In my opinion, expensive pickups in cheap guitars are totally worth it. Just remember to keep the original pickups. If you ever choose to sell the guitar, you can just put the original pickups back in and keep the expensive pickups for something else
Agreed. A big thing to consider is the sound and feel of the cheap guitar before the swap. I have a Washburn that played great, feels fantastic, but sounded like a$$. A set of DiMarzio's later, glorious.
@@shadowulf absolutely. My brothers main guitar is an American Strat, and he keeps bugging me to give him a Squier telecaster I have ( and bought used for $120) because the neck has a great feel. That Squier is fun to play, and I’m thinking of dropping better electronics in it.
Definitely, as long as it feels right. I love the phat cat p90s I loaded in my epiphone sg special, but it wouldn't get much playtime if I didn't like the weight and the neck profile as much as I do
@@devonscansen7213 I'm very happy with the Phat Cat I put in my Pacifica, the Lindy Fralin P90 in the neck has been awesome as well. Luckily the guitar played great from the get go.
@@shadowulf What about split coils, do dimarzios typically come with that option anyway? I have a two bucker split coil set up, the guitar is cheap, but I like the way it plays over all my other guitars. I guess I don't have to have split coil, but it does seem to be more versatile that way.
I love Squiers. They're affordable, they sound good, they feel good, they stay in tune if you take good care of them, and they are easy to upgrade. Adding new pickups, new pots, a new pickup switch, tuning machines and a bridge can really improve the sound, and you can do all of that whenever you want, if you want to. Or you can just leave it the way it was and it's still a great instrument.
Why not just buy the Fender Classic Vibe or Player instead? Save yourself the headache of ordering parts that fit your guitar. Plus after putting new pickups in they might not sound like what you wanted. You can go to a guitar store and play a Classic Vibe or Player and know exactly what you got!!
When they said cheap and showed a Telecaster I saved for years to buy... I felt like "ouch" hahahaha!!!, in Mexico where I come from, these cost about a whole by-weekly payment
If it makes you feel better, some of us in the USA still have to save for Fender’s that are made out of the country. My Jaguar is Indonesian and I had to buy it on a payment plan. And I bought my Mexican Tele when I got a bonus at work.
CheapER. The price of guitars has climbed a lot in recent years. An American Standard was about 1200$ when I started. Then, mexican strats where 500$ (Canadian) 500$ is still more than I make some weeks. Now guitars are much more expensive, but the proportional difference stays more or less the same.
I've been doing that for over 35 years 😁 installing high-quality pickups in affordable guitars...And it was ALWAYS worth it... It comes from the fact I was a financially-challenged kid and even in later years I kept doing it even though I could afford anything I wanted... These Ron Ellis pickups sound amazing and they make a HUGE DIFFERENCE...But I still love Squiers and other affordable guitars and I will continue to customize them... Because it's fun...
I think I’m in the same boat. I can’t justify paying a lot for something even though I can now afford to.. It is fun to build and upgrade but I wish I could just buy expensive and quit the fight in my head… Seems like even expensive guitars sometimes need work/setting up..
I put ron ellis lrp pick ups, throback wiring harness and pig tail bridge and stop tail in my r9. Big sound improvement. Maybe better to get a collings or huss and dalton lp.
Well said! I like the affordable guitars, but I've modded only one of them. I've got a Squier and an Epiphone that I might mod a bit. New pickups, new nut (preferably bone), maybe a new bridge on the Epiphone.
I’ve used very expensive and medium price pickups in cheap guitars. The results were phenomenal. You always have to do a proper setup, some fretwork and swap some other parts too, but even my cheapest guitar turned into something very playable.
Short answer - Yes, it's worth it. As long as you like the neck and it sets up well a nice set of pickups can make a big difference. Bonus, it costs a lot less than a top-line guitar that you will probably change the pickups in anyhow...
It depends. It usually turns out on roughly the same price. I remember checking Harley benton fusion guitars. Lovely and cheap instruments. If you were ti change electroinics and pickups etc it would basically be the same as any 500/600/700 guitar
good will starcaster: $100 seymour duncan JB: $85 wilkinson neck pickup: $15 switch, pot & knob: $15 pickguard: $15 ez lok tuning keys: $30 graph tech nut & string trees: $20 total cost: $280 and some elbow grease having your own custom guitar that feels, plays, looks and sounds fantastic? man... that's priceless. if you shop around, you can find some amazing deals on guitars that just plain feel good to you. everything else can be changed with relative ease. hell, half your tone is in your speaker anyway lol
@@jbelvin the amp is *where it's at*..don't keep buying pickups; insted, take your favorite guitar up to the music store & go thru all of their amps..don't take any crap from so-called *professionals* online or at the store...find the amp that sounds good to you. Now, all of your guitars back home will sound good too!
@@MrZootalores yeah, I agree. Amp/speaker are tied for most important in my book with pickups being very close. I have single coils in a mahogany guitar and the more traditional strat woods. I have found that makes a difference too. Given all the disagreement on tone wood etc., I think it's worth adding that it seems to me more of a density issue than actual body material. My theory is that different densities absorb different frequencies. So alder might take away x frequencies while ash, mahogany etc or even plastic or plywood or concrete would take away more or less in general, and different frequencies at that. So alder may seem like it's adding more when it's really absorbing/muting lows (I was just an example for the sake of an example.) Anyway, I have decades of experience but am FAR from being a tone expert, but that's my theory. Might help explain why everyone always covets a very light guitar. You always hear vintage strat owners, or seekers, talk about the weight. Lighter guitars = less dense so maybe they tighten the low end by absorbing some of the lower low end frequencies? I dunno. Just throwing that out there.
Keep in mind, I am not an amazing guitarist, but I am partial to a nice bolt on neck on any old piece of body wood and a nice set of electronics....Almost all of my internals have been swapped out for gold stereo connectors instead of direct soldered wires as well so I can swap pickup values and types, potentiometers, treble bleed circuits, etc. The biggest difference between good and poor pickups is response speed and sensitivity. I have noticed for about 5-7 years now, even the cheapest guitars have properly shaped necks and bodies where it counts most, and the cheap pickups and potentiometers that go into the cheap guitars fool your ear into thinking the wood of the guitar isn't good or not responding well...the second you put good electronics in its as if you are playing a completely new instrument that is responsive and far more tactile to play.
Its so important to be able to assess the quality of alpha pots on the fly. What amzes me is how decent they all are now- i find myself just rewiring to the alphas more and more. Its more often factory mistakes nowadays than actual components. Really put it in perspective opening a 20 year old yamaha, and finding the tone unwired to switch, cap on the wrong post, and a switch that is all plastic case with no ground lug. Theyve come so far.
It amazes me how frequently Dan gets away with steal ...er "borrowing" his daughter's Tele. Waiting for the inevitable. "Where's my guitar? DAD!!!" "Sorry sweetheart, had to borrow it for a second. Oh and I changed the neck, painted it green & slapped some EMGs in it. A TokTok meme said it was what all the kids were 'cracked' to."
My guitar top three, in this order: 1) Neck, if you don't like it, you won't play it. 2) Pickups, that's where you sound is and influences how you play the neck. 3) Bridge, for that bang on intonation, it influences the way the strings articulate and transfer of resonance to the body. Get these three bang on and you'll love whatever guitar you play.
Very well said, just one small correction: string resonance to the body doesn't matter, cause sound waves don't interact with electromagnetic waves. The sound waves distorting the shape of the magnets doesn't alter their em properties either, unless you're using piezoelectric pickups. But even then, I'm not sure the change is enough for body resonance to translate into sound.
@@VorganBlackheart when I speak to resonance in the guitar body, I'm not talking to any effect it would have on the strings and thus the way they oscillate above the magnetic pole pieces. I am referring to the way the strings resonate in the body of the guitar. What you feel when the guitar is up against your body. To me that is a large part of what makes a great guitar.
@@frankhoxsey1177I have two great Teiscos- a $50 Sharkfin with huge resonance and a much more expensive Spectrum 5 with none at all. Both great necks They sound of the same quality amplified but the cheaper guitar is so much more engaging because of how it resonates against the body (especially at low volumes where bass is lacking).
The answer is simply "Yes". And I know because I did this myself. My favourite guitar to play (and I have over 20) is still a Squier Affinity with all the poly stripped off and with Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounders + 4-way switching. The neck has been sanded to satin feel and I have spent a little time doing a good job of fret levelling and edge rounding. It is the most comfortable guitar to play that I own, and the only thing else that I think it could do with is replacing the jack socket with a decent Neutrik one and upgrading the pots. The machine heads may be cheap, but they have never slipped or given me an ounce of trouble. The nut is plastic, but was beautifully cut when I bought it and just occasionally needs some pencil lead.
I’ve got a Squier Bullet Telecaster, and a Fender American Professional Telecaster. I love them both, they play, sound, and look great. That’s really all that matters to me.
I got my daughter a bullet tele and it sounds and plays great. Hers is made in Indonesia and is really well made. Best T guitar for under $300 AUD you will find.
@@rory5693 the bullets made in Indonesia are solid and reliable. The other thing I notice about them is that they are easy to play especially for beginners like my daughter and I. Good weight, reasonably thin neck and not lacquered so smooth and not sticky. Good weight and action for youngsters too, easy to push the strings dpwn. And like all telees they hold tune well. For a kid learning guitar I would totally recommend these, being cheap is a bonus.
I agree. A lot of the time there isn't much difference and I have even heard cheaper guitars sound better than their more expensive counterparts even though both versions had their stock picks ups.
I took my daughter’s STARcaster and put my American standard pickups in it after I upgraded the ones in my Strat. Did the electronics as well. HUGE difference.
But, on the other hand, you took your son's *real* 1968 Fender Stratocaster (full names for the respect!) that HE'd paid for on his own, and you set fire to it!! "How lucky you are to be a girl!"
I just put an SD Hot Rails in my stock 50's Clasic Vibe. I cant stop playing it. I have owned quite a few custom shop guitars etc. But the new Squiers are just insane. This Affinity Tele in the vid sounds bright because its a top load bridge not string thru body.
For me, these pickups each have their place. I really think the Squire pickups sounded much better for that funk riff you were playing. But the other pickups sounded a lot better for the blues riffs.
I love the change in Dan's body language when he's playing the Ron Ellis pickups! When he's playing the stock Squier pickups, he looks like he feels as dull and dead inside as those pickups sound haha
Your hands really make the term " It's not the instrument, its the player" come alive. That being said, the modified pickups really multiply the dynamic & responsiveness by a whole lot. You have true skills 👍
Absolutely agree with what you observed. I found that when I find a “cheap” guitar that’s very comfortable for me, upgrading the pickups made all the difference in completing the instrument. It’s certainly not going to be just any guitar, we all have to find that “magical” alchemy for our selves.
I have a PRS SE semi hollowbody that I loved playing but didn't really sound great. One set of Alegree humbucker-sized P90s later and it's my favorite guitar ever.
I thought the same thing for young kids in the garage band or just playing I don't think the difference is that dramatic but hey what do I know I'm not a musician
Cheap pickups can cop trh the Tele, Strat, or Les Paul tones and be totally satisfying for home playing, and even rehearsal settings, and I start to believe they're good enough, or even decent, but wow, I've heard nasty things start to happen as you're cranking the volume. Your get excessively dark and muddy tones, or these transient, piercing frequencies that I've not been able to "eq out". My wife would notice and comment too (she has great ears and likes to come along to jams, rehearsals, and even jams). This has been my experience at least with good vs bad pickups. But yes, always start with a platform you like before dumping your $$ into it. You know, the whole "It has good bones" vs "You can't polish a turd" analogies.
I get a chuckle whenever i watch this kind of comparison video and see the difference in the way the reviewer plays when changing pickups. You can see here that his body language tells a real story. The squier pickups have him playing al subdued, while the upgraded set has him playing much more animated and his actions are just more lively. It really is funny when you notice it.
@@qua7771 the core of the problem is the classic tele neck pickup. It is smaller than a traditional single coil pickup (less wound, less output), and the chrome cover ends up darkening the sound too much (for my taste). The 'classic' fix is using a beefier pickup (like a humbucker or p90) in the neck, so the output is evened. Another modern solution is using a tele neck pickup with holes for the polepieces in the chrome cover. This opens up the sound of the neck pickup and give it a more stratocaster type sound. Another solution (this time not involving the neck pickup) is trying to find a bridge pickup that is a better match for the darker sounding neck pickup. Thus, you would want a low output, somewhat warmer/woodier bridge pickup, to pair well with the neck. Other solution (the one I prefer) is to play with the vol pot in 8 and only turn it to 10 when soloing with the neck pickup. Don't get me wrong, I love Telecasters, and I love the sound of a good Telecaster neck pickup, but this 'darker' neck sound is inherent to the size/design of the classic tele neck pickup.
@@MuchachoC Thank you for the very detailed, and well researched reply. I love the classic look of the Tele but not at the expense of awkward tone options. You have helped direct my research in the right direction. It seems that everything needs some modification to be amazing. Nothing is perfect out of the box. At least there are options.
@@qua7771 I'm a stratocaster player, and at some point became obsessed with having a Les Paul type guitar in my collection. When I finally bought one, I found it underwhelming. Heavy, clumsy, didn't like the cutaway and absolutely hated the 2 tone 2 volume knobs. I loved the sound and the way I looked in pics playing with the Les Paul (lol). I never really dig Telecasters and only became interested in trying one because of Richie Kotzen. But oh, boy, it IS a guitar that will change your playing forever. With a tele you have nowhere to hide, nothing to fiddle with (no trem, no separate tone/vol pots), no fancy cutaway. It's just you and this block of wood and these pickups that each sound amazing but do not seem to pair very well together and a fabulous middle sound (with the selector in the middle). Very simple build, very simple electronics, very easy to setup and maintain. The Telecaster is like a simplified Les Paul in many ways. It is a restrictive guitar, you have to squeeze your music out of it, but today my Telecaster is probably my favourite guitar. Pure raw sound. The restrictions it impose to you only help to spark your creativity even more. My Telecaster made me finally have the courage to buy a soldering iron and begin to mess with guitar electronics and to learn to setup my guitars myself. Try one, you'll not be sorry.
