This is an excellent video that should encourage every new guitar player that the $400 Strat they just bought is an excellent investment. It has the ability to grow along with them as they get better as a player. Nice work gents!
People should also know that the classic vibe squier series is widely considered to be pretty much just as good as a MIM fender strat at roughly half the price. They're just very well made guitars. Especially if you plan on overhauls like these, or even far narrower scoped ones.
I've got a Fender Player Series with a Maple neck. I was so excited to get that guitar. And it's.... just OK. And that's being nice about it. I recently handled and played (a little) one of these Squier Classic Vibe 60's... this same one. Lake Placid Blue. And it ain't even close. The Squier is a LOT nicer. It's just a better guitar. Yeah - it would be cool if it said "Fender." But it doesn't. And it's a better guitar.
@@jimmyz2098 I just got this same guitar, and it was SO good when i tried it at the shop, that i don't care that it doesn't say Fender on it. It might as well do, with how well it actually plays.
I did something similar on a $180 squier tele. Bought it and played it fine for about a year and then when the electronics started to crackle, I did the upgrades (920d wiring, lambertones blondies, bigsby, and locking tuners). Awesome guitar. All in It's about 800, but plays better than a lot of $1500+ guitars I've picked up!
If I did this project, I’d look for a used Mexican fender Strat. Mine was 300 new in 1997. In fact, it’s on my to do list to upgrade my first guitar in much the same way! That way you can have an epic strat over time with fender on the headstock. Thanks for being generous and blessing a worshipper with this strat! Great vid. I really enjoyed it!
Recently acquired a Squier Vintage Strat' and wondered about how good it was. Watching you guys with yours, I'm impressed and encouraged. At some point, I think the first thing on the to do list is locking tuners. In the meantime, I'm just going to enjoy learning on it, knowing I have a more than reasonable instrument.
I have a few "nice" guitars but I reach for my Squire Strat more than anything else. The only upgrade I'm for sure about doing is a DiMarzio high power prewired pick guard.
you're right. I immediately thought these tuners look like the good vintage fender ones. Not at all, they are crap! need to be changed first. then the electronics, trem, and nut.
I’m currently doing this exact thing thanks to you guys. Went with the classic vibe jazzmaster and a set of ristrettos. I’m thrilled with the new sound. Thinking new neck next.
Strat necks fit most jazzmasters too and you can get a strat neck for a lot less if you don’t mind the smaller headstock a lot more options in strat replacement necks fret size radius etc I think the bridge on your guitar is a 12” radius and the neck is stock as 9.5” radius you can get a jumbo fret 12” radius strat neck like an allparts like this they come in rosewood too sure makes em set up better with lower action when your bridge and fret radius match www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Fender-Lic-Allparts-Stratocaster-NECK-Strat-Maple-Unfinished-12-Radius-SMO-/363168156355?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49292
I knew even at the start of this video that you guys were gonna make that announcement at the end😂 I’m already having my fingers crossed that I get blessed with it🤞🏼🤞🏼😁 beautiful guitar great job you guys!
My PRS Zach Myers is pretty much directly inspired by the Epi Goldtop monster you guys made last go around. Cremas, push pull coil taps, locking tuners, PRS lampshade knobs, switchcraft parts, the works. Selah, as I named her is the best guitar I’ve ever owned and I’m stoked she’s growing with me. I say it’s worth it because it could potentially become one of those family heirloom type deals down the line and that market value isn’t everything. I would say it’s more economical to get an amazing playing Epi and upgrade it to play like a Gibby for half the price of a full Gibby + setup.
Loved this video!!! Been waiting to see how this build turned out before purchasing one of these Squier’s. I need a Strat in my wheelhouse and this will be my next purchase most likely. Also going to make some of these upgrades as well.
Thank you for this amazing video on a Squier Classic Vibe Strat. I am 53 now in 2023. I am want to learn ow to play a strat series guitar. My issue is I am left handed and I live in Canada. The Squier Classic Vibe 70s Stratocaster HSS Left-Handed, Maple Fingerboard - Black or the Squier Classic Vibe '60s Stratocaster Left-Handed which I would love to get and I am looking at is very limited in the Left Hand config. I want a full size bodied strat so I can upgrade it as I gain more experience and comfort. I do not want to be limited to a 3/4 size strat body where upgrading them is a little harder to find parts that fit. I have also noticed that a Left handed Squier Classic Vibe Strats cost more in a left hand config. This is where I really wish I was right handed. Better colors available in a right handed config. Also no one where I live in Canada has stock of a left handed Squier Classic Vibe Strat. I have a limited income being I am on permanent disability from a work accident in 2013 so paying $800.00 - $1000.00 Canadian is not a option. Also I hear nightmare stories of really long wait times for a left handed strat. This is where i really wish I was right handed because they are easier to get and a lot better color options. I want to start learning soon before I am in no shape to even learn. I really do not want to buy one online because I really do not know what to look for. Plus there are clones of everything now a days and I do not need to buy something that it is not. And no I am not going through Mid life crises. I have always wanted to learn. More so now then ever just to give my mental health a check for not working in so long. I don't know, maybe I am just dreaming but it has been on my bucket list for years now.
Try Guitar Fetish for the quick connect pickups. I installed their Lil Killer rail humbuckers on a Korean-made Squire and made it a Super Strat with the GF wiring harness! It sounds absolutely amazing. The humbuckers can separately split into single coil too.
I’d call it money well spent! I’m currently building three Strats. The first one is completed save for fret end filing and nut filing. It has a 80’s MIJ Squire body, an Allparts neck, GraphTech Ratio tuners and the guts out of a U.S.A. Ernie Ball Silhouette Special with DiMarzio Virtual PAF and True Velvet singles and the silent circuit. The next guitar up will be a white MIM Strat with a Duncan JB along with the Sustainiac system out of one of the Schecter Sun Valley guitars that I bought from a guy who dropped his and shattered the body. The next one will have Duncan P-Rails and take advantage of the pickup switching options. Both of these will have the Ratio tuners and Wilkinson VS100 bridges. At some point I’ll make another Strat with the Lace Sensor Rainbow set to replace the Strat I had to sell recently. I’m looking for what works best for me in these instruments.
