Project: Squier Strat

Spyke · 2008-04-17T08:41:05+00:00

So I've been toying with the idea of doing a little personalizing on my Squier Strat. I wouldn't go so far as to say it's a proper Hotrod job, just a little customizing. I'll take some pictures as I go along. This will be my first time (so be gentle ?) and feel free to correct me where I go wrong. I'll be doing this on a budget and school fees will be paid along the way. Suggestions are always welcome!

Spyke

Hahahaha! The Tuxedo... has a nice ring to it... ?

Glow mirror? Ummm... that one will require some serious thought!

I was looking through some designs and i like this look:

and this is nice:

but if i decide to add this:

it'll look cluttered...

Spyke

Last night I decided to remove the nut to measure up and check the spacing etc.
Here's the neck / headstock with the nut removed.

and yes, i did it the lazy way by not removing the strings - feel free to flame away. ?

and the stock, cheap molded plastic nut.
This explains a lot of the tuning niggles i've been having and my reluctance to use the trem.

I then removed the scratch plate so that i could make a template for future use. The scratch plate is the next priority, after the nut. Only one small piece of insulation / shielding, but i did notice that underneath the black paint in the cavity is metal of some sorts. Not bad considering the budget nature of this guitar.
I was pleased to find not one, but two cavities big enough to fit a humbucker. The screw holes for the pups in the scratch plate are exactly the same spacing as the screws for the Super58.

A picture of the Super58 and another of the black knobs, removed. An earlier mod.

AlanRatcliffe

I fixed your first image - you were showing DSC08331.jpg again instead of DSC08333.jpg ?

Lazy's fine if it works. I always do thing like that - for instance, if I'm working on the wiring of a guitar, I'll leave it strung up just loosen the strings as you have, slap a capo on, and remove the neck - that way I can do any work, put the neck back on just retune. With a guitar with a locking trem I won't even loosen the strings - I remove the trem springs and take the trem off. The guitar is usually still in tune when I put it back together (the one good thing about locking trems, IMO)!

The screw holes for the pups in the scratch plate are exactly the same spacing as the screws for the Super58.

But at an angle, so you have to drill new holes anyway if you're going to use the same pickguard in the meantime. If you use the pickup mounting ring over the pickguard, it'll cover the old screw holes.

Spyke

Well spotted, thanks Alan.

And well spotted again. I only checked it quickly, not thinking that I would be fitting it in a bridge position where the pup is angled. Complete new scratch plate it is then.
I don't think i'll be using the mounting ring, i may just fit the hummer to the plate. Cleaner and uncluttered IMHO. That should work, right? I can't foresee any problems with that yet.

I also noted that the Super58 is only a two wire. (please excuse me if this is the wrong terminology)
Just about all the wiring diagrams I've found are four-wire. Strange, maybe it's not a Super58...

AlanRatcliffe

i may just fit the hummer to the plate. Cleaner and uncluttered IMHO. That should work, right?

That's fine. I don't like using a mounting ring on a plate either - it's just neater if you use the old pickguard.

IIRC, The super 58 was originally a Japanese-made pickup used in the Artist guitars. There were two pickups with different wiring versions - with a normal single conductor wire like yours, used in the more straightforward wiring models and a four conductor wiring used on the models with "Tri-Sound" switching (series/single-coil/parallel switches on each pickup). These pickups have "Ibanez Super 58" stamped on the bottom, and the insulation is black. They were actually way too hot to be anything like a real '58 humbucker (but hey, it was the '80s and marketing was more important than accuracy).

They also have a modern super 58 made in Korea (probably by Cort). These have no stamp in the bottom and the wire has red insulation on the bridge model and blue on the neck. I don't know much about these, but they are the kind used in the modern Artcore guitars.

JoeyBones

I'd love to here your Squier when it's done. I've always been of the opinion that cheap is not reliable/quality, but I guess with the right upgrades it could very well do the job.

BTW, has anyone had any experience with Squier Tele's. We saw one a Cash Crusaders for R1300 and my brother (A guitar newbie) was thinking of buying it and doing some upgrades on it. I'm a bit skeptical since I've heard horror stories of necks warping and tuning/intonation problems. I already have a spare set of Fender Tuners that we could swap the cheap Squier ones out with, but I'm guessing that all we keep of the original guitar is the neck and body.

JoeyBones

I just thought of something, considering the fact that most of the cheaper brand guitars come with relatively poor quality hardware, what after market body, neck, etc combo's are better quality / value for money for a budget project guitar?

