Pretty eye-opening! I love to tinker so I prefer to buy cheap and build up, but I didn't realize how much more the electronics contribute to the sound compared to the rest of the guitar. It looks like it's best to first find some guitars that fit your style with regard to playability and then find the one that sounds the best... or just do like me: find one that's super comfortable and easy to play, and then tailor the sound to your liking with the electronics (pickups, pots, etc.).
heres my thing for 800 doallers upgrading a squire i could save 300$ more to get a fender MIM strat... and if i wanna buy a humbucker on it or mod a couple things from there cool, but for me im modding my 75$ chinese strat clone i got when i was 10 as more of a passion project because it has so much sentimental value im keeping all the knicks and dings to the body im just replacing a white sss pickguard with a Hss black pickguard (so its a all black guitar looks so fn cool) sand the Academy headstock decal off i might buy a new neck , i think it was 100$ with a amp 15 years ago? Lol but ill put ernie ball strings on it new pick ups scotch brite the frets polish the body,neck , i think all in all ill be paying 150? if u count the soldering iron 40 for the pickguard, 65 for neck 9$ for strings sandpaper free from work polish i already have and thats good enough for me i dont need it to sound like a fender i just wanna love playing it
I got a Grote 335 copy off Amazon for $129 bucks, delivered. I spent $300 bucks on hardware and it plays as well as my Original Gibson 335...and I can drive it like I stole it. The tone is all in the pick ups and wiring. As long as you have a neck you like the feel of, for sure, get a beater and upgrade it.
As a heads up, never a good idea to use a soldering gun around pickups. The strong electromagnetic fields generated by the gun could inadvertently demagnetizing the pickups. You should only use thermal soldering irons.
I'd consider the following do's and don'ts: Don't: - Buy parts before you know 100% sure that they will do what you want. Spending $100 on the wrong part will ruin your day. - Mod your guitar in a way that requires extensive woodworking. Dropping in new pickups is one thing, taking a significant chunk of the wood out to fit a Floyd Rose tremolo is another. - Modify a guitar if you don't like how the guitar feels, or if it has build-quality issues. You're not going to compensate for a guitar you can't play comfortably. - Irreversably mod a guitar if you care about its resale value - no matter how good the mod, the resale value will probably go *down*, not up. Do: - Give your guitar a full set-up before deciding whether or not you want to mod it. You'd be surprised how many issues, even sound-wise, can be fixed with a good set-up job - and it'll help you decide if the guitar itself is worth modding if you get it as playable as it will ever be. - If you're fixing an actual issue, do the cheapest mod first. If all you needed was a new nut to fix a tuning issue, you've just saved $79 on a set of tuners. - Mod guitars you already like - it makes them more personal. - Take the opportunity to clean/set-up things you normally don't have access to. If you're taking the strings off anyway, clean the fretboard. If what you're doing takes tension off of your floating bridge, might as well do that height adjustment you've been putting off. - If you're planning to do many mods, do yourself a favor and do as many of them at once as possible so you only have to disassemble your guitar once.
Good advice! That’s why I do pawn shop guitars that are name brands and play well to begin with! I don’t touch my Gibsons or Fenders other than cleaning and set up.
Fantastic advice here - that I regularly seem to forget myself. The Partscaster bug is relentless! I recently noticed that starting from proper setup and ending being critical about 1. the guitar and 2. string gauges that suit the guitar first... Only then modifying small but crucial things one by one in guitars you already have leads to better result. Also to needing LESS guitars! More money to buy amps and speakers and HX and... Phew.
I got one of those very cheap DIY Harley Benton teles as my first guitar. I haven't done any sanding and painting to the body, because I actually like the look of the natural wood. It even came with a few light scratches and the factory sealing is kind of spotty. It's fine, I like al worn look anyways. And Thomann do expect the buyer to do sand the body down and do their own stuff I guess, so it's fine. I really like the neck though. Satin and nicely finished, even the thread edges. I like the whole feel and weight of the guitar. So... what I want to say is that modding this to make 3rd party parts fit better won't make me sad :) Imagining changing every single part to the best ones that I prefer over time except for the body. I might even do some sending and painting for that at some point. But I mean, then it's suddenly a completely different guitar :)
My answer is I choose whichever one I like the feel of the best then worry about whether I need to modify anything or not. My most recent electric guitar is an ESP LTD EC 1000 - list price about $900. I LOVE it! However, it's my second favorite of my 7 electric guitars...my favorite is an 80's Squier Strat that was one pickup and on knob. I paid $90 for the guitar then put an EMG 81 in it which cost $95 so the pickup was more than the guitar but it plays like it was custom molded for my hands and SCREAMS! So yes, you can take a cheap guitar and make it better :)
That's why I play them all @ the guitar shops. Youd be surprised what you like. Plus "cheap" pickups can sound fine but maybe suffer from lower output. After all, a pickup is basically a bunch of wire wrapped around a bobbin with 6 metal poles on top of a magnet. It's not exactly rocket science. You're better off spending 500 dollars on guitar lessons. Trust me.
Watching this video five years later, in November 2024, and still the point is that the starting point does matter. Squier guitars are actually a pretty good base for mods( if you want to), but as they are stock they are faithful in sound to the Fender models. Do they sound thinner, brighter, or harsher than the Fender counterparts? Maybe or maybe not depending on the models of reference, but one thing is sure: if you plsy a Squier strat or tele you will know what the basic Fender strats and teles sounds are about
I like modding guitars to be specific to me but I mod them when I find a cheap guitar with a high quality neck like the SX Vintage series teles or Strats. These are very similar to the classic vibes and can be found for a steal so it’s def worth modding. Plus modding allows you to play and upgrade as u play because everyone doesn’t have $900/$1000 to spend on a guitar as well.
