Fender Squier Stratocaster Mods - 3 Easy Mods to Make Your Strat Play Great!
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- Опубликовано: 20 фев 2019
- In today’s trade secret Dan shows three simple mods that’ll make your Fender Stratocaster play great. This how to video demonstrates: how to upgrade your tuners with locking tuners that’ll help you play in tune and stay in tune, a new string tree to reduce tension on the D-string and make your guitar more comfortable to play, and replacing the original (cheap) saddles with Highwood saddles that make your guitar both a LOT more comfortable to play and deliver better tone.
Gotoh Magnum Lock-Trad 6-In-Line Tuners
stewmac.com/item/7105
Triple Tree String Retainer
stewmac.com/item/10040
Highwood Contoured Vintage Saddles for Strat
stewmac.com/item/0151
Understring Radius Gauge
stewmac.com/item/0353
Inlay Tracing Scribe
stewmac.com/item/1672
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2:07 When he lifted the drill out I instinctively blew the shavings away lol.
Why am I watching this at 1am I don't even have a strat
lol
1:03 AM for me. I'm dying laughing. I have a Washburn X series.
Do yamaha guitars also have strats and tele's? Im confused af, because my EG012(older model of Pacifica 012) looks completely same like a strat.
@@sashex3494 the Pacifica series is basically a Stratocaster rip off, so yeah
Its okay since that is not really a Strat.
Dan, Thank you. My dear friend was the luthier Steve Carr. Unfortunately passed away. He was mentored by Jimmy D' Aquisto and did alot on work for Kiss. He always talked about you and would by tools from StewMac. Steve gave me the confidence to work on guitars. I started with a Squire and can now perform pickup swaps, wiring, refinishing, intonation, and fret leveling and crowning. I have not performed a refret yet, but that's my next job I'll tackle. I don't know if you knew Steve. Miss my friend.
Steve Carr made ace frehleys mini explorers
I would love getting my guitar fixed by this man.
A man never lets another man fix his guitar.... lol jk this dude is a beast!
I would love to watch him fix my guitar.
I love that he shows us how to do professional level work ourselves
kilgoretrout321 lol yeah I’ll go try exactly what he’s doin real quick and see what happens
@@JosePineda-jn8jk ur evening to p
I’d honestly love to hand my guitar to this man so he could bless it with his set-up while I listen as he talks away about trade secrets and advice on guitars. Seems like someone I could learn a lot from. Great video!
Those Highwood saddles are fantastic, really! I bought a set for my Squier Vintage Deluxe Tele and what a difference in sound and sustain it made! 😊
Love the videos - keep them coming!
Beautiful setup Dan!! Happy to see a simple squier strat upgrade setup video!! Squiers are great guitars in my opinion with just a few small mods. Spot on as always!!
I really dig the pace that you teach. I've been working on guitars for a while now, but I actually learned some new tricks. No BS. Straight to it. It should never take more than 10 seconds to string a guitar in a vid, unless it's actually a stringing vid. Straight to the point.
I've got several Squier guitars that I've bought cheap. Cheaper than cheap actually. They're solid platforms to work on and I've been looking for drop in tuners for along time and the ones you have listed here are a quality piece for 50 dollars. Perfect. I have one that can benefit from the tuners and one that can use the saddles so I'm buying in. What I look at when I do my upgrades is what I paid for it compared to what I can buy it for if I go on line. I'll make upgrades with quality parts up to that price point. Thanks for this video.
By the way, someone below noted they were glad the "old man" was back. That man, Dan Erlewine, wrote the "The Guitar Player's Repair Guide", which I bought 19 years ago, and is the Holy Grail of making your instruments kick butt. Since I had no one to work/set up my guitars within 60 miles, it opened the door for me to learn to do all the work I needed to do on my gear. He has also built and fixed some of the most historic guitars on the planet.
My first electric guitar was a Squier Affinity with the 1.5" thick alder body. I did all kinds of mods to it including a new neck, a Floyd Rose, a bunch of different pickups and locking tuners. I STILL play it and mod it even though I have "better" more expensive guitars. Honestly, it sounds awesome weighs half as much as my Les Paul. :)
Never had a problem with keeping my strats in tune with stock tuners and floating trem.
