NGD - Squier VM HSS for cheap!

[Gravity Jim]

I was going to buy a cheap body and neck from Warmoth (or GuitarFetish, maybe) to use as a mod platform. My plan is to create a really nutty Ry-Cooder style pickup complement. But before I ordered anything, I hit the local stores yesterday, not expecting to find anything that would really work. However.....



I didn't count on this! Its a brand new Squier Vintage Modified HSS Telecaster.

First thing I noticed was that the frets were turning green, the strings were turning black with corrosion, and it had been handled by approximately 10,000 people (this photo is prior to clean up), but no scratches or damage. I was surprised by how loud it was unplugged and now easily it played, even with crappy strings. And then I started noticing thing I really liked... the pickup complement (not just because it's kinda cool, but the routing is for a full-size hummer and two single coils), the reversed control plate, the plain black finish (very smooth and good-looking).

We also discovered it had a wiring problem... it's wired like a Strat, but the fifth (neck only) position didn't work right, exhibiting a massive volume loss.

So we talked a bit, the guy from Bananas said it was under warranty and they'd have their guy fix the wiring problem, and I said, well, obviously it's not selling in this condition. I'll give you 300 bucks out the door. And they accepted the offer, so I brought it home.

Today was strings, clean-up and inspection. So greasy it needed two applications of Martin cleaner. I polished the frets, tightened the loose nuts on the tuners (which are nothing to write home about, but serviceable), peeked under the pickguard and finally flipped over the control panel. The electronics could be (and will be soon) better, but the reason the neck pup was failing was a simple short at the 5-way switch. For the time being, I jammed a small piece of insulating foam between the contacts in question, and Bo's yer uncle! Saved my self a trip to the authorized service guy! (I'll heat shrink those contacts when I replace the pots and jack.)

But, what a surprise! It's fun to play, twangs like crazy at the bridge, the Duncan "designed" mini-hummer sounds awesome, and at switch position two (bridge/middle) it "lisps" better than any Strat I've ever had.

$300 is less than I could have bought an unfinished body and neck for, and this is an entire playable guitar! I am a pretty happy fellow. Nice to have a Telecaster back in da house.

[ch willie]

That Tele looks beautiful and interesting. Bet it'll make a great guitar once you do the rewire.

[Don]

That looks cool!

[CoyotesGator]

Yeah!

[chuckocaster]

That's very cool! Just an FYI, I built a Tele using a GFS Mother of Pearl body, think they're $60-75? I got a neck off Reverb from Aurora Customs for $175, finished and with the F decal as it's an All Parts. That was actually a great guitar! I was especially impressed with the body, I wasn't counting on it being great.

Congrats on the new guitfiddle! 👍 Some of the Squier guitars are better than the MIM stuff. Search around like you did and you can get a diamond in the rough for a good price

[Gravity Jim]

More Tele fun:

I've learned that the "Duncan Designed" pickups are all three buckers: the mini, or course, but both singles are stacked. Also, the body wood, which is real loud and resonant, exhibiting an amazing sustain on lead lines and a huge ring-out on chords, isn't made of anything Tele-like: it's made from a wood local to the Indian plant called toon or toona (the former sometimes spelled tun): it's a variety of mahogany called "Indian red cedar" over here. I assume it's made of five or more chunks of tun, but whatever is under this black paint sounds awesome.

A friend sent me a box of pickups to try out. Fralin Twisted Tele set, a Barden bridge pickup, and a Harmonic Designs Strat middle. He also sent me a pickguard cut for a Charlie Christian at the neck.

My plan is to work out a quick-connect system for the neck and middle pups, so I can wire up a Charlie Christian guard, a mini-hum + Strat guard, a twin gold-foil guard (I'm looking at the GFS retros), and a standard Tele guard, and swap them out when ever I guess the itch.

Chucko, I almost bit on a GFS body before I found this guitar, but I read too many webb stories about badly drilled bodies that wouldn't align or intonate. I'm sure yours and most of them are awesome, but I couldn't do it... it's part of my nature that is things go very badly early on, I junk the whole concept. In fact, I was going to spend $600 on a set of jazzy wheels for my Civic... but they screwed up my order, and when I showed up for the install, they didn't have my website-logged appointment, and they didn't have my wheels. And I just walked away and spent half the money on this guitar. I'm too old and too impatient to tolerate a major delay in gratification!

[chuckocaster]

I did have to do a little "surgery" on that, nothing major but worth mentioning. So I understand your concern.


IDK how close they are to the real ones, but I put a set of the GFS ones in my buddy's Strat,?that thing KILLS it for slide. Greasy goodness!!! They've come out with some good stuff

[ch willie]

Jim and Chuck--have you ever used a Warmoth body?

[pc]

Love it, Jim!

