How To “Custom Shop” Your Squier
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- Опубликовано: 28 сен 2024
- A few weeks ago, we shot out 5 levels of Jazzmasters, and I thought that the Squier Classic Vibe was a lot of guitar for the money. So, we decided to "Custom Shop" the Squier with some upgraded parts, some tricks from Ben at Big House, and a good setup, to see how close we could get to the real thing.
Huge thanks to Ben and all the crew at Big House Guitars for helping me out with this one, definitely check them out if you're in the Atlanta area
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Rhett, I am absolutely blown away dude. I don’t even know where to begin. You and Tilly becoming family so quickly is something I will cherish forever and this guitar and video will constantly remind me of these past few months and the beautiful moments we’ve shared from eating delicious ribeye with our hands in my kitchen to producing a live recording of 7 artists in 24 hours in my bike shop. Thank you just doesn’t seem to cut it. I’ve been so busy I didn’t get to watch the whole video until tonight and I literally had no idea you were sending me the Jazzmaster until it was at my home and in my hands. Love you and Tilly forever. Can’t wait to play this guitar with you soon. ❤ Now I got me a Jazzmaster!!! Thank you my friend. I’m speechless and that doesn’t happen ever.
Enjoy that thing! That’s a great friend you’ve got!
This video went from being a techy gear head video to sentimental pretty quick. I kinda sniffled a lil bit when Rhett went into the story of why he was doing this. Such a cool thing to do.
That’s so wholesome
brotherhood.
The main take away is that what really makes a guitar sound good is the person playing it.
@@burningjoe Yeah, I once saw blues-legend Magic Slim play a Squier through a.. wait for it: Roland Jazz Chorus solid state amp. Sounded killer!
For the most part, yes. Every guitar I play sounds like me. Every drum set I play sounds like me. Every keyboard I play sounds like me.
If I had to choose between a thousand hours of practice or a $5000 guitar, I'll take the practice. A good player will sound good on a decent guitar, a bad player will still sound bad on the best guitar on the planet.
@@Charlesbabbage2209i'd take the 5000 guitar in a heartbeat. The fun of playing guitar is getting better. I'd rather put in the 1000 hours myself and work for it, than to have those skills handed down to me
It is just so much easier to watch a video and talk about guitar and type some comments than actually LEARN and practice on a guitar.
I'm off to a bad start: I can't hear anything wrong with the stock Squier.
Well that is because you lack the nerdy insecurities of most guitarists. Guitar buyers often buy to make up for something they see as lacking in their own self.
Guitar seller's take full advantage of this and often without realizing it because it pays for their lunch and that clouds their ability to be honest, even to themselves.
Welcome to one of the most over hyped consumer products ever invented, sold mostly to folks who couldn't strum Happy Birthday even if I told em it was a I, V, I IV progression.
your bad start is cash in the bank, why create non-existing problems
That's because hes playing through a great amp. Also squiers dont sound bad, they just dont sound great either. More expensive guitars/ pups have that oompf that you can't quite express in words
@@maxvanderhoning8375 I find that a good amp ( I do not know great amps but most valve amps and many solid state amps sound pretty good with decent guitars and the speakers make the biggest difference to me. Yes PUPs can sound muddy, but I find the speakers and setting contribute a lot to the muddy sound or loss of definition. Yes I have various teles from MIM MiJ to US special and The neck had the most lame. also the MIJ switches failed on me and costs the most to repair. The MIA texas specials were really lame sounding. I ordered a Classic Vibes and I will see what the deal is. I will have saved enough euros to buy new pups if I need. PUP is most important to me. I am not guitar tech or claim to be an expert. but I have played since 1971. I am also considering Harley Benton, because of price and ease of attaining them in Europe. The most popular players did not play the most expensive guitars Ask Marc Farner or Brian May or Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix.
I wouldn't say you're off to a bad start, squiers aren't bad guitars. It's mostly hardware that feels cheaper on them particularly the trems as Rhett said.
The pickups did sound a bit more sterile to me but you could definitely EQ it out.
I closed my eyes during the initial comparison and really listened. Before you did anything both sounded great in their own way anyway.
