Now that I have a few months worth of guitar experience under my belt, I was thinking about purchasing an Ibanez RG370, but recently been wondering whether or not it would have been a good idea to change the pickups (from single coil to humbucker) in my Squier Strat, or should I just buy a whole new guitar in general?
Anyone who was in the military may know a colorful saying about opinions, but 
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If you decide to modify the Squier, there are just tons of possibilities there. You might find some good "stacked singlecoils" that you like, thereby avoiding a lot of routing to fit "regular" humbuckers. While you have the guitar opened up, you can see if it could stand some shielding. (Most stock guitars need at least some added shielding.) You might also make some other mods to the wiring, maybe adding switches to select different combinations of pickups, series or parallel, in/out of phase, and so on.
Then you might want that Ibanez or something else so you don't go into withdrawal while the Squier is being worked on. :wink:
I'd upgrade the Squier, depending on wheter or not it was good to start with. There is much point in modifying a bad guitar. Good pickups, combined with bad woods, and a bad neck, and bad hardware doesn't make a good guitar.
If the guitar is decent, I'd suggest picking up a pickguard kit. With the pickups and wiring all done, it'll make the process easier.
Vacate is the word...Vengance has no place on me or her...Cannot find a comfort in this world.
I'd get another guitar. That way you'll have a single coil and a humbucker they each have their place.
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is your squire an affinity? if it is then the body should already be routed out for a bridge and neck humbucker. Or at least mine was. I think that mine was made in or around 2002, I don't know if they still do this on the new ones. I would recommend putting new pups in it I did this to mine and it sounds a LOT better. Adding shielding to the wiring compartment can do wonders for the sound. Finally if you put push /pull pots in it you can get a ton of different sounds. All in all I think that most squire's are a blast to play when you get them set up right.
wherever you go, there you are.
Yes, its an Affinity Strat, I bought it used and it has a couple of nicks in the paint (anyone have some advice for that)
Is replacing the pickups going to be complicated? I'd appriciate some sites or videos that explain it.
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/columns/gear_maintenance/pickup_faq_part_1.html
Audioboy, this link has a ton of info you might can use. Keep us updated on this project. Changing the pickups with good ones will have a positive effect on your sound. A got a Affinity Strat I paid $40 for, I put some custom stickers on it, now I need to change the pickups and pickguard. Good Luck and have fun!
"Failure is the key to success" Lee Wen; Champ vs Champ
I mentioed earlier the idea of getting a pre-wired kit. You may want to look at something like these. They will make installation a whole lot easier, and look great to boot.
Vacate is the word...Vengance has no place on me or her...Cannot find a comfort in this world.
This is where that old saying about opinions comes in. :wink:
How much wiring/soldering are you willing to do? And how much money do you want to put into it?
A pre-wired pickguard is the easier way to go in many ways, but both of those on eBay are considerably more expensive than the ones here: http://store.guitarfetish.com/wipi.html .
Another consideration is that the one with the Fender Hot Noiseless pups is an 11-hole pickguard, but it might not fit a Squier. Some of them were just a tad different from everything else of their type. The description for the one with the EMGs mentions that the assembly was cut loose, not unsoldered. You'd have to strip some insulation anyway. (And hope they weren't cut too short, like a used DiMarzio X2N® I once bought. Four-conductor, 24-gauge "Rainbow Wire" is our friend. :roll: )
I'd also suggest taking a look at GFS' pickups. Seeing some full sets of three for under $50 might seem scary, but they're quality pickups, wax potted and everything. One or more of those rail-type humbuckers ("Lil Killers") might be just what you're looking for, although you will probably have to open up the pickguard cutout(s) a little for them to fit. Heck, for under sixty buck$ for a set of three, I might have to grab some for my next project, and put the savings toward a custom-cut metal pickguard. And 6.5K Neck, 10K Middle, 13.6K Bridge? You might have to play with NOMEX® gloves on! 8)
Again, this is all Just My Humble Opinion.
NOMEX® is a registered trademark of E.I. duPont de Nemours and Company.
Yes, its an Affinity Strat, I bought it used and it has a couple of nicks in the paint (anyone have some advice for that)
Is replacing the pickups going to be complicated? I'd appriciate some sites or videos that explain it.
Replacing the pickups in a guitar is for the most part an easy mod. Generally it only gets hard when you are trying to put a normal size humbucker into a single coil sized body, however your affinity should hopefully be routed for full size humbuckers. That makes this a LOT easier.
you will need electrical tape, a soldering Iron and electronics soldier,a pencil marker or some form of erasable marking device, a screwdriver, all the hardware you are putting in, wire strippers, and either a dremmel tool or a jigsaw and a drill. make sure the area you're working at has plenty of light.
First take the strings off of your guitar and then unscrew the pickguard put the screws in a bowl so they cant roll off. lift the pickguard up off the body STOP!! look at the holes the old pickups fit in, compare them 2 the humbuckers you are putting in, they should fit but it's worth checking before you start clipping wires.
assuming they fit you want to clip/remove the soldier from the three remaining wires that hold the guard to your guitar. 2 of these should go to the jack, while 1 should go through hole in the body cavity. BEFORE you do this either take a picture of the wiring or draw a diagram, this will ensure that you don't forget where the wires go.
once you've got the pickguard completely detached from the guitar, take the pickups your replacing off of it, if you ar replacing the single coils with mini humbuckers there is a decent chance that they will fit in the precut slots saving you a fair amount of trouble. howecer for full size buckers your going to need to enlarge the holes in the pickguard so that they will fit.
the easiest way to do this (IMHO) is to first thread the screws of the humbuckers through the pickguard with the pickup upside down on the bottom, and then set the pickguard back on top of the guitar. Check and see if the pickups are centered. If not then new holes wil need to be drilled.
if everything lines up right then trace around the pickup on the back of the guitar trying to get as close as possible. remove the pickup and remove all the extra pickguard material from inside your marks. GO SLOWLY CHECK THE FIT OFTEN! it's easier to enlarge a hole than to shrink it.
now put the pickup in, the box it came in should tell you which wires are which. now just wire the + and ground to the same poles the old pickups were wired to.
argh I'm out of comp time for a bit I'll finish this later srry.
wherever you go, there you are.
