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I'd consider the following do's and don'ts: Don't: - Buy parts before you know 100% sure that they will do what you want. Spending $100 on the wrong part will ruin your day. - Mod your guitar in a way that requires extensive woodworking. Dropping in new pickups is one thing, taking a significant chunk of the wood out to fit a Floyd Rose tremolo is another. - Modify a guitar if you don't like how the guitar feels, or if it has build-quality issues. You're not going to compensate for a guitar you can't play comfortably. - Irreversably mod a guitar if you care about its resale value - no matter how good the mod, the resale value will probably go *down*, not up. Do: - Give your guitar a full set-up before deciding whether or not you want to mod it. You'd be surprised how many issues, even sound-wise, can be fixed with a good set-up job - and it'll help you decide if the guitar itself is worth modding if you get it as playable as it will ever be. - If you're fixing an actual issue, do the cheapest mod first. If all you needed was a new nut to fix a tuning issue, you've just saved $79 on a set of tuners. - Mod guitars you already like - it makes them more personal. - Take the opportunity to clean/set-up things you normally don't have access to. If you're taking the strings off anyway, clean the fretboard. If what you're doing takes tension off of your floating bridge, might as well do that height adjustment you've been putting off. - If you're planning to do many mods, do yourself a favor and do as many of them at once as possible so you only have to disassemble your guitar once.

Almost 21 minutes and $600 in upgrades for an 8 second sound demo. Wow!!!

$75 has my vote.

recent hobby for me is getting really pretty but cheap guitars and maxing them out it’s so rewarding

We hope you enjoy the video! It was really fun to make. Check out the original guitar makeover video we made last year: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/Z5ihoNhzmN_TZ40.html

My opinion, since no one asked. If you are trying to upgrade to be like another guitar, just buy the other guitar. If you are modding to make something unique that no one offers, then go for it. In that case, less expensive guitars like a Squier Affinity can be a great starting point.

UPGRADE YOUR BRIDGE!!!! I hate seeing people upgrade everything but the tremolo. You would be amazed how much it changes the tone when you pit brass or steel block and saddles

Managed to watch the intro to 1:09 and then skip to 19:12 for the results. Job done in less then 3 minutes. Go cheap and then customize.

The $1200 guitar still sounded better but it sure didn't sound twice as good. The right amp or pedals would fix any differences. Get a decent Classic Vibe or Standard and upgrade that, put the savings into a good amp.

$75 Squier + EQ pedal = Sound like any strat you choose without changing a thing 👍

Thank you. A lot of good tips for set up and comparison.

am i the only one that liked how it sounded before the mods? it seemd like the mods just gave it more midrage/bass

I liked the video. In my experience, I have taken decent low to mid priced guitars that I thought played good and was good bang for the buck (well built and resonate) and upgraded with pickups of my choice and good components. (Pots, caps, switch jack and in some cases a graphtec nut) In every case I noticed much improvement and could not justify the more expensive counterpart. However, I’m not a pro on the road every night either. But I also enjoy doing the mods.

There's nothing wrong with the "cheap" potentiometers. You'll find the same ones in high end gear where space is a premium. The switch is fine too as long as it works. Just some advice for anyone trying to save some money to spend elsewhere.

Start with a decent guitar and then upgrade. In the end it's all about how it plays, not what it's worth. I would spend the extra couple of bucks and invest an additional 5 minutes to shield the cavity before replacing the pups, especially if I'm upgrading a cheap Strat. PEACE

Nothing can replace the experience of switching out pickups and learning to do a setup. But if you want a high end guitar, buy the real deal. If for nothing else, the resell value. Partcasters basically carry no value, no matter the quality of components.

Thanks for this video, I so want to do this to my Squier Vintage Modified!

That cheap thing had better clarity before the upgrade. Some things are just better left alone.

My must have factor is playability. Tone is obviously important but post production is a wonderful world to explore and if you know what you’re doing you can dial in almost any tone.

You should have shielded the guitar to reduce hum/interference. This can be achieved either using the expensive route of copper tape or the cheaper route of using aluminium tape.

I know it has been just over a year but two things on soldering, 1.) Tin your wires before joining them (Put soldier on them) and you should have taken the 1/8 inch output jack out and soldered the wires directly to the jack and not used the thinner gage wires. This is just my 2 cents! I think the guitar sounded much better and the pick guard made it look better.