Gotta get that buzz out of it. I'm surprised you didn't level the frets during the setup. The pickups sound great. I'm sure that will be an awesome guitar. (That sound at 22:30 is Strat heaven!) Thanks for the videos on this project
One of my favorite guitars to play, and one that I will never sell, is my Mexican Lonestar Strat. After just a few modest modifications (fender locking tuners, graphtech saddles, DiMarzio FRED in the bridge wired straight to the volume, and set up to play in Eb) this guitar has become an amazing workhorse of a player. I’ve bought and sold tons of guitars over the years, but this one will always stay in my collection, and even though it’s not an “American” Strat, I will proudly hand it down as an heirloom someday.
Super nice video and true to the bone! A 10 year experienced player knows that the hard job is to find the good wood. Then piece by piece you can create a beast of a guitar like this one you have here. This sirca classic vibes are amazing instruments to start building your tone and the momentum is great indeed, happy holidays!!
This was a great series on your channel. I did exactly that with a $400 Dean because I like the way the neck feels. I put $200 into pickups and upgraded wiring. That and upgrading the nut made the biggest difference.
Is it a Korean dean strat sss with the 3x3 goofy headstock? if it is I love my neck aswell it’s a cheaper strat but I’m in love with it, I have way nicer guitars and I always find myself wanting to grab the dean instead.
I got a set of Fender Pure Vintage 65s for 150$ , im so gonna put them in my Squire CV 60s! Alongside a good setup, it's gonna be my dream guitar! A lake placid blue strat is all i need!
I've seen two mindsets on the pickups vs electronics. Some people insist the electronics (pots, caps) will make more of a difference than the pickups. Others say pots/caps/wires don't really make much difference and it's all the pickups. To me, the electronics are so cheap to replace (920Ds are some of the most expensive and they're still quite cheap) that if you replace the pickups it makes no sense to keep the stock electronics in place. There are also some much cheaper pickups that sound phenomenal. A lot of people replace the stock MIM fender pickups with Alnico 5 M-Series Wilkinsons and they're dirt cheap, and sound phenomenal (get the real deal and not the licensed ones). Sure they won't sound as good as the tripleshots, but they'll sound 97% as good and cost a tiny fraction of the cost.
If you can play a high end guitar, give it a shot. A lot of people will say cheap is as good as expensive, and sometimes they are. But the chances of you getting a bad neck or fret job is much greater. The wiring can be iffy and the pick ups are almost never as good as custom or high end pickups from the builder. A $2500 guitar will usually be “nicer.” Not always, but there is a difference. This coming from someone who played a J Mascis (Classic Vibe) Jazzmaster Sunday with Lollars in it 😉.
I keep coming back to this video for those pickups…love listening to them. I love my Strat but it’s not my #1, these would make me show it some more love me thinks. Definitely going to be a set in my future.
In 2019 I brought a fender stratocaster roadhouse deluxe Olympic White I love the guitar and the vintage noiseless pickup but I want to switch some things around first I modded it to a hss strat with the fender vintage noiseless and a dimarzio PAF master bridge humbucker and it sounded pretty darn good, then i change the nut to a tusq xl nut, but then came lambertones pickup , i got the opportunity to buy a used lambertones triple shot neck and middle and installed it with a 920d hss wiring harness and i fell in love with them instant, a couple of month later in 2020 i added the lambertones grinder bridge and added a gotoh 510 trem bridge and now my strat is amazing i love it every bit of it. I will have to say I switch the orange drop tone cap for some emerson custom PIO tone cap 👌👌👌👌👌👌 its perfect
TLDR for you lazy/ ADD brothers and sisters (Bradford and Brian feel free to yank this comment if this sours this gorgeous video, which I still recommend watching for the amazing tones and commentary) 1. Squier classic vibes are awesome guitars for the money. 2. Lambertones are the real deal, and are the first recommended (biggest effect on the guitar’s tone) modification 3. If you have $1500, buy a better guitar. But if you only have $400, and over time put several hundred dollars into it, it very well can hang with guitars twice its price. 4. The commentary and products in this video is nothing but gold for guitar builders/ modders. 5. Yes, you can build a Squier guitar out into a very, very good guitar. It’s not a waste of money. Do the right mods, and find the right feeling base guitar to work on, and a cheap upgraded guitar can absolutely be a great player’s guitar. Did I miss anything? Hopefully I did it justice 🥴
I love how this highlighted Lambertones pickups. They are magical. And Kurtis is a standup guy. He was more than happy to help me out with a wiring issue by FaceTiming with me, and when he saw a low-quality component in my guitar, he surprised me by sending me a free wiring kit with pots and switch. I can also echo the clarity comments. The pickups just have the ability to breathe a bit, and it makes my overdrives, delay, and reverb all sound so perfect. They never get washed out in the mix. I would pick Cremas every time, but Grinders are a close second.
I absolutely love Squier necks. Perhaps because my first strat was a Squier that I still own and play. Even though I now have USA teles and strat I still prefer the neck on my Squiers! Merry Christmas and Happy New year WT team and family.
