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)
 

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Picking Up Your Pickups For Your Squier Guitar

 

Author : Gabriel Rose

    After modding your guitar neck, the next thing you can upgrade that will affect tone the most are your pickups. There are hundreds of different pickups you can buy,  and they each have their slight differences. There are a couple of main types of pickups that exist though. Before I get into the specifics of how the different styles of pickup sound, I want to go over how pickups actually work.

 Magnets : How Do They Work?

     I don't need a scientist to explain it to me. But really, it's quite simple. A guitar pickup is a series of magnets surrounded by extremely fine copper wire. This creates a generator which amplifies the wavelength of the string as it twangs. Single-coil pickups are made exactly like this, and can sometimes amplify amp frequencies as well, producing the dreaded buzz. This is why the humbucking pickup was invented. The humbucker has a second set of magnets facing the opposite direction that reverses the sound polarity of stray sounds. Therefore amplified amp buzz is cut out as it's reversed into a frequency we don't hear, while the frequency of the string enters the pickup normally.

      There are a couple of different factors that affect the tone that pickups generate.  Considering the fact that the magnet makes up the heart of the pickup, depending, on what it is made of will have a strong affect on tone.

     In the early years of the electric guitars Alnico was traditionally used as the magnet material, favored for its mellow tone and smooth response. As these classic guitars have aged, it's been found that their tone dampens over the years as moisture and sweat wear down the magnets. You'll see Alnico magnets used in many "vintage" pickups.

     Ferrite / Ceramic pickups were designed in the mid 1950s as an alternative to Alnico. An alloy created from mixing strontium and iron, they're found commonly in more budget instruments. Stronger and longer lasting than Alnico, they tend to display less string "warbling", and have an overall brighter tone.

      Rare Earth magnets are many times stronger than ceramic magnets. They're stronger, brighter, and much more powerful. They aren't commonly found, and are only now starting to be using in newer pickups.

Are Pickups Like Fine Wine? : Vintage VS Modern Pickups

     I can't really describe the tonal differences between vintage and more modern pickups. It's a subtle difference that you can really only understand once you get out there and play as many different guitars as you can. I can tell you a couple different things between the two though. Humbuckers are louder. They are much louder, as they are literally two single coil pickups interlaced and reversed. Even though the only point of humbuckers were to remove the hum caused by amp frequencies, they affect tone in many important yet subtle ways. Most people agree that humbuckers are more suited for a distorted sound, whereas single coils will be much more appropriate for clean guitar. In the end it's all down to preference though, and the only way to figure out what you want is to get out there and try out different guitars.

     If you're looking to stick traditional with your Squier stratocaster or telecaster, you'll want to grab a pair of single coils. Don't think that makes selecting a pair of pickups easy. There are a fair amount of brands to choose from, all with different sounds, and more importantly, different prices. When buying these for your electric guitar, pickup reviews are important. The guitar community can be incredibly detailed with their reviews, and it's important to look at what they have to say.  Among electric guitar pickup brands, the most well known are:

• Seymour Duncan
• DiMarzio
• EMG
• Gibson
• Fender

All of these companies offer great sounding pickups for different purposes. I'm going to go over a couple of specific models, and address the intricacies they have.

DiMarzio DP415 Area '58' Pickup - $61.95 ea.
     The DiMarzio DP415 is a warm vintage pickup using Alnico 2 magnets. The guitar pickup reviews featured on Musician's Friend state that the DP415 has a solid warm tone, with a good amount of attack, and amazing response. They're very sensitive to small magnet adjustments, so when installing them, a lot of fine adjustments may be necessary. At $62 per pickup, it's an expensive upgrade to consider. With many positive reviews attesting to it's beautiful range and tone though, it's an investment worth considering. You can find it cheapest on Amazon here.

Seymour Duncan SSL-5 Custom Staggered Single-Coil Pickup - $52.95 ea
     The SSL-5 is a classic Seymour Duncan single coil pickup. Although advertised as a bridge pickup, it's been tested to work great anywhere else. If you're looking for a real classic Fender sound, you'll get it from these pickups. Quiet and smooth, they offer supreme clarity and clean sound. Seymour Duncan recommends that you use the SSL-5 as a bridge pickup, and SSL-1s for the neck and middle pickups to achieve maximum tonal variety. At $52.95 each, they're a slightly cheaper alternative to the DP415s, with a more classic sound. Again, they can be found cheapest on Amazon with free shipping SSL-5 guitar pickup Amazon page.

 EMG S1 Hot Passive Single Coil Pickup - $59.00 ea
     The EMG S1 is loud. Guitar pickup reviews describe it as a powerful pickup with tons of depth and action suitable for distortion. The S1 is a great pickup for those interested in a more powerful rock or metal sound, and will keep up with any other sound going on. Loud and deep, the S1 is great for those who really need to be, well, loud. You can find them on Amazon with free shipping EMG S1 guitar pickup page.
 
