An idea is giving me G.A.S.

[LagrangeCalvert]

Well....I cannot go longer than 5-8 months without wanting to mod something, and this time its killing me

I want to make the twang machine of death out of a Squire 51'.....and its gonna make me cry until I get all the money and parts to make it happen - I quit my job as a truck driver last year before Christmas to take care of my mother who has cancer....so I'm depending on my Girlfriend of 8 years to work two jobs, and keep me sane.....and she still bought me a Delta Blues for valentines day.....I really am a lucky guy....she also works on cars (not just changing oil...but actually working on em) and goes to baseball games with me........also a great cook!

I digress.

I want to mod a Fender vintage style Tele bridge for it. Like a top loader bridge with brass saddles. I also want a brass nut or a bone nut. And 300K pots with a cool idea for the push pull....to get rid of the cut and go with a mid/top boost. Pups I am still undecided on....and thats what I got on here for.....BTW, I am needing and wanting to do this as cheap as possible so GFS is prolly the only place where I will be able to afford to get pups/besides free shyte and E-bay cause unemployment owns my *** right now.

So if there are any other mods you guys can think of to help me make the ultimate twang banger I would appreciate it.

PS....if you think there is another cheap guitar that could help me get the job done as a starting point please feel free to share it with me.

Josh

 

[pes_laul]

Well....I cannot go longer than 5-8 months without wanting to mod something, and this time its killing me

I want to make the twang machine of death out of a Squire 51'.....and its gonna make me cry until I get all the money and parts to make it happen - I quit my job as a truck driver last year before Christmas to take care of my mother who has cancer....so I'm depending on my Girlfriend of 8 years to work two jobs, and keep me sane.....and she still bought me a Delta Blues for valentines day.....I really am a lucky guy....she also works on cars (not just changing oil...but actually working on em) and goes to baseball games with me........also a great cook!

I digress.

I want to mod a Fender vintage style Tele bridge for it. Like a top loader bridge with brass saddles. I also want a brass nut or a bone nut. And 300K pots with a cool idea for the push pull....to get rid of the cut and go with a mid/top boost. Pups I am still undecided on....and thats what I got on here for.....BTW, I am needing and wanting to do this as cheap as possible so GFS is prolly the only place where I will be able to afford to get pups/besides free shyte and E-bay cause unemployment owns my *** right now.

So if there are any other mods you guys can think of to help me make the ultimate twang banger I would appreciate it.

PS....if you think there is another cheap guitar that could help me get the job done as a starting point please feel free to share it with me.

Josh

I play a squire affinity strat that ive played the crap out of. also the trem stays in tune. but for pickups if you can afford dimarzio super distortions that would be the way to go

 

[Bloozcat]

From the sounds of what you're trying to do, and your budget, GFS is a good route to your goal.

I put one of the inexpensive little GFS replacement bridges on my Squire 51 and it made a tremendous difference in the tone. The strings mount from the top like the original bridge, but unlike the original, the string angle is better, the strings are far easier to install - and best of all, the plinkiness, dead sound, and poor intonation are all gone. Not bad for an inexpensive bridge. One word of caution though. Unless the newer bridges have been changed slightly, the mounting holes on the bridge don't all line up exactly with the existing holes. Since basswood (the body wood on the '51) is soft, you can easily overcome this with the old glue and toothpick fix.

I put one of the Retrotron Liverpool humbuckers on mine, and it fits the tone I was looking for just about right. For what you've described, I'd probably recommend the std. wind Memphis humbucker, or the std. wind Nashville (definitely the Memphis first, though). Plenty of twang and karang, but no spiky-ness. They will also get a little snarly when pushed through a good amp.

As to the single coil neck pickup, you really have to go with a Strat size pickup if you want it to fit the cut-out in the pickguard. The hole is actually a tight Strat size opening, so a real Tele pickup like the vintage chrome covered type will have a loose fit, with a gap around the pickup when it's installed. I just happened to have a spare Strat pickup that I used in mine, although that will change when I do the rest of my planned mods. I have a Vintage Vibe Tele pickup that I had custom wound like an old '52 Tele pickup. It has an Alnico II magnet and 43 ga wire with a chromed nickle cover. I think that's mod # 3 on my list right now...