Hello sir, After so long time ,found a really good channel on you tube for guitar learning,your teaching is the best .Right now I am going through your beginner course and it’s just amazing.Thank you so much sir

use and play whatever makes you happy..i,personally, cant get what I want off the shelf. ive put diffent pickups and different necks on cheap guitars and been totally happy with them. its all in taste. I have 3 partscasters that I would take over ANY American strat because they have what im looking for

Very cool video! All guitars have potential with the right tweaks. I guess some more than others. In my opinion for the sound differential, for the money the modded guitar is fantastic! I always go with whatever I feel sounds best regardless of price and brand etc.

Those pickups sound so good! I prefer the sound of the modified squier and the rosewood board but prefer the look and neck of the Fender 60th

For me, I would buy a cheap guitar and upgrade it myself. I love to fiddle with all the different mods. 👍🎸

🚩 Sanding Frets.. A Must on any Guitar after Winter. And I have a great humidifiers!, On board and home

Those pickups sounded not so good and definitely not worth it. I think fish mans would have been better.

One of the main noticable things when it comes to pickups for me, is that cheaper stock pickups dont give you full chords. For instance if you play a standard Major powerchord anywhere on the neck some of the notes will drown each other out and clash together. With good pickups each note in a full 6 string chord will pop out individually. That is one of the biggest reasons to upgrade in my opinion.. it's a small thing but once you notice it's hard to go back.

you even compared it with the 1200 guitar, great video!

Bought a FFLP and added some parts and labor. I love the thing now.

Great vid. 🎸

This is a good way for a musician that doesn't have a lot of money to get a good sounding more dependable instrument But I still dig my Vintage stratocaster

Before comparison= Squier is super thin with no depth of tone. After comparison= NO comparison. The Squier sounds great! I am in the same situation ($22 Squier + $24 shpg= SCORE!). For those who don't know, Stew Mac has great how videos and lots of tools. I'm looking at a prewired pickguard from Mojotone. Their stuff sounds killer. And I really like the Graphtech parts, they're top notch! Definitely roll the edges and clean up the frets (No More Sprout!) and be sure to do it BEFORE installing the new pick guard so filings don't stick to the pickups. I would highly suggest changing the entire tremolo block/ bridge/saddles as well. Bladerunner is great. Stays in tune even on deep dives. Thanks for the video Nate!

I got a 28 year old beat up Fender for $100. It's a Fender Black label, which is the lowest end Mexican Fender available at the time. Perfect mod platform. So far I stripped all the parts and bought brand new stuff. I'll be starting the new paint job and installing the new nut and tuners this weekend. If I can get it to sound good, I think it will definitely be my new favorite, if for no other reason then I put it together myself.

I have a crappy starcaster that was given to me and I completely rebuilt it and now it is one of my favorite guitars. I replaced the pickboard with a loaded one, replaced every plate, locking tuning pegs, string trees, replaced the bridge saddles and input jack. Painted it with black spray can truck bed liner, adjusted the truss rod, set the intonation and man it plays just as well as any Stratocaster I’ve played. The only thing I need to do still is file the frets, there’s just a little bit of fret buzz on the G but it’s not terrible. Rock on!

Just got a £60 rockburn les Paul. So far I've gotten a SH4 JB for the bridge. Only planned upgrades next are strap locks and grover tuners, everything else is awesome as is! Maybe some new pots, but honestly they are cool as is

Cool....didn’t know you could do that 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

I get the reason for using a very cheap guitar for the point of the video but I’ve done something like this with both the Squier Classic Vibe and older MIM standard Fenders I’ve picked up used both were in the $300 range and I probably put another $300-$400 into them and ended up with amazing custom guitars. I have a MIM Strat I prefer to my American made ones.

Well, i kinda like the dirty ass, harsh sound of the cheapo. Reminds me of something Jack White would play :)

I jumped for joy when you referenced metalocalypse

This is all about preference. What sounds good to one person may not sound good to another. That’s why they make more than one guitar, amp, pickup, strings, etc.

I bought a Squier bronco bass. I bought it specifically to mod it into a very playable, versatile and uniquely playable bass. I’ve had a Gibson 60s mudbucker pickup for forty years so that went into neck position. The center position has a Fralin 53 Fender P bass, and in the bridge I have a Lolllar T-bird. Switched like a strat with some extra options. A Badass bridge and Wilkinson tuners. Between parts and Luthery I spent over a grand. But, it can sound like a P bass, or Jack Bruce Cream with the flick of a switch.

