Frequently Asked Questions: 1. Why did you put copper shielding on top of shielding paint? I tested the paint with a multimeter and it wasn’t actually very conductive. Definitely not enough to do the grounding just via the shielding, which is what I had to do because of the size of the push pull pots! The existing shielding might be enough for you depending on your mod project! Definitely shield the pick guard though. 2. Why didn’t you replace the bridge? I didn’t need to, the saddles were the only problem. After I replaced them I could intonate it just fine and the annoying rattle was gone too. A lot of people don’t like this bridge, so it might be worth replacing if you really dislike it. I only disliked the saddles. 3. The neck actually has a satin finish, why did you refinish it? Yes, it’s amazing how much the original finish feels like just raw wood, definitely fooled me! It felt a little too rough for me in some areas though and it’s much smoother after sanding it a little. The neck went from okish to “Oh, so smooooooth!” Definitely worth doing! 4. But locking tuners don’t help with tuning stability ...! Nope, but I once had a string snap and hit me right in the face when I was restringing with regular tuners and it traumatised me 😂 Ever since then, locking tuners for me! If you have problems with tuning stability, heavier strings and a new nut help much more. I have 10s on there now, no tuning stability issues.
The black paint is shielding, not conducting. I use it for my builds because it's non-conductive. String Trees are also called "string retainers" which is way easier to say. Just found your videos last night and I've been digging them so far. Keep up the good work!!
Thanks Dave, I’m glad you’re enjoying my videos! “String retainer” is indeed easier to say. As for the shielding paint: The reason it shields anything is because it’s supposed to be conductive. That’s also why it needs to be grounded. If you Google shielding paint you’ll also find it called “conductive shielding paint”. This is because the principle that is used for shielding is the Faraday Cage. Here is where you can learn more about this: www.artisanluthiers.com/blog/conductive-shielding-guitars/ So, if your shielding paint isn’t very conductive it’s also not very effective. And since we are talking about the Faraday Cage: It needs to be conductive on all sides or it won’t work, so the pickguard also needs to be shielded. A lot of people just buy some inexpensive relatively non-conductive “shielding paint” on eBay - essentially a fake -, put it in the cavity, forget the pickguard and then wonder why it doesn’t work. Same as with the shielding that this guitar came with. Whatever it had in shielding before was completely ineffective because the pickguard wasn’t shielded and the paint wasn’t really very conductive. Of course it originally came with humbuckers anyway so it didn’t really matter all that much before I added the coil split.
Lilly, you definitely are a unique, dying breed. Most young people would never feel they have the authority to make changes to a guitar, and just defer to the authority of the manufacturer.
@LillySchwartz Robotics Degree. Cool! I kept thinking, "She's quite skilled and knowledgeable for someone modding a guitar for the first time." I thought that perhaps you are a scientist or engineer. You did a great job on the guitar. I appreciate you explaining why you were doing the mod's, and how things work. Subscribed. Cheers!
Aww, thanks Vince! I’m so glad you enjoyed the video! I occasionally make videos about music like this one or my pedal builds, but my main thing is photography videos with my music playing in the background 😀 it needs so much gear to keep guitar channels going, I wouldn’t be able to afford it! 😂
😂 I wouldn’t object to the channel being secretly about music, since that plays a big role in my photography videos too! Guitars aren’t my main instrument though, I mostly make music with synths! I’m planning on working on an ambient album with guitars though, after I’m done with my synthwave crossover EP! There will be more music related videos coming too when that one is coming out! It’s basically finished, just need to finish the videos to go with it 😀
@@LillySchwartz Now we guitarists are like that, we see guitar , we see guitar being (tastefully) modded- it's a guitar channel! With "other music and photography related content mixed in" - regardless of quality, focus or proportion. If you only put up a pic with a guitar in the background, it becomes a guitar channel- it's the way it is.
😂 Mind you I have a distinctly guitar shaped bass Uke in my photography video backdrop, so people put 2 and 2 together and check in the description whether I make my own music. Subliminal messages all the way 😂 Besides, considering how well this video and my delay pedal video are doing I’d say this channel is definitely more a guitar channel than anything else 😉
You’re welcome! ✨ I had such a hard time trying to find information on how to do some of these things, so I thought I’d put it all together here! I’m glad you’re finding it useful!
