Squier mods...

[leedon]

Hi guys,

After listening to your advice, and fixing up my Epiphone Les Paul, it sounds and plays like a new guitar - new tuners, SDuncan pickups, .10 strings etc...

I have a new project now...

I just bought a Squier Strat (Affinity series) secondhand, for my girlfriend and housemates to learn guitar with. I want to fix this up too, and do a paintjob on it. I've never owned a 'Strat' before, so I thought I'd better check on a few things.

First off, the neck has a bit of a bow in it - it's still playable, but is there any way to fix this ? The distance between the middle frets and strings is greater than at the ends.

Secondly, I want to paint the body - is it safe to just remove the neck ? Is there anything I should know first ?

Thirdly, if I tap the pickguard or vol knobs, it sounds like I'm tapping a microphone . Is this a wiring problem or a pickup problem ?

I don't want to spend toooo much fixing it up, but if there's anything I can do to it to improve it, I will. It's going to be used quite a bit, so it definately won't be waste.

Cheers

[Torpid-x]

to get the bow out, assuming it's not twisted, and the truss rod isn't broken...

at the top of the neck there is a truss rod adjustment screw. It may be under a cover, you'll probably need an allen wrench to adjust it, if not it may need a socket wrench.

when you tighten the truss rod (clockwise) it pulls the top of the neck back, this brings the action closer to the fingerboard so you may need to adjust the string hieght at the bridge while you set the truss rod.

make sure you have your guitar strung and in tune when you make this adjustment, however you keep your guitar tuned. looking down the neck, turn the truss rod untill it looks strait, it shouldn't be more than a half turn, do not over turn it, the truss rod can break. if it feels excessively tight or you hear squeeking sounds while turning, stop, take it to a repairman.

ok, once you have it looking strait, turn back (counterclockwise) about an eigth of a turn to put a slight foward bow on it, this is called relief. almost all guitars will buzz if you don't put relief in them, it's safe to say a squire will need some.

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the sound you hear when tapping on the pickup is called microphonics,a problem with cheap pickups, you'll probably want to change the pickups. I've heard that seymour duncan jb juniors are a good replacement for single coils but you'll probably want more recomendations for getting a strat sound.

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I've never had a problem removing a neck, just make sure the strings aren't on

hope this helps you out, if the truss rod is broken you'll know it, it wont get tight, and a general rule is that a half turn is a lot.


Good luck
TX

[Hard2Hear]

check the boards...

Guys are often upgrading their American Standards to different pickups, you can probably find a set of those pickups for under $30. That will solve the microphonic problem. Check out fenderforum.com. Those are the Fender experts.

The neck will be the bigger deal. Hopefully a truss rod adj will help you.

H2H

[Carter Simcoe]

I wouldnt waste time and money on a paintjob, of course I would waste any time and money on a squire period.

[leedon]

Thanks for the help, Carter,

Maybe you can afford Fender Strats, or Gibsons, or whatever, and maybe you can afford to paint *those* guitars and risk screwing them up. I don't really care....

I am wanting to paint MY SQUIER. If you have some info to share on things I could do / look out for when doing this, please share them, but really don't care if you would EVER buy a squier or not !

I am so sick of guys that can afford expensive guitars rubbing it in your face... I wonder how many of them can actually PLAY them though. I am happy with my 2 guitars - they do the job fine. They sound like guitars. I have a day job - I don't have 12 hrs a day to pratice and play them. It's a hobby. Who f&%$&ng cares what quality they are.

I'm sorry, but I have just heard it too often - Squiers are shit, Ibanez is shit, Epiphone is shit. WHO CARES ?? If you don't like them, then don't buy them.

All I asked for is some general advice, not if a Squier is crap or not. I know it's crap - but it's also cheap. That's why I bought it.

And all the mods I want to do still won't cost nearly as much as a Fender Strat.


Cheers

[Blue Bear Sound]

There is SUPPOSED to be a slight bow to the neck, otherwise you would have dead spots all over the place as you fret notes... but yes, it shouldn't be excessive...

I gotta ask though, if it's strictly a learning guitar, why go thru the costs of a new paint job and stuff? (SRV played a pretty battered Strat...)

