Daddy has a new toy [edit: added for search purposes]--> Squier Bullet Mustang!

No definitive pix yet, but see if you can guess what it is from these not too subtle clues  








Pix to come...someday...if it ever stops bloody RAINING!!

Squier Mustang? With a bullet truss rod??

[audience reaction]
"Oh-h-h!"  

[quizmaster]
"So very, very close, John, but I'm afraid our Judges require an exact answer for the win.

Let's take a break for a message from our sponsor, while you think about it, and try again when we come back"

ta da! Squier Bullet Mustang HH
(Couldn't wait)

It seems like forever I've been looking and looking for a number of affordable guitars on my wish list. Typically when I did find a couple of them they were either hours out of town or I was flat broke and couldn't get 'em even if I traveled the distance.  

I'm not sure how I ended up wanting this little bugger. Perhaps because I was seriously looking at a one of those single coil retro Epiphone Les Paul SL's. But when I did notice the Bullet Mustang I realized that the Forums and critics alike were pretty much unanimous in their praise of this model and despite its sub $200 price tag it offered remarkable quality right out of the box, and was perfect for modding.

Once I decided I could afford one then became the issue of finding one. Pretty much sold out. Everywhere.
And nobody was dumping them on Kijiji, etc. On eBay they're asking for stupid money, as much as $500 US from Japan!

The largest guitar dealer in Canada was virtually sold out, but I managed to find one in their store in another city. They were good enough to transfer it to my local store!

Here's what it looks like right out of the box (with plastic still on the pick guard):











O-o-o-ps!


I haven't done anything to it as I write this, but first impressions are quite good. Overall very good quality build and finish. The fret board is dry as the Sahara but there is no fret poke, and the neck is extremely comfortable and finished in satin urethane.

The only ho-hum weak spots on this line are the usual ones: tuners / bridge / nut, but the ceramic humbuckers are not bad at all, and I like the retro knobs. New tuners and a Tusq nut replacement are on order, and I am going to see if the black GE Smith Wilkinson half Tele bridge I have will fit OK. That will save a few dollars.

Lots of other mods I'd like to do, but one thing at a time. Next will be a strip down a bit of oiling and fret polishing, perhaps some shielding in the pup cavity.

The only real flaw noticed so far is a misaligned A tuner. Not a huge problem, but a nuisance to make straight.

Weird looking little beastie, ain't it?! I do, however, like the colour, the big headstock and the H/H layout on a Fender...

Your mods sound quite reasonable, Barry - yeah; that tuner's gonna be a PITA, however, not too bad at all!

Quickie update
I dismantled the bridge and removed the pick guard and pups.
I was pleasantly surprised to see that the entire "swimming pool " rout has already been painted with black shielding paint!
Nice.

Unfortunately, the GE Smith half size tele bridge is a no go. The plate fits perfectly but the saddle screws run out of adjustment about 3/16" shy of the intonation point.

I could trim the pickguard but then the old bridge mount holes would show.
Damn. It looked really good too!

The original bridge plate is solid enough but the saddles are cheap zinc and awful. I may end up just replacing those with some SS ones.

Meantime I applied aluminum tape to the back of the pick guard for extra shielding. Why not eh?

I can't do much else until the nut and tuners arrive, but I am considering tinting the neck to give it touch of vintage colour, it's pretty white!

Also thinking of replacing the cheap black logo with a proper Mustang gold colour transfer.

. . . I've done all I can do without new parts.  

The Mustang has been stripped of its tuners, nut, string trees, saddles, and soon, its pups. She's pret' near nekkid!  

But I Can't do much except look at it until all the bits and pieces arrive.

I did do one small mod though.
I tinted the neck, which on these Indonesian Squiers tends to be blindingly snow white! Because I'm a cheep bastid I did it using the most effect with the least cost---Kiwi shoe polish, medium brown (with a touch of regular brown)!

