Upgrading my guitar

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Sup guys i have a real cheap fender squier its not the best sound quality obviously and i dont want to buy a new guitar so what can i replace on my guitar to get a cleaner signal. I remember my friend mentioning something about changing the pickups. What are these and how much will high quality pick ups cost if this is even what i need. What else might i look at replacing to help? Thanks
 
I really appreciate that link. Which one of these pick up will best suit me im not sure the differences there is type GL mounting ring, GL direct mount, BS, BL, BXL, BXXL and GS mini Q. I dont know what any of these mean and they are all the same price. I play alot of rock and some classic rock eric clapton type stuff. Which would best suit me. Also besides pickups what else improves sound quality on a guitar?
Thanks
 
whoa k firs what kind exactly is it? i havea squiar fat strat and its the same a a mexican fat strat, tis really nice, and what AMP/distortion/w/e u use cos u may jsut need to twek **** out or buy somthing less or it might not be the guitar either.
 
Im not real sure what kind it is exactly all it says is Squier Strat by Fender. It was very cheap about 200 bucks. I use a MG series 15cd marshall amp. But when i record either micing up the amp or thru a DI i get a very noticable hiss. And the buzz is overwhellming. I have to low pass everything over like 1.5Khz when i eq to get rid of the buzz but the hiss is still very much present. Back in the day i got spoiled to a 900 fender strat with awsome smoothe sound. I never recorded with it but i have to assume it sounded better on track then my current one. I was very foolish when i pawned it for 600 bucks when i was 15.
I want an awsome sounding guitar but dont wanna buy a new one and i know its possible because i remember people i use to rock with built there own guitars from just a frame. So my cheap ass guitar has potential right? What else could you recommend to upgrade the sound quality? How big a roll do the pickups play in the quality? Are they like little mics that pick up sound? I've been playin guitar way too long not to know this stuff i should have paid more attention to detail.
Thanks
 
unfortunately buying new clean pickups is not going to do anything for a guitar that is cheap, because especially when dealing with clean tones, the guitar wood is the important factor as that is what resonates. you will want to upgrade your actual guitar, perhaps buy a second hand body and neck and then install whatever pickups you want.. but there is an end as to how good you can make a fender squier sound... this is the truth (although there were some well made ones but that was 20 years ago)

so basically, some factors to look out for in a guitar are: the wood (most american fenders are alder), the fingerboard wood, and then the pickups. pickups are very important but they need good wood to work with.
 
Thats kinda disappointing but makes sense. How much of a roll does the wood play in the hiss and buzz? Seems like the wood would just effect the sound and tonal quality. Does quality wood actually reduce buzz and hiss?
Thanks
 
The buzzing could be from your truss rod or bridge. If its from the bridge you might have to raise the action. Do the strings require alot of pressure whwn you play? If it does try to raise the action. If its coming from the tross rod you'll have to rotate it.

This is a good page for truss rod junk

This is one for bridge/string height adjustments.

Their both on the same website. Your best bet would be to take it to a good shop or, pick up a repair book. Like this one here. I live it. Its detailed with pictures and step-by-step instructions on how to do junk.

Squires are cheap guitars. Like Epiphone to Gibson. First figure out what needs to be done and what you want then, calculate it. Since you only paid 200 for it, it'll come out to more than that I bet. It might just be easier to buty a new guitar than repair a crappy one. If you want to build a guitar Go here. It has materal for the job as well as a list of books to help you get started. I wouldnt do it unless you can make simple repairs first. Get opinions on the guitar and what it would need before going off and building one or shelling out major money on junk you thought you needed, but dont or, buying parts to fix something you cant/isnt broken. Do some research first.

-Geoffrey
 
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Thanks Geoff i appreciate those links i gotta alot of reading to do.
 
I completely disagree with the post about the pickups and the woods. Ofcourse the woods makes a tremendous differene, however, a cheap guitar, CAN sound loads better with the switch of pickups. I bought a super cheap Washburn a few years ago ONLY becuase I loved the way it felt in my hands. The config was SSH. I put a Lil' 57' in the neck and s Screamin' Deamon in the bridge, tweaked the neck out, and am STILL in love with it. Although there are a few guitars that I have played and fallen in love with since, there's a particular sounds that this guitar has that I absolutley cannot do without. And I STILL have not found a guitar that has the feel that this on has. (The Lil' 57' is one of many stacked-humbuckers that you can upgrade your guitar with. Ofcourse, Humbuckers are designed to be "quiet", or at least quieter than single coils.)

Now, having said that, if U're going 2 replace pickups, you need 2 know what kind of sound U're looking for. Single coil pickups, by nature, are "noisey", not all them, but in general. The single pickups that you can purchase for this guitar that would provide little/no noise, would cost U pretty penny, it would be wiser to sell you guitar, and use the money for pickups towards buying a higher end guitar. I think I put an extra $150-200 on this guitar ..

