Squier '51 Vintage Modified - Yeah!

[EscalonJon]

I received my '51 on Thursday. I was very pleased to see that it has some pretty nice birdseye action going on on the fretboard. I have already sanded off the decals to ready it for silver spaghetti decals ("Fender" only), and detailed the fretwork. I'm changing the tuners to relic'ed single-line Kluson deluxes. Robert, I ordered a GFS Brooklyn (humbucker-sized P-90) for the bridge and GFS Strat pickup for the neck. I will let you know how they work. www.guitarfetish.com has great prices and I hope their products are good. I will report on that as well. I ordered other parts for the project from them which include tuner conversion bushings, ferrules to convert to string-thru, vintage round string trees, and a strat-style hardtail bridge which will be loaded with Callaham saddles. I hope this will turn out to be a pretty nice axe for under two-hundred U.S. bux. I will report upon completion in about two weeks.

[Justaguyin_nc]

Jeannie's Pickguard's off of e-bay , I will say biting my tongue hard enough to bleed.. is NOT recommended in my experience...

Nice part of Quote:I do not think you will get a fit unless you send your pickguard to who ever you decide to buy from. I don't think you will get a fit anywhere else.
EndQuote:

Im lost obviously.. shouldn't you be able to buy replacement Pickguards that do fit without adjustment?

Warmth from customer service is not present. It was my fault for buying it as far as they are concerned.. or the Koreans for changing the template which Jeannie only has one.. nice emails (sarcasam inserted here) If your looking to replace the Squier 51 pickguard look elsewhere. Oh, if you find a good place to get one please let me know.

UPDATE: In search for yet another place for a pickguard I ran across pickguardian.com which has some nice updates to the guard also. they recently added this UPDATE message:

UPDATE...
Just when you think there is a standard in the world of Fender, they throw you a curve ball! So far we've found at least three different versions of guards being used on this single model. The only way we can guarantee a proper fit is with your original guard or an accurate tracing showing all screw hole locations. Sorry for the inconvenience.

So I assume I was the first one at Jeannie's to throw this loop at them also. Be prepared to send your original any place you get a replacement, to match the fit.

[EscalonJon]

Justaguy...

You might try this. Coat some hardwood toothpicks in white glue. Force as many as you can into the unwanted holes. When the glue dries, cut off the tops of the toothpicks with an exacto blade. You can then re-drill for the correct holes.

This also works great to reinforce or repair strap button holes or when retrofitting to different bridges, pickups, tuners, etc. You wouldn't want to do this to an instrument that you ever wanted to return to its original configuration, though.

[Justaguyin_nc]

Thanks for the tip EscalonJon, I really liked the guard's look on the Guitar but don't know if I would be able to drill right. Heck, I don't even know if I could figure what size holes to drill. I guess it being UNDER the guard I couldn't mess it up to bad.. hmmm.. I think I may just send my original in to another place and let them make to fit. That pickguardian.com has a nice Tortoise shell and might be better off that way...

[Justaguyin_nc]

I am developing a rattle sound in the bridge on the squier 51... does not really effect the sound and I can fix it quickly but it's just annoying, The saddle screw height adjusments on the low strings are a little smaller then the holes they go in. I tried wax in them but eventually it wears. Anyone have this problem? Anyone know a good replacement?

[tremoloman***]

My Squier 51' suffered from the bridge rattle. I think it is just the nature of the beast since the saddles don't have much tension on them to keep themselves tight. Jazzmasters suffer from the same problem unless you either shim the neck or install a buzz stop (which I have).

You might want to try either the weakest version of loc-tite or try using soem thick grease on the saddle screws. I wound up installing the neck and electronics into a MIM Strat body becuase I missed the tremolo, hence my name.

[guitartech]

Hi everyone,

I've just registered. Thanks all for so much valuable information about improving Squier 51. And here is my 2 cents worth...

Tremoloman. I've had similar experiences as you did as far as buzzing on the saddles are concerned. As you've mentioned, it is caused by not enough downward forces on the saddle. And it is specially true on low E or possibly A if regular or thicker guage strings are used (thicker than .036). My solution was to drill holes for the thru-body string on my squier 51. I'll post more detailed story on my experience if anyone is interested.

[Robert****]

Welcome, guitartech! Make us an introduction in the Fret Players section if you can!

Please, share with us your detailed story about your '51. Mine doesn't buzz too bad, but it sounds like it could happen to me to.

[guitartech]

Thanks Robert,

It's good to be here. I got serious with the guitar about a year ago and I'm enjoying every minute of it (playing and modding). Because of my recent entry, I don't quite have too many guitar related gears - just two Squier 51, one MIM strat, and a Roland Microcube (but I do have other musical instrument collections - piano, clarinets and a violin).