I bought a Michael Kelly 1963 strat I started with the nut and then tuners and then put some Lambertones hss amazing guitar!! My number one strat!! All I need to do next is a new wiring harness
38:11 To me that's the main thing of an upgrade like that! When one has no $1.500 or $2.000 right away, they can assemble such a guitar step by step in a couple of years. AND you get a custom guitar by doing so! Cause you choose all the components, rather than get what get with an expensive but stock guitar. I mean... From my experience I was satisfied with a stock guitar from the day of purchase only if they were really high end ones, like some Suhrs, a couple of PRSs, one Tom Anderson and two Novos. I could have bought a house for the price of those! With pretty much all the rest of the guitars -including my Gibsons, by the way- I wasn't happy with at least something. Either I swapped the trem (VegaTrem is one of my favorites), or I changed the tuners, or the pups. Eventually I came to the following strategy. If I do not fall in love with a certain guitar in a guitar shop, I prefer to order parts and assemble the guitar. Warmoth makes a good variety of options at a really good quality level. Thus I get the wooden part of a guitar and frets (always stainless steel in my case) and choose and purchase all the accessories as I want them to be on my assembly. Thus. On the one hand you can modify your guitar gradually in order to take care of your budget, on the other hand modification is the way to get exactly the components you want.
I’m not a guitarist, but I play the bass. Doesn’t spending $1100 on a Squier kind of defeat the t whole purpose of a cheap Fender type guitar. I have a Squier strat that cost all of $200. It plays wonderfully and makes me a very happy camper. I can’t possibly imagine wanting to spend that amount of cash to rebuild the Fender Strat. I look at my Squier as lightning in a bottle. It scratches my guitar aspirations more than adequately. Spending more money on my Squier, especially more than three times the amount that the guitar originally costs would qualify as abomination to me. I’ll keep plinking away on my garbage can Squier.
This guitar is sweet and looks really nice. Looks and sounds pro level. If a person can do the labor its worth it. If not, you will easily add $200 to $500 to the upgrade costs. The one downside, you will never recoup your costs if you sell it. That being said, My two most recent purchases are a fender vintera deluxe tele and fender deluxe nashville tele and i would rather play this upgraded stratocaster.
Go to 14:36 to hear dry samples in all 7 pickup positions. We didn’t play exactly the same parts as the initial review (I wish we would have done that), but I’m 99% sure we used the same Helix patch in both videos, so you can pretty easily compare the before/after tones that way.
I picked up a MIM strat from the 90’s in a pawn shop and got it for about $200, been upgrading gradually. Most recent one was I got the pickups swapped to an HSS config with Seymour Duncan’s
I’d just love to be able to hear the pick ups w/ out the delay or much reverb. I struggle to fully be able to appreciate the difference in tone with them. But, hey beggars can’t be chooser. Love the videos guys
Dig a Strat. I heard John Mayer talking about the Silver Sky saying it was important with the pickups that the Treble has Bass and the Bass has Treble. On my laptop with cheapie headphones those pickups sound nice.
First thing you should upgrade is tuners and bridge. Make the guitar play better, intonate better, and stay in tune. This seems to be where most beginners falter. Most beginners and discern the difference in pups the way an experienced player would. But a beginner will know when a chord or note sounds off or are frustrated when they feel like they are playing something correct but it doesn’t sound like the record.
@Mark Seymour upgrading the bridge could help with intonation. The tuner upgrade gives you a higher gear ratio to get more accurate pitch. I stand by it
Love the videos gentlemen. I've been thinking about buying the hx stomp and keep coming back to your sound samples on the helix... Then I see this and think... But I could buy another guitar for that!... Gear obsession is a real thing lol
I was gifted a lake placid bullet telecaster a couple years back and i think over that time frame I did about the same thing they did with pickups, wiring, tuners and some hardware. I don't regret it all. So far it plays and sounds better than the fender strat I have. I think the most obvious upgrade to my ears was the new wiring with the upgraded pots. But i didnt buy lambertones. Would I have invested all the money at once if I had it up front? No I would have bought a higher end guitar. But it makes alot of sense to by one of these and upgrade as you go.
Superb instruments for the money. I bought the CV 60s Esquire in LPB and it’s awesome as it is. Upgrading is expensive though and I’d rather buy a more expensive guitar to be honest. That thing sounds fantastic. Great colour too.
Just bought a 50’s Classic Vibe. Cool guitar but IMMEDIATELY needed frets dressed. Then I took it to my setup guy and he couldnt eveb do a setup because the Frets were severely unlevel. 😵💫. Squier!!! It doesnt matter if its only $400 you need to level your frets! Blah. Regardless- super cool video! I think I will keep mine and contact Zzounds and Fender to pay for the leveling. The body and neck are really nice. (Bridge and nut are crap though haha)
Investment in your own instrument, Bradford said it, if you put $500 worth of upgrades in a $250 dollar guitar people don’t want to pay for your upgrade. Maybe an extra $50 bucks. You’re better off keeping your upgrades and reverting the guitar back to stock and selling it a putting those upgrades in the better guitar u end up getting
I love the 60's RI look and neck styles and also own Fender Strat MIJ 60's model. I have an identical model to the one on the video including finish, and am not sure pickup-wise what I'm going to do yet due to the type of body wood...if it was alder it'd be a no brain'r with better alnico 5 magnet single coils but the Asian mahogany has me wondering about possibly going with mini humbuckers like Seymour Duncan lil 59's or JB jr., at least in the bridge. My stock tuners are fine, and after some manicuring of nut slots the stock trem works fine after floating it. Putting a $300 trem, $270 pickups, and $70 tuners into a new $400 guitar definitely are improvements, and if a person can't have it all in one shot yes, piece work upgrading is fine. Personally I wouldn't buy a new guitar if right off the bat was going to replace all of the components with several hundred dollars worth of upgrades. I'd either get a $100 Affinity Squier and go from there or save my money and buy a new Player series.
The classic vibe series is dope considering you what you get. Cool finishes, and the classic vibe gets more attention bc they are high priced instruments
I would get a callaham bridge instead. It feels buttery smooth and looks like an original, and has a noticeable tone and sustain upgrade. Other than that, it looks and sounds fantastic.
I think the holy tone is about the sparkle and shimmer of light, in sonic version. Think tele in neck position, jeff b halelujah. I think the original alnico 5 gave this to the guitar. I have this exact guitar and the secret for me was to polish the fret board using pressure and plant oils, and using my skin not a cloth. After dry use a non fluffy cloth to buff it. not microfibre ever. It aged the fretboard to a gloss. Now it has spank and shimmer for sacred overtones. You do have to turn the bass upto 10 on the amp with the orig pickups, then they are fine.
