Repair, upgrade or replace?

[Dank Rain]

Good evening, and season's greetings.

I bought a Squier Strat (at Macari's, I think) back in 2008. That was 20 years after my first electric. I'd had a very pretty (but lousy) cheap sunburst Strat knock-off in the 'nineties, and a nice, okay Aria Strat copy before that, which I'd sold for beer-money at college. Others too, barely remembered now.

My (still current) Squier Strat didn't impress me much. I never have managed to stabilise the tuning enough to enjoy hearing the sounds I can make with it. So it hasn't seen a lot of use.

Now I've noticed the tenth fret has a ding that messes with any string bending. I had it in mind to replace the tuners with Fender locking ones, and maybe upgrade the nut and trees to improve the tuning stability. But if I'm going to persevere with this guitar, I will want to replace or swap the damaged fret with the topmost one...or, maybe just get a better Fender neck?

I'd like to know whether upgrading parts of a classic standard design makes a really perceptible difference, or if I'll finally wish I'd just bought a genuine U.S. Strat...or maybe I'm expecting more than even the best Strat can deliver? Maybe as a very basic guitarist, I need something easier to play adequately, rather than something I need to be properly good, to feel proud of.

A Guitarist magazine review in the late 'eighties, described a Westone Pantera which sounded like it just didn't have any tuning issues. I didn't have that sort of money at the time.

It isn't a financial problem like it was 30 years ago. I still love how the Strat looks and everything it reminds me of, but I don't want another guitar which even I don't like to hear me play...

...so are the costlier Strats instantly, recognisably wonderful, or should I cut loose and try something way different? Tuning stability is my priority. Any popular suggestions?

Thanks for reading. 

[Dad3353]

1 hour ago, Dank Rain said:

...Any popular suggestions?...

In my view, there are few guitars on the market these days with inherent tuning problems, with maybe the exception of a guitar with a poor, or badly set-up, tremolo (whammy bar...). If you're not a user of that technique, I'd suggest trying out any guitar without one that takes your fancy, for feel, balance, and whatever other criteria you may have, budget permitting. I'd be less concerned about the name on the headstock, as the list is very long indeed as to good, or even excellent, guitars at all price points, made in the US, the Far East, Europe and elsewhere. Squier guitars have an excellent and well-deserved reputation for value for money, as do Epiphone, Cort, Ibanez, Jackson, Yamaha... I could go on. You've not given your location; there is most likely a guitar shop near enough, however, with enough stock of various brands and models to spend a fruitful afternoon exploring your options. Only you know which guitar 'speaks' to you, once in your hands.
As to your current guitar, a decent guitar tech can certainly get it back to optimum condition, including a set-up, and there's very seldom any tuning issues with tuners on their own. The usual suspects are old strings, less-than-optimum stringing up, bad intonation or 'sticking' nut. A 'ding' in a fret can be fettled away, or the fret replaced, at reasonable cost.
Recommendation, then..? Get your guitar sorted first, then, if it still isn't 'speaking' to you, sell or exchange it for another. Don't go spending money on upgrades before getting it back to original working order, and don't try to fix issues that way, as it's very unlikely to achieve that objective.
Hope this helps; let us know how things develop, please..? 

Disclaimer : subject to completion, correction and/or contradiction from others. 

Edited December 26, 2020 by Dad3353

[ezbass]

Get a reputable luthier/tech to service and set up your current guitar. I’m pretty handy in this department but I recently had a guy at Guitar Guitar do a full service and set up on my Epiphone due to a few raised and scratched frets (beyond my abilities); what a difference! It now plays absolutely brilliantly and seems a bargain at £70 (IIRC).

[Dank Rain]

Thanks guys, that sounds like very good advice. I'm in Southampton by the way.

I had definitely been hoping I could spend my way to sounding like a better guitarist, but I'll gladly pay for the Squier to be tweaked and set up properly.

As you asked about the tremolo arm, I removed it when I first got the guitar home, and packed behind the pivoting section with cardboard so there could never be any movement of the bridge that might destabilise the tuning. Such was (and is) my crusade against iffy tuning...I hope I didn't introduce the problem I was trying to eradicate.

At risk of sounding like I haven't understood your advice, everything I've read lately made me think locking tuners represent a real step forward, not just needless trinkets...

...so in the interests of maintaining the improvement a luthier/tech can return to the Squier, would a set of Fender or Grover locking tuners be worth acquiring and fitting in advance of sending the guitar away? I've been haunted by poor stringing/tuning method in the past and I want to leave it firmly and finally there. 

Thanks again!

Edited December 26, 2020 by Dank Rain

[ezbass]

Most tuning issues are due to badly cut nuts and dodgy bridges. If these are spot on, then locking tuners can only make it even more stable and make string changing breeze. However, if your nut and bridge are not right, locking tuners will just seem like a waste of money. I’m a big fan of Bigsby trems and fitted a Gretsch I once had with locking tuners and a roller bridge, yes they helped, but they didn’t cure the inherent ’wayward’ nature of the Bigsby, I just learnt to work with it. Now a Fender Strat trem is a much more stable beast and you can get them to behave much better, but I would recommend doing things in a logical order, locking  tuners being down the list a ways. 