OMG! Luv that you have a Yamaha MT100 Multi track recorder. That was my “go to” recorder back in the day. I used to record everything at the highest speed possible including cranking up the fine pitch control. It actually sounded pretty good for being a low-end machine. Easy to use, great for demos.
Good work! Have leveled and polished the frets and installed locking tuners on my new Bullet Mustang, the rest is stock as it comes from the factory. Love this little guitar!
Thank you! It’s already a great guitar out of the factory, just needs a little love to be perfect! The sound is awesome, I’m so impressed by it! Compared to my first guitar some 20 years ago which cost double that it’s an absolute dream! I wish I had a time machine to send it back to my younger self 😂 Such a fun guitar! Did you have problems with the pots and switch yet? My pots were horribly crackly and the switch sometimes gave out, so I replaced it all. And not all of them have the intonation issue either it seems!
Love the dedication and patience, you make this tech stuff sound so pleasant than it actually is, especially when you rolled your eyes at the wiring mistake, lol I would've gone mental. You are too adorable 😍btw, amazing background music.
😂 This was one of my more straight forward builds at least 🙃 I’m glad you enjoyed the music too. If you would like to hear more of it without the rambling, you can check out polarcoaster.bandcamp.com
Great video! I really like how you took your time to explain everything you did, and did not shy away from talking about the mistakes made along the way. And the cinematography, those great close-up shots of the details of the guitar, love it!!
Thank you so much! I’m glad you enjoyed it! I always find it strange when DIY projects go so smoothly and without a hitch on RU-vid! It’s just unrealistic! I’ve built plenty of stuff and something always goes wrong! All the perfect videos are just intimidating to people who have never tried it! Better to show how it really is and give people the opportunity to avoid the mistakes I made 😀 I’m glad you liked the cinematography too! I guess it helps that this is mainly a photography channel 😂 Thank you for watching! ✨
Great video! I'm in the process of rehabilitating a very old (and very poorly treated) Telecaster Custom body and in this video I found exactly the kind of encouragement I needed. The worst part for me is waiting until I have all the pieces.
So, how did your project go? I should really get going on my second Mustang. I had the parts already a while, but I didn't have enough space on my desk.
No, it's very good! Sometimes the fact of knowing that we are filming a video makes it possible to be better Present...better to be Inside! This also avoids errors because we simply know that it is shared. Then the mind is more FOCUS ;) Think a little more... and more concentrated! And then the video is very GOOD!!! Cheer!!! It's true that these improvements are useful on a Squier... That's exactly what you have to do. Slightly improve the Base, something that SQUIER does not do to reduce the cost. They can't do all that otherwise the guitar wouldn't be a Squier anymore ;) lol! After each of us can improve his Squier.... Fortunately! I don't know this Mustang Squier :( because of the reduced pitch... I'm afraid to buy it and have the keys of the 2nd octave too small??? Already on a telecaster the keys are smaller at the end of the handle then LA with a Mustang I'm afraid they're TOO small!!! Paul has a very short pitch and I find access to the last boxes narrower so I'm too afraid to buy a Mustang because I do more Solos than rhythmics :( But your Video is very beautiful and brilliant because you take time.... you put things into perspective without demonstrating an ACT, nor wanting to prove an ACT. You stay yourself and act in a coherent way to improve the guitar = so that's GREAT!!! I still don't have a Mustang with a little daipason but I really appreciate your sensitive and effective approach to making this Squier better. Well done!!!!!!
Thank you so much, I’m very glad you enjoy my music and hope you’ll like the pedal video! I should really make another one of those pedals, they are so much fun to build!
Thank you so much and I‘m glad you enjoy my music, that’s always nice to hear! Best way to contact me for projects is through the contact form of my Website: www.lillyschwartz.com YT usually deletes comments with links, so the contact form works better if you want to send me a link to your music!
@@LillySchwartz Good luck with completing the project Lily. Good to see a photographer still working in the dark room and using film. Enjoy the process and discoveries - and stay safe.
I've made a mod video of my Squier Mustang. The nut was glued in to. I found a fine saw and carefully ran the saw down the centre of the nut. (It's only plastic so was quite soft) This then made it easier to remove. I used a Graph Tech nut in its place and its massively improved tuning. I replaced the saddles too. The original ones were useless! Great mod Lilly. Looks great.
Thanks Matt! I’m always scared when I need to resort to a saw because I’m a touch clumsy and I’d probably break something. I hope one day I have the nerve to get it out, the nut on this thing is definitely a bit awful. And the saddles, yikes, that rattle! I’m really enjoying those stringsaver saddles!