[Gravity Jim]

Jim and Chuck--have you ever used a Warmoth body?

Yeah... the Zencaster is Warmoth wood. Why do you ask?

[ch willie]

Yeah... the Zencaster is Warmoth wood. Why do you ask?

A buddy gave me a 93 AmStd neck years ago, and I'm thinking of putting a body on it. It's a righty Strat neck, worn and stained. I'm thinking of getting a lefty Tele Deluxe body, clear finish swamp ash. Not at the moment, but down the road. Warmoth is about the only place that offers lefty bodies, and the deluxe can't be had anywhere that I've found.

[Gravity Jim]

Warmoth is really good stuff. They've been doing it forever. The Zencaster has a Warmoth body and neck, and after a couple of years of really dialing it in, it's the most stable and playable Strat I've ever played.

[Gravity Jim]

So....

I've got a big box of pots and switches and stuff coming for this Tele (the stuff under the control plate is Indian-factory insane and the wire gauge is a joke), but I stopped short of ordering a new bridge.

The bridge that is currently on the guitar looks like a stamped steel "tray" with what looks like the same six-saddle set-up as on current Teles. I like having individual control, but I also feel that I might get much more old-school "twang" from a new bridge.

Any suggestions from you guys?

[ch willie]

Thanks, Jim. I'm glad to hear about your Zencaster.

[Don]

Jim, I received a Squier VM semi-hollow Tele in a package deal years ago. It benefited greatly from even just replacing the six saddles in the stock bridge. I don't know how yours is, but the saddles on this one had very little down pressure and moved around a lot.

[Gravity Jim]

Jim, I received a Squier VM semi-hollow Tele in a package deal years ago. It benefited greatly from even just replacing the six saddles in the stock bridge. I don't know how yours is, but the saddles on this one had very little down pressure and moved around a lot.

Yeah, that's my concern here, too. I'm looking for more solid contact, and maybe just more weight. But I can't decide between the crazy expensive Callaham with the three compensated brass saddles thing, or just replacing these saddles with a set of six GraphTechs. I'm a fan of both companies....

But as you know, these saddles aren't real good. Biggest problem is the offset doesn't get the string off the adjustment screw.

What saddles did you use, Don?

This might be the guitar that encourages me to learn how to properly crown frets, too. Brand new, and they're flat on top.

[Don]

What saddles did you use, Don?

I don't remember. I already had them. They might've come off of a bridge from Stew Mac.

[chuckocaster]

Jim and Chuck--have you ever used a Warmoth body?

Several, they are quality! Anything that is "Licensed by Fender" should bolt together just fine. Thing is, even thats not a guarantee. But the Warmoth, AllParts and StewMac parts I've used have all been within acceptable specs.

Sorry for the hijack

[Gravity Jim]

Well, I spent three or four hours over two days researching various Tele bridges and saddles, reading deep into reviews and comments. Gotoh, Wilkinson, Barden and a bunch others looked all pretty good, but any one of them was only about 75% of the way... each one was lacking something I wanted. So I finally said "to hell with the price" and ordered the one that was 100% of the way there, a Callaham vintage bridge with 3 compensated saddles.

I already know about Callaham's Strat bridges (the Zcaster has one, and it might be the single greatest improvement to that guitar), so there's no doubt of material quality, and you have to go a long, long way down the rabbit hole to find a discouraging word said about them. Yeah, they're expensive, but as it turns out, there are a couple of choices on a shelf above Callaham that the super-hyper vintage Tele snobs absolutely insist on, so it's not the most expensive. I just finally decided that if I spent all that time thinking, "yeah, it looks good, but I wish this was more like the Callaham" and then didn't buy a Callaham, I was an idiot.

So, very soon: all new wiring, pots, caps, jack (I have one of those screw-into-the-wood jack cups coming, too), one of two new pickguards (parchment or flat black), a new bridge and a new bridge pickup for auditioning (the Barden dual blade thing). I think I'll end up with about $500, maybe a bit more, in the whole thing, and it will be a weird, super-versatile Telecaster. I'd like to get ti screwed together for a band audition I have coming up... I think it will be an awesome stage guitar.

Hey, you know what? This tinkering with Fender guitars is fun.

[NTBluesGuitar]

Cool stuff!

I think the only thing I did on my 50s CV Tele was upgrade the switch and capacitor inside it.

Hope you'll get some pics of the various incarnations along the way.

[Gravity Jim]

Phtots for sure.

I have it all in hand now: the Callaham bridge, jack cup and switch tip all showed up a day early! I like ordering from dealers in my neighborhood... good for local biz, fast delivery. I got this stuff from a guy in San Jose.

Pickguards are parchment and flat black. The parchment is so close to the white one it came with, I'm thinking this pickguard isn't even white anymore. So, it's okay. I am drawn to the black one... we'll see.