I have no pictures right now because the weather in Ontario had been bloody awful for weeks and if it isn't raining it's cold and overcast. Lousy for pictures. But I will take a few later on. I gotta say I wasn't expecting much but it turned out very nicely, and toned down that white whale Moby Dick finish into something approaching a vintage look. Very impressive if I do say so me bad self.

Otherwise, it's been a job sourcing out some upgrades that won't break the bank, after all, you can go nuts with changes. I have to keep reminding myself that this is a $200 guitar and you can easily blow that again on pickups! Including a gig bag and a nice strap together with the above list, I reckon I've spent about another $100 which will make this a $300 guitar!

As I wait, I try to visualize.
The new pickups are some el cheapo humbucker P90's (what else?).
I mocked up a picture to get some idea of what they will look like:

ORIGINAL 'BUCKERS


HB P90's


I really wanted to change the bridge but everything I tried was either too expensive or involved too much reworking. Again, this is a $200 guitar.
But I did manage to locate some traditional Fender "bent steel" saddles and I think they' make a big difference on the original bridge plate.

And I really, really, really, wanted to change out the pick guard for a brown tortoiseshell which would have been just the "duck's nuts" as a Kiwi friend of mine has been known to say. IF you can find one, they run about CAD$60 +shipping + duty...so not gonna happen.

Frustrating to see it sitting in the stand and I haven't even played the thing but to check it out.
Stay tuned.
Film at eleven.

I've been complaining about the weather here for some time now and it really ain't gettin' any nicer!

Rain, cloud, rain cloud, more bloody rain, more bloody cloud...oh look, it's the Sun! Quick, mow the lawn! Rain, cloud, rain, cloud, rain...you get the idea. And just for fun the Lake level is rising again, goodbye beach trail!

The Sun sneaked out from behind the clouds for about 15 minutes today and I grabbed a few quick shots of the head stock and neck treatment. The pix won't win any awards but I think you'll get the idea at least:





Came out pretty well methinks! Compare the colour in these pix to the original in post#4.

It's a very cheap fix and it apparently holds up very well even with heavy playing. I've buffed it up to harden the finish somewhat.
That's made it more glossy than the original but it can always be knocked down with some #0000 steel wool if needed.

I also plugged the anchor hole for the A tuner that was in the wrong place. I had some bamboo skewers handy which were already "sharpened" to an lethal point! I shortened the point it a bit and put a couple of drops of CA on the end, and drove it into the hole.  
Should be OK now to re-drill a new hole when the tuners arrive.

Here's what that "swimming pool" rout looks like:



Big enough to do whatever mod yer little heart desires eh?

And finally, I mentioned that I wanted to replace the bridge with my GE Smith but couldn't because of the intonation point:





I guess I could replace the screws with something longer but I don't want to introduce instability (not that I don't already experience that!).  

What exactly is crook with the OEM bridge, buddy? Or are you just playing around with it? Asking 'cause I'm envious; my Corsair has come to a dead stop, and all I have going on is a pair of old hard cases that I'm re-furbishing with new vinyl, some fibreglassing around areas where the wood is a bit thin and some new case hardware....

The original bridge plate itself is good John, nice heavy chromed steel.
It's the saddles which are rubbish. Light zinc alloy stuff, almost like plastic.

I knew going in that they would have to be replaced but I was hoping I could use the GE Smith unit I had kicking around and just replace the whole thing, I really dig those. And it looks good on this guitar.

Alas, when I checked the intonation measurement it was not even close, and that was with the saddles fully extended. If I had continued I would have run out of screw!

I could compensate by moving the plate closer to the bridge pup, but that would require shaving the plastic and as you see in the pic would expose the old mount holes even more, plus I would be fouling one of the pick guard screws as well. Too much bother, especially filling the old holes.

I have some Fender style bent steel saddles coming and I'll just drop those in and all should be well, at least sonically.

Slowly getting the bits and pieces and a plan is stating to come together.

The new Tusq nut is in, but not finalized until the saddles and pups arrive.

