Squier '51 Vintage Modified - Yeah!

[Robert]

'51 Rules
I am a proud owner of a Squier '51, one of the best deals out there. It is one of my secret weapons. You can hear/see video clips of on my web page for it - www.dolphinstreet.com/guitars/squier_51

Excellent guitar for $150 or less!

What mod's have you done to yours? I have a black pickguard now, my friend Tremoloman sent me it. I love the looks of my "blackie"!

 

[Tone2TheBone]

Hey Robert,

Guitar looks much better all black. Now just relic those pickup covers and paste the letters RR on it with mobile home stickers.

 

[tremoloman]

The Squier 51' is the best value in guitars as far as I'm concerned. I bet the price of this model will skyrocket in next year or two. Fender could learn a thing or two from Squier.

If Fender or Squier made the Cycleone II with a 25.5" scale, I'd buy one in a second. (I owned one previously but hated the 24" scale).

 

[EscalonJon]

I just ordered a '51 from Musician's Friend last night. I received an e-mail ad from them touting $30.00 off Squier. The '51 plus free gig bag and free shipping was $119.99!!! This is a great deal to get in on. I have some plans to modify it some when it arrives. I will update when I'm done with it. It seems like it's already a screamer out of the box according to the clips on this site of Robert playing his.

 

[Robert]

Hi Jon, welcome to the board! It sure is a great guitar for this price. It's really worth a lot more. I feel bad thinking those Indonesians are working for peanuts so we can enjoy a great guitar for no money. I saw pics of a '51 with an aged neck - it looked really cool. I might try that. Tone2thebone has some interesting coffee mixture ideas he can tell us more about.

 

[Bloozcat]

Well Robert, for some reason the registration system didn't recognize your name when I used it as a referral. Are you some kind of a nebulous character that we ought to know about?

 

[Robert]

Well Robert, for some reason the registration system didn't recognize your name when I used it as a referral. Are you some kind of a nebulous character that we ought to know about?

Did you use an uppercase R in 'Robert', or did you use just 'robert'? I think it's case sensitive.

 

[Bloozcat]

Did you use an uppercase R in 'Robert', or did you use just 'robert'? I think it's case sensitive.

Upper case R for Robert. It just wouldn't accept it. Doesn't matter though, I still got registered.

I'm in the middle of amber tinting my '51 neck right now...letting the third coat dry.

 

[EscalonJon]

Bloozcat,

Do you use the ReRanch nitro lacquer? I have used it before on a couple of necks and it turns out great. Do you put clear on after the tint? That's how I have done it, but I'm not sure if it's necessary. I just ordered a '51 and am excited to get on with a new project. It's been back ordered til Oct 13. I will definitley tint the neck and change the decal. I also plan on putting on Gotoh Kluson style vintage tuners, Callaham bridge saddles, and changing at least the bridge pickup. I am thinking of making a new pickguard and installing a Black Dove (P-90) and setting up the pickguard for an adjustable neck pickup. Maybe someone has a suggestion on what to try for a neck pickup change. (Maybe a WCR, or a Fender Vintage of some type) I also like the Custom Shop 69s. Anyhow, good luck on your '51, Bloozcat!

 

[Bloozcat]

Bloozcat,

Do you use the ReRanch nitro lacquer? I have used it before on a couple of necks and it turns out great. Do you put clear on after the tint? That's how I have done it, but I'm not sure if it's necessary. I just ordered a '51 and am excited to get on with a new project. It's been back ordered til Oct 13. I will definitley tint the neck and change the decal. I also plan on putting on Gotoh Kluson style vintage tuners, Callaham bridge saddles, and changing at least the bridge pickup. I am thinking of making a new pickguard and installing a Black Dove (P-90) and setting up the pickguard for an adjustable neck pickup. Maybe someone has a suggestion on what to try for a neck pickup change. (Maybe a WCR, or a Fender Vintage of some type) I also like the Custom Shop 69s. Anyhow, good luck on your '51, Bloozcat!

Well, I was using the Fender neck amber from Guitar Re-Ranch, and it started going on rather well, when on the third coat it started to spot and run. Not from holding the spay too close, but for some other unknown reason. The finish started getting really runny and it was affecting the previous coats I layed down. Never had this happen before. I was just about out of the tint and I didn't really feel like waiting for a new order to arrive, so I stripped the finish down to bare wood (again) and used the brown shoepolish trick. It worked in that I got a nice uniform tint that highlights the wood grain nicely, but the tint is more at a light brown than an amber. I wanted a glossy '50's look to the neck, so I decided to use a Min-Wax PolyAcrylic gloss spray. On the label it said that some "ambering" may occur when used over certain stains and finishes. I thought I was in luck as that's what I wanted - an amber tint. I should have known that if I wanted an amber tint it would go on clear (Murphy's Law in reverse), and it did. I can't say that I'm unhappy with the way it turned out, only that it isn't the amber tint I was looking for. Oh well, it still looks good and it'll be unique...until someone else does it and gets the same results.

