Ultimate Upgrade - Squier Telecaster
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- Опубликовано: 10 сен 2024
- In this video, I decided to see how far I could upgrade a cheap guitar.
I purchased a Squier Bullet Series Telecaster and went to town on it!
PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS IN NO WAY CREATED TO FRAUDULENTLY CREATE A FENDER FROM A SQUIER, IT IS SIMPLY TO DEMONSTRATE THE EXTENT TO WHICH ONE CAN UPGRADE A GUITAR.
Refretted, rewired, new saddles and tuners, graph tech nut, neck refinish, Porter pickups, pickguard and logo!
Links to products:
Guitar - www.thomann.de...
Pickups - www.porterpick...
Wiring - emersoncustom....
Tuners - www.thomann.de...
It’s been 24 minutes, I can’t remember how I found this video or why I clicked on it but I’m glad I did
Exjoria thanks! 🤘🏼
Ramsay Phillips how much tru-oil and vintage amber are you supposed to use, or at least how much do you use? Also how many coats did you do? I want to finish my neck as well
This video shows how to optimise through upgrades. Of course you could go and buy a better version - but this has given me some options to upgrade my affinity. Even if you don’t do all of them, you can pick the top 3 you can afford. And maybe make additions over the years.
Bingo!
My nephew did the same thing for my Squire strat. He left the logo on front and serial number on the back alone, though. It sounds like my son's $1,000 American strat when it's played, so I'm happy. He used my guitar in tech school to work on, so it got all sorts of upgrades. The stain used for the neck is a nice touch too - it brought out the wood grain. Sounds great, nice job!! I see your assistant came for a visit 🥰. My children are grown up now. Enjoy them while they're little, 'cause they grow up too soon. Thanks for the vid✌
cheryl lakin thanks for the lovely comment! 😊
at one point you ask why anyone would want to watch this series..
i've been playing guitar for 20 years and have never done anything more than a basic setup on one, i picked up a affinity tele that i decided i was going to learn to work on, your video has been the most helpful that i've come across.
i could have just gone out an bought a nicer guitar but then i would have learned nothing and would continue to be dropping my guitars off to a tech and paying that cost every time i wanted anything repaired or changed up, in the long run this is not only a benefit to my understanding of guitars but a cost benefit as well.
so thank you, thanks for the education!
As a guitarist of over 20 years but modder of 0 years I love watching these videos! I would never have considered a bullet tele before seeing this video, but went out and bought the lake place version last month. I am slowly working through mine on a much slower basis, so far I have worked on the frets neck and nut. Tuners and pickups next! Not to worried about how much I sink into the guitar as I am aiming to having something that I play for many years! Keep up the great videos
Daniel Ratcliff I love this!
Squier are sending out better guitars than fender nowadays so you should reconsider.
American made doesn't mean it's better, just more expensive
Dave Carpenter251 I wouldn’t take your point that far.
Dave Carpenter251 agreed they getting better, hence I wanted a good solid base to upgrade.. as an owner of two American guitars, the purpose of my purchase was to make something that I could upgrade to my specifications for fun.. it’ll never be my number 1 but it’s nice to have a quality telecaster upgraded to a high standard and a third of the cost!
@Josh Perry GraphTech TUSQ Slotted Guitar Nut,
Although I've learned a lot on RUclips about working on guitars, I learned more from this video than all the others combined. That's why I subscribed. Thank you and Happy New Year!
Thanks Dennis!
That was OUTSTANDING...
What would be the cost of exactly what you did on the same guitar at a shop?
This is so satisfying to watch, really calming to the soul and incredibly educational!
Thanks! glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you for this! I have that exact Tele. Most of this is beyond my ability, but I still want to upgrade the pickups and find a unique pick guard. This helps!
Ramsey - thanks man! You are so meticulous, so relaxed and so skilled. As an engineer, I really appreciate your videos.
Philip Morris thank you so much for that. Really gives me a boost. 🤛🏼🤛🏼
Wow! The soldering tip for removing the frets, NICE!
Pretty much did the same to mine except SD Pickups, Little 59 in bridge and 52 Tele in the neck. Graph Tech nut, Graph Tech string saver saddles, Graph Tech string separator, New CTS pots and connector, frets polished (tops) sides were good, Parchment pearl pickguard. Also 4 way switch. Worth every penny. Kluson locking tuners also, love them :).