I think that this stuff is more about specificity than good v bad, tonewise. Any fully-functioning guitar can be part of many musically-useful signal chains, but a given player’s style and workflow might dictate that a certain output (whether it be from pickups or surrounding electronics) gets closer to their dream tone with less effort.
The biggest tone difference comes from a happier player who is having their desired physical and psychoacoustic experience.
The sound difference didn't seem drastic, but he looked much more relaxed on the Custom Shop, appeared to be digging in harder to coax the sound out of the Classic Vibe. Possibly a responsiveness that's more felt than heard.
I was exacting my lunch and looked up a few times and hadn’t realised he’d changed guitars… both sounded pretty good to me at home on my iPad speakers 🤷♂️
I think the bigger question is, with the cost of the mods, is the guitar any better than say a US Standard which is probably the same cost…
“Custom Shopping” a guitar is almost all about psychology and how the guitar makes the player feel rather than it having to do with any drastic sonic improvement. Giving it a proper set up (with any needed fret work and fretboard rolling included) will make the largest noticeable difference pertaining to playability and comfort which is a HUGE factor as well.
Long-winded way of saying that gaining a better tone is one of the least observable effects of upgrading a guitar.
I closed my eyes while listening to the sound comparison and every time i preferred the squier
To me the Squier sounded more neutral and more like every other Jazzmaster I've ever picked up. I guess if you're paying extra bucks for a custom shop guitar you want to be able to hear a difference, but that to me sounds designed to give your dentist something to brag about while you're trapped in his chair. If I buy a Jazzmaster I want it to sound like a Jazzmaster.
If wanted a fatter sound I guess I could see dropping some Novaks or Lollars in it, but I think I would have to either hate the way every other guitar felt or only have room in my life for one guitar. What do I know, plenty of people have done it and they're probably better guitarists than me, better with their money, or both.
Having built a few guitars with my Dad I'd take doing a custom job all day. You can make it EXACTLY what you want it to be. The bigger thing to me though is because you are doing all that stuff yourself, it really makes the guitar feel like it's yours. The ones we've built will never EVER be sold. The personal connection we have to them is something you just can't replicate and I love it.
Exactly 👍
great sounding guitar.....also, gotta love the "pinche way" street sign behind Ben at 13:54 !!!!
Getting the plastic wrap off in one piece - so satisfying
Ah, the simple things in life.
I did this to Harley Benton TE-62 Telecaster. Replaced pickups with custom wound ones, replaced electronics, had a proper setup from a good luthier and some smaller neck adjustments. It sounds amazing and it is not as heavy weighted as everybody is saying. The biggest difference of course was in pickups, but the rest also does it's a part more or less. If you don't have a budget for expensive Fenders, Gibsons etc., try this. It definitely can work, you just need to find a cheaper guitar that "rings". In other words, that is made from decent piece of wood. If that is the case, these mods can take the instrument to a really good place. :)
Big house guitars is awful. I tried to buy a guitar from them and the dude just trash talked saying I couldn’t afford it, never ever. Don’t mess with them!
I bought a Squier Stratocasters vintage 70s and it is the best feeling strat I ever owned. I did replace the pickups to the Cradle Rocks and the tuners to what is on Robin Trower strat. It is now a beast.
Love that street sign behind Ben.
PINCHE way !!
😂🤣😂
That screwdriver trick on the fretboard edges is great. Just transformed my unbound BFG Les Paul neck.
Agreed. I just did that to a couple of Franken tele builds of mine that needed a little fretboard rolling. Worked great
I just did this to my Jay Mascus Jazz
But I also replaced the neck, put in Fralin hum canceling Jazz PU's, and soldered in all new electronics,put a bridge from an American professional Jag on it and a new tremolo
Guitars spectacular now.
Nice Video Rhett.
These more tech/mechanical videos are pretty cool. They’re all cool, but obviously I enjoy these ones. Thanks, dude.
I feel like it's the most overlooked things of any jazz/jag/stang modding adventure, but a shim is basically essential for these.
You mentioned the saddles can pop out due to the shallow break angle, and shimming the neck along with raising the bridge will fix that issue.