@@MuchachoC Thanks again for another articulate reply. I will check one out. Is there a particular model, or perhaps non fender variant that you recommend?
A friend recommended I get the Squier Affinity Telecaster and then replace a bunch of parts because that's what he did. I did a lot of research and concluded that buying the Mexican Fender Player Telecaster would be a better fit for me since I'm not handy to make all of the modifications he made to his myself. I also watched several comparison videos between the Mexican and the American Tele, and though I could hear a difference, it wasn't enough to warrant the extra money for the American, so I went with the Mexican. I've had my Tele for about a month and I love it!
Yeah, that makes sense. As guitars get more and more expensive the added value suffers from diminishing returns. So, sure a Mexican Player Series will be a pretty big upgrade over the baseline Squiers but doubling the price from there doesn't give you a guitar that's twice as good.
Squier, you get a plasticky finish. Mexican, you get a very decent finish. American, you get a premium finish. At some point you get to be a pickup snob and either have your favorite high-end Fender sets or third party that you love. For me, it's Custom Shop Texas Specials for single coils and TV Jones Classic/+ for humbuckers. Give me a Mexican Tele with one of those combos, a simple 3-way, and CTS pots, and the guitar is perfect.
@@BradHutchings I was once looking into a Fender American Anniversary Series Telecaster . In the store they had three of them in stock. I looked at all of them and finally didn't buy any of them. Two (Thinline) had a horrible finish (e.g. the binding was partly not glued and lacquered and the there where chip offs here and there). The third one was basically unplayable due to such a bad fret job and one of the saddle screws was blocked too, so you couldn't set string height properly. I was honestly shocked about the bad quality these expensive guitars offered. After all it was anniversary models and I expected them to be exceptionally good. I never again looked into an American Made Fender. There are way better options for better prices on the market.
I often put more money into upgrades than the guitar. But I start of with tuneability (Saddle, Tuners, Strings) until this is good, than I play with the bridge/stoptail/trem and afterwards pickups and electronics. Its a good way to find out how much you want to invest.
This is my typical game. I usually buy my guitars by how they feel in hand, and how they sound unplugged. If both are good I take it. I don't really care about the price tag because I know I'm gonna mod the heck out of it anyway. Cheaper guitars tend to skimp on the electronics and hardware, and usually do fairly well on overall assembly.
I've got an old 65 Strat neck laying around so am going to start a build up around it It's Fenders smaller 1-1/2 neck so will need to do a bit of research before going and just getting strat parts Bridge will be a bit narrower
@@paulcowart3174 Good luck! I'm currently wrapping up a project to resurrect my very first guitar. A Peavey Raptor 2. New paint, truss rod, electronics, the whole shabang.
i’ve had a lifetime of getting the cheap models. finally last year got a fender american ultra and can confidently say that the top of the line guitars are well worth every penny. i wish i had this guitar at the peak of my career.
@Matt_Dylan - Tone is all in the pickups. I had to put a lot of work into my partscaster to get everything to fit & feel how I wanted it to. After finishing my guitar, I stopped coveting all other guitars. I still appreciate other guitars, but mine fits me like a custom space suit. The pickups are what take it all the way though. How the pickups respond and sing completely affects how you play. Cheap, dull pickups make you feel like you have to “pull” the sound you want out of them and yet you never quite get there, whereas top of the line pickups seem to deliver their sound to you so that you can relax more and focus on playing - you’re not fighting them. There’s only so much you can do with frets. If the neck is straight and the frets are level you can find the sweet spot where you want the strings to be. Once you get there, the pickups - with pro quality pots & caps like CTS & DiMarzio, and a capacitor you like - do the rest.
@@Bikewithlove Player,amp and speaker is far more important than anything in the guitar...Pots and caps do stuff all, pickups unless complete trash make little difference in reality unless you're comparing completely different types. I bet you couldn't tell these ones tested here apart in an actual mix!
As a chronic "modder" I find the electronics make a huge difference (including the pots and wiring etc.) For me, as a player, I have to find a guitar that I feel is right (for me, it is very subjective, of course), and then I try swapping things out and upgrading hardware etc. But, and like mine it is a big but, the responsiveness of a decent set of pups does go a very long way towards putting a smile on my face. Note to self: remember never to ask a guitar player about guitars unless you want their entire life-history, their complete philosophy of life, and an interminable amount of demonstrations (usually an endless round of the same pentatonic blues riffs, but with different guitars LOL!!!) On the other hand... Maybe that's where all the fun is?
We always wind up in these esoteric discussions of "feel" and such, and I wonder how much our bias plays into this. Regardless of outcome, at the end of the day most guitarists have been conditioned to look down on cheap and put expensive on a pedestal. Original vintage telecasters were also just mass-produced slabs of wood with some emerging tech pickups thrown in. I don't mean to play down their historical importance (and I drool over them as much as anyone), but I bet you can take an Affinity, throw some vintage-looking appointments on it and have a professional relic job added, then fool most guitar players in to thinking they are playing the real thing. Probably be a fun experiment.
You can sure make them sound better. Get one that feels good and play with the pickups, bridge, tuners, whatever you want. The body is just a platform to play with. And ince they are cheap, who cares? Years ago, a friend of mine's father would go to my brother to have him do strange things to (usually Framus) guitars. My favorite was the one he had my brother take the frets out of, plane down the fretboard flat, put on another fretboard with about 1/4" of wood sticking out over the edge on each side and then refret it. I saw it a few years later, and he had put 7 strings on it, scalloped out the fingerboard, and then tuned it all in minor thirds, so a diminished 7th chord when you strummed it open. I said he was nuts, and he said "Play a scale on it without open strings. I tried and suddenly Pets wasn't so crazy anymore. He then showed me some chord voicings on songs he had worked up on it and I was amazed at what he had come up with. Piano style cluster voicings without having to stretch like a contortionist. It was amazing. I keep thinking that one of these days I will try it and see what all you can do with that, but so far, I'm on a two handed tapping 12 string baritone/regular tuning (but all in 4ths on each set of 6 strings) thing that has me fascinated. We'll see if I ever get back to that one or not.
Excellent point. To my ears, the sounds are different, not necessarily 'better'. And the differences are not that big to merit a huge investment for an upgrade. Further, taste and musical style plays a role, too. "Dark" neck pup? Good for jazz.
I can hear the difference between cheap sound guitars and good ones easily. Though its not always about price some brands or models are better than others. The fretwood, the guitar wood and design, the strings and the pickups all have an influence. If you find a decent cheaper guitar and then upgrade the pickups its worth it. But starting out with a lousy sounding guitar like that one is not worth it. That is a practice guitar and nothing more. With the pickup upgrade it sounded a lot better but there still was a tiny bit of lousy sound just coming from the guitar itself that I could detect. But the main issue is how it feels when you play it- the neck action. But I do admit the obsession with vintage guitars is weird to me. Some of them have a nice sound but around the 1990s and up till this day there have been big improvements on most guitars. Like people are obsessed with these old Gibson Les Pauls from the 60s or 80s or whatever. A few of them sound good, most of them are only ok in my opinion. Yet they want thousands of dollars for them and have the $3,000 re-issues. Yet the Les Paul didn't start getting awesome until the 90s. Slash had a custom built one that was made with better wood and specs and sounded really awesome and sounded a lot better than the actual factory les pauls. After that Gibson started copying elements of this custom built slash guitar and even made their own "slash" version based on it. The result, a modern $1500 Gibson Les Paul studio has that beautiful twang of slash's guitar. Everything before the 90s its hit or miss- only some of them kind of sound like that. The newer guitars sound better I think the vintage thing its like just people wanting to relive their youth or something- or just a thrill out of having something rare and collectible. Back in the old days all the guitars sounded like junk unless you had a really expensive one. Now days even relatively cheap ones sound at least half way decent. Its just trial and error in terms of what materials, what design, pickups etc. produce a certain sound. I mean the electric guitar was invented in the 1940s basically. It's like someone driving a model-t ford today- which people do collect them but its pretty primitive compared to modern stuff.
@@raymondkidwell7135 that's a special talent. I haven't met many that can hear the price of a guitar. Sure, if you have a terrible set of pickups it's going to make the guitar sound dull or unbalanced between the positions, but once you hook up to pedals, amp, speakers etc. there are too many variables. Hear the wood sound? Sounds ridiculous, especially once it's choked against your gut and running through a rig. A lot of cheap guitars don't play great; they have intonation problems and rough fret edges etc., but I question anyone that claims they can hear a "better" sound every time in a blind shootout between expensive and budget guitars. Ultimately, you should buy what you want to pick up and play the most, and yeah, that's often the expensive stuff, but let's not introduce mystification.
@@NewtNuke Just a couple days before posting this I actually came across some good guitar players on youtube that sound bad because of their guitar/equipment and sent an e-mail to my friend showing how much good equipment matters. My sister is taking lessons from Tesla's old lead guitarist- believe me all the rock stars know that guitar/equipment is important or they wouldn't be rock stars. No one is going to pay to listen to $150 guitar junk sound. There may be a few exceptions like kurt cobain using some cheap stuff or whatever but mainly you'll notice all the rock stars use higher end guitars, amps etc. This seems to be the biggest issue with most guitar players (like people that sit at home and play)- most of them don't think the guitar makes much of a difference in how they sound but it does. Of course amp and pedals etc. play a big role too. But if one of them is cheaper it ruins the whole sound- a good guitar through a lousy amp sounds bad. A cheapo guitar through a good amp sounds bad. My sister has about 12 different guitars- they all sound different. Her rock star teacher won't even let her bring a bad sounding guitar into the house. It isn't hard to hear the difference though if you start playing on different guitars. Besides some guitars sounding better than others, they also have totally different type of sound. Like a Les Paul style they all have a thick fat sound to them. This is because they use a big thick piece of wood to build them. Yes pick ups and everything play a role, but the main component is the wood. In modern times they found ways to shave a little weight without sacrificing the sound- but they still tend to be bigger, heavier guitars using a heavier wood- and on actual les pauls they have a rosewood fretboard which for some reason guitars just sound a little better on rosewood fretboards compared to most other woods. A fender design is the opposite of a les paul. It is typically a thin piece of wood. There is a certain shape and such to each design too and usually a typical type of wood used. Put the guitar up to your belly when you play you can feel it vibrate. The pick ups are inside the wood- they are picking up the vibration of the wood as well. So you have a Schecter solo ii, Epiphone Les Paul, Gibson Les Paul- all very similar fat sound because of a similar guitar design. You can take a $500 Epiphone Les Paul and put the same pick ups that a Gibson Les Paul has and they are going to sound about 95% the same. There still is a slightly better sound in the Gibson due to the rosewood fretboard, the finish that they put on the neck etc. not only feels better but for some reason makes the vibration better- just little details. Although some of the new ones may only be about 90% the same as they use some different wood. Similar with Schecter solo ii- its the same basic Les Paul "type" of guitar and a similar sound but does sound a bit different just slightly different specs in what they use to build it. My first guitar was a Fender Strat. It has a beautiful rich sound but does not sound good with metal. Yet I played on a B.C. Rich Warlock and it was very metal sounding. So from the beginning I realized different guitars are going to give different sounds- though in the case of Fender part of it is the guitar design and part of it is the non-humbucking pick ups.
I got myself a jackson dinky minion, the kids sized guitar, to take to uni with me. I changed everything out on it - from the tuners to the output jack and everything in between, and it stays in tune perfectly plays like a dream and sounds ace. If you can find a cheap guitar that plays well then everything else can be changed, seasoned to taste if u like
A big part of it is the Ellis pickups were way hotter (louder,) which always sounds better to our ears. Would be interesting to hear the results if the sound samples were volume matched.
This is a good example of how a great player can make even a cheap guitar sound good. Love the funk and the chunk. Of course the Ron Ellis sound substantially better, but in fairness to the Squier, it has a pretty nice tone, with some character and sweetness, even with the stock pickups, and it sounded really big through that Blues Driver. I picked up a used Indonesian Squier Bullet for about $100 in mint condition recently. Light weight, a beautiful gold finish, neck plays beautifully, stays in tune, and it punches way above its class - I love it.
Having done this 2+ years ago, I can say it is worth it. As long as you get a good, playable neck, dishing out a total of $280 for a guitar that sounds like $1000 is a steal. I placed Bill Lawrence pickups in mine.
Bill Lawrence Pups are very very very awesome pups! I put them in my Tele and blammo! What an awesome sound and feeling I get! So glad you found them great for your situation! 😁😁
Shout out to Julian Lage. Unbelievable young guitar player, with a melodic sensibility you just have to experience. And a sweet soul. Definitely one of my biggest musical influences in recent years.
On the other side, I have cheap guitars that feel really good in the hand and are made really well, adding some top-grade electronics would make them worth keeping.
Ive fallen into the "cab & speaker" hole and its a good place to go once your typical money pits have ceased to sufficiently rob you of your hard earned cash.
Vintage speakers take all my money and don't even work half the time and even when they do you discover they've been re-coned. Still though...when they work...
A totally natural progression and well worth the trip down the rabbit hole. Good luck and try not to get lost as there are many side paths on your particular journey.
Why not, second hand helps the journey... I have lots of variation now and have got my favourite blends with different amps worked out and know what will get me where I want with particular amps. Although still a few more I'd like to try including another couple of 15's :) Enjoy, it's life :)
I was gifted a Squier Affinity Telecaster from my sons for Christmas two years ago (thanks, fellas!). One of the biggest mods I chose to do was to pull the stock pickups and replace them with a Seymour Duncan Quarter Pound pickup kit. HUUUUUGE difference and I'm extremely happy with the incredible sound quality I'm getting from this guitar now. It also got Graph Tech bridge saddles and Ratio tuners. Some may scoff at sinking so much into a "cheap" guitar, but I have zero regrets. This is now one of my favorite guitars and I look forward to having and playing it for a very long time to come.
