More suggestions for strat project

cwebb

cwebb

New member
So I'm on the last leg of refinishing my strat, it's a natural wood color and I'm most likely going to have a pearloid or aged pearloid pickguard, and i plan on having black knobs and black pickup covers (my friends sending me a bridge and neck pickup that are already black so I figure the black/white contrast will look pretty nice) now I need to know for hardware upgrades as this is a squire strat, should I look into upgrading the bridge and tuners and stuff? How much money should I be willing to spend on this guitar? Also if I change out hardware should I stick with the metal or make it gold or black hardware? What hardware upgrades will have the most noticeable improvements for the lowest cost? I will eventually post pics from the whole process when this is finished here's some pics of it as it is ImageUploadedByTapatalk1444724966.037527.jpgImageUploadedByTapatalk1444724976.123807.jpgImageUploadedByTapatalk1444724991.669944.jpg

I'm putting on the poly right now to finish it off other than hardware plans it's done other than that! (Originally a gloss black squire affinity strat, not sure how old it was, I'm liking it so far for my first project!
 
Re: More suggestions for strat project

The tele is my friends project he changed finishes about 3-4 times and finally decided to try to go with a relic type thing
 
Re: More suggestions for strat project

Gfs import tremolo with a fat brass block and some standard gotoh tuners and you will be set.
 
Re: More suggestions for strat project

How much? Well, it depends on how much you are willing to spend. Some people would say its a Squier and throwing any money/time into it is a waste while others see it as a good building block for reasonable mods and upgrades. But it is your guitar–so it is what you want to put into it. From an "investment" standpoint it is a Squier so not like you are going to get Fender prices for it...so I would say mod it and have fun!
 
Re: More suggestions for strat project

cwebb said:
So I'm on the last leg of refinishing my strat, it's a natural wood color and I'm most likely going to have a pearloid or aged pearloid pickguard, and i plan on having black knobs and black pickup covers (my friends sending me a bridge and neck pickup that are already black so I figure the black/white contrast will look pretty nice) now I need to know for hardware upgrades as this is a squire strat, should I look into upgrading the bridge and tuners and stuff? How much money should I be willing to spend on this guitar? Also if I change out hardware should I stick with the metal or make it gold or black hardware? What hardware upgrades will have the most noticeable improvements for the lowest cost? I will eventually post pics from the whole process when this is finished here's some pics of it as it is

I'm putting on the poly right now to finish it off other than hardware plans it's done other than that! (Originally a gloss black squire affinity strat, not sure how old it was, I'm liking it so far for my first project!
Click to expand...

kramersteen said:
Gfs import tremolo with a fat brass block and some standard gotoh tuners and you will be set.
Click to expand...

Full size block won't fit on an Affinity Strat.

Go with black hardware. If the tuners have two guide pins (as opposed to a screw) you can use Ibanez tuners.
 
More suggestions for strat project

If you upgrade anything, I would buy used upgrade parts. It'll allow you to reduce the spending on a Squier, and make modding it a hair or two more "justifiable."

First priorities should be a nut replacement and a fret dressing. Those will be the biggest bang for the buck in making it feel like a quality instrument - that goes for any guitar, even brand new $3,000 Gibsons.

Next, I'd shell out for a good bridge as my one expensive upgrade. Hipshot makes a killer one for import Strats. Again, try to find it used. The importance of a solidly engineered and manufactured bridge cannot be stressed enough. It will improve the guitar's function (tuning stability and vibrato use) and durability, as well as hold your adjustments better.

Pots, switch, and jack next; might as well just buy those new, as they're cheap enough.

Tuners last, if at all. Get them used. If your bridge, nut, frets, and setup are in order, and you know how to wrap strings in locking fashion with a minimum of wraps, then even cheap tuners can perform okay.

It's more than I'd put into a Squier...but you're already invested, and at least you have your pickups already.
 
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Re: More suggestions for strat project

My pickups were free thankfully, stain and sandpaper was cheap, I do plan on blocking the trem because the bar never worked and for a trem guitar my variax is a lot nicer, yeah I don't want to put a whole lot more money into it so probably for now I'll just replace the nut. I've already replaced the pots shortly after I bought the guitar, it made a huge improvement. I might upgrade the saddles too, I plan on having this be the guitar I can bring around without worrying about it getting damaged
 
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