Hey guys, I should say that I am new, but I am not really new here. I simply forgot my old log in password and no longer have access to that email address. but I come with information, and experience. You see kiddies, when it comes to fenders and squires, there is very little difference in wood selection, finishing technique, and build quality. Now now... I don't mean that your American Deluxe isn't a piece of ####, or that your Squire is built as good as an American guitar. I mean that there are plenty of similarities between the two. Poly finish, Maple necks, Indian rosewood fingerboards, hardware that is more often than not made by a 12 year old in a sweatshop in some third world hell hole. What I want to do is highlight some ways to make your cheap thrift store special into a suprisingly decent sounding instrument that, yes, may sound at the very best a little better than a few American Made guitars, and absolutely ALWAYS better than how it sounded originally.
Now here is the kicker, Kiddies, you may need to have an adult help you with this, preferably one who is beer-drunk, or atleast sleep deprived, because you will be using things like Razor blades, screw drivers, soldering irons, and the raw power of your own muscles and maybe even your genitalia should things work out correctly.
here is a Quickie tool and parts price list for you to get started on a mid 90s Squire Affinity Telecaster.
1. 40watt Pencil Iron $11 from your local radioshack there is a kit that comes with a stand, some solder, and a desoldering braid. If that is available buy it!
2. 60/40 Solder. Doesnt matter what brand, all solder is created equally no matter what snake oil bull#### people try to drive down your throat. Go cheap or go home dont spend more than $4 on this
3. desoldering tool or braid. Braid is like $4, a sucker is like 10, and snakeoil is $50. dont be stupid with your money, if you had the extra scratch you would have bought yourself a better guitar.
4. sandpaper 100grit again... go cheap fool!
5. Precision Screwdriver set Tekton has one for $6 and will have more drivers than you will ever need for guitar electronics work.
6. color coded wire. radio shack. a variety of colors, black and white specifically, but there is a set that has black white red and green. buy this one. I forget how much it costs...
7. Potentiometers! you can buy radioshacks if you want. more often than not they wont have pots thats will fit your knobs. Buy CTS potentiometers, Alphas are good for their price, no question there. But there is a pretty noticeable difference in control the extra dollar or two can really be felt. for a tele you will need 2 audio tapers, one at 250k for volume, and the other at 500k for tone (keep in mind... this is my Preference. Feel free to make it your own these are the key components you will be replacing)
8. This should have been done earlier in the list but i forgot... Multimeter. any will do. Keep it cheap though. walmart should have them. Not sure the price. dont spend more than 15 here.
9. Pickups. Okay... this is VERY #### IMPORTANT. this is the one reason why your guitar has been sounding like #### your pickups are garbage... Seriously... don't try to fool yourself... they #### suck... It's okay to admit they sound like ####... because it is true! Seriously... this is why you have been pinching pennies on alot of your other stuff. Now you could spend up to $1000 if not more on hand wound boutique style pickups that have been ejaculated on by all of the members of Metallica, or whatever band you are gay for. But I am pretty utilitarian in my selection, I went with GFS pickups. for $80 shipped I got a Tele Bridge hotrail 15k, and a nice vintage wound 6.6k pickup for the neck and I didn't even have to put pants on.
10. Switchcraft Mono Jack. $4 from stewmac... There is probably cheaper elsewhere... But make sure it is Switchcraft.
11. CRL 3way switch. $13 stewmac I havent looked around too much for these. If you go into your local guitarshop that has an accessories section they will have a 3way switch branded by fender. If it is made in the USA then it is one of these. Made in Japan will also be fine... I forget how much i spent... but they like me at my shop so I get the "you spend 90% of your income here" special.
12. .047mF caps. $4 leo fender ate egg salad sandwiches from home instead of a greaseball burger so he could buy these. so should you...
Okay kiddies... we broke the bank maybe? but $148 later (if you followed my lead) will get you a huge improvement over your current piece of ####. But wait... We are 12 years old... we have never wired anything before in our lives! We're scared... and if we #### up our Alcoholic step-parent will beat us to death... No fear! Seymour Duncan is here! http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wiring-diagrams/schematics.php?schematic=standard_tele this
Fantastic! for step 1 we have proved that we are consumer whores! In step two (should be up tomorrow should my internet connection not suck) we will go over Tinning your Soldering Iron and lugs, laying a ground bead, and burning your house down with your alcoholic step parent passed out in the basement.
