Talk me out of it (Squier '51 modding content)

[marnold]

Judging from the silhouette, I can see why you like that shape

The more I play it, the more I realize the neck isn't a big issue. I would like bigger frets for sure, but that's not a deal-breaker. The bridge was and the new saddles took care of that. The tuners are the next thing. Actually my Jackson's tuners aren't much better, but with a locking nut they are all but irrelevant except at string changes.

 

[marnold]

Hmmm, or maybe a Fred instead of the Screamin' Demon . . . hmmm.

 

[marnold]

OK, I've got a 13K/13K Lace Hot Gold Dually and a single 6K Hot Gold in my MF shopping cart. Your time to talk me out of it or encourage me in my madness is rapidly running out. Must order before it's no longer the 18th . . .

 

[Eric]

So you don't like the '51 as is? I don't find pickups to make that big of a difference.

(This is me talking you out of it.)

 

[marnold]

(This is me talking you out of it.)

Hehe. Well played.

But, the order was just placed. Clips to follow once a) they get here and b) I can get my soldering iron fired up. I'll wire up the push-pull to shunt one of the Dually coils to ground, making it a standard 13K Hot Gold. I was convinced to buy the 13K/13K instead of the 6K/6K when I watched a video on YouTube where someone had a Strat loaded with Hot Golds (including a 13K bridge) and a neck-on mod. I thought the bridge+neck tones were really nice. Also MF had this one in stock whereas the other one wouldn't be available until the end of March. If it turns out to be too much, I can return it within 45 days and get the other one.

 

[marnold]

Well, the pickups are in! I forgot what solder smells like. I had a bit of an issue with the Dually. When I grounded one of the ground wires, the pickup cut out entirely. One call to Lace later and it turns out one of the leads got pinched in the pickup cavity when I installed it.

Initial impressions are that the Dually is big and powerful and more in the low mids than my JB in my Jackson, while still retaining nice highs. Split into one 13K hot gold, it sounds not unlike a hot Tele bridge pickup, which is good because I like that. The neck pickup I think sounds more single coil-like than my old Area 61s did. The Lace are low noise but not no noise, so it's much better than my old single coil, but not dead quiet like the Area 61s were. The middle position, whether one coil or two at the bridge, is very nice.

Much more "testing" is required, of course Basically the bridge pickup is a massive, dramatic change. It went from being a high-end heavy PAF-ish pup to a fire breather.

 

[marnold]

Here's a link to the thread with clips: http://www.thefret.net/showthread.php/21295-Lace-Hot-Gold-Now-with-Clips!

I also placed a StewMac order for tuners, bushings, nut, and a Switchcraft jack. The jack I mainly added for kicks since the current one seems to be functioning fine. It was less than four bucks, so no biggie.

The cost for everything (not counting my installation time) will be:
Squier '51 $99 (technically free since it was a Christmas gift)

Parts
Lace Hot Gold single coil $66.60 (spooky!)
Lace Hot Gold dually $88.20
GraphTech saddles $34.29
Gotoh tuners $37.92
TUSQ XL nut $13.35
Conversion bushings $7.87
Switchcraft jack $3.64
StewMac shipping $9.75

Parts Total $261.62
Grand Total with guitar original cost $360.62

The pickups came from Musicians' Friend and were the lion's share of the overall cost. Thankfully I got 10% off for their President's Day sale. The saddles came from Amazon. The remaining parts are coming from StewMac. I don't think that the total is bad overall. Of course, if I had to have all of this professionally installed it would be much more expensive. Have soldering iron, will travel.

By way of comparison, you can get a new MIM Fender for about $499 from MF. There would be compromises WRT to pickups and jack and maybe nut and tuners too. There would be no point in doing this if I didn't like the guitar on a fundamental level. I think the '51 is just plain cool. It gives me a lot of tonal flexibility and is an excellent counterpart to my Jackson DK2M.

About the only other thing I might do it swap out the volume pot for one with a smoother taper, but that's a something for another day. That would be a trivial cost relative to everything else. I also got Fender/Schaller strap locks for it back when I first got it, but I have no idea what I paid for them. I put those on all of my guitars that I've ever owned.

 

[marnold]

Today I broke down and took it to a luthier to install the Gotoh tuners. I had a hard time finding an afternoon to devote to the project. Plus the supplied screws were so long, I was afraid that I'd drill through the entire headstock. Ended up being $25+tax, which works for me. They do seem to be easier to zone in whilst tuning. I've got brand new strings on there, so it's still a little hard to tell until the strings finish stretching out entirely. The tuners are much stiffer than the original ones. You're certainly not going to bump them out of tune. They are also the "vintage" style where you start winding the string by sticking the end in the top of the post. That should make string changes quicker.

 

[Robert]

Always nice to have someone else do the dirty work, rather than doing it yourself! That's how I feel most of the time...

 

[marnold]

Today I broke down and took it to a luthier to install the Gotoh tuners. I had a hard time finding an afternoon to devote to the project. Plus the supplied screws were so long, I was afraid that I'd drill through the entire headstock. Ended up being $25+tax, which works for me. They do seem to be easier to zone in whilst tuning. I've got brand new strings on there, so it's still a little hard to tell until the strings finish stretching out entirely. The tuners are much stiffer than the original ones. You're certainly not going to bump them out of tune. They are also the "vintage" style where you start winding the string by sticking the end in the top of the post. That should make string changes quicker.

After a good amount of time with these tuners, I can say that they were definitely worth the upgrade. It stays in tune much better now and it is easier to get into tune in the first place. It still isn't going to replace my Jackson as my #1, but I now enjoy playing it much more. When I switch to it from the Jackson, I no longer feel as great a drop-off (or as great a desire to put it down and pick the Jackson back up). The Hot Golds are also enough different from the JB/Jazz combo that I get a good amount of tonal diversity.

 

[Eric]

After a good amount of time with these tuners, I can say that they were definitely worth the upgrade. It stays in tune much better now and it is easier to get into tune in the first place. It still isn't going to replace my Jackson as my #1, but I now enjoy playing it much more. When I switch to it from the Jackson, I no longer feel as great a drop-off (or as great a desire to put it down and pick the Jackson back up). The Hot Golds are also enough different from the JB/Jazz combo that I get a good amount of tonal diversity.

Cool deal. Since you're now into multiple instruments, do you want to buy a bass or cab from me? I have one too many of each of them.

 

[marnold]

Cool deal. Since you're now into multiple instruments, do you want to buy a bass or cab from me? I have one too many of each of them.

Well, I've already got a bass that I'm quite happy with. One's enough for me.