I’m inspired …bought my 60s vibe for 100$ less than you guys did on eBay (new) that will be the only savings..tho.. I’m going to spend about a 2000$ more than you guys (Most of the money will go … Relic neck with Brazilian rosewood fret board… and the most expensive pickups I can find (it’s like made of sliver) everything else will match yours Over 2500$ upgrade on a 300$ guitar…. (Too bad I have a mostly comedy channal on RUclips or I would upload it…still might….oh yeah the pickgaurd was signed by James Brown with the inscription “ I FEEL GOOD” (it’s going to be the most pimped out squire of all time). Will take me a long time to save up so I will do it one part at a time Thanks for this ridiculous idea
This is amazing, I just... love it! ♥️ And... OMG!!! That final... What!? Really!? Please tell me that Latin America it's in too! I'm from Honduras. Blessings guys! Great video... 🥰
Thanks for the awesome video! I see you guys use the Line 6 Helix a lot. Any chance you might take a look at the Mooer GE 250? I just got it, since I don't have the budget for the Helix, but I see more and more people are going for the Mooer's because of the amount of bang that you get for your buck. It will be just awesome!
I have that exact guitar and generally love it. This is the exactly what I’ve been looking for: things that would make me live it more. Pickups and DIY fretboard cleanup clearly number one. Great video!
I think buying a used Mexican strat would be a better way to go. Sell the stock loaded pick guard, buy lambertones....done. I bought a super clean Mexican strat from gc for 350. Loaded pick guard sold for 125 bucks. 🙌
honestly a classic vibe strat didn't need most of this. This was upgrading to upgrade. best money spent on a classic vibe is to have a pro set up (tremolo set up, frets dressed and crowned, pickup height, fret board rolled) pro set up $150-200 and more bang for your buck then anything else. Pickups are important but try setting to proper height before throwing money you'll never get back out of it. If you put $700 into a $400 guitar you don't have an $1100 guitar you have a $300 used guitar. that money would be better spent buying a guitar you don't want to change.
@@bmitchellmusic hope I didn't come of snarky. Don't get me wrong for a video idea it's fine and I have modded my share of squire's in the past. it's just not that practical.
Great video, great mods! I've gone down a similar path with this model to a lesser extent. I think you mentioned in another video that the nut is plastic even though Fender lists it as bone. How does one tell? Do you think fender is mis-representing the nut material?
It sounds great and certainly better than a Vintera. However, only an American Fender Strat sounds like the real deal. The wood and aging, treatment, etc. does make a difference- both body and neck. A Classic Vibe can only sound like an upgraded Classic Vibe. The timber affects the timbre...I say get a used USA Strat for $1100.00. Like trying to put a Corvette engine into a Chevy Cruz. Still a Cruz. A fun experiment though.
They essentially maxed out the primary weapon you get in the beginning of a game but with a guitar instead
😂
This may be the greatest comment on RUclips.
@@EstebanOnGuitar it truly is
Unlocked the custom paint job too
For some reason still does not sound right. I mean it does sound good but for a squier.
This is an excellent video that should encourage every new guitar player that the $400 Strat they just bought is an excellent investment. It has the ability to grow along with them as they get better as a player. Nice work gents!
People should also know that the classic vibe squier series is widely considered to be pretty much just as good as a MIM fender strat at roughly half the price. They're just very well made guitars. Especially if you plan on overhauls like these, or even far narrower scoped ones.
@@Hickeroar And they have much more vintage-correct aesthetics than the base level MIM, which is something I always appreciate.
I've got a Fender Player Series with a Maple neck. I was so excited to get that guitar. And it's.... just OK. And that's being nice about it. I recently handled and played (a little) one of these Squier Classic Vibe 60's... this same one. Lake Placid Blue. And it ain't even close. The Squier is a LOT nicer. It's just a better guitar. Yeah - it would be cool if it said "Fender." But it doesn't. And it's a better guitar.
@@Hickeroar NO, SQUIERS ARE TRASH
@@jimmyz2098 I just got this same guitar, and it was SO good when i tried it at the shop, that i don't care that it doesn't say Fender on it. It might as well do, with how well it actually plays.
Wow! You guys are so kind, and I’m thrilled with your results. Bringing Brian closer and closer to becoming a SSS strat lover! 😘
with a Lambertones loaded SSS pickguard, no way could it go wrong.
I did something similar on a $180 squier tele. Bought it and played it fine for about a year and then when the electronics started to crackle, I did the upgrades (920d wiring, lambertones blondies, bigsby, and locking tuners). Awesome guitar. All in It's about 800, but plays better than a lot of $1500+ guitars I've picked up!
If I did this project, I’d look for a used Mexican fender Strat. Mine was 300 new in 1997. In fact, it’s on my to do list to upgrade my first guitar in much the same way! That way you can have an epic strat over time with fender on the headstock.
Thanks for being generous and blessing a worshipper with this strat! Great vid. I really enjoyed it!
Mann I’m about to do this in mine !! I never found a strat whit that looks better than my first strat
First!
I was so stoked to see this video but when I saw the end?? OMG! 😱 I couldn’t believe it!! 😱
This is a golden comment, gold star for you sir
LOL, you sound like one of those first-comment spammers :D Anyways, good stuff gentleman!
Recently acquired a Squier Vintage Strat' and wondered about how good it was. Watching you guys with yours, I'm impressed and encouraged. At some point, I think the first thing on the to do list is locking tuners. In the meantime, I'm just going to enjoy learning on it, knowing I have a more than reasonable instrument.
I have a few "nice" guitars but I reach for my Squire Strat more than anything else. The only upgrade I'm for sure about doing is a DiMarzio high power prewired pick guard.
you're right. I immediately thought these tuners look like the good vintage fender ones. Not at all, they are crap! need to be changed first. then the electronics, trem, and nut.
