Spending $400 total and having a better guitar than any Squier/Fender you're going to be able to buy stock for the same amount of money seems like a total win to me!
Indeed-if you love the guitar "base," why not? Making it your own is an amazing process, and the value is just amazing. I am a bass player, and have turned a humble Sonic Bronco over time into a bass I would never be able to buy at any shop. I have two long scale Precision basses I adore (a Fender Vintera and a Squier 40th Anniversary P), and they are better, but also different enough that I didn't mind spending quite a bit in my upgrades (or sidegrades, depending on who you ask, though in the end, only my opinion matters.) Like the gentleman above said, it's not meant to be re-sold-it is my own unique bass to appreciate and enjoy. And I love it enough that I can guarantee it will be with me for as long as I breathe. I have no electric guitar at all, and am tempted by this model or the also one-humbucker Sonic Stratocaster, just to have one (I used to play classical guitar eons ago, but never had an electric.) I doubt I will become a "true" guitar player, but it can't hurt to own one, and at the price, there's little to lose. (Though if I get one, I doubt it will remain stock!)
I just finished "restoring" my year 2000 bullet strat with new pickups (alnico, made by a local guy) and hardware (tuners, bridge, pots, switch etc). Spent $120 when converted to USD. Guitar plays and sounds better than it ever did. Sounds at least as good as a $400 guitar. Lots of fun, and I learned to do a complete set-up.
I added a Sh-4, regular tele plate with a three way switch mod for series/parallel/slug side split, and some Wilkinson tuners. I also did a bit of fret end smoothing and a little neck work. I already had the pickup, switch, and plate, so it didn't cost me much and I absolutely love it. Now...to get that paranormal Esquire Deluxe soon. 🤘
I will be real honest with you Dylan, at the beginning when I watched your videos I was like: "I don't know if I like this grumpy man talking a lot of things about guitar". But in the end you know what? I am more like: "This guy knows what his talking about and the best part is, he is unpartial, that's good information". It's hard to find people to unpartial that just pass information on youtube and please keep it like that, you are doing an amazing work and great great videos. Other people would say a lot of bad things about this squier but you were honest, it's a budget guitar, it's really good for mods, it's to have fun. Great video man. 😀
This video hits the mark on a "Mod Platform" guitar perfectly, by the way. I guess the last 3-ish years have seen Squire kill it with a good standard version of most of the Fender lineup mostly between 150-400 bucks. Not guitars that dramatically appreciate or depreciate much, so Squires wont be hurt by taking one out of factory spec nor u, p-sold by modding. You can get something rad to keep, you can live with a total dumpster fire writeoff for a learning experience. Smart and cool of you, Dylan.
I just upgraded to a classic vibe after fudging with my bottom line for years and it’s a HUGE upgrade. Bonus I learned how to setup along the way and can put the guts of the classic vibe in my old one to sell now
Now to answer the question, "Is it worth it?" Well, I might have covered this in the previous post. This sort of thing is subjective, so there is no right answer in general, only answers that turn out right in context. That GUITAR wouldn't be right for me, so it doesn't matter what upgrades it has ... TO ME. As you correctly pointed out, though, this guitar was never intended to please anyone besides yourself. It is truly YOUR guitar, and that is the entire point of modifying ... guitars or anything else! You get what YOU want and/or need ... because YOU made it work! To you, oh hell YEAH, it's worth it! And all of that is exactly as it should be.
yeah I only did the truss in one sitting and mine also came with good frets but the restock at the store I got it from wasn’t as good I wouldn’t expect string height on any guitar to please everyone though pickups are usually way too close that’s why a lot have packaging film but the tuners I tightened instead of replacing I wouldn’t expect high ratio tuners on a $200 guitar they work as well as epiphone grovers which might not be the same as Gibson ones
3:20 I agree the nut only matters on open strings. On Chorded/Fretted strings the nut is taken out of the equation... all the resonance is between the fret and the bridge saddle.
However, most of contemporary 'guitar music' naturally falls in or rotates around tonalities and chords that utilise open strings: E, Em, A, Am, G, C, D, Dm. It is just natural and handy. Now, include the ever so favourite 'power chords ' and on top of that - very fashionable drop tunings. That's like a lot.
As long as your mods include sanding off the gluey finish on the neck, its all good. In fact, id hazard that doing precisely that in the cleanest most Dylan precise manner might just make for a neat little episode in itself.
Now THAT'S what I'm talkin about!! Every guitar I have has the back of the neck "tuned up"! Killer mod, if I say so miself. I have a pint of Fornbeys Furnature finish that I use to sweeten up the bare, or satin finish that's left on the neck after I sand it. Never had a bit of problem doing this. In fact makes a great playin neck
These guitars have a pretty smooth satin finish from the get go. Usually the high gloss gluey ones are put on for looks, in these entry levels they don’t even bother doing that and it works great, the neck is lightweight and comfortable without being “Jackson” or “wizard iii” thin.
I like modding my guitars unless it is a collector piece and originality is important to value retention. That being said, I do not believe in modding simply for the sake of modding and have a set of reasons I follow for performing the mods that I choose to do to my guitars. Reason 1) do the mod if it improves playability; reason 2) do the mod if it improves tuning stability; reason 3) do the mod if it improves the tonality whether it just improves overall tone or improves tonal versatility; reason 4) do the mod if it improves aesthetics to be more in my taste (i.e. pickgurads, knobs, toggle switch tip colors, pickup covers, pickup rings, trem tips, etc.). Whenever i do choose to do mods, I keep all the original parts and pack them carefully together and label them so that I can easily put the guitar back to original when and if I sell it (that is unless the buyer wants to buy it in the modded condition and willing to appropriately pay for the modded condition).
i think buying a cheap or used guitar and modding it is a great way to make your own 'custom'. who cares what the name says on the headstock, it's how it sounds and plays that matters. not everyone can afford what the 'big names' sell for. you can make something really good and special even on a budget. and it's all 'you'!
imo its always nice to put work into an instrument, be it from simple setupwork to polishing frets and ofc changing/modding hardware wiring ect. it doesnt matter if the pickups you put in are duble the worth of the instrument, cause you make it your own. similar with cars, its not your car untill you got your hands dirty on it ;) i would even go sofar, its extra worth on a cheap instrument, learning the skills if you never soldered or even put a screwdriver in your hands, drilling and routing, you learn things for the rest of your life. getting into the electronics, reading a wiring diagram ect. are valueable skills and ppl really shouldnt be afraid of doing that kinda thing. if you buy a guitar for lets say 2k, it better have good hardware, pickups and setup, else that guitar isnt worth the money ;P
I say yes, do it. It makes for an AFFORDABLE custom build, you can put together as money allows. And in the end you'll have a guitar you probably could've never afforded. I changed out the pots of mine for your 500k's because I do have a switch and the tone knob was already not that great. Yours roll like butter!!! And I actually do get much more sound too.
