Squier 51 horribleness.

Neil · Post by **Neil** » Sat Aug 30, 2008 10:48 pm

First off let me say it isn't "general" horribleness. On the whole I can honestly say the 51 is the best cheap guitar I've ever seen. The noises you can make with a sub $100 are just ridiculously good. My ol' faithful strat has been gathering dust since I got it.

Sadly though, when you get the volume up past about 8 or 9 the sound gets horribly icepicky on either pickup. Far more so than any other guitar in my experience. Short of installing a tone pot (the 51 doesn't have one) or replacing pickups is there a quick fix to smooth out the evil treble spike? At this point I'm almost tempted to attempt the installation of a concentric tone/volume pot. Thing is, I'm a complete moron when it comes to electronics and I'd prefer a simpler solution.

More Cowbell · Post by **More Cowbell** » Sat Aug 30, 2008 10:50 pm

There should be some die-hard fan websites for that guitar. They mod them to death. I think they are awesome and will own one someday. GOOGLE IT.

Post by **Mike** » Sat Aug 30, 2008 10:51 pm

Aha.. ok both pickups, this is fine. All you need to do is solder in a capacitor from the "input" lug of the volume pot to the ground lug of the pot, to filter off the treble you want.

I would get a bunch of cheap caps from Maplin/RadioShack and try them out. All of these values are in microfarads:

Try:

0.01 (or 10nF) - only high trebs
0.022 (or 22nF)
0.047 (or 47nF) - more treble content

They will dump the trebs to ground and hopefully warm up your sound.

Neil · Post by **Neil** » Sat Aug 30, 2008 11:12 pm

That's a solution I can live with. Thanks Mike I'll give it a shot.

Oh and yes there's a Squier 51 modder's forum that's pretty active which would be great if it wasnt so hideously slow. For whatever reason since I changed ISP that site is unbearable. I should probably bitch at them about it.

Fran · Post by **Fran** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 12:08 am

Drop an EMG 81 system in that bastard and let it sing!

Neil · Post by **Neil** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 12:30 am

Fran wrote:Drop an EMG 81 system in that bastard and let it sing!

Would that make it a Squier '132? Id put a Floyd Rose in it too but I dont think the incredibly soft wood the '51 is made out of would take the weight!

Reece · Post by **Reece** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 12:48 am

I wish i had bought one when they were stil being made. I vwould have put osme lace sensors in it and had it as my GRENNWODZ guitar.

ekwatts · Post by **ekwatts** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 1:47 am

Only thing I'd drop an EMG into is the bin.

Neil · Post by **Neil** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 1:55 am

I got mine on clearance for $80. They're now selling on ebay for up to $200. People really want to mod them so the untouched ones like mine are the most desirable and get top dollar.

To be honest I don't think $200 would persuade me to part with it. I'm not really given to hubris so I'm not going to tell you they're in the same class as a US Fender but it's an astounding guitar for $80. The neck is lovely. Perfect for my smallish hands and it plays really nice. The bridge can cause issues if you like your action low (which I definitely don't. I dig in too hard for low action) the frets on mine were nice right out of the box and I could wax lyrical about the sound all day. Sonically it's like having a strat and a tele all at once. The tone from both pickups with the hb tapped is just gorgeous. The hb on its own is raw as hell. Perfect for punky stuff. Definitely the most fun guitar I own.

It certainly isn't perfect. There are fit and finish issues, the scratchplate is cheesy as fuck and the bridge is horrible but the virtues outweigh the vices by miles. If you want one I'd advise you to get one pretty soon. Ideally you want one that hasn't been modded yet and those may be hard to find in future.

robert(original) · Post by **robert(original)** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 2:38 am

you could try changing your amp settings.
but a cap on the jack would work too.

astro · Post by **astro** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 4:48 am

Anybody know why Squier stopped making the 51's? As far as I know, they sold well and were always popular, so why would they stop making them?

superfuzz · Post by **superfuzz** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 5:11 am

They probably dropped it to fit the new line of guitars in, and it would have failed in sales after the fact. Atleast thats what I think.

Fran · Post by **Fran** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 11:27 am

ekwatts wrote:Only thing I'd drop an EMG into is the bin.

Get one in your Burns youth.

Post by **Doog** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 11:31 am

Could you change the pots to 250k? I'm using them on my double P90-double volume P90 Strat project for that reason..

But yeah, cap change would be easier

ultratwin · Post by **ultratwin** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 11:54 am

Geetar companies all do retarded things every now and then, although Gibson tends to schedule such retardation frequently while guys like Fender don't often see it coming and then it's too late. You gotta wonder though. It could be possible that:

- Fender feared the parting-out dealing of too many sweetly fatassed baseball-grip Tele necks from the '51.

- The overwhelming popularity that increased as folks realized how simple and fun the thing was to tweak made it silly to consider later raising the price of a cheapo mid-production for no reason without discontinuing it first...Hence reissuing a shmokin' Chinese version in 2010 (in less boring colors) for $270.

- Fender decided to follow the line of thinking that introduced models like the Performer and Lead, i.e. not think.

Strangely, Fender Japan's ST75-SH got discontinued shortly after, although a search yielded that a few Japanese retailers still have some to sell here and there, mostly in burst and not black(the almost cool looking one). I've got a feeling Whitey Mother-in-law in Corona pulled the plug from across the Pacific. For what it's worth...

robert(original) · Post by **robert(original)** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 12:22 pm

i remember seeing those and not liking them but for some reason when i saw those examples i thought "thats a strat i would play"

Neil · Post by **Neil** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 1:34 pm

I've always thought that maybe they discontinued them for fear of adversely impacting the sales of their more expensive guitars (ie, all of them) If you can buy a kickass guitar for $80, you're not going to buy a mediocre one for $200 and obviously Squier would prefer to sell a $200 guitar.

Bacchus · Post by **Bacchus** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 3:35 pm

Squier '51s are great. The best money I've spent on a guitar.

Fran · Post by **Fran** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 5:52 pm

Theres a lot to be said about Squiers in general. That Jagmaster cost me Â£65 to build and it plays great and looks awesome, the Stagemaster is also second to none.

superfuzz · Post by **superfuzz** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 6:31 pm

Fran wrote:Theres a lot to be said about Squiers in general. That Jagmaster cost me Â£65 to build and it plays great and looks awesome, the Stagemaster is also second to none.

The stagemaster is one of the best guitars made by squier, bar none. If the new vintage vibe is half of what every stagemaster i've played than id buy it on the spot. Top notch guitars.