@@thierrygoli4271 Do the nut first, very cheap but so much difference to tone, and if 9 strings change to 10s.
I played this video then the before one, and i swear, my hand moved on its own and bought a classic vibe and most of the upgrades you did...
that's wild.
Amazing! Almost... unbelievable?! 😂
😂 I believe it was the holy spirit moving you..
Honestly as long as the guitar sounds good that’s what matters. It’s not the brand it’s the quality of the build and the tone
I’m currently doing this exact thing thanks to you guys. Went with the classic vibe jazzmaster and a set of ristrettos. I’m thrilled with the new sound. Thinking new neck next.
I put Lollars in a J Mascis Jazzmaster. Sounds great, but I ended up having to rewire it after a few years of steady play.
Strat necks fit most jazzmasters too and you can get a strat neck for a lot less if you don’t mind the smaller headstock a lot more options in strat replacement necks fret size radius etc I think the bridge on your guitar is a 12” radius and the neck is stock as 9.5” radius you can get a jumbo fret 12” radius strat neck like an allparts like this they come in rosewood too sure makes em set up better with lower action when your bridge and fret radius match
www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Fender-Lic-Allparts-Stratocaster-NECK-Strat-Maple-Unfinished-12-Radius-SMO-/363168156355?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49292
I made custom guitar pickups and I played the guitar in the worship team. Thank you for the great video
Please you show me pickup, thankyou.
Some people say that it is stupid to put a vegatrem on a squier, but you're proving they are wrong. Thanks a lot for this great video, guys. You rock.
wow. i really appreciate you guys teaching us how to upgrade our guitars piece by piece :)
I knew even at the start of this video that you guys were gonna make that announcement at the end😂 I’m already having my fingers crossed that I get blessed with it🤞🏼🤞🏼😁 beautiful guitar great job you guys!
My PRS Zach Myers is pretty much directly inspired by the Epi Goldtop monster you guys made last go around.
Cremas, push pull coil taps, locking tuners, PRS lampshade knobs, switchcraft parts, the works.
Selah, as I named her is the best guitar I’ve ever owned and I’m stoked she’s growing with me.
I say it’s worth it because it could potentially become one of those family heirloom type deals down the line and that market value isn’t everything.
I would say it’s more economical to get an amazing playing Epi and upgrade it to play like a Gibby for half the price of a full Gibby + setup.
I have had my classic vibe 50s strat for a while and never thought I needed to upgrade it, sounds good though.
Looking at you guys, I've got a triple shot N&M and Crema Bridge loaded pickguard from 920D custom. Thanks for everything you do musically.
Loved this video!!! Been waiting to see how this build turned out before purchasing one of these Squier’s. I need a Strat in my wheelhouse and this will be my next purchase most likely. Also going to make some of these upgrades as well.
Thank you for this amazing video on a Squier Classic Vibe Strat. I am 53 now in 2023. I am want to learn ow to play a strat series guitar. My issue is I am left handed and I live in Canada. The Squier Classic Vibe 70s Stratocaster HSS Left-Handed, Maple Fingerboard - Black or the Squier Classic Vibe '60s Stratocaster Left-Handed which I would love to get and I am looking at is very limited in the Left Hand config. I want a full size bodied strat so I can upgrade it as I gain more experience and comfort. I do not want to be limited to a 3/4 size strat body where upgrading them is a little harder to find parts that fit. I have also noticed that a Left handed Squier Classic Vibe Strats cost more in a left hand config. This is where I really wish I was right handed. Better colors available in a right handed config. Also no one where I live in Canada has stock of a left handed Squier Classic Vibe Strat. I have a limited income being I am on permanent disability from a work accident in 2013 so paying $800.00 - $1000.00 Canadian is not a option. Also I hear nightmare stories of really long wait times for a left handed strat. This is where i really wish I was right handed because they are easier to get and a lot better color options. I want to start learning soon before I am in no shape to even learn. I really do not want to buy one online because I really do not know what to look for. Plus there are clones of everything now a days and I do not need to buy something that it is not. And no I am not going through Mid life crises. I have always wanted to learn. More so now then ever just to give my mental health a check for not working in so long. I don't know, maybe I am just dreaming but it has been on my bucket list for years now.
Nice job. Buying a loaded pickguard with some nice pickups is a good investment for a strat. I wish they would have quick connects for pickups.
Try Guitar Fetish for the quick connect pickups. I installed their Lil Killer rail humbuckers on a Korean-made Squire and made it a Super Strat with the GF wiring harness! It sounds absolutely amazing. The humbuckers can separately split into single coil too.
I’d call it money well spent! I’m currently building three Strats. The first one is completed save for fret end filing and nut filing. It has a 80’s MIJ Squire body, an Allparts neck, GraphTech Ratio tuners and the guts out of a U.S.A. Ernie Ball Silhouette Special with DiMarzio Virtual PAF and True Velvet singles and the silent circuit. The next guitar up will be a white MIM Strat with a Duncan JB along with the Sustainiac system out of one of the Schecter Sun Valley guitars that I bought from a guy who dropped his and shattered the body. The next one will have Duncan P-Rails and take advantage of the pickup switching options. Both of these will have the Ratio tuners and Wilkinson VS100 bridges. At some point I’ll make another Strat with the Lace Sensor Rainbow set to replace the Strat I had to sell recently. I’m looking for what works best for me in these instruments.
just picked up a cv strat for 150 bucks, so excited to do similar upgrades over the next year.
Gotta get that buzz out of it. I'm surprised you didn't level the frets during the setup.
The pickups sound great. I'm sure that will be an awesome guitar. (That sound at 22:30 is Strat heaven!)
Thanks for the videos on this project
Well winning that guitar certainly wouldn't suck. Look forward to finding out how that will happen.