The “feel” aspect you talk about is something that isn’t considered. I replaced pickups in a cheap Ibanez and it forced me to refine my picking technique a bit. The new pickups were more transparent sounding so I couldn’t mask sloppy technique behind muddy pickups and gain. It truly did feel like a whole new instrument after the pup swap.
TBH, the stock Squier pickups are actually not bad. However the Ron Ellis pickups sounds similar but at same time DEFINITELY sounds better with more harmonics and sustain. I likey!
@Mark70609 LOL, I've installed pups that are more expensive than the guitars before. Mind ye, I DON'T install them to sell a guitar. I install them to make it sound the way *_I_* want them to sound. IF I sell a guitar (a RARE event), I return them to stock first because I never get any return on the selling of any modified guitars. I always get more money back if I sell the aftermarket parts separately, but an even better thing for me is to just keep the parts and reuse them in another project guitar!
@Mark70609 LOL, that's probably true. It depends on how low is cheap according to the video creator. 😉😁 Some may say a 450$ Classic Vibes is cheap too. 🤣 No arguments about the possibility of the Ron Ellis pups being more expensive than the Squier guitar. Especially if we're talking about the Debuts, Sonics, Bullets or Affinities. Disclaimer: I've been guilty of installing more in parts on a guitar that is worth more than the guitar itself. *LOL* Mind ye, my intentions on those guitars are not for resale, it's purely for my own pleasure or to achieve a specific sound I'm looking for. IF I were to sell one of those guitars, I'd return the guitar back to stock form before sell it that way and keep the parts for a future guitar project.
From my experience yes it's worth it . I bought the Monoprice Indio Tele off Amazon for $99 , I then put a $80 set of Fender Tex- Mex pickups in it and WOW , what a killer guitar that Tele turned out to be , a real great sounding and playing guitar for $180 . The only thing about the Monoprice Tele is , you may have to do a little set-up work , mine didn't need too much when it arrived , but a little fret dressing on the edges and lower the strings a hair , but that's about it
Of course. But not in this video. Personally, time of day and how much sleep I had last night make more difference than anything else, but I'm not going to run tests to prove it!
A good guitar through cheap amp sounds bad, a bad guitar through a good amp sounds good. A good guitar through a good amp sounds as good as you can play
It depends a lot on what sounds you go for and what you focus on in these sounds. I'd rather have five different guitars and one somewhat versatile amp than five amps and one somewhat versatile guitar.
i believe these pickups have more compression and some mid frequencies scooped. the neck souinds awesome although the bridge could use a bit more low end.
This is my go-to mod for every guitar, right after fretwork. When money is the number one issue, you do what you can with what you have. It may not get you all the way there, but it will definitely make you want to pick it up and play more.
I think this is the greatest video because of its accurate explanation for its technical,transperent,accurate and personal opinion on it. best telecaster review. you got my subscribe. greetings from Mexico.
Great video! I did this with a Squier Affinity Strat. I didn't use terribly expensive pickups, just a Fender Hot Noiseless set. I liked the result so much, I started replacing other parts to see if it made a difference. I used it as a test bed for trying different things. It even has an L.R. Baggs X-Bridge on it now. The only thing left from the original Squier is the body and pick guard. No matter, I love the thing. It's one of my favorites.But I'm reminded of a quote from the movie "Jurassic Park": "Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should."
Maybe I’m crazy, but I liked having the option to go to that dark, brooding Squier neck pickup. And o thought the Squier neck+bridge sounded terrific. The expensive bridge definitely sounded better. Like everything, “good” is subjective. Great video!
Agree. (Except the bit about the replacement bridge pup which I didn't like at all LOL) But then, I've been playing Teles for quite a while before UA-cam reviewers started telling us why today's overpriced twangers sound "better" than more affordable ones. Ditto for fx pedals actually...
I like the option too. But something cool with tone response on teles. Is if you get a brighter neck pup You can roll the tone knob. Off by 2 to get the same tone as a darker neck pup I prefer that versatility rather than being maxed out on my neck and not being bright enough
I was very intrigued by this because I have pretty much this exact guitar but I got my hands on some vintage Fender American classic noiseless pups and I can’t wait to hear the difference.
Goodness, if only you two had enough spare time for a second channel called "That Pickup Show"! I love the pickup shows guys and you are always posing great questions. I have thought about upgrading the pickups in my partners guitar, but it needs to go off to turn into a lefty first anyway, and I'd rather leave the expensive part until after then. Stay safe!
I can 100% agree on that "feel". I just upgraded my VGS with Alcino II Humbuckers. And it feels completely different. The guitar is much quicker to respond, has more sustain, and it feels more "forgiving" Really happy with the change I made.
I put a set of monty's pafs with an emerson 50s wiring kit in my epiphone les paul traditional pro and it made a massive difference. Took a good guitar and made it great.
I really would like to add a Les Paul to the arsenal, but lack the funds for the Real Deal? I’ve never really gotten on with every Les Paul’s that I’ve tried. Once in a while, you pickup a magical instrument? Sometimes it’s how the guitar plays, sometimes it’s how it sounds? Not just looking for “Humbucker Sounds”. Ultimately, there are a lot of components that make that “Holy Grail” Old School LP tone. How much would you need to sink into an Epiphone to get it “there”?
I dropped some cash on Bare Knuckle PUs, Faber tailpiece and ABM brass bridge to upgrade an epiphone les paul. Now it is a musical instrument. Probably cost £600 for all the upgrades. Worth it? Yes, for me.
@@garygallagher7341 Thanks! I’m pretty sure I’d want all those kinds of upgrades as well? Just have to find a guitar that I truly like playing...that would put my all-in around $1000-$1400.
@@druwk I can't compare it to a Gibson at a similar price point as I've honestly never tried one. But she really sings. Researching the stuff was fun too!
First time viewer and now a subscribed viewer. From an old guy to you...very well done Sir. We all know that the pickups are going to improve the sound, but your point on the actual "playing" difference was well put. I freakin love being a musician, and especially now days!
Great video! I love modding partscasters and affordable guitars to get more out of them. If I had saved what I had spent in mods over the years, I could afford a guitar that is simply better than what I've put together, but I love seeing guitars go through tonal-journeys with mods. I find it so much fun.
From my experience: yes. I have a Gibson Les Paul standard and honestly after a few months playing it I liked it less and less. Then I decided to upgrade my first guitar(Epiphone Les Paul1988) with new pickups(seymore Duncan SH-4 and JB), wiring and capacitors and it plays and sounds like a beast! So yes, to all wood purists out there: tone wood or any other features is a myth... Oh yeah, I also replaced the plastic nut with a bone one...
The bone nut, pots, and caps was too far Thats supposed to be a secret. Wait til people find out they can do the finish work on the fretboard and frets themselves. (I just mashed my tremolo arm along the maple fretboard of my mim strat) ofc it cracked the finish around the edge but it has the rolled edge feel and I don’t even feel the edge when I go to change positions. it’s absolutely the most insane feeling cause I’ve been playing cheap guitars my whole life.
True, the whole point of solid body guitars & even semi-body is that they are a base for the pickups to simply transmit the vibrations from the string into an electrical signal to the output. It has been proved numerous times that you can make the body of a solid body guitar any shape & of any material it will not make any difference. The only difference is the saddle & the nut & the frets & the neck fretboard on which the frets sit do to the mass of the fret material.
@@GamingInfested None taken. You are right. Gibson was a good brand until the 90's. From there it all went south. Overpriced and not up to standards like before.
I love my Squire tele. I have experience upgrading pickups. When I put EMG's in my korean strat clone it was a revelation. But sometimes different is just different. I replaced the bridge pickup in my home-made mahogany beast by taking out a DiMarzio Super Distortion and replacing it with a Seymour Duncan Dimebucker. Both were high end pickups but the DiMarzio was just not right whereas the Seymour Duncan brought out a whole new voice and a focus to the sound. I could not get it to work in mixes or sound right on stage with the $200 DiMarzio in the bridge. With the Duncan it has becoome go-to guitar. Different can be good or bad!
The Squier pickups,while stock,sound good. The guitar is being played thru a great sounding Fender tube amp. So it would be worthwhile in my opinion to upgrade the pickuos,given the neck is playable--frets lowered,ends smoothed. I think that these Squiers are true solid body guitars--non veneer bodies.
Tried a similar thing in my Squire strat I've had lying around for years and upgraded to some mid-range Seymour Duncan hotrails, and it made such a huge difference in that "make you want to play" feeling. I feel like I write differently on this compared to my Fender Tele which has been really refreshing, especially when creativity is a bit down due to the pandemic!
This just shows once again that most of the tone comes from the pickups and that's probably the best upgrade you can make to a guitar. That and getting it setup for best playability. The new pickups sounded great and it really makes me wonder why people spend so much more money on a super expensive custom shop or similar instrument, when they could get something more reasonably priced and decent and then upgrade the electronics.
Honestly people pay for names. Unless you are ordering a completely custom spec guitar I dont see the reasoning for buying 1000-3000 on guitars. It is wild what some upgraded hardware, pickup and setup can do to a 300-400 dollar guitar. I played a squier that was pleked, frets hand filled, upgraded bone nut and set up. It played and sounded equal/better than every fender in the shop. That was a huge wakeup call for me.
So I may not own a super expensive custom shop guitar but I do tend to stick with the $1000 to $2000 range when buying guitars as something of a personal rule. The big reason I do that isn't so much because of sound or even the basic stuff like fretwork or the setup (those are all adjustable/fixable regardless). Instead. The Reason really comes down to wanting a guitar that doesn't need anything replaced to suit my specific needs. For example. When I bought my American Standard strat years ago, I didn't need to purchase it with the knowledge that I would have to swap out the tuners, tremolo, switches/pots, and even the pickups. I knew that I wouldn't need to settle on a neck shape that I tend not to like or end up with a body made out of poplar, basswood, or nyatoh. The only thing I might replace is the pickups that is going to come down to taste rather than basic quality. There is absolutely no doubt that Squier's stuff has improved over the years and as far as entry level guitars go, they are (with perhaps some exceptions) pretty great. That said. I already did my time with entry level guitars. I am at a place in my guitar playing journey where I know what I like and I am willing to pay what is necessary to get it. Fortunately for me, I don't have exceptionally expensive taste and I don't have a strong desire to collect guitars for the sake of it. Upgrades only go so far and many guitar companies are not so dumb as to make the easily swappable stuff the largest differentiating factor between price categories. If you could buy a Squier and swap out the electronics/hardware and end up with something identical to a American Strat, Fender wouldn't sell anything but Squier guitars. Neck shape. Body wood (regardless of the petty, ridiculous internet slap-fight over body wood's impact on tone), finish options, and even routing/hardware compatibility options are not swappable and if you do start swapping them out, you are getting into serious money that you might as well have spent on a American Strat to begin with. It isn't about Squier being "worse" or Fender being "better". It is about the fact that they each offer a pretty different guitar at a foundational level. You can't really upgrade a Squier to American Fender specs without getting into American Fender levels of money for a reason.
@@startrekmike yes, this seems like a sensible middle ground. If you just want to get something you can play right away and be happy with for a long time, your strategy is bang on. My criticism is directed at the outrageous prices at the higher end of the range for name brand guitars. If people want to spend that kind of money then do what makes you happy, but I'll always struggle to understand the value of it.
Because your basic premise is not 100% accurate. The guitar is equally important. The squier sounded like crap no matter what pickups he was using in the video, maybe a little better with the stock pu.
I think for about $1,000, you can create a pretty quality instrument. That’s assuming a decent guitar to start with then a setup and pickup/electronics upgrade. There’s still a big difference between that and a custom shop guitar, but it’s diminishing returns after that $1,000 from my experience. If you can afford it and it inspires you, go for it.
This is one of the few videos where in a blind test I could have noticed the difference in pick-ups, but OH MAN what a difference! The Ron Ellis pick-ups win, hands down and thumbs up every time! Those Ron Ellis pickups make that cheap Squier sound like a million bucks! TOTALLY worth it!
I've soldered after market humbuckers in a beginner level strat-style yamaha of the same price as the pickups and found my dream guitar. The standard neck and body shape paired with the splitable versatile pickups are just what I missed on brands like Ibanez and ESP Ltds. In the end theres no right or wrong. If any combination of guitar and hardware feels good and gives you the pleasure when playing it, it's totally worth it🙂
I was surprised at not doing a complete electric upgrade. Go for new wiring, pots, switch, and capacitor and it will truly an amazing upgrade with a good set of quality pickups.
I did just that also to a Sqiuer Infinity Tele (HH). Went with DiMarzio’s. Air Norton neck and Tone Zone bridge. All new upgraded electronics. New tuners. New saddles and bridges. Even new string trees. Things a beast.
Ryan Wilson My son bought a Squire Bass for $75 and completely we did it including stripping paint off, lots of hours. Now one of his favorite basses. I tell him he needs to put his name on the head stock as it is not a Squire anymore:
Unless the pots are scratchy or not the impedance you want, swapping them won't do anything to tone. Same for switch. Good pots and switches are just more reliable, no effect on sound.
@@sdkee I don’t think anyone was talking about tone. It’s an over all package. You don’t replace everything then leave the .05¢ pots/switches in it. CRL and Bourns are worlds better than stock Squier controls.
The idea of the demo was to show what difference changing the pickups makes. If you change all that stuff, you have no idea which components are making the difference to the sound.