Anyway, I love my Squier 51 (after many many adjustments)! I play them more than I play MIM strat. Its neck is so nice and fast! I guess I like them so much since I spent so much time on them fixing the bug and doing the modifications. It was alot of fun! Anyway, I don't have too much time, so I'll post my experiences on Squier 51 next time (on bridges, adding the string ferrules, lowering the action, and the fret sanding/polishing). I just have to remember what I have done...

[Robert****]

Well, I just want to mention one thing I did to my '51. I was noticing that the when I picked a little harder with humbucker selected, it sounded harsh and trebly, not very nice tone at all. I lowered it a bit and wow - what a difference. I can now pick and strum as hard as I want, without getting that distorted, "my-guitar-must-be-broken" type of sound. I now use it a lot for clean playing. I can get pretty close to Tele twang with it.

[Robert****]

My push/pull volume knob came off yesterday. I need to stick it on there better. I have been having some intontation problems with it lately, and I'll work on this over the holidays. Lastly, I've also noticed it stays in tune worse than my Squier Tele, so maybe it's time to get better tuners and nut.

Not complaining, this is just regular maintenance with a budget guitar. I still love it!

[Tone2TheBone]

Have any of you Squire '51 players had any issues with the bridge? I read somewhere that some people were complaining that there wasn't enough angle on the bridge to keep the strings taut against the saddles?

[Spudman***]

I found a pretty cool photo of a modded 51. Check it out!


http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y46...1/May04182.jpg

[tremoloman***]

Welcome guitartech!

Yes, my saddles kept buzzing. Some people recommended using loc-tite, but I opted to swap the neck & electrics to a spare MIM Strat body I had lying around so I could have a tremolo bar. Hey... I gotta live up to my name you know...

I'm really eager to pickup a used 25.5" Jagmaster to mod... if I could only find a cheap one used. All the new models use the 24" scale that I loathe.

Take care y'all!

[Matt]

hey all, noob to the forums but thought i would post some stuff on the old squier '51.

got it as a birthday present form my dad, and thought it was cool but frustrating with the lack of a tone knob. also, there was a large part of me which thought it was ugly as sin and so i favoured playing the Vintage VS6 i got for doing well in exams. but lately ive come to realise that the VS6 is sort of toneless, and not as nice to play. so i've returned to attentions to the '51 and seen it in a new light.

Pros: sounds great! it really does, it has so much more character than the VS6! the neck is also fantastic, and ive never had any of the rough fret problems that seem to mar these excellent guitars. Ive also come to love its unique look.

Cons: As i mentioned, the lack of tone knob can be a little frustrating. there are times where the bridge is just too bright. I know rolling off the volume a bit can solve this a bit, but there are times where i dont want to comprimise the output. also, mine seems to go out of tune quite easily, especially on the b-string, so new tuners are probably in order. Also, there is the odd time where i want a 22nd fret, but bending can solve that

I'm thinking about installing a tremelo system onto it (well, get someone to do it for me). anyone else doen this? just want to know of the results.

regards

Matt

[Justaguyin_nc]

I am also thinking about swapping out the tuners..Will the Fender Schaller-type fit right in place? would they work fine or opt for the locking tuners while I am at it? As for the bridge.. whats the easiest fix? String thru does not seem like an option for me.. what would be a good replacement that would fall in place without leaving a sign behind?

[Justaguyin_nc]

the Fender Schaller-type made in USA they sell all over E-Bay is not a replacement for the 51.. got them for a tele... checked it against the 51 seeing it was time to change strings... wow those USA tuners are tight.. the stock ones on my 51 had about shook themselves apart... I tightened them down before putting on the strings.. shook the shafts and they are so loose.. sloppy tuners for sure.. so.. whats the option for the tuners in drop-in swap and replace?

Something else I noticed.. I guess this happens to all guitars... going from 9's to 10's I assume has put more pressure on the bridge.. the rattles are gone.. ofcourse the action got higher with the new strings and adjustments had to be made for that and intonation but that didn't seem to be a problem and low action with no buzz is working fine, since then no rattles (crossing fingers)...

Tightening the tuners have made for longer spells between tuning but not that much longer.. sigh..

[marnold***]

also, mine seems to go out of tune quite easily, especially on the b-string, so new tuners are probably in order.

Check the nut to make sure that the b string isn't binding up there. That can lead to all kinds of unpleasant tuning problems.

[Spudman***]

I have had my 51 for 4 weeks now. It still has the factory strings on it and guess what? It never goes out of tune. I'm amazed! I guess I got lucky with the tuning issues on this one.

NEWS FLASH! Musicians Friend just sent me a flyer and they have Squier 51's in all colors at $129.99. Order item #519636. They might use a different item number for the flyer so that is why I included it.

I think I'm going to get another. Probably a sunburst.

SS. If you want one and the cost is right for you I can get you an International shipping rate from FedEx to see if it cheaper than getting one over there. I have a FedEx account.