@@pauly_6259 Exactly Pauly. A higher priced guitar doesn't always equal a better guitar! Why not add what YOU want to make what you already have work and sound better?
I bought the Sonic Tele on a whim of curiosity and totally love it. I have electronics and parts for teles by the ton but for now I cannot find anything to change that would make it better! It is that good. I love the baby-toy sanded neck too. Nice change after playing the heavily glossed necks of my big boys.
I put new pups and pots, wired 4 way switch in my Squire and added brass saddles with rear loaded string ashtray. It's awesome now. I may sand the neck down since it's a little beefy.
I just picked up that same model brand new but neon green for 140 from fender,changed out the humbucker,bridge,nut, tuners,polished the frets, and strings go through the body it was a fun project,sounds and plays great
It depends. I got one of them iyv mustangs for dirt cheap used, like $50. I did some extra routing, installed a roller bridge, swapped the strat style singles for p90’s, locking tuners, 300k pots and put an in/out of phase switch in as well. Wayyyyyyyy better than how it started.
I just got my sonic telecaster in the mail, ready to rock right out of the box. I'm super syked. I'm not that advanced a player to worry about mods right now.
threw a dirty fingers in mine upgraded the pots to seymour Duncans 500k , swapped the tuners ,added brass saddles , graphtech nut and string tree ..It’s a beast now ..gotta say the neck on mine is really nice with beautiful figured maple
I got a basic first price Squier tele 5 years ago, modes it, drilled to have thru body strings & bridge, changed the nut, and reliced it. Oh, and I put a Fender decal on Guess what ? first, this is my go to guitar - I own 2 fender MIM teles - and people want to buy it ... :) Remember, when our heroes got their guitars, there was no custom shop, those were ordinary guitars ...
Hello Dylan , i have the same the guitar and i modded it too ! I put a EMG 81 TW with volume push-pull and tone , i changed the pickguard for a black-silver paisley pickguard . Not a easy work because , the EMG pickup don't fit in the bridge , i filed the bridge to fit and i drill some wood on the control plate to fit the 9v battery ! I drill the control plate too because EMG pots don't fit in the holes . I ajusted the tunnel between the bridge and the control plate because the quick connect don't pass ! Anyway now it's all good and my Sonic Esquire sound very good ! In split position sound very telecaster with more bite. the 81 TW is perfect for this guitar specially if you love rock-metal sound and want a traditionnal telecaster sound with the split . This guitar is good in original condition , but it's a very good platform for customisation . Thanks for video ,take care.
Hi! I was actually thinking about putting an EMG but I was also wondering if the battery would fit in, ha. Did you put locking tuners? Seems like I will have to drill the headstock to put those Fender Locking Tuners :(
@@adrianvalenx yes i put guyker locking tuners on it , it's plug and play on my guitar i buy with the same specific hole for tuners . if you want to fit the battery take a drill and remove 3mm in the cavity ,.
It's totally worth it! I got one of these on a super black friday deal, plus, I have a selection of pups, so, my new Squire Esquire H will get a proper mod! (It is last in line, behind other guitars, but still...) Thanks, Dylan!
I have this exact guitar, but it doesn’t look like this anymore. I changed out the pick guard so that I could mount a humbucker sized p90. I ended up doing 2 p90’s, and I swapped out the pots for full sized pots (no modification needed for full sized pots). I got the guitar on sale, and then I put another $150 into it, which from a financial stance makes no sense…but from a hobby stance it made perfect sense being that’s why I bought it. I may change the tuners at a later date, but they do the thing for now. Prior to this, I restomodded a 2002 Squier Telecaster that had been well-loved. I did a re-fret, my first, kinda scary, but I took my time, fixed the rigged output Jack, and got the idea to install a Bigsby…left the action just a tad high for playing with a slide, but low enough that playing it conventionally wasn’t annoying. It does the twangy, smoke-filled bar, country thing. I was never a fan of telecasters until I found this one on evil bay. And now I have the Esquire…and I also bought a Firefly Tele that I modded.
I just bought and modded a Harley Benton te-62 in shell pink. Honestly fender made in mexico quality (I have fender mex guitars). The neck is better than squier and the body is full thickness and string through. For a 150 bucks an absolute must have. Cool colours too! Resale is shite, but who gives. I upgraded with tonerider pickups and a 4 way switch + push pull for out of phase tones. It's a killer guitar.
I just modded a SX strat p90 , I love tinkering I always have plenty of parts laying around. And when I buy a cheap guitar I’m looking for good bones IE, neck and body. If I have that then it’s game on. And this low par SX p90 strat is dangerous now. Keep on Rockin
... only when it's a Tele 😜 Modded my daughter's CV50 with '08 AmStd pups/guard/electronics. It's a really fun guitar now. Also, dropped Duncan pup, Nordstrand preamp, and ALBridge into a $250 (shipped) Sterling StingRay. There's a lot of bone on all these 'cheap' models now. Definitely worth upgrading.
In 2018 I bought the surf green bullet tele for £150. I spent £200 on upgrades and it has been my number one ever since. I've had 2 fenders and an SG junior in that time but I always go for the Bullet first.