@@LillySchwartz Yeh, the saddles were terrible in mine. Rattled and could intonate properly. I just took my time with the nut. I had to replace it as it came with badly fitted one. I think mine was made at the end of the day in the factory! I've been tinkering more with it, and changed out a pick up and added covers and the scratch guard is now purple! What did you do with the tone? Mine doesn't seem to effect it barely at all.
Oh sweet, purple! That’s gotta look nice! For the tone I replaced the cap with a bigger one and redid all the wiring, now the tone knob actually does something! Before I could barely hear a difference either unless I rolled off the volume a lot. The cap I used is linked in the description I think.
@@christophergrigg5227 I can't remember for certain. I know it was a Graph Tech White Nut. I have a feeling it may have been the same size as a Strat one. Sorry I can't be any more help than that.
Try scoring both sides of nut with razor knife that helps or use a punch and hit it from end with the punch using hammer good job looks great sweet bullet they r great I have 3 also supersonic keep up good work girl have fun
Great job,I really like how the guitar turned out!I'm thinking of doing one myself with a P-90 type pu in the neck,because i'm a bluesplayer.Have fun with your guitar and your music!
Aww, thanks Jimmy, I’m glad you like how it turned out! It’s a pretty one! Funny that you mention P90s, I recently got a second one and guess which pickups I’ll put in there! 😀
Aww, thank you, I’m so glad you enjoyed the video and the music, that’s always nice to hear! 😀 If you want to listen to some of the music in the video without all the waffling, there is a bandcamp link in the description too by the way!
Interesting little guitar, must be very comfortable to play, especially if one has to be on a small stage for 2 hours. Or even to go on vacation! Nice mods anyway
@@LillySchwartz I played grunge and metal for 30 years, had many guitars but always preferred short scale ones (Gibson, Godin or Jackson fusion) but now I am 52 years old and having a guitar that is also light has become a requirement. Also, it is not always true that a 1,500 euro guitar sounds better than a 200 euro guitar, many times all you need is an upgrade and a good setup. Thank you for your advice!
Then this lil Mustang would be right up your alley, it is ridiculously light because of the slim body style. Of course you can’t do everything with it - trems on this body style would be a bit of a stretch, but it’s a good modding base for sure. And right on about expensive guitars. 10x more expensive doesn’t equate to 10x the tone.
If you enjoy modding guitars, Harley Benton, available exclusively through Tomann have pretty good guitars. Many under $200.00 US money. The cheaper ones need some minor work to make an excellent guitar. Five of mine are from Thomann. I like tinkering so I have a lot of fun with them. They have under $500.00 guitars that are very good! Some of my guitars are major brands, but Thomann's prices make it difficult to shop anywhere else. My baritone Amarok came from there. Several players use them for ambient music. RU-vid ambient guitar and see what you think about it.
I definitely want a baritone at some point and I was eyeing a Harley Benton for that, so it’s nice to hear that you like that one. Before I get to it I still want to write an album with the two guitars I already have though. Use what you have and all that sort of thing 😀 I’ve also been eyeing their white Mustang with a term? Different thing from the hard tails I have.
It does look untreated but Fender says it has a satin finish! I just got mine today and that's the first thing I noticed was that the neck looks like raw unfinished maple. I'm going to sand it a little and put some kind of finish on it.
I love how your Mustang turned out. I collect and modify electrics and am impressed with your mods. It looks and sounds excellent. Great video with alot of valuable info as well.
Lilly you really are multi talented, your cinematography is brilliant too. Keep it up and the photography too of course. Lock down is really getting in the way now, fingers crossed we will soon be able to get out and take some photos. 😘😘❤️
Thank you Steve, that’s nice to hear! Yeah, this situation is really getting on my nerves. They don’t do lockdowns here anymore, which is worse because then the cases just stay high and that makes it even more dangerous for people like me. We’ve had the numbers high enough to warrant a lockdown for 6 months now. They just don’t do it anymore 🤷♀️ I can go outside to take pictures, but it’s kinda too dangerous 🙄
@@LillySchwartz Thats a worry, stay out of it until the vaccine program comes your way. (Hopefully not too soon) Do you not upload your photos onto Instagram? 😘
Well, I gotta wait with the vaccine myself. I have autoimmune stuff and they excluded people like me from most trials, so I’m waiting to see whether my friends with similar conditions have any bad reactions. Most of them have kids in school so they don’t really have a choice to wait. And besides with the vaccines already ineffective for some variants they might well be useless before it’s my turn 🤷♀️ can’t stay indoors indefinitely though, so it’s a no win scenario for me right now 😬 might just go outside anyway trying to stay away from people. No more street photography I guess? 🙄 And no, I don’t use Instagram. My photos just don’t suit tiny screens and I don’t like the algorithm. I only use it for drawings. I do have a website with years worth of blog posts though, if you’re interested! Should be linked in the description.