You picked the graphtech saddles which are great, but only if you use bushing inserts on the posts to immobilize it, otherwise it can't rock back and forth as the vibrato/bridge were designed.
Still a fantastic feature, I think for all you've done, the Squier is clearly a fantastic choice for testing different parts and pickups. For someone who wants the most traditional option, a used Vintera I is not far off the price of the CV modified. Being an owner of a few custom shop pieces, I'm well aware of how fantastic the work is and so I may personally lean towards a vintage correct CS option.
I was in the market for a Jazzmaster and after watching your earlier video, I went with the Squier (from Sweetwater). It looks and sounds great. Such a great value. I do need to knock the edges of the frets back a bit, and I love the steel wool-to-the-neck idea. I like the pickups through my set up, and I have no intention of "upgrading" them or the wiring. Maybe the bridge will get swapped out for a Mustang bridge if I have trouble with it, but so far, so good. And since I rarely even think about using the tremelo, that's going to stay Squier stock. But I've been pleasantly surprised at the quality of the "budget" instruments on the market these days. My Jazzmaster is light years better than the Squiers of my youth. Thanks Rhett. I've watched you sporadically for a while, but I'm now hitting subscribe!
I got a Squier J mascis
Put on a Mastery bridge
Series switch instead of rhythm circuit
Lots of fret work
It’s one of the best playing guitars I own It plays and sounds great
About a month ago I had 30th St Guitars in Manhattan install Elvis Costello’s custom spec Lindy Fralin Noiseless Pickups on my CIJ Jazzmaster along with the Black Bobbin wiring harness swapped for 500k pots and I couldn’t be happier. The guitar is a machine now. I had the antiquities for a while but they just weren’t doing what I wanted.
Great video!!
I learned a LOT from this one!!
I really appreciate the time you take to show how someone can make a "Budget" instrument feel and play like something that was custom built.
We need “today I AM a guitar technician” merch 😂
a "subtly nervous" technician 😜
I'm actually in the process of doing a similar upgrade with my own classic vibe jazzmaster. So far I've done a bunch of setup, replacing the trem for the Fender AVRI trem, and I've sanded the back of the neck to remove the gloss. Planning on throwing some gotoh tuners in, replacing the bridge with a staytrem, and replacing the pickups with a set from Sunday Handwound
I like the tone of the custom shop Fender. It’s mellow and yet sharper on the bridge pickup. But with that said, great price and you could tune the amp to get a similar tone. Thanks for the tips!
Thinking about the overall quality of the Fender products that have been outsourced overseas, the quality has gotten a lot better ... over the years. I got a used 50th Anniversary Squire P-Bass (China Made) and it was VERY good. Great neck profile and feel. I knew that I could do better with some higher quality pickups ... and yes it was. I installed a hip-shot style bridge and that was an improvement. For what I have invested in that bass, I am very satisfied. I've played many new Squire Tele's and Strat's that were almost unplayable out of the box. To get those guitars into "playable "shape would have been a big project. Thanks for another great vid.
Although the stock Squier sounds pretty good, they are a wee bit harsh and bright. I agree with you there. I take pictures of the current saddles, then adjust the new ones to match. That gives me a starting point on the new setup.
I customized a 72' Squire Thinline and it is now one of my favorite guitars, (but I added a sick custom Warmoth neck too) and I have a Relic'ed 62' Custom Shop Strat. Nothing wrong with doing this and we all love a good project if it can become a cool toy later. Thanks again Rhett, another great vid.
I know nothing about how Jazzmasters are "supposed" to sound, but being a Tele fan, I think I enjoyed the brighter sound of the Squier to the warmer sound of the custom shop. As others have mentioned.. that may have just been a difference in the pot values. Very interesting, thanks!
still more overhead in the custom shop, but that howl is way more present. So for double the money of the guitar, it'll sound much much nicer than it did. I learned a bunch here for restoration on my tele, and ill be looking at 920D for replacement wiring for that AND my squire jazzmaster basses! Thank you Rhett.
My PRS ZM. Hot rodded to the 9s with Cremas, ratio tuners, rewired and switchcraft parts. Been my number 1 since 2018.
Cool upgrade and sound soo better and closer to the custom!
