How To “Custom Shop” Your Squier
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- Опубліковано 20 кві 2024
- A few weeks ago, we shot out 5 levels of Jazzmasters, and I thought that the Squier Classic Vibe was a lot of guitar for the money. So, we decided to "Custom Shop" the Squier with some upgraded parts, some tricks from Ben at Big House, and a good setup, to see how close we could get to the real thing.
Huge thanks to Ben and all the crew at Big House Guitars for helping me out with this one, definitely check them out if you're in the Atlanta area
bighouseguitars.com/
Instagram: @BigHouseGuitar
Stuff from todays video: (affiliate links)
Victory Deputy 25 Watt Amp Head
www.sweetwater.com/store/deta...
Squier Classic Vibe Jazzmaster:
sweetwater.sjv.io/B0aQYJ
Fender '59 Custom Shop Jazzmaster:
sweetwater.sjv.io/DKGrZb
Fender Panorama Tremolo:
sweetwater.sjv.io/VmXdBE
Seymour Duncan Antiquity Pickups:
sweetwater.sjv.io/g1d5g9
920D Custom Jazzmaster Wiring Harness:
sweetwater.sjv.io/Gm91GL
Graph Tech String Saver Saddles:
sweetwater.sjv.io/XYBEOg
MusicNomad Kit:
sweetwater.sjv.io/oqdJ0m
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The main take away is that what really makes a guitar sound good is the person playing it.
I once saw Al Di Meola play a black plastic Mickey Mouse toy guitar and of course was amazing on it. after he played the piece, he said "its the player, not the guitar (pause for laughter) of course the guitar has room for tonal improvement..."
@@burningjoe Yeah, I once saw blues-legend Magic Slim play a Squier through a.. wait for it: Roland Jazz Chorus solid state amp. Sounded killer!
For the most part, yes. Every guitar I play sounds like me. Every drum set I play sounds like me. Every keyboard I play sounds like me.
If I had to choose between a thousand hours of practice or a $5000 guitar, I'll take the practice. A good player will sound good on a decent guitar, a bad player will still sound bad on the best guitar on the planet.
Rhett, I am absolutely blown away dude. I don’t even know where to begin. You and Tilly becoming family so quickly is something I will cherish forever and this guitar and video will constantly remind me of these past few months and the beautiful moments we’ve shared from eating delicious ribeye with our hands in my kitchen to producing a live recording of 7 artists in 24 hours in my bike shop. Thank you just doesn’t seem to cut it. I’ve been so busy I didn’t get to watch the whole video until tonight and I literally had no idea you were sending me the Jazzmaster until it was at my home and in my hands. Love you and Tilly forever. Can’t wait to play this guitar with you soon. ❤ Now I got me a Jazzmaster!!! Thank you my friend. I’m speechless and that doesn’t happen ever.
Enjoy that thing! That’s a great friend you’ve got!
Just wanted to note for anyone who feels that the custom shop model sounds a little “warmer” than the upgraded squier… the custom shop has been using 250k pots in their jazzmasters as of late.
It’s not true to the original design, but many people prefer the sound. So it’s another switch worth considering if you find your jazzmaster a touch too bright.
All that said, great video on some truly transformative and affordable upgrades Rhett! Keep it up!
"the custom shop has been using 250k pots in their jazzmasters as of late. "
Blasphemers...
The key to the offsets and their 1 meg pots is that they should live on 8 - which is real close to a 500k pot. Lets you dial it up to full blast if you want or a couple more down and you're basically at 250.
The biggest knock on the linear 1 meg pots is that they aren't great if you want to use the volume knob to clean up an amp but they still work fine with a pedal that cleans up like a Fuzz Face.
brass bridge, hate graphtec saddles
I have the same Squier in the video and put 250k pots in the main circuit and 1meg pots in the rhythm circuit. 95% of the time I’m on the 250k pots but if I need some thin sparkly stuff I have the option to switch. The 250k pots were a real game changer for this guitar, and a cheap change.
Interesting. I thought the Squier sounded too bright and harsh both before and after the upgrade, so that's probably why. Could have saved quite a bit of money by just changing the pots first and seeing if that tamed the harshness. If so, no need for new pickups.
@@gazzie12000 My Affinity had 500k pots, after stratifying the electronics I decided I really liked the stock pickups so they got new black covers and stayed in place, sounds great now with the 250k's.