Also, this may be a grounding issue with the electronics of your guitar. Meaning you may need to have a guitar tech "clean" up the wiring of your guitar, ie, re-soldering, checking your 1/4 input jack, etc, etc... Also, the source of the noise could be coming from your cables. Cheap cables can easily kill your sound with unwanted noise.
 
Thanks for the reply. What exactly is Lil' 57 and sreamin deamon? So your saying that i could maybe just my guitar soundin good for about 150-200? I wouldnt mind spending that because i do like my guitar im real comfortable with it if it only sounding good.
What is your opinion on these pickups?
http://www.q-tuner.com.
 
Lil' 57 and Screamin Deamons are 2 pickups made by Seymour Duncan ( www.seymourduncan.com ), I don't think they sell them anymore. Lil' 57' is what they call a stacked Humbucker, a humbucker pickup that fits in a single coil slot. Screamin Deamon is just a hot ass humbucker. You can easily upgrade for $100-$200. But really the biggest question is what type of sound you want. Do you that fat strat sound or do you want a jazzy for Gibon-esk sound? The pickups can range from $50 + plus the labor of having someone put them in, unless U're handy with a soldering iron and can read a basic wiring schematic. I had NO experience and I did them myself.

I see that U're from Dallas, I'm also from Dallas, don't live there anymore, but it's home. Go to Guitar Center on 635 just past the Tollway. They'll answer all your questions. Ask for JT, I don't know if he's there anymore.

What type of music do you play the most?
 
I mainly play classic type guitar like clapton and zepplin so i probably would be happier with a gibson sounding guitar. I do play some new age alternative rock also and i make alot of rap beats im gonna start throwin guitar riffs here and there in the beats. Im pretty handy with fixin stuff so i'll probably be doin it myself i'll just have to invest in a better soldering iron. Thanks for the info those pick ups seems pretty promising since they are made by Seymore Duncan. That GC off 635 and tollway aint too far from my place so i'll be payin them a visit for sure.
Thanks for the info guys i learned a hell of a lot off this thread.
 
Skrangs said:
I completely disagree with the post about the pickups and the woods. Ofcourse the woods makes a tremendous differene, however, a cheap guitar, CAN sound loads better with the switch of pickups. I bought a super cheap Washburn a few years ago ONLY becuase I loved the way it felt in my hands. The config was SSH. I put a Lil' 57' in the neck and s Screamin' Deamon in the bridge, tweaked the neck out, and am STILL in love with it. Although there are a few guitars that I have played and fallen in love with since, there's a particular sounds that this guitar has that I absolutley cannot do without. And I STILL have not found a guitar that has the feel that this on has. (The Lil' 57' is one of many stacked-humbuckers that you can upgrade your guitar with. Ofcourse, Humbuckers are designed to be "quiet", or at least quieter than single coils.)

Now, having said that, if U're going 2 replace pickups, you need 2 know what kind of sound U're looking for. Single coil pickups, by nature, are "noisey", not all them, but in general. The single pickups that you can purchase for this guitar that would provide little/no noise, would cost U pretty penny, it would be wiser to sell you guitar, and use the money for pickups towards buying a higher end guitar. I think I put an extra $150-200 on this guitar ..

Also, this may be a grounding issue with the electronics of your guitar. Meaning you may need to have a guitar tech "clean" up the wiring of your guitar, ie, re-soldering, checking your 1/4 input jack, etc, etc... Also, the source of the noise could be coming from your cables. Cheap cables can easily kill your sound with unwanted noise.
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Really good info, dude. Forgot to mention the cables thing. I got one of my guitars cleaned. It did wonders for it. Yeah, sometimes these guitars collect dust and they get in the pots and stuff. Could really screw things up. I doubt the unwanted noise is due to sh*tty pick-ups though. That could help your guitar, but I'd get some other stuff checked put as well...

-Geoffrey
 
Skrangs said:
I completely disagree with the post about the pickups and the woods. Ofcourse the woods makes a tremendous differene, however, a cheap guitar, CAN sound loads better with the switch of pickups. I bought a super cheap Washburn a few years ago ONLY becuase I loved the way it felt in my hands. The config was SSH. I put a Lil' 57' in the neck and s Screamin' Deamon in the bridge, tweaked the neck out, and am STILL in love with it. Although there are a few guitars that I have played and fallen in love with since, there's a particular sounds that this guitar has that I absolutley cannot do without. And I STILL have not found a guitar that has the feel that this on has. (The Lil' 57' is one of many stacked-humbuckers that you can upgrade your guitar with. Ofcourse, Humbuckers are designed to be "quiet", or at least quieter than single coils.)

Click to expand...
true, its all subjective..... but this only really applies to the overdriven tones, while i've heard many average guitars sound good overdriven, i haven't heard any average guitars sound good clean...
 
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