I did this exact same thing, only I used a Squier JMJM neck and a Fender Vintera JM body.
Totally worth it.
Great video. I've modded a few guitars, and in my opinion the nut is the main secret sauce of a good guitar. It is the hardest to get right and to have the skill to correct it. Everything else you can work around. But if the nut is not right, if the neck is not right... do not spend the money to buy and much less upgrade it. I've learned some cool tricks with this video, so thanks a lot.
Squier has turned around, their guitars are really good especially after a decent set up
The added mass in the tail makes a real difference.
I did something similar to my Epiphone Les Pauls. My 1993 Korean Cherry Burst is a champ now. The Seymour Duncan Saturday Night Specials in it sound phenomenal through my Vox VTX 100. Gear doesn't have to be very expensive to sound great. A lot of the budget gear we have today is as good or better than a lot of the classic gear was in its day. Most problems with these budget guitars could be solved with a real set up and some fret & neck work. The rest is for those who are passionate enough to do it.
Great video! Seems to mostly come down to if you like the neck profile on the Squier and the sound/resonance of the less desirable wood. I think Mexican made Fender is usually the way to go, but if you can only get what you want in a Squier look and layout then go this upgrade route.
I upgraded my Squier Jaguar. Fender locking tuners, Graphtec nut and saddles, USA pickups and Japanese tremolo. It’s great
Stu Mac has a great set of tools for working on your instruments
Great upgrades. I would suggest changing the cheap plastic nut for bone or any other high quality material. Not expensive and it makes a huge difference.
I did a very similar thing to my Squiers. I got anodized aluminum pickguards, complete with hardtail plates, Joe Barden pickups, CTS pots, Switchcraft jack, the whole works. In total, I probably spent the equivalent of a Mexican Fender, but I now have a "Custom Shop" Jaguar and Jazzmaster, to my specs. Those are now my tour guitars.
That said, specifically, Classic Vibe and Vintage Modified are PERFECT right out of the box. But, if you do decide to modify it, at least you are not destroying a $2000 USA Fender.
Right on! Classic Vibes are perfect out of the box in terms of components. All they need is a setup but that is true for every instrument.
What band do you tour with?
Thanks A lot Rhett! Now everyone gonna be a guitar tech:)
I don’t know if its just me but Rhett looks a little more inspired jamming to the squier than the Fender CS. Hitting it harder too😂 I don’t know, to me the SCV sounds very good and feels very good right off the factory since I currently own a SCV Strat 70’s. I haven’t done anything to it maybe just lower a tad bit the string action. I do understand Rhett though and that’s because I think we suffer from the same syndrome… 😂 nothing feels better than a used guitar that has well over 20 years of beeing well played and broken in. Great video Rhett and keep em coming. Rock on🎸
Im not a tech either Rhett but i do the same basic things to my guitars. Electronics and pots get replaced, fret board rolled the same way (its an old carpenter trick i learned buildings houses and cabinets). A new Graphtech nut, completely intonated and adjusted, and frets dressed. Saved me lots of money, and now i do it on my friends guitars too.
To be dead honest, I prefer the modded Squier than the custom shop Fender. Because the Seymour Duncan pickups have much more clarity, but that's just me.
Dude this video is insanely good!! I am in the midst of this EXACT project!! Thank you so much for this! You rule!
I'm a sucker for an upgraded guitar, so the Squire would be my choice. Word of advice for those thinking of using the 0000 wire wool treatment at home - tape up your pickups, those wire wool fragments get everywhere and getting them completely off of your pickups is a long, nigh on impossible task
Bronze Wool doesn't do that, but bring plenty of cash to the Hardware Store.
13:04 I spit my coffee on my hoodie.
Thanks, Rhett!
I've found my happy medium is getting Japanese made models and modding them. I like the construction of them over the Mexican made and sometimes American made models (except custom shop). Great video though. squiers can sound really good with the mods added! I still want a custom shop one day though ahahaha
I do love the sound of the stock squier thou!
Good call on the thread pitch, but it is also good to turn the screw counter-clockwise until it drops into the thread that is already in the wood before screwing it in.
