I wrong in this assumption? I’ve played for 15 years and never had a teacher so I just worked most of this stuff out for myself, and always thought that pickup height should be first adjusted to close to the string, then adjusted to even put the output of each pickup.
@@EllissDee4you4me It's your own playstyle and if it serves you without major problems, it's all right! I also try to use volume on guitar more and more to not rely on drive pedals and channel switching. I also love to play harder or softer depending on the song or sound. I guess you are same too
Exactly, i have a "mid range" strat that hurts to play (action is not perfect, and it's a strat, enough said) Buyed a cheap epiphone les paul that had close to perfection action and intonation, made my playing effortless.
It's all probably in things like tuning stability, sustain, maintenance etc.. The actual sound may not always change that much, but you're gonna feel the difference as the guy playing it (probably, depends on the mods)
@@1-Wheel-DriveYeah. Most of the things change the gain more than anything, and that can be compensated on the amp. Also picks unironically have a surprising effect on tone. Almost exclusively due to the difference in attack
Best part about doing it this way is it teaches you how to work on your guitar. It's very important to understand how the instrument works in order to get the most out of it
To add to the guy talking about pickup height: Adjusting pickup height is a good way to get the tone you want, but the closer it is to the strings the more pull it will have and you might get intonation issues. On guitars that have a screwdriver slot in the poles, you can adjust the poles separately from the magnet (pickup) for fine tuning. Typically (even on my own Riviera and Casino) the low E string will be furthest from the pole, A a bit closer, D pretty close, G a little further away, B a bit closer, E close. They get staggered so the fatter strings sit a bit further from the poles. TLDR: Google pickup pole height adjustment
If you have a good ear for it the cheaper one doesn’t have as much bright end and tends to sound more dull and dry while the custom shop so bright and full
@drew fox Ur full of shit, guarantee in a blind sound test U cldnt pick which is which...100%, Fender must have ripped U off w a over priced corporate money maker= custom shop bullshit 6 string. Even Fender master builders admit the cheaper priced guitars are just as good sounding as any "custom made
@drew fox Ur full of shit, guarantee in a blind sound test U cldnt pick which is which...100%, Fender must have ripped U off w a over priced corporate money maker= custom shop bullshit 6 string. Even Fender master builders admit the cheaper priced guitars are just as good sounding as any "custom made
@drew fox Ur full of shit, guarantee in a blind sound test U cldnt pick which is which...100%, Fender must have ripped U off w a over priced corporate money maker= custom shop bullshit 6 string. Even Fender master builders admit the cheaper priced guitars are just as good sounding as any "custom made
100% agree, I recently built a guitar and reused the neck from my 2001 squier affinity which was my first ever guitar, it plays great and sounds even better
That is so very true if you know what you are doing. If not, you will probably spend lots of money and end up with a guitar that not only costs you a bundle but it may sound like a low end guitar. To start with, most people can't even set one up.
Being a lefty guitarist in Australia where the best guitar you’ll find in a store is usually just a squire, partscasters have always been the go for me. I’ve sold off a fair amount of my guitars, leaving me with 3 electrics but they’re all heavily modded. It’s a fun process and it leaves you with an instrument you can really call your own. I love messing around with different parts and feels. Fair to say my first squire has gone through over 50 different mods, whether it be pickups, hardware, paint jobs and neck replacements. It’s always fun messing around till you find what fits you best.
For anyone wondering. The expensive guitar is a fender custom 1963 Stratocaster journeyman relic. It runs for $4,450. No idea about the cheap guitar or the mods though.
My experience with this topic. I had a Korean made, Cherry red BC Rich Warlock. I played it for around 8 years, and I decided that it wasn’t standing up to what I needed. Originally the guitar was $699 CAD. I got Two Seymour Duncan Pickups (A shred and a jazz), got all the frets scalloped, a new bridge, new tuners, and a beautiful push pull system in it. It was beautiful… but it still didn’t really feel like an expensive guitar. Only sounded like it.
Put my partscaster together from scratch, every single part carefully selected and I can proudly say that I have never played a guitar that sounded better or was more playable. Even custom fenders that cost more than twice.