I know, I'm crazy, but I want to work on the Peavey guitar. It's got a sold basswood body. I want to give it a go. Is it crazy to want to see what it's like? That basswood body. I bet it sounds pretty good as is, but if it's even half good, I can have some control over tone.
The good thing these days is that you don't have to spend a lot of money to get great electronics. The cheap stuff coming out of China these days is amazing, they've really hammered down the manufacturing process.
Things like the locking tuners and locking strap are not really important to getting the decent sound so it is actually cheaper to get a good sound. Just some good tuners, strings, the nut, bridge and pickups and you got your sound. The rest make it a better guitar but not directly affecting the sound. I think we are lucky now compared to when I was a kid back in the 80's. You could give your guitar a better sound but firstly you had no idea what made the sound unless you knew someone with the upgrade already because there was no RUclips to find what you want. Then, when you did find what you want, it was limited and expensive. It could be done but at great expense. Oh, and the cheap guitars back then were cheap for a reason.
Buy a squire bullet tele for $170. Get a set of alnico pickups on Amazon for $20. Pay a guitar tech $50 to install the pickups and set the fret board. Then give it a set of $12 Elixer, coated strings. After tax your total comes to about $260, and the guitar will sound a d feel like a $500 fender telecaster.
I got a 28 year old beat up Fender for $100. It's a Fender Black label, which is the lowest end Mexican Fender available at the time. Perfect mod platform. So far I stripped all the parts and bought brand new stuff. I'll be starting the new paint job and installing the new nut and tuners this weekend. If I can get it to sound good, I think it will definitely be my new favorite, if for no other reason then I put it together myself.
@@kevinhaggerty8144 It sounds slightly cleaner but tbh it's just a cleaner, deeper, thicker sound. Really tone is kind of preference but pickups are usually based on what style of music you wanna play.
@@crazytrain58 @Logan West I was just saying... We sit here and watch a video over 20 minutes long - watching them upgrade a guitar. It would have done been nice to listen to more than 8 seconds of demo. You said something about we'd have to have the exact gear and sound edits to be able to experience the same demo - or something like that.... Not true! Watch the beginning of this video again... They play a demo of a $1,200 guitar against a $75 guitar. I could hear the difference! They should have played and recorded the $75 guitar for a full minute or two before the upgrades, and then edit that into the end of the video. They can say, "This is the $75 guitar before the upgrades" and play that clip, and then say, "This is the $75 guitar after the upgrades" and play the same minute or two of music they played before the upgrades. Record a "before" and then record an "after" and then play them at the end. That's the demo I'm taking adout. I'm not taking about demoing the true sound quality - only the difference before and after. I could hear a big difference between the $1200 guitar and the $75 guitar. I'd be able to hear the difference between a before and after. If I couldn't hear a difference, I'd get a new device....
I took a 350$ Epiphone les Paul put in Seymour Duncan p rails graph tec parts runners new bridge etc , so for about 900$ I got a 1500$ sounding Epiphone les Paul that’s a 600$ upgrade you did all that work and upgrade for a 200$ difference , you could have just spent the extra 200$ on the 1200$ strat . Sounds great though . My Epiphone won’t get me a 1500$ resale of course but it played like one .
The rolling the frets part was big cringe. I appreciate what you’re doing here, but one of the biggest things you can do to upgrade a cheap guitar outside of parts is to level, crown, and polish the frets the CORRECT way. Which requires at minimum an entry level fret leveling beam, fret crowning file, multiple grits of sandpaper/OOOO steel wool (tape up your pickups before using steel wool), and a deemed with a polish wheel. Honestly, unless you have a handmade guitar, you should do this to every fretboard on every guitar you own. The only guitar I own that I haven’t done this on is my Gibson SG. All my hot rod guitars and mid-level gear had had this treatment at bare minimum.
First of all thanks for for the time and work you put into this video you are appreciated. Having said that .. " Is it worth upgrading your cheap guitar?" .. ! Well if the upgrades happen over a long period of time. And for some reason you absolutely love the guitar? Okay then. Otherwise .. No ! What would be the point? if you you have around $700.00 to drop on a guitar and high-end parts and you have the ability to do all the work yourself? You can probably work an amicable deal for that $1200.00 Strat. That you want this $75.00 Strat to sound and play just like. And have a guitar; that is resalable near or perhaps more than you paid for it. You will never get your money back out of that Squire Strat. So as I said " for some reason you absolutely love the guitar? .. What would be the point?
Bought an Eart strat style new for about $150 + tax. Love it but it needs help. Mostly pickups and maybe better electronics. I haven't looked inside yet.
I bought a Squier bronco bass. I bought it specifically to mod it into a very playable, versatile and uniquely playable bass. I’ve had a Gibson 60s mudbucker pickup for forty years so that went into neck position. The center position has a Fralin 53 Fender P bass, and in the bridge I have a Lolllar T-bird. Switched like a strat with some extra options. A Badass bridge and Wilkinson tuners. Between parts and Luthery I spent over a grand. But, it can sound like a P bass, or Jack Bruce Cream with the flick of a switch.