One of my favorite guitars to play, and one that I will never sell, is my Mexican Lonestar Strat. After just a few modest modifications (fender locking tuners, graphtech saddles, DiMarzio FRED in the bridge wired straight to the volume, and set up to play in Eb) this guitar has become an amazing workhorse of a player. I’ve bought and sold tons of guitars over the years, but this one will always stay in my collection, and even though it’s not an “American” Strat, I will proudly hand it down as an heirloom someday.
Super nice video and true to the bone! A 10 year experienced player knows that the hard job is to find the good wood. Then piece by piece you can create a beast of a guitar like this one you have here. This sirca classic vibes are amazing instruments to start building your tone and the momentum is great indeed, happy holidays!!
Fantastic break down of what is possible with a budget guitar. If you are truly on a budget, get the guitar a full setup and pickups at the least.
This was a great series on your channel. I did exactly that with a $400 Dean because I like the way the neck feels. I put $200 into pickups and upgraded wiring. That and upgrading the nut made the biggest difference.
Is it a Korean dean strat sss with the 3x3 goofy headstock? if it is I love my neck aswell it’s a cheaper strat but I’m in love with it, I have way nicer guitars and I always find myself wanting to grab the dean instead.
I got a set of Fender Pure Vintage 65s for 150$ , im so gonna put them in my Squire CV 60s!
Alongside a good setup, it's gonna be my dream guitar!
A lake placid blue strat is all i need!
I have been waiting for this video. I subscribed to make sure I wouldn't miss it. So glad I did!
I've seen two mindsets on the pickups vs electronics. Some people insist the electronics (pots, caps) will make more of a difference than the pickups. Others say pots/caps/wires don't really make much difference and it's all the pickups. To me, the electronics are so cheap to replace (920Ds are some of the most expensive and they're still quite cheap) that if you replace the pickups it makes no sense to keep the stock electronics in place. There are also some much cheaper pickups that sound phenomenal. A lot of people replace the stock MIM fender pickups with Alnico 5 M-Series Wilkinsons and they're dirt cheap, and sound phenomenal (get the real deal and not the licensed ones). Sure they won't sound as good as the tripleshots, but they'll sound 97% as good and cost a tiny fraction of the cost.
I think it's both. In some cases, swapping pots and caps can go a long way.
If you can play a high end guitar, give it a shot. A lot of people will say cheap is as good as expensive, and sometimes they are. But the chances of you getting a bad neck or fret job is much greater. The wiring can be iffy and the pick ups are almost never as good as custom or high end pickups from the builder. A $2500 guitar will usually be “nicer.” Not always, but there is a difference.
This coming from someone who played a J Mascis (Classic Vibe) Jazzmaster Sunday with Lollars in it 😉.
That was a nice little surprise at the end!! Great sounding guitar
I keep coming back to this video for those pickups…love listening to them. I love my Strat but it’s not my #1, these would make me show it some more love me thinks. Definitely going to be a set in my future.
In 2019 I brought a fender stratocaster roadhouse deluxe Olympic White I love the guitar and the vintage noiseless pickup but I want to switch some things around first I modded it to a hss strat with the fender vintage noiseless and a dimarzio PAF master bridge humbucker and it sounded pretty darn good, then i change the nut to a tusq xl nut, but then came lambertones pickup , i got the opportunity to buy a used lambertones triple shot neck and middle and installed it with a 920d hss wiring harness and i fell in love with them instant, a couple of month later in 2020 i added the lambertones grinder bridge and added a gotoh 510 trem bridge and now my strat is amazing i love it every bit of it.
I will have to say I switch the orange drop tone cap for some emerson custom PIO tone cap 👌👌👌👌👌👌 its perfect
That guitar looks excellent! Much more expensive that it actually is. Great color too. I want one now, goddammit!
I’d love to see this video for bass. Bonus points if it’s a 5-string P bass. Extra super bonus points if the bass has PJ pickups after the upgrade.
TLDR for you lazy/ ADD brothers and sisters (Bradford and Brian feel free to yank this comment if this sours this gorgeous video, which I still recommend watching for the amazing tones and commentary)
1. Squier classic vibes are awesome guitars for the money.
2. Lambertones are the real deal, and are the first recommended (biggest effect on the guitar’s tone) modification
3. If you have $1500, buy a better guitar. But if you only have $400, and over time put several hundred dollars into it, it very well can hang with guitars twice its price.
4. The commentary and products in this video is nothing but gold for guitar builders/ modders.
5. Yes, you can build a Squier guitar out into a very, very good guitar. It’s not a waste of money. Do the right mods, and find the right feeling base guitar to work on, and a cheap upgraded guitar can absolutely be a great player’s guitar.
Did I miss anything? Hopefully I did it justice 🥴
Ha you pretty much nailed it.
I love how this highlighted Lambertones pickups. They are magical. And Kurtis is a standup guy. He was more than happy to help me out with a wiring issue by FaceTiming with me, and when he saw a low-quality component in my guitar, he surprised me by sending me a free wiring kit with pots and switch.
I can also echo the clarity comments. The pickups just have the ability to breathe a bit, and it makes my overdrives, delay, and reverb all sound so perfect. They never get washed out in the mix. I would pick Cremas every time, but Grinders are a close second.
Awesome job great video🎉 I always felt this was about guitars or bass guitar. Thanks for the affirmation. My first time in the channel
all kinds of good effects goin in here all kinds.
This sounds incredible, I don't think you could buy anything off the shelf that would sound noticeably better
I absolutely love Squier necks. Perhaps because my first strat was a Squier that I still own and play. Even though I now have USA teles and strat I still prefer the neck on my Squiers! Merry Christmas and Happy New year WT team and family.
I bought a Michael Kelly 1963 strat I started with the nut and then tuners and then put some Lambertones hss amazing guitar!! My number one strat!! All I need to do next is a new wiring harness
Man. I love videos like this !!!
Glad to hear that :) Thanks!
