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
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
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!
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.
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!
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!
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!!
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✌
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!
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.
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 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.
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 :).
@@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.
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!
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!
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!
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🙏
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:)
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:)
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 🙏🏼🎸
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
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!
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.
@@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.
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!
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!
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. :)
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
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. 😊
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.
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!
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...!
I've got a Squier Telecaster that I'm tinkering around with, it already has a scalloped neck, reverse bridge, reverse control plate with slanted pickup selector, new string tree etc. Apologies in advance if it's a daft question - I have a spare Seymour Duncan SSL-6 pickup and would like to try it out in the bridge position on the Squier Telecaster mod project. Is it possible to modify a regular single coil by adding a Telecaster bridge pickup base plate, so it then has the three screws, instead of the screw on either ear? I was just wondering if it was at all possible and whether or not to try it out and see if I liked it more than the stock Squier bridge pickup. I'll post a video up when it's all done, if it's possible. Many thanks. Carlo 👍🏼🎸
Received a Bullet Tele today, LPB with "indian laurel" fretboard. Love the color combo with a tortoise shell pickguard. (A U.S. double bound LPB Tele w Rosewood FB I saw in a shop years ago is burned into my memory.) This Bullet's pots feel sketchy, especially the volume pot. It feels like it's filled with gravel. How it passed QC is a mystery. Will U.S. pots fit the Bullet without routing? Did you stain/treat the fretboard? It looks darker after your work. Great work & vid, btw.
757optim thanks! Yup, the regular CTS pots will fit just fine. You may need to increase the size of the holes in the control plate to receive the wider posts of the pots. I didn’t stain the board at all in this project, I only treated it with boiled linseed oil, which darkens it some. Good luck with your project! :)
@@757optim Actually a little lemon oil on this Indian Laurel makes it look like a darker version of rosewood. I had the same problem on my Tone pot that you had with your Volume pot. Replaced both with CTS's and works great now!
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.
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.
Great video !! My question is why do you apply solder to the frets ? I've seen fret removal done just using the heat from the soldering iron. I'm by no means saying your wrong at all ! I'm honestly just wanting to learn.. Thanks !
Hey Robbie! Very common question actually... answer is that the solder speeds up the transfer of the heat into the fret. When you’re pulling frets quickly, it helps to speed up the process. It also acts as a visual guide for when the fret has enough heat in it. Works for me! :)
I wish you had put on Fender locking tuners stainless frets and an LSR roller nut, even if there's no tremolo, you have open and fretted notes on steel.
Nice vid on the mods. I am amateur player and modder and some excellent tips in this vid. I own the identical tele as a matter of fact. Gonna start some mods on it but really pretty basic stuff, 4 way switch, I have some nice pups for it I purchased for another mod project a few yrs ago that I never used on that guitar so I'll use them on this one. The only 2 things done so far are rounded the fret board on the sides and put a new nut on it. I couldn't justify a refret on it. I might put new tuners on it but truth be told the guitar stays in tune very well so might leave them. I might also rub in some used motor oil on the neck. I did that to a strat I built yrs ago and it worked pretty darn well. thanks PS did you get your money back on the guitar with all time and effort put into it? thanks
I can see problem with using a file to round the edges of the fretboard when done fret by fret, i had the same issue on one of my instruments. it takes more off in spaces between the fretwork and the frets protrude a tad giving it a concaved profile just slightly if you look closely. thats why when i do it now i use a block and go the entire length of the fretboard so the fret ends get rounded at the same time and you don't have that edge looking scalloped a bit.
Dang, it!! You make me want to buy tools... lol. Great video! What did you use to treat the fretboard? I wanted to watch you do it, but you skipped over it...
Great work and choices on everything, although I've heard the oil in those types of caps contain PCBs. I'm also not sure they really sound better in a blind test. That series position was nice sounding! Can you use Stratocaster saddles if they are the same 10.8 width? Did you laquer over the decal? Must have 52 Elite Master level Luthiers out there (or perhaps insecure jealous hacks).