The scotch tape on the wires is not good. Heat shrink should be the only thing used. Maybe electrical tape, but if you are spending that much money and time, do it right.
Honestly that 75 dollar guitar sounded alright 🤷♂️. Obviously a slight tone difference but not much personally. You could account for it with your amp/pedals.
I like modding because i enjoy having a hobby to work on. But it deffo aint cheaper. I think I'll just buy an expensive axe next and try and be happy... or maybe replace a switch or pot or two at most..
I have been putting strat style parts caster guitars together for over 20 years (I have about thirty) and have learned the hard way to avoid real cheap guitars all together i.e. squire, Mitchell, Glarry, Indio etc... If the body is not alder or ash just forget it, because to my ear and in my opinion it just won't sound or feel right no matter what you do to it. Believe me, I have been down that road and wasted a lot of money trying to make a piece of crap sound decent. Poplar, Basswood, Candlewood etc... are just, and not to be rude or step on anyones toes, crappy wood alternatives. Just get an decent mexican made new or used Fender strat for around 300 to 500 and put what you want in it and it will sing better than it's $1200.00 to $2000.00 counterpart. That is if you use the right parts. For example...I have a used mexican made deluxe with alder body and C neck which I purchased for $300.00 five years ago, that someone dropped in the guitar store. It had a small chunk taken out of it (which with bondo was an easy repair $5.00) I stripped the ugly blue translucent paint off it and re-did it in a beautiful salmon lacquer with a black lacquer under coat and did a nice relic job on it for $60.00 in paint, I already had the sealer and sand paper but it was around $12.00 for both. I then purchased a set of vintage locking tuners from The Stratosphere guitar Company for $19.00 (sweet deal and they work great) then bought a Wilkinson bridge with steel block at Guitarferish for $35.00 and new (better) saddles for $12.00. I then purchased a set of Fender pure vintage 59 guitar pickups for $99.00 (they are $150.00 now) and put them in the existing three ply pick-guard and for and extra $25.00 I went ahead and upgraded the wiring harness including a $3.00 treble bleed I got on ebay. Last but not least I purchased a Tusq. nut from Stewmac for $15.00 with shipping. Total cost after my original $300.00 including Bondo, sealer and sandpaper etc...is... $585.00 It took me a month or so to paint and sand and a day or so to assemble and set up properly. After all that, I have a guitar that is envied by my friends and was recently offered $2700.00 for it and I said NO THANKS. However, I did help my buddy (the guy willing to pay $2700.00) build his own parts caster for roughly the same money. However, he actually got a little carried away and his guitar build was more than mine because he just had to have this EMG DG20 David Gilmore prewired pick-guard set for $329.00. Even after that, he only spent a total of $715.00 for guitar, paint and parts and now he has a fantastic guitar that looks great and wails like he likes on stage. Sorry I prattled on, but hey, I love guitars. Don't waste your money on those high end guitars, because with a little practice you can build your own dream guitar for a lot less. One last thing I want to mention is that Guitarfetish has some decent Slick SL 57 guitars you can upgrade to be your dream guitar. I recently bought one for $259.00 and upgraded it for a few dollars less than the one I mentioned earlier. Peace
The amp also is really important too. I have a cheap valve amp, Laney LC15 with a vintage 30 speaker (upgrade); cheap guitars SX Telecaster and Epiphone Casino (Korea) Fernandes strato R9 (japan vintage). Recently I got the UAFX Dream 65 pedal conected in stereo to a pair of Yamaha DXR10mk2 (I'am singer, I got that speakers already). Result: Amazing sound! I'll never think in buying an expensive valve amp (really expensive in my country). I recognize that I've already have the Yamahas and they are expensive. But the sound is incredible with any of the cheapeast guitars I´ve connected to that pedal. Before that I was thinking in change the mics, eq pedals, etc. Now with a little of tweak in the Dream 65 I get a really good sound imposible to obtain with a cheaper valve amp. Also, I agree with the comments about the feeling that one have with respective guitar you own befor do the upgrades (the SX telecaster and the Casino are really confortable to play). Excellent video!
I can feel the bad playability through the video, but those pickups+pots+switch made a really big difference in electrifying it. The guitar itself sounds pretty bad though.
Just sent my cheap guitar in today to get upgraded. I hope it will be as improved as the people in the shop said. Thank you for this video though: it gives me hope.
Only one problem we don't have people or companies send us stuff for free unfortunately we eather have to deal with it or spend the money to do the upgrades eather a little bit at a time or if someone who has the extra money to do it
We hope you enjoy the video! It was really fun to make. Check out the original guitar makeover video we made last year: ruclips.net/video/12qmuB3yo7Y/видео.html
hi… i’m wanting to modify a cheap guitar i got for like $100… i want to completely change everything except for the body because it’s pink and i like that about it… i don’t want to get rid of it because it was my first ever electric guitar… do you guys think it would be worth switching the neck, tremolo system, pick-guard, and pickups along with all the electronics?
Not trying to armchair quarterback, but why not run the new 12 gauge wire all the way to the input jack? Seemed sort of a waste to solder to was described as cheap/crappy wiring. Also, any used guitar. I would recommend removing all covers and looking at what someone probably has tinkered with...You may not like what they have done.
