This is an excellent video that should encourage every new guitar player that the $400 Strat they just bought is an excellent investment. It has the ability to grow along with them as they get better as a player. Nice work gents!
People should also know that the classic vibe squier series is widely considered to be pretty much just as good as a MIM fender strat at roughly half the price. They're just very well made guitars. Especially if you plan on overhauls like these, or even far narrower scoped ones.
I've got a Fender Player Series with a Maple neck. I was so excited to get that guitar. And it's.... just OK. And that's being nice about it. I recently handled and played (a little) one of these Squier Classic Vibe 60's... this same one. Lake Placid Blue. And it ain't even close. The Squier is a LOT nicer. It's just a better guitar. Yeah - it would be cool if it said "Fender." But it doesn't. And it's a better guitar.
@@jimmyz2098 I just got this same guitar, and it was SO good when i tried it at the shop, that i don't care that it doesn't say Fender on it. It might as well do, with how well it actually plays.
I did something similar on a $180 squier tele. Bought it and played it fine for about a year and then when the electronics started to crackle, I did the upgrades (920d wiring, lambertones blondies, bigsby, and locking tuners). Awesome guitar. All in It's about 800, but plays better than a lot of $1500+ guitars I've picked up!
If I did this project, I’d look for a used Mexican fender Strat. Mine was 300 new in 1997. In fact, it’s on my to do list to upgrade my first guitar in much the same way! That way you can have an epic strat over time with fender on the headstock. Thanks for being generous and blessing a worshipper with this strat! Great vid. I really enjoyed it!
Recently acquired a Squier Vintage Strat' and wondered about how good it was. Watching you guys with yours, I'm impressed and encouraged. At some point, I think the first thing on the to do list is locking tuners. In the meantime, I'm just going to enjoy learning on it, knowing I have a more than reasonable instrument.
I have a few "nice" guitars but I reach for my Squire Strat more than anything else. The only upgrade I'm for sure about doing is a DiMarzio high power prewired pick guard.
you're right. I immediately thought these tuners look like the good vintage fender ones. Not at all, they are crap! need to be changed first. then the electronics, trem, and nut.
I’m currently doing this exact thing thanks to you guys. Went with the classic vibe jazzmaster and a set of ristrettos. I’m thrilled with the new sound. Thinking new neck next.
Strat necks fit most jazzmasters too and you can get a strat neck for a lot less if you don’t mind the smaller headstock a lot more options in strat replacement necks fret size radius etc I think the bridge on your guitar is a 12” radius and the neck is stock as 9.5” radius you can get a jumbo fret 12” radius strat neck like an allparts like this they come in rosewood too sure makes em set up better with lower action when your bridge and fret radius match www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Fender-Lic-Allparts-Stratocaster-NECK-Strat-Maple-Unfinished-12-Radius-SMO-/363168156355?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49292
My PRS Zach Myers is pretty much directly inspired by the Epi Goldtop monster you guys made last go around. Cremas, push pull coil taps, locking tuners, PRS lampshade knobs, switchcraft parts, the works. Selah, as I named her is the best guitar I’ve ever owned and I’m stoked she’s growing with me. I say it’s worth it because it could potentially become one of those family heirloom type deals down the line and that market value isn’t everything. I would say it’s more economical to get an amazing playing Epi and upgrade it to play like a Gibby for half the price of a full Gibby + setup.
I love how this highlighted Lambertones pickups. They are magical. And Kurtis is a standup guy. He was more than happy to help me out with a wiring issue by FaceTiming with me, and when he saw a low-quality component in my guitar, he surprised me by sending me a free wiring kit with pots and switch. I can also echo the clarity comments. The pickups just have the ability to breathe a bit, and it makes my overdrives, delay, and reverb all sound so perfect. They never get washed out in the mix. I would pick Cremas every time, but Grinders are a close second.
Try Guitar Fetish for the quick connect pickups. I installed their Lil Killer rail humbuckers on a Korean-made Squire and made it a Super Strat with the GF wiring harness! It sounds absolutely amazing. The humbuckers can separately split into single coil too.
