Help with some Squier modding please.

DaniCalifornia

Hi there I'm new to the forum and need a little help with a Mustang I'll be picking up next week.

First off I want to block the tremolo and replace it with a TOM,I was planning on using a method I read while researching Cobain's gear but need a little help with understanding the tech.

Earnie also had to modify the tailpiece to block the vibrato, which Kurt hated. He would remove the two springs for the vibrato bar, add washers to the posts beneath the bridge plate, which locked it down to the plate. Lastly, Earnie would flip the tailpiece around allowing the strings to feed directly through the tailpiece, not under, and the ball ends of the strings would fit in the tailpiece's recesses (41).

Is he meaning blocking under the tail piece or under the actual bridge,and is there a link to a pictorial on how to do this exactly?

Also I needed to know if a Cobain pickgaurd would fit a squire so I wouldn't have to cut for a humbucker?

robertoriginal

hold on, stop right there.

you may want to lock the trem down, this is true. but its not needed to put a tom on it, you will have to shim the neck, and it will be a pain the butt!

my advise. take the guitar to a tech, get some new strings and have the tech set up the guitar, and have him flip the "cigar tube" around and screw it all the way down. that is all you need to do, you don't have to do what kurt had done to his.

robertoriginal

as far as the humbucker goes, im pretty sure you would have to route the body out. you would be much better off getting a humbucker sized single or a rail pickup or something to that effect.

brandonwinmill

You block it from the top i think.

brandonwinmill

robert(original) said:
as far as the humbucker goes, im pretty sure you would have to route the body out. you would be much better off getting a humbucker sized single or a rail pickup or something to that effect.

Can you route the pickguard for single coil?

DaniCalifornia

brandonwinmill said:
Can you route the pickguard for single coil?

I'm probably going to go with a dragonfire hot rail in the bridge.I was just wondering how big of a hassle a full sized one would be.I'm probably going to be doing the work myself so I wanna take the easiest routes possible,I'm not a big fan of the tremolo and I've heard the standard bridge can be a bit of a bitch to work with so any recommendations on that? I also plan to switch the tuners for vintage fender style tuners for better stability because I've never seemed to have much luck with stability and squire tuners.

isn't the mustang already single coils? lmao

DaniCalifornia

Also I have this TOM style roller bridge on my JM JM I was thinking of slapping on there if it'd be an easy task can I get some help on that please? (Sorry to sound like a noob I'm a Jazzmaster person not a mustang person)

brandonwinmill

HA!

robertoriginal

don't mess with changing the bridge, just put some tape around one of the posts to prevent it from moving, then completely removed the cigar tube(only) and turn it around. then tighten it down all the way. that is the only mod you need. I wouldn't even mess with the tuners until you have had a chance to see if they are worth it or not. in reality unless they are the generic off the wall jap jobbies with the big box backs that are loose straight from the factory they should be more than ok.

DaniCalifornia

robert(original) said:
don't mess with changing the bridge, just put some tape around one of the posts to prevent it from moving, then completely removed the cigar tube(only) and turn it around. then tighten it down all the way. that is the only mod you need. I wouldn't even mess with the tuners until you have had a chance to see if they are worth it or not. in reality unless they are the generic off the wall jap jobbies with the big box backs that are loose straight from the factory they should be more than ok.

Well they are Squier china tuners so I'm not expecting much lmao,the Squier I played in the town across from mine seemed to have alot of tuning instability and I figured it was the tuners because they where kinda rattley,and any upward movement on the trem made the tuners slip.

robertoriginal

in reality it was not the tuners. it was the trem. im sure of this, they don't setup the trem unit on those things. its a cheap guitar, they aren't going to take the time for a proper setup. the tuners are fine. lock the trem unless you plan on using it, in which case you will need to set that up for use.

they are not that bad. i don't personally own a squier with those tuners anymore, but i know they were just fine my on cv duo.

Longywales

I got squier tuners on my "partscaster". As long as the tremlo is set up correctly you wont have a problem....Tuners are not the main problem, i got cheap chinese crap on my Warmoth jagstang and although they are wobbly and crappy made, they stay in tune due to the trem being set up right.

redman1401

If you're dead set in locking down the trem its not hard to do. and a couple bolts. to get the right size bolts i'd take the tube with you to a hardware store.

DaniCalifornia

I'm going to block the trem and put this:http://bluenoteguitars.com/catalog/product/gallery/id/5/image/12/ bridge on it.it's a rolling piece but I prefer the feeling of muting on this over the Mustang's bridge and am thinking this will add tuning stability along with hard tailing,I may not change the tuners.I personally prefer the vintage gotho tune-o-matics to the plastic pieces so may do that just from preference.