Just sent my cheap guitar in today to get upgraded. I hope it will be as improved as the people in the shop said. Thank you for this video though: it gives me hope.

My answer is I choose whichever one I like the feel of the best then worry about whether I need to modify anything or not. My most recent electric guitar is an ESP LTD EC 1000 - list price about $900. I LOVE it! However, it's my second favorite of my 7 electric guitars...my favorite is an 80's Squier Strat that was one pickup and on knob. I paid $90 for the guitar then put an EMG 81 in it which cost $95 so the pickup was more than the guitar but it plays like it was custom molded for my hands and SCREAMS! So yes, you can take a cheap guitar and make it better :)

No doubt the upgrades put it on par.. only thing is gonna be the build quality

i upgrade cheap guitars but i leave my expensive ones alone. enjoyed the video.

🔥 in the room! 😱

If you tin the wires first it makes a much easier for connecting too :D

This vid is right up my alley... 1st response.... the upgraded squire sounds better than the real deal Fender, but I'm not a fan of the 'upgraded' pickups, especially for their price. They're a little dark and lacking clarity. I've heard and played many strat pup sets that sound better for less $. I've done this upgrade routine many times - I have several guitars that started out stupidly cheap and I've upgraded. I also have some top end instruments, and my upgraded cheapos are still quite often the guitars I reach for first. ( I have 4 or 5 guitars now that I purchased for under $150 that now play, feel and sound like pro grade instruments, but are still under $250 invested). 1. There's no need to spend big bucks on pups and wiring. There's some other places you skipped that cheap guitars could use some love - spending too much on pups leaves some loose ends if you want it to play well and reliably like a more expensive instrument. GFS has MANY great pickup choices for well under $100 for a set, and very good wiring harnesses for under $30. Dragonfire pickups are also a great sounding budget choice. The Stratosphere is also a good source... I have a partscaster with a $35 Stratosphere prewired Alnico pickguard and pup set that sounds great. 2. TUSQ nut choice is a great recommendation. I've done this to 2/3 of my guitars. Absolutely essential. 3. Locking tuners?? Yes, they make string changes quicker but if you know how to wind a string properly, they're completely unnecessary. There's plenty of REALLY good tuners available on EBAY or GFS in the $30 per set range. (Wilkinsons) 4. Saddles : A VERY worthy upgrade......again, GFS has some great stainless saddles. (Or Roller bridge if you want to upgrade a guitar with Tune-O-Matic style bridge) 5. Trem Block : you skipped over this.... some money from your overpriced pups would have been better spent on a nice fat brass or solid steel trem block. Better sustain, better tone, better 'ring' 6. Shielding : another spot you skipped....... a $5 roll of copper shielding for the pup cavities is a cheap and essential upgrade on a single coil guitar! 7. FRET LEVEL: I know you did a setup and 'softened' the fret ends, but did you do a fret level?? NO money involved, just patience and time. A good fret leveling, crowning, and polish will make a WORLD of difference! I have yet to see a cheap guitar neck that didn't need at least a partial level and polish. The only guitar I own that didn't need some leveling is my Carvin. The most important thing to making a cheap guitar play well...... make sure you like the "feel" of the neck, and make sure the truss rod works as it should and the neck isn't twisted.......... if those things are in place, your cheap guitar is ready to upgrade. Everything else can be fixed. BTW... you won't get any $ back when you try to sell it, but you'll enjoy the satisfaction of playing a great feeling and sounding guitar without spending a fortune. And no worries if you ding it up while playing the crap out of it! It really is the golden age of the "cheap" guitar.... unless our knuckleheaded leader screws it all up with tariffs (that WE the consumer will pay for) (there will still be the used market).

You really can make a cheap guitar sound great. I have an Ibanez Gio with Seymour Duncan pickups, and I installed a tone pot without a capacitor, and it sounds amazing.

