Upgrading a Squire Sonic Strat

[uneven oak]

Hey guys,

I bought my squire sonic strat off my brother a while back — I love it. No real complaints but as a natural progression been diving into mods.

Does anyone have a recommendation on cheap modifications I can do to improve the overall quality and feel?

If you’ve modded a lower end squire; what did you change that had the most impact? / was worth it?

Thanks 🙂

[marble wave]

Tuners

[quasi perch]

a fret dress

and then tuners, then nut / string tree, then bridge, then electronics

by order of greatest impact to least

[uneven oak]

Thank you guys

As a beginner would it be wise to do a fret dress myself? Or should I just shell out 120 bucks haha

[quasi perch]

the tools themselves cost upward of 250

if you don't see yourself fret dressing your own guitars in the future

more economic to pay the 120

if you pay for the fret dress

tell them you want the action to be as low as possible after the setup, 1.5mm low e, 1.25mm high e, lower if possible (which if it's a good fret dress with good nut can go down -0.25mm from those figures

[uneven oak]

Thank you Im saving this advice real handy to know ❤️

[mint onyx]

I feel upgrading a cheap instrument, while it's fun and will make it better, does threat into diminishing returns territory

Especially when the upgrades far exceed the price of the original guitar ... You might as well buy some better guitar then

[marble wave]

Revert back to “fun” also idk feels more special (to me atleast)

[mint onyx]

Might as well build a completely new guitar from a kit if you want that special and fun

[marble wave]

I have 😁

[mint onyx]

I might too since NK sells kits now

[marble wave]

Oo neat

[quasi perch]

only cus they cant keep up with the demand lol

so they're like "fuck you guys here's unfinished NKs to finish yourself cus you're too impatient"

id honestly just have NK build the whole thing

their finishing options are great, their custom inlay options are great, and you get a more garaunteed product from the factory

[mint onyx]

I know ...I have 2 of them and the build quality on the latest is insane

[quasi perch]

they keep finding ways to improve too

new tuners with ball bearings, titanium reinforcement in the neck, smoothening out their neck heel even more