Great video. Yes it would cost a lot to pay someone to do all this but if you can do it yourself its NBD. $150 in tools and some practice and you can make any guitar a great guitar. These bullet Fenders are good value but I would stump up the extra 40% or so for a FSR model with the string through ferules. Just makes the tone of a telecaster imho.
Just snagged this same guitar, and I can’t wait to mod the hell out of it. I really like what you did to your guitar, and I have only a few questions. 1. Where did you buy the saddles for the bridge, and what is the size I should look for? 2. Do you do anything to the actual fretboard wood? Any type of conditioning? 3. Did you sand down the back of the neck before applying the stain/oil combo? I saw that you scraped away the decals with a razor blade, but I wasn’t sure if you did something similar to the back of the neck. I’ve used steel wool before to scratch the hell out of the neck and make it feel more like a baseball bat, but not sure if there is a better way to go about that. I really enjoyed this video, and you gained a new subscriber. Keep the content coming, and thanks for the walkthrough.
Hi Michael... I'll do my best to answer below: 1. These saddles I got from eyguitarmusic in china. They supply many small OEM parts, and these saddles are fantastic value for money. 2. When it comes to fretboard wood that's ebony, rosewood, pau ferro or in this case indian laurel, I do usually skim the board lightly with a radius block, and then I also roll the fingerboard edges for the played in feel. At the end, I'll condition the wood with a 50/50 mixture of boiled linseed oil and white spirits. 3. I sanded the entire neck, back and headstock face, down to bare wood. Good luck! :)
Not sure where you live Michael but be aware these saddles are metric in size not American standard, My luthier found that out the hard way and 1/16 of an inch does make an overall difference.
garth carrier thanks Garth... to be honest, the upgrades including the cost of what I would charge for the fretwork and neck refinishing would’ve taken the charge to over €800. Which does take it to USA tele territory from a cost perspective. I guess from my side it was all about the experiment to see what could be done to a cheap guitar. :)
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.
I recently got an autographed Squire Butterscotch Blonde Bullet Tele signed by Blackberry Smoke and was wanting to do some of these mods to make it really playable. How would you go about sealing the autographs so they won't wear off? They are on the front wood body area and they were done with a Black Sharpie. I'm pretty sure the finish is polyurethane on these new Tele's but I'm concerned with the autographs running if I use the wrong product? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Love your videos.
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.
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
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,
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!
Wow! The soldering tip for removing the frets, NICE!
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?
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!
This is so satisfying to watch, really calming to the soul and incredibly educational!
Thanks! glad you enjoyed it!
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. 🤛🏼🤛🏼
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!
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! 😊
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. 🤘🏼👍🏼
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 👍🏼
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...
Jaw dropping result, both acoustically and visually and the video was just a pleasure to watch. Awesome stuff!
Florin Ioanitescu thanks so much!!! 👍🏼👍🏼
Eventhough I don't have a guitar like that,now I know how to take good care and fixing it.😁
This is amazing!! half the price as a American tele and probably plays 100x better
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 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.
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!
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!
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!
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.... 👍🏼👍🏼
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!
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
It's so sad that you had to get rid of it, it turned out beautiful!
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!
Beauty. I like this color. Great job
What a fantastic video! Really interesting, and always great to watch a craftsman at work.
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 makes me feel like I can do this. I kind of want a project guitar to try it out on.
This was very therapeutic idk why. Great vid!
Viktor Vaughn thanks!
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!
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:)
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.
Awesome job, really informative process
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.... 👍🏼👍🏼
I learned a lot watching this.
Also found it soothing.
Thank you!
Might try my hand at becoming a luthier!
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
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!
Dude that is GORGEOUS.
D M thanks!
Great video and awesome upgrades. Just bought this Tele the other day though it’s gone up in price since you got yours!
Beautiful my brother. You did a fantastic job. Enjoy that pimped out squier.
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.
Man I like your manner and work, very cool I must say.
I'm buying a affinity tele....I just hope to come close to this guitar after I've finished.
wow dude.. i'm your new fan.. love your work
Danial M thank you! :)
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!
This is so soothing
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!
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. :)
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.
Was a joy to watch, we miss you in Dubai
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
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!
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!
This is the exact video I wanted to see. Thank you!
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! :)
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!