I’d call it money well spent! I’m currently building three Strats. The first one is completed save for fret end filing and nut filing. It has a 80’s MIJ Squire body, an Allparts neck, GraphTech Ratio tuners and the guts out of a U.S.A. Ernie Ball Silhouette Special with DiMarzio Virtual PAF and True Velvet singles and the silent circuit. The next guitar up will be a white MIM Strat with a Duncan JB along with the Sustainiac system out of one of the Schecter Sun Valley guitars that I bought from a guy who dropped his and shattered the body. The next one will have Duncan P-Rails and take advantage of the pickup switching options. Both of these will have the Ratio tuners and Wilkinson VS100 bridges. At some point I’ll make another Strat with the Lace Sensor Rainbow set to replace the Strat I had to sell recently. I’m looking for what works best for me in these instruments.
Gotta get that buzz out of it. I'm surprised you didn't level the frets during the setup. The pickups sound great. I'm sure that will be an awesome guitar. (That sound at 22:30 is Strat heaven!) Thanks for the videos on this project
I knew even at the start of this video that you guys were gonna make that announcement at the end😂 I’m already having my fingers crossed that I get blessed with it🤞🏼🤞🏼😁 beautiful guitar great job you guys!
Thank you for this amazing video on a Squier Classic Vibe Strat. I am 53 now in 2023. I am want to learn ow to play a strat series guitar. My issue is I am left handed and I live in Canada. The Squier Classic Vibe 70s Stratocaster HSS Left-Handed, Maple Fingerboard - Black or the Squier Classic Vibe '60s Stratocaster Left-Handed which I would love to get and I am looking at is very limited in the Left Hand config. I want a full size bodied strat so I can upgrade it as I gain more experience and comfort. I do not want to be limited to a 3/4 size strat body where upgrading them is a little harder to find parts that fit. I have also noticed that a Left handed Squier Classic Vibe Strats cost more in a left hand config. This is where I really wish I was right handed. Better colors available in a right handed config. Also no one where I live in Canada has stock of a left handed Squier Classic Vibe Strat. I have a limited income being I am on permanent disability from a work accident in 2013 so paying $800.00 - $1000.00 Canadian is not a option. Also I hear nightmare stories of really long wait times for a left handed strat. This is where i really wish I was right handed because they are easier to get and a lot better color options. I want to start learning soon before I am in no shape to even learn. I really do not want to buy one online because I really do not know what to look for. Plus there are clones of everything now a days and I do not need to buy something that it is not. And no I am not going through Mid life crises. I have always wanted to learn. More so now then ever just to give my mental health a check for not working in so long. I don't know, maybe I am just dreaming but it has been on my bucket list for years now.
This was a great series on your channel. I did exactly that with a $400 Dean because I like the way the neck feels. I put $200 into pickups and upgraded wiring. That and upgrading the nut made the biggest difference.
Is it a Korean dean strat sss with the 3x3 goofy headstock? if it is I love my neck aswell it’s a cheaper strat but I’m in love with it, I have way nicer guitars and I always find myself wanting to grab the dean instead.
One of my favorite guitars to play, and one that I will never sell, is my Mexican Lonestar Strat. After just a few modest modifications (fender locking tuners, graphtech saddles, DiMarzio FRED in the bridge wired straight to the volume, and set up to play in Eb) this guitar has become an amazing workhorse of a player. I’ve bought and sold tons of guitars over the years, but this one will always stay in my collection, and even though it’s not an “American” Strat, I will proudly hand it down as an heirloom someday.
Loved this video!!! Been waiting to see how this build turned out before purchasing one of these Squier’s. I need a Strat in my wheelhouse and this will be my next purchase most likely. Also going to make some of these upgrades as well.
Super nice video and true to the bone! A 10 year experienced player knows that the hard job is to find the good wood. Then piece by piece you can create a beast of a guitar like this one you have here. This sirca classic vibes are amazing instruments to start building your tone and the momentum is great indeed, happy holidays!!
I got a set of Fender Pure Vintage 65s for 150$ , im so gonna put them in my Squire CV 60s! Alongside a good setup, it's gonna be my dream guitar! A lake placid blue strat is all i need!