There's a bunch of great info in the Squire 51 forum.
http://www.instituteofnoise.com/squier51/forum/

 

[oldguy]

Hey, Josh,
If you decide to go w/ the '51 Squire, here's a tip that can help w/ the stock bridge... remove the strings and the screws that hold the bridge saddles and swap them. Then raise the saddles up higher to compensate for the hole swap thing. It may not be as good as a Tele toploader bridge, but it will help with the "loose feel" and rattle. You don't have to spend anything on it but time to do this. I did it on mine and it really helped. Here's a link that helps explain....
It makes string changing easier, too.

http://www.instituteofnoise.com/squier51/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=747

 

[LagrangeCalvert]

Awesome guys....thank you for the feedback and help. I will soon have the 51 thanks to a great new friend of mine here on the fret.net board by the name of tremoloman.....story is I gave him (actually he made me take some money for them...not much and I'm not telling how much) a set of vintage tuners for a strat/tele. And I am also re drilling the neck holes for his project guitar....and in thanks the crazy SOB is sending me one....for an undisclosed amount. I am also doing a treatment on one of his squire necks that makes it butter and possibly more playable than any econo guitar. So I have my plans finalized after sitting down for 3 hours doing some homework....this will make you go ??????? at first then you will go ??????? some more. Have a listen.

First off....I am gonna buy a topload vintage style three saddle tele bridge and modify it to fit (As stated earlier in my post I mod guitars as an "almost job" and work part time for free with a local badass luth by the name of Doug Frey who is owner of Dmara guitars and have learned tons) the 51...this means some cutting on it. String spacing will not be an issue as the squire tele neck is well....a 51 neck as well.

Then Im going with a brass nut......that will solve ANY and all issues regarding muddy pups and all that and add to the spank factor. This guitar will be used for cleans when playing non overdriven roots rock and indie. I have decided to put a Lipstick tube humbucker from GFS in this guitar.....it will give me - to put it lightly - sparkle......and the other pup "and most expensive part ironically is a single coil sized bucker by Seymour Duncan called a "duckbucker".....http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/stratsdescr.shtml#DuckbuckersforStrat

check it out..... I think this will be one really cool guitar when its said and done.

I need to mention that without honest and caring people in this world nothing would ever matter...not even music or our beloved guitars. So this big thanks goes out to one of the nicest people I have met in what seems an eternity.... otherwise known as tremoloman on this forum....the world would suck without people like you.R

 

[oldguy]

That sounds like it's gonna be a kicka$$ axe when you get it done, man.
Post some pics if you get a chance, I'd love to see it.
Thanks for the link to the duckbucker pu, too. I may be in the market for one soon...

 

[Bloozcat]

Some sound files for you with GFS lipstick humbuckers...
http://home.comcast.net/~jaysguitarpage/pupsamples.html

 

[LagrangeCalvert]

yeah.....so I have it down to two pups, and one could take it in a totally different direction....The Mean 90 is looking appealing now also, so I don't know if I want that or the Lipstick bucker...as far as the single coil...I might just stay stock on that....I know I don't want a coil tap, BUT since it has a Push/Pull from the get go a dark switch would be cool....or something other than a coil tap. Any Ideas - throw them out there....

BC I listened to the samples and they sound GREAT...I also listened to the Retrotron pup as well, and that just didn't seem to have the sparkle and if I may say angelic clarity/top end the tube bucker did. I am deff gonna go with a 3 saddle tele bridge on the guitar....but other than that I dunno..I might go with a bone nut or just keep the stock one and graphite the crap out of it. Any way you look at it, it will become a cool guitar.

 

[Bloozcat]

BTW: I saw the Fabulous Thunderbirds play locally last year, and Nick Curran was playing a blonde Squire 51. It was definitely modded, with a Tele string through bridge complete with ashtray cover, and a Tele neck. The ashtray covered the bridge pickup, but I believe it was a single coil. I know that Nick uses some Dave Stephens pickups, maybe that's what he had in this 51. It sounded great, but then again, Nick Curran could probably make a washtub with a strung up broom handle sound great!