I'm going to go slowly on any other mods. I don't really want to ruin the natural tone of this little guitar. One thing I did find out though for anyone interested, the neck pickup cavity is routed large enough for a std. Strat single coil. All that needs to be done is to drill and countersink two holes in the pickguard for adjustment screws. The gap between the strings and the pickguard may be a little less than a Strat. I'm won't be certain until I re-attach the neck. If so, shorter springs or surgical tubing (depending on preference) may have to be used on the adjustment screws.

 

[EscalonJon]

I Know what you mean with the ReRanch lacquer, you have to be very patient and carefully sand and give the coats time to "kick" before going on to the next. Another issue is getting "bridging" of the lacquer between the frets and the fingerboard wood, especially with the amber because it is more noticeable than clear. I've done two necks this way and they turned out pretty nicely. On my scratch built esquire, I started to get the build-up that you described and had to do some extra sanding to reverse my mistake. Thanks for the tips on the neck pickup. I haven't received my '51 yet, so I haven't been able to evaluate what I really want to do. If I do go radical on the first one, at the great price I can always get another (and maybe do something with a color change) and leave the pickup arrangement stock. That's the fun with cheap guitars, you can enjoy the experimentation and make something that is unique to your taste and personality. Now I only wish I could make great sounds like Robert does on his '51 in his video clips.

 

[tremoloman]

I know... just when I think I can play I hear Robert rip me to shreds.

 

[Robert]

I know... just when I think I can play I hear Robert rip me to shreds.

.... you guys are too nice! I am glad you like my stuff. I am my own worst critic of course, but I do take compliments well. Encouragement makes me produce more videos and sound clips, etc (quality not guaranteed).

 

[tremoloman]

I can make a great instructional video on how NOT to play if interested. I too am my own worst critic, but I find always being that way just pushes me to become better and better. NEVER settle on anything you do!

 

[Justaguyin_nc]

Pickguard replacement

New Squier 51 Two Tone Sunburst owner here thanks to Robert also. Money well spent it looks like. Although I do want to replace the white Pickguard, maybe with one of those selling on Ebay.. anyone ever get a Jeannie pickguard off of ebay? example link:http://cgi.ebay.com/Fender-Squier-5...ryZ41424QQssPageNameZWD1VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem for a black one..

Some cost half the price of the whole guitar sigh..lol

 

[Justaguyin_nc]

My 51 neck is also light in color but I am a heavy smoker along with another here in the house..it should tint to a nice brown within weeks..

 

[Robert]

Hey, you've got many of the stompers I have! Cool!

Congrats on the '51 - it's a great baby. Tweak and mod it, go nuts, it's so cheap anyway.

 

[Justaguyin_nc]

Yeah much alike except the playing skills..heh, I am just a home player..
Well, besides the squier... you also influenced the Bad Monkey purchased here recently. I still dunno if I like the older BD-2 better or not... they are both good additions in there own way and I love telling people I been home playing with my monkey all day... Think the Monkey can play a little dirtier.. Only plans on fixing up the 51 is the pickguard I believe... and it will be set (well, for now anyways) next purchase is another amp when I make up my mind on which one. I believe the squier will sound good with any of them...still price wise suprised.

 

[Bigbear]

Some mods

i purchased my '51 for $229 CAD + HST.... altogether it is a nice guitar, no tone circuit besides i usually have tone turned on bust.

I just picked up 2 Seymour duncan pro 2 staggered pickups for $100 CAD which is a decent deal, they are hardly used and i'm installing soon, duuno what to do about the pickguard (plastics).. i might make one out of wood (those ones made down in the United states are to expensive to convert to CAD and import)... when i find a Seymour duncan Stagmag for decent price i will place in stead of stock humbucker... trying to make it an even better all around guitar...


Graphteck Saddles

So far thats the mods i am planning, i would like to replace the knobs on the potentiometers but i'm sure you'd have to replace the pots altogether, if any other players notice a bent shaft on your squier ' 51 pot PUSH/PULL please tell me... i think the guitar is great but the only down side i found is the saddles and the push/pull shaft(knob) deal.

 

[EscalonJon]

I received my '51 on Thursday. I was very pleased to see that it has some pretty nice birdseye action going on on the fretboard. I have already sanded off the decals to ready it for silver spaghetti decals ("Fender" only), and detailed the fretwork. I'm changing the tuners to relic'ed single-line Kluson deluxes. Robert, I ordered a GFS Brooklyn (humbucker-sized P-90) for the bridge and GFS Strat pickup for the neck. I will let you know how they work. www.guitarfetish.com has great prices and I hope their products are good. I will report on that as well. I ordered other parts for the project from them which include tuner conversion bushings, ferrules to convert to string-thru, vintage round string trees, and a strat-style hardtail bridge which will be loaded with Callaham saddles. I hope this will turn out to be a pretty nice axe for under two-hundred U.S. bux. I will report upon completion in about two weeks.

