NUGD! Squier Affinity Strat from????

[Dannyalcatraz]

Seconding STEWMAC for decent, affordable parts.  Depending on what you want, I’d also check out Wilkinson.
 

Greasy Groove has a wide variety of pickguard options, from traditional to abstract to themes like Sci-Fi, pinups and “adult”.  WDMusic has a bigger selection, but doesn’t do as much of the risqué.

 

I’ve got all kinds of straps, mostly padded suedes or leather, and bookmarks for many more.  I usually start by looking at Levy’s or Franklin.

[Caevan O’Shite]

  

3 hours ago, Winston Psmith said:

Mostly, I'm looking at cosmetics, like a new pickguard.

One thing to consider- while I have not purchased anything from them, I noted that Greasy Groove is the only pickguard maker that I found with pickguards listed specifically for Squier Affinity Strats. The fit of aftermarket parts can be inexact and troublesome with some of these "offshore" made guitars...

  
 

3 hours ago, Winston Psmith said:

Plugged into one on my MFX, I could definitely hear some Belew-like tones coming through, distinctly Strat sounds, if not the beefiest. Turning the knobs and flipping the switch, I got no noise, no snap, crackle, pop, not even a bad 60-cycle hum.

Good! Glad to hear- ehr, read it!

How often do you use the Tone control? If not that often or even not at all, as I'd expect and as is so often the case with the vast majority of players, swap the cap on the tone-pot for one with a .0015µF value.

Then, after you've got the heights of the pickups sorted out for the best output, tone, and balance string-to-string and between the pickups (with perhaps a little extra output from the bridge-pickup), roll the Tone-control down just a smidge with the amp or equivalent cranked. You should get a perceived mid-boost, as that cap has the Tone-pot shave off just the higher treble, leaving the mids and upper-mids pretty intact. Not as dramatic as that of the EMG SPC, but a solid, simple and dirt-cheap mod!

If you want it just a little darker, with a little more treble and upper-mids rolled-off with the knob, try a .0022µF cap.


Do you have any compressor-pedals, Winston? If not, I very, very highly recommend searching-up a HomeBrew Electronics ComPressor Retro, aka the HBE CPR; like this one, or this other one; be sure to "Make an Offer".

I have two HBE CPR's very like those, and neither of mine will be up for sale. As a matter of fact, I recommended one for sale on Reverb to someone on this Guitar Forum a little more than six years ago, telling them "If you don't buy this one, I just might as soon as I can, just for the addition of that Attack control"; and I did in fact wind up buying it, myself!

Hand built, high quality, low noise, smooth and clear, MAGIC with a Tele or a Strat! Not so magic with humbuckers, in my opinion. But the added squeezy oomph and follow-though and subtle squish that they impart to Fendery single-coils is marvelous. Think, upgraded vintage Ross and MXR Dyna Comp, with higher quality and lower noise. It'll be like getting new pickups.
         
 

[Larryz]

+1 on a 22iu cap (orange drop) if it doesn't have a 22 already.  And for compressor, I love my little Boss CP-1x.  I use it as a clean boost with very little compression.  Works great on singles and humbuckers.  It can do a great job in the compression zone as well.  It also has an attack control.  Very good Boss quality at a reasonable price.  😎

[Winston Psmith]

@Larryz- Boss Compressors aplenty in my Boss MFX, along with models of some other classic Compressors. I'll take your advice and try that.

 

As to upgrade parts - I may resort to soliciting random leftover Strat parts from friends, family, and Forum members. No matter what I'm looking at, outside of a new set of Trem springs for around $10, and maybe some pick guard-sized screws from the hardware store, it all adds up very quickly, for what are primarily cosmetic upgrades.

 

It also seems like there are a lot of non-standard measurements for a lot of Squier parts? Some things are as simple to deal with as replacement parts where the screw holes don't quite line up, others get more interesting, like Trem blocks that are too deep for the Squier's body cavity and stick out the back of the Guitar, or even 5-way switches where the switch plates are too deep for the body cavity, the kinds of things that make me very hesitant to put money into this Guitar.

 

FWIW, Fender did the same thing with the early run of MIM Fenders, such that you couldn't retrofit most after-market parts designed for "real" Fenders, especially not Fender-brand parts. Not a great marketing move, when one of the biggest attractions of Leo's design is the ability to swap out pretty much everything with a screwdriver.

[Sharkman]

Guitarfetish.com has seventy five pickguards for Strat, and all are priced under $22.