Bruce

[leedon]

Hi BB,

I turned the truss rod last night, and it fixed the problem - perfect neck, slight relief - no dead notes or buzzing.

I have been playing for 5 yrs - I have 2 guitars (Ibanez and Epiphone LP), which I look after and they both play like a dream...

I bought this squier cheap, for my girlfriend and friends to muck around with. I also have a design that I want to try on a guitar. I will paint it myself (I am artistic), but I don't want to stand the chance of ruining either of my other guitars, so I will try it on a cheap one. Sure - I would like the desing on a Fender, but A I can't afford one B If I could, I don't think I would have the balls to even risk painting the body.

I don't play gigs - I play in my room and record to my PC. I don't need Marshall Stacks and Gibson LP's. I can't afford them. This is just a little project I want to try - so my friends that see the guitar will go 'WOW!'. That's all.

[Blue Bear Sound]

Ah! I see... an experimenter!

I would recommend getting a copy of Dan Erlewine's Guitar Player Repair Guide. It goes into a lot of description about setup and repair, but it also has an excellently detailed section on guitar finishing....

Bruce

[Carter Simcoe]

I was just trying to offer my opinion that I think a paintjob might not be the most worthwhile modification. When I tell you I wouldn't waste time and money on a squier I am not trying to "rub anything in your face", Im trying to give you an idea of where I am coming from with my opinion so you can determine how much stock you want to put in it.

[Nighthawkdude]

If the guy wants to paint his axe, let him paint his axe. I'm a Gibson owner and have a stable of finely crafted instruments. I got a wild hair one day and wanted to get a cheap guitar and hotrod it, so I bought a $150 Peavey tele-clone. After some new tuners and some truss rod tweaking, it turned out to be a really great playing guitar. Of course, like Squier, they only come in really basic colors like white, black, and red. I got some of that fleckstone paint (the kind that looks like granite!) and painted the body with it. I hung a raccoon tail from the peghead and a leopard-spotted fuzzy strap and call it my Flintstones guitar. Folks love it! It's a great attention-getter at gigs, and cost me $200 total. Sadly, my Gibsons don't get out of the cases as much anymore. Anyway, I applaud the guy's creative streak. Break out the Krylon and have at it!

[monty]

Hmmm...interesting. Shit happens even outside the cave.
I think I'll try some different pickups on my guitar. Wish I could just afford a 57 strat.

[psmith66]

Leedon,

I hear where you're coming from, but you've got to realize that 99% of this forum's population want to help, including Carter. The concern is that you spend a wad to upgrade something, when that wad would have gone a long way towards eventually getting you something good vs upgrading something bad. We're not all rich here. I have a day job, wife, two kids and recording is a hobby. Doesn't mean that I don't want good gear or don't care about quality. My guess is that a significant number here walk in my shoes in that regard.

Obviously, you're looking for a functional guitar which will double as a conversation piece. Great - go for it and have fun.

In the meantime, if you don't like what someone is saying (or how they are saying it), then simply ignore it. Otherwise try responding to it in a calm and constructive way.

That aside, good luck with the guitar - perhaps I'll try something like that one day.

Regards

[leedon]

I understand what you're saying, and I might have been a bit out of line with what I said, but I'm just getting sick and tired of hearing how 'crap' this make or another is.

I bought this guitar cheap so that I could paint it - myself. That's it. I would rather ruin a £70 Squier than a £600 Fender. Even if I do put on new tuners, pickups etc, I'm still looking at less than £150, and it will still play well, and It will look good.

I have 2 other guitars which I invested a fair amount of money in. This one is just for a project I have in mind.

So, if anyone can give info on how to strip/paint/finish a guitar, I'm all ears. Forget about the make/model.

Cheers

[Blue Bear Sound]

Dan Erlewine's Guitar Player Repair Guide



Bruce

[leedon]

Thanks Blue Bear,

I purchased the book earlier on Amazon. Sounds like it will be a handy investment, for setups too.

