I was all geared up to write another guitar review but I’m currently planning something that is hopefully interesting enough to be worth sharing. I’ve decided that the second-hand ’98 Squier Affinity Stratocaster that has been my ‘second guitar’ (read: my backup when my main one goes out of tune/breaks) is the ideal subject for screwing up modifying to be better suited to the music I’m playing. I’m a complete novice to this sort of thing, beyond the regular changing of strings and a recent pickup switch repair to my old Ibanez (more on the latter at a later date) so I’m deliberately working on an inexpensive and mainstream instrument. Because it’s such an average ‘off the shelf’ guitar the replacement of parts will be affordable and relatively straightforward too.
This is roughly what it looked like, before the onslaught
The Squier Strat: an introduction
This is the guitar for beginners/intermediate players who can’t afford a bona fide Fender – it looks the same as the classic design, it feels the same (more or less) but it’s considerably cheaper. Unfortunately the sound and build quality aren’t outstanding in any way; the pickups, electronics and hardware are all below the level of the top-of-the-line models that we’re familiar with so the experience of playing it is best described as “meh.” It’s not a bad guitar to start out on but when you’ve been playing for a few years you want something a bit better…
The project
Basically, I’m checking over and where necessary replacing every part of the guitar apart from the wood that makes up the body and the neck of the instrument. The great thing about Fenders is that they’re designed with mass-production in mind: bits and pieces are interchangable with widely-available replacements using standard tools. Unlike, say, Gibsons the neck for instance is bolted onto the body rather than glued on, which means if you’re unhappy with the neck or fretboard, it’s easy to replace. My Strat’s neck isn’t too bad actually, so beyond a clean and a polish I’ll be leaving it as it is.
The bridge
The Strat is famous for its tremolo bridge which, misleadingly, allows vibrato of notes and chords by tilting it back and forth using a screw-in tremolo bar. The bar in question went missing months ago and didn’t fit too well anyway (the screw threads felt a bit worn). On closer inspection the whole assembly could do with replacing with something a bit more solid and substantial, so the first thing I’ll be looking into is a replacement bridge with a new trem arm, hopefully something a bit longer. If a replacement Jazzmaster/Jaguar trem arm fits in a Strat’s socket, that will be ideal but it depends on the replacement bridge: some allow screw-in trem arms while others have a newer pop-in mechanism. A guy called Trevor Wilkinson runs a company that makes replacement vibrato bridge assemblies at a pretty reasonable price, so that will be my first port of call.
Pickups and scratchplate
The three-pickup arrangement of the Strat is one of its defining features but after playing on two-pickup models for years I can’t actually see myself needing as many as three with my playing style. I’ll be cutting it down to two pickups, which will require a new scratchplate; again, these can be removed and replaced quite easily so I’ll give it a black version with room for two pickups (e.g. the scratchplate for the ‘HH double fat strat’). Instead of three single coils then, I’ll be going for two soapbar style single coils; they have more sparkle than humbuckers but are a bit mellower in tone than the Strat’s. At this moment in time I’m leaning towards P90s (as used in old Gibson Les Pauls and archtops) or reissued Fender Jazzmaster models made by Seymour Duncan.
Electronics and controls
Changing the pickup configuration is going to warrant a whole new circuitry but since Squier electronics are inferior to their more expensive Fender counterparts (in my opinion anyway) I can only see this as a good thing. The Strat scratchplate has room for three control knobs and one selector switch so to keep things simple I’ll stick with two tone knobs, one overall volume knob and a standard Strat pickup switch. The early Strat models actually had a three-way rather than a five-way installed, so I’ll fit a reissued one of those and wire it to select one pickup or the other, or both. It’ll work in the same way as a Gibson toggle, but will function and be installed as a Fender blade switch; in the same way as a Telecaster’s pickup switch I guess.
There will be a tone control for each pickup, with one overall volume. I was toying with the idea of two separate volumes and one tone but if the pickup heights are adjusted correctly I shouldn’t feel the need to alter the volumes independently. Besides, independent tone controls are handy and replacement knob sets for Strats come labelled as one volume and two tones anyway.
Depending on how the tone feels when completed, I might add a capacitor and resistor across the volume pot to lessen treble bleed at lower volume settings. Brightness of tone is what I’m after here, but until I’ve chosen the pickups (and therefore the values of the pots for the volume and tone controls) I won’t know for sure how it’ll sound.
In closing
This is going to be an interesting experiment – I’ll be making a Strat sound like a completely different instrument because of the change in pickups, but hopefully give a versatile and decent-sounding one with its own tone and character that still has the physical feel of a Strat. Besides, if you’re on a budget it makes more sense to modify a working guitar you already own rather than go out and buy a new one that may or may not be exactly how you want it. I want it structurally sound with the mechanical adjustments ironed out before spending money on electrical components; therefore the work list currently stands as:
- Clean fretboard and polish neck (the laquer on the back of the neck is thin and attracts dirt and grease)
- Replace bridge and tremolo arm with a Fender unit or similar; Jazzmaster arm is preferred but it depends on the bridge itself
- Get new scratchplate to accomodate two-pickup configuration (if this all goes wrong, I can always replace it with the old one)
- Choose new pickups for tone that is mellower than a standard Strat but brighter than humbuckers
- Choose replacement pots and controls for volume, tone and pickup selection
- Wire up the pickups, switch, volume and tone controls and check everything works correctly(!)
- Install treble bleed limitation circuit if required
The budget
Obviously, I’m going to all this trouble partly because I don’t have the money (or room in my house!) for another guitar when there’s a half-decent one lying around. I’m making a rough guesstimate as to how much everything will cost, but buying the parts over a period of several weeks/months to spread it out a bit. Prices are in £UK with €Euros in brackets but I’ll be shopping around a bit too.
- Replacement vibrato bridge: £28.99 (€36.50)
- Replacement tremolo arm (optional): £12.99 (€16.40)
- Scratchplate (HH, black): £30 (€37.80)
- Potentiometers for volume and tone controls: £2.00 (€2.52) each
- Strat control knobs (white): £7.49 (€9.44)
- Pickup selector switch: £12.99 (€16.37)
- Gibson P90 pickup OR Seymour Duncan SJM-1: £69.95 (€88.17) OR £49.95 (€62.98) each