I have a crappy starcaster that was given to me and I completely rebuilt it and now it is one of my favorite guitars. I replaced the pickboard with a loaded one, replaced every plate, locking tuning pegs, string trees, replaced the bridge saddles and input jack. Painted it with black spray can truck bed liner, adjusted the truss rod, set the intonation and man it plays just as well as any Stratocaster I’ve played. The only thing I need to do still is file the frets, there’s just a little bit of fret buzz on the G but it’s not terrible. Rock on!
The first demo piece i liked better with the cheap guitar before they fiddled with it, sounded clearer and better. The second demo i liked better with the rebuilt cheap guitar. After the demos at the beginning i said to myself that it isn't neccessarily a worse sound but rather a different sound and that the guys here obviously like the more bassy sound better than the more clearer metallic sound. So it really depends on personal taste what you want to do even with a cheap guitar.
This is why asking if modding a guitar is worth it is such a hard question to answer. Everything about guitar tone is so personal and subjective that one mod could make a guitar someone's favorite instrument while it could make it someone else's nightmare guitar
SO I have a 94-95 60's reissue, Japanese Fender Jazzmaster... I obviously want a "real" one someday (the million dollar american version)... what about that guitar makes it so cheap?.. I often thought i'd like to slowly, over time, completely overhaul it... until the only thing not "american" is the body. Is that doable?... would new tuners, like locking tuners from hipshot... would that do anything?... or are standard tuners fine?
Guitars are tools and if a guy can't USE the tool with skill, a bunch of fancy parts doesn't help much. I find it silly that a guy will try to save some money on a guitar and then install some arguably over-priced pickups and parts. A nice set of Alnico pickups can be purchased for 30$-50$. Great tuners can be bought for 40$.…A fantastic trem with a big block can be bought for 20$ Then a guy can build a great gig worthy guitar for under 200$ I've gigged and done session work my whole life. When I was young I was a regional repair station for Hoshino ( Ibanez) C Bruno and SLM. Folks get caught up in chasing tone and spending money to distract them from reality. If I call ya up on stage and you can't strum " Happy Birthday" in B flat, even after I tell ya it is a I, V, I, IV progression, you don't need fancy pickups, you need a reality check and some lessons and perhaps some therapy. Guitars are tools for making music.
You really can make a cheap guitar sound great. I have an Ibanez Gio with Seymour Duncan pickups, and I installed a tone pot without a capacitor, and it sounds amazing.
UPGRADE YOUR BRIDGE!!!! I hate seeing people upgrade everything but the tremolo. You would be amazed how much it changes the tone when you pit brass or steel block and saddles
its not the guitar's price its the fun factor of upgrading the guitar. Thats the thing that those keep on suggesting better to buy an expensive guitar. yeah expensive is better, but where is the fun part of using a "bought" guitar instead of "built" guitar? built not bought!
So many people pay for names. I've argued with many of them over that, but could never get through their cognitive dissonance. So, I don't even bother anymore. My budget guitars that I currently own rival nearly ALL of the hyper expensive guitars I've played during my career.
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before: 1 cat
after: 500 cats meowing
This is like watching people who don't know anything about electronics talk about electronics.
A $250 Fender or Warmoth Neck would be the cherry on top the fretwork difference in playability can be significant.
recent hobby for me is getting really pretty but cheap guitars and maxing them out it’s so rewarding
same hahaha
Me fkn too!!! I thought i was alone!
I just modded an Ibanez JS100 and it is beautiful! 🤘
If you tin the wires first it makes a much easier for connecting too :D
Pretty eye-opening! I love to tinker so I prefer to buy cheap and build up, but I didn't realize how much more the electronics contribute to the sound compared to the rest of the guitar. It looks like it's best to first find some guitars that fit your style with regard to playability and then find the one that sounds the best... or just do like me: find one that's super comfortable and easy to play, and then tailor the sound to your liking with the electronics (pickups, pots, etc.).
you even compared it with the 1200 guitar, great video!
I jumped for joy when you referenced metalocalypse
🔥 in the room! 😱
heres my thing for 800 doallers upgrading a squire i could save 300$ more to get a fender MIM strat... and if i wanna buy a humbucker on it or mod a couple things from there cool, but for me im modding my 75$ chinese strat clone i got when i was 10 as more of a passion project because it has so much sentimental value im keeping all the knicks and dings to the body im just replacing a white sss pickguard with a Hss black pickguard (so its a all black guitar looks so fn cool) sand the Academy headstock decal off i might buy a new neck , i think it was 100$ with a amp 15 years ago? Lol but ill put ernie ball strings on it new pick ups scotch brite the frets polish the body,neck , i think all in all ill be paying 150? if u count the soldering iron 40 for the pickguard, 65 for neck 9$ for strings sandpaper free from work polish i already have and thats good enough for me i dont need it to sound like a fender i just wanna love playing it
i totally got that dethklok doomstar requiem reference lol
I got a Grote 335 copy off Amazon for $129 bucks, delivered. I spent $300 bucks on hardware and it plays as well as my Original Gibson 335...and I can drive it like I stole it. The tone is all in the pick ups and wiring. As long as you have a neck you like the feel of, for sure, get a beater and upgrade it.
sounds better than the $1200 guitar
Whats messed up is that i like the sound how it was before.
As a heads up, never a good idea to use a soldering gun around pickups. The strong electromagnetic fields generated by the gun could inadvertently demagnetizing the pickups. You should only use thermal soldering irons.
So surprised im not the only one checking neck relief like that. No kapo or ruler, girly stuffs etc
I'd consider the following do's and don'ts:
Don't:
- Buy parts before you know 100% sure that they will do what you want. Spending $100 on the wrong part will ruin your day.
