Good Idea?

Squiers are pretty nice right off the shelf, but no reason not to modify one if you just want to have some fun doing it

IMO, there's nothing wrong with it, but remember to get a guitar that you actually want to play, not to modify. Sure, it'll play better with mods, but if its a crappy guitar from the start, it still won't be a totally great guitar even with $200 dollars worth of upgrades... If you want to get on just to mod it, get a squier bullet for like 80 bucks or better yet, the cheapest guitar you can find... (hint: check in pawnshops)

spend the extra cash and mod a made in mexico strat...a nicely modded mex strat can be a wonderful thing. A modded squire is still a cheapo guitar.

spend the extra cash and mod a made in mexico strat...a nicely modded mex strat can be a wonderful thing. A modded squire is still a cheapo guitar.
Exactly what I was trying to say. :)

Hi,

I have done quite a bit of research on buying eletric guitars and must tell u that the modification you talk about are only done by professional engineers or experienced players.Even then you cannot expect the sound quite out of a 150 $ to be the same of a 400$ strat.A strat is a strat.Try ibanez for good or even yamaha pacifica.Check out - http://www.samedaymusic.com and http://www.samash.com for more on electric guitars.

Rahul

spend the extra cash and mod a made in mexico strat...a nicely modded mex strat can be a wonderful thing. A modded squire is still a cheapo guitar.
Exactly what I was trying to say. :)

Tell you what, my brother in law has a 2005 anniversary issue strat, there is virtually no difference in the sound between that and my squier strat.

when i have a job, i wanna buy the $99 squier bullet and jsut for pure fun and my enjoyment, I wanna upgrade everyhting I can on it and install some humbuckers, jsut make some weird hybrid. locking tuners, 2 noiseless pickups and a 57 classic in the middle, wow

oh yah, and a gold bigsby.

^ Good luck. :roll: Those Squier Bullets have the worst intonation that I've ever seen, even when set up and "intonated"(Really, I have to play one because its the only electric I can afford to rent). No, I really do think that Squiers(or the ones I've tried) are pieces of crap, at least in value. If I'm gonna spend that kind of money(low to middle budget), I'd rather get a no-name copy like this: http://www.rondomusic.net/st802w.html Look at the features: two piece solid alder(I've heard that the squiers have three piece), Canadian Maple neck(Canada produces some of the finest tonewoods for the money BTW) with graphite nut and jumbo frets, frickin GROVER 18:1 tuners! And a Wilkinson tremelo all for only 40 bucks more than this: http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/fg=101/g=guitar/search/detail/base_pid/510422/ . If you think that its not reliable, check out the reviews: http://www.harmony-central.com/Guitar/Data4/Agile/ST802-01.html and http://www.harmony-central.com/Guitar/Data4/Agile/ST902_Stratocaster-01.html Other than the pickups(which I still bet are better than the Squiers), these have gotten no major complaints. I'm actually gonna go to that store in a week or two while on my vacation around the east coast. :) Actually, all of the producs by that maker have gotten good reviews. I heard that its because the store ( http://www.rondomusic.net ) is the only dealer, so theres no middlemen, no advertising costs, and not much money goes away to the CEO's(or employers) because its such a small company. The folks at the Harmony Central forums have gone crazy over these guitars, and even have a thread about them with 229 pages(last time I checked)

thats actually a great deal, didn't know stuff like that were ven out there. Im thinkin, since the squier bullets a bolt-on neck,m let's say you buy a replacement fender neck ($300 ones) and replace the bridge, wouldnt't that solve any intonation problems?

I can see it now, gold bigbsy, 1 57 classic HB, 2 nosieless single coils, a brit flag pickguard, gold grover tuners, and gold bridge, me and my pimped out squier. Actually, Ill make the pickups gold plated also. ohh yea

^Belive me dude, don't get a Bullet. At least get a affinity series, because they have an alder body. Bullets have fuc#in plywood. Dont ever buy a plywood guitar unless its for the sole purpose of smashing it at the end of a gig... 8)

I originally picked the bullet cuz its the cheapest i could find. Also, since its still a fender product, the replacement neck would work on it. I don't plan on doing this project for a few years, I wanna buy good guitars first lol :lol:

the modification you talk about are only done by professional engineers or experienced players.

Not exactly, there are some pretty darn good websites out there that show you how to easily replace a pre-loaded pickguard(a pickguard with pickups, pots, knobs already on it.) and other things about replacing stuff... here is an exellent example: http://www.guitarnuts.com/index.php

There's nothing wrong with a litte guitar upgrading, it can add that extra little zing you need or get some functionality that's normally not possible, but when you are modding your guitar, take into account that no matter what you do, it will still be basically the same guitar you started with, modded. It will still have the same fundamental sound coming from the wood.

At the very least, start off with something with good wood, that way you know you'll eventually come out with something usable. I'd say a mexi strat or a simlarly priced Epi isn't a bad place to start. If you go any lower, you'll just be polishing turds.