Nice one. It's amazing how these humble guitars can come together. Cheers!
@@RamsayPhillips My friend who was in several bands in LA and did studio work for years was totally impressed with the tone and how well it plays so I have verification hahaha. He's now considering ordering one too lol.
@@RamsayPhillips Absolutely and for the money You can do part by part get it to where you want it and still save a ton of money!
I've done many guitars and still found some great tips from watching this vid. Great job.
Allen Gilbert thank you! Comments like that make my day. 🤘🏼👍🏼
Patience...Pride...Proper tools...Skills...that neck is a work of art...great video...
THanks!
It would cost a lot of $$$$ to have this work done plus parts and unless you have done fret jobs , soldering , etc IMO purchase a better guitar to start with. Wonderful informative video. Thank you
michael cosentino agreed! It would cost at least €800 to do all this... one could buy an American Tele for that for sure. Obviously this video was all about the upgrades and an experiment on what can be done to improve a cheap guitar. Thanks for the compliment 🙂🙂
Theres also companies that make upgraded electronics kits that need no soldering (not like soldering is hard)... good pickups 100 dollars a pop (actually 60 dollars a pop will get you good pickups). Skip the fret job and you're WELL under what an american tele would cost. And then the tru oil just looked fantastic... that can easily be done yourself. I've used tru oil on furniture before. Can't believe how awesome it looked on this neck. Gonna have to try that.
FretWire = 25
Klusons = 45
Saddles = 30
Electronics = 70
Pickups = 160 (used)
Nut = 10
Strings = 5
Finishing oil + misc = 25 (you can't just buy a thimble full)
Total: 370 approx
Cost of donor at today's prices 145
Grand total: 515
Same price as a new Mexican Player.
However if you rewound the pickups yourself it comes in around 120 cheaper so you get a great guitar for approx 395.
Its gonna play and sound better than a Mexican Player too.
Only drawback is resale value is basically not there...
@@cgavin1 Plus it's SOOOO much fun. I just got a used squier standard for 100 dollars. I did not think twice about drilling right into the body to add a bigsby. I'll switch out the electronics and pickups. The neck is fine. Where messing with a 1000 dollar american standard you definitely have to second guess every decision so you don't mess it up, or ruin the resale value.
@@urwholefamilydied If only I could get a Bigsby for < 150 bucks lol 😁👍
I might try one of those no name Asian copies...
So I posted a comment almost a year ago about how I found this by accident but loved the video. Since then I’ve got into upgrading cheap guitars and I revisit this pretty regularly for tips. This time I’m here for removing the nut of the neck. Such an excellent video!
Man that makes me super happy to hear that!!! I’ve got a few projects waiting to get done, video’d and edited etc... but a steady flow of repair work has kept me crazy busy. This comment encourages me to pull my finger out and upload some more stuff. Thank you!!
@@RamsayPhillips I look forward to some great new content!
I feel like I could be a guitar tech after watching your informative video. I really appreciate you sharing your knowledge and experience.
Your comment honestly made my day. Thank you!
Jaw dropping result, both acoustically and visually and the video was just a pleasure to watch. Awesome stuff!
Florin Ioanitescu thanks so much!!! 👍🏼👍🏼
I have the identical guitar and the only thing I did to it was drop in a 5 way harness all decked out, put a USA control plate on it, some aftermarket pups,but put the stock bridge back in cause it is very good. Took a sponge sanding block to the edges of the fret board, and tightened up the machine heads. Just an FYI on the control plate, the stock plate if it accepted full size pots I would have used it instead cause it is a bit more robust than the stock American model. Also the Bullet accepts full size American parts without modification save for the full size pot shaft size.
This is amazing!! half the price as a American tele and probably plays 100x better
Eventhough I don't have a guitar like that,now I know how to take good care and fixing it.😁
Six brass saddles would look really good, IMO. Brass tuners. You did an excellent job on this project. Beautiful guitar. Lovely tone.
Missy Victoria thanks!