Just use minimum turns on each post, and stretch each string.👍😎
Dan is definitely the man!👍😎❤
Its just a primitive design with better options out there. Convenience bud!
The point of locking tuners is convenience. You can change a string in a fraction of the time with locking tuners and, no matter how perfectly you wind and pull on your strings, locking tuners will stay in tune longer.
You are a great luthier, and were (and still are) always a guiding light! I became a restoration luthier largely because of you- quite some time ago! Thank you sir!
I also love the Fender American Standard String Guides. Made a huge difference on my vintage Strat's Tuning stability. Love Dan's tips & tricks.
Little pro tips like a piece of tape on the bit, makes life so much easier.
Thanks Mr Dan for all the great info & the years of knowledge from a legend that you share with us. 🤘🏼
I bought Dan's How to book many years ago and it helped out pretty good. Its cool to see him live in how to. Ill try this for my little squier and see where it goes...
I like these videos so much, I watch them over and over, pretending it’s the first time.
Hi, I'm from Italy! I also made this change to the mechanics of my Squire Strat Affinity. Now it's ok!👌
I don’t even own a Strat but this video was just lovely. It gave me “This Old House” type vibes. I could watch this man work all day.
Great tips and explanation! Helpful to many budget minded musicians! Thanks for sharing brother!
I've used stock tuners for years. In many cases, all I had was 1/2 wrap around the peg even on the high E string. And they never slipped. Putting a right angle bend on the string before tightening it did the trick.
This is hands down best guitar repair mod channel on RUclips! Great Work and Love the Guests too! Keep up the good work! 👍😎
I have a decent Squier Stratocaster 10 years now without any upgrade on it.
Changing Locking tuners, trees & saddles will definitely improve the playing, as some of us bend the hell out of it and abuse really hard our fretboards.
My luthier will also have to change frets.
I cost it to around 300$ mod. that worth and saves me from buying a new instrument with a much higher price of both my strat. and the upgradable parts.
The instrument has already installed Jameson Lollar original pickups and the sound is really good.
I really enjoyed this video and gave me the courage and will to make the upgrades needed.
Thank you.
wow the trick with the nack saddles (i removed also for 1,2,3,4 strings) help to to fix my tuning problem !! thanks !!!!!!!!
5:28 while all the strings should touch the radius gauge, each individual saddle should not be at an angle. Dan does that of course, just wanted to add it cause I see saddles resting on one "leg" too often.
Good call :)
@Facundo Fontela
If you look at your saddles from the front, each individual saddle is horizontal.
All saddles next to each other are horizontal at different heights to have all strings aligned in the radius matching the fretboard like this: ͡ . Some try to form that radius by having the individual saddles at an angle. If you raise or lower the saddles make sure you have the same number of turns on both screws.
I hope this translation works for you:
Si mira sus sillas de montar de frente, cada una de ellas debe estar en posición horizontal.
Todos los sillines juntos son horizontales a diferentes alturas para tener todas las cuerdas alineadas en el radio que hace juego con el diapasón de esta manera: ͡ . Algunos tratan de formar ese radio teniendo las sillas de montar individuales en ángulo. Si sube o baja los sillines, asegúrese de tener el mismo número de vueltas en ambos tornillos.
Why is that? Does that still Apple to grooved saddles like the ones used here? Thx
@@madmac66 It applies as soon as you adjust the height of every individual saddle with two screws, so it applies here.
So glad I have one of these laying around from when I was a kid. Gives me the confidence to take things apart and learn about all the care required for such instruments without worrying about damaging a more expensive guitar. Ironically, I was having quite a bit of fun playing my old Squier after I spent a few hours cleaning it up/out, setting it up, restringing, polishing, etc. It actually feels good to play now. I wish someone would have told me about this 12 years ago when all my 6th grade friends convinced me that my Christmas Squier wasn't worth playing!
You need to quit hanging out with grade schoolers, people are starting to talk.
Those saddles are amazing idea. I wish I heard of that sooner, before I sold my hand cutting Fender Strat
that was the best thing i have done to my squier now it look and feels awesome thank you very much,,,
With the Elixir 10-52 that I use on my main Strat, and the staggered locking tuners installed, I don't need any string tree AT ALL ... huge improvement.