I just very recently did something similar with my Affinity Tele , though it was a bit more excessive. I Replaced the mechanics, the nut, the bridge saddles, tuners and pickups with high(ish) quality stuff. I put Graphtech ratio locking tuners and saddles in, as well as a bone nut and Bareknuckle pickups (true grit). The pods I replaced with an obsidian wire pre wired kit which led to me swapping out the plastic knobs for brass ones etc. so that at the end I probably put as much money (if not more) as the msrp of the guitar back in to it, and what should I say; it's freaking amazing! I love the raw and clean feel of the neck and after setting it up correctly it plays impossibly well, it has grown to become my favorite guitar and it is a truly unique one at that (got a 4 way switch to put the pick ups in humbucker mode :D)! Truly worth it! (and I don't think the affinity is heavy at all, quite the contrary actually)
😂 i am waiting for mine and have ordered pretty much the same upgrades you listed! I will install the Mojotone prewired pots and switch assembly, which in my opinion will probably make the most difference, but i heard good sounds from the Barenuckle pups🎸🤘🎸
Yep. I have a Squire Affinity Strat that I like how it plays. I swapped in some Dimarzio SDS-1 and a MIM bridge and now I LOVE how it plays. It's my main guitar for practice with the band now.
Swapping out the nut, polishing and dressing the frets and setting it up would also make a world of difference to the tone and tuning stability. Tele’s are pretty rock solid to begin with though
I think in a blind test I wouldn't be able to tell which was the more expensive set of pickups. Really what I'm hearing is one set (Ron Ellis) has more clarity between strings, as in I can tell individual strings were strummed; while the other set (squire) has a more complete sound, like the chord is heard as a whole. And with the neck + bridge + pedal I couldn't tell the difference at all, maybe if I looked for something i could tell but would it really be there? Or would I be imagining it? Or am I just a bassist with no ear for guitar tone? Prolly the last one.
If you play it in person you definitely can tell the difference. Especially in humbucker pickups, the difference is HUUUGEE. Let alone blind test, that should be easy
There wasn't all that much difference, yes the more expensive pickups have more mid range and richer sound. I personally think the biggest difference was in the bridge pickups But it's not poles apart. Interesting video. Thanks.
I would have changed the “Pot Metal” bridge saddles at the same time for some brass or proper steel ones, I did on my Harley Benton, made a noticeable improvement tone and sustain!
Brass, for sure. Just put some KGC brass saddles in my partscaster and the sustain/resonance improvement is unreal. I can finally feel the guitars body vibrate against mine playing unplugged.
@@Gr-Ra5 for his tone, sure. I don't think of Blackmore when I think of guitarists with great tone, though. I think the best tone is Jerry Garcia's tone, 73-89, and he used brass saddles and bridges, brass nuts, etc. basically, brass at all the contact points for the strings. To me he had infinitely better tone than Richie Blackmore
@@kbbl102.5 "To me he had infinitely better tone than Richie Blackmore" Except, Blackmore was renowned for his tone and ground breaking approach including amongst guitarists.
@@Gr-Ra5 TLDR: I didnt say Blackmore didnt have innovative tone or technique, I simply gave my opinion on saddle materials. Noone is arguing except you. are you saying Garcia wasn't known for having innovative tone and technique? I gotta stay off the internet, you people will take someone who just gave their opinion and stated it as such and crucify them for it, as if they were stating their opinion as fact. Noone said Blackmore wasnt innovate or renowned for his tone, get your panties out of a wad. Some people love his tone, some people love pot metal saddles, I dont and that's just my preference. What do you get out of being a contrarian jerk? Go do something productive instead, getting up in arms about people's opinion on the internet is decidedly unproductive. Go practice or something. Furthermore, to play devils advocate, Garcia and the Dead were for more innovative in terms of the sonic experience of a live concert. Everyone who worked on their equipment and anyone who had a hand in one of Garcia's guitars were invariably more particular and exacting than Blackmore or his techs along with way, except maybe Ken Bran and Dudley Craven over at Marshall who had more of a role in Blackmores sound than his pot metal saddles ever did. Last point and I'll digress... yes, Blackmore had innovative technique, taking rock n roll further than just the blues scale like no one had prior. But you know what had more of a role in his iconic sound than his saddles, his amps, or anything in between? His fingers. Blackmore had an extremely dynamic picking hand, much like Garcia, and like noone in rock and roll before him. Blackmore liked pot metal, Garcia liked brass, Richards left his bridges alone... and they all sounded great because they were great players. I personally can tell that Garcia used a lot of brass and I like the sound better. It's like a bell, which makes sense. And since changing my saddles and nut and trem block to brass, my body vibrates way more musically, my notes sustain longer, and there is less mud in the midrange, plugged in and unplugged.
I really didn’t mind either pickup when played clean. Different, but both were nice. But driven, the squiers are very weak and fizzy. But I could tell you played differently with the different pickups. Probably due to the response feeling different, like you said. I would like to see the expensive pickups compared to some low mid range pickups tho, like the fender TexMex set.
In person the neck pickup in a Squier is very muffled and dark sounding while the bridge is very harsh. UA-cam videos make the ceramic pickups sound much better than they actually do.
Thank you. One of my hobbies is getting the cheapest guitars and making the most of them. I'm currently working on a bin find encore acoustic which I'm electrifying and have just got a camel saddle and bridge for. Keep up the good work
I LOVE the bridge pickup in my Squier Affinity Tele. I will never change it. I don't know if they're all like this, but my bridge pickup seems to be unpotted and is almost microphonic. Sounds great. I got it B-stock, so it could be a "defect".
I have an Affinity Tele. I love the difference in the tones on my guitar pickups. Dan is right that the bridge pickup is "uber bright" and about it being hugely different from the neck pickup...but isn't that the point? There's only two pickups and one is right under the bridge so it's gonna be bright anyhow. The middle position selection is the blend where you have both pickups together and you can dial in the tone with the tone control knob. I don't want the difference in pickup tones to be so subtle I can hardly tell the difference; a wide range of tone is always better, I think.
I have an SX Callisto JR 2TS that I recently bought from Bob Hartman (lead guitarist of "Petra"). This model of SX was an affordable guitar that was sold new until about 2010 or so. Bob used this particular guitar during part of the "Classic Petra" tour that ran from 2010-2012. He replaced the stock P90 type pickups with Dimarzio humbuckers, and it sounds AWESOME! Incidentally, he also replaced the tuners with Wilkinson locking tuners, and installed a Graph Tech Tusq XL nut.
I think those affinity’s are beautiful guitars! That finish is stellar! I bought one for $150, and I liked it so much, i bought another used/ almost new for $100 within the week. Kept one original and started modding the other. Sanded a bevel on top and a belly cut on back and changed the pickups. Hated to mess up that finish, but that was the plan so I stuck with it. I never got around to finishing it, but I like how it’s turned out so far. This video might just motivate me to string her up. The squires are pretty decent guitars in stock form. Just adjusting the pickups worked wonders. If you have no frame of reference on pickups, the stock ones are fine. Each time I play a guitar, I like to think I get a little money back in pure enjoyment. It doesn’t take long for the Squires to pay for themselves. What I meant to say was: “Yep, they’re pretty!”
I did exactly this, I put Fralin Blues Specials in an Affinity Tele. I love it. The neck on the Tele is great, the body is slightly thinner and lighter than an American Tele. I have five Teles and this one is my favorite.
Yes, good pickups matter in any guitar. Like Dan said; first you have to like holding it. A good setup on an inexpensive instrument can cure a lot of ills. Maybe the store does that for their better guitars but Ebay won't. If you get that far then consider the electronics. Where this really comes into play is if you need a P90 tone for two songs a gig.
I had that exact Tele, and when I bought it, used, for $130, it already had a set of ~$150 upgraded pickups in it. It was a super playable guitar, and sounded great with those pickups. I think it's totally worth it if the guitar is otherwise well put together. As someone else mentioned though, if you go to sell, you won't get the value of the replacement pickups back out. I wonder how much more difference, though a bigger outlay, a proper bridge would make? The bridge for me is where Teles live or die.
That was REALLY interesting. The sound is distinct between the pickups and I imagine you play differently when you've got nuanced dynamics. I would love to see a transformation journey, where we see/hear a cheap guitar before a full set up and expensive pickups then hear it after. I wonder, could a £200 guitar */ever/* be transformed into a goto guitar for you, Mick? (Sounds like a challenge!)
I'd argue it's a great investment to by a really good set of pick ups. So when you buy a new guitar you can sell the cheap old with the old pick ups reinstalled. The expensive pickups can be installed in the new guitar thereby keeping the sound you like.
A bit off topic, but since so many people seem to be having an emotional reaction to the word "squier", one time I saw some shoegaze band with probably $20k worth of guitars, amps, and pedals open for And You Will Know Us By the Trail of the Dead. It was a fine set. Sounded fine. Probably could've gotten the same sounds on a tenth the budget but that's fine. Then Trail of Dead came on with a pair of squier jazzmasters, plugged em into some cheap pedals and some blues deluxes, and absolutely fucking blew everyone's mind. I've never seen a band break that many strings, they had a tech come on between every song and rotated guitars. Probably the best show I've ever seen. I don't think most people would have the balls to treat an expensive instrument like that, especially not a working class touring musician.
@6:30 GOOD point! I have swapped many a pickup, and listening to it before/after on a recording may not be very drastic, but what I am having to do, or not do, as the case may be, to get those sounds is hugely different. It's more how the new pickups react to your "input" and the overtones they produce, and how hard you have to work at getting them to do it. That said, your comparison was pretty apparent. The new pickups revealed how anemic/lifeless (not horrible though) the Squier ones were. I recently stuck a pair of $32 Wilkinson WOVTA Alnico 5 pickups in my Monoprice Indio Retro Classic and got similar results. Anyone on a tight budget hunting for an upgrade, I can recommend them, both the guitar and the pickups. Both were very good value.
I think the originals sound great for a $200 guitar. Got my son one of these. He learned a lot, now he has an ESP LTD Phoenix that is the nicest guitar I have held in years. Blown away by it.
To be comfortable with the thickness of the neck is personal and is not an indication of the quality of the guitar, some people prefer c shaped necks over a d shaped or a flatter fretboard or larger neck more comparable to a classical guitar. It all depends on the guitarist ang his or her preference. There is no right or wrong just different options and the following question: does this suites me? If so, then it is good.
I tried that too, got a dirt cheap Harley Benton tele and added Fender Texas Specials to it, makes a BIG difference in both tone and feel. However it still doesn't feel like a custom shop guitar unfortunately... :)
![Let's Talk About Fender Telecasters [And T-Shaped Objects £139 - £Thousands] - That Pedal Show](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/2TTeJtjJd5Y/mqdefault.jpg)
"Clean your room, or its the Squire pickups back in..."
"Noooooooooooooooo"
Hahahahahaah!!!!!
Baaaahahahhahahhah
Comedy GOLD!
Thanks for that, needed a good laugh today
that is HILARIOUS
In my opinion, expensive pickups in cheap guitars are totally worth it. Just remember to keep the original pickups. If you ever choose to sell the guitar, you can just put the original pickups back in and keep the expensive pickups for something else
Agreed. A big thing to consider is the sound and feel of the cheap guitar before the swap.
I have a Washburn that played great, feels fantastic, but sounded like a$$.
A set of DiMarzio's later, glorious.
@@shadowulf absolutely. My brothers main guitar is an American Strat, and he keeps bugging me to give him a Squier telecaster I have ( and bought used for $120) because the neck has a great feel. That Squier is fun to play, and I’m thinking of dropping better electronics in it.
Definitely, as long as it feels right. I love the phat cat p90s I loaded in my epiphone sg special, but it wouldn't get much playtime if I didn't like the weight and the neck profile as much as I do
@@devonscansen7213
I'm very happy with the Phat Cat I put in my Pacifica, the Lindy Fralin P90 in the neck has been awesome as well. Luckily the guitar played great from the get go.
@@shadowulf What about split coils, do
dimarzios typically come with that option
anyway? I have a two bucker split coil set up,
the guitar is cheap, but I like the way it
plays over all my other guitars. I guess I don't
have to have split coil, but it does seem to be
more versatile that way.
I love Squiers. They're affordable, they sound good, they feel good, they stay in tune if you take good care of them, and they are easy to upgrade. Adding new pickups, new pots, a new pickup switch, tuning machines and a bridge can really improve the sound, and you can do all of that whenever you want, if you want to. Or you can just leave it the way it was and it's still a great instrument.
Yes! I've been a fan of Squiers for many years for the same reasons.
My Affinity gets an SD 59 and vintage stack tomorrow - so exciting.
So pretty much just leaving the original wood and switching everything else, lol
Why not just buy the Fender Classic Vibe or Player instead? Save yourself the headache of ordering parts that fit your guitar. Plus after putting new pickups in they might not sound like what you wanted. You can go to a guitar store and play a Classic Vibe or Player and know exactly what you got!!
@@mikelee1906 wdym why not? Because it’s like 400$ more🤣
When they said cheap and showed a Telecaster I saved for years to buy... I felt like "ouch" hahahaha!!!, in Mexico where I come from, these cost about a whole by-weekly payment
I understand, they are good guitars and something you can enjoy.
Luckily 99% percent of people wont notice when you step on stage!
If it makes you feel better, some of us in the USA still have to save for Fender’s that are made out of the country. My Jaguar is Indonesian and I had to buy it on a payment plan. And I bought my Mexican Tele when I got a bonus at work.
I feel you Exactly what I was thinking haha 😂 luckily bought mine second hand brand new for 80$ 💵 But it’s worth the $200
CheapER. The price of guitars has climbed a lot in recent years. An American Standard was about 1200$ when I started. Then, mexican strats where 500$ (Canadian) 500$ is still more than I make some weeks. Now guitars are much more expensive, but the proportional difference stays more or less the same.
I've been doing that for over 35 years 😁 installing high-quality pickups in affordable guitars...And it was ALWAYS worth it...
It comes from the fact I was a financially-challenged kid and even in later years I kept doing it even though I could afford anything I wanted...
These Ron Ellis pickups sound amazing and they make a HUGE DIFFERENCE...But I still love Squiers and other affordable guitars and I will continue to customize them... Because it's fun...
I think I’m in the same boat. I can’t justify paying a lot for something even though I can now afford to..
It is fun to build and upgrade but I wish I could just buy expensive and quit the fight in my head…
Seems like even expensive guitars sometimes need work/setting up..
I put ron ellis lrp pick ups, throback wiring harness and pig tail bridge and stop tail in my r9. Big sound improvement.
