Squier pawnshop hardtail Bullet Strat

Well, I scored this Indonesian hardtail bullet strat a few years back in San Antone, Texas- Got a padded gig bag and a cold bottle of Big Red with it for $50! Only issue is a couple missing bridge screws.
The acoustic is a Fender lefty the wife got at the same time- nice player! Again, $50, padded gig bag and a cold bottle of Big Red!!
I dig the “Olympic White” finish- seems better than most Squier “Oly Whites” I’ve seen- but I really like tort pickguards with that white...
Well, I have a few “projekts” planned, and wanted to start slow- it’s been a few years since I fired up a soldering iron and replaced a few pots etc. So- this will be my initial test bed to gear up for more serious work.
I nabbed a red tort loaded Strat pickguard from Stratosphere site- it’s loaded with Wilkinson “Vintage Voiced” pickups- nice bit of kit for under $45, and two wires to solder it should be ready to go!
I ordered a six pack of Switchcraft jacks (extras for other basses, guitars, projects) and some Fender bridge screws. New strings (10s- ) and it should be a fun player-
Here is the start- that finish has darkened a lot (I think the guitar is a 2009 from the serial number)

here is the loaded guard- back side nicely shielded and the solder joints look good (I can only hope to do as well!) standard “green chicklet” cap,


And here it is just resting over the white guard to give a feel tot the finished look- I think the “aged/cream pickup covers and knobs will tie in well with the body color!

Thanks for checking this out- any ideas comments or suggestions are encouraged!!

 

I don’t know- I can measure my CV 50s Strat and compare..

Saw Dave Alvin back in the day!! Great Show- Stratosphere pickguard took about a week- not long- it was ordered back in April, I think. Yeah only three wires! 2 to jack, and a ground to term claw, or in my case under bridge!

 

That’s the wife’s guitar. She’s a lefty (obviously!) and we found that at the same pawnshop- so we bundled the two guitars, bargained in gig bags for both and each got a bottle of cold Big Red from their ice chest for $100 out the door! Not bad I think! You can always bargain by bundling things!

 

So- Got to heat up the soldering iron this weekend, and was able to get the loaded pickguard into the guitar- The switchcraft jack gave me a bit of trouble (what?? That should have been the easiest part!) had to rotate and place it “just so” to allow the jack to click into place!

No tonewood here!!! Many layers of pressboard make up the body!! Like a croissant or Torte cake!!


Holes in pickguard didn’t quite line up, so just screwed it in with electric screwdriver- No Problems!! Two screws missing (I lost one, and other was never there) so scrounged two black ones from another project.. the bridge screws all went in OK- had to trim the pickguard just a tiny bit to fit the bridge- if you zoom in on left side of bridge you will see the trimmed part- can’t really tell.

Everything sounds great- put a set of 10s on it, and set up the intonation. (Pencil graphite in the cheep plastic nut..)
Fun little project!! I think it came out a real looker- the red tort with that Olympic White is just classic! Oh serial number indicates a Samick factory build from 2006-
Thanks for checking it out!! C-Note

 

Yes sir!! $50 at pawnshop and a 42-45$ loaded pickguard- just my kind of project- truly “no worries” if something goes terribly wrong!

Yeah- you hope the color you order online will look as good in person...this was a loaded Kaish ‘guard I think?? They have a lot of colors to choose from- this was a real home run!

Lucky! I really like that classic Oly White, but most Squier ones look too white, almost an arctic color rather than the “eggshell” shade of the Fender. If you zoom in on this ones body without the guard, you can see it has “darkened nicely over the last 14 years!

I hope you can find a shade you like-

thanks for the props!!
Carl
p.s. next project will be in Squier Tele forum- doing an upgrade of surf green Bullet Tele- got Tele on sale $129, have reasonable new pickups, tuners, nut, pickguard, brass saddles, and pots/switch. A bit more involved- don’t yet know what problems I’ll encounter!! Should be fun, though!!

 

Oh- here’s that loaded guard- Cheaper than I recalled! Under $42!!