[Winston Psmith]

13 hours ago, Sharkman said:

Guitarfetish.com has seventy five pickguards for Strat, and all are priced under $22.

 

They also have a pre-wired pick guard for around $35, which is more than reasonable . . . if everything fits.

 

That's part of the problem - ordering after-market parts online for a Squier Guitar is a bit of a gamble; one size definitely does not fit all, and there is some really awful crap being marketed to people looking to upgrade their Squiers.

 

Practicality is the other side of the coin - I could spend a good bit of money on cosmetics, without really improving the Guitar. Any effort at serious improvement gets into serious money for better PU's, a new bridge/Trem system, Switchcraft pots & jacks - all money that would be better spent on the Guitars I perform and record with.

 

None of this is pressing, by any means. It's playable, it sounds good enough, if not great, and I'm having fun working on it. It's been a good distraction, and there is a definite value to having a working beater Guitar that I would take pretty much anywhere.

 

Ah, almost time to go be useful for the morning. Happy Fourth, to all my fellow Americans, and to everyone else, have a great start to your week!

[Caevan O’Shite]

2 hours ago, Winston Psmith said:

That's part of the problem - ordering after-market parts online for a Squier Guitar is a bit of a gamble; one size definitely does not fit all, and there is some really awful crap being marketed to people looking to upgrade their Squiers.

Mhm~HMM...
 

 

2 hours ago, Winston Psmith said:

Practicality is the other side of the coin - I could spend a good bit of money on cosmetics, without really improving the Guitar. Any effort at serious improvement gets into serious money for better PU's, a new bridge/Trem system, Switchcraft pots & jacks - all money that would be better spent on the Guitars I perform and record with.

 

None of this is pressing, by any means.

Mhm~HMM...
 

 

2 hours ago, Winston Psmith said:

It's playable, it sounds good enough, if not great, and I'm having fun working on it. It's been a good distraction, and there is a definite value to having a working beater Guitar that I would take pretty much anywhere.

Good!        ✨

Just curious, Brother Winston- do you ever play in any Alternate or Open Tunings? Maybe NST?

Or, may I suggest Open A (E A E A C# E, Lo-To-Hi, same as Open G but up a whole-step)? The latter sounds wonderfully happy, bright and chimey and a Fendery affair such as yours really lends itself to this, particularly with a capo placed up the neck... And not just for rootsy, Bluesy, Stonesy-Keefy stuff, fretted or slide, either- though THAT'S all wonderful, too; exploring around you can find all manner of unusual chords, especially when combining fretted and open string notes... Good fun, fruitful ground for developing new musical ideas, highly recommended!
 

 

2 hours ago, Winston Psmith said:

Happy Fourth, to all my fellow Americans, and to everyone else, have a great start to your week!

Likewise, indeed!
      
 

[Winston Psmith]

I do a lot with Pitch Shifted tones within my Guitar Synths and MFX, but I don't tend to use Alternate Tunings?

[wraub]

I had a post full of info and adding an emoji ate it all.

 

Enjoy the new free Strat. I have modded a few Squiers over the years, it can be a lot of fun. once you figure out what parts actually fit.

 

edit- Greasy Groove has a bunch of Affinity 'guards-

https://greasygroove.com/pickguards/guitar-pickguards/fender-pickguards/squire/affinity-sss-strat.html

[Caevan O’Shite]

6 minutes ago, Winston Psmith said:

I do a lot with Pitch Shifted tones within my Guitar Synths and MFX, but I don't tend to use Alternate Tunings?

This could be a fun and easy opportunity. And Open G and Open A (same, whole-step up) are among the easiest to try out, the step-wise relationship between the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th strings being the same.
  
 

[KuruPrionz]

1 hour ago, Winston Psmith said:

I do a lot with Pitch Shifted tones within my Guitar Synths and MFX, but I don't tend to use Alternate Tunings?

I find myself loving the sound of alternate tunings but not wanting to do the homework of learning new fingerings. I'm lazy like that. 

I do use one famous and ubiquitious alternate tuning but the fingerings are the same as standard tuning - Nashville Tuning.

I mention it above, it's commonly done on acoustic guitars but the intonation is usually off the higher up the neck you go. 

A strat can solve that problem and still provide an "acoustic enough" tone to blend well with other guitars. 

 

It's just the octave strings from a 12 string put on the EADG strings of a standard guitar, the B and high E are not changed from standard.