A properly cut guitar nut just might be worth its weight in gold. 🤘🎸🤘
I have a 2010 Classic Vibe Tele that's ome of my favorite guitars. Neck and fretwork perfect, stays in tune always. Changed the pickups a couple times and use it more than my Fenders and Gibsons. The poly finish on it does not get sticky and is very comfortable to play all of the time.
I agree it sounds closer, but the custom shop has a warmer warmth.
They both sounded great. I was working in shop and listening and not watching and I couldn't tell the difference honestly. You sound great I think the basic squire sounds real close. Pots and switches feel better when they're in your hands
Excellent video. Interestingly enough, I don’t thing anyone would have known with confidence which sound was the CS and which was the squire from a blind test prior to the mods.
I did this exact process to my Squier FSR Silver Sparkle Jaguar. I installed an AVRI Vibrato and put in some EPCustom Jaguar pickups. This guitar can totally hang with my AVRI Jaguar and I actually like the EP Custom pickups better.
Good seeing you at Sea Otter.
Perfect timing, I *just* bought a CME FSR Player Jazzmaster like last week with the intent of doing some upgrades! Definitely gonna be taking notes from this vid
I’d also recommend locking tuning machines and potentially changing out the pots for stacked pots so that each pickup gets its own volume and tone controls.
Thanks Bro. Now I want a Jazz Master
I just recently did a similar project with a Squier CV 50’s Tele. Duncan Alnico 2 Pro pickups, Hoagland Custom 5way wiring harness, and similar neck work I put into it.
This is right up my alley. I've been thinking about doing something similar to a JM for a while. I figure that I would at the very least change the tremolo, and possibly the bridge. Good to see that it can be done. I know it's out of scope for this vid, but it would be interesting to see how the replacement pups sound in the original wiring harness.
I customed my cheap gretsch ( the less paul version) everything other than the guitar body. ( neck stayed the same, but had fretwork and adjustments...
My favorite guitar..my number 1
I carry a green scotch-brite scrubby pad in my little tool bag at all times and hit the back of the neck on all my poly guitars every few weeks. Just a couple passes and it feels soo much better. Play it for a few hours, though, and my sweaty thumb starts to polish it up again.
I've noticed some pickguards seem to generate a lot of static as you run your hand across them, that can be audible through your electronics (much like pot that crackles when you turn it). I've found that shielding the entire back of the pickguard makes this go away (not just shielding under the pots and switches. You missed a great opportunity to do this with your new pickguard. I got some fairly inexpensive copper tape with conductive adhesive that makes this super easy. Just cut overlapping strips to cover the bottom of the pickguard. Trimming the PU holes and edge is easy with an exacto knife after, and you can just poke something like a nail through the screw holes. It might have been worth going with Graph Tech nut replacement too. I'm not sure how good your tuners are, but that is another really common upgrade (and once again, good old Grap Teck have some interesting options in their Ratio tuners), including locking and staggered height posts (which means you can probably ditch the string trees - a good idea with a trem).
I think the upgrade was cool. At the same time, for that amount of money you can get a used American Jazzmaster, if you're not handy or don't have luthier friends.
Great video. Thanks Rhett.
This great thing about going the squier route and upgrading is that $1200 price tag can come overtime vs the large $5k price of admission for a custom shop.
Great content! I think nowadays it's a proven fact that you can turn almost any guitar to be amazing. It's about how much time, money and effort you are willing to put the instrument. For me, it's way better and more fun to mod a guitar than just buying a stock one... Not to mention all the things you learn in the process. After destroying a few guitars, you are good to go hahahaha
the Fender definitely sounded more warm and mellow to me which hits me right in the feels, and the Squire sounds brighter and clearer to my ears, which also sounds great.
I did something similar, but bargain bucket. I 'Squired' my Harley Benton. It's my backup Tele for my main Tele, a Fenders 50s modified Vintera. I swopped out the pickups for the Tonerider Vintage Plus (similar to the Squier but more vintage/lower output), upgraded the electronics & knobs, bone nut, Grover locking tuners, brass tuning compensated saddles, removed the HB decals, and a good setup. It's better than the Squiers I have now, but I do still prefer the Vintera pickups, neck and overall look and feel. But, for $400 in total ($150 for the original guitar), it plays more like double that now. Originally, I had bought a Squier, but had to return it - neck was great, but it had other issues with the finish.
