Squire upgrade questions

N-Se7en

I currently play a tenor saxophone and am getting into guitars.

My buddies got a Squier paranormal custom Nashville stratocaster in Aztec gold for sale ( donno how to share pics, found them on Google easily though this one says squire stratocaster on the head stock and the ones online didn't... ) he'll let it go to me for $200 cad, seems like a good deal to me, though I know it's a Squier guitar so it's a budget fender. But that doesn't bother me, I'll customize it.

With that in mind I was wondering what I should replace in it first? To upgrade the hardwear or if I should buy one of them complete pickguards. And with what would people suggest I replace them with? I don't know much about guitar part manufacturers. I like to play any kind of music and plan on just having one guitar for a long time, and figure I'll upgrade this squire to demi god status for the fun of it as I learn.

Thanks!
I'll update with picks once I get it and learn how to 😂

V8

N-Se7en Google tells me the Paranormal comes with alinco pickup's which is a good start. I'd not sink much money into it until you got an idea of what you'd like to play.

But if you must customize, there are so many options especially given that you are in Canadia - GuitarFetish/StewMac/Reverb got so many options that it's hard to say where to start. I'd usually go for a pot replacements (CTS) with a treble bleed mod on the vol pot. Also re-string and setup and then maybe a custom pickguard...because 🤷‍♂️

N-Se7en I'll update with picks once I get it and learn how to

Here you go : https://community.guitartalk.co.za/d/26380-how-to-post-pics.

N-Se7en

V8
Thanks! Picked it up the day I posted and took it straight to my local shop, they did a fantastic job setting it up. I looked at what the bleed did and wow yeah that's a necessity, and I'll look into the pots, super informative thanks alot!

Looked at that link it didn't really explain how to post a picture just how to resize one? Maybe I missed something, I'm on mobile.. but I have a Dropbox link
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ed10muhppllf3tr6ti3d2/IMG_20231221_091759.jpg?rlkey=fkdq4ez9cx6i59v58dvyusf5e&dl=0

studmissile

They look like pretty good/versatile guitars already, a good setup might be all you need for a while.

modulator

It sure does look like a versatile guitar!
I do recommend the treble bleed mod, Kinman style and values will do.
You could look at the tone capacitor, reducing the value worked for my ears. I also wired the bridge pickup to the tone, don't know how your's are wired.
Play it some, and then look at adjusting pickup heights, or push pole pieces to alter the stagger, if you feel brave.
Enjoy!