I find that the sound gets better, but not as good as an expensive models. But playability gets as good as any expensive models if you do a fretjob and a good setup. My cheapest guitar plays as good as any topmodel guitar
The custom is just the slightest bit brighter. That said I liked the partscaster better. I guess you could’ve used stainless frets , treble bleed capacitors, etc to further modify it🤷♂️
suggestion for strat mod next is just the 250k pods and new 5 way switch. On my opinion, stainless frets would be too bright for strats and treble bleed would be too piercing on low volume tone control. 🙏🏼🙏🏼
@@FragPound I don’t really understand the “frets affect tone” thing, I get if your bevel is off, and it can affect the “snappyness” of some types of picking. Besides that though, I found its almost all pickups, strings, and bridge/nut, around 90%. How would you describe the sound difference between nickel and stainless?
The humbucker is always gonna sound different than the traditional singles on the custom shop, depending on what ur wanting I do agree w building bc I’m a gear tech nrd
To me, they both sound amazing. However, I think they've just got two different tones completely that change what style I would use them for. I think I'd use the custom shop more for a blues sound and then the modded for more funk sounds
The part I think most people overlook is that a partscaster doesn’t have to be $800+ in one day. You can save up for the mods individually instead of just having a bought guitar. Imo it helps you know what you like better
-I’m lefty… and I always wanted a jazzmaster/jaguar style guitar while being on a budget -The only company I could find that made affordable lefty jazzmaster-ish bodies was a British company called stagg (jazzy shape with triple single coil setup. Natural finish. Looked pretty cool) -Bought the stagg lefty for a few hundred bucks -bought a fender rosewood neck (which fit perfectly despite forgetting to take measurements. Lucky af). Rosewood neck looks great with the natural finish. -bought fender 69 reissue single coils So it’s a franken-strato-master And it’s the best sounding single coil guitar I’ve ever played (Reminding that im lefty, so my options are generally limited, unless I wanna string guitars upside down which usually makes them uncomfortable to play….. but nevertheless, it still sounds better than 90% of the strats I’ve ever played. Love it.) Partscasters are awesome as long as you find the right stuff. I love that guitar like it’s a limb
They both sound great but there is a really huge note that should be made here. The cheap strat has a humbucker bridge pickup, while the custom shop has standard strat pickups. Personally, i love that humbucker bridge, so they both sound awesome. At the end of the day, it is still more about playability over sound with some upgrading sometimes. I bet the weight and other features of the custom shop makes the intrument drastically easier and smoother to play
Bought a Korean E9 (1989) missing strings and one tuner. Wasn't happy with the pickups though. $42 for Klusons, $9 for TusqXL, $200 for Vintage Noiseless w/CTS pots . . . $250 in parts turned the E9 into a gem player. The E9 had an awesome neck and full-sized block trem, so good bones.
I’ve done this with a Jackson SLX Soloist. Replaced the “Duncan designed” pickups with real Seymour Duncans and added Floyd Rose Original and 1000 parts to the stock Floyd Rose Special. Also added a fat brass sustain block.
How high are your pickups? I tried Fender's recommended height and the E string wobbles like crazy. Lowering the pickups fixed the issue. It's a Squier Classic Vibe though so might not be as forgiving with changes like these
@@math001 single coils are really grabby. The best way is to manually plait it in and tonne/ volume balance by ear. I use heavy gauge strings so I have to angle my singles and Humbucker towards the high E.
As a musician and luthier, if you want a budget guitar but same quality as expensive guitar, the first thing you consider is the fretboard and neck quality. There are lots of cheap quality guitar now in the market. Then you can upgrade next the bone nut, locking tuners, and electronics to improve the tone. So you can save a lot of money.
I find the best way to save on mods is to get used parts too, I always tell my customers that but they never do it, I've gotten three five dollar Duncans so far
I have been modding different models of squires for the last 10 years. Nothing like finding a you squire for about 150 bucks, changing out the electronics , do some front work, work on the nut, and change the tuners. You pretty much have a fender American quality guitar. I have a old fender deluxe Stratocaster and I have a squire deluxe Stratocaster. They both have great quality of sound. Though they do have different tones.
I honestly didnt even notice that he changed guitars halfway through. I rewatched it and heard a slight difference. Personally i like the idea and joy of building and modding things
The only modder that kept modding after making money was frank zappa and thats absolute fact the difference between a 150 dollar turd with lipstick and a 3k guitar is primarily the quality of the woods used and the skill of the luthier... And once a skilled player has played both .. they stop making thier own monsters and play pretty ones that are easier to play
I have a Mexican strat and a les paul but my favorite guitar is a squire I bought from this guy who put on new tuners and new pick ups. it's so easy to play and he installed this switch that allows you to use all the pickups at once. really the most important thing is if it's gonna inspire you to pick it up and play. Squire's are very underrated imo. even ones that aren't suped up. the classic vibe series is especially good.