I closed my eyes during the initial comparison and really listened. Before you did anything both sounded great in their own way anyway.
I think that this stuff is more about specificity than good v bad, tonewise. Any fully-functioning guitar can be part of many musically-useful signal chains, but a given player’s style and workflow might dictate that a certain output (whether it be from pickups or surrounding electronics) gets closer to their dream tone with less effort.
The biggest tone difference comes from a happier player who is having their desired physical and psychoacoustic experience.
The sound difference didn't seem drastic, but he looked much more relaxed on the Custom Shop, appeared to be digging in harder to coax the sound out of the Classic Vibe. Possibly a responsiveness that's more felt than heard.
I was exacting my lunch and looked up a few times and hadn’t realised he’d changed guitars… both sounded pretty good to me at home on my iPad speakers 🤷♂️
I think the bigger question is, with the cost of the mods, is the guitar any better than say a US Standard which is probably the same cost…
“Custom Shopping” a guitar is almost all about psychology and how the guitar makes the player feel rather than it having to do with any drastic sonic improvement. Giving it a proper set up (with any needed fret work and fretboard rolling included) will make the largest noticeable difference pertaining to playability and comfort which is a HUGE factor as well.
Long-winded way of saying that gaining a better tone is one of the least observable effects of upgrading a guitar.
When I was touring, I used to do this to my Squiers. Obviously, money was always tight. So, finding quality guitars at affordable prices was impossible.
You used to be able to find pawn shop deals and hotrod them to make useable stage instruments.
I haven't been in a pawn shop in decades. So, I don't know if that is still true.
My last "build" was a Squier standard Tele. I put in Custom Shop Texas Specials and added a middle Strat pup. I didn't have a router but careful use of a wood chisel worked just as well. I also replaced all of the wiring, pots, caps and replaced the 3 way switch with a 5 way. I could have installed a push/pull tone pot to get a ton of pickup selections but I chose to wire the 5 way with my own preferences of pickup combinations.
Most of my pawn shop builds found homes with young and promising pickers that couldn't afford a decent guitar.
My last Squier Tele build, I kept. I still drag it out occasionally. It still plays and sounds great.
😊😊😊
I used to cruise pawnshops for good candidates for customizing even 5 years ago. Got a few this way. But now pawnshops in my area have jacked the prices up considerably since the plandemic. Used guitars, even cheap ones, seem to have gone up in value bcuz of the higher cost of new guitars.
I picked up a nice Ibanez RG7421 7-string for $250 at a pawn shop recently... put more than that into upgrades, but I love that guitar so much now!
@scramblesthedeathdealer yea I did the same for my Yamaha RGZ 321. Wanted a Floyd Rose ended up buying the guitar for $189 and dumped $300 more into new SD pickups. So worth the upgrade
@@mikewithers299 Nothing wrong with that, now it's your custom model 👍
I do these too, I call them my Primo Cheapos and they definitely are a blast to play. Sadly used Squier prices shot up during the Pandemic so I moved in to newer Import guitars that pretty much straddle the Affinity and Standard lines for Squier. When I mod my Primo Cheapos they tend to add weight as all the new pots, switches, pickups and parts weigh more than the Chinese pot metal parts. Gives them more of a familiar Fender style heft when playing.
18:29 I did this trick with my 1998 Epiphone Les Paul. Every few years, I break out the 0000 steel wool and make about 4 passes over the back of the neck to make it less sticky! 😊
Hey Rhett, I am a guitar technician in Los Angeles Ca, this video solidifies what can be done to “most” less expensive guitars. I say most cause some cheaper guitars are cannot be deemed playable due to a severely warped neck, frets although frets can be serviced and be very good. All in all, with a little $$ even cheap guitars can be made to play and play very well.every once in a while one slips through and only needs pick ups and there are so many aftermarket pickup brands that you can purchase pickups south of $100.00 and you be hard pressed to hear the difference. Thanks Rhett. Tim Russell Guitar.
Pro detected
@@JeremyAndersonBoise ??
Yeah what’s crazy is sometimes all a cheap guitar needs is a good setup. I think for me that has to be one of the most important parts regardless of the price of the instrument
@@SStudiopro He is saying your comment indicates you are a professional.
@@zachjacobs3337 Oh, ok thank you so much for the clarification.