@@LillySchwartz Things will find their natural balance eventually, what ever that might be. Your right you have just got to stay away from people or at least a safe distance. It’s long lens time! I’ll check out your web site. Stay safe 😘
Yeah, I better don’t tell you what this natural balance will look like. I have a degree in Evolutionary and Adaptive Systems and have predicted every single stage of this pandemic correctly, including the new mutations now. And I was right about what would happen even before the virus reached us in the West. That’s probably why I’m still alive. You literally don’t want to hear my current predictions, trust me. Probably enough to say that we’ll be trying to move out of the city and away from people as soon as possible 😬 With the current government strategies in the West things can only get worse, not better 🤷♀️ It’s alright though, I always kinda expected to end up a hermit and I enjoy taking pictures of trees too 😉 Stay safe out there!
Great video, I did similar mods on mine as well. Though I bought fender saddles in the incorrect width :/ I’ve installed a coil split in the volume pot, a Seymour Duncan JB at the bridge and dimerizo 36th Ann. At the neck. I love it. Ah, great music btw!
Oh, that sounds like a great combination of pickups! Did the wrong width Fender saddles work out for you anyway? Figuring out the correct width on these took me forever too, I was so relieved that I got it right! You can probably figure out the correct width from the ones I linked in the description. They are working well for me, but string saver saddles aren’t everyone’s taste. I’m so glad you enjoyed the music too, thank you!
Lilly, when you decicde to remove the nut, next time cut through it down the centre and collapse it in on its self with a small hacksaw. it will make it easier to remove. There is a video on youtube I think by Stewmac showin the procedure. Good luck .john.
Thanks John, I definitely saw that video, but as someone who is a tad clumsy I try to keep saws away from my guitars 😂 one day I might be brave enough to try that method but it seems a little destructive 😬
It’s just so perfect for modding! Cheap enough to go all out on the mods and the body and neck are quite nice. The only thing that makes it a bit tough is the thin body! Getting all the wiring in there was a challenge 😂
Glad it was helpful! I think most 2 wire humbuckers can be split this way. It’s a bit of a hassle since the wires are so short, but it works just fine in the end! 😀
It is a Mustang body and a Mustang neck with the original pickups, so it remains a Mustang, no matter the switching! Even with the upgrades it’s still way cheaper than a Fender Mustang, plays nicely and has a lot of tones. As for all the work: sure, it was a lot, but I was having a lot of fun with this so why not? 😀 And yes, I do want a Jaguar at some point, but did you not notice that they have single coils and the switching on there is entirely different? The “single coil” sound I get out of this Mustang sounds so different from a Jaguar! Different enough that it’s worth having both actually 😂
@@LillySchwartz That's true about the Jag but I don't modify because it's expensive and work when it's cheaper too buy a budget guitar ☺️ withthe features inmost instances cases 😆🌹!! Don't you agree? But your right 💑 some say absolutely love to modify!
Great video! I just got a bullet mustang to mod also. I wasn't sure how to do it, so this video was very helpful. OH! Im also an ambient music lover and maker! Great song at the end. Kind of had Slowdive vibes and then into a Tim Hecker organy type thing. I like how you layered the 2 guitar tracks. I look forward to checking out more of your videos.
Aww, thank you, I’m so glad you enjoyed the video and the music too. I love making ambient. It allows me to play with non-standard song structures and all the layering is so much fun to figure out. Do you make ambient mostly with guitars then?
If you score the glue with a razor blade you can then use a hammer and a standard screwdrive do drift the nut out, you are right that the factory put a lot of glue in there. if you already have the replacement part whats the harm in giving a bit of force to remove the junk plastic one that comes with it. you may break it in many pieces but it will come out.