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...!
Great video Ramsay, really informative.👍🏻
Fantastic video with tons of great advice......top stuff man!!!!
Thank you!
Respect. Really enjoyed as I learned. Thanks pal. All the best.
Niall Padden thanks so much. Really glad you enjoyed it! 👍🏼
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
This was awesome, I’m picking up one of these guitars for $100!
that's a great deal! enjoy upgrading it! :)
Absolutely fantastic video. Thanks so much for sharing!!
Clay Smith Guitars thank you! Really appreciate that
I've got a Squier Telecaster that I'm tinkering around with, it already has a scalloped neck, reverse bridge, reverse control plate with slanted pickup selector, new string tree etc. Apologies in advance if it's a daft question - I have a spare Seymour Duncan SSL-6 pickup and would like to try it out in the bridge position on the Squier Telecaster mod project. Is it possible to modify a regular single coil by adding a Telecaster bridge pickup base plate, so it then has the three screws, instead of the screw on either ear? I was just wondering if it was at all possible and whether or not to try it out and see if I liked it more than the stock Squier bridge pickup. I'll post a video up when it's all done, if it's possible. Many thanks. Carlo 👍🏼🎸
Great update, work looks perfect and a really great sound!
Thanks!
Very nice. How does the upgrade price compare, doing all that, to just buying a Fender Telecaster/Mexican?
Received a Bullet Tele today, LPB with "indian laurel" fretboard. Love the color combo with a tortoise shell pickguard. (A U.S. double bound LPB Tele w Rosewood FB I saw in a shop years ago is burned into my memory.)
This Bullet's pots feel sketchy, especially the volume pot. It feels like it's filled with gravel. How it passed QC is a mystery. Will U.S. pots fit the Bullet without routing?
Did you stain/treat the fretboard? It looks darker after your work.
Great work & vid, btw.
757optim thanks!
Yup, the regular CTS pots will fit just fine. You may need to increase the size of the holes in the control plate to receive the wider posts of the pots.
I didn’t stain the board at all in this project, I only treated it with boiled linseed oil, which darkens it some. Good luck with your project! :)
Thanks for the answer. I definitely need to treat the fretboard. The best word to describe the look is "dry". (Sure miss Rosewood.)
@@757optim Actually a little lemon oil on this Indian Laurel makes it look like a darker version of rosewood. I had the same problem on my Tone pot that you had with your Volume pot. Replaced both with CTS's and works great now!
@@757optim Try Montypresso fret polish available from Monty's guitars or Andertons.
I got the same one but Lake Placid Blue color, mine came with the mint pickguard from factory
Sawubona my broer!
Howzit!!!
Can’t wait to try this out. Thanks.
Man, I was waiting take off those inlay dots ))) nice job
Bought the same guitar!( For my daughter,ahem). Now I have to upgrade it!
Awesome marksmanship.!! I enjoyed while watching. Great Job Dude
Thanks! :)
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.
Great video !! My question is why do you apply solder to the frets ? I've seen fret removal done just using the heat from the soldering iron. I'm by no means saying your wrong at all ! I'm honestly just wanting to learn.. Thanks !
Hey Robbie! Very common question actually... answer is that the solder speeds up the transfer of the heat into the fret. When you’re pulling frets quickly, it helps to speed up the process. It also acts as a visual guide for when the fret has enough heat in it. Works for me! :)
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!
I wish you had put on Fender locking tuners stainless frets and an LSR roller nut, even if there's no tremolo, you have open and fretted notes on steel.
Loved every minute of this!
This is the kind of ASMR I need
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.
Nice vid on the mods. I am amateur player and modder and some excellent tips in this vid. I own the identical tele as a matter of fact. Gonna start some mods on it but really pretty basic stuff, 4 way switch, I have some nice pups for it I purchased for another mod project a few yrs ago that I never used on that guitar so I'll use them on this one. The only 2 things done so far are rounded the fret board on the sides and put a new nut on it. I couldn't justify a refret on it. I might put new tuners on it but truth be told the guitar stays in tune very well so might leave them. I might also rub in some used motor oil on the neck. I did that to a strat I built yrs ago and it worked pretty darn well. thanks
PS did you get your money back on the guitar with all time and effort put into it? thanks
I can see problem with using a file to round the edges of the fretboard when done fret by fret, i had the same issue on one of my instruments. it takes more off in spaces between the fretwork and the frets protrude a tad giving it a concaved profile just slightly if you look closely. thats why when i do it now i use a block and go the entire length of the fretboard so the fret ends get rounded at the same time and you don't have that edge looking scalloped a bit.