My first mod project, about two years ago, was a Squier Affinity Strat I bought second hand for about $150 USD, put about the same in upgrades over a year or so. Also, I gotta give credit to our boy Dylan over here, as I watched and re-watched his videos many times to learn how to do stuff. Most of the upgrades were budget brands and stuff I got off Amazon, eBay and their Asian counterparts (MusicLily and Fleor parts are great, IMHO), probably the only ones that gear snobs wouldn't sneer at would be the Fender 5-way switch and the Bourns pots. I bought a used MIM Fender Strat last Christmas, and to be honest I think the Squier turned out better. The bones on the Squier are great, has great finish, had good fretwork when I got it, even the tuners, nut and bridge were alright, I could only fault the electronics. Overall, couldn't be happier with my little monster. It's my pride, my joy, and my toy :)
If the guitar plays well and resonates well, it is worth it! I had many guitars that were not worth upgrading because they would never be good enough, but then, my Harley Benton is such a good guitar, it just needs better tuners and pickups, and once I do it, it will be perfect!
I have the purple one and am modding it with a gold Seymour Duncan Phatcat P90 with traditional Esquire wiring along with all black hardware! It’s already a sweet Git but I love tinkering and I hope it turns out as well as I hope 🤞
I really like the pick up and I was thinking of getting this guitar but not a fan of poplar wood. I really dont know why but I ll seem to vibe with certain woods have been like this before i even knew what woods made what. Again thank you get video and may try both
I've bought plenty of guitars on the lower side of the scale for projects. And its one way of getting the guitar you want without spending a heap of cash on them. What I would say is all cheaper guitars aren't necessarily created equal so be prepared to put some effort into getting them up to snuff. Generally this involves fretwork and setups, but can also be changing out plastic nuts, saddles, tuners and pickups are almost a given. Although some of those pickups on budget guitars have certainly lifted their game these days.
Cheap guitars for modding is something I've been doing a lot lately, just for fun, to learn and to get experience with doing replacements and customisations. Value proposition? It's an affordable way to get an instrument in the configuration you want or need without resorting to a custom shop.
I bought a $300 57/62 pickguard(though, I got it on a sale) and some locking turners for my Squier standard series Strat. The Strat that I have is the same color as the Strat from the lead singer from this band that I like “Big Country” and if I would’ve done a custom Strat they would’ve charged me $2,000 for that so I did what I had to do. Plus, I’m keeping my Strat until I’m buried six feet under. I have no desires to buy a Fender Strat, tbh. I don’t care what people say. They’re not buying my shit.
Is it worth it: A collector will say no. A dealer will say no. A player will say yes. To a player, a great guitar is a great guitar. You have to ask yourself are you a dealer, collector or a player?
Fun! That is enough. Then there's learning. I'd rather learn soldering, tweaking and minor wood butchery on something less expensive and less precious.
I'd like to do this just because modding it would be fun BUT there is a squire that is a few steps up with better Alnico pickups etc and realistically Fender can buy stuff much much cheaper than me so maybe that is the way to go... But to say I did it? Priceless.
Just recently hot rodded a cheap Ibanez solid body for gits n' shiggles and couldn't be happier. Mike Rutherford from Genesis has been using very short-scale Squier strats in recent years.
Whether a guitar is worth modding can depend on whether you already own it, or are buying it to mod, and if you’re buying it to mod it, how much are you paying for it? I have done both One was my first electric, which I never played anymore, but wanted one for open tunings, and the neck was good. I wouldn’t get my money back if I sold it, but I play it a lot now, so it was worth it. The other was a great price, and even with what I paid to mod it, it was a great deal So sometimes it is worth it
It would be a mistake not to mod a squire, a set of tex mex pickups,and I was playing my affinity Tele nonstop in gigs for years,it's even started to relic it's thin blue finish, chips ahoy.
You dont happen to have any resellers in EU? I've been digging those humbuger sized p90 pickups of yours but tax into europe puts the price just a little too high. Thank you for the good, entertaining and educational content regardless!
Hi Dylan, great video! Big fan. I have a question maybe you can help me with on this subject. I have a 2014 SquierBullet they upgraded all over the place. One of the upgrades I did, I replaced the trem block with a Musiclily brass block made for thin bodied Squires. It fits perfectly. I put that block on the stock bridge. I’m so happy with the way. The guitar plays that I now want to upgrade to a more quality bridge but keep the block. I now would love to upgrade from the 6 point to a 2 point tremolo. Do you have recommendations on what I can install? That was also except that block? If I should stay away from a 2 point, do you have a six point bridge you’d recommend instead?
You can make a Really Good guitar from a Squire with Parts, if it was a Excellent Player to start with, If it plays like Crap, NO money should be invested , if it is Exceptional Instrument it Could benefit you enough to chase happiness you probably are truly only going to find in higher end Fenders. Reasons are, Fenders use better materials, better resale and if ever decide to Sell or Trade a Fender will always be something someone is Looking For and a Squire will be something you have to convince someone its good enough to buy or to get a fair price for. I have built Dozens of Guitars and until you get into Vintage Restorations or Custom Exotic Builds , its easier & Better to Buy not BUILD what you want, its easy to go overboard chasing tone and never find it. If you had to buy a Decent Guitar you can make Fun that plays good enough, Find a Wall of Squires and start at one end of wall and play your way to other side of Squires and at least one or Two will be Magical compared to all the Rest
Sounds and looks great! I might have to invest in one of your Tele bridge pickups for my daughter's Squier Tele. Every time I turn around that sucker's making some new noise I hate! LOL Keep up the great videos!
I've looked and can't find a video where he actually opens up the bridge plate and replaces the humbucker. Please link me to that if someone has seen it. Mainly though, I just wanted to know if the Humbucker was using clip connectors or if it was all solder work.
That is a cool guitar. And I'm sure your pickup and the new tuners make it worthy. However, I prefer to build a parts-caster from scratch now that I have made a couple of them. One of these days I'm going to try out a set of your pickups.
Looks really fucking nice too. I just picked up a HH Harley Benton tele that plan I got a Santana SE pickup and x brand Korean PAF clone for. I would love to put in your DAFs if I could afford them 😂
A cheap squier is the best basis for effing around and finding out and learning about building guitars. I have no remorse gutting it and making it my own frankencaster. I just got myself an offset Tele that I plan to mod and use as an experimental platform and gigging workhorse. I'm gonna change the neck pickup with all kinds of pickups to test tones with a permanent tele bridge pickup. It sounds like fun for ages. If I don't like a pickup I can always sell it to someone.