That‘s exactly what I tried, didn’t work for me. Tbh I‘m not so worried about the nut breaking into pieces, it‘s the wood I‘m worried about. It just seemed like it needed way too much force and if the glue is stronger than the wood I‘d have a way bigger problem than a junk nut if I use too much force. I really don’t want to mess up the neck because Mustang necks are really expensive to replace. Glue loses its bond with age though, so I‘m fairly certain I‘ll get it out eventually!
@@LillySchwartz I just pulled mine out and yes a small piece of wood was stuck to the nut but i was able to glue it back on and it is not noticeable at all. i went pretty deep with a thin razor to help break the glue. once i got a Tusq nut on it made a world of difference. if yours doesn't drift out try pulling it from the top with some short pliers. best of luck on it.
@@jaimepawliuk Yes, exactly what I was worried about. No idea why they put so much glue in there, it's silly! But thank you, I will definitely keep trying, I'm sure it'll come out eventually. I have to say though that lubricating the nut slots and filing them a little already helped quite a bit, the silly plastic nut is way less annoying now.
Funny that you say that, I actually have a second one of these and I’m going to be putting humbucker sized P90s in there! Just haven’t gotten around to modding it yet 😀
Thanks James! 😀 It turned out so lovely, I have it sitting out on a stand and I tend to just stop and look at it when I walk past 😂 the original pickup configuration of double humbuckers doesn’t need shielding, because the pickups cancel most of the electric hum or interference that they might pick up from the environment. When I bypass the second coil for the coil split there is no hum cancelling though except for the middle position, so without the shielding it would get quite noisy. And I’m glad you like the music too! 😀 thanks for watching! ✨
Oh, that’s really great! It’s similar for me, I stopped making music for 15 years too and started playing again a couple years ago! And now I’m even finishing an EP, first one after the long break! Probably the longest creative block I’ve had in my life so far! 😅
@@LillySchwartz Your video was one of several which helped me decide to buy one of these things, but I was assured you would be shredding live, I even bought tickets from a deranged man.
I happened to find one and it's coming in the mail. It's black with a white pick up guard, not crazy over the white pick up guard look. So many people love these guitars as you know but I often heard that the original saddles are a problem with rattling and setting intonation (is that why you changed yours up?). I will get saddles like the ones you put on (2 1/16" I believe?), a better nut, and a black pick up guard is a decent start. Is it necessary to copper shield the pick up guard? I'll see how happy I am with that and the original pick ups. Anyhow, I love what you did with yours and this is an excellent video! I love the tones in the demo, sounds so good! Thanks from Canada.
great project there! glarry has a clone of this model and uses the whole area of the scratchplate for the controls as well... right at 100 us dollars for the clone! i did a similar mod on my dougles tele clone which is HH...i swapped out the pups for some guitarmadness(ebay store)hotrod zebra humbuckers...neck is modeled after a late 50s model and bridge is a hot 15k/ohm or so...i did a coilsplit on the bridge but left the neck as is... i put a on/off/on slider switch on the cavity cover on the back of the body...this thing sounds sweet! you have the option of 3 diffrent tones off one pickup...inner coil/outer coil and the whole thing! the back coil has twang like a traditional tele and the front coil has the singlecoil bridge tone like a strat...neck pup is a sweet swampy syrupy bluesy thang too! both together you get the "cricket chirp" tones...to me the best coil for that is the back coil with the neck pup...
Hi Lilly ! Great work you've done with your RU-vid channel ! I love all that you do.. I was wondering if you ever did the second Bullet Mustang with the P90's ? If so I'd love to see a video of it ! Another curiosity i have is to your nationality, Are you German ?
Hey, I know this Video is a couple years old now but nice job, I think this is the only video I’ve seen with a female doing mods to a guitar and I think I preferred watching this for some reason 🤦🏻♂️ I’ve always wanted a bullet mustang but never pulled the trigger, I have a normal Mustang though and they are awesome guitars. I think watching this had made me want to get one and mod it out. Plus you get a lot of guitar for your money anyway way. Thanks, I’ll check your other uploads out 👍🏼👍🏼😊 Matt
Thank you! Have you weighted it? I am considering one because I find my Strat too heavy lately :O everyone say this Mustang is lighter but they never saw how much :O thanks
It definitely is a light guitar, because it is a slim body and the neck is shorter too. I doubt you could get a lighter one without going mini! I haven’t weighed it but several people say it’s 3kg. Seems about right. They say strats are more about 3.8kg, but my old strat definitely felt heavier than that - didn’t like it, so I don’t have it anymore. A Les Paul would be between 4-5kg. A Gretsch hollow body could also be lighter than a strat, but not by much and heavier than this one for sure. A Telecaster thin line would be a good option too, it’s semi hollow and should be around 3kg too. And the Duo-Sonic can be light too, around 3.2kg? Many options and many of them even regular scale if you prefer that. This Mustang is probably the lightest short scale out there, Tele thin line the lightest regular. For my hand size I prefer short scale so this one is just perfect all around!