38:11 To me that's the main thing of an upgrade like that! When one has no $1.500 or $2.000 right away, they can assemble such a guitar step by step in a couple of years. AND you get a custom guitar by doing so! Cause you choose all the components, rather than get what get with an expensive but stock guitar.
I mean... From my experience I was satisfied with a stock guitar from the day of purchase only if they were really high end ones, like some Suhrs, a couple of PRSs, one Tom Anderson and two Novos. I could have bought a house for the price of those!
With pretty much all the rest of the guitars -including my Gibsons, by the way- I wasn't happy with at least something. Either I swapped the trem (VegaTrem is one of my favorites), or I changed the tuners, or the pups.
Eventually I came to the following strategy. If I do not fall in love with a certain guitar in a guitar shop, I prefer to order parts and assemble the guitar. Warmoth makes a good variety of options at a really good quality level. Thus I get the wooden part of a guitar and frets (always stainless steel in my case) and choose and purchase all the accessories as I want them to be on my assembly.
Thus. On the one hand you can modify your guitar gradually in order to take care of your budget, on the other hand modification is the way to get exactly the components you want.
I’m not a guitarist, but I play the bass. Doesn’t spending $1100 on a Squier kind of defeat the t whole purpose of a cheap Fender type guitar. I have a Squier strat that cost all of $200. It plays wonderfully and makes me a very happy camper. I can’t possibly imagine wanting to spend that amount of cash to rebuild the Fender Strat. I look at my Squier as lightning in a bottle. It scratches my guitar aspirations more than adequately. Spending more money on my Squier, especially more than three times the amount that the guitar originally costs would qualify as abomination to me. I’ll keep plinking away on my garbage can Squier.
This guitar is sweet and looks really nice. Looks and sounds pro level.
If a person can do the labor its worth it. If not, you will easily add $200 to $500 to the upgrade costs.
The one downside, you will never recoup your costs if you sell it. That being said, My two most recent purchases are a fender vintera deluxe tele and fender deluxe nashville tele and i would rather play this upgraded stratocaster.
Turned on notis... gotta be on top of my game to win this guitar. Ain't no playing around
would love to hear a sample of the tone just dry. Also wouldve been awesome to hear a before and after.
Go to 14:36 to hear dry samples in all 7 pickup positions.
We didn’t play exactly the same parts as the initial review (I wish we would have done that), but I’m 99% sure we used the same Helix patch in both videos, so you can pretty easily compare the before/after tones that way.
I picked up a MIM strat from the 90’s in a pawn shop and got it for about $200, been upgrading gradually. Most recent one was I got the pickups swapped to an HSS config with Seymour Duncan’s
I’d just love to be able to hear the pick ups w/ out the delay or much reverb. I struggle to fully be able to appreciate the difference in tone with them. But, hey beggars can’t be chooser. Love the videos guys
I take that back….: I’m now midway through the vid and see you played it a bit more dry. My bad. Thanks
Great series, I'm always learning something new or a different way to do something. Many Thanks!!
Dig a Strat. I heard John Mayer talking about the Silver Sky saying it was important with the pickups that the Treble has Bass and the Bass has Treble. On my laptop with cheapie headphones those pickups sound nice.
Have a 920d 7 way in my Strat. So awesome I get the bridge and neck together
Great video with great information. Crazy how much the strat changed from its stock form. Much love to worship tutorials y’all are great 💯 God bless!
First thing you should upgrade is tuners and bridge. Make the guitar play better, intonate better, and stay in tune. This seems to be where most beginners falter. Most beginners and discern the difference in pups the way an experienced player would. But a beginner will know when a chord or note sounds off or are frustrated when they feel like they are playing something correct but it doesn’t sound like the record.
@Mark Seymour upgrading the bridge could help with intonation. The tuner upgrade gives you a higher gear ratio to get more accurate pitch. I stand by it
Love the videos gentlemen. I've been thinking about buying the hx stomp and keep coming back to your sound samples on the helix... Then I see this and think... But I could buy another guitar for that!... Gear obsession is a real thing lol
Who supplied the damn effects? That’s one important factor why the squire sounds great and makes a huge difference.
I was gifted a lake placid bullet telecaster a couple years back and i think over that time frame I did about the same thing they did with pickups, wiring, tuners and some hardware. I don't regret it all. So far it plays and sounds better than the fender strat I have. I think the most obvious upgrade to my ears was the new wiring with the upgraded pots. But i didnt buy lambertones. Would I have invested all the money at once if I had it up front? No I would have bought a higher end guitar. But it makes alot of sense to by one of these and upgrade as you go.
I have been waiting for this video
Amazing!!!! Sounds so good it’s worth the upgrades. Good job guys love your videos 🤙🏽
Love it. finally what I was waiting for..
Thank you worship tutorial:)
That guitar looks and sounds incredible! I've been looking at picking one up from Sweetwater to mod!
Superb instruments for the money. I bought the CV 60s Esquire in LPB and it’s awesome as it is. Upgrading is expensive though and I’d rather buy a more expensive guitar to be honest. That thing sounds fantastic. Great colour too.
Just bought a 50’s Classic Vibe. Cool guitar but IMMEDIATELY needed frets dressed. Then I took it to my setup guy and he couldnt eveb do a setup because the Frets were severely unlevel. 😵💫. Squier!!! It doesnt matter if its only $400 you need to level your frets! Blah. Regardless- super cool video! I think I will keep mine and contact Zzounds and Fender to pay for the leveling. The body and neck are really nice. (Bridge and nut are crap though haha)
Investment in your own instrument, Bradford said it, if you put $500 worth of upgrades in a $250 dollar guitar people don’t want to pay for your upgrade. Maybe an extra $50 bucks. You’re better off keeping your upgrades and reverting the guitar back to stock and selling it a putting those upgrades in the better guitar u end up getting
I love the 60's RI look and neck styles and also own Fender Strat MIJ 60's model. I have an identical model to the one on the video including finish, and am not sure pickup-wise what I'm going to do yet due to the type of body wood...if it was alder it'd be a no brain'r with better alnico 5 magnet single coils but the Asian mahogany has me wondering about possibly going with mini humbuckers like Seymour Duncan lil 59's or JB jr., at least in the bridge. My stock tuners are fine, and after some manicuring of nut slots the stock trem works fine after floating it.