I would honestly rather have a Harley Benton than a Fender for 2-3k. Fender guitars are awful.
These drums are so groovy on the jam part. Love it
Thanks for this - got my daughter a Squier & she plays out so we started upgrading by replacing the tuners and nut, but the bridge is an issue as well. Going to try these further recommendations.
I have the music nomad set (minus the wrenches: my father's tool box still has all that stuff). I never knew what that spanner wrench was for.
I have a Squire 72 Thinline 2 that I bought at a Pawn Shop. To my surprise Guitar Fetish had Wide Range pickups for it.
Man those pickups in the Custom Shop JM sound like Cream of Mushroom Soup. Soo good.
Modding Squiers is a GAS slippery slope, but one that's probably more gentle on the ol' wallet than others. 😂 One thing that's good to know is that a lot of Squier CV neck pockets are the same dimensions as their modern Fender counterparts. So if you're really jonesing for your guitar to say Fender on the headstock, or you want to mismatch your dream guitar, it can be worth taking a look at Fender's neck offerings.
I have a Squier Paranormal Cabronita Thinline Telecaster in Olympic White that I neck swapped with a baked maple neck. Medium jumbo frets instead of the original tall narrow and a satin finish on the back. Opted to get a set of Fender locking tuners because they'd drop right in and swapped the bridge for a Gotoh with brass saddles instead of the stock bent steel option. The frets required a bit of dressing, but the end result is definitely worth it.
Those fender roasted maple necks are nice, I put one on my '93 fender jazz bass which was originally a fretless, I was even able to install the american deluxe tuners without leaving unsightly screw holes from previous tuners
Really a fantastic video Rhett!😊 A lot of good information, I wish you could have spent A little more time showing what the luthier did on the setup. Some of the tricks are invaluable. Especially that trick with the screwdriver edge on the fingerboard. Been playing since the '80s and I've never heard of that. Maybe you could have went into detail on the soldering. That's my one area I need help with mostly because guitar wiring is so small and thin. It's so cool that with a minimal amount of money and a little elbow grease you can get your budget guitar in at least intermediate to pro level Maybe not custom shop but definitely make it kick many points higher than you would think. Appreciate you bruh💯✌️
Currently working with a tech to hotrod a Gretsch electromatic jet ...we both agree...with a relatively low financial investment a mid-priced (affordable) guitar can easily end up playing and sounding like a much more expensive (high end) counterpart.
Olympic white with tortoise shell .. I owned and original first issue 1959.. I bought it used in 1969 for $285. I loved y guitar and played it all the time. In 1983 it was stolen from a breaking. Every time I see a white jazzmaster, I want my old one back. I bought other one in 2013.. . However, it just was not the same.
That Pinche Way sign is awesome! Hahahaha! Loved the video.
Everyone talking about the sound difference and I’m just thinking about how fucking dope that little jam was lol
IMHO, I thought the modded Squier sounded better... the CS sounded a little 'muted', but that could've been on the tone controls.. I enjoyed this episode Rhett, please try and do more...
Recently bought a Squire Stratosonic and was blown away by the fit and finish of the guitar but the electronics were made of tin foil and chewinggum, so I removed all the electrics replaced them with cts and an orange drop cap. The pickups were replaced with hand wound Monty's p90's and the result was astounding..
Thankyou for sharing Rhett, i also have one that Squier CV JM, but yeah i'm upgrading that Guitar. I change the bridge into tune o matic, bcs its really hard to get Mastery in Indonesia. Also i change the tremolo kit into Fender, i change my bridge pickup into fender wide range humbucker. Tbh its a fun guitar. But that neck pickup from Squire i really love it! So i didnt change it
That break angle needs to be more drastic if you plan on using the trem and keeping it in tune. Basically a neck shim or shaving the angle into the pocket. With trems id recommend the descendants trem and even brudge if you want the old school mustang style barrel saddles but for a more modern bridge I’d recommend tuffset. Up and comers but they offer more of an intonation range. And past the pickups id always recommend Curtis Novak for oddball options or vintage spec piece or if you’re looking for more of a recognizable name and continued service I’d say lollar.