@@LillySchwartz oh, thank you so much! I just recently started playing a 59cm scale classical guitar (had always played full 65cm) and i loved it. I used to prefer Strat scale because of the tuning stability, yet I am reconsidering everything I once held truly (on guitars) 😂. So, lighter, more comfortable guitars are what I seek. Also, I started realizing a lot of dudes playing are 6ft/180cm or more,I am a 162 cm tall girl... #proportions 😂
Haha, indeed! As a teen I wouldn’t have been caught dead with a short scale. Never would have heard the end of it from the guys 😂 that’s why I couldn’t figure out how to play bass with my small hands 🤦♀️ I got myself a bass uke last year and I love it! Totally would have offended my punk sensibilities in the past, same as short scale guitars! But hey, why torture my small hands with regular scale when there are much more fitting guitars for us? Tuning stability is totally fine on this with 10s by the way! It comes with 9s and then it’s so so, but not too bad either. My old strat was way worse in that respect because of the trem!
Thanks Gardy! Soldering guitar connections is rather easy! The wiring diagrams rarely get too complicated. Good way to learn soldering I think, if you ever want to give it a go! And I’m glad you enjoy my music too. Thanks for watching! 😀
This video was the first guitar mod video that was surprisingly soothing to watch. You speak about, appears to be a stressful task (at least it would be for me), with such a calm demeanor. I wonder if your spoken parts were recorded many many days afterward! And the chords played at the end - *chef's kiss*
I actually made that video right after I finished modding the guitar, so it was still fresh! I didn't get stressed with this one though, it was pretty straight forward in comparison to some of my other electronics projects. And I always try to keep my videos calm and soothing. There is enough hyped up ADHD content out there already 😅 Glad you enjoyed the video and thanks for watching!
Hi Lilly - great walkthrough. To get the nut out, use this type of plier: www.amazon.co.uk/Draper-Tools-60744-Carbon-Cutter/dp/B00024AT96/ref=sr_1_6?crid=1ESCYCH9Q2FET&dchild=1&keywords=fret+pliers&qid=1609677765&sprefix=fret+pl%2Caps%2C207&sr=8-6 Score around the nut with a craft knife or scalpel to make sure any adhesive hasn't leaked to avoid tear-out on the fretboard. Gently wiggle the nut and eventually, it will come free. You can grind the top of these flat to remove frets if you ever fancy doing a fret replacement. I've modded my Mustang:I used brass saddles as a) they were cheap and b) look nice. £6 and a bit of work with a file... I'll be adding a brass nut for aesthetics and two Irongear pickups - a P90 in a humbucker casing at the neck and a PAF at the bridge, all in the cause of research.
Great video. Just FYI the neck has a fairly thick ( on mine) satin finish that looks raw. Sanding it a you should see a white powder (not wood). The fretboard on mine was fairly flat 9.5 radius, but some frets on high e had gaps between bottom of fret and fret board because frets were not seated before being glued in. Good for you on the shielding. Not only is that paint highly resistive, it's not grounded. The nut has a ton of glue on it and you need to tap both sides and maybe some fret puller pliers. Then a graphtec 5000 drops in as a near perfect sub.
The nut on my Squier Mustang was a bit wrongly placed so that the high E was always sliding off the fretboard and getting caught under the fret ends. So I polished up the fret ends and removed the nut after applying heat via a hair dryer and tapping it gently. Nicely done video!
Been looking up this guitar for some time now since I'm quite tired of my tremoloed strat going out of tune by itself, aside from the set bridge and short comfy scale, the modding potential is what makes it so appealing, great help on making those pups splittable too, definitely one of the first things I'll try once it's on my hands.
