Another Upgrade Thread - Squier Bullet Telecaster

drofluf

OK so this is probably the lockdown talking and nothing will come of it....

Got my first electric guitar last week and already thinking upgrades But obviously must be DIYable

It's one of these https://www.andertons.co.uk/guitar-dept/electric-guitars/telecaster/squier-fsr-bullet-telecaster-in-butterscotch-blonde-uk-exclusive and mainly used for quiet playing with headphones.

Pickups are fine, at least to my ears.

Nut: this is quite soft plastic and I'm playing heavier strings than were supplied (11s as opposed to 9s). I ran the ends of the new strings through a few times to open the slots a little    but that's obviously not the best solution. Can I get a decent nut with teh right width slots and then drop it in? Or is it more complex?

Tuners. Maybe I'm spoiled with my acoustics that have Grover or Gotoh but the tuning seems very sensitive going from sharp to flat quiet quickly (but that could also be down to the nut).

Thoughts?

DrBob

I think you’re best off sorting the nut first. If the strings are sticking or dragging in the slots it’s going to make the tuners feel a bit all or nothing 

drofluf

DrBob said:

I think you’re best off sorting the nut first. If the strings are sticking or dragging in the slots it’s going to make the tuners feel a bit all or nothing 

Thanks; that's what I think I'd concluded once I hit post. I think just writing it down crystallised my thoughts

DrBob

drofluf said:

DrBob said:

I think you’re best off sorting the nut first. If the strings are sticking or dragging in the slots it’s going to make the tuners feel a bit all or nothing 

Thanks; that's what I think I'd concluded once I hit post. I think just writing it down crystallised my thoughts

Yep, I reckon that 80-90% of the machine head upgrades that have been carried out are actually mis diagnosed nut issues 

Andy79

That is such a bargain. Bet it sounds great. It’s got a wider nut than the affinity hasn’t it?

im on the same line, room full of acoustics so though I would buy an old squire to mess around with. Likely will be for sale soon. 3 times I’ve done this now with no sign of me learning my mistake

drofluf

@Andy79 I think so but I’ve nothing to compare it to.  The wider nut was the reason I chose it; I’m primarily an acoustic player and wanted something as close as I could find to my Faith with the added challenge of not being able to try before I bought.