Yes he pulled the pickguard off in another video, good to go for a neck humbucker, which of course means you could also do a single coil, or what I’m thinking about; a mini humbucker. Thats the beauty of a humbicker rout with a pickguard, you dont have to seriously alter your guitar to have a variety of options 8:21
Fender parts casters are too easy to build. Ill end up replacing everything so for me it just makes more sense to build em to the best of my abilities right from the start. Now the Chinese made semi hollow, hollow body and acoustics. The guitars that are not easy to build and not cheap to buy the American made versions. Yes I like fixing those up. Fret, level, dress and polish, bone nut, tuners, intonation, set up, maybe some nice electronics and wiring? Those are fun guitars to mod out. Probably more in $600 range
can i replace the humbucker with an active emg humbucker and have enough space for the battery? do you think the casing for the current humbucker could fit the emg81?
I love modding less expensive guitars. My first guitar was a $400 Epiphone Les Paul. I’ve put around $400 in to modding it plus about $200 for an Epiphone hard shell case but who cares! It’s my first guitar I’ll never sell it. Tbh I like it more than my $3000 Gibson Les Paul🤫
always wanted a telecaster with a humbucker in the bridge but couldn't find one until I saw this. got the purple one, added a mexican telecaster neck single coil and now I can die in peace.
Nobody wires a guitar the way I like so I'm going to end up putting money into whatever I buy anyway. Meanwhile, the shape I desire never comes with the pickup routs or control room I desire. Modding cheap guitars is the only option until I can afford a fully custom luthier.
Full disclosure: I haven't watched the video yet. No, right now I'm reporting on my reaction at following your link to the Sweetwater website and seeing the current price of the Esquire. Laughter. Out loud, though quiet. So why was I laughing? I hadn't (still haven't) looked at the specs or any of that nerdy stuff. I'll get to it. No, the reason why I laughed is because I've already beaten the price. My way. I few weeks ago I bought a Donner DST-400, in black. Since I haven't checked the specs on the Esquire, I won't go all head-to-head on you, but I only have to be myself to know that I would spend no money to get a one trick pony like an Esquire, which I consider to be the most primitive of guitar designs. That said, "primitive" doesn't mean bad at all. It just doesn't suit my taste well enough to entice me to pay for it. The Donner obvious already DID get me to buy it, and it's what I call a Level 1.7 Super Strat. That designation means that it has a couple of modernizations over the baseline 1954 design of the original Strat. This guy has 22 frets over the original 21, a 9.5 inch fretboard radius in place of the 7.25 inches of the classic, a humbucker in the bridge position -- split-able with a push-pull tone pot, and a 2 point vibrato. I added two small mods. I swapped the bent steel bridge saddles for steel saddles with BRASS ROLLERS to help out with the tuning stability. I also traded the stock split-shaft tuners (which I really liked) for a set of Gotoh STAGGERED split-shafts, made necessary by an accident that took out the B-High E string tree and the fact that I really suck at wood work. In my opinion, this guitar would have been worth $500 or better in its original, unchanged form. I paid less than $200 to get it shipped to my door. I have done not much to it, waiting for it to get used to being where it is now and this area's weather before doing anything as drastic as a fret job. Honestly, I can't say it needs a fret job THAT much, as it's been a daily driver since I got it, but I've ALSO since reacquainted myself with an older guitar I DID do a fret job on, and it plays MUCH better. I want the Donner to play that way too, so I know what I have to do. Aside from the fret job and the necessary setup afterward, all this axe will lack (not NEED, LACK) will be some cosmetic changes. Since this guitar, stock, sounds at least an appreciable amount like Nile Rodgers' Hitmaker Strat, I'm turning it and it's sister guitar into black and red versions of it as well. All this really means, though, is that I'm replacing the regular Strat style knobs with body color matched speed knobs. I have no doubt that that Squier would be a dream guitar for someone, especially in its upgraded form. For me, that humbly-priced Donner is well-appointed enough to make it surprisingly close to a dream guitar in its own right.
modding any guitar is a mistake if you're spending lots of time and money to do so thinking you'll make it something it's just not. If you just want to correct some hardware issues so that it plays better or more comfortably, then why not
My Squire Strat is a money pit, it has never sounded good, a complete disappointment, I got it a case so I never have to look at the horrible mistake I made. I will never buy another Fender product, too much junk for me.
Spending $400 total and having a better guitar than any Squier/Fender you're going to be able to buy stock for the same amount of money seems like a total win to me!
Indeed-if you love the guitar "base," why not? Making it your own is an amazing process, and the value is just amazing.
I am a bass player, and have turned a humble Sonic Bronco over time into a bass I would never be able to buy at any shop. I have two long scale Precision basses I adore (a Fender Vintera and a Squier 40th Anniversary P), and they are better, but also different enough that I didn't mind spending quite a bit in my upgrades (or sidegrades, depending on who you ask, though in the end, only my opinion matters.) Like the gentleman above said, it's not meant to be re-sold-it is my own unique bass to appreciate and enjoy. And I love it enough that I can guarantee it will be with me for as long as I breathe.
I have no electric guitar at all, and am tempted by this model or the also one-humbucker Sonic Stratocaster, just to have one (I used to play classical guitar eons ago, but never had an electric.) I doubt I will become a "true" guitar player, but it can't hurt to own one, and at the price, there's little to lose.
(Though if I get one, I doubt it will remain stock!)
I just finished "restoring" my year 2000 bullet strat with new pickups (alnico, made by a local guy) and hardware (tuners, bridge, pots, switch etc). Spent $120 when converted to USD. Guitar plays and sounds better than it ever did. Sounds at least as good as a $400 guitar. Lots of fun, and I learned to do a complete set-up.
I added a Sh-4, regular tele plate with a three way switch mod for series/parallel/slug side split, and some Wilkinson tuners. I also did a bit of fret end smoothing and a little neck work. I already had the pickup, switch, and plate, so it didn't cost me much and I absolutely love it. Now...to get that paranormal Esquire Deluxe soon. 🤘
I will be real honest with you Dylan, at the beginning when I watched your videos I was like: "I don't know if I like this grumpy man talking a lot of things about guitar". But in the end you know what? I am more like: "This guy knows what his talking about and the best part is, he is unpartial, that's good information". It's hard to find people to unpartial that just pass information on youtube and please keep it like that, you are doing an amazing work and great great videos.
