Is a squier strat worth modifying?
- Thread starter hobbes
- Start date
ewirjadi said:
Where on earth did you get this misguided view.
A good pickup replacing any poorer model pickup on any guitar will DEFINATELY improve the sound output of the guitar. Provided installed properly.
If you love the $200 samick strat you own, and want to upgrade pickup, by all means. Even if it means buying a $300 pickup to fit into that $200 guitar. It WILL improve the tone and output of the guitar.
Whatever neck wood and body wood is just 'hobbyist' talk. Mainly pyshological effect of someone assuring himself that if he spent $2000 to buy his guitar, it's "more deserving" than a $200 guitar. All this is just relative to the owner himself.
Anyway, if you play lousy, no best guitar or best pickup in the world will make you play any much better. This is just down to earth reality.
serialninja
New member
i personally wouldn't get a squier unless it was an early 80s one. i'd love an early 80s Squier Venus. that would be awesome.
wangdexian
New member
I have a Squier Affinty P-bass!!! :lol:
SQUIER ARMY!!!!
I own a squire jagmaster myself... haha... my baby... i love it!
do you think its a good idea if I fit mine with new pickups? or replace the twin humbuckers that came with it 3 years ago with EMG's? or Seymour Duncans? Cause i think mine are a lil noisy and the tone isn't exactly perfect either....
I own a squire jagmaster myself... haha... my baby... i love it!
do you think its a good idea if I fit mine with new pickups? or replace the twin humbuckers that came with it 3 years ago with EMG's? or Seymour Duncans? Cause i think mine are a lil noisy and the tone isn't exactly perfect either....
thor666
New member
if ur humbuckers sound noisy then a change of humbuckers won't really help.
www.guitarnuts.com
look at the guitar shielding article and shield ur guitar, then the noise will go.
www.guitarnuts.com
look at the guitar shielding article and shield ur guitar, then the noise will go.
serialninja
New member
mikemann said:
amen. where on earth did you get this misguided view? 8O
perhaps you misunderstand what a good pickup does. a piece of audio equipment isn't judged to be good by how nice it makes things sound; it's judged by how accurately it is able to reproduce the original sound/signal without coloring.
a good passive pickup accurately reproduces the tonal nuances of the guitar that it's installed in. if the guitar has low quality wood, it will accurately reproduce sound that reflects a poorer quality tonewood. conversely, if it's installed in a good tonewood, it will accurately reproduce sound that reflects a higher quality tonewood.
a good pickup is certainly not defined as one that "will DEFINATELY improve the sound output of the guitar. Provided installed properly."
a similar analogy would be that of a fully valve amplified and analogue vintage soundsystem. if you put a scratched vinyl in your system, it produces a lousy sound. why? because your vinyl is scratched/defective/crap. but the system isn't lousy just because it didn't make your vinyl sound good. it's just that you had a lousy vinyl to begin with. put in a good one and hear it sing.
talk of neck and body wood is hobbyist talk? lol. nonsense. wood affects the tone produced by a guitar, and this is amply illustrated in an a/b test between a strat with a maple fretboard and a strat with a rosewood fretboard when played side by side. or between an ibanez made of basswood and one made of mahogany. or in a les paul with a maple cap as opposed to one without a maple cap. there are so many examples of this out there. to say the type of wood doesn't affect the tone is simply inaccurate.
Hmmmmm..... I surmise that Mr serialninja has a very close and narrow opinioned mind on his idea about how guitar "should" sound.
Thus can be clearly reflected on his intent that Squire (non early models) are "crap guitars". Despite the fact that in terms of sales table, Squire ranks very highly. Could be he do not at all subscribe to the concept of humble beginnings and the underdogs.
Saying so badly about that guitar will surely incense the owners of such guitars.
My post that the good pickup will improve the sound of "that guitar", is just so said as a relative term, on "that guitar". Maybe he has misinterpret me as meaning the good pickup on a cheap guitar will sound better or as good as a good expensive guitar, which I never said.
So Mr Serialninja, I did not say anything offensive to you, and I know you are "well informed" on the mechanics of the electric guitar. Do you not realise that whatever you have said have no bearing on any of my intended posting??
I respect any of your personal view, so I just wish you to do the same. Your opinion is purely yours, and me mine. I do not wish to degenerate this tread into a flaming one. Thus this is my last post to this thread, good day to you.
Thus can be clearly reflected on his intent that Squire (non early models) are "crap guitars". Despite the fact that in terms of sales table, Squire ranks very highly. Could be he do not at all subscribe to the concept of humble beginnings and the underdogs.
Saying so badly about that guitar will surely incense the owners of such guitars.