It's great to upgrade a guitar. I understand both sides of the issues. I collect Ibanez Jems and I honestly prefer the jrs. And i don't feel guilty upgrading them. I met Vai and he told me the same thing....true story. I actually have an original 87 floral jem that I swapped the pups and electronics. I'm not getting rid of it and I didn't like the sound of the pafs in that one, so why not. And I totally replaced all the electronics and hardware on my jem7v, I kept the edge on it, of course. And on that one, I dremeled the bottom back horn to fit my hand. I do that to all my Jrs. So I had lots of practice. And I put a magnet underneath the pick guard by the bottom horn so I can put my slide. Ive been doing that way before Paul Gilbert. Been doing mods since I started playing over 25 years ago. Making cheap guitars sound great. If you want to upgrade like this video for fun or just to see, great. Try it, it's fun and you'll find out if it's worth it or not because you speak from experience. But if you like the strat tele styles, and you got anywhere from $450-750 to spend.......get a used charvel. More likely, you won't need to upgrade anything. Unless you like stainless steel frets, that's probably the only you'll do. And maybe the pups if you like certain ones. I love my Jems and I don't like the feel of the strat or tele. That neck and neck pocket though......that's the holy grail. That's the difference in comparing a strat to a suhr and Tom Anderson. The Ibanez az is the equivalent but used they go for over a grand. I got both a strat and tele pro mod. My Jems are probably mad at me.....

Very nice video

it sounds pretty good stock!!

This channel is underated

I got a Grote 335 copy off Amazon for $129 bucks, delivered. I spent $300 bucks on hardware and it plays as well as my Original Gibson 335...and I can drive it like I stole it. The tone is all in the pick ups and wiring. As long as you have a neck you like the feel of, for sure, get a beater and upgrade it.

I am of the opinion that up-grading a cheap guitar let's you better connect with the instrument, gives it the start of it's mojo. Bought an old Ibanez rg in black ,looks pretty rough,plays like a dream. Nice old guitar for $40 !

I have enjoyed modding basses, and building kits. Six strings, too, though as a bassist, well, you know…basses. I started with a gifted broken Squier, a catalog, and a book. Don’t go crazy unless you intend to be a pro luthier or a craftsperson. Big thing: have fun!

My comment comes three years later, but I just found your video. I actually do this kind of upgrades very often with Harley Benton guitars. They are inexpensive. Some times they must be sent back within the 30 days windows Thomann Germany offers. But most of the axes are cosmetically gorgeous and wooden parts are outstanding. Therefore they become a wonderful mods platform. One can chose from a wide variety of models & finishing mostly under €200. With €300 to €400 modifications, depending if you like or not the quite decent Roswell Pickups and a little work on frets edges (if you dear to), they become unbeatable by any branded €500 to €900 guitar. Only problem to be aware of: Reselling. Indeed, you will never recover even a part of the value of your investment. But if you plan to keep your guitar or make a happy friend or relative, then this is definitely worth.

Idk if im just a horrible musician or what but cheap guitars sound so good to me. Just goes to show that cheap gear can make good sounds in this day and age. (Pre-upgrade)

I bought my son a new Squier Affinity Strat back in 1997. We got it playing OK, but he still moved on to low brass. Fast forward to 2015 - I pulled it out of the closet and took a new look. It turned out that the neck was really smooth and the fretwork was way more than the $149 would seem to provide. The nut cuts were perfect and the tuners were solid, but a bit of work on the existing 6 screw trem with a tension adjustment and new D'addario NY/XL 009's got the tuning, strings, and trem sorted. But, something still wasn't right. Enter Guitar Fetish with a pre-loaded Strat pickguard with new electronics and 3 hot-wound Alnico V pickups for $72 and, voila! A wonderfully playing and sounding Strat for under $220. It plays and sounds better than my American-made '48 with cost more than 10x as much. Even if you don't put $600 into an upgrade, you can definitely have fun upgrading an inexpensive guitar.

I like how nice they are.

The amp also is really important too. I have a cheap valve amp, Laney LC15 with a vintage 30 speaker (upgrade); cheap guitars SX Telecaster and Epiphone Casino (Korea) Fernandes strato R9 (japan vintage). Recently I got the UAFX Dream 65 pedal conected in stereo to a pair of Yamaha DXR10mk2 (I'am singer, I got that speakers already). Result: Amazing sound! I'll never think in buying an expensive valve amp (really expensive in my country). I recognize that I've already have the Yamahas and they are expensive. But the sound is incredible with any of the cheapeast guitars I´ve connected to that pedal. Before that I was thinking in change the mics, eq pedals, etc. Now with a little of tweak in the Dream 65 I get a really good sound imposible to obtain with a cheaper valve amp. Also, I agree with the comments about the feeling that one have with respective guitar you own befor do the upgrades (the SX telecaster and the Casino are really confortable to play). Excellent video!

I like modding guitars to be specific to me but I mod them when I find a cheap guitar with a high quality neck like the SX Vintage series teles or Strats. These are very similar to the classic vibes and can be found for a steal so it’s def worth modding. Plus modding allows you to play and upgrade as u play because everyone doesn’t have $900/$1000 to spend on a guitar as well.

