Can we make this £75 Encore Stratocaster sound like the all original 63!!! 

Amazing how good a £75 guitar can sound when you put about £1,000 worth of work and materials into it 😃

Absolutely needs more views.

I need to change my pants after watching this vid!! Monty is the man and I want to learn his craft soooo bad!! Unreal skills, I could watch (and do) this stuff all day. Guitar porn 😍🙌🏽

The Fender has more body to the tone but the Encore sounds remarkable - great job! 🎸👍

This just came up randomly on Facebook as an ad! Tempted to pick up a cheap Encore and do the same. Can you imagine rocking up at a gig (when they let us do that again!) with a cheapo guitar and it sounds and plays this good.

I have an encore a friend Gave me 12 years ago. Came to me so damaged. The Wood is ok. This vídeo was the Kick that made me believe I could do something with her. This guy shows skills and its an honor to see them. Peace.

Could not believe how good the Encore sounded! Jaw dropping. Blooming heck, brilliant job! Six hours!

If this isn't the best advert for your pickups and services I don't know what is! Great vid

Came from the instagram ad of this, did not disappoint

Absolutely fantastic video and the smile when you played the encore, was just awesome. Big question though! how much would the pickups, the rewire, refret and setup cost?

I did the same thing with a $49.00 Encore P Bass I bought, and it was outstanding. These instruments have very well made necks. The Ho wood bodies are also extremely light and resonant.

Great Video, I love this stuff. I bought a black Encore Strat off Ebay for around £15 and I took it apart, changed all the pots, the wiring and put an Oak Gigsby 5 way switch and Alnico 5 pick Ups as the originals hummed like crazy. Put some copper tape in to isolate the Hum, changed the Tremolo Arm for a Wilkinson and my Grandson who is getting to be a good guitar player at 14 years, he now loves it through his Marshall or Fender 15 frontman, I changed the speaker in the Fender, as the original is garbage. He also plays an Epiphone Acoustic I got for him, when he was 13. I filed the original frets and polished them, straightened the truss rod, which is not so easy in our version, it is an early one, like yours. I also changed the nut for a Bone nut. The next thing I will replace, will be locking tuners, maybe Wilkinson as they are good, not so expensive. I have bought him, so far a Telecaster Copy, Les Paul copy and a East Coast copy Precision Bass. The modified Encore is now his favorite Electric Guitar.

The project guitar sounds better than the 1960’s one 😀🎸

This is brilliant, I've always thought that alot of cheaper instruments can be made nice players with a little tinkering and the addition of better hardware etc. The encore sounds really nice, top man!!!

I have an Indian made (1980’s) Encore strat. It’s amazing. Currently running emg selects because we had them hanging around…upgraded the trem for one with brass block, has lockers, graphite nut and it’s incredible. Fender full size body, heavy as hell and sings like a strat and plays like one. Currently upgrading a 96 squier with orange drops, CTS, 64 voices handwound for pickups and stupidly slinky .7 gauge strings

I own 5 Encore Strat style Guitars, on some I’ve upgraded the pickups and replaced bridge with rollers (just my preference). I love the weight and balance of the guitars, they all have amazing necks. The stock tuners are workable. Highly playable , great sounding instruments. Astounding value for money.

Your Instagram campaign brought me here - props to your social media marketing team. That said... I actually quite prefer the sound on the upgraded Encore 😅

Well done guys! I just bought a 1980's Greta (india) made Encore HSS Strat for £70. Looking to get it playing like a top-end guitar. Victor...

Amazing. Great to see as I have a 1995 red encore and didn't think there was anything I could do with it.

25 year old Encore Strat! Wow. Makes my 22 year old Encore Strat seem young, I've been questioned at gigs as to why on earth I choose to keep playing the damn Encore strat, I don't even know why, but it sounds beautiful and I'll try to look after it 'til the day I die

Great work there, Matt! To my ears the Fender still has a little more body to the tone, but in a live situation you'd never notice the difference. About 20 years ago a friend asked me to do some setup work on his Encore Strat. I only had American Fenders at the time but I couldn't put that Encore down - I loved it.

Amazing upgrade! Beats the Vintage Fender. I love it when an old cheap guitar gets upgraded! I found a 30$ strat copy and turned it into my favourite guitar. Cost me less than 150 $ and it can compete with the big brands.

Sounded like the Encore had more chime, and the Fender more depth in the bass with an overall better response to the playing. Both good.

Great video and very articulately explained. You should do more of this kind of thing! :)

Just found this channel - absolutely loved this video. Awesome. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Script and stats aside. I would say it makes a good begginers guitar because it is a combination of the same 'architecture as the fender and Gibson so it will make it easier to move from one to the other. I have one of the earlier ones that was poorly made. .I had to file one side of the finger board straight. I had the same nack design on my first electric in the 1970's.. They can be made into instruments as good as any other.

