COMPLETE Squier Remodel

[djevans]

Like others here on tdpri I am so grateful for the help and instruction that I got here. I honestly had no idea what I was getting into. I have tried to document everything that I did on this remake. (I took a Squier Affinity and re-did everything except the wood - and this I painted and tru-oiled and nitro-ed) I am documenting this not because a lot is new, in fact much of this has been done before here on tdpri, but because my experience either confirms what has already been written or gives a new perspective from a complete novice rebuild point of view.
I must also say that doing this build has been so much fun and so rewarding. My advice to anyone considering this - it is worth every minute!! Just go for it!
I bought this guitar with hard case at a local pawn shop for $80. This is where I started - I think you can already see why the color had to go:

[djevans]

Well - here is how I started:

"Unbolted" neck. This of course really means unscrewed.
Took off all hardware.
Sanded Serial and Squire logos off with 0000 Steel Wool.
Sanded whole neck front and back with 000 Steel Wool.
Re-sanded with 0000 Steel Wool.
Put on Ferrous Sulfate to bring out the grain -- didn't work - at least if it did, I couldn't tell. Re sanded with 0000.

[bcarter_1]

I enjoy the fact that so many people are willing to share... especially the not so good moments.
I learn the most from the things I messed up and had to get creative to fix.

What color are you going with?

[djevans]

Originally Posted by bcarter_1

I enjoy the fact that so many people are willing to share... especially the not so good moments.
I learn the most from the things I messed up and had to get creative to fix.

What color are you going with?

I have plenty of mistakes to share. Wait until you see what too much duplicolor sprayed on too thick looks like....

Will go with the darkest blue I can find - planning a pearl pick guard.

[djevans]

Did my first coat of tru-oil on the neck - put it on with gloves on using my fingers. (I'll come back to this later)
After it hardened (30 hours), I decided belatedly, to put the " neck bolts" in. I got these on ebay for about $5. They are little metal inserts that go into the neck with an Allen wrench and are permanent. You can then use true bolts that screw into the inserts to bolt and unbolt the neck as often as you like without loosening the screw holes. You can also - supposedly -- tighten these with more force than screws and thus make a "more solid" connection between neck and body. (maybe in theory?? It sure sounds good...)
I did this by hand with a drill. My drill does have a center bubble on it, but this wasn't much help really as you are too busy watching the wood to watch the bubble.
I first taped all my drill bits to just less than 1/2 inch so that I couldn't drill through the whole neck and so I could get the depth right. (This is the "recommended" depth) I first drilled with a smaller than recommended bit, then the recommended bit. Then I taped a 1cm bit so that I could make a little seat as recommended. You can see the bits I used and how I taped them here:

[djevans]

First, this is possible with a hand drill, but a little nerve racking as the maple is hard and with sharp bits drills really really fast. Second, if you don't drill the holes deep enough as you insert and tighten the inserts, they tend to try to lift and splinter the outside wood. The wood will lift a little anyway - it was the splintering that was a problem. I got a little crack along the edge of the neck from this. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of this. I fixed it by prying it a little further apart and shooting in wood glue then clamping. (after I drilled the holes deeper and put the inserts in, the insert actually worked to tighten this cracked area - I think this would have been the case from the beginning if I had had the guts to drill the holes a little deeper the first time, but hey I was trying to be careful and conservative…you know - measure twice cut once kind of thing)
I found that I needed to drill the holes more like 3/4 inch deep to get this right. (remember this is a Squire Affiinty neck - so I don't really know if this matters that the body is 1/4 inch thinner than a real tele)
After drilling the holes deeper as above, I was able to get the inserts in just fine and bolted it up just to check and she fit like a champ. :) I then sanded the top edges of the wood where it tended to pull up a little at insert. (Later after paint and final neck refit I found that even though it looked level it wasn't and it had to be sanded a little more to keep the strings level and not buzz.)

Light sanding of neck with 0000 steel wool and then did a second coat of Tru-oil

[djevans]

Removed the bridge plate. Found the Fender bridge ground under the plate. I didn't even know this was supposed to be there. (yellow arrow)

Now trying to find M3 1.5 inch SS bolts for the saddles I bought because I actually like the non-ashtray bridge and want to keep it as a string-through. (old saddles on left - new on right)

[djevans]

Bought the compensated brass Saddles for $13.95 on ebay

Will buy a 1/8 drill bit to drill through the metal bridge for the Bubba mod. (This mod gets a lot of press on tdpri - if you search it you will have no problems finding references)

Found the bridge bolts needed to use the existing bridge for the Bubba mod. The "normal" screws/bolts that come with the saddles are too short to use the existing bridge. As I liked the existing bridge I had to find longer screws for intonation.

Found them at a PC repair store online. They are {M3 1.5 inch Stainless Steel} ($5.99/4)

Original configuration shown. I am going to the 3 saddle bridge.

[timmyc]

cool thread keep the pics coming.