On a Strat you can then intonate the strings so they play perfectly in tune up and down the neck. 

This means you can also capo up and still sound in tune. I love it capoed to the 5th fret, it adds a chimey sheen to a recording while being easier to play than a 12 string guitar. 

This one is a Johnson I found at Goodwill for $30, complete and relatively unmolested. The pickups say Johnson EMG on them but they are passive. In switch positions 2 and 4 they are hum-cancelling.

It is also a 22" scale length but standard Fender 25.5" scale will work too. Just use a 9 or 8 for the octave G string (I predict groan worthy over-used "jokes" about G strings...).

[Winston Psmith]

I think it was Washburn(?) who made an A/E Guitar with the Nut pre-cut for Nashville Tuning. Very pretty sound, with the right Guitar.

 

For now, I've got it as close to where I want it as I can get it, without starting to invest in after-market parts. First up would be a new set of Trem Tension Springs.

[KuruPrionz]

1 hour ago, Winston Psmith said:

I think it was Washburn(?) who made an A/E Guitar with the Nut pre-cut for Nashville Tuning. Very pretty sound, with the right Guitar.

 

For now, I've got it as close to where I want it as I can get it, without starting to invest in after-market parts. First up would be a new set of Trem Tension Springs.

I didnt do anything to the nut, the strings are tight enough to stay in the bottom of the slot and for the most part, one doesn't bend strings on a Nashville tuned guitar.

It's the saddle where intonation gets off the most. Makiing a guitar with 100% perfect intonation is pretty demanding but close is close enough and in fact many of us think that being just a tiny microtone off perfect pitch makes a very pleasant "biggerness" that perfect pitch does not have. Add in that most strings do go just a bit sharp when first struck andi it's just part of being a guitarist. Lots of keyboards have de-tuning adjustments and it sounds cool but still not quite the same thing that happens with strings (I am NOT arguing that one way is better than another). 

 

Stock Strat whammy bar handles end up being weirdly long on the Johnson, maybe they made a shorter bar but I just tightened up the springs so the bar is solidly down on the body and left it that way. 

Just one option if somebody has and "extra" guitar and is looking for something to do with it. 😇

[Caevan O’Shite]

@Winston Psmith- A caveat, regarding pre-loaded pickguards... 

Be sure that a prospective pre-loaded pickguard and the pots and pickups and switch loaded thereon will fit inside the routed-out cavity; the bodies of the Squier Affinity series are shallower than others, with shallower cavities- and some parts will be too big to simply install the pickguard, unless one routs out deeper segments- IF that can even be done without simply making a hole through the back of the guitar!
      

[Winston Psmith]

9 hours ago, Caevan O’Shite said:

@Winston Psmith- A caveat, regarding pre-loaded pickguards... 

Be sure that a prospective pre-loaded pickguard and the pots and pickups and switch loaded thereon will fit inside the routed-out cavity; the bodies of the Squier Affinity series are shallower than others, with shallower cavities- and some parts will be too big to simply install the pickguard, unless one routs out deeper segments- IF that can even be done without simply making a hole through the back of the guitar!
      

I've already read up on this issue. One case where "Parts Is Parts" doesn't quite follow.

 

Supposedly, this is a Fender product designed as an upgrade kit for Squier Guitars? Measure twice, etc. . . . 

[KuruPrionz]

1 hour ago, Winston Psmith said:

I've already read up on this issue. One case where "Parts Is Parts" doesn't quite follow.

 

Supposedly, this is a Fender product designed as an upgrade kit for Squier Guitars? Measure twice, etc. . . . 

It's true, many Squiers are thinner bodies. My favorite Strat has a thinner Squier body. I don't have the shorter vibrato block so it is impossible to put the back cover on in any graceful way. 

That said, a Warmoth neck bolted right on without any issues (I did make sure to use shorter neck screws) and I don't know if I'm using the original all-white pick guard, I chose it for the look and took it out of a selection of several Strat pick guards. At this point I don't remember if I drilled new screw holes for the pick guard but I do know that a little thing like that would not slow me down for one second. It would be different if it was a valuable body but it's just a Squier and I'm comfortable doing whatever I want to it because so what? 🤔🤣

[Winston Psmith]

Oversized Trem blocks, over-long PU screws, 5-way switches that were too large for the depth of the body cavity, there are all kinds of fun things that can mess with what should be simple upgrades. Not looking to turn this into a money-wasting project, by any means.