100% what I do. Have a standard tele, an old Epiphone 335, and a player Strat that have all been “custom shopped”, and I always get tone compliments every show.
Also, Ben is the 🐐
I did this to Harley Benton TE-62 Telecaster. Replaced pickups with custom wound ones, replaced electronics, had a proper setup from a good luthier and some smaller neck adjustments. It sounds amazing and it is not as heavy weighted as everybody is saying. The biggest difference of course was in pickups, but the rest also does it's a part more or less. If you don't have a budget for expensive Fenders, Gibsons etc., try this. It definitely can work, you just need to find a cheaper guitar that "rings". In other words, that is made from decent piece of wood. If that is the case, these mods can take the instrument to a really good place. :)
This is by far one of your best videos Rhett. Bravo!!! really great integration of guitar parts, other professionals and informative subject matter. Cheers!
great sounding guitar.....also, gotta love the "pinche way" street sign behind Ben at 13:54 !!!!
Les Paul player detected at 22:26 :P
The comparison in the end... I can keep listening to it for all day long, awesome!!!
To me, low end is something I believe cannot be achieved in a cheaper guitar no matter which component is upgraded. This is what I noticed not only on this video, but on other similar ones.
Cheers
Great job and killer gift for the Bike guy! I enjoyed watching you and Josh in the video of the gravel race and gig. The bike guy will definitely love this guitar.
I bought a Squier Stratocasters vintage 70s and it is the best feeling strat I ever owned. I did replace the pickups to the Cradle Rocks and the tuners to what is on Robin Trower strat. It is now a beast.
One of the great joys of my life now is what I've learned by slowly upgrading my Standard Tele that I got as a gift in 2011. What I haven't changed or fixed up is a very small list. I've really loved learning how to solder and sand and file and whatever else.
I did a similar thing to my MIM strat, Texas special pickups, upgraded the harness, bone nut locking tuners. Very happy with the result. 😊
Dude this video is insanely good!! I am in the midst of this EXACT project!! Thank you so much for this! You rule!
I customized a 72' Squire Thinline and it is now one of my favorite guitars, (but I added a sick custom Warmoth neck too) and I have a Relic'ed 62' Custom Shop Strat. Nothing wrong with doing this and we all love a good project if it can become a cool toy later. Thanks again Rhett, another great vid.
Cool upgrade and sound soo better and closer to the custom!
Having built a few guitars with my Dad I'd take doing a custom job all day. You can make it EXACTLY what you want it to be. The bigger thing to me though is because you are doing all that stuff yourself, it really makes the guitar feel like it's yours. The ones we've build will never EVER be sold. The personal connection we have to them is something you just can't replicate and I love it.
Getting the plastic wrap off in one piece - so satisfying
Ah, the simple things in life.
As always I love your playing. Great feeling.
Perfect timing, I *just* bought a CME FSR Player Jazzmaster like last week with the intent of doing some upgrades! Definitely gonna be taking notes from this vid
Such a great mod. You are a great friend Rhett, giving him a one of a kind top notch, better than new Squier. The tones were so so good from each of those JMs.
Great job on this. Sounds great. Not as warm as the Fender but still holds its own. Fantastic luthier tips as well. Thanks Rhett.
Great job, Rhett. Thank you so much. I've been thinking about getting a beater so I can start hot-rodding and approach my more expensive guitars with less intimidation when working on them. This vid definitely motivated me to get my a** in gear and start looking for a cool used guitar I can upgrade with parts and relic or repaint.
I closed my eyes while listening to the sound comparison and every time i preferred the squier
I love the video--lots of actionable insights. I got a great sound with a Mastery trem and bridge--lots of options these days for JMs.
These drums are so groovy on the jam part. Love it
I love all episodes with Ben!
I just did this to my Jay Mascus Jazz
But I also replaced the neck, put in Fralin hum canceling Jazz PU's, and soldered in all new electronics,put a bridge from an American professional Jag on it and a new tremolo
Guitars spectacular now.
Nice Video Rhett.
Your content has really been next level lately man! 🔥🔥🔥
These more tech/mechanical videos are pretty cool. They’re all cool, but obviously I enjoy these ones. Thanks, dude.