Maybe better to get a collings or huss and dalton lp.
Amen!
Friend has a mexican Strat that absolutely sounds amazing with just a new set of Seymour Duncans
Well said! I like the affordable guitars, but I've modded only one of them. I've got a Squier and an Epiphone that I might mod a bit. New pickups, new nut (preferably bone), maybe a new bridge on the Epiphone.
I’ve used very expensive and medium price pickups in cheap guitars. The results were phenomenal. You always have to do a proper setup, some fretwork and swap some other parts too, but even my cheapest guitar turned into something very playable.
Short answer - Yes, it's worth it.
As long as you like the neck and it sets up well a nice set of pickups can make a big difference. Bonus, it costs a lot less than a top-line guitar that you will probably change the pickups in anyhow...
It depends. It usually turns out on roughly the same price. I remember checking Harley benton fusion guitars. Lovely and cheap instruments. If you were ti change electroinics and pickups etc it would basically be the same as any 500/600/700 guitar
good will starcaster: $100
seymour duncan JB: $85
wilkinson neck pickup: $15
switch, pot & knob: $15
pickguard: $15
ez lok tuning keys: $30
graph tech nut & string trees: $20
total cost: $280 and some elbow grease
having your own custom guitar that feels, plays, looks and sounds fantastic? man... that's priceless. if you shop around, you can find some amazing deals on guitars that just plain feel good to you. everything else can be changed with relative ease.
hell, half your tone is in your speaker anyway lol
@@jbelvin the amp is *where it's at*..don't keep buying pickups; insted, take your favorite guitar up to the music store & go thru all of their amps..don't take any crap from so-called *professionals* online or at the store...find the amp that sounds good to you. Now, all of your guitars back home will sound good too!
I do pick up comparisons every time I play… there called tone and volume control knobs. Nice video sir. Cheers.
@@MrZootalores yeah, I agree. Amp/speaker are tied for most important in my book with pickups being very close. I have single coils in a mahogany guitar and the more traditional strat woods. I have found that makes a difference too. Given all the disagreement on tone wood etc., I think it's worth adding that it seems to me more of a density issue than actual body material. My theory is that different densities absorb different frequencies. So alder might take away x frequencies while ash, mahogany etc or even plastic or plywood or concrete would take away more or less in general, and different frequencies at that. So alder may seem like it's adding more when it's really absorbing/muting lows (I was just an example for the sake of an example.)
Anyway, I have decades of experience but am FAR from being a tone expert, but that's my theory. Might help explain why everyone always covets a very light guitar. You always hear vintage strat owners, or seekers, talk about the weight. Lighter guitars = less dense so maybe they tighten the low end by absorbing some of the lower low end frequencies? I dunno. Just throwing that out there.
Next week: Can we make a £4,000 guitar sound like a £200 one? Squier pickups in Butters!
Yes! Mick here. I love this!
I can do that without replacing anything.
@@ThatPedalShow Dan’s not always there. So maybe sneak a video in before he starts coming back and notices? 😂
That was a good suggestion!
@@arthurvandelay7677 I'd laugh if I wasn't the exact same 😂
It’s a totally different guitar now. It has so much more presence after the upgrade. You gave her a voice. Well done!
So my take is, if you enjoy playing the guitar, but wish it sounded bit better, go for pickup upgrade.
Or, as in my early days, you have nothing else and the stock pups are cheesy ...
@@JB-uh6dg the new tremonti SE (the one with thremolo) or the pre 2018 one (with fixed bridge)?
You forgot the most important upgrade of all time........ 3 ply pickguard
MIJ all de way
Definitely a lot clearer sounding, the neck pickup difference was huuuuge.
Keep in mind, I am not an amazing guitarist, but I am partial to a nice bolt on neck on any old piece of body wood and a nice set of electronics....Almost all of my internals have been swapped out for gold stereo connectors instead of direct soldered wires as well so I can swap pickup values and types, potentiometers, treble bleed circuits, etc. The biggest difference between good and poor pickups is response speed and sensitivity. I have noticed for about 5-7 years now, even the cheapest guitars have properly shaped necks and bodies where it counts most, and the cheap pickups and potentiometers that go into the cheap guitars fool your ear into thinking the wood of the guitar isn't good or not responding well...the second you put good electronics in its as if you are playing a completely new instrument that is responsive and far more tactile to play.
Its so important to be able to assess the quality of alpha pots on the fly. What amzes me is how decent they all are now- i find myself just rewiring to the alphas more and more. Its more often factory mistakes nowadays than actual components. Really put it in perspective opening a 20 year old yamaha, and finding the tone unwired to switch, cap on the wrong post, and a switch that is all plastic case with no ground lug. Theyve come so far.
It amazes me how frequently Dan gets away with steal ...er "borrowing" his daughter's Tele. Waiting for the inevitable.
"Where's my guitar? DAD!!!"
"Sorry sweetheart, had to borrow it for a second. Oh and I changed the neck, painted it green & slapped some EMGs in it. A TokTok meme said it was what all the kids were 'cracked' to."
Hahahah!
He borrowed it for another video - he did a lovely 'Look over there, interesting thing' *yoink* style prank to get it.
Quality overacting!
He actually has no daughter
A single EMG in a Squire Tele would be the most metal thing ever. I'd rock it.
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
My guitar top three, in this order:
1) Neck, if you don't like it, you won't play it.
2) Pickups, that's where you sound is and influences how you play the neck.
3) Bridge, for that bang on intonation, it influences the way the strings articulate and transfer of resonance to the body.
Get these three bang on and you'll love whatever guitar you play.
Very well said, just one small correction: string resonance to the body doesn't matter, cause sound waves don't interact with electromagnetic waves. The sound waves distorting the shape of the magnets doesn't alter their em properties either, unless you're using piezoelectric pickups. But even then, I'm not sure the change is enough for body resonance to translate into sound.
@@VorganBlackheart when I speak to resonance in the guitar body, I'm not talking to any effect it would have on the strings and thus the way they oscillate above the magnetic pole pieces. I am referring to the way the strings resonate in the body of the guitar. What you feel when the guitar is up against your body. To me that is a large part of what makes a great guitar.
@@frankhoxsey1177 Oh gotcha!
@@frankhoxsey1177I have two great Teiscos- a $50 Sharkfin with huge resonance and a much more expensive Spectrum 5 with none at all. Both great necks
They sound of the same quality amplified but the cheaper guitar is so much more engaging because of how it resonates against the body (especially at low volumes where bass is lacking).
The answer is simply "Yes". And I know because I did this myself. My favourite guitar to play (and I have over 20) is still a Squier Affinity with all the poly stripped off and with Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounders + 4-way switching. The neck has been sanded to satin feel and I have spent a little time doing a good job of fret levelling and edge rounding. It is the most comfortable guitar to play that I own, and the only thing else that I think it could do with is replacing the jack socket with a decent Neutrik one and upgrading the pots. The machine heads may be cheap, but they have never slipped or given me an ounce of trouble. The nut is plastic, but was beautifully cut when I bought it and just occasionally needs some pencil lead.
Awesome 👍😀
I’ve got a Squier Bullet Telecaster, and a Fender American Professional Telecaster. I love them both, they play, sound, and look great. That’s really all that matters to me.
the squiers are really great from my experience as well and i really love any telecaster so as long as they are trustworthy i’m not picky about it
I got my daughter a bullet tele and it sounds and plays great. Hers is made in Indonesia and is really well made. Best T guitar for under $300 AUD you will find.
@@rory5693 the bullets made in Indonesia are solid and reliable. The other thing I notice about them is that they are easy to play especially for beginners like my daughter and I. Good weight, reasonably thin neck and not lacquered so smooth and not sticky. Good weight and action for youngsters too, easy to push the strings dpwn. And like all telees they hold tune well. For a kid learning guitar I would totally recommend these, being cheap is a bonus.
Right, a guitar is a guitar. If it feels and sounds great to you that is what counts.
I agree. A lot of the time there isn't much difference and I have even heard cheaper guitars sound better than their more expensive counterparts even though both versions had their stock picks ups.
I took my daughter’s STARcaster and put my American standard pickups in it after I upgraded the ones in my Strat. Did the electronics as well. HUGE difference.
But, on the other hand, you took your son's *real* 1968 Fender Stratocaster (full names for the respect!) that HE'd paid for on his own, and you set fire to it!!
"How lucky you are to be a girl!"
I just put an SD Hot Rails in my stock 50's Clasic Vibe. I cant stop playing it. I have owned quite a few custom shop guitars etc. But the new Squiers are just insane. This Affinity Tele in the vid sounds bright because its a top load bridge not string thru body.
For me, these pickups each have their place. I really think the Squire pickups sounded much better for that funk riff you were playing. But the other pickups sounded a lot better for the blues riffs.
That age old advice of only upgrading a guitar you like was my biggest takeaway from this video.
I love the change in Dan's body language when he's playing the Ron Ellis pickups! When he's playing the stock Squier pickups, he looks like he feels as dull and dead inside as those pickups sound haha
Dan wear his heart on his sleeve?
Are you sure? It's never happened before!
Your hands really make the term " It's not the instrument, its the player" come alive.
That being said, the modified pickups really multiply the dynamic & responsiveness by a whole lot.
You have true skills
👍
Absolutely agree with what you observed. I found that when I find a “cheap” guitar that’s very comfortable for me, upgrading the pickups made all the difference in completing the instrument. It’s certainly not going to be just any guitar, we all have to find that “magical” alchemy for our selves.
I have a PRS SE semi hollowbody that I loved playing but didn't really sound great. One set of Alegree humbucker-sized P90s later and it's my favorite guitar ever.
I think the cheapy pickups actually pretty good.The Ellis pickups definitely sounded better, but it's not quite as dramatic as some might think.
I thought the same thing for young kids in the garage band or just playing I don't think the difference is that dramatic but hey what do I know I'm not a musician
yeah, a good amp can make a turd sound decent too, way more pronounced between a gash amp and a good one
Cheap pickups can cop trh the Tele, Strat, or Les Paul tones and be totally satisfying for home playing, and even rehearsal settings, and I start to believe they're good enough, or even decent, but wow, I've heard nasty things start to happen as you're cranking the volume. Your get excessively dark and muddy tones, or these transient, piercing frequencies that I've not been able to "eq out". My wife would notice and comment too (she has great ears and likes to come along to jams, rehearsals, and even jams).
This has been my experience at least with good vs bad pickups.
But yes, always start with a platform you like before dumping your $$ into it. You know, the whole "It has good bones" vs "You can't polish a turd" analogies.
honestly preferred the cheap neck pickup. it was a nice warm sound.
I’m deaf, and I could hear the difference through my hearing aid. Of course, with my playing I can make a $10k guitar sound like a $100 beater…
I get a chuckle whenever i watch this kind of comparison video and see the difference in the way the reviewer plays when changing pickups. You can see here that his body language tells a real story. The squier pickups have him playing al subdued, while the upgraded set has him playing much more animated and his actions are just more lively. It really is funny when you notice it.
There’s a lot of emotion that is affecting his playing more than the pickups😂
I noticed that too.
"the neck is very dark, the bridge is über bright" = Telecaster in a nutshell
I'm considering adding a Tele to my collection.
Is there a fix for that?
@@qua7771 the core of the problem is the classic tele neck pickup. It is smaller than a traditional single coil pickup (less wound, less output), and the chrome cover ends up darkening the sound too much (for my taste). The 'classic' fix is using a beefier pickup (like a humbucker or p90) in the neck, so the output is evened. Another modern solution is using a tele neck pickup with holes for the polepieces in the chrome cover. This opens up the sound of the neck pickup and give it a more stratocaster type sound. Another solution (this time not involving the neck pickup) is trying to find a bridge pickup that is a better match for the darker sounding neck pickup. Thus, you would want a low output, somewhat warmer/woodier bridge pickup, to pair well with the neck. Other solution (the one I prefer) is to play with the vol pot in 8 and only turn it to 10 when soloing with the neck pickup.
Don't get me wrong, I love Telecasters, and I love the sound of a good Telecaster neck pickup, but this 'darker' neck sound is inherent to the size/design of the classic tele neck pickup.
@@MuchachoC Thank you for the very detailed, and well researched reply. I love the classic look of the Tele but not at the expense of awkward tone options. You have helped direct my research in the right direction.
It seems that everything needs some modification to be amazing. Nothing is perfect out of the box. At least there are options.
@@qua7771 I'm a stratocaster player, and at some point became obsessed with having a Les Paul type guitar in my collection. When I finally bought one, I found it underwhelming. Heavy, clumsy, didn't like the cutaway and absolutely hated the 2 tone 2 volume knobs. I loved the sound and the way I looked in pics playing with the Les Paul (lol). I never really dig Telecasters and only became interested in trying one because of Richie Kotzen.
But oh, boy, it IS a guitar that will change your playing forever. With a tele you have nowhere to hide, nothing to fiddle with (no trem, no separate tone/vol pots), no fancy cutaway. It's just you and this block of wood and these pickups that each sound amazing but do not seem to pair very well together and a fabulous middle sound (with the selector in the middle). Very simple build, very simple electronics, very easy to setup and maintain. The Telecaster is like a simplified Les Paul in many ways. It is a restrictive guitar, you have to squeeze your music out of it, but today my Telecaster is probably my favourite guitar. Pure raw sound. The restrictions it impose to you only help to spark your creativity even more. My Telecaster made me finally have the courage to buy a soldering iron and begin to mess with guitar electronics and to learn to setup my guitars myself. Try one, you'll not be sorry.
@@MuchachoC Thanks again for another articulate reply. I will check one out. Is there a particular model, or perhaps non fender variant that you recommend?
A friend recommended I get the Squier Affinity Telecaster and then replace a bunch of parts because that's what he did. I did a lot of research and concluded that buying the Mexican Fender Player Telecaster would be a better fit for me since I'm not handy to make all of the modifications he made to his myself. I also watched several comparison videos between the Mexican and the American Tele, and though I could hear a difference, it wasn't enough to warrant the extra money for the American, so I went with the Mexican.