I modded this same guitar, even down to the color! I know some folks say get a better one as a foundation but I disagree. The bullet is fundamentally solid. Mine has used fender tuners, fender pots, etc., and fender deluxe drive pickups. Looks like a humble squier but after some minor fret work,this guitar can hang with any fender. The lower price point makes it possible to take a leap of faith to mod it up and make it a slick guitar. And I proudly leave the squier logo on it. Great video! Happy Christmas. Cheers
Simon Templar agreed! I was really happy with the outcome, and it was such a decent guitar that a local session muso bought it from me. Glad you’re enjoying yours! Happy Christmas!
@@RamsayPhillips that's awesome, man! I didn't even think to go the fancy wiring route like you did. Btw that sounded unreal. I need to be more brave and investigate proper wiring and strengthen that bit of it. I meant to say it sounded fantastic though.
I stumbled across your channel after picking up the same bullet tele - can’t thank you enough for giving me a road map for upgrades. Super informative!
Thanks Jeff! Good luck with your project. Check back in if you have any questions 👍🏼
Yep, that was therapeutic! Your work is mesmerizing. Thank you!
Thank you! :)
I am at odds as to why anyone would want to spend that much time and money on a Squier Bullet? It just doesn’t make sense. I would prefer to buy the thicker bodied Squier Classic Vibe Telecaster. The factory 40mm nut necks on the Squier Bullet and Affinities are heaps different to the Standard and Classic Vibe Telecasters which are 42mm nuts.
So you were put all of those nice upgrades into a 40mm neck (at nut) it is only 2mm but it makes all of the difference.
I also don’t get why you scrapped the headstock label off and rebadged it as simply a Fender Telecaster when it is really not at all pity some poor bugger in the future when he feels he has a Mexican Fender Telecaster when he has the super thin bodied Bullet. You videos are drawn out far too long no one wants to watch you doing mundane stuff. Do u mean to talk in such a monotone voice. Best luck man
Neck plate “It has Squire written on it but hey; I want to be true to the guitar”. I find that quite amusing😊
Yup… I’ve eaten it on that part for sure. Thanks for watching
What a fantastic video! Really interesting, and always great to watch a craftsman at work.
thats a great project dude! I did also a upgrade series of my squire deluxe and I think these guitars are really great to work on as someone who just want to try out himself! I got motivated by your video to dig deeper into fretwork! thanks man!
This is so soothing
You should wear a frizzy wig, you'd be the Bob Ross of Guitars! We don't make mistakes, only happy little accidents, look at those happy strings, ohh, isn't that a fantastic color! Relaxing stuff!
Mister Bee haha!!!!! Love it.... 👍🏼👍🏼
Beauty. I like this color. Great job
Fabulously done! I would’ve enjoyed hearing a 'before' audio clip, because it sounds great after all that work was completed. Thanks for sharing this video, you’re helping a lot of people. I guess that the folks who start ripping their guitars apart and lose the drive to finish will have a luthier do it, so you’re really 'paying it forward'! Two big thumbs up for this! 👍🏼👍🏼 Namaste🙏
This was very therapeutic idk why. Great vid!
Viktor Vaughn thanks!
Hey, I just wanted to thank you for your videos. Your love and passion for guitars are really inspiring. I appreciate what you do to the point that I am buying some basic tools to do the same to my daughter’s affinity telecaster
🙏🏼🎸
Thank you Juan! Really appreciate your comment. Best of luck with your daughter’s tele.... 👍🏼👍🏼
Awesome job, really informative process
Dude that is GORGEOUS.
D M thanks!
Was thinking of upgrading a Squier Telecaster and adding a Jazzmaster tail to it.
Maybe I'll change the input Jack and pegs as well as some other stuff.
Sounds good! I love the idea. You’ll need to either notch out the back of the tele bridge plate or get a replacement meant for bigsby trems?
@@RamsayPhillips Thanks! I saw someone such a guitar (Japanese guitarist named Tomohachi) and thought it looks really cool and flexible on how you can use it.
I think I'm gonna need to do the former.
This makes me feel like I can do this. I kind of want a project guitar to try it out on.