- Mod your guitar in a way that requires extensive woodworking. Dropping in new pickups is one thing, taking a significant chunk of the wood out to fit a Floyd Rose tremolo is another.
- Modify a guitar if you don't like how the guitar feels, or if it has build-quality issues. You're not going to compensate for a guitar you can't play comfortably.
- Irreversably mod a guitar if you care about its resale value - no matter how good the mod, the resale value will probably go *down*, not up.
Do:
- Give your guitar a full set-up before deciding whether or not you want to mod it. You'd be surprised how many issues, even sound-wise, can be fixed with a good set-up job - and it'll help you decide if the guitar itself is worth modding if you get it as playable as it will ever be.
- If you're fixing an actual issue, do the cheapest mod first. If all you needed was a new nut to fix a tuning issue, you've just saved $79 on a set of tuners.
- Mod guitars you already like - it makes them more personal.
- Take the opportunity to clean/set-up things you normally don't have access to. If you're taking the strings off anyway, clean the fretboard. If what you're doing takes tension off of your floating bridge, might as well do that height adjustment you've been putting off.
- If you're planning to do many mods, do yourself a favor and do as many of them at once as possible so you only have to disassemble your guitar once.
I agree. You cant put lipstick on a pig and get bacon.
I wanna cut off a big chunk of wood because its poking in my boob and I dont want to buy a new guitar
Good advice! That’s why I do pawn shop guitars that are name brands and play well to begin with! I don’t touch my Gibsons or Fenders other than cleaning and set up.
Fantastic advice here - that I regularly seem to forget myself. The Partscaster bug is relentless! I recently noticed that starting from proper setup and ending being critical about 1. the guitar and 2. string gauges that suit the guitar first... Only then modifying small but crucial things one by one in guitars you already have leads to better result. Also to needing LESS guitars! More money to buy amps and speakers and HX and... Phew.
I got one of those very cheap DIY Harley Benton teles as my first guitar. I haven't done any sanding and painting to the body, because I actually like the look of the natural wood. It even came with a few light scratches and the factory sealing is kind of spotty. It's fine, I like al worn look anyways. And Thomann do expect the buyer to do sand the body down and do their own stuff I guess, so it's fine. I really like the neck though. Satin and nicely finished, even the thread edges. I like the whole feel and weight of the guitar.
So... what I want to say is that modding this to make 3rd party parts fit better won't make me sad :)
Imagining changing every single part to the best ones that I prefer over time except for the body. I might even do some sending and painting for that at some point. But I mean, then it's suddenly a completely different guitar :)
Watz w/ the hand gestures Nick Rhodes?!
sounded better before the upgrades ...
Very nice video
My answer is I choose whichever one I like the feel of the best then worry about whether I need to modify anything or not. My most recent electric guitar is an ESP LTD EC 1000 - list price about $900. I LOVE it! However, it's my second favorite of my 7 electric guitars...my favorite is an 80's Squier Strat that was one pickup and on knob. I paid $90 for the guitar then put an EMG 81 in it which cost $95 so the pickup was more than the guitar but it plays like it was custom molded for my hands and SCREAMS! So yes, you can take a cheap guitar and make it better :)
That's a good way to go Chris.
That's why I play them all @ the guitar shops. Youd be surprised what you like. Plus "cheap" pickups can sound fine but maybe suffer from lower output. After all, a pickup is basically a bunch of wire wrapped around a bobbin with 6 metal poles on top of a magnet. It's not exactly rocket science. You're better off spending 500 dollars on guitar lessons. Trust me.
Watching this video five years later, in November 2024, and still the point is that the starting point does matter. Squier guitars are actually a pretty good base for mods( if you want to), but as they are stock they are faithful in sound to the Fender models. Do they sound thinner, brighter, or harsher than the Fender counterparts? Maybe or maybe not depending on the models of reference, but one thing is sure: if you plsy a Squier strat or tele you will know what the basic Fender strats and teles sounds are about
I like modding guitars to be specific to me but I mod them when I find a cheap guitar with a high quality neck like the SX Vintage series teles or Strats. These are very similar to the classic vibes and can be found for a steal so it’s def worth modding. Plus modding allows you to play and upgrade as u play because everyone doesn’t have $900/$1000 to spend on a guitar as well.
Ok now see how much ull get for it at guitar center
It was a great video
Honestly would be happy with the "before" if set up correctly. Saves $600.
Need A Longer Demo For The Upgraded Guitar!!!!!!!
First Strat that I have ever seen with a tremolo that's using 5 springs.
What if i buy a china false guitar, and i upgrade the pick ups. It would be a good guitar or not
Bro legit looks like the actor for Superman 💀💀💀
I know, I'm crazy, but I want to work on the Peavey guitar. It's got a sold basswood body. I want to give it a go.
Is it crazy to want to see what it's like? That basswood body.
I bet it sounds pretty good as is, but if it's even half good, I can have some control over tone.
Thank you. A lot of good tips for set up and comparison.
The good thing these days is that you don't have to spend a lot of money to get great electronics. The cheap stuff coming out of China these days is amazing, they've really hammered down the manufacturing process.
Things like the locking tuners and locking strap are not really important to getting the decent sound so it is actually cheaper to get a good sound. Just some good tuners, strings, the nut, bridge and pickups and you got your sound. The rest make it a better guitar but not directly affecting the sound.