Broke But Still Rockin' : Budget Pickups

     So if you don't have the couple hundred dollars it takes to replace the pickups on your guitar, you still have a couple options. If you're running a Squier stratocaster, you can simply decide not comes to replace all of your pickups, and replace what you can. You can also look into budget pickups, which will offer significant improvements still over your stock guitar pickups. GFS pickups are regarded as some of the best guitar pickups for the price. At around $35 per pickup, they're around half the price of more expensive name brand pickups. You can find all of their models at Guitar Fetish, with in-depth specs and prices. You can find a video of GFS pickups in action on our video page.


Here's The Skinny About Pickups

     After the neck, pickups are the most important part of the guitar that you can change. Replacing pickups can be the most expensive of all mods, and it really comes down to how much you're willing to spend on that Squier stratocaster or telecaster you have. If you're going to spend the money it takes to replace your guitar pickups, know that like any expensive item, it is an investment that will definitely pay off in the long run. Always make sure to read as many guitar pickup reviews as you can before making your purchase, and if at all possible, get your hands on a guitar that has them installed. Installing the pickups is usually quick and painless, and when purchasing pickups, an instruction booklet it usually included.  And as always, never stop rockin'. You can have the best pickups in the world, but if you don't practice, you aren't going to get anywhere. Up next : body mods.

 

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Choosing the Wood For Your Squier Frankenstrat

     Let's face it, alot of Squier stratocasters and telecasters can sound pretty great out of the box, but eventually you either want to upgrade to a more expensive Fender, or other guitar. But what if you just can't bear to part with the Squier you learned to play on? There is an answer, and it's called modding. It's usually a simple job to buy higher end parts and put them on your old guitar. I'm going to go through the different parts that you can replace, and review the most expensive hardware you can buy. I've split this up into four parts, and will post the next sections up as I finish them.

Getting Wood : Choosing Your Neck

     So, you're tired of your guitar and want to spice it up a bit. The first thing you can replace, and one of the cheapest things to replace, is the neck. There are plenty of different styles to choose from, and for the most part, it's completely up to personal taste on what you want to put on your stratocaster / telecaster.
     The neck is where much of the action goes on, and it's absolutely essential to have a smooth neck with good action. The wood that your neck is made out of does affect tone to some degree. There are a couple of popular wood types that are used, and understanding the differences between them is crucial to choosing a neck that works for you.

• Basswood - Basswood is a very soft, wide grained wood that is used in many acoustic necks. Although, you'll also find that many high-end electric guitar necks are made with this wood. The most expensive necks are coated with an epoxy resin to create an incredibly strong and light neck. High notes become smoothened with a basswood neck, and you'll find that your low end notes will become softened.
• Mahogany - Mahogany has been used in guitar necks since the very beginning, only younger than maple. Mahogany guitar necks compress mids, and bring out the lows and low-mid tones. It isn't as responsive to mids as Alder or Ash is though. The main selling point of mahogany necks are the vibrant and rich highs that they offer.
• Maple - Maple wood was used in the creation of the first solid body guitar. For that reason alone, it has some serious traditional appeal. Maple offers very bright highs, pronounced mids, and tight lows. It has made itself known for it's very strong tone. Many say that maple "shouts" when compared with other wood types.
• Alder - Alder is a light wood with a tight grain. It is very similar to Basswood, but has a broader range of tones. This can cause some to perceive Alder as having less developed midtones than Basswood.
• Walnut - Denser than mahogany, Walnut offers much more pronounced and smoother highs, with textured mids and very solid lows.

     To really get a feel for the difference in tones, you have to get your hands on as many of these necks as you can. I'd suggest a trip to you local guitar store. Do a bit of research on which guitars use which necks, and go and play them. I've always been partial to maple necks, as I find they can hit some really funky highs. You're going to find that a lot of traditional Fender necks are going to be maple, due to the history of Fender.

Neck Styles and Obtaining A Fender Guitar Neck

     If you're going with Fender for this project, then you don't have to worry about neck style. Any neck you can use with a Squier guitar will be bolt on, so you don't have to worry about jointed necks. On the contrary, if you're modding an  Epiphone or a Gibson, you'll want to look into jointed necks.

     Obtaining a new neck can be difficult. The easiest place to locate authentic Fender necks is off of eBay. You'll find the people who generally sell them are hobbyists or luthiers who have dismantled the original guitar and no longer need the neck.  Although, if you don't like dealing with eBay, there's always Picker's Parts. You can find them here. Be aware though, they aren't cheap. Prices range from $100-$500 on individual necks. Necks can be one of the more difficult parts to find. When pickups are brought up, there'll be too many to go through! Just keep an eye out on eBay and other smaller retailers for the type of neck you're looking for. You could also buy a dead guitar and simply salvage the neck if you really can't find what you're looking for.

How To Replace A Guitar Neck

     For any Fender or Squier electric guitar, replacing the neck is remarkably simple. You just need to unbolt your current neck and bolt on your new one. You can re-use your old tuners, or you can always pick up a new pair. Squier guitar tuners can often be a little iffy. They're generally one of the things most Squier owners complain about. They aren't too expensive, and you can pick up a pair of genuine Fender tuners at Amazon here.
This will probably be the easiest part when it comes to modding you Squier stratocaster or telecaster.