I was in the market for a Jazzmaster and after watching your earlier video, I went with the Squier (from Sweetwater). It looks and sounds great. Such a great value. I do need to knock the edges of the frets back a bit, and I love the steel wool-to-the-neck idea. I like the pickups through my set up, and I have no intention of "upgrading" them or the wiring. Maybe the bridge will get swapped out for a Mustang bridge if I have trouble with it, but so far, so good. And since I rarely even think about using the tremelo, that's going to stay Squier stock. But I've been pleasantly surprised at the quality of the "budget" instruments on the market these days. My Jazzmaster is light years better than the Squiers of my youth. Thanks Rhett. I've watched you sporadically for a while, but I'm now hitting subscribe!
Great video, Rhett! Always have been curious about those kinds of mods.
That screwdriver trick on the fretboard edges is great. Just transformed my unbound BFG Les Paul neck.
Agreed. I just did that to a couple of Franken tele builds of mine that needed a little fretboard rolling. Worked great
Great video. I've modded a few guitars, and in my opinion the nut is the main secret sauce of a good guitar. It is the hardest to get right and to have the skill to correct it. Everything else you can work around. But if the nut is not right, if the neck is not right... do not spend the money to buy and much less upgrade it. I've learned some cool tricks with this video, so thanks a lot.
Thanks A lot Rhett! Now everyone gonna be a guitar tech:)
Excellent vid, Rhett. I did a few similar modifications to my J. Mascis Squire Jazzmaster although I decided to keep the stock pickups because they actually sound pretty great. Swapped-out parts: Staytrem Bridge, TUSQ nut, Fender OEM Tremolo, 00 steel wool to the back of the neck, and added copper shielding tape in the control cavities for better noise rejection. Now, it's one of my favourite guitars and when you see my collection, that's saying something. Next, I'm going to try rolling the edges along with a few passes of 320 grit sandpaper and see how it feels. (Excellent tips, BTW). Cheers!
Hell yeah! I just ordered a CV Strat and I'll be doing this exact thing with it!
I'm off to a bad start: I can't hear anything wrong with the stock Squier.
Well that is because you lack the nerdy insecurities of most guitarists. Guitar buyers often buy to make up for something they see as lacking in their own self.
Guitar seller's take full advantage of this and often without realizing it because it pays for their lunch and that clouds their ability to be honest, even to themselves.
Welcome to one of the most over hyped consumer products ever invented, sold mostly to folks who couldn't strum Happy Birthday even if I told em it was a I, V, I IV progression.
your bad start is cash in the bank, why create non-existing problems
I customed my cheap gretsch ( the less paul version) everything other than the guitar body. ( neck stayed the same, but had fretwork and adjustments...
My favorite guitar..my number 1
My PRS ZM. Hot rodded to the 9s with Cremas, ratio tuners, rewired and switchcraft parts. Been my number 1 since 2018.
Great video. The tip about using 0000 steel wool on the back of the neck was really helpful. I was going to chime in and say - why not get an MIM Jazzmaster, swap the pickups, and then do the setup. Then I checked the prices of new MIM Jazzmasters and realized the guitar alone is more than the Squier plus all the enhancements.
About a month ago I had 30th St Guitars in Manhattan install Elvis Costello’s custom spec Lindy Fralin Noiseless Pickups on my CIJ Jazzmaster along with the Black Bobbin wiring harness swapped for 500k pots and I couldn’t be happier. The guitar is a machine now. I had the antiquities for a while but they just weren’t doing what I wanted.
Thinking about the overall quality of the Fender products that have been outsourced overseas, the quality has gotten a lot better ... over the years. I got a used 50th Anniversary Squire P-Bass (China Made) and it was VERY good. Great neck profile and feel. I knew that I could do better with some higher quality pickups ... and yes it was. I installed a hip-shot style bridge and that was an improvement. For what I have invested in that bass, I am very satisfied. I've played many new Squire Tele's and Strat's that were almost unplayable out of the box. To get those guitars into "playable "shape would have been a big project. Thanks for another great vid.
Great work, I've been working on a Squier Jazzmaster some years ago for a similar project and tried the Antiquity pickups but wasn't satisfied. Still to bright and harsh in my opinion. I found the definitive answer in the Mojo UK pickups 58-64 (I bought from them the complete preassembled harness kit too, very good quality). Super amazing. Those pickups transformed the cheap Squier in one of my main guitars that I still play with my band every week.
Your playing is sounding great man
Perfect friggin timing. Thanks, Rhett.
