new guitar (squier cyclone) not sure how to customise

[gwEm]

GAS kicked in over the weekend, and instead of wisely buying a new floyd from feline as i planned, i brought this...

not sure if it was really the right decision, but it was only 100 quid, and theres really nothing to complain about. plus, its my first fender-style guitar at last :) like all squiers the neck is a bit rough and ready, but the hardware is semi-decent at least (better than mid-90s epiphone).

for now i put a black cover on the neck single coil, and a gibson 500t in the bridge. it sounds not-bad. the neck has that fender sound, and the bridge somehow manages to sound a little fendery, even if its a humbucker. the default humbucker was awful by the way.

its a maple/rosewood neck, 24.75" scale, and an allegedly alder body. mustang body shape with strat thickness - body contoured at the back. strat vintage trem.

i have several options to customise it, and it would be cool to get some thoughts on them. basically, as its my only fender-style guitar, it would be nice to enhance its "fender-ness". i play metal and punk, but i have a huge soft spot 70s hard rock and jazz.

1) cold sweat bridge/irish tour neck (easy option)

2) new pickguard and change to S / S combination. it would be nice to get something 70s and typically fendery - maybe mother milk or irish tour?

3) THE SINNER bridge, and custom neck pickup (for no reason other than youthful enthusiasm for utter overkill - i would do this, but will it sound like a fender?)

4) four way tele switch

5) relocate jack to the bottom edge, and convert to volume/volume/tone

6) mustang-style stripe graphics

obviously i'll be upgrading the cheaper items of hardware (the string tree, tremolo and tuners). the electrics are actually ok - except the pups and jack socket.

would love to get your thoughts...

[noodleplugerine]

New snakewood neck with an ebony fretboard and a reverse headstock.

Then have flame inlays going all the way down the the neck made from Alluminum.

Paint the body black with silver mustang stripes.

Get a chrome H-H-H scratchplate.

Buy some solid chrome knobs like on ESPs.

Then put 3 warpigs in, all black with black allen bolts.

[gwEm]

New snakewood neck with an ebony fretboard and a reverse headstock.

Then have flame inlays going all the way down the the neck made from Alluminum.

Paint the body black with silver mustang stripes.

Get a chrome H-H-H scratchplate.

Buy some solid chrome knobs like on ESPs.

Then put 3 warpigs in, all black with black allen bolts.

yeah! really good idea - but what about a new black limba body with airbrushed dragons? :roll:

[sambo]

:lol:  :lol:  :lol:

[noodleplugerine]

New snakewood neck with an ebony fretboard and a reverse headstock.

Then have flame inlays going all the way down the the neck made from Alluminum.

Paint the body black with silver mustang stripes.

Get a chrome H-H-H scratchplate.

Buy some solid chrome knobs like on ESPs.

Then put 3 warpigs in, all black with black allen bolts.

yeah! really good idea - but what about a new black limba body with airbrushed dragons? :roll:

Then why not just make a whole new guitar? :p

[gwEm]

Then why not just make a whole new guitar? :p

well - i naturally assumed we'd be keeping that squier neck plate obviously

but what about some less radical thoughts?

[Woogie]

Matching headstock, black humbucker, new knobs

[Woogie]

Matching painted headstock, black humbucker, new knobs

[Woogie]

Ffs I quoted myself somehow when I posted that

[noodleplugerine]

triple post ftw? :D

[Woogie]

I didn't even notice the triple!! I thought it was just 2  :lol:  :lol:

[WezV]

I would be tempted to refinish with a lake placed blue and add the racing stripes. - a matching headstock is a nice idea. and i would ditch the pearloid - doesnt quite work for me on such a simple guitar - maybe something in parchment or even brushed aluminium would look much nicer

definately change the pickups and electrics first and change the hardware when you can

Pro set-up and fret dress will go a long way to making it a nicer guitar

[Ratrod]

+1 to the racing stripes. Don't change the color, just add white racing stripes. It'll match the original '67 GT500.

No extra knobs either. Keep it simple. If you never use a tone knob, turn into a volume knob. Upgrade the frets, get locking tuners, upgrade the vibrato, upgrade the electronics etc.

Pickups: Crawler bridge, Irish Tour neck.

[gwEm]

thanks very much for the thoughts ratrod, weez and woogie.

i'm glad that my idea of adding the mustang racing stripe is liked.

i didn't really think of sorting the frets. indeed - thats a really excellent idea. it should make the neck feel alot more 'finished'. every squier neck i've ever tried has that sort of feel.

i also dont like that pearloid scratch plate. i was thinking of a simple white/black/white 3 ply. parchment could also work.

interesting idea with the crawler ratty - i hadn't really considered that one. i'm glad you agree with my idea of an irish tour neck.

regarding the controls. i have a vol/vol setup on another guitar, and it works really well. i think i'd like a tone on this one though, because i suspect the single coil neck and humbucker bridge will need slightly different settings to get the best sound. i could be wrong about that though - it needs checking. i agree it would be nice to keep it simple if possible. theres something about the standard appointments of this guitar that is really cool. i'll avoid adding the extra controls then, unless its needed.

anyone in favour of a single coil bridge?

[noodleplugerine]

thanks very much for the thoughts ratrod, weez and woogie.

That hurt deep.