I feel like Intonation is the biggest thing to making any guitar sound fantastic. Tuning stability second, but if you can make your guitar in whatever tuning you play in, actually in tune the first frets all the up the neck, and you are comfortable with playing your instruments, you realize that there is no difference in the sound you get with an expensive vs cheap guitar unless you are comparing unplugged acoustic tone. And even with that being said, fresh sets of strings on an instrument that's in tune, is gonna sound amazing no matter what! That's my two cents :) but believe me, one day I'm still gonna buy that late 60s SG that I dream of, just not today or next month XD those price points are there for when you really want to treat yourself to something you absolutely want, and there is nothing wrong about that at all, just like there is nothing wrong with enjoying your first Epiphone ❤️🤘rock on people.
These days almost all new guitars can be brought to enviable playability by a regular luthier. Change any parts that don't work properly and do a fret job. All else is preference
The difference between a squier and a fender is hours of hand finishing work. Custom shop badge adds more time. The proof is in the feel of the neck and how it feels when you play across the entire neck. They have tools and techniques that are hard to replicate. My Japanese boxer strat is the nicest one I own. I work on squiers and whatnot and that is my goal someday. To be as good as the guy who made my boxer.
It’s in the build of the neck and body plus the finish. That makes up 90% of the feel of an expensive guitar. That’s the one thing you cant really enhance on a partscaster, well, the neck atleast. You can do a lot of work on it but it’ll never be as good as a hand rounded/finished neck done by a professional
Don’t forgot to change the nut too! Plastic nuts really hinder the guitar when it comes to sustain and sound. Opting for a bone or tusq nut is a cheap mod that can go a long way!
Maybe the sound can get similar, but how the guitar feels in your hand will always be so different. And since a guitarist plays the guitar I think that comfort and reliability are as important as sound
I feel like while there definitely is difference in sound between guitars, what's more important is the player behind it, I have a strategy not because of how it sounds but purely because I like how it look
My second ever guitar was a red Squier Bullet Strat and I took it apart one day, cleaned everything, put it all back together and adjusted the saddles so they were shaped the same way my Les Paul's bridge saddles were and somehow luckily intonated it perfectly. Replaced the nut with one of those graphite ones and swapped the pickguard out for a black/white/black one and swapped the caps out for Orange Drops. everyone that played this thing had to double check the headstock because they thought it was a fender. Barely had to do anything except have good luck and new caps
Two completely different stratocasters. Make the comparison with two comparable strats. You got one hot rodded up with a humbucker the other one single coils. And yes it's much better to fix one up. Squire '60s reissue loaded with Gen 4 fender noiseless, fender locking tuners, tusq nut, new pots, vintage wiring, upgraded trem and block with roller saddles. $550 guitar with about $450 worth of upgrades. I'd put that thing up against any $5,000 guitar out there, any day.
Part casters rule! Hard to pawn hard to sell so end up being “forever home” guitars. I no longer have any branded guitars! I realized after I sold all my Fenders,Taylors,PRSs that it cured most of my GAS and am completely happy making or modifying!!!
Even though I haven’t done this. I’d recommend it IF you were a lefty, as it is much harder to find a good lh guitar. I actually am planning on doing this to a JEMJR as the JEM7V7 isn’t on lefty (well, there where only 200 made which is as best as none) and I really love the design.
I would be interested in the price comparison between the two as well as hearing them going through a few different pedal boards and different styles off riffs to kind of get the full range
It really just depends what you want. If you want a perfect recreation of a classic guitar that isn’t the standard tele, strat, les Paul, sg, or other iconic standard configurations, it’s probably going to cost more to track down all the exact parts you want. If you want very specific specs that aren’t sold on cheap guitars or sold as mod kits or something that is easily modded, it’s going to cost less to just buy the real deal. But if you just want a good guitar that plays well, this is a perfect way to get it. You’ll spend at least 2k on a suped up strat or super strat. You can make the same thing for 500 bucks, maybe less if you’re willing to try your luck with knock off asian parts.
