Squier Strat Upgrade - My $89 Squier Transformed Into An Amazing Guitar!

This is part 2 of 2 in my $89 Squier Strat vlog. I upgrade this Squier Strat that I paid $89 for, and turn it into an amazing guitar!

[stevewells]

I bought a new Squier Affinity HSS starter pack for $300. Dropped in a Fender loaded pickguard with Fender Gen4 noiceless pups and Shawbucker humbucker.Sounds and plays like a $1800 USA Fender!

[yothisiselmo]

was not expecting the song to be stay together for the kids. nice

[scott]

So nice to here people play like this. Simple but total feeling and mood. Let's the listener create their own thoughts and images. Like reading a book.nice upgrades mate

[ericwright]

I found a sguier in the pawn shop, cleaned it up, roller string trees, roller saddles, big block tremolo(steel) tree of life fret stickers, new pick guard black humbucker single single, & new strings not so slinky & it sounds awesome, I did the same to my other 3 guitars gave one to my nephew, his son wanted it but he wouldn't part with it cuz it was a homemade strat 3 piece body very light with a zebrawood neck & a maple pick guard laser etched but it was a labor of love, I make them & give them away, it makes me feel good!

[gt-guy]

What a change the PU upgrade s made....she sound awesome! I love the color too. I just did an upgrade to a 2000 Indonesia Squier Strat, a Blackie. It had routes for humbuckers and I as able to bolt on some P90 Dog Ear pickups from an Epi Casino. Sounds like a Monster now! Love to mess with cheapie guitars and make them play nice...it very fulfilling. I have expensive guitars as well (that are superior) but I have learned so much about guitars by tinkering, adjusting and modifying, I just cannot stop.

[peterjones]

From when you first got this guitar I was hoping you'd keep it and fix it up. After 21 years it was in incredibly great condition. The upgrades and cleaning you did really gave it a much richer sound and I loved the look of the fretboard after you'd cleaned it. I'm glad you kept the original pick guard, it's patina matched the knobs. That guitar is a keeper, a well done transformation, nice job. 👍

[fciqleg]

I love that more people are doing upgrades on their squier and making them great guitars.
Ive been saying this to guitar snobs for over 25 years.
"II have a cheap guitar and i sound great. You have an expensive guitar, so why do you still sound like crap?"

I love saying that

[PipeCat]

Now THAT'S what I'm talkin' about! Great restore/upgrade. Can't ask for better Strat tone that you're getting here. And it's a beauty.

[gearhead]

Joe Walsh and don Felder would give a standing ovation for the hotel California cover lol! It was in bad shape and you brought it back to life

[michaeld.mcclish]

Polished up the green looks nice. Great job, and really, minimal $$ in the upgrade. It's got the real live quack. Ready to start your own country group now! Thanks for the video.

[slingasixstring]

Great job Marty! You will never regret keeping this guitar. The guitar sounds great 👍.

[manolosantana]

Great job! I made exactly the same expirience: Bought a used Squire Affinity for 70 €, put in some Fender MIM Pickups (which I prefer over the MIUS) and it is my preferred Strat. Plays fantastic and the sound is awesome. They in generally seem heavily underrated.

[LatetheShowagain]

Wow great job. Well worth it. I'm going to buy a $75 Affinity Strat I found and install one of my Fender loaded pick guards . Thanks for the demo. Oh and thanks for the killer riffs at the end man--your an excellent player.

[Gbhbbgvsbnjhhdchhb]

Still trying to get my head around the idea that we are in a golden age of cheap good quality guitars, which is great considering how "collectors" have bastardised the market by hording great guitars instead of actually playing them. Nearly sold my 57 Les Paul Junior to a guy who turned up to buy it. As soon as he told me me he wasn't a player and hedge fund manager I declined to sell.
I have two £90 Harley Benton strats I bought to experiment with and upgrade. They have turned out to be amazing guitars, even ab'd them with a custom shop strat and damned if I could tell the difference. Thanks for this post, it gives hope to young kids out there

[Case_]

Fun fact: It doesn't matter which way the "triangle piece" is pointing as far as polarity or phase of the pickup is concerned. You can't change the polarity of a single coil pickup by just rotating it 180 degrees, because the same magnetic pole is still facing the strings (you'd have to mount the pickup bottoms up with the polepieces facing the inside the guitar to reverse the pickup polarity), and you can't change its phase either, because just rotating the pickup 180 degress doesn't actually change the direction the coil is wound (it is still clockwise or counterclockwise, again, you would have to mount the pickup bottoms up to reverse its phase).
The only issue you would have with mounting the pickups the triangle piece pointing to the neck would be fitting them into the guitar cavity :)

[soniah]

Love to see old guitars brought back to life and cheap guitar mods too. P.s., a tortoise shell pick guard would look kinda cool here. 👍

[wideyxyz]

I have no idea why but I feel good that you kept it. Love the upgrades. Sounds sweet. I think its an instinct guitarists have when they find a gud un it becomes a keeper. Love it!

[doombringer]

Sounds better! I have an old60's Classic Vibe that I swapped out the whole pickguard with loaded HSS from a 70's Clasic Vibe. Been that way for some time now. But I'll never get rid of my 60's Classic Vibe. She's a keeper. Maybe better pickups later, but for now, I'm happy. Plays like a dream.

[jeffreyrivers]

I have 3 Sqiers; all some model... I love ❤ it.

[paxonearth]

Nice job. Man, I dig that green! Good decision to go with the plain pickguard.