I've had my Tele for about a month and I love it!
I have a Mexican too
Yeah, that makes sense. As guitars get more and more expensive the added value suffers from diminishing returns.
So, sure a Mexican Player Series will be a pretty big upgrade over the baseline Squiers but doubling the price from there doesn't give you a guitar that's twice as good.
IMO - MIM strat's and tele's (i own one of each) are the best bang for the buck out there.
Squier, you get a plasticky finish. Mexican, you get a very decent finish. American, you get a premium finish. At some point you get to be a pickup snob and either have your favorite high-end Fender sets or third party that you love. For me, it's Custom Shop Texas Specials for single coils and TV Jones Classic/+ for humbuckers. Give me a Mexican Tele with one of those combos, a simple 3-way, and CTS pots, and the guitar is perfect.
@@BradHutchings I was once looking into a Fender American Anniversary Series Telecaster . In the store they had three of them in stock. I looked at all of them and finally didn't buy any of them. Two (Thinline) had a horrible finish (e.g. the binding was partly not glued and lacquered and the there where chip offs here and there). The third one was basically unplayable due to such a bad fret job and one of the saddle screws was blocked too, so you couldn't set string height properly. I was honestly shocked about the bad quality these expensive guitars offered. After all it was anniversary models and I expected them to be exceptionally good. I never again looked into an American Made Fender. There are way better options for better prices on the market.
I often put more money into upgrades than the guitar. But I start of with tuneability (Saddle, Tuners, Strings) until this is good, than I play with the bridge/stoptail/trem and afterwards pickups and electronics. Its a good way to find out how much you want to invest.
This is my typical game. I usually buy my guitars by how they feel in hand, and how they sound unplugged. If both are good I take it. I don't really care about the price tag because I know I'm gonna mod the heck out of it anyway. Cheaper guitars tend to skimp on the electronics and hardware, and usually do fairly well on overall assembly.
Yes! And when you modify it yourself you can fix it the right way.
I suppose I should upgrade my saddles but I keep promising to upgrade the bridge and can’t decide if I want a bigsby too.
I've got an old 65 Strat neck laying around so am going to start a build up around it It's Fenders smaller 1-1/2 neck so will need to do a bit of research before going and just getting strat parts Bridge will be a bit narrower
@@paulcowart3174 Good luck! I'm currently wrapping up a project to resurrect my very first guitar. A Peavey Raptor 2. New paint, truss rod, electronics, the whole shabang.
Agreed, the opposite is true for expensive guitars, the electronics are well done but over priced + adding costs for brand name
i’ve had a lifetime of getting the cheap models. finally last year got a fender american ultra and can confidently say that the top of the line guitars are well worth every penny. i wish i had this guitar at the peak of my career.
@Matt_Dylan - Tone is all in the pickups. I had to put a lot of work into my partscaster to get everything to fit & feel how I wanted it to. After finishing my guitar, I stopped coveting all other guitars. I still appreciate other guitars, but mine fits me like a custom space suit.
The pickups are what take it all the way though. How the pickups respond and sing completely affects how you play. Cheap, dull pickups make you feel like you have to “pull” the sound you want out of them and yet you never quite get there, whereas top of the line pickups seem to deliver their sound to you so that you can relax more and focus on playing - you’re not fighting them.
There’s only so much you can do with frets. If the neck is straight and the frets are level you can find the sweet spot where you want the strings to be. Once you get there, the pickups - with pro quality pots & caps like CTS & DiMarzio, and a capacitor you like - do the rest.
@@Bikewithlove Player,amp and speaker is far more important than anything in the guitar...Pots and caps do stuff all, pickups unless complete trash make little difference in reality unless you're comparing completely different types. I bet you couldn't tell these ones tested here apart in an actual mix!
@@dunxy - Deal! I’ll trade you a set of quiet, muddy sounding Yootones for a Seymour Duncan ‘59 Trembucker bridge pickup.
As a chronic "modder" I find the electronics make a huge difference (including the pots and wiring etc.) For me, as a player, I have to find a guitar that I feel is right (for me, it is very subjective, of course), and then I try swapping things out and upgrading hardware etc. But, and like mine it is a big but, the responsiveness of a decent set of pups does go a very long way towards putting a smile on my face. Note to self: remember never to ask a guitar player about guitars unless you want their entire life-history, their complete philosophy of life, and an interminable amount of demonstrations (usually an endless round of the same pentatonic blues riffs, but with different guitars LOL!!!) On the other hand... Maybe that's where all the fun is?
We always wind up in these esoteric discussions of "feel" and such, and I wonder how much our bias plays into this. Regardless of outcome, at the end of the day most guitarists have been conditioned to look down on cheap and put expensive on a pedestal. Original vintage telecasters were also just mass-produced slabs of wood with some emerging tech pickups thrown in. I don't mean to play down their historical importance (and I drool over them as much as anyone), but I bet you can take an Affinity, throw some vintage-looking appointments on it and have a professional relic job added, then fool most guitar players in to thinking they are playing the real thing. Probably be a fun experiment.
You can sure make them sound better. Get one that feels good and play with the pickups, bridge, tuners, whatever you want. The body is just a platform to play with. And ince they are cheap, who cares?
Years ago, a friend of mine's father would go to my brother to have him do strange things to (usually Framus) guitars. My favorite was the one he had my brother take the frets out of, plane down the fretboard flat, put on another fretboard with about 1/4" of wood sticking out over the edge on each side and then refret it. I saw it a few years later, and he had put 7 strings on it, scalloped out the fingerboard, and then tuned it all in minor thirds, so a diminished 7th chord when you strummed it open. I said he was nuts, and he said "Play a scale on it without open strings. I tried and suddenly Pets wasn't so crazy anymore. He then showed me some chord voicings on songs he had worked up on it and I was amazed at what he had come up with. Piano style cluster voicings without having to stretch like a contortionist. It was amazing. I keep thinking that one of these days I will try it and see what all you can do with that, but so far, I'm on a two handed tapping 12 string baritone/regular tuning (but all in 4ths on each set of 6 strings) thing that has me fascinated. We'll see if I ever get back to that one or not.
Excellent point. To my ears, the sounds are different, not necessarily 'better'. And the differences are not that big to merit a huge investment for an upgrade. Further, taste and musical style plays a role, too. "Dark" neck pup? Good for jazz.
I can hear the difference between cheap sound guitars and good ones easily. Though its not always about price some brands or models are better than others. The fretwood, the guitar wood and design, the strings and the pickups all have an influence. If you find a decent cheaper guitar and then upgrade the pickups its worth it. But starting out with a lousy sounding guitar like that one is not worth it. That is a practice guitar and nothing more.
With the pickup upgrade it sounded a lot better but there still was a tiny bit of lousy sound just coming from the guitar itself that I could detect. But the main issue is how it feels when you play it- the neck action.
But I do admit the obsession with vintage guitars is weird to me. Some of them have a nice sound but around the 1990s and up till this day there have been big improvements on most guitars. Like people are obsessed with these old Gibson Les Pauls from the 60s or 80s or whatever. A few of them sound good, most of them are only ok in my opinion. Yet they want thousands of dollars for them and have the $3,000 re-issues. Yet the Les Paul didn't start getting awesome until the 90s. Slash had a custom built one that was made with better wood and specs and sounded really awesome and sounded a lot better than the actual factory les pauls. After that Gibson started copying elements of this custom built slash guitar and even made their own "slash" version based on it.
The result, a modern $1500 Gibson Les Paul studio has that beautiful twang of slash's guitar. Everything before the 90s its hit or miss- only some of them kind of sound like that. The newer guitars sound better I think the vintage thing its like just people wanting to relive their youth or something- or just a thrill out of having something rare and collectible. Back in the old days all the guitars sounded like junk unless you had a really expensive one. Now days even relatively cheap ones sound at least half way decent. Its just trial and error in terms of what materials, what design, pickups etc. produce a certain sound. I mean the electric guitar was invented in the 1940s basically. It's like someone driving a model-t ford today- which people do collect them but its pretty primitive compared to modern stuff.
@@raymondkidwell7135 that's a special talent. I haven't met many that can hear the price of a guitar. Sure, if you have a terrible set of pickups it's going to make the guitar sound dull or unbalanced between the positions, but once you hook up to pedals, amp, speakers etc. there are too many variables. Hear the wood sound? Sounds ridiculous, especially once it's choked against your gut and running through a rig.
A lot of cheap guitars don't play great; they have intonation problems and rough fret edges etc., but I question anyone that claims they can hear a "better" sound every time in a blind shootout between expensive and budget guitars. Ultimately, you should buy what you want to pick up and play the most, and yeah, that's often the expensive stuff, but let's not introduce mystification.
@@NewtNuke Just a couple days before posting this I actually came across some good guitar players on youtube that sound bad because of their guitar/equipment and sent an e-mail to my friend showing how much good equipment matters. My sister is taking lessons from Tesla's old lead guitarist- believe me all the rock stars know that guitar/equipment is important or they wouldn't be rock stars. No one is going to pay to listen to $150 guitar junk sound. There may be a few exceptions like kurt cobain using some cheap stuff or whatever but mainly you'll notice all the rock stars use higher end guitars, amps etc.
This seems to be the biggest issue with most guitar players (like people that sit at home and play)- most of them don't think the guitar makes much of a difference in how they sound but it does. Of course amp and pedals etc. play a big role too. But if one of them is cheaper it ruins the whole sound- a good guitar through a lousy amp sounds bad. A cheapo guitar through a good amp sounds bad.
My sister has about 12 different guitars- they all sound different. Her rock star teacher won't even let her bring a bad sounding guitar into the house. It isn't hard to hear the difference though if you start playing on different guitars. Besides some guitars sounding better than others, they also have totally different type of sound.
Like a Les Paul style they all have a thick fat sound to them. This is because they use a big thick piece of wood to build them. Yes pick ups and everything play a role, but the main component is the wood. In modern times they found ways to shave a little weight without sacrificing the sound- but they still tend to be bigger, heavier guitars using a heavier wood- and on actual les pauls they have a rosewood fretboard which for some reason guitars just sound a little better on rosewood fretboards compared to most other woods.
A fender design is the opposite of a les paul. It is typically a thin piece of wood. There is a certain shape and such to each design too and usually a typical type of wood used. Put the guitar up to your belly when you play you can feel it vibrate. The pick ups are inside the wood- they are picking up the vibration of the wood as well.
So you have a Schecter solo ii, Epiphone Les Paul, Gibson Les Paul- all very similar fat sound because of a similar guitar design. You can take a $500 Epiphone Les Paul and put the same pick ups that a Gibson Les Paul has and they are going to sound about 95% the same. There still is a slightly better sound in the Gibson due to the rosewood fretboard, the finish that they put on the neck etc. not only feels better but for some reason makes the vibration better- just little details. Although some of the new ones may only be about 90% the same as they use some different wood.
Similar with Schecter solo ii- its the same basic Les Paul "type" of guitar and a similar sound but does sound a bit different just slightly different specs in what they use to build it.
My first guitar was a Fender Strat. It has a beautiful rich sound but does not sound good with metal. Yet I played on a B.C. Rich Warlock and it was very metal sounding. So from the beginning I realized different guitars are going to give different sounds- though in the case of Fender part of it is the guitar design and part of it is the non-humbucking pick ups.
I got myself a jackson dinky minion, the kids sized guitar, to take to uni with me. I changed everything out on it - from the tuners to the output jack and everything in between, and it stays in tune perfectly plays like a dream and sounds ace. If you can find a cheap guitar that plays well then everything else can be changed, seasoned to taste if u like
These days with the cnc machines and modern technology it's almost impossible to find a bad cheaply priced guitar.
I knew there would be a difference, but I was not prepared for how big that difference would be. Those Ron Ellis pickups sound incredible.
A big part of it is the Ellis pickups were way hotter (louder,) which always sounds better to our ears. Would be interesting to hear the results if the sound samples were volume matched.
This is literally one of the most remarkable changes (upgrade) I have ever heard - and this is just through my cell phone Bluetoothed into my TV.
What about getting cheap pickups in the most expensive guitar you have
Yes! Haha! New trend!
That would really tell the difference! So expensive tele , squire affinity pickups - that might be more accurate !
TONE WOOD!
cursed
That's great idea. I would love to hear a difference
This is a good example of how a great player can make even a cheap guitar sound good. Love the funk and the chunk. Of course the Ron Ellis sound substantially better, but in fairness to the Squier, it has a pretty nice tone, with some character and sweetness, even with the stock pickups, and it sounded really big through that Blues Driver. I picked up a used Indonesian Squier Bullet for about $100 in mint condition recently. Light weight, a beautiful gold finish, neck plays beautifully, stays in tune, and it punches way above its class - I love it.
The stock pickups sounded usable but a bit lifeless. Ron Ellis sounded deeper and gave it a wider spectrum of sounds.
Five times the cost though
I think most people could get the Squier pickups to work for them. The Ron Ellis pickups were different, and it’s subjective as if they are better.
Having done this 2+ years ago, I can say it is worth it. As long as you get a good, playable neck, dishing out a total of $280 for a guitar that sounds like $1000 is a steal. I placed Bill Lawrence pickups in mine.
Bill Lawrence Pups are very very very awesome pups! I put them in my Tele and blammo! What an awesome sound and feeling I get!
So glad you found them great for your situation! 😁😁
Shout out to Julian Lage. Unbelievable young guitar player, with a melodic sensibility you just have to experience. And a sweet soul. Definitely one of my biggest musical influences in recent years.
Same here, never have I seen someone play with more passion and control. And his tone is incredible
On the other side, I have cheap guitars that feel really good in the hand and are made really well, adding some top-grade electronics would make them worth keeping.
Ive fallen into the "cab & speaker" hole and its a good place to go once your typical money pits have ceased to sufficiently rob you of your hard earned cash.
