The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
  1. #1

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    Hello, I'm new to modding my guitar, and I'm planning to upgrade the stock pickup and trem bridge on my Squier strat. I'm planning to use this guitar in gigs where I play more of a contemporary chart which require distortion as well as clean. I want my neck pickup to sound like a semi-hollow guitar.

    Any recommended pickups and trem bridges for the strat?

    And is the installation easy for beginners or should I ask a guitar repair shop near me?


    Modding my Squier Stratocaster-squier-stratocaster-jpg

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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

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    nice sunburst strat...just know that squiers have a different sizing than usa made strats...the trem bridges and blocks are smaller...most times the body depth is thinner..so a usa type trem won't fit in a squier

    for pickups..try a blade type pickup...prices vary from gfs type to higher quality seymour duncans, etc etc

    could be tough for a newbie tech, but live and learn!!

    check some "dan erlewine" vids out on u-tube

    luck

    cheers

  4. #3

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    Planning to mod my own Squier Strat ... following this thread.

    I'm planning a different pickup mod (I want to replace the bridge with a humbucker), but if I were doing your planned stuff I'd get a low-wind humbucker or even a minihumbucker a la a Les Paul DeLuxe. The 73 I played for a long time could do a decent imitation of darker jazz tones, though "thunk" was pretty absent. (May have been the way I dialed in back then, I was pretty ignorant at the time).

    Oh, who am I kidding, "at the time"? Still got so much to learn! But I'd still go with low winds/low output. You want to match well with the SCs if you plan on using them at all so you don't get signal cliffs when switching between pickups.

    I want to replace my trem as well. I'm planning on a stock Fender 6-screw model. I don't trem much so don't really need the 2-point model.

  5. #4

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    Before replacing the neck pickup, try lowering it - all the way level with the pick guard or as low at it will go without falling into the body. Then play and adjust up little by little to hear the possibilities.

  6. #5

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    I put a Lil 59 Humbucker in the neck position of my Yamaha Pacifica 012 Strat copy.

    It fit perfectly. It sounds fine to me. It doesn't sound the same as my semi-hollow guitars, but the difference isn't that big of a deal to me.

    I haven't tried any others.

  7. #6

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ryo17
    Hello, I'm new to modding my guitar, and I'm planning to upgrade the stock pickup and trem bridge on my Squier strat. I'm planning to use this guitar in gigs where I play more of a contemporary chart which require distortion as well as clean. I want my neck pickup to sound like a semi-hollow guitar.

    Any recommended pickups and trem bridges for the strat?

    And is the installation easy for beginners or should I ask a guitar repair shop near me?


    Modding my Squier Stratocaster-squier-stratocaster-jpg
    If you are lazy or want to also change the electronics as well, try a preloaded pickguard from Fender or other merchants.