Very good video! As someone who’s modded a few Jazzmasters my only recommendation would be if you’re gonna spend ~$350 to replace the bridge and vibrato anyway, you might as well just get the Mastery set. It’s a huge upgrade over the Fender Panorama, and only costs about $50 more than what you paid for the Panorama + Graph Tech parts.
Also - I’d recommend 250k pots to anyone who thinks their Jazzmaster is a little too harsh on the high end. It gives it a much more vintage tone that has a nice warmth to it.
Im not a tech either Rhett but i do the same basic things to my guitars. Electronics and pots get replaced, fret board rolled the same way (its an old carpenter trick i learned buildings houses and cabinets). A new Graphtech nut, completely intonated and adjusted, and frets dressed. Saved me lots of money, and now i do it on my friends guitars too.
I “upgraded” my Squier Contemporary Jaguar HH with Graphtech tuner/nut, Babicz bridge, Fishman Fluence Classics and I absolutely love it. The neck is glorious and it’s a guitar I can’t currently buy from Fender with a roasted maple neck and sculpted heel. Plays amazing, sounds amazing and looks unreal!!
Thanks for this - got my daughter a Squier & she plays out so we started upgrading by replacing the tuners and nut, but the bridge is an issue as well. Going to try these further recommendations.
Great video. there is also a case to be made for doing the wiring loom before the pickups; the improved pots jack etc will show what your stock pickups are really like, they may be ok enough to live with while you take time to choose. If you aren't brave enough to go for wire wool(or you are heavy handed ) start with plain paper, it's a very mild abrasive
I have both the Classic Vibe and the J Mascis Squier JM. With some upgrade (pickups, tremolo, bridge, neck shim) and the right setup these instruments are great touring and recording guitars, so they worth more than a 5K custom shop (for me at least). Great video Rhett, thanks.
Love that street sign behind Ben.
PINCHE way !!
😂🤣😂
This is right up my alley. I've been thinking about doing something similar to a JM for a while. I figure that I would at the very least change the tremolo, and possibly the bridge. Good to see that it can be done. I know it's out of scope for this vid, but it would be interesting to see how the replacement pups sound in the original wiring harness.
Definitely in love with that custom shop… I followed your links and looked up the specs. It appears that that custom shop guitar modded the pots to 250k ones, which give it a darker tone. So that’s the difference we’re hearing between the CS and the upgraded Squier. I’m sure if you put in similar pots they would sound almost identical. As is, the Squier comes across brighter.
Squire sounded so good I had to switch tabs to see which one you were playing
Great video!
I'm actually in the process of doing a similar upgrade with my own classic vibe jazzmaster. So far I've done a bunch of setup, replacing the trem for the Fender AVRI trem, and I've sanded the back of the neck to remove the gloss. Planning on throwing some gotoh tuners in, replacing the bridge with a staytrem, and replacing the pickups with a set from Sunday Handwound
I bought a new Squier Jazzmaster (but in dented or chipped condition on the body so it was cheaper) about a year ago because I liked the wide neck and thought it had P90 pickups and i liked the sound of them. Turns out, they look like P90s but are Jazzmaster specific pickups. I still like them. Thanks for the video---will have to play this guitar some more and determine what upgrades I can afford and will be valid in my situation! It definitely is a different guitar to play compared to Strat and hollow body guitar model styles I also play.
Recently I bought a cheap, used L5 knock off (1995 Samick) as I tried it in the store it floored me with it's tone. As soon as I took it out to really check set up, my grandson dropped a handful of picks in the f holes. When I pulled out the pup and found some real gibson pafs.
Great feel, great fingers, great amp is all you need to make great music.
I changed the electronics in a Squier Tele for an Obsidian Wire solderless kit with a treble bleed built in. It made a tremendous improvement in sound.
Rocking the Mid South t-shirt 💪🏻
I’ve done my custom version of Squier Tele. I love it
I know nothing about how Jazzmasters are "supposed" to sound, but being a Tele fan, I think I enjoyed the brighter sound of the Squier to the warmer sound of the custom shop. As others have mentioned.. that may have just been a difference in the pot values. Very interesting, thanks!
The clear pickguard was cool too.
That clear pickguard is begging to be stickerbombed
Excellent video. Interestingly enough, I don’t thing anyone would have known with confidence which sound was the CS and which was the squire from a blind test prior to the mods.