I know a guy who drilled a bridge to a table and drilled a headstock to another and used the same pickups, tuning machine, electronics, and everything and It still sounded the exact same, the body really don't matter
Partsson, a Jackson that's made of parts. Doesn't matter what Jackson parts you use so long as the main part is either a Jackson body or neck. I got me a custom version of a dime 333 stealth with a reverse headstock Jackson neck 24 fret. Its minty
As a car guy and a musician, built vs. Bought is a way of life lol
not always lol, sometimes its wayyy cheaper to buy an expensive guitar since the manufacturers get the parts in bulk
@@who3033Such is the harsh reality of this lifestyle. Sometimes you end up with an amazing finished product, sometimes you spend way too much money on an absolute turd haha
🗿
@@MaxHBass facts
Yup!
Would be nice to know how much the guitar + mods costed
Probably around 500
@@Jusjay.-. jup, sounds about right
@@Jusjay.-. I was guessing more around $700 total. That VegaTrem bridge is like $270 alone.
@@alti_gottem ohh
@@StuPedassol Coasted
it depends on how much you wanna mod. the big perk of an expensive guitar is that everything is just that little bit more playable and put together well
Unless you are buying a Gibson 🫣
@@msheldon10 never ever considered a Gibson for most of my playing career, until one day I tried an SG. It was the easiest playing and most comfortable guitar I’ve ever played, and I am very picky. There was 1 thing annoying me after 3 months: pickups rocked side to side but I fixed that easily with electrical tape. Some people may have had issues with the brand, but each instrument is different and thus they must all be judged differently. Also ALWAYS TRY OUT BEFORE YOU BUY!!!
@@soterudsvarten8356 most gibsons are out spec for spec worse than most brands is the other dudes point I think
@@soterudsvarten8356 you’re totally right that each instrument is different and sometimes you find the right one that just works. One of my first guitars was a squier telecaster that somehow just felt awesome to play for me and my friends so I decided to swap out the electronics and I still play it to this day.
@@soterudsvarten8356with certain brands guitars are like fingerprints, quality I’ve heard from Gibson isn’t always great but there will always be that one that’s great to one person and unique to that person.
The most important thing to do to a cheap guitar is a fret job. A good level, crown, and polish will vastly improve the playability, even if you can't really hear a difference.
But some guitars are just scuffed. I bought an SX strat from the pawn shop (with the goal of modding it) and the bridge was so out of alignment with the neck that the high E string was finnicky to play. The fix for this is non trivial, i ended up retrofitting a floyd rose and redrilling the pickguard holes (as i initially planned)
Neck feel is the most important thing
It wasnt the question of the video though
@@makkerfelix Absolutely! That’s the reason I spent the extra money on a new Fender AMPRO II neck for my Strat build.
It doesn't matter if you put on the most expensive hardware if your guitar neck feels like shit
That crispiness is actually come from your pickup height. If you want fatter tone, just increase the height..if you want crispier just decrease it. The further the string, the lesser amount of vibration captured, thus create a thinner and crispier tone.
I use my volume knob a lot when I play and I’ve always blindly assumed you should have the pickups as close to the strings as possible without the strings hitting it when you palm mute or play finger style and that the volume boost can be mitigated by turning down the volume on the guitar. I always see people that just leave the guitar volume on ten, but I personally hardly ever have it above 6 or 7. Am I wrong in this assumption? I’ve played for 15 years and never had a teacher so I just worked most of this stuff out for myself, and always thought that pickup height should be first adjusted to close to the string, then adjusted to even put the output of each pickup.
@@EllissDee4you4me It's your own playstyle and if it serves you without major problems, it's all right! I also try to use volume on guitar more and more to not rely on drive pedals and channel switching. I also love to play harder or softer depending on the song or sound. I guess you are same too
The height of the bridge makes absolutely no difference in sound.
@@leroy92TX yeah that's not what they said, they said pickup height influences your sound, and that's just a fact
@@leroy92TX I don’t think that’s true. If you raise or lower the bridge, you of necessity alter the distance between strings and pickups.
"Feel" and "sound" is what matters the most, so if the guitar feels good in your hands and sounds good to you then it's worth keeping
Exactly, i have a "mid range" strat that hurts to play (action is not perfect, and it's a strat, enough said) Buyed a cheap epiphone les paul that had close to perfection action and intonation, made my playing effortless.
I literally listened to this without looking at the video and i couldnt tell the difference when he transitioned to the cheap guitar
Same
The cheaper is a little bit more quiet and bassy, but that's honestly a good thing, probably sounds better in a mix. But jep, EQing is a thing lol
It's all probably in things like tuning stability, sustain, maintenance etc.. The actual sound may not always change that much, but you're gonna feel the difference as the guy playing it (probably, depends on the mods)
Same
@@CFJ.R agreed, if you can afford it why not, but the true magic is on the players creativity, i know it sounds boring but it's true
95% of the tone is the SPEAKER!!!