Other people would say a lot of bad things about this squier but you were honest, it's a budget guitar, it's really good for mods, it's to have fun. Great video man. 😀
This video hits the mark on a "Mod Platform" guitar perfectly, by the way. I guess the last 3-ish years have seen Squire kill it with a good standard version of most of the Fender lineup mostly between 150-400 bucks. Not guitars that dramatically appreciate or depreciate much, so Squires wont be hurt by taking one out of factory spec nor u, p-sold by modding. You can get something rad to keep, you can live with a total dumpster fire writeoff for a learning experience. Smart and cool of you, Dylan.
I just upgraded to a classic vibe after fudging with my bottom line for years and it’s a HUGE upgrade. Bonus I learned how to setup along the way and can put the guts of the classic vibe in my old one to sell now
I found an old Japanese squire and threw in a Vaughn Tex Mex. Add beers, and it's good enough for open jam nights.
This is exactly why I like moding the inexpensive guitars. I just enjoy the work and love the results. Your pickups make alll the difference.
I rescind my vote for purple, the white and black is perfect
Now to answer the question, "Is it worth it?" Well, I might have covered this in the previous post. This sort of thing is subjective, so there is no right answer in general, only answers that turn out right in context. That GUITAR wouldn't be right for me, so it doesn't matter what upgrades it has ... TO ME. As you correctly pointed out, though, this guitar was never intended to please anyone besides yourself. It is truly YOUR guitar, and that is the entire point of modifying ... guitars or anything else! You get what YOU want and/or need ... because YOU made it work! To you, oh hell YEAH, it's worth it! And all of that is exactly as it should be.
yeah I only did the truss in one sitting and mine also came with good frets but the restock at the store I got it from wasn’t as good I wouldn’t expect string height on any guitar to please everyone though pickups are usually way too close that’s why a lot have packaging film but the tuners I tightened instead of replacing I wouldn’t expect high ratio tuners on a $200 guitar they work as well as epiphone grovers which might not be the same as Gibson ones
3:20 I agree the nut only matters on open strings. On Chorded/Fretted strings the nut is taken out of the equation... all the resonance is between the fret and the bridge saddle.
However, most of contemporary 'guitar music' naturally falls in or rotates around tonalities and chords that utilise open strings: E, Em, A, Am, G, C, D, Dm. It is just natural and handy.
Now, include the ever so favourite 'power chords ' and on top of that - very fashionable drop tunings. That's like a lot.
As long as your mods include sanding off the gluey finish on the neck, its all good. In fact, id hazard that doing precisely that in the cleanest most Dylan precise manner might just make for a neat little episode in itself.
Now THAT'S what I'm talkin about!! Every guitar I have has the back of the neck "tuned up"! Killer mod, if I say so miself. I have a pint of Fornbeys Furnature finish that I use to sweeten up the bare, or satin finish that's left on the neck after I sand it. Never had a bit of problem doing this. In fact makes a great playin neck
These guitars have a pretty smooth satin finish from the get go. Usually the high gloss gluey ones are put on for looks, in these entry levels they don’t even bother doing that and it works great, the neck is lightweight and comfortable without being “Jackson” or “wizard iii” thin.
I like modding my guitars unless it is a collector piece and originality is important to value retention. That being said, I do not believe in modding simply for the sake of modding and have a set of reasons I follow for performing the mods that I choose to do to my guitars. Reason 1) do the mod if it improves playability; reason 2) do the mod if it improves tuning stability; reason 3) do the mod if it improves the tonality whether it just improves overall tone or improves tonal versatility; reason 4) do the mod if it improves aesthetics to be more in my taste (i.e. pickgurads, knobs, toggle switch tip colors, pickup covers, pickup rings, trem tips, etc.). Whenever i do choose to do mods, I keep all the original parts and pack them carefully together and label them so that I can easily put the guitar back to original when and if I sell it (that is unless the buyer wants to buy it in the modded condition and willing to appropriately pay for the modded condition).
i think buying a cheap or used guitar and modding it is a great way to make your own 'custom'. who cares what the name says on the headstock, it's how it sounds and plays that matters. not everyone can afford what the 'big names' sell for. you can make something really good and special even on a budget. and it's all 'you'!
100% fuzzy!
Totally agreed. Make your own humble "masterpiece," suited to yourself alone. These Sonic guitars/basses are a great value.
imo its always nice to put work into an instrument, be it from simple setupwork to polishing frets and ofc changing/modding hardware wiring ect.
it doesnt matter if the pickups you put in are duble the worth of the instrument, cause you make it your own. similar with cars, its not your car untill you got your hands dirty on it ;)
i would even go sofar, its extra worth on a cheap instrument, learning the skills if you never soldered or even put a screwdriver in your hands, drilling and routing, you learn things for the rest of your life. getting into the electronics, reading a wiring diagram ect. are valueable skills and ppl really shouldnt be afraid of doing that kinda thing.
if you buy a guitar for lets say 2k, it better have good hardware, pickups and setup, else that guitar isnt worth the money ;P
I say yes, do it. It makes for an AFFORDABLE custom build, you can put together as money allows. And in the end you'll have a guitar you probably could've never afforded. I changed out the pots of mine for your 500k's because I do have a switch and the tone knob was already not that great. Yours roll like butter!!! And I actually do get much more sound too.
100% agree. The "well if cost of the mods is more than the guitar, so just buy the higher tier guitar" is a dumb argument imho.
@@pauly_6259 Exactly Pauly. A higher priced guitar doesn't always equal a better guitar! Why not add what YOU want to make what you already have work and sound better?
I bought the Sonic Tele on a whim of curiosity and totally love it. I have electronics and parts for teles by the ton but for now I cannot find anything to change that would make it better! It is that good. I love the baby-toy sanded neck too. Nice change after playing the heavily glossed necks of my big boys.
I put new pups and pots, wired 4 way switch in my Squire and added brass saddles with rear loaded string ashtray. It's awesome now. I may sand the neck down since it's a little beefy.