All the 12’s 🤣
I can only assume you've already looked at BareFaced cabs
Vintage speakers take all my money and don't even work half the time and even when they do you discover they've been re-coned. Still though...when they work...
A totally natural progression and well worth the trip down the rabbit hole.
Good luck and try not to get lost as there are many side paths on your particular journey.
Why not, second hand helps the journey... I have lots of variation now and have got my favourite blends with different amps worked out and know what will get me where I want with particular amps. Although still a few more I'd like to try including another couple of 15's :) Enjoy, it's life :)
I was gifted a Squier Affinity Telecaster from my sons for Christmas two years ago (thanks, fellas!). One of the biggest mods I chose to do was to pull the stock pickups and replace them with a Seymour Duncan Quarter Pound pickup kit. HUUUUUGE difference and I'm extremely happy with the incredible sound quality I'm getting from this guitar now. It also got Graph Tech bridge saddles and Ratio tuners. Some may scoff at sinking so much into a "cheap" guitar, but I have zero regrets. This is now one of my favorite guitars and I look forward to having and playing it for a very long time to come.
Mn
I put some Bare Knuckle Flat 50s in my MIM Tele best upgrade I've ever done - was a nice guitar before - now it's my number 1
The “feel” aspect you talk about is something that isn’t considered. I replaced pickups in a cheap Ibanez and it forced me to refine my picking technique a bit.
The new pickups were more transparent sounding so I couldn’t mask sloppy technique behind muddy pickups and gain. It truly did feel like a whole new instrument after the pup swap.
I was/am able to discern the feel difference, even over t'intermet!! Perhaps it's a guitarist thing. Loved the A/B segment,!!!
TBH, the stock Squier pickups are actually not bad. However the Ron Ellis pickups sounds similar but at same time DEFINITELY sounds better with more harmonics and sustain. I likey!
I don’t know if the pickups were worth the change. The pickups are probably more expensive than the guitar.
@Mark70609 LOL, I've installed pups that are more expensive than the guitars before. Mind ye, I DON'T install them to sell a guitar. I install them to make it sound the way *_I_* want them to sound.
IF I sell a guitar (a RARE event), I return them to stock first because I never get any return on the selling of any modified guitars. I always get more money back if I sell the aftermarket parts separately, but an even better thing for me is to just keep the parts and reuse them in another project guitar!
@Mark70609 LOL, that's probably true. It depends on how low is cheap according to the video creator. 😉😁 Some may say a 450$ Classic Vibes is cheap too. 🤣
No arguments about the possibility of the Ron Ellis pups being more expensive than the Squier guitar. Especially if we're talking about the Debuts, Sonics, Bullets or Affinities.
Disclaimer: I've been guilty of installing more in parts on a guitar that is worth more than the guitar itself. *LOL* Mind ye, my intentions on those guitars are not for resale, it's purely for my own pleasure or to achieve a specific sound I'm looking for. IF I were to sell one of those guitars, I'd return the guitar back to stock form before sell it that way and keep the parts for a future guitar project.
From my experience yes it's worth it . I bought the Monoprice Indio Tele off Amazon for $99 , I then put a $80 set of Fender Tex- Mex pickups in it and WOW , what a killer guitar that Tele turned out to be , a real great sounding and playing guitar for $180 . The only thing about the Monoprice Tele is , you may have to do a little set-up work , mine didn't need too much when it arrived , but a little fret dressing on the edges and lower the strings a hair , but that's about it
I feel the amp and cab makes the most difference in your sound.
Most definitely. I like to say that tone is 70% amp and cab, 30% bridge, and then a teeny bit is everything else
Of course. But not in this video. Personally, time of day and how much sleep I had last night make more difference than anything else, but I'm not going to run tests to prove it!
100% I plugged my tele into my marshall half stack and it turned into a gibson
A good guitar through cheap amp sounds bad, a bad guitar through a good amp sounds good. A good guitar through a good amp sounds as good as you can play
It depends a lot on what sounds you go for and what you focus on in these sounds.
I'd rather have five different guitars and one somewhat versatile amp than five amps and one somewhat versatile guitar.
i believe these pickups have more compression and some mid frequencies scooped. the neck souinds awesome although the bridge could use a bit more low end.
This is my go-to mod for every guitar, right after fretwork. When money is the number one issue, you do what you can with what you have. It may not get you all the way there, but it will definitely make you want to pick it up and play more.
Excellent comparison, lots of these comparisons online but this is the only time I have heard someone highlight the real issue,
How it feels!!!
I think this is the greatest video because of its accurate explanation for its technical,transperent,accurate and personal opinion on it. best telecaster review. you got my subscribe. greetings from Mexico.
🤓🙏
Great video! I did this with a Squier Affinity Strat. I didn't use terribly expensive pickups, just a Fender Hot Noiseless set. I liked the result so much, I started replacing other parts to see if it made a difference. I used it as a test bed for trying different things. It even has an L.R. Baggs X-Bridge on it now. The only thing left from the original Squier is the body and pick guard. No matter, I love the thing. It's one of my favorites.But I'm reminded of a quote from the movie "Jurassic Park":
"Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should."
Maybe I’m crazy, but I liked having the option to go to that dark, brooding Squier neck pickup. And o thought the Squier neck+bridge sounded terrific. The expensive bridge definitely sounded better. Like everything, “good” is subjective. Great video!
Agree. (Except the bit about the replacement bridge pup which I didn't like at all LOL)
But then, I've been playing Teles for quite a while before UA-cam reviewers started telling us why today's overpriced twangers sound "better" than more affordable ones.
Ditto for fx pedals actually...
I like the option too. But something cool with tone response on teles. Is if you get a brighter neck pup
You can roll the tone knob. Off by 2 to get the same tone as a darker neck pup
I prefer that versatility rather than being maxed out on my neck and not being bright enough
I was very intrigued by this because I have pretty much this exact guitar but I got my hands on some vintage Fender American classic noiseless pups and I can’t wait to hear the difference.
i wasn't expecting the affinity to have big pots! guitars that cost a lot more still have minis these days!
Goodness, if only you two had enough spare time for a second channel called "That Pickup Show"! I love the pickup shows guys and you are always posing great questions. I have thought about upgrading the pickups in my partners guitar, but it needs to go off to turn into a lefty first anyway, and I'd rather leave the expensive part until after then.
Stay safe!
I can 100% agree on that "feel".
I just upgraded my VGS with Alcino II Humbuckers. And it feels completely different. The guitar is much quicker to respond, has more sustain, and it feels more "forgiving" Really happy with the change I made.
The sound is really more rich and harmonic pleasant.
I put a set of monty's pafs with an emerson 50s wiring kit in my epiphone les paul traditional pro and it made a massive difference. Took a good guitar and made it great.
Thats true with the custom shops too, I've put OX4's in my 63 335 and R8 les paul. both times, it just an improement!
I really would like to add a Les Paul to the arsenal, but lack the funds for the Real Deal? I’ve never really gotten on with every Les Paul’s that I’ve tried. Once in a while, you pickup a magical instrument? Sometimes it’s how the guitar plays, sometimes it’s how it sounds? Not just looking for “Humbucker Sounds”. Ultimately, there are a lot of components that make that “Holy Grail” Old School LP tone. How much would you need to sink into an Epiphone to get it “there”?
I dropped some cash on Bare Knuckle PUs, Faber tailpiece and ABM brass bridge to upgrade an epiphone les paul. Now it is a musical instrument. Probably cost £600 for all the upgrades. Worth it? Yes, for me.
@@garygallagher7341 Thanks! I’m pretty sure I’d want all those kinds of upgrades as well? Just have to find a guitar that I truly like playing...that would put my all-in around $1000-$1400.
@@druwk I can't compare it to a Gibson at a similar price point as I've honestly never tried one. But she really sings. Researching the stuff was fun too!
First time viewer and now a subscribed viewer. From an old guy to you...very well done Sir. We all know that the pickups are going to improve the sound, but your point on the actual "playing" difference was well put. I freakin love being a musician, and especially now days!
Those expensive pickups changed the color so much and added so much depth to the sound.
Great video! I love modding partscasters and affordable guitars to get more out of them. If I had saved what I had spent in mods over the years, I could afford a guitar that is simply better than what I've put together, but I love seeing guitars go through tonal-journeys with mods. I find it so much fun.
I've done this with a strat. I have fender custom shop 57-62 pick ups and it sounds great
From my experience: yes. I have a Gibson Les Paul standard and honestly after a few months playing it I liked it less and less. Then I decided to upgrade my first guitar(Epiphone Les Paul1988) with new pickups(seymore Duncan SH-4 and JB), wiring and capacitors and it plays and sounds like a beast! So yes, to all wood purists out there: tone wood or any other features is a myth...
Oh yeah, I also replaced the plastic nut with a bone one...
The bone nut, pots, and caps was too far Thats supposed to be a secret. Wait til people find out they can do the finish work on the fretboard and frets themselves. (I just mashed my tremolo arm along the maple fretboard of my mim strat) ofc it cracked the finish around the edge but it has the rolled edge feel and I don’t even feel the edge when I go to change positions. it’s absolutely the most insane feeling cause I’ve been playing cheap guitars my whole life.
True, the whole point of solid body guitars & even semi-body is that they are a base for the pickups to simply transmit the vibrations from the string into an electrical signal to the output. It has been proved numerous times that you can make the body of a solid body guitar any shape & of any material it will not make any difference. The only difference is the saddle & the nut & the frets & the neck fretboard on which the frets sit do to the mass of the fret material.
no offence but gibson is kinda overpriced trash.
@@GamingInfested None taken. You are right. Gibson was a good brand until the 90's. From there it all went south. Overpriced and not up to standards like before.
As a les paul man I concur with this epiphone > gibson for what it's worth price wise
Great content as usual, Dan! And, since we're talking Ron Ellis: you guys NEEEED to bring Julian Lage on the show. It would be the most awesome thing.
Omg! That would be truly awesome!
That new Collings signature model of his - lovely 🎸!!
I second this.
I love my Squire tele. I have experience upgrading pickups. When I put EMG's in my korean strat clone it was a revelation. But sometimes different is just different. I replaced the bridge pickup in my home-made mahogany beast by taking out a DiMarzio Super Distortion and replacing it with a Seymour Duncan Dimebucker. Both were high end pickups but the DiMarzio was just not right whereas the Seymour Duncan brought out a whole new voice and a focus to the sound. I could not get it to work in mixes or sound right on stage with the $200 DiMarzio in the bridge. With the Duncan it has becoome go-to guitar. Different can be good or bad!
The Squier pickups,while stock,sound good. The guitar is being played thru a great sounding Fender tube amp. So it would be worthwhile in my opinion to upgrade the pickuos,given the neck is playable--frets lowered,ends smoothed. I think that these Squiers are true solid body guitars--non veneer bodies.
Tried a similar thing in my Squire strat I've had lying around for years and upgraded to some mid-range Seymour Duncan hotrails, and it made such a huge difference in that "make you want to play" feeling. I feel like I write differently on this compared to my Fender Tele which has been really refreshing, especially when creativity is a bit down due to the pandemic!
I think the whole wiring harness w pup's is the key Heard big difference with the neck but not so much the neck IMO
This just shows once again that most of the tone comes from the pickups and that's probably the best upgrade you can make to a guitar. That and getting it setup for best playability. The new pickups sounded great and it really makes me wonder why people spend so much more money on a super expensive custom shop or similar instrument, when they could get something more reasonably priced and decent and then upgrade the electronics.
Honestly people pay for names. Unless you are ordering a completely custom spec guitar I dont see the reasoning for buying 1000-3000 on guitars. It is wild what some upgraded hardware, pickup and setup can do to a 300-400 dollar guitar. I played a squier that was pleked, frets hand filled, upgraded bone nut and set up. It played and sounded equal/better than every fender in the shop. That was a huge wakeup call for me.
So I may not own a super expensive custom shop guitar but I do tend to stick with the $1000 to $2000 range when buying guitars as something of a personal rule. The big reason I do that isn't so much because of sound or even the basic stuff like fretwork or the setup (those are all adjustable/fixable regardless). Instead. The Reason really comes down to wanting a guitar that doesn't need anything replaced to suit my specific needs. For example. When I bought my American Standard strat years ago, I didn't need to purchase it with the knowledge that I would have to swap out the tuners, tremolo, switches/pots, and even the pickups. I knew that I wouldn't need to settle on a neck shape that I tend not to like or end up with a body made out of poplar, basswood, or nyatoh. The only thing I might replace is the pickups that is going to come down to taste rather than basic quality.
There is absolutely no doubt that Squier's stuff has improved over the years and as far as entry level guitars go, they are (with perhaps some exceptions) pretty great. That said. I already did my time with entry level guitars. I am at a place in my guitar playing journey where I know what I like and I am willing to pay what is necessary to get it. Fortunately for me, I don't have exceptionally expensive taste and I don't have a strong desire to collect guitars for the sake of it.
Upgrades only go so far and many guitar companies are not so dumb as to make the easily swappable stuff the largest differentiating factor between price categories. If you could buy a Squier and swap out the electronics/hardware and end up with something identical to a American Strat, Fender wouldn't sell anything but Squier guitars. Neck shape. Body wood (regardless of the petty, ridiculous internet slap-fight over body wood's impact on tone), finish options, and even routing/hardware compatibility options are not swappable and if you do start swapping them out, you are getting into serious money that you might as well have spent on a American Strat to begin with.
It isn't about Squier being "worse" or Fender being "better". It is about the fact that they each offer a pretty different guitar at a foundational level. You can't really upgrade a Squier to American Fender specs without getting into American Fender levels of money for a reason.
@@startrekmike yes, this seems like a sensible middle ground. If you just want to get something you can play right away and be happy with for a long time, your strategy is bang on. My criticism is directed at the outrageous prices at the higher end of the range for name brand guitars. If people want to spend that kind of money then do what makes you happy, but I'll always struggle to understand the value of it.
Because your basic premise is not 100% accurate. The guitar is equally important. The squier sounded like crap no matter what pickups he was using in the video, maybe a little better with the stock pu.