-Glen Fricker
@@1-Wheel-DriveYeah. Most of the things change the gain more than anything, and that can be compensated on the amp.
Also picks unironically have a surprising effect on tone. Almost exclusively due to the difference in attack
Rest is the amp an pick ups
Best part about doing it this way is it teaches you how to work on your guitar. It's very important to understand how the instrument works in order to get the most out of it
As John Mayer would say “wow, it sounds like a Strat”
idk but modding is satisfying and kinda therapeutic. keeps me playing more too
To add to the guy talking about pickup height:
Adjusting pickup height is a good way to get the tone you want, but the closer it is to the strings the more pull it will have and you might get intonation issues. On guitars that have a screwdriver slot in the poles, you can adjust the poles separately from the magnet (pickup) for fine tuning.
Typically (even on my own Riviera and Casino) the low E string will be furthest from the pole, A a bit closer, D pretty close, G a little further away, B a bit closer, E close.
They get staggered so the fatter strings sit a bit further from the poles.
TLDR: Google pickup pole height adjustment
Bro I couldn’t even tell he changed guitars
If you have a good ear for it the cheaper one doesn’t have as much bright end and tends to sound more dull and dry while the custom shop so bright and full
@@drewfox757to me it looks and sounds like he just had different pickup heights for the guitars. adjusting that makes a hell of a difference.
@drew fox Ur full of shit, guarantee in a blind sound test U cldnt pick which is which...100%, Fender must have ripped U off w a over priced corporate money maker= custom shop bullshit 6 string. Even Fender master builders admit the cheaper priced guitars are just as good sounding as any "custom made
@drew fox Ur full of shit, guarantee in a blind sound test U cldnt pick which is which...100%, Fender must have ripped U off w a over priced corporate money maker= custom shop bullshit 6 string. Even Fender master builders admit the cheaper priced guitars are just as good sounding as any "custom made
@drew fox Ur full of shit, guarantee in a blind sound test U cldnt pick which is which...100%, Fender must have ripped U off w a over priced corporate money maker= custom shop bullshit 6 string. Even Fender master builders admit the cheaper priced guitars are just as good sounding as any "custom made
I've been playing on Squiers for years. With some modifications they play just as well as my Fender. Squiers are the best budget guitars in my opinion
@@dustinvoid3922 100% true, and i think alot of people don't realize its actually easy to do additional fret work
100% agree, I recently built a guitar and reused the neck from my 2001 squier affinity which was my first ever guitar, it plays great and sounds even better
Oh gretsch junior jet club if you feel like sanding the laquer off the neck
Most important features in a stock guitar is how it feels, and looks. Everything else is easier to change so therefore are lower on the priority list
I’m a parts caster kind of guy
I like putting it together
It just feels so much more satisfying to play knowing you built it yourself
As long as the guitar is set up properly it shouldn't matter too much. You can always sculpt the tone with your amp and junk after.
"Custom shop" IS a parts caster but built by someone who has more experience and backed with a warranty.
A winner, that quartersawn neck and the alpha pots really did it.
That is so very true if you know what you are doing. If not, you will probably spend lots of money and end up with a guitar that not only costs you a bundle but it may sound like a low end guitar. To start with, most people can't even set one up.
The cheap strat sounds great, but the custom shop is incredible
Agreed. Clear difference when listening on headphones
It's a ridiculous comparison between pickups, not between guitars. If they're different pickups, they are obviously going to sound different.
Been doing this for years.With a good setup you won't have to change much.I find used parts and pickups so it doesn't cost to much.😊
just remeber, claptons blackie and brownie, the guitars that played layla and wonderful tonight, were partcasters
Okay but that karate chop 💀
The custom shop had better definition in the low end but the partscaster still sounded pretty good to my ear
Darn that part-caster sounds smooth. 🤘 Nice pickups
Being a lefty guitarist in Australia where the best guitar you’ll find in a store is usually just a squire, partscasters have always been the go for me. I’ve sold off a fair amount of my guitars, leaving me with 3 electrics but they’re all heavily modded. It’s a fun process and it leaves you with an instrument you can really call your own. I love messing around with different parts and feels. Fair to say my first squire has gone through over 50 different mods, whether it be pickups, hardware, paint jobs and neck replacements. It’s always fun messing around till you find what fits you best.