Ordered that string tree from you today all the way from Finland. Thanks for that Stew!
Those saddles are great. I've spent years getting the set up on Strats perfect and then pulling all the adjuster screws out and shortening them to a non painful height.
This is absolutely excellent! I would probably recommend the Wilkinson Locking saddles to also eliminate tuning issues at the saddle, but this is excellent
I was missing the old man! Great as usual
Umpteen years later... I DID change the saddles on my home made Tele... and then I gave it to my best friend's daughter for her birthday. Just when I got it playing brilliantly! But she's worth it. She's 14 now and is potentially a rock'n'roll girl in the making.
Listening to Dan gives me comfort,I love to watch him work and talk guitar,I get the same watching old Shadetree Mechanic videos or Bob Villa.
I'm getting more of a Norm Abram vibe, especially with the acoustic guitar music.
This guy is the Bob Ross of guitars, never been more interested in modding my guitar. Absolute attention to detail! not your average tech that laughs at you when you say “I wanna mod my squire “ some people play gigs at seedy venues, we don’t wanna bring custom shop gear to the gig 😝
All your videos are superb! Thank you for all these tips.
Regards from France
Beautiful sound and playing!
I will say that if you plan on drop tuning or changing the tuning occasionally, you should have at least one wrap on those locking tuners because if you want to go lower than E or D tuning, you might run out of string to go lower.
Thanks for the tip. You make a very valid point. I would have had to learn that the hard way. hahaha
I’ve been playing guitar 14 months, though I’m originally a sax player from childhood. Not much you can do to a sax to upgrade it, but a guitar, wow, I may start with a Squier Bullet, but this might be the best instrument I ever own.
So far I upgraded the tuners to Fender locking tuners, and the nut and string trees to GraphTech. I’m still not used to the fact that I don’t need to tune the guitar every five minutes. It’s not about being a gear nerd; as I became a better guitarist, I needed a better guitar. Learning to upgrade the guitar I have saved me hundreds of dollars, and I doubt a ‘better’ instrument would have actually been better.
My Squier Bullet Stratocaster I bought for $90 in a thrift shop in Japan is basically like an $800 Fender Deluxe at this point.
Sure, eventually I’m going to need a professional level instrument, but because of your lessons I can get to that professional level with what I already have.
I went with the Fender locking tuners, had to use a reamer-first time-to make the holes big enough for the new tuners. I wisely saved the sawdust from reaming and drilling the holes so that when I filled in the old holes with a mix of glue and sawdust they were color matched.
Tip from Experience: If the new tuners don’t totally fit in the holes you reamed, ream them just a little bit more until they do. It should be a snug fit, but those pegs should be touching and making impressions on wood before you install them.
I have a question about using the radius gauge to set the string saddles. I am constantly setting my string saddles. Is this performance versus engineering? it seems to me, using a gauge is not the way to go. At least, there is a matter of tilt. Logically, the thicker strings will be ‘higher’ than the thinner strings, so the gauge will be lopsided.
Time to relax. Thank you for this.
Excellent upgrades!
Cool! Thanks for the tips.
Excellent!! I desperately needed this help!! Thank You!!
Very helpful. I did the tuners and just that helped so much.
This chanel is the best i've seen this year. StewMac keep it going
Great videos!! I am now understanding what all those things are for!!
Always love mod videos like this! I’d love to see some complex electronic mods, if you guys are up for it!
Jade Sutherland how to do shielding and every problem with static noise, grounding, etc.
How about series parrallel switch
I would change the nut and string trees with tusq versions putting in that goofy 3 position string tree is odd and it leaves a hole in the peg head. then save some more money and get some hum cancelling pickups I have dimarzio virtual vintage pups in my strat and they sound great
Tuners for a squier seems to be a special model if you don't want to drill new holes. I think Gotoh sells those locking tuners. Or lock in?? 🤔 🤭
And I want to say that you guys are the best there are in these branche!! Man I respect your craftsmanship so much I almost can sing a song about it!!! Thanx y'all!!!! 😉🎸🎼🎶🎶☮️🤘☯️👍👍🦉👌❤️🎶❤️🎶❤️🎶❤️🎶
Dan fixed my late fathers Gibson hummingbird did a great job been watching his vids ever since would like to meet him and thank him in person one day
This great because the fender and the Squier classic vibe 70s are out of my rangue $ , thanks for post this 🙏👍
Dan is a master - thank you.
