OG Squier 51 Rehab

I have an older Squier '51 I grabbed cheap as chips and modified, because - young, dumb and can't leave well enough alone. Somewhere I still have the original Alnico neck pickup, but the humbucker from the bridge doesnt give me a reading on the white wire, and think its toast.

The neck and body on this guitar I loved tho (still do). Great feel, nice proportions etc. It's a guitar I never would have considered had nobody mentioned them way back and decided to try one out. Finding the perfect one annoyed the guy at the store, but got a nice one piece neck that plays like butter. Getting this strung back up and making music is priority now.

The tuners, nut and bridge have been upgraded and I have it shielded, but for now am going to forego the neck pickup and just use a bridge humbucker I have as a stop gap. Switchcraft jack and upgraded 500k Vol and Tone pots. When I started there were lots of pickup options out there... even more now. Not sure how to go with this one. I have a Seymour Duncan APS1 single coil pickup that came in an old Bronco bass, and it's a contender if I cannot find the original pickup and an HB. That said, this thing will never be perfect, so getting it stock isn't priority. It's a player, and will just live the life its gonna live in my possession, so changes are welcome.

- Pickups seem likely at some point
- I would like to find a suitable pickguard

There isn't an exact style to my playing or genre I prefer, so it makes choosing pickups difficult, and will continue to read read read. I go everywhere from playing some blues, to punk, metal and just making noise... And as said, I would like to find a black pickguard, but as I understand the ones from WD etc rarely fit these well. I guess there is still hope of finding an original black one I can buy or trade? I had considered making one but finding the Garolite as I'd like to use is near impossible locally, and my tools are in storage.

Curious if anyone's recently been modding their '51 as well, and what they have done.

Please forgive for an oldish topic. I hadn't seen any recent '51 threads, nor did I want to resurrect some 10 year old one.

 

I had heard that the WD stuff was subpar, someone going so far as to say WD stood for "wrong dimensions" heh.

Good call on the Super Distortion, had considered that pickup as well as a few others. I think I will get to checking out some demos. The Motherbucker is good at metal, so I may look for something else, but split tones is something I should consider too.

Will check in at Club '51 asap!