 

I'm even re-thinking the Pickguard swap, because I'm not entirely convinced that I'm going to get much difference in terms of sound, nor playability. If I'm really just getting an $80-85 cosmetic upgrade, there are other things I could do with that money. I did find a good used HSC for $40, so I'm pleased with that.

 

BTW, @KuruPrionz , I may put that "WINSTON" headstock decal on it, just because . . .

[KuruPrionz]

27 minutes ago, Winston Psmith said:

Oversized Trem blocks, over-long PU screws, 5-way switches that were too large for the depth of the body cavity, there are all kinds of fun things that can mess with what should be simple upgrades. Not looking to turn this into a money-wasting project, by any means.

 

I'm even re-thinking the Pickguard swap, because I'm not entirely convinced that I'm going to get much difference in terms of sound, nor playability. If I'm really just getting an $80-85 cosmetic upgrade, there are other things I could do with that money. I did find a good used HSC for $40, so I'm pleased with that.

 

BTW, @KuruPrionz , I may put that "WINSTON" headstock decal on it, just because . . .

Do it, that would be COOL!!!!

Fancying up a Squier should be done on the cheap, if at all. I've always bought them cheap, sometimes I've just parted them out and sold the parts to get the $$ back out. I've got another full thickness Squier sunburst body and another superwide fatback Warmoth neck so one of these days I'll build another Parts-O-Caster.

 

Pickguard won't change tone at all in my experience. Some Strat pickups have more output than others, maybe they sound better and maybe they don't. Hung out last night at an outdoor venue and listened to a friend's band, he plays a Strat. The hum from the single coils made me want to smash it. It was amplified by his pedal board and gain settings. Apparently he either doesn't care or doesn't know the difference. I switched to active pickups years ago and nothing will get me to change back unless 9v batteries start costing $25 and even then I might just use one guitar since a battery will last a good year and a half of steady gigging in my experience. 

 

Silence IS golden!!!! 😇

[Caevan O’Shite]

4 hours ago, Winston Psmith said:

Supposedly, this is a Fender product designed as an upgrade kit for Squier Guitars? Measure twice, etc. . . . 

I'm suspicious about even "Squier" parts sometimes being too deep for these Squier Affinity bodies.

At the very least (dryly punny, huh?  ), that should make for a very light, compact, and lively, resonant guitar; aughtta be nice for catching and surfing swells and squalls of feedback... You could be heroes...       
       
 

[Winston Psmith]

I know the Pickguard itself won't change anything but the look. I'm less sure about the PU's & pots mounted in it, although I can't see how they'd be any worse than the stock parts. It seems unlikely that Fender would make a "downgrade" kit? Imagine the ad copy -

 

"Does your cheap-o Squier sound TOO good to be believed? Downgrade your tone with the new Crap-O-Caster Pickguard Kit!"

 

Right; why would anyone even bother?

 

There are less expensive pre-wired Pickguards from GFS, but there's no way size one next to the Squier, without ordering one and hoping everything fits. At least with the Fender kit, the repair guy and I can look at it together, and compare the measurements to the body of the Squier, before we do anything.

[KuruPrionz]

1 hour ago, Winston Psmith said:

I know the Pickguard itself won't change anything but the look. I'm less sure about the PU's & pots mounted in it, although I can't see how they'd be any worse than the stock parts. It seems unlikely that Fender would make a "downgrade" kit? Imagine the ad copy -

 

"Does your cheap-o Squier sound TOO good to be believed? Downgrade your tone with the new Crap-O-Caster Pickguard Kit!"

 

Right; why would anyone even bother?

 

There are less expensive pre-wired Pickguards from GFS, but there's no way size one next to the Squier, without ordering one and hoping everything fits. At least with the Fender kit, the repair guy and I can look at it together, and compare the measurements to the body of the Squier, before we do anything.

My take on "screwdriver guitars" is that all the parts are interchangeable so they might as well be decent if not great. If you decide to change things up for whatever reason you can just unscrew the parts and put them on something else. The real joy of having these sorts of instruments is that you don't have to worry about them. Using a padded gig bag with backpack straps instead of a hardshell case means you have one hand free to open doors when you roll in your foldable dolly with the amp and gig bag on it. One trip in, one trip out. Happy happy joy joy!!!

 

Somebody you don't know wants to sit in on a tune? Hand them the screwdriver guitar and worry not. Sometimes it's as simple as finding a color you really like at a price that makes it a no-brainer. 