The smooth top Saddles are essential.
Maybe his voice and mannerisms are just soothing to watch and hear. Guitar asmr
Cool video! I got the same guitar and want to do some easy mods to it. Looks like I'll have to look at buying those parts for my Strat. Cheers
Thanks ! Great demo ! I have a Mexican strat and a squire affinity , love your dedication to the craft ! 🖖
Excelent video. Great job.
Awesome tutorial! Thanks a bunch
I love these videos keep em coming. .....all the best guys
Superb guitar mechanic !!!
Solid video; presenter has an excellent tutorial-type style.
You know, I love this channel, I have a Squire Stratocaster Standard, made in Indonesia, has alnico pickups, two point bridge, saddles are the newer ones...
I was thinking of doing some upgrades to it BUT AFTER doing a setup, to my personal specs, and changing to 10-46 D'addrios , and playing it for some time, I found that the frets and neck were so ON that I could have the set up with very low action!!!! The type of action that you can only get away with on REALLY expensive necks...
I was surprised even more when I saw it held tune!! Sure the tuning keys are so so BUT the sound is pretty incredible!! So, I decided to not touch a thing, so no up-grades for this Squire :-) maybe some locking keys in, the future but really not necessary now...
I noticed that the Squire guitars made in Indonesia are "extremely well made" mind blowing actually, the bridge and alnicos make a difference too, but the build was flawless, specifically the neck!!!
I also have an Indonesian squier standard and I agree it was made quite well. Only thing I did to mine is tuners and a bone nut and set it up and plays amazing.
I agree. But, I did have to play through six Indonesian made Squier Bullet Strats until I found the ONE that was above and beyond. It's all about the neck, frets and tone of the wood. Lots of uneven quality among these guitars, but when you find one that has "IT" you are amazed that you only paid $200 for it. I plan on upgrading the tuning machines and the pickups. Other than that, it's ready to play.
Love those saddles. My Tele needs an upgrade in that dept.
Excellent mods.
I've got a squire just like that and I've been wanting to do the exact same thing. Thanks for the info.
The 3-string tree is a great idea, however I use a very small washer to raise the tree to even out the break angle.
I have the same guitar..Different color though..I’m going to try these upgrades.Thanks
Great video. Thanks so much!
One thing that always drives me crazy is sharp saddle screws I've seen this on high end guitars too, it's nice to know companies are addressing this problem.
I just buy short screw for like $4 online. They don't have to be tall if a lot is sticking out so I buy 3mm. I don't hear the difference in saddles much, but maybe I'll try again in a few years.
Keep the drillings from the new tuner drilled holes. Mix the drillings with wood glue and use mixture to fill the empty hole from the removed D string tree.
Good call. Sawdust and wood glue is the good filler. Xlnt comment.
Thanks great video Mr Dan
Stew Mac, I would appreciate if you guys shows the mods for modern guitar too. Such as Ibanes... etc.
Thanks a million! Great Channel
You should consider doing another video like this with a squier bass
A lot of guitar players want to invest in a bass but fenders can be pretty expensive for a secondary instrument
If the bass feels fine (no playability issues) then invest in an amp more than anything.
Belfers You don’t get it do you? It you’re already a guitar player you can play through a bass amp (the reverse is indeed not true... at least not without risking your cabinet, and sometimes transformers over time!).
So this adress guitar players who have the amp for both guitar and bass but want to buy a cheap bass and have play good.
I would imagine quite a few bass players would consider that comment a slap in the face
As a bass player, I consider this a slap in the face
I'm doing one with all fender everything can't wait to finish and play
For some reason, I like watching luthiers do their work. It's relaxing: probably because I'm a musician nerd.
Thanks Dan, you the man !!
Gotohs are nice. I use Planet Waves auto trims. The shaft of the tuner cuts the string AND hides the end inside the shaft! No pokes with the string end!!!!
Thank you so much!
I'm chuffed!! I got to see one of your vids before it hit 1,000 views!!