AlanRatcliffe

BTW, has anyone had any experience with Squier Tele's.

Not bad. Squiers are popular as upgrade platforms for good reason - wood and construction quality is pretty good for the money (especially if you are lucky enough to find the older Korean/Jap models). You do get more duds than with the better Fender models, but if you can judge a guitar fairly well it's not difficult to weed the bad ones out. Buzzing, sharp fret ends, etc...

Replacement necks and bodies are by their very nature designed as "upgrades", so even the "cheaper" ones tend to be fairly pricey in comparison to getting a decent "cheap" guitar with cheaper hardware like Squier and Cort.

Spyke

About time for a small update me thinks:

Finally decided on a Graph Tech nut and string trees for the headstock. Tuners will be the next upgrade to the head. If and when i find some that i like.

So in my grubby paws sit a preslotted Graph Tech Trem Nut and string trees. Purchase for the princely sum of R110 (if my father heard that he'd shoot me...)

Not going to be able to fit it until next week sometime unfortunately. Lot's of band practice needs to take place - reasons will be revealed eventually.

Spyke

I know i said that i would only be tackling the nut job next week... but i just couldn't wait.

So last night after getting home from work i assessed the situation and decided to give it a go. The old nut was already loose, so 'half' the work was done. I didn't foresee this taking me too long to do as i had purchased a pre-slotted Strat nut which was very close to my specs in terms of size and height. The E - e spacing was a little wider than my current setup and this was the only thing i was genuinely worried about.

my old plastic nut >☹

with the nut out and compared to the new Graph Tech nut. :-[

Something that is vitally important is trimming the nut on a flat surface. The sandpaper must be completely level and on a hard surface otherwise you will end up with an uneven base - i learned the hard way (didn't listen) but one golden rule to remember: you can always cut off, you can't cut on. So do the trimming slowly, checking back every now and then to see if you're happy.

With the height sorted, i placed the nut in the slot and tensioned the E's. By tapping the nut back and forth i got it to settle in the slot and a little more tapping got the strings nicely aligned. I took a blade to the ends to leave a feint score mark to show the width and where i'd need to trim to. Once again, this was just done with some 360 grit paper and then smoothed off with the 800. Trial fit it every so often to make sure you're not taking too much off.

The nut came out again and now i just neatened everything up with a fine paper. For the slots I used a small piece of 800 paper folded over an old string to clean out the grooves. More serious slot work would require a set of nut files no doubt. ?

For the last lot of smoothing i just took the fine 800 paper to the edges but be careful here, i almost dug into my fretboard as the wood surrounding the nut is softer than the nut itself. The neck of my guitar isn't coated so a little 'run-off' didn't bother me too much.

The string trees are a simple unscrew and swap.
Old pressed trees.

The completed nut / tree project ?

I haven't tuned and played it yet, was actually in a bit of a rush. Note to self: never work on your guitar when in a rush >☹

Impressions to follow...

Comments / flames welcome

AlanRatcliffe

Note to self: never work on your guitar when in a rush

First rule of repair. Especially with nuts.

Otherwise, well done for tackling it yourself. ? I usually leave the bottom of the nut alone (other than a quich swipe to get rid of moulding marks) and cut the slots for action, then trim the top of the nut while its in place. Of course that requires nut files, so your approach is perfectly valid as long as you make sure the bottom is flat and square. Also usually a good idea to clean out the fret slot first to make sure the nut seats properly.

Garth-S

Hey Spyke.. Great job! Where did you get the nut and the string trees from? I would prefer to get them locally rather than order online. I really want to change out the cheapo plastic nut from my squier strat as its a bit arb to have a really great pickups and the guitar constantly goes out of tune ?

Spyke

Hey Garth, thanks man.

I picked up the nut and trees at Andy McGibbons in Randburg, just off Jan Smuts.

I wasn't expecting a a big difference but it definitely does seem noticeable. Through a decent amp I'll be able to tell it's true worth.

Renesongs

Nice neat job - I see you had an easier time of removing your old nut than I did - Has your action changed at all?

Spyke

Thanks Renesongs, I didn't battle too much. It was only a small drop of glue that held it in.

I deliberately 'lifted' the action a fraction on the e, B and G strings as it was the one place i felt it could be improved. By 'lifted', i mean that i didn't take the new nut's height down to the same height as previously set.

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