And today the bronze tuners showed up so in they went, along with a correction to that misaligned A anchor screw.






I originally planned this out hoping to change that white pick guard for a tortoiseshell version but as explained earlier it was cost prohibitive, as well as difficult to find. It's still in the future but for now he original will have to do. I've created a template and I may attempt to make my own. You know, when I have nothing else to do.

Same deal for the bridge. I wanted black and brass, but I'll have to settle for chrome for now.

But so far, so good, and I think the tinted neck goes well with the tuners.

C'mon saddles and pups!!

Oooh... I like those copper tuners!! Coming together, Barry....

Well now, isn't this just magical?

I picked up this little guitar based partly on looks, partly on emotions, and the rest on reputation (and my pocketbook).
Early on I made many assumptions, about the pickups, the tuners, saddles and nut...and here's the error of my ways, without really playing the guitar and getting to know it first.

I ordered a bunch of parts from (where else?) China, on the cheap, 'cuz that's what a cheep bastid does. Here is the result of all this:

1) Tuners -- they look very good. A bit below good quality but so far so good.

2) Tusq nut -- perfect. Then, not much could go wrong with a name brand

3) Pickups -- I was a bit apprehensive that they would fit the pick guard openings with the metal mount attached, and I was right. So I cut through the solder joints in order to remove it, only to discover the ground wire was soldered to the bottom plate...and the the plate was being held in place by the mount, which I just detached!

Cr@p! Suffice to say that I was not about to rework either the pickups or the openings. Just too much work on an inexpensive guitar. And life is short, especially for moi. Scrap the pickup change.

4) Saddles -- The originals were lightweight zinc alloy. OK I guess but cheap looking, with not much sustain, and too damn shiny! I figured a set of bent steel saddles a la Fender would be better, and look more vintage-y as well. Right instinct but again, tears were mine.

The whole project was waiting on the arrival of these key parts. On the whole the saddles were a bit roughly made but acceptable--except for one of them. For some bloody reason, the seller included one saddle of a slightlly different size and material.

So now I have 5 good steel ones and 1 zinc alloy (!) version. But wait! There's more!

Not only did it not fit the steel set, the threaded holes for the adjustment screws were tapped incorrectly, too large. Not only would the damn screws not bite,they actually wobbled under tension and then fell out of their holes! Complete rubbish!

So for the time being I have had to replace it with one of the original zinc saddles in order to be able to string the guitar, set it up, and actually play the thing!

Finally! The guitar is together and it is playable if not the way I wanted it to turn out. I rolled the fret edges but beyond that the neck and fret board are great, nice and straight.

I sat down with it yesterday and played it for some time and the verdict?
This little bugger rocks!

The original humbucker pups are just fine. Crank 'em and they roar and break up very nicely. Turn 'em down and they can be mellow and even on the jazzy side. More than adequate. Forget the P90's for now.

At this point I will have a rethink about the saddles and will have to buy something else. The traditional bent steel design sounds good, but is not really suited for a top loader bridge like this. The string can interfere with the intonation screw as you see in the pic. Back to the drawing board. Meantime I'll just play it and have some fun with it. The short scale (24") is a hoot!

Make it a string-through, perhaps??
Anyway, nice to have a (somewhat) happy ending, eh! I agree about the saddles - I've been burned before with Chinese gear, but at the same time have had some real wins with it; you certainly take your chances!!
I do think that saddles aren't worth buggerising about with - get proper jobs and move forward! :-)

Just shorten the screw.


Had a few sets of 'Fender' saddles from China.
Some of the threads need to be cleaned out with a tap. The plating glogs them up sometimes. Apart from that fine.

Why not get some with a 'name' 
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/6-Piece-Silver-Bridge-String-Tremolo-Spacing-Saddles-For-Fender-Electric-Guitar/173743619505?epid=2247849028&hash=item2873ed3db1:g:jTYAAOSwUVFcPtrC

corsair wrote:Make it a string-through, perhaps??