I think we are lucky now compared to when I was a kid back in the 80's. You could give your guitar a better sound but firstly you had no idea what made the sound unless you knew someone with the upgrade already because there was no RUclips to find what you want. Then, when you did find what you want, it was limited and expensive. It could be done but at great expense.
Oh, and the cheap guitars back then were cheap for a reason.
Buy a squire bullet tele for $170. Get a set of alnico pickups on Amazon for $20. Pay a guitar tech $50 to install the pickups and set the fret board. Then give it a set of $12 Elixer, coated strings. After tax your total comes to about $260, and the guitar will sound a d feel like a $500 fender telecaster.
what you forgot: Changing the frets to STAINLESS frets.
I got a 28 year old beat up Fender for $100. It's a Fender Black label, which is the lowest end Mexican Fender available at the time. Perfect mod platform. So far I stripped all the parts and bought brand new stuff. I'll be starting the new paint job and installing the new nut and tuners this weekend. If I can get it to sound good, I think it will definitely be my new favorite, if for no other reason then I put it together myself.
It sounds harsh but.. part of that could be the strings and everything needing broken in.
When would I do this?
When my daughter buys me a shit guitar and I still want to play it to make her smile.
Almost 21 minutes and $600 in upgrades for an 8 second sound demo. Wow!!!
It doesn't sound $600 better. It's still shit.
@@kevinhaggerty8144 It sounds slightly cleaner but tbh it's just a cleaner, deeper, thicker sound. Really tone is kind of preference but pickups are usually based on what style of music you wanna play.
@@kevinhaggerty8144 The upgraded one sounds way better. Those pickups and whatever hes plugged into sound awesome.
Sound demos really do not matter. You would have to have the exact gear and exact audio edits (if any) to achieve the sound achieved in the demos.
@@crazytrain58 @Logan West I was just saying...
We sit here and watch a video over 20 minutes long - watching them upgrade a guitar. It would have done been nice to listen to more than 8 seconds of demo.
You said something about we'd have to have the exact gear and sound edits to be able to experience the same demo - or something like that....
Not true!
Watch the beginning of this video again... They play a demo of a $1,200 guitar against a $75 guitar. I could hear the difference!
They should have played and recorded the $75 guitar for a full minute or two before the upgrades, and then edit that into the end of the video. They can say, "This is the $75 guitar before the upgrades" and play that clip, and then say, "This is the $75 guitar after the upgrades" and play the same minute or two of music they played before the upgrades.
Record a "before" and then record an "after" and then play them at the end.
That's the demo I'm taking adout. I'm not taking about demoing the true sound quality - only the difference before and after.
I could hear a big difference between the $1200 guitar and the $75 guitar. I'd be able to hear the difference between a before and after. If I couldn't hear a difference, I'd get a new device....
As much as I like playing guitars, I use them for well art. I have guitars all round the house on hangers
cheap wood is cheap wood no matter what you do
Bought a FFLP and added some parts and labor. I love the thing now.
1:55 song name?? Please?
The pickups were the only part i actually cared about
I took a 350$ Epiphone les Paul put in Seymour Duncan p rails graph tec parts runners new bridge etc , so for about 900$ I got a 1500$ sounding Epiphone les Paul that’s a 600$ upgrade you did all that work and upgrade for a 200$ difference , you could have just spent the extra 200$ on the 1200$ strat . Sounds great though . My Epiphone won’t get me a 1500$ resale of course but it played like one .
The rolling the frets part was big cringe. I appreciate what you’re doing here, but one of the biggest things you can do to upgrade a cheap guitar outside of parts is to level, crown, and polish the frets the CORRECT way. Which requires at minimum an entry level fret leveling beam, fret crowning file, multiple grits of sandpaper/OOOO steel wool (tape up your pickups before using steel wool), and a deemed with a polish wheel. Honestly, unless you have a handmade guitar, you should do this to every fretboard on every guitar you own. The only guitar I own that I haven’t done this on is my Gibson SG. All my hot rod guitars and mid-level gear had had this treatment at bare minimum.
Randy should just make the videos
There is a Hum on the stratocatster
I think it sounded better before the mods lol.
Ngl I liked the sound of that squier more than the nicer Strat. Instead of spending 600$ on mods get a nice combo amp.
I agree!
First of all thanks for for the time and work you put into this video you are appreciated.
Having said that ..
" Is it worth upgrading your cheap guitar?" .. ! Well if the upgrades happen over a long period of time. And for some reason you absolutely love the guitar? Okay then.
Otherwise .. No !
What would be the point?
if you you have around $700.00 to drop on a guitar and high-end parts and you have the ability to do all the work yourself?
You can probably work an amicable deal for that $1200.00 Strat. That you want this $75.00 Strat to sound and play just like.
And have a guitar; that is resalable near or perhaps more than you paid for it.
You will never get your money back out of that Squire Strat.
So as I said " for some reason you absolutely love the guitar? .. What would be the point?
Squire sounded way better than $1200
Stratocaster is supposed to have a massive, heavy bridge
Don't know if I'll get booed for writing this but I preferred the cheap guitar with the stock pups in every single case 🤔
a single change on the pick ups is enough
Def find something your fingers and soul love. Then go from there. 600 is chump change if you love it.
i upgrade cheap guitars but i leave my expensive ones alone. enjoyed the video.
squire sounded cool, but the American Fender was much brighter and fuller.