I just picked up that same model brand new but neon green for 140 from fender,changed out the humbucker,bridge,nut, tuners,polished the frets, and strings go through the body it was a fun project,sounds and plays great
That thing seems great. I'm all about taking something basic and inexpensive and customizing it. Nice one, Dylan.
It depends. I got one of them iyv mustangs for dirt cheap used, like $50. I did some extra routing, installed a roller bridge, swapped the strat style singles for p90’s, locking tuners, 300k pots and put an in/out of phase switch in as well. Wayyyyyyyy better than how it started.
I just got my sonic telecaster in the mail, ready to rock right out of the box. I'm super syked. I'm not that advanced a player to worry about mods right now.
threw a dirty fingers in mine upgraded the pots to seymour Duncans 500k , swapped the tuners ,added brass saddles , graphtech nut and string tree ..It’s a beast now ..gotta say the neck on mine is really nice with beautiful figured maple
I got a basic first price Squier tele 5 years ago, modes it, drilled to have thru body strings & bridge, changed the nut, and reliced it. Oh, and I put a Fender decal on Guess what ? first, this is my go to guitar - I own 2 fender MIM teles - and people want to buy it ... :) Remember, when our heroes got their guitars, there was no custom shop, those were ordinary guitars ...
Hello Dylan , i have the same the guitar and i modded it too !
I put a EMG 81 TW with volume push-pull and tone , i changed the pickguard for a black-silver paisley pickguard .
Not a easy work because , the EMG pickup don't fit in the bridge , i filed the bridge to fit and i drill some wood on the control plate to fit the 9v battery !
I drill the control plate too because EMG pots don't fit in the holes .
I ajusted the tunnel between the bridge and the control plate because the quick connect don't pass !
Anyway now it's all good and my Sonic Esquire sound very good !
In split position sound very telecaster with more bite.
the 81 TW is perfect for this guitar specially if you love rock-metal sound and want a traditionnal telecaster sound with the split .
This guitar is good in original condition , but it's a very good platform for customisation .
Thanks for video ,take care.
Hi! I was actually thinking about putting an EMG but I was also wondering if the battery would fit in, ha. Did you put locking tuners? Seems like I will have to drill the headstock to put those Fender Locking Tuners :(
@@adrianvalenx yes i put guyker locking tuners on it , it's plug and play on my guitar i buy with the same specific hole for tuners . if you want to fit the battery take a drill and remove 3mm in the cavity ,.
It's totally worth it! I got one of these on a super black friday deal, plus, I have a selection of pups, so, my new Squire Esquire H will get a proper mod! (It is last in line, behind other guitars, but still...) Thanks, Dylan!
Good video. I have some good guitars, but I too have fun modding and playing my less expensive ones.
I have this exact guitar, but it doesn’t look like this anymore. I changed out the pick guard so that I could mount a humbucker sized p90. I ended up doing 2 p90’s, and I swapped out the pots for full sized pots (no modification needed for full sized pots). I got the guitar on sale, and then I put another $150 into it, which from a financial stance makes no sense…but from a hobby stance it made perfect sense being that’s why I bought it. I may change the tuners at a later date, but they do the thing for now.
Prior to this, I restomodded a 2002 Squier Telecaster that had been well-loved. I did a re-fret, my first, kinda scary, but I took my time, fixed the rigged output Jack, and got the idea to install a Bigsby…left the action just a tad high for playing with a slide, but low enough that playing it conventionally wasn’t annoying. It does the twangy, smoke-filled bar, country thing. I was never a fan of telecasters until I found this one on evil bay. And now I have the Esquire…and I also bought a Firefly Tele that I modded.
I just ordered one of these to learn on. I cannot wait for it to arrive!
Anything in the pursuit of your own sound. Find the general tone that made you really wanna play the mod from there lol
Warning, putting EMGs in an Affinity Tele… because it’s thinner than a regular Tele, not enough room in the control cavity for a battery.
I just bought and modded a Harley Benton te-62 in shell pink. Honestly fender made in mexico quality (I have fender mex guitars). The neck is better than squier and the body is full thickness and string through. For a 150 bucks an absolute must have. Cool colours too! Resale is shite, but who gives.
I upgraded with tonerider pickups and a 4 way switch + push pull for out of phase tones. It's a killer guitar.
I just modded a SX strat p90 , I love tinkering I always have plenty of parts laying around.
And when I buy a cheap guitar I’m looking for good bones IE, neck and body.
If I have that then it’s game on.
And this low par SX p90 strat is dangerous now.
Keep on Rockin
Asking price is worth it. It's a nice indulgence. Have faith, have fun ! (🤘).
... only when it's a Tele 😜
Modded my daughter's CV50 with '08 AmStd pups/guard/electronics. It's a really fun guitar now.
Also, dropped Duncan pup, Nordstrand preamp, and ALBridge into a $250 (shipped) Sterling StingRay.
There's a lot of bone on all these 'cheap' models now. Definitely worth upgrading.
In 2018 I bought the surf green bullet tele for £150. I spent £200 on upgrades and it has been my number one ever since. I've had 2 fenders and an SG junior in that time but I always go for the Bullet first.
My first mod project, about two years ago, was a Squier Affinity Strat I bought second hand for about $150 USD, put about the same in upgrades over a year or so. Also, I gotta give credit to our boy Dylan over here, as I watched and re-watched his videos many times to learn how to do stuff. Most of the upgrades were budget brands and stuff I got off Amazon, eBay and their Asian counterparts (MusicLily and Fleor parts are great, IMHO), probably the only ones that gear snobs wouldn't sneer at would be the Fender 5-way switch and the Bourns pots. I bought a used MIM Fender Strat last Christmas, and to be honest I think the Squier turned out better. The bones on the Squier are great, has great finish, had good fretwork when I got it, even the tuners, nut and bridge were alright, I could only fault the electronics. Overall, couldn't be happier with my little monster. It's my pride, my joy, and my toy :)
Musiclilly is a Retail Vendor, NOT a Manufacturer of anything
@@johnsieff2921 their website says they're also manufacturers of their own products, also sell to other guitar manufacturers.
If the guitar plays well and resonates well, it is worth it! I had many guitars that were not worth upgrading because they would never be good enough, but then, my Harley Benton is such a good guitar, it just needs better tuners and pickups, and once I do it, it will be perfect!