Thanks

[Carter Simcoe]

If the guy wants to paint his axe, let him paint his axe.

congratulations on your first post, now lets get something straight. Im not preventing the guy from painting his guitar, I am offering my opinion about the matter. That is what this place if for, to get other peoples opinions

[Carter Simcoe]

leedon, since you have decided to paint it I will give you this advice. You should really listen to everyone when they tell you about not painting it on a humid day, one of my friends did this once and it turned out really bad. Thats about the only info I feel qualified to give you on the matter.

[MISTERQCUE]

Yo Leedon, I own a Vintage Precision, a Fender Jazz and recently
purchased a Squire P-Bass for the soul intention of up-grading the thing and make it into something gooood!!!.
I first replace the tuners with Fender Tuners as Squire tuners on both the Bass and the Guitar tend to move after a single play or a string bend. I placed small 1/8" rubber washers over the tuner holes to prevent key slippage and sprayed a small amount of liquid graphite to help in locking the keys. Next, most Squire necks
are a bit, slightly warped near left center so I adjusted the truss rod a .25 of a turn,use a luthier sander I "borrowed" to adjust the neck's eveness and finish, I replaced the fret markings,with square pearl inlays and applied a wood oil and other liquids to make neck playable and smooth! Pick-ups were no prob as I replaced the P pickups with Fender and included a DeMarzio into the body with separate Vol and tone controls for brightness.(wiriring was a bee-otch, but it was fun after hooking it up) I removed that car-paint job Squier insists on using on it's axes till just the wood shown and used a cherry-wood oil finish to a hi gloss. I then visited the nearest hardware store for some lucite plastic colors to cut into the shape of the p-bass's pick guard. I settled on a black lucite,cut p/u slots and holes for the 2 volume and 2 tone controls and pickups. It turned out to be pretty good
and the neck action was 50% better than previously bought (AND of course it looked 100% better also). I spent no more than $125.00 on parts and essentials, but it was well worth it and IT WAS FUN!!! I have since changed the Name of the axe form Squire
P-Bass to the Squire Q-bass (rim shot/Cymbal crash)!!!
My point is, if you take your time set out with a plan on what you want to do AND don't spend a lot of money just to turn something into something it can't be, the process of re-building,re-tooling,or whatever to your axe can be truly gratifying!
Give it a shot!

(BTW, at the age of 14, I once owned a Guild-forgot-the model# Bass and hated the ugly burgundy color on it and painted it brown; with BROWN WALL PAINT!! with the exception of the dryed
drip marks the bass still played fine,until I played outdoors and the sun started melting the paint off the bass ! Very Messy!!)

[MISTERQCUE]

Oh yeah, GOOD LUCK!!

[monty]

I knew a girl who sanded the finish off her acoustic and replaced it with linseed oil. I guess she had a reason for doing this, but it was interesting to hear how it affected the sound. Linseed oil???
By the way Q-tip, you sound like a real do-it-yourselfer. Is this the same MISTERQCUE who posts in the cave? Sort of a Jekyl and Hyde Q, I guess, but then aren't we all?

[Gidge]

Do you think Guitar Satan has the Squier Q-Bass signature model?........

[MISTERQCUE]

The new Q-bass, will not be sold on the open market!
Originally purchased for $99.00 it is now worth well over
$200.00!
Yeah monty, I do got some SKILLZ besides drinking!!!

[Torpid-x]

Just curious, how high is your action at 12th fret? if you like your action high you can get away with a strait or at least straiter than normal neck adjustment.

TX

[Hard2Hear]

This is a chart by a Fender VP of MIM strats vs MIA strats. May be helpful:

http://www.amug.org/~a249/comp.html

H2H

[psmith66]

H2H,

Thanks man. I was surfing for that exact info yesterday and came up empty.

BTW, bought an early '80's Japanese Strat on ebay last night. It has all the gear of an Amer plus Kahler. It's NOT a three bolt. It's NOT a Squier.

I don't like buying guitars before I try'em out, but the price was right - based on present market here, I'd be able to recoup my $$$ in a day if I didn't like it (obviously I'm covered re: defects).

Has alder body, maple neck, rosewood fingerboard. Don't have the serial number.

Anyone have any additional info on these?