Squier Guitar Mods : Modding Guitar Bodies

For the casual guitar hobbyist or player, replacing and re-wiring the electronics into  guitar bodies is complete overkill, and requires some knowledge of electronics and soldering. Generally, it's much easier to just simply buy  pre-wired guitar bodies, and to install that. Guitar bodies are in no way cheap either. In fact, it wouldn't be strange for them to be more expensive than your original Squier. Unless you've bought an expensive guitar with nice electronics, moving to a more expensive body might be pointless. Squiers and other budget guitars are known for having good quality wood, but cheap electronics. Buying a new body along with all the of the required electronics is going to cost close to what you would pay for a MIM Fender, which will have superior electronics and most likely materials. If you do decide to go through with modding / replacing your body, there are a couple things to pay attention to.

Wood Type

Refer to Part 1 and note the tonal differences in wood types. These will apply to the body you decide to purchase. When purchasing your electronics, they should come with a guide detailing how to install them.
A huge part of this process, and the most exciting one, is finishing your body. When purchasing a body, they usually come as unfinished wood, that must be painted and sealed. This is where you let your creative side show. Don't be afraid to try different things out, such as stencils, using stains, and special spraypaints. When you've finished your design, you need to apply a sealant. Whether this is polyurethane, nitro, shellac, or any other sealant is up to you. There are a million different ways to go about personalizing your guitar bodies, and my best advice is to simply look around at what other people have done for ideas.

Cutouts
When purchasing guitar bodies, make sure to pay attention to the cutouts, and to make sure everything else you have or plan on buying fits with the body you've selected. You either have to be prepared to fix the routed holes yourself, or you need to go with a different style of body. For a place to start, check out these bodies at Amazon.

Mighty Mite Stratocaster Electric Guitar Body - Swamp Ash
 
Golden Gate S-313 T Style Guitar Body (Tobacco Red, Single Cutaway, Single Coil)
 
Golden Gate S-309 T Style Guitar Body (White, Single Cutaway, Single Coil)
 

Posted in: feature,guitar tip