Putting a $300 trem, $270 pickups, and $70 tuners into a new $400 guitar definitely are improvements, and if a person can't have it all in one shot yes, piece work upgrading is fine. Personally I wouldn't buy a new guitar if right off the bat was going to replace all of the components with several hundred dollars worth of upgrades. I'd either get a $100 Affinity Squier and go from there or save my money and buy a new Player series.
Sounds amazing 🙌🏽
The classic vibe series is dope considering you what you get. Cool finishes, and the classic vibe gets more attention bc they are high priced instruments
Did the same with a mexican stratocaster and by far out plays my Gibsons and other "high end" guitars I have tried
I would get a callaham bridge instead. It feels buttery smooth and looks like an original, and has a noticeable tone and sustain upgrade. Other than that, it looks and sounds fantastic.
I think the holy tone is about the sparkle and shimmer of light, in sonic version. Think tele in neck position, jeff b halelujah. I think the original alnico 5 gave this to the guitar. I have this exact guitar and the secret for me was to polish the fret board using pressure and plant oils, and using my skin not a cloth. After dry use a non fluffy cloth to buff it. not microfibre ever. It aged the fretboard to a gloss. Now it has spank and shimmer for sacred overtones. You do have to turn the bass upto 10 on the amp with the orig pickups, then they are fine.
I have the exact same LPB CV strat and my LORD I wish I could afford to get a Vega Trem for it!
I’m inspired …bought my 60s vibe for 100$ less than you guys did on eBay (new) that will be the only savings..tho..
I’m going to spend about a 2000$ more than you guys
(Most of the money will go …
Relic neck with Brazilian rosewood fret board… and the most expensive pickups I can find (it’s like made of sliver) everything else will match yours
Over 2500$ upgrade on a 300$ guitar….
(Too bad I have a mostly comedy channal on RUclips or I would upload it…still might….oh yeah the pickgaurd was signed by James Brown with the inscription “ I FEEL GOOD”
(it’s going to be the most pimped out squire of all time).
Will take me a long time to save up so I will do it one part at a time
Thanks for this ridiculous idea
I think the reason why it sounded so good was the helix. XD
You guys should do something similar with a tele!
Should build a Tele!
i cannot help to imagine what it sounded like after intial setup of episode 1
Such a good looking guitar.
I put a Seymour Duncan hot fodder set in my squire and it sounds incredible. I think I’m gonna take it a cpl steps further.
Thanks for the videos and give away! My 2c on any Strat bridge/neck position is it sounds nothing like a Tele middle position.
Deusenberg trem is still best trem. Admit it, Brian! 😜
Doozy trem is reeeeeally good!
That neck tone at 28:30 very John Mayer like.
that was the goal :)
This is amazing, I just... love it! ♥️ And... OMG!!! That final... What!? Really!? Please tell me that Latin America it's in too! I'm from Honduras.
Blessings guys! Great video... 🥰
Thanks for the awesome video! I see you guys use the Line 6 Helix a lot. Any chance you might take a look at the Mooer GE 250? I just got it, since I don't have the budget for the Helix, but I see more and more people are going for the Mooer's because of the amount of bang that you get for your buck. It will be just awesome!
Can back Kurtis. Good dude.
Awesome video!!
Oh I need this!
I have that exact guitar and generally love it. This is the exactly what I’ve been looking for: things that would make me live it more. Pickups and DIY fretboard cleanup clearly number one. Great video!
Great guitar. This Squier blows the Fender Player Series guitars out of the water. It's not even close, IMHO.
I think you should start with strings. Tuners. Then pick ups and then trem. Then a new neck.
I think buying a used Mexican strat would be a better way to go. Sell the stock loaded pick guard, buy lambertones....done.
I bought a super clean Mexican strat from gc for 350. Loaded pick guard sold for 125 bucks. 🙌
honestly a classic vibe strat didn't need most of this. This was upgrading to upgrade. best money spent on a classic vibe is to have a pro set up (tremolo set up, frets dressed and crowned, pickup height, fret board rolled) pro set up $150-200 and more bang for your buck then anything else. Pickups are important but try setting to proper height before throwing money you'll never get back out of it. If you put $700 into a $400 guitar you don't have an $1100 guitar you have a $300 used guitar. that money would be better spent buying a guitar you don't want to change.
We basically said and did all that.
@@bmitchellmusic hope I didn't come of snarky. Don't get me wrong for a video idea it's fine and I have modded my share of squire's in the past. it's just not that practical.
Great video, great mods! I've gone down a similar path with this model to a lesser extent. I think you mentioned in another video that the nut is plastic even though Fender lists it as bone. How does one tell? Do you think fender is mis-representing the nut material?
The Vintera is a whole other bag of chips, even after the up graded. The classic vibes are smaller overall.
A freeway switch gives you 10 tones, including the ones from your gilmour mod.
What kind of set up use to play sample 6 (22:29)? You can explain to us how to made this amazing efect? Thanxs guys for this video.
It sounds great and certainly better than a Vintera. However, only an American Fender Strat sounds like the real deal. The wood and aging, treatment, etc. does make a difference- both body and neck. A Classic Vibe can only sound like an upgraded Classic Vibe. The timber affects
the timbre...I say get a used USA Strat for $1100.00. Like trying to put a Corvette engine into a Chevy Cruz. Still a Cruz. A fun experiment though.
Imma have to disagree with you there haha sounds like a strat and more to me 😂 unless I’m misunderstood your point 🙃
nice line6 Helix
Wow!!! Just absolute wow! That guitar sounds awesome! The bridge pickup kills!
Any pedals that you guys ran this through?