[djevans]

Originally Posted by timmyc

cool thread keep the pics coming.

Thanks
Timmyc

[harleysr]

Interesting approach, particularly the neck bolts. You're brave to do that without a drill press.

I hope it's okay to share my experience.

Some of those Affinities are remarkable. I have one, too. Neck like a Louisville Slugger, which I love. The differences in body and neck width have not been distractions, at all. I bought it because I happened to love the way it felt and the basic tone. My mods included: Babicz bridge, SD 5/2 in the neck (kept the stock bridge pickup) new guts, cardinal red paint, amber nitro on the neck, tuners and a tort guard.

It is one of the best playing and sounding Teles I have had my hands on in close to 45 years of playing. Who knew? Looks like it belongs in a bordello, though;)

I hope you have fun doing your makeover. Looks like a nifty undertaking.

[djevans]

Originally Posted by harleysr

Interesting approach, particularly the neck bolts. You're brave to do that without a drill press.

I hope it's okay to share my experience.

Some of those Affinities are remarkable. I have one, too. Neck like a Louisville Slugger, which I love. The differences in body and neck width have hot been distractions, at all. I bought it because I happened to love the way it felt and the basic tone. My mods included: Babicz bridge, SD 5/2 in the neck (kept the stock bridge pickup) new guts, cardinal red paint, amber nitro on the neck, tuners and a tort guard.

It is one of the best playing and sounding Teles I have had my hands on in close to 45 years of playing. Who knew? Looks like it belongs in a bordello, though;)

I hope you have fun doing your makeover. Looks like a nifty undertaking.

Really Cool - I love love love the knobs!!!

[djevans]

Originally Posted by harleysr

Interesting approach, particularly the neck bolts. You're brave to do that without a drill press.

I hope it's okay to share my experience.

Some of those Affinities are remarkable. I have one, too. Neck like a Louisville Slugger, which I love. The differences in body and neck width have hot been distractions, at all. I bought it because I happened to love the way it felt and the basic tone. My mods included: Babicz bridge, SD 5/2 in the neck (kept the stock bridge pickup) new guts, cardinal red paint, amber nitro on the neck, tuners and a tort guard.

It is one of the best playing and sounding Teles I have had my hands on in close to 45 years of playing. Who knew? Looks like it belongs in a bordello, though;)

I hope you have fun doing your makeover. Looks like a nifty undertaking.

Harley - What tuners did you put on? Did you have to drill out the holes. Did you have to drill holes for screws. In other words, did you find any drop-in tuners that work without major mods? If so, are you happy with them? I really don't like the way the affinity tuners are geared so high and want to replace them in the worst way...

[harleysr]

Originally Posted by djevans

Harley - What tuners did you put on? Did you have to drill out the holes. Did you have to drill holes for screws. In other words, did you find any drop-in tuners that work without major mods? If so, are you happy with them? I really don't like the way the affinity tuners are geared so high and want to replace them in the worst way...

I bought some (probably Fender, possibly Gotoh) Vintage tuners. I prefer them, as I like the way the string feed into the shaft, leaving no lancets.

The bushings are too small for the holes. One of these days, I will get a micrometer out and find replacements, but there is a simple fix. I went down to the local stained-glass supply shop and bought a roll of 1.5 mil 5/16" copper foil tape. I determined exactly how many inches I needed to roll onto the bushing to get a snug fit, cut 5 other pieces the same length and rolled it onto the bushing using a screwdriver shaft as an axle. Works great.

With those in place, I turned the guitar on its face, laid the tuners in, lined them up with a straight-edge (clamped) and worked my way down the neck with a depth-marked (very important) drill and screwdriver. Straight as an arrow. Trying to do this without the bushings snugged is a nightmare. Trust me.

[harleysr]

Originally Posted by djevans

Really Cool - I love love love the knobs!!!

Gauche and whorish, but, yes, they do pop.

[The String King]

Looks cool.

[djevans]

Thought a lot about it and decided I really liked the Sand-through look. I looked everywhere to find some pictures and I found some that even use blue like I want to. Getting excited about that. But I am worried about how much work it will be to paint. AND I know I will have to Nitro the whole body after getting the finish paint right and I know hand rattle can spraying the body with Nitro will be a lot of work. (I thought of doing this without the damage in the pictures - I thought it an original idea but that was before I found this -- Joe Strummer) I also pictures of a whole body that was sanded through randomly on purpose with several layers - then smoothed and finished. It looked like a geode. I haven't been able to find it since. I loved the look - wish I could find it again…

[crazydave911]

Yuk

[timmyc]

+ 1 on the yuk comment relic'd has been done. Its better if you made it look like that way, through years of abuse. But just the same its you guitar and opinion that counts.

[djevans]

I got my pick guard (white pearl) in the mail and held it up to the guitar – I didn't really like the look but my wife really really didn't like the look. She said it looked very girly - Dallas cowgirl cheerleader.