I have a 90s encore strat i got in a charity shop for a tenner and with no modifications apart from polished frets and a decent set up it plays nicer than some of my fenders I really need to bring the sound up to par

One of the reasons I love the stratocaster (and the Tele too) is that they reduce electric guitar to the simplest of requirements. All you need are two pieces of seasoned wood bolted together and some good pickups. The rest of the time and money you saved not going down the rabbithole you can spend on the really important part: the amplifier and speaker.

If I had an Encore when I was 17 I’d have been one happy puppy!

Great work and video. I would love to see you put them in the hands of some guitarists and do a blindfold test!!

I came here because I came across an old Encore Stratocaster and I want to buy it. In fact, there is something special and magical in it. This guitar will gain weight in the world of electric guitars. Ukraine.

Look on your face at 8:20 says it all..sounds great

Perhaps bring the Pickups way down, I feel they be more simular then. Wow, amazing.

Cool! my first guitar was an encore, if i remember the frets were gigantic. Btw It sounds like your audio is clipping quite a lot on the guitar parts.

I'm a new player, I found this video so informative and interesting. Thanks

I have the same encore. It sounds amazing. Mine plays and feels like a strat and is made from alder. The pots are all 500k.

Listening over the internet in a blind test it would be hard to say which is which .. you could see that he was shocked how close the encore sounded to the fender.

I understand your needing to switch guitars again after completing the job: you couldn’t fathom how the humble Encore could, dare I say it, sound even better than the 1963 Strat. Yet, incredibly, it does, in my humble opinion. I have a 1-pick up black Strat-type Encore which holds an enormous value for me, as it is a present from my beloved wife which she bought at the beginning of our love story. But, as beautiful as it looks and as comfortable as it plays, make no mistake, it is an Encore. It needs upgrading and then it will be a serious contender, with added sentimental kudos. Your video was amazing and I greatly enjoyed it. Now, the question: how much is it for the damage? Is it something kind of affordable or only within the financial realms of the Billy Duffys and the Mark Knopflers?

that encore sounds absolutely superb after having work done on it! It doesnt sound anything like a £75 guitar! What a fantastic job! I wish i could learn how to do al that stuff! Ive got an old cheap guitar and bass that could use a bit of upgrading!

I'm wearing that exact t-shirt watching this. 😂 Love my Monty's pickups!

Why does this not have a zillion views?

Man..where have you been hiding your skills, thank god I searched for encore guitars.

I bought same guitar yesterday for 15 pounds. The neck have have same problem. I will do same job. Great video

Sounds great :-) Now can you make the '63 sound like an Encore?? :P

i just picked up an encore guitar im going to work on this thanks man brill vid

I used to watch this guy so long ago and i begged the other company to send me his setup video never thought id see him again you have a channel of your own though! Already subscribed thank you sir!! I have to ask though why did you use solder when removing the fret??

Oh gawd i wish i never saw this ! There's one in a cash converters near me for £49. I could say its my Christmas present? The cash coverters one was 25£ in the Jan sale , I bought it, just filling the nut down made it very playable. Next I ll level and crown, then change pickups for some fender and dimazio ones. If that goes s well I might think about trek block and tuners. For 25£ I could not say no - that's a round of drinks, I hope to have hours of learning skills so I don't ruin anything more expensive!

Should do one on an Encore E99 too, would be good to know if you can make it better than a les paul for similar money

Stick a thicker trem block and it'll be even better

Trying a similar thing with an encore but fitting floyd rose style nut and bridge hope it works as good as this

1:08, 8:09 to compare the cheap guitar before and after he worked on it. 7:23 for the 60's guitar to compare.

Great video. I spend just a bit more money and have the Vintage V6 guitars. They are great value for money, especially second hand

I mean, T Cut and Lighter fluid on a neck. How British 😁

Awesome video! Itching to get a set of Monty's in my strat now!

Your explanations are very thorough!! I'm subscribing and will be sharing . I am keen to try the fret wax on my first guitar .. it's a Fender squire that played for 6 years from beginner to intermediate and for music exams too. It's awesome to see and hear how big a difference a set up and new pickups can have on a guitar . I appreciate that you're sharing a lot of information and not keeping secrets. Awesome stuff and I feel inspired to give some of my old guitars some of the fret wax and see if that makes the fretboard feel more comfortable and makes the guitar play better too . 😀 cheers!

Loved this vid, Matt!

That was great, you must be well proud of that. How much would all that work have cost had someone come in and said do all this please 🎸👌

God D@M Monty’s products are awesome!

I'm doing the same ... I just got an old encore and swapping it about. Mine cost £30 . Will make an amazing work horse guitar . Would love your pickups in it

The Fender should also be worked on a bit to get them closer.😄

I think this just shows where your money goes when you buy any guitar. Bodies are bodies, as long as the necks straight, fettle the parts and a good set up and there you are.