Thankyou for sharing Rhett, i also have one that Squier CV JM, but yeah i'm upgrading that Guitar. I change the bridge into tune o matic, bcs its really hard to get Mastery in Indonesia. Also i change the tremolo kit into Fender, i change my bridge pickup into fender wide range humbucker. Tbh its a fun guitar. But that neck pickup from Squire i really love it! So i didnt change it
I did the exact same upgrade. Put in Antiquity IIs in a lefty antique white CV Jazzmaster. Got a Staytrem bar. Kept stock saddles and trim they work fine (lefty trim as an aftermarket part from Fender not available). Got frets leveled. Plays a dream. BIG THING NOT MENTIONED. Noticed the demos in video the CV sound was had more top end than CS. This is because the replacement wiring harness has 1 meg pots. That's the classic Jazzmaster sound but many players today are backing away from that much top end in a Jazzmaster, in the old days you'd reach for the tone control on the guitar to tame it. Today many Jazzmaster players either put in 500k (or as someone here said even 250K they believe to be standard in CS Jazzmasters today) OR buy Antiquity I pickups that have Alnico II magnets instead of the Alnico V in the Antiquity II. Rhett didn't say which Antiquities he put in his redo, that makes a world of difference. My advice is 500K pots with Alnico V Antiquity IIs it's the goldilocks zone of emphasized top you want in a Jazzmaster, plenty of nice bite and chime but you're not instantly and forever using the tone pot to tame it. If you want a mellower sound go with the Antiquity Is with Alnico II it's the sound of a late 50's Jazzmaster that is more mellow. Alnico II with 1 meg pots will sound in the zip code of the CS guitar in the demo. For jazz as designed :). But I suspect Fender may have moved to Alnico Vs in the 60's when they couldn't sell enough guitars to jazz players but the surf guys were buying them like hotcakes for "that sound." The key balance and interaction here is magnet type vs. pot spec. These two factors have the highest impact on the warm/bright characteristic of your guitar. Not going into body wood or fretboard here, but definitely pots and magnets are the key. For a brighter guitar use 1 meg pots or Alnico Vs. 1 meg + Alnico V will tear your head off but maybe that's what you're after. 250k + Alnico II will be the most warm mellow sound but IMHO doesn't sound like a Jazzmaster it sounds almost like a Tele to me. 500k + Alnico Vs to my ears is that "ah, that's better" moment where you stop managing the top end. And for the Squire CV Jazzmasters with poplar bodies which some say are snappier than Fender alder Jazzmasters this helps moderate that factor as well.
Hi Rhett. Don't know if you're aware, but EMG has a new set for Jazzmasters called the JMaster set. They are amazing and have a couple of tricks in the upper control panel. Rather than Vol/Tone for the neck PU, as in stock Jazzmasters, there is an EXG, that gives you a fuller, clean tone, and a SPC, which EMG originally intended to make single coils sound like Humbuckers. Although it doesn't exactly do that, it does give VERY useful tones. I use them in all my Turbocaster J-style guitars, including my own working guitars, and LOVE them!
They also have the whole setup in a loaded pickguard as well.
BTW, I also love those GraphTech saddles, in Mustang bridges. And another thing is I ALWAYS use Hipshot Locking tuners in ALL my guitars, but for sale and personal, and even acoustics and my archtops!
I did something similar to my Epiphone Les Pauls. My 1993 Korean Cherry Burst is a champ now. The Seymour Duncan Saturday Night Specials in it sound phenomenal through my Vox VTX 100. Gear doesn't have to be very expensive to sound great. A lot of the budget gear we have today is as good or better than a lot of the classic gear was in its day. Most problems with these budget guitars could be solved with a real set up and some fret & neck work. The rest is for those who are passionate enough to do it.
I love my Classic Vibe '60s Jazzmaster but I have started doing upgrades. So far I have shimmed the neck, put 12's on and adjusted the pick ups. I did the Mike Adams clean up on the trem. My next upgrade will be a gun street wiring harness. Surprisingly my frets were already really nice. The final mod will be the pickups one day.
To my ear the Squier sounds heaps better. More clarity and punch. Great vid, thanks Rhett!
Phenomenal tasty playing, Rhett!