Squire will take you higher🎉 🔥
I bought the same esquire, then added a Seymore Duncan nazgul, locking tuners and a graphtech nut
I have the purple one and am modding it with a gold Seymour Duncan Phatcat P90 with traditional Esquire wiring along with all black hardware! It’s already a sweet Git but I love tinkering and I hope it turns out as well as I hope 🤞
I really like the pick up and I was thinking of getting this guitar but not a fan of poplar wood. I really dont know why but I ll seem to vibe with certain woods have been like this before i even knew what woods made what. Again thank you get video and may try both
Side note...spindrift lime is my favorite.
I've bought plenty of guitars on the lower side of the scale for projects. And its one way of getting the guitar you want without spending a heap of cash on them. What I would say is all cheaper guitars aren't necessarily created equal so be prepared to put some effort into getting them up to snuff. Generally this involves fretwork and setups, but can also be changing out plastic nuts, saddles, tuners and pickups are almost a given. Although some of those pickups on budget guitars have certainly lifted their game these days.
Cheap guitars for modding is something I've been doing a lot lately, just for fun, to learn and to get experience with doing replacements and customisations.
Value proposition? It's an affordable way to get an instrument in the configuration you want or need without resorting to a custom shop.
I bought a $300 57/62 pickguard(though, I got it on a sale) and some locking turners for my Squier standard series Strat. The Strat that I have is the same color as the Strat from the lead singer from this band that I like “Big Country” and if I would’ve done a custom Strat they would’ve charged me $2,000 for that so I did what I had to do. Plus, I’m keeping my Strat until I’m buried six feet under. I have no desires to buy a Fender Strat, tbh. I don’t care what people say. They’re not buying my shit.
Is it worth it:
A collector will say no.
A dealer will say no.
A player will say yes.
To a player, a great guitar is a great guitar. You have to ask yourself are you a dealer, collector or a player?
Fun! That is enough. Then there's learning. I'd rather learn soldering, tweaking and minor wood butchery on something less expensive and less precious.
Love it. I’ve got a strat neck that needs this body.
I'd like to do this just because modding it would be fun BUT there is a squire that is a few steps up with better Alnico pickups etc and realistically Fender can buy stuff much much cheaper than me so maybe that is the way to go... But to say I did it? Priceless.
Just recently hot rodded a cheap Ibanez solid body for gits n' shiggles and couldn't be happier. Mike Rutherford from Genesis has been using very short-scale Squier strats in recent years.
Whether a guitar is worth modding can depend on whether you already own it, or are buying it to mod, and if you’re buying it to mod it, how much are you paying for it?
I have done both
One was my first electric, which I never played anymore, but wanted one for open tunings, and the neck was good.
I wouldn’t get my money back if I sold it, but I play it a lot now, so it was worth it.
The other was a great price, and even with what I paid to mod it, it was a great deal
So sometimes it is worth it
It would be a mistake not to mod a squire, a set of tex mex pickups,and I was playing my affinity Tele nonstop in gigs for years,it's even started to relic it's thin blue finish, chips ahoy.
You dont happen to have any resellers in EU? I've been digging those humbuger sized p90 pickups of yours but tax into europe puts the price just a little too high. Thank you for the good, entertaining and educational content regardless!
At that price you get a good paint job and neck. A bargain platform for custom added value.
Sounds good man...I hope to try out some of your pick ups in near future....👍
Hi Dylan, great video! Big fan. I have a question maybe you can help me with on this subject. I have a 2014 SquierBullet they upgraded all over the place. One of the upgrades I did, I replaced the trem block with a Musiclily brass block made for thin bodied Squires. It fits perfectly. I put that block on the stock bridge. I’m so happy with the way. The guitar plays that I now want to upgrade to a more quality bridge but keep the block. I now would love to upgrade from the 6 point to a 2 point tremolo. Do you have recommendations on what I can install? That was also except that block? If I should stay away from a 2 point, do you have a six point bridge you’d recommend instead?
It's basically a Squier Tele Junior, Change the scratch plate, change the pick-ups, change your glasses.
I love this guitar. I just love it. Anybody knows what locking tuners would fit in it without having to drill holes in the headstock?
I modded my Squire Affinity Tele and it's by go to gigging machine. I'm a Squire fan!!! My Gibson Les Paul and PRS sit unloved.
Thanks for talking about routs, do you know about the routs under the similar Strat?
You can make a Really Good guitar from a Squire with Parts, if it was a Excellent Player to start with, If it plays like Crap, NO money should be invested , if it is Exceptional Instrument it Could benefit you enough to chase happiness you probably are truly only going to find in higher end Fenders. Reasons are, Fenders use better materials, better resale and if ever decide to Sell or Trade a Fender will always be something someone is Looking For and a Squire will be something you have to convince someone its good enough to buy or to get a fair price for. I have built Dozens of Guitars and until you get into Vintage Restorations or Custom Exotic Builds , its easier & Better to Buy not BUILD what you want, its easy to go overboard chasing tone and never find it. If you had to buy a Decent Guitar you can make Fun that plays good enough, Find a Wall of Squires and start at one end of wall and play your way to other side of Squires and at least one or Two will be Magical compared to all the Rest
Sounds good! great project
Sounds and looks great! I might have to invest in one of your Tele bridge pickups for my daughter's Squier Tele. Every time I turn around that sucker's making some new noise I hate! LOL Keep up the great videos!
Nice job buddy !!!!! Great gig guitar- u dont need to wirry if its stolen or trashed at a riwdy gig !!!
Is it possible you can go over this for Epiphone as well?
I've looked and can't find a video where he actually opens up the bridge plate and replaces the humbucker. Please link me to that if someone has seen it. Mainly though, I just wanted to know if the Humbucker was using clip connectors or if it was all solder work.
Can I ask if it sounded much better and pretty much sounded lile a decent tele with a humbucker? Ive ordered one and a dimarzio d activator for it.
That is a cool guitar. And I'm sure your pickup and the new tuners make it worthy. However, I prefer to build a parts-caster from scratch now that I have made a couple of them. One of these days I'm going to try out a set of your pickups.