Another mod I did... to my '62 reissue USA fat Strat deluxe... (in crimson transparent... Fender color number 38) was to replace the nut with an LSR roller... not what you'd call a quick mod though. I took my time with that one... in truth it was a bit of a nail bighter. But I followed the directions and she (Aphrodite) plays like a million bucks now. I'm a serious trem user, and she holds tune perfectly.
Thanx again Dan. You are always watchable.
P.S. I was 'Like' number 114. 'View' number 896.
Wow I would project my guitar also. Thanks sir ❤
the locking tuners alone costs more than the guitar lol
First Last Did you reply to the wrong comment? He didn’t say the guitar was bad.
Got mine for $30 on Ebay. Grovers with the exposed back, they look awesome, and work great. They may be worth more than that Strat, but they don't HAVE to cost more.
Yeah. The Fender ones are only 80 dollars
@@liampezzano can you send me a link to them
@@joeybowles4687 Sorry, they're at 50 at the moment. Still a discount. www.ebay.com/itm/Hipshot-CHROME-3-3-GripLock-Open-Gear-Locking-Guitar-Machines-3x3-Tuners-w-UMP/131789540913?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649
I added a unity gain 9v buffer to mine and it sounds great!
Dan is the best!
Thank you very much Dan
Thanks bro Mac
I got to find this guy to set up guitars. This was great.
I learn more stuff on this channel.Its making me an expert and saving me a lot of bucks.
I want that thing hes wearing on his head so i can tune my guitar with no fear
Glasses?
Hahahahaha!!
Need one myself!
That string tree is brilliant! You guys should make a taller tuning machine for the E string to go with it...
I love these videos and this is one I can do.
Intelligent and helpful. Thanks.
I just love these videos, i learn a lot its great :p
Roller Saddles are a very good idea as well
Excellent, Thank You.
I use roller string trees and roller saddles to fix problems 2 and 3.
As a man that loves the squier affinity series I really enjoyed this video. The squier affinity line is amazing. Recently Phillip from know your gear interviewed a fender custom shop master builder and asked him Wich squier he would buy . He looked at guitars from really higher end to the bullet at the bottom. And his reaction to the affinity Stratocaster was epic to me because he couldn't believe the quality. If anyone out there is thinking of buying one . And you like black or sunburst just get the kit. The guitar is two hundred, the kits two hundred and with the kit you get a bag, a fender frontman ten amp, picks, digital tuner and more. You'll never go wrong. Then add these mods and you'll have one amazing instrument that will last you the rest of your life if you cherish it and protect it and maintain it. If your somebody that doesn't have a guitar yet I promise it's a investment you'll never regret. Thank you again stewmac for another great video
I couldn’t agree more.
I recently picked up a Squier Affinity and I was
blown away by it. 60$ used with the amp, stand and gif bag!!! I sounds SO great!! Just need to do those mods and then I’ll have a great guitar for less than 200$!! Plus add in a better jack of course
Absolutely. I'm glad you got one. They're truly fantastic. When a fender custom shop master builder praises it you know you got a good one. The bullet line is decent but for the extra couple dollars you just can't beat it. All I buy is affinity series. I might break the mold and get a classic vibe next but that's mostly for cosmetic reasons. And like you said there is so many great mods for these including what's in this video, the idea of paying a thousand dollars for the fender version is ludicrous lol
Try out a squier standard. I have a fender player strat and I play my squier standard more after a tuner swap and new nut. Great guitar and found it for $40
The craftsmanship on those overseas guitars is Remarkable its actually been that way for the past 25 years and why the bigger companies like Gibson are struggling from overseas your getting professional quality craftsmanship with out the Ridiculous price tags...Jay Turser JT50 Custom Sg with Gold hardware is a perfect example of professional craftsmanship....
Great videos! 🙂👍🏻
New tuners 18/1 locking , Graphtech nut , string tree and saddles , and the EMG DG20 loaded pick guard .
Awesome! Thank you! 😀👍😁
I now like locking tuners, fast string changes. I'm thinking about a roller nut and possibly a new bridge , go to square block saddles to replace the bent steel. Any thoughts? I have a 2015 American special with Kingman 0 hum Woodstock set of pups, rosewood fretboard. Love the guitar 2 tone burst and I swapped the white pg for black, viola