I think the changes made it sound a lot better

I modded my squier 2 and so far have 225 dollars in it. It's a great player. I recommend buying one that has all the stuff the way you want it cuz paying to upgrade is a drag.

I personally wouldn’t waste the time and money on a squire, I do this a lot and cruise the pawn shops and so far I’ve had really good luck finding several Schecters and Deans and a few Ibanez! When everything is off in-between installing new parts, I touch up, buff and/or sometimes install a vinyl wrap. I have a Hondo 2 I bought at a pawnshop for a believe 50 bucks, strat style, bought on EBay a loaded hot mirror pick guard for $145, vinyl wrapped with a cool Hellraiser puzzle box graphic, added a Floyd I found on EBay, and finally new flush mount tuners (these cost the most at $120 and are a new product) . So I spent about $350 and I did this because it’s the best playing guitar I’ve ever played before any upgrades! Now it looks and sounds awesome as well! Like I said I do this a lot, I’m at 21 instruments now mostly because it’s a working hobby, that has value and is fun! Thought you might be interested, Thanks for a great channel!

I hope you are going to do a better, longer playback with it guys.

So surprised im not the only one checking neck relief like that. No kapo or ruler, girly stuffs etc

Nice video, I did notice you didn’t put the copper tape inside the guitar to prevent any RF interference

I think if your going to buy a beast of a guitar you should do it. On the other hand maybe you have a guitar that is sentimental to you that is older and a bit out of date, that should be the one you upgrade to bring out a potential you never knew it had. Don’t buy cheap and upgrade as you’ll never forget its origin and you might not ever get over that. Buy quality and you’ll feel the quality which will give you piece of mind.

I wanna second the motion to keep the guitar as is ( unless the wiring sucks, then change and resolder) The easiest change of pickups is : changing the bar magnets! Buy Behringers EQ pedal, and sustain compressor

ooooh this is going to be good.

Honestly would be happy with the "before" if set up correctly. Saves $600.

It was a great video

The video idea is awesome. This gives a lot of oppotunities for upgrading DYI guitars. You guys really did a bad job displaying the pickguard back for comparison. I had no clue on the components difference with the camera on the side perspective. This topic interests me the most, anyways. The whole process (for example installing the tuners) was from the the side perspective, giving little hint of what was going on on the process. Thanks!

How did you take the nut off the fret board and is it necessary to use glue to mount the new one, I noticed you did not but I've seen it in other videos. Thanks

Niiiice. To me sounds better than the Fender Strat. I would recomend not to buy a $75 guitar, since their necks and frets tend to be kinda funny. Rather buy a $250 + mods. I have a Washburn RX50 with steroids. Love that thing....

What would be good if you could have links to each of the parts you used, especially the tuners and plates as their are quite a few on graphtech's website

putting some tlc into your guitar is always worth the time. Crucial points are neck setting, fret dressing, tuners, nut and in many cases bridge. This will in any case, upgrade your guitar and shoot your guitar into the players league. Upgrading your pickups and electronics is a whole different thing. In this case you should know what you're going for. you should be able to anticipate the sound characteristics of your pickup with your your specific guitar.(the seymour duncan tone wizard might be a go to web site for beginners) but first of all you should have a minimum knowledge of electronics. apart from all that pickup voodoo the circuit (especilly potentiometer value - not brand!) has a dramatic effect on the sound characteristic. Knowing what you are doing will prevent you from being disappointed afterwards. if you're a beginner it will help a lot to ask for an expert. Then you will certainly not have to pay 600$ for a comparable effect.

Whats messed up is that i like the sound how it was before.

Always do the upgrades on the Squire. It always plays better and costs less. And I feel that it’s important to be able to fix it yourself.

I’m all for and applaud people who want to learn the inner workings of their instrument... learning to solder and read schematics (wiring diagrams) are skills you get to keep for life but...I can take that same $600 to the used guitar market and find a MIM Fender Strat or Tele that’s ready to play...you may even get lucky and find more than one guitar for that $600 upgrade...and always remember kids...wear googles whenever you use solder...safety first...🎸🔊🎶🤘🏻

Im in this boat right now. I have what I believe is a Squier tele and one of my covid lockdown projects was replacing the pickups with Fender Custom Shop Twisted tele pickups with a four way switch and all new electronics. Sounds immensely better. Tuners were already upgraded to locking tuners. Now I am wondering if swapping out the neck would be worth the approximately $300 plus set up cost - the neck is very flat, not the best fret edges, and the edge of the fretboard is rather sharp. Decisions decisions

Enjoyed the video, great stuff, but would have enjoyed a little more demo playing and discussion on what you thought of the sound differences before and after. I heard a huge improvement from flat and tinny to a much fuller sound with a midrange punch. Actually, thought it sounded better than the $1,200 jobber. Guessing the 10s with hotter pickups made a big difference. I dig your friend too, I like his style. Cool dude.