Whatever floats your boat!
Looks really fucking nice too. I just picked up a HH Harley Benton tele that plan I got a Santana SE pickup and x brand Korean PAF clone for. I would love to put in your DAFs if I could afford them 😂
A cheap squier is the best basis for effing around and finding out and learning about building guitars.
I have no remorse gutting it and making it my own frankencaster.
I just got myself an offset Tele that I plan to mod and use as an experimental platform and gigging workhorse.
I'm gonna change the neck pickup with all kinds of pickups to test tones with a permanent tele bridge pickup.
It sounds like fun for ages.
If I don't like a pickup I can always sell it to someone.
Did you look at the routs under that pick guard?
Yes he pulled the pickguard off in another video, good to go for a neck humbucker, which of course means you could also do a single coil, or what I’m thinking about; a mini humbucker. Thats the beauty of a humbicker rout with a pickguard, you dont have to seriously alter your guitar to have a variety of options 8:21
Fender parts casters are too easy to build. Ill end up replacing everything so for me it just makes more sense to build em to the best of my abilities right from the start. Now the Chinese made semi hollow, hollow body and acoustics. The guitars that are not easy to build and not cheap to buy the American made versions. Yes I like fixing those up. Fret, level, dress and polish, bone nut, tuners, intonation, set up, maybe some nice electronics and wiring? Those are fun guitars to mod out. Probably more in $600 range
$35 GM Super 8's, a CTS pot, some wires, solder ... $45 upgrades this guitar into a monster.
Does anyone know what good bridge can I throw in there if I want to make mine string thru body?
I want to move the humbucker so its a single pickup but in the neck position only.
I got the Esquire just like yours. :)
it's not a mistake, it's your guitar, you do whatever you want.
can i replace the humbucker with an active emg humbucker and have enough space for the battery? do you think the casing for the current humbucker could fit the emg81?
I love modding less expensive guitars. My first guitar was a $400 Epiphone Les Paul. I’ve put around $400 in to modding it plus about $200 for an Epiphone hard shell case but who cares! It’s my first guitar I’ll never sell it. Tbh I like it more than my $3000 Gibson Les Paul🤫
I gotta get a different pickup in mine cause it just has way to much treble. Even with the eq adjusted it still screams in a unpleasant way.
always wanted a telecaster with a humbucker in the bridge but couldn't find one until I saw this. got the purple one, added a mexican telecaster neck single coil and now I can die in peace.
Nobody wires a guitar the way I like so I'm going to end up putting money into whatever I buy anyway. Meanwhile, the shape I desire never comes with the pickup routs or control room I desire. Modding cheap guitars is the only option until I can afford a fully custom luthier.
Me gusta la idea del modelo simple con mejores afinadores y una pastilla de calidad ;)
Full disclosure: I haven't watched the video yet. No, right now I'm reporting on my reaction at following your link to the Sweetwater website and seeing the current price of the Esquire. Laughter. Out loud, though quiet.
So why was I laughing? I hadn't (still haven't) looked at the specs or any of that nerdy stuff. I'll get to it. No, the reason why I laughed is because I've already beaten the price. My way.
I few weeks ago I bought a Donner DST-400, in black. Since I haven't checked the specs on the Esquire, I won't go all head-to-head on you, but I only have to be myself to know that I would spend no money to get a one trick pony like an Esquire, which I consider to be the most primitive of guitar designs. That said, "primitive" doesn't mean bad at all. It just doesn't suit my taste well enough to entice me to pay for it. The Donner obvious already DID get me to buy it, and it's what I call a Level 1.7 Super Strat. That designation means that it has a couple of modernizations over the baseline 1954 design of the original Strat. This guy has 22 frets over the original 21, a 9.5 inch fretboard radius in place of the 7.25 inches of the classic, a humbucker in the bridge position -- split-able with a push-pull tone pot, and a 2 point vibrato. I added two small mods. I swapped the bent steel bridge saddles for steel saddles with BRASS ROLLERS to help out with the tuning stability. I also traded the stock split-shaft tuners (which I really liked) for a set of Gotoh STAGGERED split-shafts, made necessary by an accident that took out the B-High E string tree and the fact that I really suck at wood work.
In my opinion, this guitar would have been worth $500 or better in its original, unchanged form. I paid less than $200 to get it shipped to my door. I have done not much to it, waiting for it to get used to being where it is now and this area's weather before doing anything as drastic as a fret job. Honestly, I can't say it needs a fret job THAT much, as it's been a daily driver since I got it, but I've ALSO since reacquainted myself with an older guitar I DID do a fret job on, and it plays MUCH better. I want the Donner to play that way too, so I know what I have to do. Aside from the fret job and the necessary setup afterward, all this axe will lack (not NEED, LACK) will be some cosmetic changes. Since this guitar, stock, sounds at least an appreciable amount like Nile Rodgers' Hitmaker Strat, I'm turning it and it's sister guitar into black and red versions of it as well. All this really means, though, is that I'm replacing the regular Strat style knobs with body color matched speed knobs.
I have no doubt that that Squier would be a dream guitar for someone, especially in its upgraded form. For me, that humbly-priced Donner is well-appointed enough to make it surprisingly close to a dream guitar in its own right.
If the guitar is twice as good, going twice its value in mods, then yeah it's worth it :)
it's økAy to
love ✨💛⚡🎶🎸 your instruments
so really no mistake
modding any guitar is a mistake if you're spending lots of time and money to do so thinking you'll make it something it's just not. If you just want to correct some hardware issues so that it plays better or more comfortably, then why not
There are better options than using a sonic as a modeling platform unless you happen to get one free no matter the source.
Still cheaper than a Gibson!
I wouldn't pay the lowest amount sonic as a modeling platform.
My Squire Strat is a money pit, it has never sounded good, a complete disappointment, I got it a case so I never have to look at the horrible mistake I made. I will never buy another Fender product, too much junk for me.
A cheap guitar with a bunch of mods can be a fun and rewarding project but at the end of the day it’s still a cheap guitar.
just something to accept. call it entertainment cost.
You just described Fender in its Entirety.
Why not just buy a decent guitar. If you can not do all the mods yourself it is not a wise decision.
What's weird is that you are a modeling guy.