Is It Worth It To Modify a Squier Strat

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[elmozls]

For me it was, my squier was my second guitar, given to me by my dad in 2004. It sat for 10 years in its case. Now my youngest wants to play so for his 8th birthday, I’ve gone through the guitar and made some upgrades and will give it to him as a surprise.

[MrJoeydano]

Yeah the guys that give thumbs Down are the ones that sell 2K to 10K Guitars and don’t like ya making a good instrument for under a grand 😂

[joshuabenoit]

Just did upgrades to my first guitar, 2004 squier affinity Strat. Polished frets, graph tech trees, hipshot locking tuners, tonepro Classic blues pups, obsidian blender wire kit, brass block, and a tortoise shell pick guard. I will never get rid of it so it is worth it to me.

[justinrayguitars]

I have quite a few Squiers that I have upgraded and setup correctly that I would put up against a lot of guitars that cost twenty times as much.

[barbmelle]

From Leo: If a guy already has a lower end guitar that plays pretty well, the initial price does not matter. If you add $200 to it to make it what you want, you are still ahead. If you take the same $200 and try to get another guitar, you end up with a guitar that has the same limitations a the first one. I agree with you, if you end up with something you like, resale value really does not matter. People that make money flipping guitars do not mod them anyway.

[murfbass]

It occurs to me that if you put $400 worth of upgrades into a $1000 guitar, it is still worth $1000. You've lost the same investment. If you can make a $200 guitar sound and play the same as the $1000 one, I know which one I'm taking to the bar for the blues jam. If some drunk steals the Squier, I'll get over it pretty quick.

[eljefeguapobarbon]

Great point made about making it yours, not for resale. Love cheap with upgrades!

[ianaintsaying]

Just added a full size trem block to my buddy's son's Squier Strat this week. His dad works at a machine shop so I had .080" milled off the trem block. It now fits and works like a charm.

[Josbornevonosborne]

My beater guitar is a 2000 squier standard strat. I refretted it with fender jumbo fretwire, did pickups and rewired. It's great, and I don't mind knocking it around or letting my 4 year old play it

[collinplatt]

My first guitar was a fender squier bullet strat and just now realizing I’d like to modify. I found this helpful. Thanks

[tolvajakos]

That cheap-o strat does not sound half bad.

[andycowell]

Dylan, I'm a maybe advanced beginner, and have found your videos really educational. I feel confident enough to set up my own guitar now, thanks! I subscribed on Patreon. My goal for the year is just to stick with it, practice the entirety of the year!

[choimdachoim]

I've tried out hundreds of guitars, banjos, mandolins and pianos over the past 50 years and the amazing thing to me is that some instruments inspire me when I play them or are easier to play. It has nothing to do with the cost of the instrument. It's kind of a mystical thing. Which is why I've put $400 so far into an Indonesian-built Fender Squier Bullet from 2004 that I found when cleaning out a client's garage that they didn't want...I don't understand why or how but it is the easiest to play guitar I've ever picked up. My 2 favorite acoustic guitars are from Goodwill and one cost $4.99 and the other cost $14.99. The worst guitar I ever tried was in the mid-1970's with a plastic or fiberglass body, I think it was an Ibanez and was selling at Guitar Center in Los Angeles for $1400. It was physically unplayable. Favorite instruments are sort of like a favorite coffee cup that you've used for 20 years and you don't care about the cracks and chips as long as it doesn't leak.

[Grungebob_Squaredance]

I modded a squire 70s vintage modified Strat with new bridge, wiring harness, pickups, and tuner. Sounds and plays as nice as my Fender American Professional.

[caleshtcincredibles]

I have a Squire StandardTele, I bought for a good price, added Fender Locking tuners and off to the races, the guitar does not need anything more that it sounds great for what I use it for . Stays in tune perfectly, the pups and pots are fine. Saved myself about a tone of money with a good result.

[chrisradzion]

My first guitar was a mid 90s Squier Strat, black with a white pick guard. Years ago I took out the tuners and replaced them with vintage style ones, and threw on a cool red tortoise shell pick guard. Last year, I noticed it was just collecting dust, so I put on a 70s style Fender maple neck. That changed everything; it became my favorite guitar to play. Now, I’m looking into doing the 7 way “Gilmour” mod; only I like the pick guard so much and can’t find another like it, I don’t want to drill into it to fit a small switch. So I went with the push/pull option, only to find it won’t fit; the cavity is too shallow. So it looks like I’ll be doing some routing. This is a sentimental guitar to me, as it’s my first, and my father helped me do some of the modifications.

[Mattwest]

4:43 that’s why I’m here! My dad bought me a stray for Christmas a long time ago. It was a cheapo but I love it and will never let it go! I’m about to upgrade it somehow.

[roffaD]

Hey Dylan thanks for the video I just got my first squier, what are the most essential mods you would fo to it to make it sound better?

[ericsimmons]

I made the modifications that you suggested on a kit Strat and, you're right, there was a bit of Dremel work involved in enlarging the cavity to accommodate the larger pots and switch. I also bought a Fender bridge. The body thickness, as you said, was less than my American Standard Strat. I determined that the tremelo had just enough space to be able to move as required. The problem, though, was that the springs projected above the trem block to the point that there wasn't enough clearance if I wanted to install the cover plate. My solution was simple and it worked out great. I simply cut slots in the block, in front of the spring retaining holes to allow the springs to seat lower into their locating holes.

[rivulus]

Actually, you can get brass and steel blocks which are 35 mm deep and fit a squier affinity on ebay. Makes a lot of difference compared to the zinc alloy piece of fluff that comes in a bullet or affinity strat.