Overall Cost

     This stage shouldn't cost more than $120-130 if you're frugal, less if you find a busted guitar to salvage. It's good to try and go for the highest quality you can afford though. If you can afford to spend more, do it, because the payoff can be very worth it.

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Black and Chrome Special Edition Tele Electric Guitar : You won't find this in a Squier pack.

This, friends, is the definition of Squier Telecaster Custom. With sleek, sexy chrome, and a to-die for black finish, this is what your friends are drooling over. With gloss black finish, and shiny chrome pickguard, let's just say you won't be going home alone after gigging.


This Squier telecaster is a special edition from 2004, NOT made in China, and it shows. This quality is far above that of the Squier Bullet Strats. The special edition Squier telecaster goes for $229.99 on Musicians Friend, similar to the standard tele. This is really very similar to the standard Squier telecaster, just with a slight upgrade in electronics and finish.


All of the reviews you'll find are nothing less than stellar. Squier has really gone above and beyond with this line. You think it's maybe cause they gave production to someplace other than China? Hmm, maybe.


The Squier telecaster comes with the standard body components:



-Agathis body
-Rosewood fretboard
-Dotted inlays
-Maple neck.


Thing is, because these are special edition, you better get your hands on 'em fast. Who knows when they'll run out? The internet has that lovely habit of making things disappear when you hold off on them.


If you've been looking for a new, cheap Squier, then this is the Squier telecaster for you.

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Squier Standard Telecaster

The Squier Standard Tele is a beautiful guitar. Period. If you like that old vintage guitar look, then you're going to love this guitar. With it's fast-action neck, agathis body, and rosewood fretboard, it's a beauty to behold.

Now, it isn't just beautiful, it's also one of the best sounding Squier guitars you can find on the market today. With a price point of $299 new, it's also not going to break the bank.

Many long time guitar players have vouched for the excellence of the Squier Standard Tele. It's a great budget guitar, and Hillbilly Rock on Musicians Friend posted:

"I just recieved this guitar today, and I was amazed at the high quality and playability. I actually compared the tone of this instrument with an american standard tele in a local music store and my ears(with 22 yrs experience)could not tell any real difference. The sound of the squier, mim, and am standard are surprisingly very close. The main differences in these guitars is obvously where they were made. Sure the squier has cheaper electronics but you could never tell this by the way it sounds. People can say all they want but real musicians and collectors alike will tell you that mexicans were making Fender guitars as early as the 1960's in Fenders factory in california! All that being said, this is a great telecaster guitar regardless of nationality. I just can't see shelling out $1,000 or more when you could have one of these beauties in every color for that kind of money. So, all-in-all,a very good quality instrument, I am very pleased."

I'm not sure I'd say it's comparable to a USA Tele, but alot of others compare them to MIM Telecasters, which is still quite a feat for this cheapie. The cheap Squier Standard Telecaster comes in 3 distinct colors: Cherry Burst, Vintage White, and Black.

I've handled a couple of these bad boys before, along with a Made in USA Tele Thinline. The thinline definitely had nicer action and a little more crunch, but these cheap guitars still sounded fantastic. If you're a fan of the telecaster sound, you'll definitely want this over the Squier Standard Strat. They're both great guitars, but nothing beats that clean, bluesy Telecaster sound, if you ask me.

You can find these at any music retailer about, but Musicians Friend has great shipping times, great customer service, and all in all, great products. You can find a link to the Cherry Burst Squier Standard Telecaster here.

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Hello Kitty Strat. Can you say daredevil?

Fender Squier Hello Kitty Strat, Black

On the electronics front, this guitar keeps it simple. A single black volume knob controls one humbucking pickup in the bridge position, for plenty of bite (players can of course back off the volume for a bit of tonal range, or just go all-out).

The guitar features a hard tail string-through-body bridge and standard die-cast tuning machines for stable rocking, with a chrome finish to accentuate the gloss black finish.

This Strats body is made of agathis, which in tone is quite comparable to mahogany--warm and thick, but with plenty of punch. The full-scale (25.5-inch), bolt-on maple neck is plenty fast, with its standard "C" shape. It features 21 medium jumbo frets with black dot inlays.

The engraved Squier neck plate means you can expect the same quality youd get from any other Fender-made Squier guitar. And of course, theres the fun Hello Kitty accoutrements, like the aforementioned Kitty pickgaurd, and a "collage" Hello Kitty logo gracing the back.

I dunno about you guys, but to me, nothing says confident like a guy playing a Hello Kitty guitar. Think of the balls you must have to tote that thing around and be like "Yeah, I play this, you got a problem with it? Oh, you do? Let me shred for a second, and see if you change your tune."

Even though it's branded as a Squier guitar, it has some superior construction over standard Affinities. The wood is a nice, solid, warm wood, much better than the standard of Squier. The expanded price point  isn't just because of the logo. There's some superior quality there, I assure you.

I saw a guy on the street playing one of these when I was hanging out with some friends, and it looks even better in person. The photos really don't do it justice. And again, you're gonna look way more badass with this than an SG, or something similarly metally looking.

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