In 2019 I brought a fender stratocaster roadhouse deluxe Olympic White I love the guitar and the vintage noiseless pickup but I want to switch some things around first I modded it to a hss strat with the fender vintage noiseless and a dimarzio PAF master bridge humbucker and it sounded pretty darn good, then i change the nut to a tusq xl nut, but then came lambertones pickup , i got the opportunity to buy a used lambertones triple shot neck and middle and installed it with a 920d hss wiring harness and i fell in love with them instant, a couple of month later in 2020 i added the lambertones grinder bridge and added a gotoh 510 trem bridge and now my strat is amazing i love it every bit of it. I will have to say I switch the orange drop tone cap for some emerson custom PIO tone cap 👌👌👌👌👌👌 its perfect
I’d just love to be able to hear the pick ups w/ out the delay or much reverb. I struggle to fully be able to appreciate the difference in tone with them. But, hey beggars can’t be chooser. Love the videos guys
Surprised you didn’t mention the nut. That can have a bigger impact on tuning than the tuners and much more than the trem, especially if you don’t use it.
We talked about the nut in the initial review and in the setup video. Squier uses bone nuts on these guitars, and I did a bit of work to it sanding the slots in it, so we didn't feel like it needed an upgrade. I think initially the nut was contributing to most of the tuning issues, but they went away after I sanded it.
@@worshiptutorials What's great too is that someone with a little courage & patience can replace a strat nut at home. Just need some sandpaper, some feeler gauges, and a pre-cut $12 graphtech black tusq XL. Usually the existing nuts pop right out of there with just a little effort.
Go to 14:36 to hear dry samples in all 7 pickup positions. We didn’t play exactly the same parts as the initial review (I wish we would have done that), but I’m 99% sure we used the same Helix patch in both videos, so you can pretty easily compare the before/after tones that way.
38:11 To me that's the main thing of an upgrade like that! When one has no $1.500 or $2.000 right away, they can assemble such a guitar step by step in a couple of years. AND you get a custom guitar by doing so! Cause you choose all the components, rather than get what get with an expensive but stock guitar. I mean... From my experience I was satisfied with a stock guitar from the day of purchase only if they were really high end ones, like some Suhrs, a couple of PRSs, one Tom Anderson and two Novos. I could have bought a house for the price of those! With pretty much all the rest of the guitars -including my Gibsons, by the way- I wasn't happy with at least something. Either I swapped the trem (VegaTrem is one of my favorites), or I changed the tuners, or the pups. Eventually I came to the following strategy. If I do not fall in love with a certain guitar in a guitar shop, I prefer to order parts and assemble the guitar. Warmoth makes a good variety of options at a really good quality level. Thus I get the wooden part of a guitar and frets (always stainless steel in my case) and choose and purchase all the accessories as I want them to be on my assembly. Thus. On the one hand you can modify your guitar gradually in order to take care of your budget, on the other hand modification is the way to get exactly the components you want.
I keep coming back to this video for those pickups…love listening to them. I love my Strat but it’s not my #1, these would make me show it some more love me thinks. Definitely going to be a set in my future.
If you can play a high end guitar, give it a shot. A lot of people will say cheap is as good as expensive, and sometimes they are. But the chances of you getting a bad neck or fret job is much greater. The wiring can be iffy and the pick ups are almost never as good as custom or high end pickups from the builder. A $2500 guitar will usually be “nicer.” Not always, but there is a difference. This coming from someone who played a J Mascis (Classic Vibe) Jazzmaster Sunday with Lollars in it 😉.
I absolutely love Squier necks. Perhaps because my first strat was a Squier that I still own and play. Even though I now have USA teles and strat I still prefer the neck on my Squiers! Merry Christmas and Happy New year WT team and family.
Dig a Strat. I heard John Mayer talking about the Silver Sky saying it was important with the pickups that the Treble has Bass and the Bass has Treble. On my laptop with cheapie headphones those pickups sound nice.