It’s a great modding platform for sure! Interestingly I got it mainly for the sound. Couldn’t quite believe that such a cheap guitar could sound so good! The pups definitely have something! Splitting them is a bit of a faff, but well worth it too, my favourite clean sound is one of the split options now! Definitely a great little guitar! Have fun with it once you get it 😀
If the Strat's trem is bugging you and you don't use it, you can lock it down to prevent tuning issues. Just cinch down the 6 screws on the top, cinch down the trem plate in the back, and wedge wood blocks/shims around the trem block to essentially turn it into a hard tail bridge. There are some videos on RU-vid for how to do this. Can't remember who though. Rob Chapman might have been one. 🤔
Great video! I found out about this Super Cool guitar from Colin in the UK on his RU-vid channel. Thanks for diving into the guitar to uncover more about it and possible upgrades.
Yeah, you can try hitting the nut with a heat gun, it will either soften the glue, or if that's a plastic nut, it will soften the plastic. Just don't melt it in. I assume you're going brass or bone on it. Pretty darn good job you did there. You could also consider an HSH setup.
With the amount of customization you did and the new look and sound, you should rename it a "Lilly" on the headstock rather than Squier. Nice work. Dig that ambient sound, makes me want to ponder the Universe. Thanks!
Hah, I actually wanted to give it a different Squier and Mustang logo on the headstock, but couldn’t figure out how to do it without making it glossy! And I’m glad you enjoyed the music too! ✨🛸🚀
brilliant video I've just got the latest version of this guitar I also want to modify it to a kurt cobain spec im going to change the pickups for dimarzio what locking tuners and bridge did you use sorry meant saddles just so get ones that fit ok thanks
Thank you! Oh, that sounds like a cool mod project! Good luck with it! For the parts I used, check the description below the video for links to everything, including the right size graph tech saddles!
Thanks so much Chris! It definitely turned out amazing, plays really nicely now and sounds awesome! And well spotted with the Blade Runner influence! I often listen to that soundtrack when I’m working in the darkroom. There is a 4h fan version that’s just the perfect length for a printing session and I love the feel of that music! It’s the feel I aim for with my ambient, 1980s Sci Fi!
Hey Lilly, amazing music in this vid! Both during the mod demo and the track at the end which I found hyper hypnotizing (in a good way OFC), particularly when combined with the visual effects (on which I couldn't leave my eyes)! Nice detailed infos on the mod of the Mustang, which I will possibly buy eventually! Your video encouraged me to possibly mod my future Mustang too! New subscriber here!
I’m glad you enjoyed the video and the music, that’s really nice to hear! Modding these little Mustangs definitely isn’t hard and a very enjoyable project to expand the sonic possibilities. By the way, the track at the end is on my first album Endless nights, which you can listen to here: polarcoaster.bandcamp.com/album/endless-nights
ABSOLUTELY AWESOME! Out of curiosity how much did it cost. If you don't mind I'm going to do some research and reply on my findings. I love to research than moding and before buying.
Thank you! The parts for this were about 180-90€, so more than the guitar itself. I think it was well worth it though, because it plays so much better now and is a lot easier to restring too. And as guitars go it’s still very much on the budget side, but with much more premium hardware.
Quite a lot of the Bullet Mustangs have too long saddle screws, so some of the strings would be touching the screws when properly intonated. Sounds just nasty! And even with the right length screws the saddles rattle quite a bit. Mine also had scratchy pots (super cheap ones) and the tone knob didn’t really do much either because of the way it’s wired. Basically just cheap hardware and cutting corners in production. My second Bullet Mustang only has the rattly saddles, but can be intonated and plays fine. No pot issues either although the tone knob is still pretty useless? Some are better than others! For the price it’s to be expected! Glad you were lucky with your Bullet Strat!
In my opinion the guitar turned out very nice with your modifications. I had thought about buying the same model in the same color, but now I'm curious about the Squier Mustang Sonic. Anyway, thanks for the video.
It really is a lovely little guitar! The new Sonics look really good too, but quite a bit too similar to make it worthwhile for me to get one, because I already have two bullets! I’m thinking that there might be a single coil mustang with a trem in my future though!