@@EmergeFromTheAshes1 Crappy low end guitar will sound like crap, no matter what pickups you put in it.
I think for about $1,000, you can create a pretty quality instrument. That’s assuming a decent guitar to start with then a setup and pickup/electronics upgrade. There’s still a big difference between that and a custom shop guitar, but it’s diminishing returns after that $1,000 from my experience. If you can afford it and it inspires you, go for it.
If she's comfortable, would be great to get Liv's reaction to the pickups that DO end up in there! If it's already happened - what did she say?
This is one of the few videos where in a blind test I could have noticed the difference in pick-ups, but OH MAN what a difference! The Ron Ellis pick-ups win, hands down and thumbs up every time! Those Ron Ellis pickups make that cheap Squier sound like a million bucks! TOTALLY worth it!
Those affinity telecaster are dope. Why would you build anything other than a Tele if you are concerned about costs?
I've soldered after market humbuckers in a beginner level strat-style yamaha of the same price as the pickups and found my dream guitar. The standard neck and body shape paired with the splitable versatile pickups are just what I missed on brands like Ibanez and ESP Ltds. In the end theres no right or wrong. If any combination of guitar and hardware feels good and gives you the pleasure when playing it, it's totally worth it🙂
I was surprised at not doing a complete electric upgrade. Go for new wiring, pots, switch, and capacitor and it will truly an amazing upgrade with a good set of quality pickups.
I did just that also to a Sqiuer Infinity Tele (HH). Went with DiMarzio’s. Air Norton neck and Tone Zone bridge. All new upgraded electronics. New tuners. New saddles and bridges. Even new string trees. Things a beast.
Ryan Wilson My son bought a Squire Bass for $75 and completely we did it including stripping paint off, lots of hours. Now one of his favorite basses. I tell him he needs to put his name on the head stock as it is not a Squire anymore:
Unless the pots are scratchy or not the impedance you want, swapping them won't do anything to tone. Same for switch. Good pots and switches are just more reliable, no effect on sound.
@@sdkee
I don’t think anyone was talking about tone. It’s an over all package. You don’t replace everything then leave the .05¢ pots/switches in it. CRL and Bourns are worlds better than stock Squier controls.
The idea of the demo was to show what difference changing the pickups makes. If you change all that stuff, you have no idea which components are making the difference to the sound.
Can we get the cheap squier pickups into Dans vintage tele?
Best comment so far 😂😂😂😂 everyone needs a good laugh
@@juanfernandez4318 It would be funny but I am also kinda interested to see if Dan can recognise the sound at all
I just very recently did something similar with my Affinity Tele , though it was a bit more excessive.
I Replaced the mechanics, the nut, the bridge saddles, tuners and pickups with high(ish) quality stuff.
I put Graphtech ratio locking tuners and saddles in, as well as a bone nut and Bareknuckle pickups (true grit).
The pods I replaced with an obsidian wire pre wired kit which led to me swapping out the plastic knobs for brass ones etc. so that at the end I probably put as much money (if not more) as the msrp of the guitar back in to it, and what should I say; it's freaking amazing!
I love the raw and clean feel of the neck and after setting it up correctly it plays impossibly well, it has grown to become my favorite guitar and it is a truly unique one at that (got a 4 way switch to put the pick ups in humbucker mode :D)!
Truly worth it! (and I don't think the affinity is heavy at all, quite the contrary actually)
😂 i am waiting for mine and have ordered pretty much the same upgrades you listed! I will install the Mojotone prewired pots and switch assembly, which in my opinion will probably make the most difference, but i heard good sounds from the Barenuckle pups🎸🤘🎸
Yep. I have a Squire Affinity Strat that I like how it plays. I swapped in some Dimarzio SDS-1 and a MIM bridge and now I LOVE how it plays. It's my main guitar for practice with the band now.
Swapping out the nut, polishing and dressing the frets and setting it up would also make a world of difference to the tone and tuning stability. Tele’s are pretty rock solid to begin with though
I think in a blind test I wouldn't be able to tell which was the more expensive set of pickups. Really what I'm hearing is one set (Ron Ellis) has more clarity between strings, as in I can tell individual strings were strummed; while the other set (squire) has a more complete sound, like the chord is heard as a whole. And with the neck + bridge + pedal I couldn't tell the difference at all, maybe if I looked for something i could tell but would it really be there? Or would I be imagining it? Or am I just a bassist with no ear for guitar tone?
Prolly the last one.
I would only be able to tell on the clean squire bridge. It sounds shrill and quacky.
Glad I'm not the only one!
If you play it in person you definitely can tell the difference. Especially in humbucker pickups, the difference is HUUUGEE. Let alone blind test, that should be easy
I'm gonna say the latter! 😊
There wasn't all that much difference, yes the more expensive pickups have more mid range and richer sound. I personally think the biggest difference was in the bridge pickups But it's not poles apart. Interesting video. Thanks.
I would have changed the “Pot Metal” bridge saddles at the same time for some brass or proper steel ones, I did on my Harley Benton, made a noticeable improvement tone and sustain!
Brass, for sure. Just put some KGC brass saddles in my partscaster and the sustain/resonance improvement is unreal. I can finally feel the guitars body vibrate against mine playing unplugged.
@@kbbl102.5
Yet - Blackmore used to put pot metal saddles on for the tone.
@@Gr-Ra5 for his tone, sure. I don't think of Blackmore when I think of guitarists with great tone, though. I think the best tone is Jerry Garcia's tone, 73-89, and he used brass saddles and bridges, brass nuts, etc. basically, brass at all the contact points for the strings. To me he had infinitely better tone than Richie Blackmore
@@kbbl102.5
"To me he had infinitely better tone than Richie Blackmore"
Except, Blackmore was renowned for his tone and ground breaking approach including amongst guitarists.
@@Gr-Ra5
TLDR: I didnt say Blackmore didnt have innovative tone or technique, I simply gave my opinion on saddle materials. Noone is arguing except you.
are you saying Garcia wasn't known for having innovative tone and technique? I gotta stay off the internet, you people will take someone who just gave their opinion and stated it as such and crucify them for it, as if they were stating their opinion as fact. Noone said Blackmore wasnt innovate or renowned for his tone, get your panties out of a wad. Some people love his tone, some people love pot metal saddles, I dont and that's just my preference. What do you get out of being a contrarian jerk? Go do something productive instead, getting up in arms about people's opinion on the internet is decidedly unproductive. Go practice or something.
Furthermore, to play devils advocate, Garcia and the Dead were for more innovative in terms of the sonic experience of a live concert. Everyone who worked on their equipment and anyone who had a hand in one of Garcia's guitars were invariably more particular and exacting than Blackmore or his techs along with way, except maybe Ken Bran and Dudley Craven over at Marshall who had more of a role in Blackmores sound than his pot metal saddles ever did.
Last point and I'll digress... yes, Blackmore had innovative technique, taking rock n roll further than just the blues scale like no one had prior. But you know what had more of a role in his iconic sound than his saddles, his amps, or anything in between? His fingers. Blackmore had an extremely dynamic picking hand, much like Garcia, and like noone in rock and roll before him. Blackmore liked pot metal, Garcia liked brass, Richards left his bridges alone... and they all sounded great because they were great players. I personally can tell that Garcia used a lot of brass and I like the sound better. It's like a bell, which makes sense. And since changing my saddles and nut and trem block to brass, my body vibrates way more musically, my notes sustain longer, and there is less mud in the midrange, plugged in and unplugged.
I really didn’t mind either pickup when played clean. Different, but both were nice. But driven, the squiers are very weak and fizzy. But I could tell you played differently with the different pickups. Probably due to the response feeling different, like you said.
I would like to see the expensive pickups compared to some low mid range pickups tho, like the fender TexMex set.
In person the neck pickup in a Squier is very muffled and dark sounding while the bridge is very harsh. UA-cam videos make the ceramic pickups sound much better than they actually do.
Thank you. One of my hobbies is getting the cheapest guitars and making the most of them. I'm currently working on a bin find encore acoustic which I'm electrifying and have just got a camel saddle and bridge for. Keep up the good work
I actually thought the Squier neck pick up sounded pretty good, but with the expensive pick ups the guitar sounded amazing. Totally worth the upgrade.
I LOVE the bridge pickup in my Squier Affinity Tele. I will never change it. I don't know if they're all like this, but my bridge pickup seems to be unpotted and is almost microphonic. Sounds great. I got it B-stock, so it could be a "defect".
I have an Affinity Tele. I love the difference in the tones on my guitar pickups. Dan is right that the bridge pickup is "uber bright" and about it being hugely different from the neck pickup...but isn't that the point? There's only two pickups and one is right under the bridge so it's gonna be bright anyhow. The middle position selection is the blend where you have both pickups together and you can dial in the tone with the tone control knob. I don't want the difference in pickup tones to be so subtle I can hardly tell the difference; a wide range of tone is always better, I think.
Mine sounds great too..I wont change it either
I have an SX Callisto JR 2TS that I recently bought from Bob Hartman (lead guitarist of "Petra"). This model of SX was an affordable guitar that was sold new until about 2010 or so. Bob used this particular guitar during part of the "Classic Petra" tour that ran from 2010-2012. He replaced the stock P90 type pickups with Dimarzio humbuckers, and it sounds AWESOME! Incidentally, he also replaced the tuners with Wilkinson locking tuners, and installed a Graph Tech Tusq XL nut.
The Ron Ellis has a fuller sound, but you can do a lot with the amp EQ as well...
one thing that needed more discussion IMO, for a cheap guitar, it’s a really great looking tele. At least from a little distance 😝
I think those affinity’s are beautiful guitars! That finish is stellar! I bought one for $150, and I liked it so much, i bought another used/ almost new for $100 within the week. Kept one original and started modding the other. Sanded a bevel on top and a belly cut on back and changed the pickups. Hated to mess up that finish, but that was the plan so I stuck with it. I never got around to finishing it, but I like how it’s turned out so far. This video might just motivate me to string her up. The squires are pretty decent guitars in stock form. Just adjusting the pickups worked wonders. If you have no frame of reference on pickups, the stock ones are fine. Each time I play a guitar, I like to think I get a little money back in pure enjoyment. It doesn’t take long for the Squires to pay for themselves. What I meant to say was: “Yep, they’re pretty!”
I did exactly this, I put Fralin Blues Specials in an Affinity Tele. I love it. The neck on the Tele is great, the body is slightly thinner and lighter than an American Tele. I have five Teles and this one is my favorite.
Yes, good pickups matter in any guitar. Like Dan said; first you have to like holding it. A good setup on an inexpensive instrument can cure a lot of ills. Maybe the store does that for their better guitars but Ebay won't. If you get that far then consider the electronics. Where this really comes into play is if you need a P90 tone for two songs a gig.
I had that exact Tele, and when I bought it, used, for $130, it already had a set of ~$150 upgraded pickups in it. It was a super playable guitar, and sounded great with those pickups. I think it's totally worth it if the guitar is otherwise well put together. As someone else mentioned though, if you go to sell, you won't get the value of the replacement pickups back out.
I wonder how much more difference, though a bigger outlay, a proper bridge would make? The bridge for me is where Teles live or die.
I replaced my saddles ( same guitar) with graphtec saddles. Maybe not for everyone, but I really like it. Plus it cuts down on corrosion.
That was REALLY interesting.
The sound is distinct between the pickups and I imagine you play differently when you've got nuanced dynamics.
I would love to see a transformation journey, where we see/hear a cheap guitar before a full set up and expensive pickups then hear it after.
I wonder, could a £200 guitar */ever/* be transformed into a goto guitar for you, Mick? (Sounds like a challenge!)
I definitely heard a difference, but I don’t know how much I would spend to get it.
Not much with the bridges but alot with the necks .
I'd argue it's a great investment to by a really good set of pick ups. So when you buy a new guitar you can sell the cheap old with the old pick ups reinstalled.
The expensive pickups can be installed in the new guitar thereby keeping the sound you like.
A bit off topic, but since so many people seem to be having an emotional reaction to the word "squier", one time I saw some shoegaze band with probably $20k worth of guitars, amps, and pedals open for And You Will Know Us By the Trail of the Dead. It was a fine set. Sounded fine. Probably could've gotten the same sounds on a tenth the budget but that's fine. Then Trail of Dead came on with a pair of squier jazzmasters, plugged em into some cheap pedals and some blues deluxes, and absolutely fucking blew everyone's mind. I've never seen a band break that many strings, they had a tech come on between every song and rotated guitars. Probably the best show I've ever seen. I don't think most people would have the balls to treat an expensive instrument like that, especially not a working class touring musician.
@6:30 GOOD point! I have swapped many a pickup, and listening to it before/after on a recording may not be very drastic, but what I am having to do, or not do, as the case may be, to get those sounds is hugely different. It's more how the new pickups react to your "input" and the overtones they produce, and how hard you have to work at getting them to do it.
That said, your comparison was pretty apparent. The new pickups revealed how anemic/lifeless (not horrible though) the Squier ones were. I recently stuck a pair of $32 Wilkinson WOVTA Alnico 5 pickups in my Monoprice Indio Retro Classic and got similar results. Anyone on a tight budget hunting for an upgrade, I can recommend them, both the guitar and the pickups. Both were very good value.
I think the originals sound great for a $200 guitar. Got my son one of these. He learned a lot, now he has an ESP LTD Phoenix that is the nicest guitar I have held in years. Blown away by it.
To be comfortable with the thickness of the neck is personal and is not an indication of the quality of the guitar, some people prefer c shaped necks over a d shaped or a flatter fretboard or larger neck more comparable to a classical guitar. It all depends on the guitarist ang his or her preference. There is no right or wrong just different options and the following question: does this suites me? If so, then it is good.
I love the aside where you talk about how the sound changes the feel. So true and hard to show.
I tried that too, got a dirt cheap Harley Benton tele and added Fender Texas Specials to it, makes a BIG difference in both tone and feel. However it still doesn't feel like a custom shop guitar unfortunately... :)