I bought a Michael Kelly 1963 strat I started with the nut and then tuners and then put some Lambertones hss amazing guitar!! My number one strat!! All I need to do next is a new wiring harness
I was gifted a lake placid bullet telecaster a couple years back and i think over that time frame I did about the same thing they did with pickups, wiring, tuners and some hardware. I don't regret it all. So far it plays and sounds better than the fender strat I have. I think the most obvious upgrade to my ears was the new wiring with the upgraded pots. But i didnt buy lambertones. Would I have invested all the money at once if I had it up front? No I would have bought a higher end guitar. But it makes alot of sense to by one of these and upgrade as you go.
I have that exact guitar and generally love it. This is the exactly what I’ve been looking for: things that would make me live it more. Pickups and DIY fretboard cleanup clearly number one. Great video!
I picked up a MIM strat from the 90’s in a pawn shop and got it for about $200, been upgrading gradually. Most recent one was I got the pickups swapped to an HSS config with Seymour Duncan’s
I've seen two mindsets on the pickups vs electronics. Some people insist the electronics (pots, caps) will make more of a difference than the pickups. Others say pots/caps/wires don't really make much difference and it's all the pickups. To me, the electronics are so cheap to replace (920Ds are some of the most expensive and they're still quite cheap) that if you replace the pickups it makes no sense to keep the stock electronics in place. There are also some much cheaper pickups that sound phenomenal. A lot of people replace the stock MIM fender pickups with Alnico 5 M-Series Wilkinsons and they're dirt cheap, and sound phenomenal (get the real deal and not the licensed ones). Sure they won't sound as good as the tripleshots, but they'll sound 97% as good and cost a tiny fraction of the cost.
I’m not a guitarist, but I play the bass. Doesn’t spending $1100 on a Squier kind of defeat the t whole purpose of a cheap Fender type guitar. I have a Squier strat that cost all of $200. It plays wonderfully and makes me a very happy camper. I can’t possibly imagine wanting to spend that amount of cash to rebuild the Fender Strat. I look at my Squier as lightning in a bottle. It scratches my guitar aspirations more than adequately. Spending more money on my Squier, especially more than three times the amount that the guitar originally costs would qualify as abomination to me. I’ll keep plinking away on my garbage can Squier.
This guitar is sweet and looks really nice. Looks and sounds pro level. If a person can do the labor its worth it. If not, you will easily add $200 to $500 to the upgrade costs. The one downside, you will never recoup your costs if you sell it. That being said, My two most recent purchases are a fender vintera deluxe tele and fender deluxe nashville tele and i would rather play this upgraded stratocaster.
Love the videos gentlemen. I've been thinking about buying the hx stomp and keep coming back to your sound samples on the helix... Then I see this and think... But I could buy another guitar for that!... Gear obsession is a real thing lol
TLDR for you lazy/ ADD brothers and sisters (Bradford and Brian feel free to yank this comment if this sours this gorgeous video, which I still recommend watching for the amazing tones and commentary) 1. Squier classic vibes are awesome guitars for the money. 2. Lambertones are the real deal, and are the first recommended (biggest effect on the guitar’s tone) modification 3. If you have $1500, buy a better guitar. But if you only have $400, and over time put several hundred dollars into it, it very well can hang with guitars twice its price. 4. The commentary and products in this video is nothing but gold for guitar builders/ modders. 5. Yes, you can build a Squier guitar out into a very, very good guitar. It’s not a waste of money. Do the right mods, and find the right feeling base guitar to work on, and a cheap upgraded guitar can absolutely be a great player’s guitar. Did I miss anything? Hopefully I did it justice 🥴
Superb instruments for the money. I bought the CV 60s Esquire in LPB and it’s awesome as it is. Upgrading is expensive though and I’d rather buy a more expensive guitar to be honest. That thing sounds fantastic. Great colour too.
First thing you should upgrade is tuners and bridge. Make the guitar play better, intonate better, and stay in tune. This seems to be where most beginners falter. Most beginners and discern the difference in pups the way an experienced player would. But a beginner will know when a chord or note sounds off or are frustrated when they feel like they are playing something correct but it doesn’t sound like the record.
