The Fatalities Posted August 11, 2006 Report Share Posted August 11, 2006 Well im finally buying a tele. i gotta buy a squier because fenders are wayyy out of my budget. ive decided to get the standard tele since ive heard it is the best in the series. my plans are to buy vintage usa pickups and vintage bridge. what other parts are to be bought to make it sound and feel more like a fender? new pots maybe? will the usa pickups make a huge difference?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted August 11, 2006 Report Share Posted August 11, 2006 Pickups first, thats gonna be the biggest change in the guitar. Then i would change the nut and tuners to something better. Getting rid of the plastic nut and replacing it with bone or one of the synthetic nuts will be a big improvement in tone instantly. I wouldnt worry too much about a vintage bridge, it would definatly be an improvement but there isnt always gong to be a huge tonal change. If you were changing the bridge i would go for: wilkinson adjustable It has the 3 large brass saddles that apparently make teles sound better and it gets you better intonation than most 3 saddle tele bridges. I dont like the look of 6 saddle tele bridges unless its the modern ones with the strat style saddles. Getting new pots and switches will help but do some sheilding as well to reduce noise. I would also play about with the value of the capacitor on the tone control to find one you like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RGGR Posted August 11, 2006 Report Share Posted August 11, 2006 With the amount of customizig you're planning to do,.....why not go to warmoth.com or usacustomguitars.com, and get yourself the right body and neck........and order pups and electronics at places like allparts, Stewmac.... Other option will be to get right body at ebay and order neck from Warmoth and the like..... This way you will end up with instrument that will blow away any "Fender" out there.....and still have some beer money left. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fatalities Posted August 11, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 11, 2006 im only buying the vintage bridge for looks. i dont want to buy a new body because it comes with a decent agathis. i want it to sound like a fender without spending too much. by nuts do you mean the the screws holding everything in place?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted August 11, 2006 Report Share Posted August 11, 2006 No, the guitar nut is the thing the strings pass over on the way from the tuners to the fretboard. It will probably be made of white plastic on your guitar. Plastic is not a friend to tone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fatalities Posted August 11, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 11, 2006 that would be quite a task to do if i did it myself. would it be cheap to get someone to do it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted August 11, 2006 Report Share Posted August 11, 2006 You can get them preslotted, take the old one out, put the new one in. You will have to get used to working on nuts if you want your guitar to play well. I suppose a local guitar shop would do it quite cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwedishLuthier Posted August 11, 2006 Report Share Posted August 11, 2006 It depends on your definition on cheep. My running rate for doing a new nut on a Tele is 40€ excluding the one for the nut. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RGGR Posted August 11, 2006 Report Share Posted August 11, 2006 What you want is a Fender Telecaster, but without spending Fender $$$ type money. At same time you're not capable to do these simple "luthier" jobs yourself (changing tuners, top nut, propper fret dressing, installing and soldering new pups and electronics). This means you have to pay someone to do them for you. Sounds like you're better off paying Fender to do this for you to begin with. Putting hard earned money in Squire and improving it, is nice and all.....but it still won't get you to have a real Fender Telecaster. Resale value will reflect this. If you want truely a nice instrument. Assemble one from parts. It will beat any mass produced instrument. If you want a Telecaster......buy a proper Fender one. If you just want Telecaster on the cheap and think with few mods can get it up to par with real Fender......get the parts and do the work yourself (or learn how to do it). Paying someone to do all the mods for you...will bring the price up to real Fender level, with in the end being stuck with modded cheap guitar. This simply makes no sense. It's penny wise pound foolish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fatalities Posted August 11, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 11, 2006 well i have already done my own custom guitar and know how to install and remove most things properly. i have examined the specs on the squiers and the fenders and it suits my budget. fenders are about $1000 in aus which is a LOT of money. squiers are only about 300$ and only spending about 100$ will bring it up to scratch. i can install everything myself except am new to chaning the top nut and do not really know what fret dressing is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ihocky2 Posted August 11, 2006 Report Share Posted August 11, 2006 You still will not get the same kind of tone out of a Squier though, because they use the cheapest body wood they can find instead of using high quality ash. My first guitar was a Squier because I didn't want to sink a lot of money into learning to find out that I didn't like playing. After I started learning how to build guitars and set them up I checked out my Squier and the fret job is slightly above poor, with the action being even worse. Squiers are cheap for a reason. Even with all of the mods you'll be lucky to get back the cost of the guitar alone if you sell it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fatalities Posted August 11, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 11, 2006 mm i wont be selling it for quite a while. ill only use it for little gigs. if the wood is poor, why is used in bc richs? is agathis is better than plywood and alder right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setch Posted August 11, 2006 Report Share Posted August 11, 2006 if the wood is poor, why is used in bc richs? It's used on the extremely low end BC Richs for the same reason it's used on the low end Squires - because it's cheap and widely available. Bronze BCRs are not quality instruments. Agathasis is a step above plywood, but not as good as alder, poplar, basswood, or any of the other widely available cheap woods used for guitar building. