Should I upgrade this?

[Atsim]

So last night I was cleaning up my room and I found my old Squire stratocaster that I got around 6-7 years ago. It has been under my bed since and collected a hell of a lot of dust.

So this guitar never was good, it was merely ok, but it's a nicely built guitar. Great intonation down the fretboard and it stays in tune if I go easy on the whammy bar. It just sounds like shite. It has a very plastic-y piece of cr@p sound to it.

My main guitar has always been an SG but sometimes I do crave that strat (sometimes tele) sound but never could bring myself to placing the money down for another expensive guitar.

I was wondering, if I got some nice strat sounding pickups, would it make my Squire sound close to a real fender? And, would it be worth upgrading it or should I just save my money for a "real" fender?

[WezV]

personally i wouldnt bother upgrading to BKP's on a squier unless you had firm plans to buy another strat at some point that they would be going on.

there are lots of cheaper brands of pickups that will make the squier sound OK but i would worry that something as good as bare knuckles would be wasted in such a guitar..

[Twinfan]

I guess it depends on a lot of things.  I've put over £300 worth of upgrades into my £350 Epiphone SG.  Was it worth it?  Hell yeah, the guitar is my main gigging axe and it sounds superb.  It was a good SG to start wirth though, which obviously helps.

If you've got the cash why not upgrade it?  It could be the Strat of your dreams...

[WezV]

very true - there are some squier strats out there that manage not to sound too bad.  I would consider just changing one pickup for now to save investing too much money into the guitar... Personally i would either go for a bridge humbucker or a middle single coil - but thats just me

but the phrase "polishing a turd" does always spring to mind in these situations

[gwEm]

check what the body's made from. if its plywood, i wouldn't bother. if its some kind of solid wood, i'd probably try something myself.

[Philly Q]

It just sounds like shitee. It has a very plastic-y piece of cr@p sound to it.

Do you think that's down to the pickups or the guitar itself?  If acoustically it sounds sort of dead/plinky and doesn't resonate much, you probably would be polishing a turd.

But like Twinfan says, it can be worth upgrading a cheap guitar - I spent loads doing up my Edwards V, but it was a nice resonant guitar to begin with.

[Twinfan]

I get much more satisfaction finding a good cheap guitar and upgrading it than I do buying an expensive guitar in the first place.  I love the challenge...

[Philly Q]

I get much more satisfaction finding a good cheap guitar and upgrading it than I do buying an expensive guitar in the first place.  I love the challenge...

Agreed - as I've said many times before, cheap(ish) guitars are fun because you don't have to be too afraid of damaging them.  And when it's finished it feels like a sort of secret weapon -

"Ahah, you think it's just a cheap Japanese copy, but listen to this!" (and then it goes Kerplink!  Ping!  CRASH! Huuuuummmmmmmm...., but never mind that  :roll: ).  

It does need to be a good one for it to be worthwhile though.

Having said all that, I think my next guitar will be a custom build.  Or, if I'm feeling brave, maybe even a home build - but probably not.

********

Going back to the original question, I also agree with Wez that it might be worth upgrading the pickups if you definitely want a Strat-type guitar long-term - if not the Squier then a better one.

[PhilKing]

I've upgraded a few cehaper guitars, but they always had a decent acoustic sound in the first place.  If they don't then you will never get a great electric sound from them.  You will get a better sound than they have, but it won't be like an old vintage sound!  Are you sure that your Squire doesn't need decent strings to sound better?  As upgrades go, that is the cheapest and will affect the overall sound of the guitar.  Really check the wood though.  Plywood body guitars will never sound great, unless you want the 'Killing an Arab' tone!

[TomW]

I recently did up my squier because it was just lying around not being played and I fancied the challenge of doing it up. I replaced the neck, the bridge, fitted locking tuners and a holydiver in the bridge position and it sounds awesome and plays really nice now. However this guitar was also fairly good before I upgraded it and resonated quite well. I also really enjoyed putting it all together.

[Doadman]

I've been wondering something very similar. I bought my eldest boy an Aria STG004 and had a full setup and fret dress done on it prior to delivery. It plays like a dream though I still find the neck very chunky next to mine. He doesn't really play it as much as he should so I've often wondered about taking it on. I'd toyed with the idea of putting a Warpig and a couple of Trilogy Suites in it to make it a real monster or maybe something more vintage to give me more of a bluesy tone than my Ibanez will manage. The problem that I always come up against is the cost of 3 pups that would make it far more expensive than the guitar cost originally. It's tempting but it's not an easy thing to rationally justify.

[Atsim]

Speak of the devil, I whipped it out and started messing around with it.

About 10 minutes it went dead. I think the input jack may be messed up..

I think I'll save my money for now.

[Johnny Mac]

I pimped a Richwood LP that cost 200 quid. I put Cold Sweats or rather Feline did and had the frets changed to 6000's and the fret board flattened as it was terrible. It plays and somes lovely now. So why not treat your Squire?

[bobthemerciful]

I stuck a Warpig 7 in my Squier Stagemaster 7. My mate wants a pig for his Universe now (since he heard mine) instead of the DiMarzio evo which he's got, I tried and was gonna get, until I heard the Warpig in his SG and had to have one. It cost half as much as the guitar cost me, almost. Worth every penny. :)  :twisted:  8)