You HATE the volume knob right up there where you keep on accidentally re-adjusting it? I do, just run a single volume and tone (better yet an EMG SPC), leave the volume pot hole empty or crazy glue a small piece of white plastic underneath the hole so it blends in better - problem solved and you haven't boogered an expensive instrument. Don't use the middle pickup? I don't, just covered the hole from underneath and went with a 3 way switch. I put Hipshot locking tuners on it and Schaller strap locks, the strap just stays on the guitar all the time anyway so I could use my old "big washers with little holes" trick instead, maybe I'll switch that around someday. Running a pair of EMG SA pickups with an SPC, the guitar sounds great and is quiet. 
I just drilled out the back with a Forstner bit, made a cover and put the 9v battery in there. Maybe once a year or so I change batteries, they last a long time if you don't leave the guitar plugged in. 

 

My "Disastercaster" alleviates all concerns. I used to take my 335 to gigs but then I would have something to worry about, plus I gotta  lug a case.  I have more fun at gigs with fewer worries if I take the blue Strat. The locking tuners make string changes so fast that I no longer need to bring a backup guitar, something else I don't worry about any more.

 

Last but not least, I've found that almost nobody ever wants to play my guitar at all since I scalloped the fretboard. That seems to scare off the wanna-be "sit inners".

Life is fun!!!!!😇

 

Don't be "trapped" by it. If you like it, make it fun to play in all respects. If you don't, flip out of it at break-even or better and keep your eyes open for the fun one!!! 

If you really like the tone of the cheap single coils (I do, just not the hum), then proceed as planned and enjoy! 

 

 

[Larryz]

On 7/24/2022 at 8:27 AM, Winston Psmith said:

I know the Pickguard itself won't change anything but the look. I'm less sure about the PU's & pots mounted in it, although I can't see how they'd be any worse than the stock parts. It seems unlikely that Fender would make a "downgrade" kit? Imagine the ad copy -

 

"Does your cheap-o Squier sound TOO good to be believed? Downgrade your tone with the new Crap-O-Caster Pickguard Kit!"

 

Right; why would anyone even bother?

 

There are less expensive pre-wired Pickguards from GFS, but there's no way size one next to the Squier, without ordering one and hoping everything fits. At least with the Fender kit, the repair guy and I can look at it together, and compare the measurements to the body of the Squier, before we do anything.

 

WP, I won't swear to it, but I have seen comments on having to drill new holes on Squires when installing stock Fender pickguards.  The holes don't always line up for some reason, depending on where the Squire was made.  It's not a big deal unless you don't want to drill on yours and have a cool return policy, like the one from MF.  I thought I would mention it. 😎

[KuruPrionz]

4 minutes ago, Larryz said:

 

WP, I won't swear to it, but I have seen comments on having to drill new holes on Squires when installing stock Fender pickguards.  The holes don't always line up for some reason, depending on where the Squire was made.  It's not a big deal unless you don't want to drill on yours and have a cool return policy, like the one from MF.  I thought I would mention it. 😎

I've done exactly that more than once. It's a Squier body and putting the old pick guard back on will completely cover the new holes.

I have stuff to worry about but that's not it...

[Caevan O’Shite]

1 hour ago, Larryz said:

 

WP, I won't swear to it, but I have seen comments on having to drill new holes on Squires when installing stock Fender pickguards.  The holes don't always line up for some reason, depending on where the Squire was made.  It's not a big deal unless you don't want to drill on yours and have a cool return policy, like the one from MF.  I thought I would mention it. 😎

 

1 hour ago, KuruPrionz said:

I've done exactly that more than once. It's a Squier body and putting the old pick guard back on will completely cover the new holes.

I have stuff to worry about but that's not it...

On top of all that- there are Squiers, and there are Squier Affinity models...
  
 

[Winston Psmith]

3 hours ago, Larryz said:

 

WP, I won't swear to it, but I have seen comments on having to drill new holes on Squires when installing stock Fender pickguards.  The holes don't always line up for some reason, depending on where the Squire was made.  It's not a big deal unless you don't want to drill on yours and have a cool return policy, like the one from MF.  I thought I would mention it. 😎

@Larryz- The stock Fender Pickguards almost definitely would not line up properly with my Affinity; even some of the Pickguards being marketed for Squiers don't always quite line up, and other after-market parts are a crapshoot.