I took a 350$ Epiphone les Paul put in Seymour Duncan p rails graph tec parts runners new bridge etc , so for about 900$ I got a 1500$ sounding Epiphone les Paul that’s a 600$ upgrade you did all that work and upgrade for a 200$ difference , you could have just spent the extra 200$ on the 1200$ strat . Sounds great though . My Epiphone won’t get me a 1500$ resale of course but it played like one .

heres my thing for 800 doallers upgrading a squire i could save 300$ more to get a fender MIM strat... and if i wanna buy a humbucker on it or mod a couple things from there cool, but for me im modding my 75$ chinese strat clone i got when i was 10 as more of a passion project because it has so much sentimental value im keeping all the knicks and dings to the body im just replacing a white sss pickguard with a Hss black pickguard (so its a all black guitar looks so fn cool) sand the Academy headstock decal off i might buy a new neck , i think it was 100$ with a amp 15 years ago? Lol but ill put ernie ball strings on it new pick ups scotch brite the frets polish the body,neck , i think all in all ill be paying 150? if u count the soldering iron 40 for the pickguard, 65 for neck 9$ for strings sandpaper free from work polish i already have and thats good enough for me i dont need it to sound like a fender i just wanna love playing it

Nothing like creating your own sound by building a guitar ! Have a Market Street guitar in going to spend 800.into mainly for sound and looks .

That seems like an incredibly critical sentence to leave out. That was half of the challenge. Cool video though...I have a cheap strat clone!

you should make the most coolest strat with flyod rose and emg 81 85 and mods

Its the same stuff like me buying an indo made jackson slx 3 pink, swapping out the floyd the tuners the electronics the potmeters the frets just leaving the body, and change the rest

I’ve heard guys make a 100$ guitar sing. I’ve heard guys make a 2000$ sound like a 50$ guitar. Bottom line: get a decent guitar 300-500$ and a decent amp 300-500$. 600-1000$ for a decent set up is not that much money. An iPhone can cost more. Besides, It shows a level of commitment and you’ll be more inclined to pick up the guitar and play if it sounds decent. But if you’re a full on dirt merchant. Just buy the best you can afford. 🤘🏻

I know, I'm crazy, but I want to work on the Peavey guitar. It's got a sold basswood body. I want to give it a go. Is it crazy to want to see what it's like? That basswood body. I bet it sounds pretty good as is, but if it's even half good, I can have some control over tone.

I think if you buy a mid-range guitar (300-600 bucks give or take) basically the only difference between it and a more expensive stock guitar (in the thousands) is gonna be the finishing details, hardware, and just overall quality control. Especially with Fender instruments. One of the most radical changed you can make on a mid range price strat/tele/any bolt on neck guitar is buy a better neck. A lot of MIM necks are great, MIA necks are usually pretty good too. But say you have a cheaper squire with maybe an indonesian neck or korean neck on it, you can probably find a nice Fender MIM neck for 150-200 probably with better tuners already on it. Or maybe find a Licensed replacement neck (Mighty Mite, Warmoth, StewMac, etc) with stainless steel frets. My personal Strat is a partscaster. I got a nice body made by a local builder (~70 bucks), a drop in 920D loaded pick guard (~200) and a used Fender american neck with the fender locking tuners included (~300) So I’m about 800 in the guitar in total with all the miscellaneous parts I bought and it’s basically my go to gig guitar. And it’s EXACTLY how I want it. Basically like having my own signature guitar.

I like modding because i enjoy having a hobby to work on. But it deffo aint cheaper. I think I'll just buy an expensive axe next and try and be happy... or maybe replace a switch or pot or two at most..

Need A Longer Demo For The Upgraded Guitar!!!!!!!

Hey man I never knew ninja played guitar.

Honestly that cheap guitar sound is kinda cool

you can totally get them to SOUND close, but good luck getting the playability the same.