My post that the good pickup will improve the sound of "that guitar", is just so said as a relative term, on "that guitar". Maybe he has misinterpret me as meaning the good pickup on a cheap guitar will sound better or as good as a good expensive guitar, which I never said.
So Mr Serialninja, I did not say anything offensive to you, and I know you are "well informed" on the mechanics of the electric guitar. Do you not realise that whatever you have said have no bearing on any of my intended posting??
I respect any of your personal view, so I just wish you to do the same. Your opinion is purely yours, and me mine. I do not wish to degenerate this tread into a flaming one. Thus this is my last post to this thread, good day to you.
serialninja
New member
lol. Squier has high sales because they're cheap guitars. high guitar sales are not an indication of the quality of the guitar, this is obvious.
now, i'm not saying all squiers are bad guitars. even in companies that don't specialize in high end guitars, there will be some gems of guitars on occasion which will easily play as well as a boutique guitar, which is why i tell people to take their time in buying a guitar and try out everything from cheap to expensive guitars because sometimes you can get amazing guitars at very good prices. but certainly if you ask me if it's worth investing a few hundred dollars worth of pickups to toss into a guitar that's manufactured by a guitar company whose sales tactic is to produce large quantities of cheap entry guitars whose quality isn't all that great generally speaking, i'd tell you not to waste your money.
also, i'm also aware that Squier was a great guitar company that was very successful before the Fender corporation bought it over and regulated it to the cheap entry-level guitars, just as Epiphone was an awesome company before Gibson acquired it and regulated it to the korean manufacturing arm of its corporation.
i just think the average squier isn't worth investing in upgrading, and that it's inaccurate and misleading to state that good pickups make guitars sound better. good passive pickups simply reproduce the tonal characteristics of the guitar wood accurately. it has nothing to do with making guitars sound good at all, actually. in no way at all am i trying to imply that you're saying an average squier's gonna sound better than a Terry McInturff guitar. that would be silly of me. hahaha.
thanks for sharing!!
cheers, all.
now, i'm not saying all squiers are bad guitars. even in companies that don't specialize in high end guitars, there will be some gems of guitars on occasion which will easily play as well as a boutique guitar, which is why i tell people to take their time in buying a guitar and try out everything from cheap to expensive guitars because sometimes you can get amazing guitars at very good prices. but certainly if you ask me if it's worth investing a few hundred dollars worth of pickups to toss into a guitar that's manufactured by a guitar company whose sales tactic is to produce large quantities of cheap entry guitars whose quality isn't all that great generally speaking, i'd tell you not to waste your money.
also, i'm also aware that Squier was a great guitar company that was very successful before the Fender corporation bought it over and regulated it to the cheap entry-level guitars, just as Epiphone was an awesome company before Gibson acquired it and regulated it to the korean manufacturing arm of its corporation.
i just think the average squier isn't worth investing in upgrading, and that it's inaccurate and misleading to state that good pickups make guitars sound better. good passive pickups simply reproduce the tonal characteristics of the guitar wood accurately. it has nothing to do with making guitars sound good at all, actually. in no way at all am i trying to imply that you're saying an average squier's gonna sound better than a Terry McInturff guitar. that would be silly of me. hahaha.
thanks for sharing!!
cheers, all.
Squier used to make strings.... Not guitars. Fender bought over the company which eventually became fender strings i BELIEVED, and the squier name was then used to brand its japanese guitars made by FUJIGEN, then the brand name was passed over to the koreans, and eventually the chinese made guitars today when Fujigen-made Fender guitars became fender Japan.
As for my take on the modification issue, basically I think its fine to make smaller scale modifications on Squiers, but probably not big scale ones. the improvement in quality when pickup changes are made in a Squier and a higher end guitar is definately much better on the latter. In fact, I have been thinking of modifying my Ibanez GSA60 myself, probably doing a change of the tuners to locking ones, and MAYBE changing ONE of the pickups, most likely the humbucker. I personally don't like Squiers so even if I have one (though I will definately not buy one) I wun modify it.
As for my take on the modification issue, basically I think its fine to make smaller scale modifications on Squiers, but probably not big scale ones. the improvement in quality when pickup changes are made in a Squier and a higher end guitar is definately much better on the latter. In fact, I have been thinking of modifying my Ibanez GSA60 myself, probably doing a change of the tuners to locking ones, and MAYBE changing ONE of the pickups, most likely the humbucker. I personally don't like Squiers so even if I have one (though I will definately not buy one) I wun modify it.
wangdexian
New member
Squier has a company in Battle Creek that made strings, banjos, violins and yes, guitars.