This reminds me of something Stefan Gotteswinter said about engineering tools... He was saying that you can buy cheap and then treat it like it's a kit and use it as the basis to build your own... looks like that's what you've done with your guitar. Looking at this, I should probably have done many of these things to my guitar too... but that was 30 years ago now and I've got used to it hurting me what I play it. Ouch! Watching you fumbling around trying to get those pots into the cavity reminds me of so many similar events n my own workshop. :)
Thank you so much! I’m glad that I didn’t make a fool of myself in front of a professional like you 😀 I love DIY stuff, especially when it involves electronics, so I just had to do it myself! Great learning experience too! And I’m so happy with the outcome too, just like I imagined it!
You did excellent! I'm really impressed with how you figured out the pick up wires most of all, and how you used cts push pull pots for your splits. Perfect choice for the thinner body.
😀 The pickup wires had me confused for a while, because one of the pickups was reversed and I thought their black and white cables actually meant something sensible. Luckily the information on how to test the polarity is on RU-vid and I found it after a bit of digging! I definitely learned something new with that! I doubt anything but the CTS short shaft push pull pots would even fit in this body! It’s very snug even with those and it took some doing to get them to sit level too! I’m glad it worked out in the end! Getting the wiring to fit was probably the biggest challenge! I love how slim and light the guitar is, but that made it a bit of a headache for this mod 😂
Really enjoyed this video! I just bought a Bullet Mustang that I'm planning on modifying as well. I'm interested in replacing the saddles as well, and I'm wondering: which String Savers did you use? As in, were they the "Strat", "Vintage Strat", "Offset Strat", etc, etc. Thanks so much for your time and congratulations on the mod job :D
I’m glad you enjoyed it 😀 the graph-tech saddles are strat saddles I believe. I linked the correct size in the description. They are a tiny little bit narrower than the original ones but they fit well for this bridge! I hope this helps! Enjoy modding your new Mustang, it’s a fun one to work on! Thanks for watching! 😀
Super helpful thank you . You clearly added distinctly different sonic characteristics this way. And the racing stripes, well one can never go wrong with racing stripes.Several tips are key the saddle upgrade was particularly useful . Would like to see you do a demo on your wiring soldering technique and measurement protocols.
Thank you Thomas, I’m so glad you found the video helpful! Racing stripes are definitely the way to go 😂 Interestingly I’m actually not very good at soldering. There is usually a lot of foul language involved, especially when having to solder the ground. Not sure whether it’s my cheap Chinese soldering iron or using the wrong solder wire, but I usually need several attempts and burn myself in the process 🤦♀️ Luckily I hardly ever break things though 😉 It really doesn’t need all that much skill to solder the wiring in a guitar! I find the gazillion solder joints on guitar pedal PCBs a lot more challenging (the trick is to use thinner wire for those). By the way, there are video links to the measuring techniques in the description, I do the exact same thing as described in those! Check them out, they are really helpful if you’ve never tried to figure out the polarity of a pickup!
I know I'm commenting on an older video, but I have been doing some video searches on modifying the Squier Bullet Mustang, and specifically coil splitting. I just wanted to thank you for this video, especially how thorough you described everything! I am looking to add mini toggle switches to individually split the humbuckers, and I am so glad you pointed out that there are inconsistencies in humbucker wiring. One thing I have found is that PRS guitars adds a resistor to reduce the south wire on the pickups so it's not a full split, but you maintain more volume when splitting. I can confirm that my PRS guitar sounds very close to a true single coil with this method, so this may be another small modification for you to consider (Fralin Partial Split Resistor, I believe is what it's commonly called). I am waiting on some parts, but when I try splitting the coils I am going to try 1k resistors, and I'd be happy to reach out with my results. Unrelated, I am very inspired by your ambient music, you did a great job!
I’m so glad you found the video helpful! That resistor technique with the coil split is very intriguing indeed! Definitely let me know how that goes, I’m curious about that for sure! I just assumed I would have to get a guitar with proper single coils at some point. Getting a tad closer with just an added resistor would be quite cool! And thank you also for your kind words regarding my music! That’s always nice to hear 😀
Coincidently this week I saw a video containing the removal of a glued nut on a Squier (there will be more and I saw it before, but for starters,, maybe): 'Squier FSR Affinity Telecaster Deluxe set up' by Sam Deeks, at 24:30.
This is so badass you just inspired me to mod even further towards my mustang I’ve only owned it for a year now and all I’ve done was replace the strings...that’ll change, thank you!!!
Thank you, I’m so glad you enjoyed it and that it’s inspiring you to give your Mustang some upgrades! These little guitars are really great for modding, I’m sure you’ll have lots of fun! Thanks for watching! 😀