Just my take as a luthier obsessed with offsets. Cheers
I have a Squier CV 50s Strat from 2018 and I am yet to find a better sounding pickup set. I've played Mexican and American Fenders, Japanese Squiers and I own a Schecter Nick Johnston Traditional as well and none of them are even close. I've been on a semi-active hunt for a Squier CV 50's loaded pickguard so I can replace the Schecter pickups with the Squier's.
If I was to upgrade something it might be (ordered by "most to least impact it will have on the guitar"):
1. A bone nut
2. That's it
3. Maybe electronics but, for a 6yo guitar, it's held up very well.
Interesting video…. I have a Squier Bass VI that I’m considering modding in a similar way. Good stuff
I have a Squier Affinity Telecaster, have a DiMarzio Chopper bridge pickup, and have fender tuners, still gonna change the neck pickup, thinking about the pots and the bridge too.
If i get rich ill buy it a rosewood fender neck :P
I have a Stratocaster too, Pao Ferro, with locking tuners, Seymore Duncan Hot Rails bridge, and DiMarzio Air norton S for neck position.
going to put DiMarzio ProTrack in the mid position, and i would love to convert it to floyd rose, but i think i'm alright with the floating tremolo bridge.
Will however one day buy a Rosewood scalloped neck, just can't really afford one right, so maybe in a year i can have saved up enough for a scalloped neck.
Depends tho, i like modding my instruments, and i do have a Fender Fretless J bass that i want to put EMG-J's in or the Fender Noiseless J pickups.
Also have a gear4music chicago bass and a LA geat4music elguitar.
I am currently modding the cheap guitar, giving it the Fender stock pickups, and who knows if ill just give it the fender neck if i swap to a scalloped on the Fender!
The cheap bass is nice as is, only want to swap the pickups in it to enhance the sound of it. It has a Single coil and a splitcoil so it's a J/P bass 😀
I love working on guitars, it reminds me much of PC building which I also do.
I lack some tools tho that i still need to get, such as a tool to meassure gauge height and i don't have anything to messure the action with so i have to use my ears and eyes.
I just wish we could get the custom shop rs bridge.
This is Fender at their most perverse. The total solution for every Jag or Jazzmaster be it Fender or Squier.
I did something very similar as far as pickups , wiring, Jack, switches and pots. I gutted everything and replaced all the wiring, pickguard, and all that. I simplified with Wilkinson P90’s and got rid of the tonewheels and rhythm switch and just went with a 3 way switch. I know now which trem to upgrade to and will upgrade the saddles as well. Great job. It helped my classic vibe a ton.
Honestly, I like the new pickups on the Squier better than the custom-shop pickups. The new Squier pickups are a touch brighter, but still full in the low end. I just like them better...
I bought a squier paranormal Jazzcaster (Jazzmaster body with a telecaster configuration) a couple of years ago. I did the same kind of mods as you did then (mini humbucker in neck position, twang king at bridge, brass sandle, upgrading pots, and working the sticky neck with iron wool). Still I feel that the squier neck is too thin to my taste... so I have eventually ordered a fender replacement neck... can't wait to receive it
Nice video. My first guitar was a Samick, which was about $250 in 2004. I should do some of these upgrades on it.
Great video, Rhett! Always have been curious about those kinds of mods.
"Today I am an approved guitar tech" 🙂 A regular Phil Taylor over here 🙂👍
Nice mods… the final result was incredible… i use to do that kind of mod in all my guitars… it gives me a kind of customization feeling and make all my guitars unique… the only thing you missed was the tunners… the stock ones are awful in squires… other than that the project was amazing! The lesson is that you can have 3 personal “custom shop guitars” for the price of one!
Great video! Pro Tip: a Mastery bridge on a Jazzmaster of any kind is a revelation.
Actually modding a Squier Sonic Strat right now, with just a part or two left to do. Using Dimarzios in it, but still need a better trem for it.
Really love the content. Can you go back to your tech buddy and do like a 7 string low tuned tips and tricks? I would be beyond grateful