For anyone wondering. The expensive guitar is a fender custom 1963 Stratocaster journeyman relic. It runs for $4,450. No idea about the cheap guitar or the mods though.
anyone notice how he’s just casually holding a guitar neck in the beginning?
No he does it all the time that’s his microphone pretend microphone lol
It's the karate chop on the strings for me lol😂
My experience with this topic. I had a Korean made, Cherry red BC Rich Warlock. I played it for around 8 years, and I decided that it wasn’t standing up to what I needed. Originally the guitar was $699 CAD. I got Two Seymour Duncan Pickups (A shred and a jazz), got all the frets scalloped, a new bridge, new tuners, and a beautiful push pull system in it. It was beautiful… but it still didn’t really feel like an expensive guitar. Only sounded like it.
Me, a metal fan who likes heavy distortion: chuckles in Ebay guitars
The custom shop had more bite, but the average ear wouldn't notice.
Put my partscaster together from scratch, every single part carefully selected and I can proudly say that I have never played a guitar that sounded better or was more playable. Even custom fenders that cost more than twice.
How much it cost to build your own? And what did you use?
It sounds nice and clean.... good job dude!
Love the karate chop edit that was smooth
I find that the sound gets better, but not as good as an expensive models. But playability gets as good as any expensive models if you do a fretjob and a good setup. My cheapest guitar plays as good as any topmodel guitar
As long as the base guitar construction is solid and the fretwork is A-tier... You can mod a great guitar
changing the pickup height of any guitar can go a long way
The custom is just the slightest bit brighter. That said I liked the partscaster better. I guess you could’ve used stainless frets , treble bleed capacitors, etc to further modify it🤷♂️
suggestion for strat mod next is just the 250k pods and new 5 way switch. On my opinion, stainless frets would be too bright for strats and treble bleed would be too piercing on low volume tone control. 🙏🏼🙏🏼
@@FragPound I don’t really understand the “frets affect tone” thing, I get if your bevel is off, and it can affect the “snappyness” of some types of picking. Besides that though, I found its almost all pickups, strings, and bridge/nut, around 90%.
How would you describe the sound difference between nickel and stainless?
I've modded three strats to be used for metalcore and heavier music, they are all sickkk
Custom shop sounded better but just as importantly I bet it feels better too. Polished frets are so underrated.
I have a partscaster that sounds fine but the frets are sharp so I dont like playing it.
The humbucker is always gonna sound different than the traditional singles on the custom shop, depending on what ur wanting I do agree w building bc I’m a gear tech nrd
To me, they both sound amazing. However, I think they've just got two different tones completely that change what style I would use them for. I think I'd use the custom shop more for a blues sound and then the modded for more funk sounds
The part I think most people overlook is that a partscaster doesn’t have to be $800+ in one day. You can save up for the mods individually instead of just having a bought guitar. Imo it helps you know what you like better
-I’m lefty… and I always wanted a jazzmaster/jaguar style guitar while being on a budget
-The only company I could find that made affordable lefty jazzmaster-ish bodies was a British company called stagg (jazzy shape with triple single coil setup. Natural finish. Looked pretty cool)
-Bought the stagg lefty for a few hundred bucks
-bought a fender rosewood neck (which fit perfectly despite forgetting to take measurements. Lucky af). Rosewood neck looks great with the natural finish.
-bought fender 69 reissue single coils
So it’s a franken-strato-master
And it’s the best sounding single coil guitar I’ve ever played (Reminding that im lefty, so my options are generally limited, unless I wanna string guitars upside down which usually makes them uncomfortable to play….. but nevertheless, it still sounds better than 90% of the strats I’ve ever played. Love it.)
Partscasters are awesome as long as you find the right stuff. I love that guitar like it’s a limb
They both sound great but there is a really huge note that should be made here. The cheap strat has a humbucker bridge pickup, while the custom shop has standard strat pickups. Personally, i love that humbucker bridge, so they both sound awesome. At the end of the day, it is still more about playability over sound with some upgrading sometimes. I bet the weight and other features of the custom shop makes the intrument drastically easier and smoother to play
This showed how important a good amp is
Bought a Korean E9 (1989) missing strings and one tuner. Wasn't happy with the pickups though. $42 for Klusons, $9 for TusqXL, $200 for Vintage Noiseless w/CTS pots . . . $250 in parts turned the E9 into a gem player. The E9 had an awesome neck and full-sized block trem, so good bones.
The difference in guitar body was so evident!
They both sounded good. Moded one was a bit more light sounded and custom shop was kinda more compressed.