@Mark Seymour upgrading the bridge could help with intonation. The tuner upgrade gives you a higher gear ratio to get more accurate pitch. I stand by it
The classic vibe series is dope considering you what you get. Cool finishes, and the classic vibe gets more attention bc they are high priced instruments
I think the holy tone is about the sparkle and shimmer of light, in sonic version. Think tele in neck position, jeff b halelujah. I think the original alnico 5 gave this to the guitar. I have this exact guitar and the secret for me was to polish the fret board using pressure and plant oils, and using my skin not a cloth. After dry use a non fluffy cloth to buff it. not microfibre ever. It aged the fretboard to a gloss. Now it has spank and shimmer for sacred overtones. You do have to turn the bass upto 10 on the amp with the orig pickups, then they are fine.
I’m inspired …bought my 60s vibe for 100$ less than you guys did on eBay (new) that will be the only savings..tho.. I’m going to spend about a 2000$ more than you guys (Most of the money will go … Relic neck with Brazilian rosewood fret board… and the most expensive pickups I can find (it’s like made of sliver) everything else will match yours Over 2500$ upgrade on a 300$ guitar…. (Too bad I have a mostly comedy channal on RU-vid or I would upload it…still might….oh yeah the pickgaurd was signed by James Brown with the inscription “ I FEEL GOOD” (it’s going to be the most pimped out squire of all time). Will take me a long time to save up so I will do it one part at a time Thanks for this ridiculous idea
I am in love with this guitar. I am a left-handed guitar player, and I would like for you guys to do left-handed giveaway. I hope that I win this guitar.
Investment in your own instrument, Bradford said it, if you put $500 worth of upgrades in a $250 dollar guitar people don’t want to pay for your upgrade. Maybe an extra $50 bucks. You’re better off keeping your upgrades and reverting the guitar back to stock and selling it a putting those upgrades in the better guitar u end up getting
I would get a callaham bridge instead. It feels buttery smooth and looks like an original, and has a noticeable tone and sustain upgrade. Other than that, it looks and sounds fantastic.
I love the 60's RI look and neck styles and also own Fender Strat MIJ 60's model. I have an identical model to the one on the video including finish, and am not sure pickup-wise what I'm going to do yet due to the type of body wood...if it was alder it'd be a no brain'r with better alnico 5 magnet single coils but the Asian mahogany has me wondering about possibly going with mini humbuckers like Seymour Duncan lil 59's or JB jr., at least in the bridge. My stock tuners are fine, and after some manicuring of nut slots the stock trem works fine after floating it. Putting a $300 trem, $270 pickups, and $70 tuners into a new $400 guitar definitely are improvements, and if a person can't have it all in one shot yes, piece work upgrading is fine. Personally I wouldn't buy a new guitar if right off the bat was going to replace all of the components with several hundred dollars worth of upgrades. I'd either get a $100 Affinity Squier and go from there or save my money and buy a new Player series.
Just bought a 50’s Classic Vibe. Cool guitar but IMMEDIATELY needed frets dressed. Then I took it to my setup guy and he couldnt eveb do a setup because the Frets were severely unlevel. 😵💫. Squier!!! It doesnt matter if its only $400 you need to level your frets! Blah. Regardless- super cool video! I think I will keep mine and contact Zzounds and Fender to pay for the leveling. The body and neck are really nice. (Bridge and nut are crap though haha)
This is amazing, I just... love it! ♥️ And... OMG!!! That final... What!? Really!? Please tell me that Latin America it's in too! I'm from Honduras. Blessings guys! Great video... 🥰
Almost all the samples were with the Matchless Mk2 patch. Some of the ones I played were with the new updated Hillsong patch, but Brad’s were all the Match Mk2
I really dont feel a diffrence in the vegatrem and my player series trem other than the distance of dive and raise. I prefer the big block and always change to brass or steel
Resale doesn't care lol its still a Squire, but if you'er really tone particular and don't want what everyone else has (American Standard or =) then go for it; but it won't be worth the same when you go to sell or trade it
Thanks for the awesome video! I see you guys use the Line 6 Helix a lot. Any chance you might take a look at the Mooer GE 250? I just got it, since I don't have the budget for the Helix, but I see more and more people are going for the Mooer's because of the amount of bang that you get for your buck. It will be just awesome!