Bought an Eart strat style new for about $150 + tax. Love it but it needs help. Mostly pickups and maybe better electronics. I haven't looked inside yet.
I bought a Squier bronco bass. I bought it specifically to mod it into a very playable, versatile and uniquely playable bass. I’ve had a Gibson 60s mudbucker pickup for forty years so that went into neck position. The center position has a Fralin 53 Fender P bass, and in the bridge I have a Lolllar T-bird. Switched like a strat with some extra options. A Badass bridge and Wilkinson tuners. Between parts and Luthery I spent over a grand. But, it can sound like a P bass, or Jack Bruce Cream with the flick of a switch.
What no shielding tape or paint in the cavities?
The scotch tape on the wires is not good. Heat shrink should be the only thing used. Maybe electrical tape, but if you are spending that much money and time, do it right.
Honestly that 75 dollar guitar sounded alright 🤷♂️.
Obviously a slight tone difference but not much personally. You could account for it with your amp/pedals.
I like modding because i enjoy having a hobby to work on. But it deffo aint cheaper. I think I'll just buy an expensive axe next and try and be happy... or maybe replace a switch or pot or two at most..
I have been putting strat style parts caster guitars together for over 20 years (I have about thirty) and have learned the hard way to avoid real cheap guitars all together i.e. squire, Mitchell, Glarry, Indio etc... If the body is not alder or ash just forget it, because to my ear and in my opinion it just won't sound or feel right no matter what you do to it. Believe me, I have been down that road and wasted a lot of money trying to make a piece of crap sound decent.
Poplar, Basswood, Candlewood etc... are just, and not to be rude or step on anyones toes, crappy wood alternatives. Just get an decent mexican made new or used Fender strat for around 300 to 500 and put what you want in it and it will sing better than it's $1200.00 to $2000.00 counterpart. That is if you use the right parts.
For example...I have a used mexican made deluxe with alder body and C neck which I purchased for $300.00 five years ago, that someone dropped in the guitar store. It had a small chunk taken out of it (which with bondo was an easy repair $5.00) I stripped the ugly blue translucent paint off it and re-did it in a beautiful salmon lacquer with a black lacquer under coat and did a nice relic job on it for $60.00 in paint, I already had the sealer and sand paper but it was around $12.00 for both.
I then purchased a set of vintage locking tuners from The Stratosphere guitar Company for $19.00 (sweet deal and they work great) then bought a Wilkinson bridge with steel block at Guitarferish for $35.00 and new (better) saddles for $12.00. I then purchased a set of Fender pure vintage 59 guitar pickups for $99.00 (they are $150.00 now) and put them in the existing three ply pick-guard and for and extra $25.00 I went ahead and upgraded the wiring harness including a $3.00 treble bleed I got on ebay. Last but not least I purchased a Tusq. nut from Stewmac for $15.00 with shipping. Total cost after my original $300.00 including Bondo, sealer and sandpaper etc...is... $585.00
It took me a month or so to paint and sand and a day or so to assemble and set up properly. After all that, I have a guitar that is envied by my friends and was recently offered $2700.00 for it and I said NO THANKS. However, I did help my buddy (the guy willing to pay $2700.00) build his own parts caster for roughly the same money. However, he actually got a little carried away and his guitar build was more than mine because he just had to have this EMG DG20 David Gilmore prewired pick-guard set for $329.00. Even after that, he only spent a total of $715.00 for guitar, paint and parts and now he has a fantastic guitar that looks great and wails like he likes on stage.
Sorry I prattled on, but hey, I love guitars. Don't waste your money on those high end guitars, because with a little practice you can build your own dream guitar for a lot less. One last thing I want to mention is that Guitarfetish has some decent Slick SL 57 guitars you can upgrade to be your dream guitar. I recently bought one for $259.00 and upgraded it for a few dollars less than the one I mentioned earlier. Peace
and at the end of the day, when you go to trade it to upgrade, it is worth what?
The amp also is really important too. I have a cheap valve amp, Laney LC15 with a vintage 30 speaker (upgrade); cheap guitars SX Telecaster and Epiphone Casino (Korea) Fernandes strato R9 (japan vintage). Recently I got the UAFX Dream 65 pedal conected in stereo to a pair of Yamaha DXR10mk2 (I'am singer, I got that speakers already). Result: Amazing sound! I'll never think in buying an expensive valve amp (really expensive in my country). I recognize that I've already have the Yamahas and they are expensive. But the sound is incredible with any of the cheapeast guitars I´ve connected to that pedal. Before that I was thinking in change the mics, eq pedals, etc. Now with a little of tweak in the Dream 65 I get a really good sound imposible to obtain with a cheaper valve amp. Also, I agree with the comments about the feeling that one have with respective guitar you own befor do the upgrades (the SX telecaster and the Casino are really confortable to play). Excellent video!
heat shrink your solder joint
Is it worth to buy a 500& guitar and then upgrade it?
I can tell that the dude in the black shirt doesn’t own a dog house
Upon closer inspection the dude with the glasses doesn’t either 🤔
i like the original sound more before mods
what is that first song you played,,,,,,i cant remember the name and its anoying me...
Why 10s on a strat tho?
I can feel the bad playability through the video, but those pickups+pots+switch made a really big difference in electrifying it. The guitar itself sounds pretty bad though.
Just sent my cheap guitar in today to get upgraded. I hope it will be as improved as the people in the shop said. Thank you for this video though: it gives me hope.
Hows the guitar now? What was the cost to get it upgraded?