That is a spicy lick
I’ve done this with a Jackson SLX Soloist. Replaced the “Duncan designed” pickups with real Seymour Duncans and added Floyd Rose Original and 1000 parts to the stock Floyd Rose Special. Also added a fat brass sustain block.
…..and?
@@dripptavis I definitely think it was an improvement. If nothing else, it helped me to bond more with the instrument
Why not just buy a better model Jackson guitar then lol
@@DrDanka69 Too expensive. Plus it was a gift from my late grandmother for graduating college
Love it. You gotta do a part 2 where you replace the pots and shield the cavity if it’s not done already!
for me cheap vs expensive guitar is never about tone, it's the build quality, comfort, consistency, craftsmanship
Would really recommend changing the pots! Good ones really effect the tone. Also, the nut is very important for tuning stability and tone.
Make sure to adjust pickup heights!! they make 1/3 of the difference in tone!!
How high are your pickups? I tried Fender's recommended height and the E string wobbles like crazy. Lowering the pickups fixed the issue. It's a Squier Classic Vibe though so might not be as forgiving with changes like these
@@math001 single coils are really grabby. The best way is to manually plait it in and tonne/ volume balance by ear. I use heavy gauge strings so I have to angle my singles and Humbucker towards the high E.
bro the transition when he cut the strings was wild
As a musician and luthier, if you want a budget guitar but same quality as expensive guitar, the first thing you consider is the fretboard and neck quality. There are lots of cheap quality guitar now in the market. Then you can upgrade next the bone nut, locking tuners, and electronics to improve the tone. So you can save a lot of money.
I find the best way to save on mods is to get used parts too, I always tell my customers that but they never do it, I've gotten three five dollar Duncans so far
Shit, those Donner Strats are actually very good!!
cheaper guitar has a brighter tone, but not as full or rounded as the custom shop. worth it imo.
I have been modding different models of squires for the last 10 years. Nothing like finding a you squire for about 150 bucks, changing out the electronics , do some front work, work on the nut, and change the tuners. You pretty much have a fender American quality guitar. I have a old fender deluxe Stratocaster and I have a squire deluxe Stratocaster. They both have great quality of sound. Though they do have different tones.
I closed my eyes, and I legitimately couldn’t tell when you switched!
I honestly didnt even notice that he changed guitars halfway through. I rewatched it and heard a slight difference. Personally i like the idea and joy of building and modding things
I've always said this 100%. Great video
The only modder that kept modding after making money was frank zappa and thats absolute fact the difference between a 150 dollar turd with lipstick and a 3k guitar is primarily the quality of the woods used and the skill of the luthier... And once a skilled player has played both .. they stop making thier own monsters and play pretty ones that are easier to play
I have a Mexican strat and a les paul but my favorite guitar is a squire I bought from this guy who put on new tuners and new pick ups. it's so easy to play and he installed this switch that allows you to use all the pickups at once. really the most important thing is if it's gonna inspire you to pick it up and play. Squire's are very underrated imo. even ones that aren't suped up. the classic vibe series is especially good.
if i'm shopping on a budget, i'm buying the cheap guitar, and the sentence ends there.
Honestly, it sounds amazing after modding, not too bright, but clear enough and, to my opinion, it's a bit better tone-ballanced than Custom shop.
I feel like Intonation is the biggest thing to making any guitar sound fantastic. Tuning stability second, but if you can make your guitar in whatever tuning you play in, actually in tune the first frets all the up the neck, and you are comfortable with playing your instruments, you realize that there is no difference in the sound you get with an expensive vs cheap guitar unless you are comparing unplugged acoustic tone. And even with that being said, fresh sets of strings on an instrument that's in tune, is gonna sound amazing no matter what! That's my two cents :) but believe me, one day I'm still gonna buy that late 60s SG that I dream of, just not today or next month XD those price points are there for when you really want to treat yourself to something you absolutely want, and there is nothing wrong about that at all, just like there is nothing wrong with enjoying your first Epiphone ❤️🤘rock on people.
Making cheap guitar sounds expensive is easy. Making cheap guitar plays expensive is hard.
These days almost all new guitars can be brought to enviable playability by a regular luthier.
Change any parts that don't work properly and do a fret job. All else is preference
Sound pretty close to my ears!
I built a Partscaster. Used a good loaded pickguard (Fender) and it's GREAT! Sounds a lot better than the muted one here.