 

[Justaguyin_nc]

Jeannie's Pickguard's off of e-bay , I will say biting my tongue hard enough to bleed.. is NOT recommended in my experience...

Nice part of Quote:I do not think you will get a fit unless you send your pickguard to who ever you decide to buy from. I don't think you will get a fit anywhere else.
EndQuote:

Im lost obviously.. shouldn't you be able to buy replacement Pickguards that do fit without adjustment?

Warmth from customer service is not present. It was my fault for buying it as far as they are concerned.. or the Koreans for changing the template which Jeannie only has one.. nice emails (sarcasam inserted here) If your looking to replace the Squier 51 pickguard look elsewhere. Oh, if you find a good place to get one please let me know.

UPDATE: In search for yet another place for a pickguard I ran across pickguardian.com which has some nice updates to the guard also. they recently added this UPDATE message:

UPDATE...
Just when you think there is a standard in the world of Fender, they throw you a curve ball! So far we've found at least three different versions of guards being used on this single model. The only way we can guarantee a proper fit is with your original guard or an accurate tracing showing all screw hole locations. Sorry for the inconvenience.

So I assume I was the first one at Jeannie's to throw this loop at them also. Be prepared to send your original any place you get a replacement, to match the fit.

 

[EscalonJon]

Justaguy...

You might try this. Coat some hardwood toothpicks in white glue. Force as many as you can into the unwanted holes. When the glue dries, cut off the tops of the toothpicks with an exacto blade. You can then re-drill for the correct holes.

This also works great to reinforce or repair strap button holes or when retrofitting to different bridges, pickups, tuners, etc. You wouldn't want to do this to an instrument that you ever wanted to return to its original configuration, though.

 

[Justaguyin_nc]

Thanks for the tip EscalonJon, I really liked the guard's look on the Guitar but don't know if I would be able to drill right. Heck, I don't even know if I could figure what size holes to drill. I guess it being UNDER the guard I couldn't mess it up to bad.. hmmm.. I think I may just send my original in to another place and let them make to fit. That pickguardian.com has a nice Tortoise shell and might be better off that way...

 

[Justaguyin_nc]

I am developing a rattle sound in the bridge on the squier 51... does not really effect the sound and I can fix it quickly but it's just annoying, The saddle screw height adjusments on the low strings are a little smaller then the holes they go in. I tried wax in them but eventually it wears. Anyone have this problem? Anyone know a good replacement?

 

[tremoloman]

My Squier 51' suffered from the bridge rattle. I think it is just the nature of the beast since the saddles don't have much tension on them to keep themselves tight. Jazzmasters suffer from the same problem unless you either shim the neck or install a buzz stop (which I have).

You might want to try either the weakest version of loc-tite or try using soem thick grease on the saddle screws. I wound up installing the neck and electronics into a MIM Strat body becuase I missed the tremolo, hence my name.

 

[guitartech]

Hi everyone,

I've just registered. Thanks all for so much valuable information about improving Squier 51. And here is my 2 cents worth...

Tremoloman. I've had similar experiences as you did as far as buzzing on the saddles are concerned. As you've mentioned, it is caused by not enough downward forces on the saddle. And it is specially true on low E or possibly A if regular or thicker guage strings are used (thicker than .036). My solution was to drill holes for the thru-body string on my squier 51. I'll post more detailed story on my experience if anyone is interested.

 

[Robert]

Welcome, guitartech! Make us an introduction in the Fret Players section if you can!

Please, share with us your detailed story about your '51. Mine doesn't buzz too bad, but it sounds like it could happen to me to.

 

[guitartech]

Thanks Robert,

It's good to be here. I got serious with the guitar about a year ago and I'm enjoying every minute of it (playing and modding). Because of my recent entry, I don't quite have too many guitar related gears - just two Squier 51, one MIM strat, and a Roland Microcube (but I do have other musical instrument collections - piano, clarinets and a violin).

Anyway, I love my Squier 51 (after many many adjustments)! I play them more than I play MIM strat. Its neck is so nice and fast! I guess I like them so much since I spent so much time on them fixing the bug and doing the modifications. It was alot of fun! Anyway, I don't have too much time, so I'll post my experiences on Squier 51 next time (on bridges, adding the string ferrules, lowering the action, and the fret sanding/polishing). I just have to remember what I have done...

 

[Robert]

Well, I just want to mention one thing I did to my '51. I was noticing that the when I picked a little harder with humbucker selected, it sounded harsh and trebly, not very nice tone at all. I lowered it a bit and wow - what a difference. I can now pick and strum as hard as I want, without getting that distorted, "my-guitar-must-be-broken" type of sound. I now use it a lot for clean playing. I can get pretty close to Tele twang with it.

 

[Robert]

My push/pull volume knob came off yesterday. I need to stick it on there better. I have been having some intontation problems with it lately, and I'll work on this over the holidays. Lastly, I've also noticed it stays in tune worse than my Squier Tele, so maybe it's time to get better tuners and nut.

Not complaining, this is just regular maintenance with a budget guitar. I still love it!