This was really informative. I have a 1970's sunburst 'lawsuit' strat that I'm doing a similar job with. bit delayed because i have to work out of my small shed and the weather has not been kind. Interested in those pickups. I have some Alnico V 'vintage' single coil replacements ( although i'm toying with the idea of a hot rail humbucker on the bridge ). Do you sell the pickups you featured? Obviously I'm going orange drop caps and cts pots. I'm also going a bit mad and stripping back the sunburst finish to see what the wood grain is like in consideration for a nice natural oiled finish ( I'm a carpenter, not a luthier, I like a nice bit of wood ;) ) I think it's ash. You did a fantastic job here and if anything I thought the 63 was a little muddy in comparison but let's be fair, you call it a £75 Encore but you've put at least £1000 of work into that if you factor in your time.

I thought the Encore surpassed the Strat. I thought it to be less "flubby" in the low end and seemed more balanced.

NIce job. Just put your relic wax on all my boards. Stuff is amazing! Costs for shipping and toll to germany was quite high but woth ist. Great Stuff. Keep on the good work man!

The Strat still sounded better but this demonstrates that pickups are the most important part of a guitar. No need to buy dirt cheap guitars which could have a range of problems. Get a reasonable one then upgrade pickups but a few hundred £ can still get you something decent. Old 90s Epiphone G400s and Yamaha Pacificas are good basic guitars. Once you have much more expensive guitars you realise that some of the cheaper ones are absolutely fine.

Wow you're a talented lad, well done it sounded very good indeed!

Hey there Matt...Great to see videos from you again! By the way, never had the chance to thank you for the PAF pickups I got from you a couple years ago....LOVE THEM! Also do you make single coil pickups for a '61 Epiphone Olympic? Take care and will be in touch....Jimmy.

that's is a master luthier there, hat off

Amazing job.

I wanna see the guy's reaction when he gets his Encore back :) Wawaweewah!

Very close!

Modern volume manufacturing (CNC and appropriate quality control) has made it possible to get decent quality playable guitars for between £300-£500. It’s actually quite difficult to find a total lemon these days. These sort of instruments will imitate more expensive guitars and will feel basic but playable. However, corners will have been cut everywhere; wood quality, hardware, finishing and setup. You won’t convert a cheap guitar into an expensive one by changing the pickups. You’ll improve it, but it’s still going to be basically a cheap guitar. In guitar making it’s the details that count. The care in preparing the fretwork, nut and neck edges, the better finishing and the higher end hardware and better quality wood all add up to something better and different. I’d say something like a Player’s Strat would have been a better candidate for this. Put decent pickups on that and spend time on the fretwork, nut and setup and you’d get quite close to a very decent Strat.

Excellent vid, I have the PAF's and Fully Monty P90's in two of my guitars..I see a set of Monty's going into my partscaster.

great video. It's inspired me to try something similar with my Encore.

Killed it dude. It sounds amazing.

I've got the red one. Bought it in 1995 I noticed that the frets aren't exactly spaced te same as the fenders .

Noticed you are using actual zippo lighter fluid , get some panel wipe its pure naptha aswell and you can get 5 liters of it for like 15 quid (just be sure to check the product sheet and check its actually naptha based panel wipe)

Mate, that sounds perfect! What amp do You use in this vid?

Pickups sound great 💪🏻

This is great Matt!

! Thank you. Why Not making more of this 'type" of videos and why Not making longer videos? That would be amazing o. Well wishings and all the best 👍🏻

Awesome. Love this.

You Guys are probably Great Friends of John Cordy.

great job! well a good guitar is a good guitar and that depends on the craftmanship that went into the building and refining wich you showed very well. A lot of cheap guitars have a good basis but because of the price point they don't put high end craftmanship and quality parts into it of course.

Very good. From anonymus to good guitar. Best work.

Top stuff Matty

There's a message here with outside the box mentality, skies the limit if your willing to get your hands dirty

I used to work in a music shop in Liverpool called Rushworth's when i was a kid, we used to get them in for about 70 quid and sell them for about a 100, man they were rough as burnt toast back in the day, but that one sounded pretty decent after your 5 hours of magic on it

Still have a ancient encore coaster bass I got for Christmas '86. Brass saddles. Awful split pickup. Weighs a tonne. Still use it.

It would be interesting to put your pickups into thr Fender and the Fender pickups in the Encore. But I guess you won't be doing that!!😊

Sound's better Encore!

appreciate all the work done but the 63 is still leagues ahead.

Nice one

I have a 1983 JV Squier (I believe the same kind of guitar you did a pickup rewind on recent). Well mine has terrible wiring (not sure if original) along with a non original neck pickup. Tempted to give it the same makeover you gave the Encore...

I prefer the encore strat better than the fender strat.

Nice video!

Ace video! I still use my 2003 Mexican Strat as my main guitar and it’s had a similar set of upgrades over the years. Age old question, but where do you tend to set the pick-up heights for your ‘62 pickups?

Jeepers! How much would you charge for all that work?

That was so enjoyable thank you

Great!!!! 👍🎶🎵