SQUIER BULLET STRATOCASTER MOD - PART 1 - Is it Worth It?

SQUIER BULLET STRATOCASTER MOD - PART 1 - Is it Worth It?

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In this video I'll be starting the journey of modding my purple Squier Bullet Stratocaster and trying to answer the question, can a cheap guitar be a good guitar with some upgrades? And, is it worth it?

Many players love modding, and Squier's Bullet line is a great place to start. While the guitars aren't perfect out of the box, they give you a good, solid platform to work with. In the video, I will be changing EVERYTHING, except for the body, neck and bridge. I would have changed the bridge too, but with this being a Bullet, the body is thinner and can only accommodate a 38mm trem block, which is surprisingly difficult to source for a reasonable price.

I am putting the equivalent value of parts onto the guitar, essentially doubling the total value of the instrument. is this investment worth it? Or are modders barking up the wrong tree?

Intro - 00:00
Why Would You Mod a Cheap Guitar? - 00:12
What Parts Are Being Used? - 01:29
Removing the Strings - 03:01
Changing the Nut - 03:44
Removing the Electronics - 07:05
Adding Locking Tuners - 09:11
Tidying Up Fretwork - 14:38
Is Upgrading Worth It? - 18:34

Hope you like it! Don't forget to subscribe and like the video!

Enjoy!

Leigh

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[malcolmhardwick]

Dont use super glue on the nut as it can set before you line it up.Better to use wood glue, very little, just enough to hold it. It can be removed more easily in the future.

[johnbrady]

A small screw broken off flush with the surface is almost impossible to remove. The only way is to get the smallest piece of metal tubing you can find, like a piece of automotive brake line or one of those old telescoping car antennas, and cut a straight piece of it about 1" long. Use your dremel cutoff tool to make "teeth" in one end. Now you have a mini hole saw to drill down around the broken screw. Chuck it in your hand drill. Drill, remove the screw.

Then you will have to drill and fill the hole with a piece of hardwood dowel. You can get these from a craft store. Make sure you have a close fit with the wood dowel. Use some Tite Bond or other wood glue to glue the piece of wood dowel in. Let it dry overnight. Then use a nice sharp wood chisel to shave it flush with the surface. Or a safety razor whatever you have handy. Then place your tuning machine back on and drill it out again for the fixing tab. Use a good quality screw and don't over tighten it again. Use some candle wax on the screws to lubricate them going into the wood.

[CombatTrap-]

RE: Broken screw. Use a drill bit half diameter of screw shank. Break tip of bit, u should have two sharp points on bit. Use small steel nail and hammer to lightly tap several indentations in the shank. Normally. The broken bit will bite just enough too reverse/remove broken shank. ( no guarantee, yet this has worked a time or to in my experience. Good luck. Great vid.

[AlexisGuitars]

Looking forward to part 2! I'm a huge fan of guitar mods and DIY projects so looking forward to seeing how this improves considering the foundation guitar seems pretty solid!

[christopheraaron]

I took my $90 off white Affinity Strat, stripped everything off of it, painted it Maui Blue and I installed locking tuners, roller string trees and a white pearl loaded pickguard with 3 single hot-rail pickups and 500k pots. I took the Affinity loaded pickguard (with alnico-5 pickups) and installed it in my cheap Glarry Strat, which now sounds as good as any Squier.

[iancandler]

It’s as cheap as chips. I’ve just done my mini jazz master and it cost me £27 for new locking tuners, £7 for a set of strings and that’s it! First thing was to take the bridge off, pack the holes with cocktail sticks and re instal to cure the fact that only two screws where biting, then swapped out the tuners (you need 9.9mm or 10mm post hole tuners) used the old strings to clean out the nut slots, then in with a drop of nut juice lubricant and on with a set of 9.5 - 46’s check neck relief, re check bridge radius and finally check intonation and action. Job done, plays perfectly now and holds tune.

[markbrown]

I paid $450 for my squire case guitar about $592. I hate the bridge and I turning machines. So I’m going to fix it all up in gold hardware. It’s worth some money to me this guitar plays very nice. It has a beautiful neck it feels just like a real Stratocaster. So I think mine is worth remodeling. It is really going to be beautiful when it’s done is it worth it. To me damn right it is.😁😁👍🏼😎🎸

[deaddwives]

That purple colour is gorgeous. I saw a tele a lot like this in a PMT store a while ago :)

[ElectricLotusBand]

I’m about to put my Seymour Duncan Jimi Hendrix pickups on one

[chopperdeath]

Yes. You get a pre drilled, painted and fitted body. Replace the neck with a custom job to your specs. To me this is worth the cost alone to get and exact spec neck to your liking.

[andrewclayton]

I've the same guitar (from Andertons) here at home ... so I'm pretty interested to see the part II :-)

[defakosgr]

use a instant superglue to stick the decapitated head back and take your time to unscrew it.
good luck

[AdamBurseMusic]

Great video Leigh, that was awesome man 😀🤘🎵🔥🔥🔥

[HeroicDesignCo]

Just got an Affinity strat 2nd hand for £42 so excited to do some mods and upgrades on it to make it my own.

[Steven_SK]

That looks like one of the Andertons Too bad about screw. I don't know if an easy-out would work in that small screw. May have to drill it out and plug it and drill new. Anyway nice job. I love diy anything!

[jazzydog]

I have one & yes is worthed Great video 👍👍. I think the Wilkinson tremolo should work with it. Cheers.

[jazznotes]

Nice vid, although it looks like this was possibly the first time you’ve done anything like this 😆

[aaronanthony]

You should have installed fender locking tuners for the full true FENDER.
My opinion

[YOO-Official]

Is it only me but I cannot find the link for the parts what you mentioned. Sorry for being a pain!

[darrenjohnson]

What tuners did you use? Do you have a link to them?