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Hello chums!, sorry this is a long post. Two days ago i bought my first electric guitar off a buddy of mine for £10 and a snickers bar.
The guitar is a Squier Bullet One (star) made in Korea black body and white pick guard which has been coloured in with a felt tip There is a serial number on the neck plate E707564 and on the neck itself there is a small sticker which has 4-8 then M.15-3t i presume it was made April 1988 due to the 4-8.
Anyway i had a look under the pick guard and i am pretty sure it's never been taken off since it came from the factory. Erh what else oh! it has just two knobs as opposed to the normal 3 on a strat, the body is similar to the strat expect that the horn is shorter and i think the body in general is just smaller too? I read online that the tremelo is different in some way. The pots are 250k and there is a green cap but i have no idea what it is for i just keep seeing people talking about dropping an orange cap into their guitar on here. A majority of the metal stuff is rusty as hell, mind the tuners are in good shape and are Fender stamped as is the bridge.
The neck is rather thin but i like it. A nice change from my acoustic. The pickups sound alright but i did play it through my bass amp but tbh as it being my first electric not really arsed. The volume knob is stuck and i cannot twist it at all hopefully some pliers will do the trick. The whammy bar is missing too
Just need to clean it up and hopefully in the future re paint it seafoam green. Here are some pictures of it


SDC15970 by Tom Iwan Norris, on Flickr


p5_ucfwbj3gu_so by Tom Iwan Norris, on Flickr


SDC15969 by Tom Iwan Norris, on Flickr


SDC15949 by Tom Iwan Norris, on Flickr [size=Font Size] [/size][hr]

Also there is a wire connecting the tremelo to tone pot but it has come un-done. Will i have to resolder that or does it not really matter?. I don't see how it will affect the guitar

Welcome!

Oh my, is that crack at the bridge in the wood, or just in the finish? Looks like you've got some work ahead of you. £10 isn't a bad price to score an instrument, as long as you're up to the task of restoring it; it's gonna take some TLC, for sure. Chances are, it looks like you'll have to replace the volume pot, if you want volume control, that is! I wouldn't worry too much about the rust.

Don't worry about the capacitor, it's not going to matter what is in it with that Strat, its pickups, your amp, etc. You might notice a difference if all the parts were high quality, but not otherwise.

Yes, the wire from the bridge to the tone pot is important; it's the ground. Get that hooked back up!

Hey thanks for the welcome!

I believe it is a crack however its less than 1mm deep and it's two separate cracks (makes it worse?) and my dad is a carpenter/joiner by trade so i imagine and hope that he may have some filler for it
Oh wait the volume pot as in the whole thing underneath too, have to change all that?. Any tips on how to solder properly? because last time i tried soldering i really buggered up on my Squier Bronco Bass and was a most epic fail.
Anyway thanks for the advice

I've just managed to get the volume knob off and attempted to twist the two tongs but they are stiff as hell but unfortunately i've broken one of the tongs off....damn

Glue may be all you need for the crack.

Are you asking about soldering techniques or a wiring diagram?

Soldering techniques really but i can google that. But if you had any helpful tips they would be very much appreciated. As for the wiring diagram i guess i can take a picture of it now and just follow that when i get around to soldering/wiring it. Is it relatively easy to change a volume pot?

montheshakers wrote:Soldering techniques really but i can google that. But if you had any helpful tips they would be very much appreciated. As for the wiring diagram i guess i can take a picture of it now and just follow that when i get around to soldering/wiring it. Is it relatively easy to change a volume pot?

My biggest soldering tip is to make sure that the two things being soldered together are warmed with the iron before you solder them together, this reduces the joint being able to 'snap off'.

And yeah, it's pretty easy to change a pot, just make sure there are no shorts, or near shorts, as its a pain in the arse to have to take it all off again just move a wire 1mm,

Jack

btw welcome to the forum

GreenKnee wrote: My biggest soldering tip is to make sure that the two things being soldered together are warmed with the iron before you solder them together, this reduces the joint being able to 'snap off'.

And yeah, it's pretty easy to change a pot, just make sure there are no shorts, or near shorts, as its a pain in the arse to have to take it all off again just move a wire 1mm,

Jack

Thanks for the advice Jack. Is it possible to re-use the wires or am i better off buying new ones?

Also inquiry about my Squier Bronco Bass body. Is it an exact body double of the Mustang/Musicmaster/Bronco/Duo-Sonics? If so i could use it as a template for a possible build, which would be awesome.

Cheers for the welcome lorez!

If you're using the same pickups, use the same wire, just unsolder the old wires from the pot/selector switch/ whatever. Or you can cut it as close to the pot as you can, and cut away a bit of the insulation being careful not to cut through the copper strands inside.

If you're not all too sure, you can always practice with a bit of spare wire on the old pot, or a spare pot

Also, welcome!

Welcome!

I take it you're from the Bury end of Manchester?

Yeah going to keep them for now. Too much hassle for a novice like me to change them. Again thanks for the advice GreenKnee, just need to get a solderer and a pot.
Speaking of pots would this be fine to use? http://www.allparts.uk.com/online-shop/ ... -1541.html
Or are there any other pots that you might recommend?

Hiya Ekwatts, yeah i live in lovely little Bury and adore the football team

a part of my youth was spent in bury. worked at the derby halla number times as a sound engineer as well. lots of family live around there as well. brings back memories

montheshakers wrote:Yeah going to keep them for now. Too much hassle for a novice like me to change them. Again thanks for the advice GreenKnee, just need to get a solderer and a pot.
Speaking of pots would this be fine to use? http://www.allparts.uk.com/online-shop/ ... -1541.html
Or are there any other pots that you might recommend?

Hiya Ekwatts, yeah i live in lovely little Bury and adore the football team

Yeah that should be fine, just make sure your current pot has the same shaft to ensure your knob will fit

lorez wrote:a part of my youth was spent in bury. worked at the derby halla number times as a sound engineer as well. lots of family live around there as well. brings back memories

Bit of a shithole now, well certain areas really. By any chance did you work the Joy Division gig?

Thanks for you help/advice again GreenKnees, the pot has been ordered and now i wait

montheshakers wrote:

lorez wrote:a part of my youth was spent in bury. worked at the derby halla number times as a sound engineer as well. lots of family live around there as well. brings back memories

Bit of a shithole now, well certain areas really. By any chance did you work the Joy Division gig?

not that old, it was the early 90s. used to work with some bands from Bury, Oldham, Rochdale and Heywood who played there a lot. Even met the woman I lived with for most of my 20s there. Vince Power started his promoting there as well I think before moving on to mean fiddler

Can i post 'Bury Parts 1 & 2' by The Fall here?

Welcome to the forum chap