M L each to their own bud. I’m happy with the result with my technique, and I get more rounded fret ends this way.
Dang, it!! You make me want to buy tools... lol. Great video! What did you use to treat the fretboard? I wanted to watch you do it, but you skipped over it...
Thanks James! I use a mixture of boiled linseed oil and white spirits :)
Thank you for this amazing work !! I learned a lot :)
Thanks! And I’m so glad you learned a lot too. 👍🏼👍🏼
Great work and choices on everything, although I've heard the oil in those types of caps contain PCBs.
I'm also not sure they really sound better in a blind test.
That series position was nice sounding!
Can you use Stratocaster saddles if they are the same 10.8 width?
Did you laquer over the decal?
Must have 52 Elite Master level Luthiers out there (or perhaps insecure jealous hacks).
Yeah totally use strat saddles if they’re also 10.8... I didn’t lacquer over the decal, did it old school. :)
Show us how you prepped the fretboard.
There are some other videos on my channel that show fretboard prep. Thanks for watching
Great video. Yes it would cost a lot to pay someone to do all this but if you can do it yourself its NBD. $150 in tools and some practice and you can make any guitar a great guitar. These bullet Fenders are good value but I would stump up the extra 40% or so for a FSR model with the string through ferules. Just makes the tone of a telecaster imho.
I'm pretty sure this was a string through
@@RamsayPhillips It was. You are quite right.
Wow it sounds and looks so good
Just snagged this same guitar, and I can’t wait to mod the hell out of it. I really like what you did to your guitar, and I have only a few questions. 1. Where did you buy the saddles for the bridge, and what is the size I should look for? 2. Do you do anything to the actual fretboard wood? Any type of conditioning? 3. Did you sand down the back of the neck before applying the stain/oil combo? I saw that you scraped away the decals with a razor blade, but I wasn’t sure if you did something similar to the back of the neck. I’ve used steel wool before to scratch the hell out of the neck and make it feel more like a baseball bat, but not sure if there is a better way to go about that. I really enjoyed this video, and you gained a new subscriber. Keep the content coming, and thanks for the walkthrough.
Hi Michael... I'll do my best to answer below:
1. These saddles I got from eyguitarmusic in china. They supply many small OEM parts, and these saddles are fantastic value for money.
2. When it comes to fretboard wood that's ebony, rosewood, pau ferro or in this case indian laurel, I do usually skim the board lightly with a radius block, and then I also roll the fingerboard edges for the played in feel. At the end, I'll condition the wood with a 50/50 mixture of boiled linseed oil and white spirits.
3. I sanded the entire neck, back and headstock face, down to bare wood.
Good luck! :)
Not sure where you live Michael but be aware these saddles are metric in size not American standard, My luthier found that out the hard way and 1/16 of an inch does make an overall difference.
Those frets look great , very nice job.
Thank you!
great job. how much extra for the upgrades?
garth carrier thanks Garth... to be honest, the upgrades including the cost of what I would charge for the fretwork and neck refinishing would’ve taken the charge to over €800. Which does take it to USA tele territory from a cost perspective. I guess from my side it was all about the experiment to see what could be done to a cheap guitar. :)
Exactly what I was looking for! I’m subbing. Do you know where to get the fret jaws?
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.
Really sounds great!
Thanks!
I recently got an autographed Squire Butterscotch Blonde Bullet Tele signed by Blackberry Smoke and was wanting to do some of these mods to make it really playable. How would you go about sealing the autographs so they won't wear off? They are on the front wood body area and they were done with a Black Sharpie. I'm pretty sure the finish is polyurethane on these new Tele's but I'm concerned with the autographs running if I use the wrong product? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Love your videos.
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.