One more thing you could do is to pull the black plastic tube out of the truss adjustment hole. Then take a piece of walnut and drill a hole in it just big enough to fit the Allen adjustment wrench. put a stick in the hole and turn it against a table sander until it fits into the adjustment hole. Sand it down smooth to surface it with the neck. The black plastic liner in the hole is a dead giveaway it's a Squire. I mean, it's aesthetic, we're not trying to counterfeit here, but it's more pleasing. Also your decal is placed too close to the tuners. Overall, I'd say a great and good restoration. Also, without a serial number you'll never get a pawn shop to accept it when, as a musician, you get down on your luck. Just leave the original number on it to show you're not trying to counterfeit, so it won't get confiscated going thru an airport. Just sayin' Mike
I learned a lot watching this.
Also found it soothing.
Thank you!
Might try my hand at becoming a luthier!
This was awesome, I’m picking up one of these guitars for $100!
that's a great deal! enjoy upgrading it! :)
If you want to easily get the nut out without breaking the wood around the nut, use a small chisel or screw driver and split the nut in the middle creating two pieces and then pull them out.
The correct method for removing a nut that's completely stuck in is to saw down the middle until you almost get to the bottom of the nut, and then collapsing the sides in using nippers. nice and clean. :)
Man I like your manner and work, very cool I must say.
This is exactly the job I would like to do so a big huge thanks for this amazing video! It's gonna help me a lot! And congrats on the amazing job you did! Cheers from Switzerland. 😊
Thank you so much!
I like squires. They’re fun to mod, I don’t have re fret skills,. Just doing a few upgrades greatly improves the playability. Not sure how I feel about putting a fender logo on it though.. the Squier logo is fine. Let people think it’s a cheap guitar!
Wow! Adding solder to the fret wire to transfer heat...absolutely brilliant. Amazing discovery/invention/whatever you wanna call it. You're right..it is much faster! I had a funny thought..a guitar guy seeing a bunch of frets in the garbage can with solder on them...looking at them and wondering what the hell happened! He'd think "did some jackass try to add material to worn out frets?"
You said the stock frets were shorter and wider..maybe next time you could throw a caliper on them and measure the actual difference? That would be information that I'm sure many people would appreciate! Thank you:)
This is the exact video I wanted to see. Thank you!
Excellent work young man! I'm impressed!! You commented that you should always go with the grain when sanding and scraping. Great point. I'd like to offer that when scraping...always use a brand new blade..or at least a blade that you know hasn't been used and the edge is bunged up or you'll put scratches in the wood.
When you know you're going to have a certain section play in fast forward you should talk more or sing a song! It's so funny hearing chipmunk voice!
You make the re fret look so easy...I wanna try it!! Thank you for creating editing and posting your videos. Excellent work:)
Mister Bee thanks!
Fantastic video.... just picked one of these up that is bone stock and looks untouched. I will follow some of your suggestions. Great stuff your doing there!
Absolutely fantastic video. Thanks so much for sharing!!
Clay Smith Guitars thank you! Really appreciate that
It's so sad that you had to get rid of it, it turned out beautiful!
I thought I was great 'coz I straightened the neck/lowered the action on my Squier Standard Stratocaster, eliminating the fret buzz, intonated it perfectly and set the string height to my own tastes...!
wow dude.. i'm your new fan.. love your work
Danial M thank you! :)
Your Video has all the Techniques I need to do a great job on my Tele & Strat style guitar necks. (ll my guitars for that matter!). Thank You!
Donald Scheer thank you so much! Appreciation like yours means more than you know. Cheers!
@@RamsayPhillips Back At You!
Fantastic video with tons of great advice......top stuff man!!!!
Thank you!
Wow you really know your stuff I have just picked up an affinity series tele for peanuts and came to this vid for upgrade ideas
Thanks Neil! Good luck with the upgrades!
Respect. Really enjoyed as I learned. Thanks pal. All the best.
Niall Padden thanks so much. Really glad you enjoyed it! 👍🏼
Great update, work looks perfect and a really great sound!
Thanks!
Great video Ramsay, really informative.👍🏻
Very nice vid, and great job! I have a collection of classic superstrats, that's my thing, but now looking to get a few guitars that sound (and look) different to what I have, axes I would not have been caught dead with when I was younger, lol. Just about to pull the trigger on a Dano 59XT, and was contemplating a tele, just don't want to spend on a higher end Fender, very tempted by this precise guitar, in fact I have a shot at buying one tomorrow (I should say I have a weakness for sea foam green) and was looking for YT reviews... I think yours is a very interesting exercise here. One could think that upgrading a cheap guitar would only result in a crappy axe with overkill expensive parts, because no matter what, you have the body and neck of a 180€ guitar. Quite obviously you have demonstrated the opposite, because this ends up a beautiful and incredibly sweet sounding guitar.