Love the complete wiring harness. What a great idea. I know fender offers a loaded pickguard but I don't think they have them for everything and you don't have a pickup brand option. You can do the mods one at a time to fit your budget.
I took a similar approach with my Epiphone Sheraton. Took the guts out of a 335 and swapped em in. Massive upgrade for a fraction of the cost.
I got a Squier J mascis
Put on a Mastery bridge
Series switch instead of rhythm circuit
Lots of fret work
It’s one of the best playing guitars I own It plays and sounds great
I just recently did a similar project with a Squier CV 50’s Tele. Duncan Alnico 2 Pro pickups, Hoagland Custom 5way wiring harness, and similar neck work I put into it.
They both sounded great. I was working in shop and listening and not watching and I couldn't tell the difference honestly. You sound great I think the basic squire sounds real close. Pots and switches feel better when they're in your hands
Guitars sound sick, and your playing is so good! Difficult to get that Custom Shop feel, however, sonically its pretty close after upgrading the pickups.
I did this exact process to my Squier FSR Silver Sparkle Jaguar. I installed an AVRI Vibrato and put in some EPCustom Jaguar pickups. This guitar can totally hang with my AVRI Jaguar and I actually like the EP Custom pickups better.
My favorite guitar is a Squier 70's Classic Vibe ($399) with a 920D loaded pickguard with the Seymour-Duncan Hot-Rodded Humbucker HH 4-wire pickup set ($259). The guitar is light, the neck is great, and it sounds great. The guitar had an HSS setup originally, so I just had to router out the neck pickup cavity. I did everything myself. I had looked and tried the Mexican Strats, but most of them had neck profiles that I didn't like, and were heavier.
Pretty cool seeing all the steps, might need to get some steel wool to pull a little more of the neck finish from some of my Ibanez guitars.
Ben is my hero! I wanna make him a living space in my home, feed him dinner, give him whatever he wants and ask him to tech all my guitars. LOL.
Perfect vid for what I needed today. Thanks Rhett. 🎶🎶🌅🎶🎶
We need “today I AM a guitar technician” merch 😂
a "subtly nervous" technician 😜
Honestly, the stock Squier sounds pretty great.
I’d also recommend locking tuning machines and potentially changing out the pots for stacked pots so that each pickup gets its own volume and tone controls.
Nice video. My first guitar was a Samick, which was about $250 in 2004. I should do some of these upgrades on it.
Really cool video!! Cheers
Hey Rhett, Great video. I did this to my Squier Classic Vibe JM. I was nervous to do it myself, so I sent it to Shelby at Black Bobbin. Dude does amazing things and couldn't be a nicer human being. He has a special set of pickups from Lollar with Alnico 2 magnets. Have you tried those yet? To my ears they got rid of that "harshness" you were talking about. I'd recommend giving them a whirl. I feel like I have a JM that punches well above it's weight now. Thanks for the content.
13:04 I spit my coffee on my hoodie.
Thanks, Rhett!
I highly suggest the Chirs Novak JM180 (bridge) and JM90 (neck) for any Jazzmaster pickup change. They just sound so amazing. I also replaced my Bridge, Tremolo and String Tree with Mastery products. I did this on a 2023 Fender AM Pro II JM, so a slightly better starting point than the Squire, but I was seconds away from buying the Squire 40th Anniversary JM Gold Edition...it did play and feel great (it would have needed the pickup change too) but I just couldn't live with all the Gold...lol.
A few months ago I bought a Squier Affinity Jazzmaster that had sat in my local store for over a year..I loved the burgundy mist finish and I knew I could do a little mod to improve the guitar.
I swapped out the pick ups for Vintage Fender 65’s and swapped out the white pick guard for a tortoise shell..Didn’t upgrade the electronics..But I might look to do that later down the track.
Also just treated the neck with Monty’s Instrument food which has made a vast difference!
Had a good set up and I’ve had nothing but complements on the videos I’ve posted using it!
Best thing I ever did for this guitar! 🤓🤘🏻
i haven´t seen the video yet, but i know that this is the kind of video that i needed.
Great blues jam!
I just put Lollars in mine. That's it. Amazing guitar.
I liked the sound of the stock squier pickups better than with the Seymour Duncan Antiquity pickups, squier once got more bite to the sound and i was listening through some studio headphones.
Cool setup nuggets in this vid. I have a squire jazz base that I need to do a tiny bit of dialing in still