A new beginning...

Alnico

I've been working on my Nieces Squier Bullet Strat.

She's 9 years old and after spending a weekend at our place and playing our guitars, decided she wanted to learn to play properly. She'd been given this thing by her big sister who got it for a present roughly 6 years ago when she was 9. She soon gave up on it and it sat in the corner having drinks spilled over it, going rusty and falling into disrepair.

Literally no one wanted this and little one ended up with it when she went home and told everyone she wants to learn to play.

She was pretty pleased with it but it couldn't stay the way it was if she's going to learn properly.

So I renovated it for her and we took it back to her last week.

I melted.

I had some spare parts from upgrading my American Pro so we fitted the USA Std tuners, string tree, strap buttons and tremolo springs, bought a new replacement tremolo from Axesrus, took every single part off the guitar and cleaned everything including wet & dry sanding the frets and then dremel-polishing them to a mirror finish.

It's set up on 9-42 Rotosound strings with 1.4mm treble and 1.6mm bass string heights. There's no buzzing and with those frets it plays SO smoothly now. Music Nomad string lube in the nut slots and decent tuners keep it very nicely in tune and the pictures say the rest.

We gave her a Fender Ball Glove leather strap and a ritter gig bag to go with it, both of which she can keep through many guitar years and many different guitars but for now, they finished it off beautifully.

Total cost (Less parts from home) - £30.

The look on her face however is priceless...

https://i.imgur.com/Z0cveTm.jpg

 https://i.imgur.com/t2uy1ql.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/YlP9Y3J.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/Zjw2mHB.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/BFyCHNd.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/vRuVuKm.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/0K2Wr9E.jpg

darthed1981

That's great, congratulations!

Those Squier Bullet strats are nice and light as well, and the body is a bit smaller than a standard Fender strat body, so they are great for the smaller beginner.

I used to have one I bought on a whim (you actually helped me set it up), and it was quite nice just stock, I recently sold it to my cousin to get him down the slippery guitarist route.

The_Whisper_Thief

Good on you mate. I always hoped my niece would get into guitar but she's ended up having a minor interest in keyboards!! You're nomination for uncle of the year has been secured, well played!

guitars4you

The look on her face however is priceless...

That says it all Mark - congrats and hope you are well

p90fool

Nice one Mark! 

Strangefan

Those frets look lovely, what a guy you are. 

mikeyrob73

Well done Mark, awesome work. Need anymore nieces ? 

Funkfingers

Alnico said:

Ball Glove leather

This could mean several things.

meltedbuzzbox

darthed1981 said:

That's great, congratulations!

Those Squier Bullet strats are nice and light as well, and the body is a bit smaller than a standard Fender strat body, so they are great for the smaller beginner.

I used to have one I bought on a whim (you actually helped me set it up), and it was quite nice just stock, I recently sold it to my cousin to get him down the slippery guitarist route.

I grabbed one for £50 last year. 
It rings like a bell on 9s. Unbelivable thing. 
The pickups are abysmal though. They are on the list to sort out at some point

JezWynd

Great job. There's no better gift for a learner than having a good instrument that stays in tune.

tbm

nice work fella. 

JAYJO

One very happy Niece. Well in mate.

Moominpapa

Now that's rock and roll. Well done.

Phil_aka_Pip

Excellent! Well done mate

JerkMoans

Tutoring the young in the Ways of Righteousness.  Well played, pal.

Philly_Q

Nice work!  I hope she enjoys it and keeps it up.

A few years ago a friend of mine bought her daughter some weird pink acoustic guitar, basically a toy, then followed it up with an OK "proper" acoustic.  As the only person they know who (sort of) plays guitar, I was designated to show her a few chords or something.

It didn't even hold her attention long enough for me to get it in tune.  Presumably now it's gathering dust - or knowing my friend, it went straight in a skip.

richardhomer

What a lovely thing to do - that’s the kind of thing that someone will remember for their whole life.

Henrytwang

Squier Bullet Strats are nice lightweight little guitars. I bought one some years ago at a car boot sale for £15, I can’t remember the year of manufacture but it’s an anniversary model according to the neck plate. I’ve still got it , it’s a great guitar for taking on holiday etc. As with most boot sale guitars it needed a setup, fret polish and new strings , the only other work required was the levelling of one fret that was causing a slight rattle, the pickups sound a bit brittle but are ok. I actually took it out and gigged it on the day I bought it.

Philly_Q

Is it a full 25.5" scale, or 24" like a Mustang or something?

OilCityPickups

Had a Bullet Strat a few years ago that a customer gave me. Used to use it for pickup testing ... nice light body, comfortable neck ... nasty ceramic pickups originally, but it kicked about for ages till I re-equipped it with one 'Dirty Secret' Humbucker and gave it to my then assistant Katie as she was learning.  

Alnico

Thanks for your kind words, it was my pleasure.

richardhomer said:

What a lovely thing to do - that’s the kind of thing that someone will remember for their whole life.

That's what I hope.

Philly_Q said:

Is it a full 25.5" scale, or 24" like a Mustang or something?

It's a full scale, the only difference really is body thickness.

Funkfingers said:

Alnico said:

Ball Glove leather

This could mean several things.

That's what Fender call it, I'm just passing it on...

Ball Glove Leather Strap

When tone and sound start meaning something to her, we'll get her some nicer pickups but for now, she's got something that will hold tune well, play nicely and look just perfect for the Girl she is and her age.