Thanks Christian! Yup, it sure turned out great. The only thing is the actual value of the upgrades that tends to take it into USA fender territory once all is said and done. I really enjoyed this project though! It's a great base for upgrades, so maybe even a longer term project that gets done over time bit by bit... cheers!
Thank you for this amazing work !! I learned a lot :)
Thanks! And I’m so glad you learned a lot too. 👍🏼👍🏼
Awesome marksmanship.!! I enjoyed while watching. Great Job Dude
Thanks! :)
That was awesome!!!
Thanks!
This is the kind of ASMR I need
Loved every minute of this!
Can’t wait to try this out. Thanks.
Great video and awesome upgrades. Just bought this Tele the other day though it’s gone up in price since you got yours!
Was a joy to watch, we miss you in Dubai
Great work! I'm from Philadelphia and I haven't heard of that luthier company! Nice to know! P.S. I think you can wipe off the Squier logos pretty easily with a little acetone (at least the silk screened ones). Cheers!
Squire Bullet 2.0
I usually don't play a new find cause I know its not going sound or feel right. Its kinda sad how bad set up they are. Once it's in my hands it all comes apart. Most time's I just change the wiring, and silly potentiometers are crap. I love to do a tone bleed too and that sure makes a difference right there. Tuners always suck. Saddles won't ride right and thr neck needed additional help. Shim that and change the feel of the neck. Roll the fretboard and fret ends to a nice hemispheric shape and soften the headstock edges too. Now it's got that feel after I polish the frets to a mirror shine. The pickups have a way different tone and they'll stay. I dislike removing the nut but will if the guitar needs it. Xl nuts work well for the smaller Japanese Squier stratocaster and tele/Stratocaster. Don't the frets all together would not be practical to me but that's cool you did that. My next job perhaps.
Great video. Thanks.
Beautiful my brother. You did a fantastic job. Enjoy that pimped out squier.
Thanks!
I have this guitar, I love it. I'm not good enough to where the non-perfect frets effect my playing yet. I noticed one fret isn't level, I'll sand it down one day. Tbh, I kinda fell in love with the guitar as is. I wish I had to the tools and knowledge to refret it like you did.
It's actually a great guitar to use as a basis to learn bits of guitar repair etc... glad you're enjoying it! :)
Wow it sounds and looks so good
Ha I did the same thing with the same guitar. Don't worry about people bitchin about a Fender logo. They are the reason we need warning labels on bubble wrap. Me, I just wrote "Not T-Bag" on my headstock.
What was wrong with the original frets?
Alan Velasquez poorly seated... not the fret size I wanted. Cheap fretwire.
Ramsay Phillips Gotcha. I just wanted to know because I’ve just got into repair in the last year and a half. Just want to know why people do what they do so I’ll be a more aware repair man.
Alan Velasquez that’s great :)
Contact me directly if you ever need advice on anything
Ramsay Phillips Ahh man. That’s awesome. I’ll take advantage of that when the times come. Thank you brother.
Ramsay Phillips you really are paying it forward! Ours would be a better world if more people were like you. Such kindness is most refreshing in a place where a lot of people don’t have much nice to say in their comments. Tip o' the hat to both of you.
I really liked this video, thank you!
That's a ghost guitar with no no. or the trace of it WOW
Really sounds great!
Thanks!
Squier Bullet Tele with a string through body?
Done watching. Fantastic job dude.
Well it’s a bullet tele and it’s a string through... so...
@@RamsayPhillips My bad. Affinity doesn't have string through body but not Bullet. I was mistaken.
You should cheak out sam deeks fret leveling vidios. Very interesting. Nice work! In the comments , people don,t understand a cheap guitar and spending as much for new parts. !!! So 400 or 500 $ for a guitar that plays and sounds like a custom shop.
tbh a lot of custom shop guitars dont play all that well. They put more effort into the finish and price tag than the setup
Thanks Russell!