 

There are also too many iterations of the various Squier models. Even if we're just talking about the Affinity Strat, I can think of at least 5 slightly different versions, from different factories, or with a different country-of-origin, and even different body thicknesses: one size doesn't necessarily fit all, or any.

 

I've decided to choose the path of least resistance, and forgo the Pickguard replacement. I'm honestly not convinced I'll get $80-85 worth of satisfaction out of it, if that makes sense to everyone?

 

I'll head out to my nearest GC, and get a black switch tip, or a box of 3(?), some generic black knob covers, and some extra Trem block tension springs, and those should more than do, for now. A few black parts will change the look a bit, and the additional springs should trim 1/64th or so off the action, which is all it needs right now. Maybe later on, I'll look around to scavenge some spare parts for it, or cannibalize some other beater, but for now, it's playable, which is all that really matters, especially for a free, beater Guitar.

[Ivan May]

 

Check out that Squier Strat George Harrison played! I think he used this Squier Strat when he toured Japan in the Nineties.

[KuruPrionz]

4 hours ago, Caevan O’Shite said:

 

On top of all that- there are Squiers, and there are Squier Affinity models...
  
 

Squiers were made in the USA, in Mexico, in Japan, in Korea, in Indonesia, in China and possibly in other places.

I've set up a Mexican Squier, it was pretty nice. I owned a Japanese Squier Tele, same body and neck as the Japanese 52 Tele reissue but painted black. It was too nice to be a Squier, so Fender moved them to Korea and lo and behold, the Korean Squier necks are held in high regard by Ry Cooder and others, flatter radius on the fretboard and just quality stuff. 

Fender wanted to make an inexpensive guitar that wasn't as good as the USA, Japan or Mexico made stuff but it wasn't until they cut the pre-guitar budget WAY down and moved to Indonesia and China that they succeeded in doing that. Even now, the best new Squiers are very nice instruments. new.

 

Nice problem to have I guess, Gibson has the same problem with the nicest Epiphones too. 

[KuruPrionz]

1 hour ago, Winston Psmith said:

@Larryz- The stock Fender Pickguards almost definitely would not line up properly with my Affinity; even some of the Pickguards being marketed for Squiers don't always quite line up, and other after-market parts are a crapshoot.

 

There are also too many iterations of the various Squier models. Even if we're just talking about the Affinity Strat, I can think of at least 5 slightly different versions, from different factories, or with a different country-of-origin, and even different body thicknesses: one size doesn't necessarily fit all, or any.

 

I've decided to choose the path of least resistance, and forgo the Pickguard replacement. I'm honestly not convinced I'll get $80-85 worth of satisfaction out of it, if that makes sense to everyone?

 

I'll head out to my nearest GC, and get a black switch tip, or a box of 3(?), some generic black knob covers, and some extra Trem block tension springs, and those should more than do, for now. A few black parts will change the look a bit, and the additional springs should trim 1/64th or so off the action, which is all it needs right now. Maybe later on, I'll look around to scavenge some spare parts for it, or cannibalize some other beater, but for now, it's playable, which is all that really matters, especially for a free, beater Guitar.

Sounds like you are on the right track to me!

[Caevan O’Shite]

2 hours ago, Winston Psmith said:

I've decided to choose the path of least resistance, and forgo the Pickguard replacement. I'm honestly not convinced I'll get $80-85 worth of satisfaction out of it, if that makes sense to everyone?

That makes perfectly good sense!
 

 

1 hour ago, KuruPrionz said:

Squiers were made in the USA, in Mexico, in Japan, in Korea, in Indonesia, in China and possibly in other places.

I cleaned-up, fixed-up, strung-up and set-up (there was nowhere to go but 'up' with this severely neglected, maladjusted, mistreated guitar!) a somewhat rare Made in USA Squier II Stratocaster ("by Fender"!). If I recall correctly, it was made in a US Fender factory in 1990 to fulfill promised dealer orders when a fire occurred at a Mexican factory; I think that's how it went. I described my resuscitating it in the "Ever do TOO good of a set-up on a guitar?"-thread here 'bouts in 2010...
          
 

[Scott Fraser]

3 hours ago, Winston Psmith said:

I've decided to choose the path of least resistance, and forgo the Pickguard replacement. I'm honestly not convinced I'll get $80-85 worth of satisfaction out of it, if that makes sense to everyone?

Choosing not to do something IS choosing to do something.