That would be the ultimate and proper mod for this guitar John, but again, I'm not willing to invest a ton of time right now (or perhaps ever) to do that. That's one of the reasons I originally wanted to use that GE Smith bridge, which incidentally can be top load or string thru.

...I've been burned before with Chinese gear, but at the same time have had some real wins with it; you certainly take your chances!!
I do think that saddles aren't worth buggerising about with - get proper jobs and move forward!  :-)

Yeah, same here. It's great when it works out, but a total waste of time, mainly, when small but important parts like this hold up a project for a month while you await delivery.

Westbone wrote:Just shorten the screw.

Sure that could be done but it's a PITA.
On the flip side I may revisit the GE Smith bridge and try some longer screws to reach the intonation point. I dismissed that idea before thinking that it might make things a bit unstable. You know, kinda like my beloved Mats barrel saddles    But maybe...

Had a few sets of 'Fender' saddles from China.
Some of the threads need to be cleaned out with a tap. The plating glogs them up sometimes. Apart from that fine.

Yeah, mine were a bit "gritty" in the threads too. A squirt of WD40 cleared that up OK.

But that one rogue saddle's threads behaved as if they had been re-tapped or something. They definitely were oversized and the screws wobbled around so badly they went sideways under the string pressure. . .then fell out!

Why not get some with a 'name' 
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/6-Piece-Silver-Bridge-String-Tremolo-Spacing-Saddles-For-Fender-Electric-Guitar/173743619505?epid=2247849028&hash=item2873ed3db1:g:jTYAAOSwUVFcPtrC

Very nice ("may not ship to Canada") There lots of options around. I went with the cheapest price so serves me right I guess.

 Yep indeedy, take your time....

Ya know...sometimes I could just spit!

Canada has officially been Metric since the 70's.
SO YOU WOULD THINK that picking up some M3-30 machine screws would be easy peasy.
Fat chance!

What do I need them for? Thanks for asking.

Back a few posts I mentioned that my first choice for a bridge replacement was the GE Smith bridge but the intonation points fell short because the plate could not be positioned any further forward. Replacing the screws with M3-30 (5mm longer) was considered, then dismissed because I felt they might be too unstable.

I left the idea alone thinking the "Fender" bent steel saddles would be OK. But if you've been following along you know how well that worked out!  

Fast forward to last week. Off goes I to my neighborhood big box "hardware" store and head to the fastenings aisle, which is huge. Everything you can think of in screws, bolts, nuts, washers and nails, in a dizzying array of diameters, lengths and materials. Well, hang on there just a minute. Not everything.

if you want anything in American Standard measurement, no problem. Acres of shelving dedicated to that. But where is the Metric stuff?? Oh, there it is, that tiny sliver of a full display Bay with about 6 narrow shelves of, um, stuff beginning with "M". Yay.

Excitement soon turned to irritation though as I realized that everything was sized from M9 to M4 only. No M3's or smaller. How frickin' annoying. Oh and did I mention I needed them in black too? Fat chance.

I subsequently checked out all the usual suspects, including an outlet which specializes in fastenings. Same story M4's yes, M3's nope!! What the hell?! The only place I could find them was (where else?) online from China! Nope, don't need 20 of them, and don't want to wait a month for them.

Finally, I tried probably the last remaining Canadian owned chain of smaller hardware stores, Home Hardware (not Depot), and guess what I found in my local tiny store located in a strip plaza? Uh huh, M3's!! Both 30 and 35 mm.
Not black, but oh joy, oh rapture anyway!

I replaced the original screws tonight and did a rough slap-down check to see if things have improved. Yup! Looks like it's gonna work out OK! So I will finally be replacing the original bridge and those mixed saddles very soon. I'll have look around too for some longer springs which should help a bit.

Film at eleven. Stay tuned.