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fatalities Posted August 11, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 11, 2006 (edited) if the wood is poor, why is used in bc richs? It's used on the extremely low end BC Richs for the same reason it's used on the low end Squires - because it's cheap and widely available. Bronze BCRs are not quality instruments. Agathasis is a step above plywood, but not as good as alder, poplar, basswood, or any of the other widely available cheap woods used for guitar building. oops i was looking at the wrong tele. the standard squier tles have agathis and the others have alder. i dont think id be willing to buy another body because it would cost me $100+ dollars. Edited August 11, 2006 by The Fatalities Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al heeley Posted August 11, 2006 Report Share Posted August 11, 2006 Squiers are a great place to start - playing, modding, learning. Don't let them put you off. You will get a reasonable starter instrument for the money that will sound Tele-like, of course it won't be as full and sweet as a £900 Fender USA model but I think they are good value for money. Play the hell out of it and learn about setups, new nuts, swapping out pickups, etc. Try modding the electrics, learn the ropes then you will know what you want to achieve in terms of tone and playability without having wrecked a big bucks instrument. Use it as a test bed. Far better to start here than spend significant money on a really nice Warmoth body or similar. That's my 10pence worth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fatalities Posted August 11, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 11, 2006 Squiers are a great place to start - playing, modding, learning. Don't let them put you off. You will get a reasonable starter instrument for the money that will sound Tele-like, of course it won't be as full and sweet as a £900 Fender USA model but I think they are good value for money. Play the hell out of it and learn about setups, new nuts, swapping out pickups, etc. Try modding the electrics, learn the ropes then you will know what you want to achieve in terms of tone and playability without having wrecked a big bucks instrument. Use it as a test bed. Far better to start here than spend significant money on a really nice Warmoth body or similar. That's my 10pence worth yeah ive said ive previously worked on 2 guitars and know most about modding them... its time to get down to business now without spending too much money. ive been looking at epis and they seem like really good quality compared to squier but i dont like any of them atm! all the vintage ones look crap cept the firebird which is sorta good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldtopper Posted August 11, 2006 Report Share Posted August 11, 2006 For that kind of dough with adding everything else- get a Fender Hwy 1 tele. I have one and it's a great guitar. Lots of tone and I happen to like the matte finish. They only run about $700 USD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ihocky2 Posted August 11, 2006 Report Share Posted August 11, 2006 Squier's are a great place to start learning to play and for messing around on. But If you really want cheap to try and make sound good, just go on Ebay and find on of the junkers. For the money your gonna spend on the original guitar, the new pickups, the new bridge, the new nut, the new tuners, the new electronics you are going to be close to the price of a bare bones Fender Tele. If you want something to mod then you have a start in the right direction, but if you want it to sound like a true Tele you might as well save for a few months and buy a real one. Guitar building and modding is not a way to get an authentic sound for less money. Unless you come across a real sweet deal on a used body, you just can't do it as cheaply. If you look at the cost, it just doesn't make sense to try and modify a Squier to get a Fender sound. You spent 300 on the guitar. I am not sure what the conversion rate is, but in the US you are looking at the following prices. New pickup-$60 each. New tuners-$35 minimum. New bridge-$27 minimum. New nut-either about $5 for a nut blank and over $100 in tools, or around $40 for someone else to do it. And about $15 in better quality electronics. You already have about $250 in parts if you go with the cheapest parts you can find. Plus shipping. So you are probably around $280 -$300 in mods on a $300 guitar. And that is without having a fret job done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rashin Posted August 11, 2006 Report Share Posted August 11, 2006 Just a thought... how about a flametop-s guitar with a replacement neck from stewmac. Prices are very low and I'm sure the product is great. You are talking about new hardware anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RGGR Posted August 11, 2006 Report Share Posted August 11, 2006 (edited) its time to get down to business now without spending too much money. Getting down to business mostly means spending the do. Simple as that. Seen too many people wanting the real deal, but not wanting to spend the real money. If you want real Fender sound, get a real Fender.....and if you don't have the money for it. Beg, steal or lie your way into one.... get a second job, morgage the house...... The fact of the matter is.......you're penny wise, pound foolish. With Squire you get what you pay for.....a cheap guitar, made from cheap parts......although a real Fender to me is still a mass produced cheap guitar with a not so cheap price tag. Take the advice people give you.......get the real deal, or discounted real deal on the bay or so. And not trying to ride you.....just wanting you to get a wonderful guitar. Not a modded piece of [you know what]. Edited August 11, 2006 by RGGR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryema22 Posted August 11, 2006 Report Share Posted August 11, 2006 (edited) Just thought I'd weigh in... I don't know how many of you have picked up a Squier recently but the Standard series has improved greatly in quality over the past few years and oftentimes equals a Mexican Fender from what I've seen. (The Affinity series is still a junker, yes) I picked up a Standard Series Strat a few years ago and the quality is excellent. The action and intonation were nearly perfect out of the box and I've seen nothing wrong with the fret dressing compared to other more expensive guitars. The body is ash and the rosewood fretboard has a very attractive grain. There is very little discernable (if any) tonal difference between the pickups on that guitar and my brother's Mex Strat. The one disclaimer I'd give you is that the consistency from guitar to guitar IS a little lower on a Squier than a Fender due to Squier cutting quality control costs so you definately want to sit down in a guitar shop and play a few of them to find one you like. (Don't order one from MusiciansFriend.com or the like without playing first) Good Luck, Ryan Edited August 11, 2006 by ryema22 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fatalities Posted August 12, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 12, 2006 thanks for all the help everyone, but i think fenders are too hard to find for 300-400$ so i will wait for the right telecaster/jagmaster to come around and buy it. kudos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wwood Posted August 14, 2006 Report Share Posted August 14, 2006 Hi, You'd be better looking at some of the older squires. I have an early 90's Korean strat and it is very high quality, pickups aren't the best but as for materials and attention to detail it is right up there. The trem has a steel block and fender stamped saddles, the neck is a gorgeous piece of birdseye maple which has aged nicely and with gotoh machineheads. Just need to get round to changing those pickups. See if you can find 1 or 2 of the old Korean tele's to have a look at. Cheers wwood Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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