@@MrMusicgenius So so. To be honest, am probably just going to have to get a brand new one.
These guys are total Dorks.
Guys I wanna put emg pickups in a epiphone es 335 to make it more metal, does anyone has any recommentations to make it more metal?
Trade it in on a solid body.
The guitar market as of October 17th, 2022. I watched a Used Fender Player Strat for $449 USD.
Only one problem we don't have people or companies send us stuff for free unfortunately we eather have to deal with it or spend the money to do the upgrades eather a little bit at a time or if someone who has the extra money to do it
We hope you enjoy the video! It was really fun to make. Check out the original guitar makeover video we made last year: ruclips.net/video/12qmuB3yo7Y/видео.html
Do you have the guitar? If so after some time has passed would you consider it money well spent???
Instablaster...
I know you can do it.
$1200 guitar sounds good when swiping down the neck. It might be the distortion.
hi… i’m wanting to modify a cheap guitar i got for like $100… i want to completely change everything except for the body because it’s pink and i like that about it… i don’t want to get rid of it because it was my first ever electric guitar… do you guys think it would be worth switching the neck, tremolo system, pick-guard, and pickups along with all the electronics?
I think the original pickups are good..but i rather really upgrade the hardware..
Not trying to armchair quarterback, but why not run the new 12 gauge wire all the way to the input jack? Seemed sort of a waste to solder to was described as cheap/crappy wiring. Also, any used guitar. I would recommend removing all covers and looking at what someone probably has tinkered with...You may not like what they have done.
I have a crappy starcaster that was given to me and I completely rebuilt it and now it is one of my favorite guitars. I replaced the pickboard with a loaded one, replaced every plate, locking tuning pegs, string trees, replaced the bridge saddles and input jack. Painted it with black spray can truck bed liner, adjusted the truss rod, set the intonation and man it plays just as well as any Stratocaster I’ve played. The only thing I need to do still is file the frets, there’s just a little bit of fret buzz on the G but it’s not terrible. Rock on!
What is the actual difference between a $100 Squire Strat and a $3000 Fender Strat … because it seems like 60-70% is purely the pickups.
I hate to say it, but the 1200$ still sounds better to me. I think it’s just due to the firecaster pickups being a little hot to my taste
However, the upgrade still is a huge improvement to the 75$ initially
am i the only one that liked how it sounded before the mods? it seemd like the mods just gave it more midrage/bass
The first demo piece i liked better with the cheap guitar before they fiddled with it, sounded clearer and better. The second demo i liked better with the rebuilt cheap guitar. After the demos at the beginning i said to myself that it isn't neccessarily a worse sound but rather a different sound and that the guys here obviously like the more bassy sound better than the more clearer metallic sound. So it really depends on personal taste what you want to do even with a cheap guitar.
This is why asking if modding a guitar is worth it is such a hard question to answer. Everything about guitar tone is so personal and subjective that one mod could make a guitar someone's favorite instrument while it could make it someone else's nightmare guitar
How is this compared with a 600$ guitar?
SO I have a 94-95 60's reissue, Japanese Fender Jazzmaster... I obviously want a "real" one someday (the million dollar american version)... what about that guitar makes it so cheap?.. I often thought i'd like to slowly, over time, completely overhaul it... until the only thing not "american" is the body. Is that doable?... would new tuners, like locking tuners from hipshot... would that do anything?... or are standard tuners fine?
Guitars are tools and if a guy can't USE the tool with skill, a bunch of fancy parts doesn't help much.
I find it silly that a guy will try to save some money on a guitar and then install some arguably over-priced pickups and parts.
A nice set of Alnico pickups can be purchased for 30$-50$. Great tuners can be bought for 40$.…A fantastic trem with a big block can be bought for 20$
Then a guy can build a great gig worthy guitar for under 200$
I've gigged and done session work my whole life. When I was young I was a regional repair station for Hoshino ( Ibanez) C Bruno and SLM.
Folks get caught up in chasing tone and spending money to distract them from reality.
If I call ya up on stage and you can't strum " Happy Birthday" in B flat, even after I tell ya it is a I, V, I, IV progression, you don't need fancy pickups, you need a reality check and some lessons and perhaps some therapy.
Guitars are tools for making music.
Ngl that $75 guitar is still a good deal for that price
You really can make a cheap guitar sound great. I have an Ibanez Gio with Seymour Duncan pickups, and I installed a tone pot without a capacitor, and it sounds amazing.
when they charge you over a 1000 overhead, yeah, hell no, doing it myself
UPGRADE YOUR BRIDGE!!!! I hate seeing people upgrade everything but the tremolo. You would be amazed how much it changes the tone when you pit brass or steel block and saddles
Exactly! I switched my cheap bride for a Wilkinson big block and it sounds
a 100 times better!
its not the guitar's price its the fun factor of upgrading the guitar. Thats the thing that those keep on suggesting better to buy an expensive guitar. yeah expensive is better, but where is the fun part of using a "bought" guitar instead of "built" guitar? built not bought!
Stock more good for me 😂
$75 has my vote.
I was thinking that too. It sounds best haha !
I thought the same! Best sound came out of the original 75 bucks guitar jaja
So many people pay for names. I've argued with many of them over that, but could never get through their cognitive dissonance. So, I don't even bother anymore. My budget guitars that I currently own rival nearly ALL of the hyper expensive guitars I've played during my career.
The pickups are certainly less hummy
😂 Exactly