The difference between a squier and a fender is hours of hand finishing work. Custom shop badge adds more time. The proof is in the feel of the neck and how it feels when you play across the entire neck. They have tools and techniques that are hard to replicate. My Japanese boxer strat is the nicest one I own. I work on squiers and whatnot and that is my goal someday. To be as good as the guy who made my boxer.
It’s in the build of the neck and body plus the finish. That makes up 90% of the feel of an expensive guitar. That’s the one thing you cant really enhance on a partscaster, well, the neck atleast. You can do a lot of work on it but it’ll never be as good as a hand rounded/finished neck done by a professional
Don’t forgot to change the nut too! Plastic nuts really hinder the guitar when it comes to sustain and sound. Opting for a bone or tusq nut is a cheap mod that can go a long way!
The modded one sounds just as good but its just a different tone
Maybe the sound can get similar, but how the guitar feels in your hand will always be so different. And since a guitarist plays the guitar I think that comfort and reliability are as important as sound
It’s not like you couldn’t just swap out the neck on a bolt on guitar
@@xboxgamerz777 a good neck is still $600+
Bros mike is tooo real
To be fair a self mod works and sounds better.
Now you can put the pickups puts and everything you want on and it'll sound extremely good
I feel like while there definitely is difference in sound between guitars, what's more important is the player behind it, I have a strategy not because of how it sounds but purely because I like how it look
Holding the neck like a mic🤣👌🏼
The look on his face is comedy gold
My second ever guitar was a red Squier Bullet Strat and I took it apart one day, cleaned everything, put it all back together and adjusted the saddles so they were shaped the same way my Les Paul's bridge saddles were and somehow luckily intonated it perfectly. Replaced the nut with one of those graphite ones and swapped the pickguard out for a black/white/black one and swapped the caps out for Orange Drops. everyone that played this thing had to double check the headstock because they thought it was a fender. Barely had to do anything except have good luck and new caps
Budget with some upgrades and a great amp. Thats been my way of life.
There's a difference in clarity and low end but not much. You can make the sound similar by adjusting the pickup's height.
Two completely different stratocasters. Make the comparison with two comparable strats. You got one hot rodded up with a humbucker the other one single coils. And yes it's much better to fix one up. Squire '60s reissue loaded with Gen 4 fender noiseless, fender locking tuners, tusq nut, new pots, vintage wiring, upgraded trem and block with roller saddles. $550 guitar with about $450 worth of upgrades. I'd put that thing up against any $5,000 guitar out there, any day.
This reminds me of when you max out the starting weapon
Part casters rule! Hard to pawn hard to sell so end up being “forever home” guitars. I no longer have any branded guitars! I realized after I sold all my Fenders,Taylors,PRSs that it cured most of my GAS and am completely happy making or modifying!!!
I feel like the difference in tone might be coming from the fact that one of them has a humbucker
Even though I haven’t done this. I’d recommend it IF you were a lefty, as it is much harder to find a good lh guitar. I actually am planning on doing this to a JEMJR as the JEM7V7 isn’t on lefty (well, there where only 200 made which is as best as none) and I really love the design.
I would be interested in the price comparison between the two as well as hearing them going through a few different pedal boards and different styles off riffs to kind of get the full range
It really just depends what you want. If you want a perfect recreation of a classic guitar that isn’t the standard tele, strat, les Paul, sg, or other iconic standard configurations, it’s probably going to cost more to track down all the exact parts you want. If you want very specific specs that aren’t sold on cheap guitars or sold as mod kits or something that is easily modded, it’s going to cost less to just buy the real deal. But if you just want a good guitar that plays well, this is a perfect way to get it. You’ll spend at least 2k on a suped up strat or super strat. You can make the same thing for 500 bucks, maybe less if you’re willing to try your luck with knock off asian parts.
Sometimes it's worth replacing the neck too which can be expensive but can increase playability.
Sounds good bro
I know a guy who drilled a bridge to a table and drilled a headstock to another and used the same pickups, tuning machine, electronics, and everything and It still sounded the exact same, the body really don't matter
Partsson, a Jackson that's made of parts. Doesn't matter what Jackson parts you use so long as the main part is either a Jackson body or neck. I got me a custom version of a dime 333 stealth with a reverse headstock Jackson neck 24 fret. Its minty
Shoulda done unmodded tone test as well so we could see how much it changed
That was almost the same sound. Good job 🙌
I actually prefer the cheaper one, it’s that humbucker bro 😂
I feel like this also depends on opinions because one sounds more calm and one sounds a bit more energetic, I liked the cheap one better