It sounds amazing nice so crisp
I got the same one but Lake Placid Blue color, mine came with the mint pickguard from factory
I'm buying a affinity tele....I just hope to come close to this guitar after I've finished.
I love the bullet tele.
Really neat video, however we didn't get to hear what it sounded like before you did all these upgrades.
Those frets look great , very nice job.
Thank you!
How long did you let the decal in the water for?
These are the same as old plastic car model decals. Warm water and bout 30-40 seconds will make them slide right off the paper.
Bought the same guitar!( For my daughter,ahem). Now I have to upgrade it!
Muy bueno , traigan la guitarra a la Argentina
Refretting a brand new 150$ guitar seems a little like an overkill 😂
You’ve missed the spirit of the video entirely. But thanks for helping the algorithm.
Enjoyed this alot. Its the first time Ive seen anyone pull out brand new frets though. Imo the factory frets can be leveled, filed and cleaned up just as good as any replacement ones. Still cool though. Great video. Im subscribing!
Bryan from Tennessee
Thanks Bryan. Some factory installed frets can be fine with a level for sure, but I replaced them for two reasons. 1. It wasn’t the desired fret profile, and 2. The frets weren’t installed as perfectly as they could be. Two valid reasons I reckon. Cheers!
A pleasure to watch. Did you put a coating on top of the Fender decal?
Most other renovators do - presumably for protection.
Marc O'Neill I honestly can’t remember! :)
But it’s likely that I did
Thank you for uploading this video!
Bilal Nachabeh appreciate the kind words! :)
Ramsay Phillips What really interest me is the oil you used to make the wood look better. I tried a squire affinity and I hated the feel of the neck compared to my player series. will this oil gives a similar feel?
Bilal Nachabeh if you’re talking about the oil I used on the fingerboard, that was a mixture of boiled linseed oil and white spirits
@@RamsayPhillips No not the fingerboard, the neck and the headstock
Bilal Nachabeh oh! That was tru-oil which is also known as gunstock oil
Love this vids man! Great job!
Thanks!
Thanks for the therapy.... I enjoyed that...
No need to change the pots. They
are alpha mini pots. Only change if they are broken. They may be small but they’re decent.
The pickups are ok - I don’t like them - mine has been changed into a Micawaber copy ( it is FSR in butterscotch with maple board)
These are the best telecasters you can buy under £200
The plate is drilled for CTS pots.
There is nothing wrong with the Cor-Tek switch either. Only change it if it’s broken!
There’s nothing wrong with the frets or tuners on mine. Mine only needed a light levelling as it has been well played and had a bit of wear ( 2014 model).
The only upgrade worth doing here is the pickup change and saddle swap, the rest is a waste of time and money.
If Squier in the headstock is good enough for Bonnie Rait and Billy Gibbons, it’s good enough for me.
Mine does compare well to my 2003 USA Fender Telecaster.
Vinnie Monte-Irvine actually no. They aren’t decent components. They needed upgrading. While yes, the original lower grade components will work for a while, I’ve worked on enough guitars to know which parts last and which ones fail. The title of this video is “ultimate upgrade” after all. Hope that answers your comment fairly. 👍🏼
I had the opposite experience. My pickups actually sounded very good but the pots were cheap and the tone pot was horrible! Input jack was junk also.
@@RamsayPhillips it is amazing who work and luthier etc but you aren't the only one..I respect luthiers and they know about the wood but regarding electronic compactness they have no clue, sorry. Alpha make the best posts and lot of people do that change..Also pickups are good, i wind pickups for almost 30 years..But i'm and enegeener. Anyhow i know if you would tell opposite it would be against opinion of brainwashed majority.
Then you put Kulson tuners which come from same factory as stock one, ..
Only saddles are IMHO OK upgrade. OK you drop capacitor branded , you had better brand for far less.
Vinnie Monte-Irvine agree 100%, but that is modern attitude choose qulity with ayes and with by what is written aka brands and what guitar magazines financed by those brands have to recommend ... I can understand for dales not necessary but OK, tuners are equl to srock , pots stock one are great. Frets well don i don 'know what to say ... If He did not install stainless Still then it is not' 'upgarde' ', it may be even downgrade.
Are you from South Africa?
Geolocation says Dublin, but accent is SA?
Man, I was waiting take off those inlay dots ))) nice job