Right then, that’s the sensible talk out of the way. You want to buy a nice, new, high spec guitar? You are amongst friends, do what makes you happy, we love a bit Gear Acquisition Syndrome, especially when it’s accompanied by photos.

[Dank Rain]

 You see my thought-processes and predict my preferences, long before they cross my mind. I'll hold off, buying locking tuners for the moment.

I will very happily seek out and give a local guitar specialist an hour or two of well-paid employment...but if someone had said "All you need is this £600 Yamaha instead", I would have looked no further.

If I ask a specialist to set the Squier up, would it be smart to supply items like a Tusq nut and string trees for him to fit, so they are dealt with at the same time? 

My doubt about my basic Squier, comes from the fact that I don't ever remember it being wholly satisfactory, even brand new from a West End guitar shop, when it had presumably been properly set up...so if the components were always disappointingly basic, their upgrade may be long overdue.

Is there an option to bolt a Squier's bridge rigidly to the body so it cannot trem at all? If it would make it super-steady, I'd request that...unless it's no more than I've already achieved, by squashing beer-mats behind the pivoting section.

What certification should I look for, amongst electric guitar technicians/luthiers? And should I invest in a hard case before sending the instrument away in other people's care?

[Skinnyman]

6 minutes ago, Dank Rain said:

when it had presumably been properly set up...

That’s a big assumption right there.

Personally, I would find a decent guitar-tech (a call out for recommendations on here will kick things off but you might also have a look on BassChat as that’s a forum with a richer history to draw on - and a decent tech is a decent tech whether bass or “proper” guitar) and get their advice on nut, bridge, etc.

I hard-tailed my Strat years ago using a stack of coins rather than cardboard - again, a good tech will be able to do this anyway.

A shame you’re not nearer to Hertfordshire as @gary mac does a very good setup service. It might be worth a message to him and see if something can be sorted (or if he can recommend anyone local to you).

Good luck getting it sorted!

[Dank Rain]

Thanks Skinnyman, that's understood.

Great dog-pic. 

[Dad3353]

A quick 'Google' for 'uk guitar tech Southampton' brings up a pretty wide choice of tech services in and around Southampton, some of which offer a free 'I'll have a look at it' service so as to get some advice. Worth a shot..?

Locking tuners will prove to be a big pain in the wotsit if there are still tuning issues, as they have to be unlocked for every tweak. They're really good on most, stable, guitars, but don't, in themselves, help cure duff tuning.

The 'classic' way to block a trem bridge is to fit all the springs, then screw down the claw to its stops, thereby preventing further movement. A more definitive way implies fitting a hard-tail bridge, after having filled the tremolo routing with suitable wood. This is normally a luthier job. Some use hard corks to block the tremolo; I'd don't think cardboard is up to the job. If tuning is such an issue with you, I'd recommend getting a hard-tail guitar from the outset, really, unless your Squier has sentimental value.

Just my tuppence-worth. 

[Dank Rain]

Thanks for that, I will most likely go with the plan to have it looked at. Certainly no point replacing the machine heads if the tremolo is the culprit.

Overnight I had a look and went to work securing the bridge in the flat position - I guess it must be the answer if it fixes string lengths. I never use tremolo.

I hope getting rid of the springs will solve half the problem. I can't pretend it sounds good yet - various untraceable buzzings as well as the damaged fret, and a rotten volume pot, and a weird tendency for the open G string to play slightly flat while an A played on the second fret is distinctly sharp. I still slightly expect an expert to look and say it's just not a good neck, but I'll be glad to be guided, whichever way.

I just attached a brand new Ernie Ball '8' top-E, and it wasn't physically long enough to stretch from the bridge to the top of the headstock. That never happened to me before - is it common?

[Dad3353]

If by '8' you mean the string gauge, that's extremely light, and will, in any case, be more difficult to keep in tune for any length of time. In my distant past, I once had a Burns Bison, on which I put a set starting with '7'; it was unplayable, just a cobweb. Your call, of course, but '10' would be my recommendation for most solid-body guitars, and a bit beefier still for archtops.
If all that ironmongery is to stop the bridge flapping about, I hope it works. Leo Fender may have approved, or he may not..! 

[Dank Rain]

Thanks for the string-gauge advice, I'll go for Regular Slinky. But it was the length of the slender E which surprised me - seriously inadequate.

My new steelwork inside isn't pretty, but it's unseen and it's rigid and I like that, better than springs. It's just a couple of 4-inch M5 bolts through bits of plate.

I didn't much admire the dirty screws and half-painted corroded claw that I found holding the springs, either - not one of Leo's finest. 

Edited December 29, 2020 by Dank Rain