I know, right! I needed some 2mm black round head bolts for a project and the only place I could get them was.....
..... China! So now I have 100 black round head bolts of assorted lengths ready for future projects!

Now ya gotta get more guitars!

Just some quickie grab shots indoors, 'cuz, dontcha know, surprise, it's RAINING! 'Been doing that since friggin' April!

But I digress...

Finally got the GE Smith bridge installed, and man, those brass saddles have pretty much doubled the volume and added a chime-y over tone! What a difference. Scared myself so much when I plugged her in I think I may have wet myself, just a little bit.

I'll post up some more (indoor) pix tomorrow since we're close to NBA game time here and I would like to see our Raptors make some sports history tonight! Meanwhile, one more:



We the North! Go Raptors! ...and all that

[ Well, poop! The Raptors lost it by one basket! ]

*Ahem* as you see in the pic above the string spread on the bridge is a tad too wide for this guitar forcing the outer saddles to toe in a bit. Yes, that makes the intonation off by a couple of cents on the A and B (or E and E, take your pick), and they look a bit odd skewed like that, but I ain't gonna lose any sleep over it.

Compared to how horrendous it would have been without the modification, and the crappy original bridge, t'ain't no big thang. Also, those are the original 16mm springs on there which are just barely working. I will be replacing them with some humbucker springs which should add some much needed strength and stability.

The important thing is that the strings are tracking free and straight, and the tone and output is HUGE. I had to turn my little VOX practice amp down from its normal settings 'cuz it was kicking into overdrive--on the clean channel!

Here are a couple of more pix:

Here's a pre-check measurement during the slap down.
The new screws have made all the difference, moving the saddles forward enough to make the bridge usable (this is a 24" scale guitar)




Another slap down check showed that the original bridge mounting holes would peek out a bit.
But in the final installation I moved the plate back a tad and they are not quite as noticeable. Again, I ain't going sleepless over this neither.



So gang, that's about it for now. I am still waiting on some roller string trees (from China) and this phase of mods is done.

If I get ambitious later on I'd still like to change the pick guard to a tortoiseshell, but they are disproportionately expensive for such a budget level guitar. Meantime, I'm just gonna play it and have a little fun with it this summer (assuming summer ever comes to Southern Ontario this year)

There ya go, mate - mods done (for the most part) and a nice little guitar to make some noise with: result!
String trees? I really like the modern Fender Kluson stringtrees and put them on anything I'm dicking about with because I think they're elegant and they work well....

Oh yippee-eye-ay, the sun appeared today like a distant (rich) relative you haven't seen in years.
So I had to take some more pix while I had the opportunity.

But I did manage to make one more little change though. I replaced the original saddle springs with some longer humbucker springs which I swiped off some old pups in the junk box. What an improvement that made. Everything is straighter and intonation is now spot on.



And here are some final pix of the Bullet all ready for the Prom:











All done now!

Yep, another Zombie Thread revival!

I'm normally in the house a lot at the best of times, but with the COVID-19 thing going on I'm inside more than ever. And there's just so much time I can sit at a computer. So what's a feller to do?










Bad luck you say? Poor quality control? You'd think so.
But a search revealed the fact that there are many out there in the same condition!

That means that this was by design!!
Tsk, tsk Fender.

H'mmm, those are the same symptoms on my Son's Ibanez SA-160.  It was too crowded to chase the wiring, but sprayed and re-soldered everything, reset the PU heights and got the volume level back that he was missing.  The tone pot still is just an ornament.

Wasn't/isn't the Squire Mustang the Japanese built Fender?

ExFender wrote:...Wasn't/isn't the Squire Mustang the Japanese built Fender?

Perhaps the Fender branded Mustangs were/are, not sure.
I think the last Squier reissues may have also been MIJ too.

This Squier series was "Crafted in Indonesia" hence the cheap price.

I have a Squier Custom II Tele also made in Indonesia. Overall, the quality of it is much better but it still needed the usual swap outs and some attention to the frets. At least the bloody wiring was correct!