The main issue with Offsets is that the inexpensive models (Squier and new brands) leave you wanting for hardware. I bought a Xaviere JT 100 (GFS Pickups house brand) and that was $240 plus shipping. I kept the body, neck and pickups. I have replaced the 500k pots with CTS 1 Meg pots, added a .047 Orange Drop capacitor, replaced the switch (JD Moon), and jack (Switchcraft) as well. I also replaced the tuners (OK-ish) with locking tuners and added Tusq string trees. I plan on replacing the Trem and bridge Haylon parts which will cost more than I spent on the guitar so far. The most "cost effective" parts are actually Fender parts. Squier and Import parts are ok at best but they will get you wanting better parts within a year or two. You mentioned certain frequencies, Offsets are really geared towards thicker strings. I would say try a heavier string gauge (I play 12s on mine like my hollow body guitars) and that may help you out.
Yeah, it could sort of work as a stepping stone or a sinking cost depending on what mods I do. I also didn’t want to commit to an expensive guitar if then I would have to still upgrade parts. Might as well upgrade on a more affordable guitar imo. I use 10s and I have heard that same advice that thicker strings work better on offsets or even flatwounds, or even! Wound G string
@@MrRafaztar These guitars are stand-ins for big Jazz Boxes which usually have flatwounds or thicker strings. For me that wasn't a problem because my go to sets are 11s on my solid bodies and 12s on my hollow bodies. A set of flatwounds are more like 12s or 13s gauged strings. When you play different guitars, you have to set them up and get used to them in different ways. Even going from a Fender 25.5 inch scale to a Gibson 24.75 inch is a slight adjustment, they FEEL different when you play them. When you go to more niche guitars like hollow bodies or Offsets, yeah, you can't set them up like a Strat or a Tele. For a good and silly example of this, try throwing a set of 9s on your acoustic guitar, does it sound good? Does it have a full range of tone? Is it loud? It's definitely worth trying it out for yourself but I can answer the question. No, your acoustic sounds funny and something a banjo puked up. It doesn't sound good at all. Even lighter gauged acoustic strings are 12s and 13s. So for Offsets you have a few cheap ones, Squier is probably the best example. You have a Standard range with Fenders and a few others sitting below and above a Grand. Then you have Boutique Offsets that get expensive really fast. My suggestion is to play what you have now, maybe bump up the string gauge to a set of 11s (10s don't feel that different from 9s but you can tell a difference from 10s to 11s for sure) or maybe a set of 12s. I would say make sure that the volume and tone pots are 1 Meg, if you can solder them in yourself, this is about $20. If you don't like the bridge you can either buy Tusq Mustang/Jazzmaster saddles or buy a new Fender Mustang bridge. I think the newer Squiers are shimmed but a good shim is definitely needed in this design. All of this is basically around $100ish together. I would also really suggest that you get the guitar set up by someone who specializes in Offsets to get the most out of the guitar. This is going to cost you more but you will have a better playing experience overall. This will cost a bit more.
Great stuff Raf! This is very relevant to my current interests. I've been hunting for the Green 40th Anniversary one for a decent price for a while. Love you cadbury finish 😎👌
the important parts are sh*t on the cheap ones and they are expensive to replace if you do all of them you are right, worth much more the guitar itself. it's not the offset communities fault fender don't make offsets at reasonable price that are the traditional stylings of as they used to anymore so people decide oh to buy cheap Indonesia guitar then dump money into it. also you already had this guitar for a while why did you have to message anyone else to get their opinion, did you not form an opinion from playing it yourself?
I had this guitar borrowed from a friend and then decided to buy it only recently. I actually messaged Mike Adams, puisheen, much earlier than even that. I agree actually that fender should made it something good in a couple of price points. But that doesn't stop the fact I see people upgrading guitars almost regardless of price point. To be fair LP owners often buy new pickups to even CS guitars
