Squier Bullet Strat from 2004 CY04 serial number - modding/fix-up

[SjPedro]

Greetings fellow Squierers (is that a word? hell I'm running with it)

My guitar journey has been a long one and when I moved to my own apartment with my girlfriend I brought with me my very first electric.
A Squier Bullet Stratocaster in a beautiful Sunburst, from 2004.

Now this guitar is shot to hell where the electronics are concerned as it was played by a 17 year old me who didn't know any better and wasn't very friendly with it.
Body wise the guitar is great, neck needs some polishing and cleaning but the electronics and tuners are kind of...well...unuseable. The guitar had already a lot of hum on the neck pickup when it was new and now even the tone knob seems to be destroyed.

I was thinking of doing 2 purchases/modifications to it.

Fender locking tuners and a pickguard with pre-soddered pickups. I'm thinking the Fender Noiseless SSS.
EDIT: Removed the David Gilmour set as I noticed they were active and that would probably require carving out a battery socket

My question are:
1- do you think this is doable without luthier work? I know my way around eletronics and soddering but I've got neither the tools nor the knowledge to go about and make holes on wood
2- Got any other recommendations for parts different from what I've chosen?

I'm doing this not because it's worth it or not but because this guitar has a lot of sentimental value as it was the first guitar I have ever purchased with my hard won money and my dad absolutely loved it and played it many times before he passed away (cancer is a bi***)

Thank you in the meantime.
I can add some pictures of ol' Brown Eyes if you guys are interested and if it helps

 

[kdm1218]

We always like pictures around here just for grins. One thing to know with a Bullet body, it will be thinner than a Fender. The non-import switch will not fit depth wise. So you could either do the preloaded pickguard and order a separate import switch and swap out, or you’ll have to be prepared to do some accommodating.

I didn’t know this when I started in on a 2004 Bullet a few summers ago. I own a Dremel tool and used a grinding or engraving type attachment to make a little deeper channel for my switch. Worked like a charm and she’s my favorite guitar. (And avatar pic)

 

[Syco]

Welcome !!

 

[Shine]

Welcome! And yes, we want to see the damage because we love before-and-after stories.

 

[Mikey Mike]

Greetings to you also, fellow Squierer!
Welcome, and super good English too!
(I can tell by your use of homegrown slang!).

"I can add some pictures of ol' Brown Eyes"
Do that for sure, unless it's a selfie, I sure don't want to see that!

Cool to have you here...

 

[MAS Tequila]

Hopefully you know somebody who has a drill.
All you have to do to make that Fender Loaded PG fit is drill a little deeper where the switch goes.
I've had many a Bullet and even put push pull pots in most of them.


I would recommend against the Fender Locking tuners.
You will have to drill 2 pilot holes for each one, 12 in all.
Look at the Hipshot Lockers with the UMP mounting system, no drilling required.

 

[jay4321]

I can definitely help with locking tuner selection, I own or have owned/installed every other set known to man. If I can see the install it would help to include the back of headstock with the tuner removed.

As far as pickups, if you want hum-cancelling there are several types of approaches for that. Some look more traditional than others, some function better than others, but with some exceptions I would expect most Strat sized pickups to fit. Some can be deeper than others though for sure.

While you're in there invest a few bucks in a set of pots, switch and jack.

What kind of condition are the frets in? What about the nut?

Assuming the neck is straight there's almost no limit to what you can do fixing or upgrading those. The more you can do yourself the better but you shouldn't need any routing from what you describe. Actually there's probably a swimming pool route under the pickguard with that one anyway.

 

[SjPedro]

Oh wow you guys are all kinds of nice aren't ya? Thanks for making me feel welcome!

We always like pictures around here just for grins. One thing to know with a Bullet body, it will be thinner than a Fender. The non-import switch will not fit depth wise. So you could either do the preloaded pickguard and order a separate import switch and swap out, or you’ll have to be prepared to do some accommodating.

I didn’t know this when I started in on a 2004 Bullet a few summers ago. I own a Dremel tool and used a grinding or engraving type attachment to make a little deeper channel for my switch. Worked like a charm and she’s my favorite guitar. (And avatar pic)

I will add the photos in this post or edit it to include it with as many detail pics as I can I'm sure that will help you guys steer me the right direction! thanks for this

Welcome !!

Thank you!!

Welcome! And yes, we want to see the damage because we love before-and-after stories.

Yep on the way

Greetings to you also, fellow Squierer!
Welcome, and super good English too!
(I can tell by your use of homegrown slang!).

"I can add some pictures of ol' Brown Eyes"
Do that for sure, unless it's a selfie, I sure don't want to see that!

Cool to have you here...

Thanks man! Can you tell it's not my native tongue!
No selfies here of that brown eye...I'd get the FBI/Interpol on my case in 5 seconds flat

Hopefully you know somebody who has a drill.
All you have to do to make that Fender Loaded PG fit is drill a little deeper where the switch goes.
I've had many a Bullet and even put push pull pots in most of them.


I would recommend against the Fender Locking tuners.
You will have to drill 2 pilot holes for each one, 12 in all.
Look at the Hipshot Lockers with the UMP mounting system, no drilling required.

I have a drill, However I do not trust myself around it. Drilling holes on the wall to get guitar hooks was a bit more stressful than I could have imagined and can't bring myself to damage Ol' Brown Eyes like that
.... but I'll definetly investigate the hipshot lockers for sure!

I can definitely help with locking tuner selection, I own or have owned/installed every other set known to man. If I can see the install it would help to include the back of headstock with the tuner removed.

As far as pickups, if you want hum-cancelling there are several types of approaches for that. Some look more traditional than others, some function better than others, but with some exceptions I would expect most Strat sized pickups to fit. Some can be deeper than others though for sure.

While you're in there invest a few bucks in a set of pots, switch and jack.

What kind of condition are the frets in? What about the nut?

Assuming the neck is straight there's almost no limit to what you can do fixing or upgrading those. The more you can do yourself the better but you shouldn't need any routing from what you describe. Actually there's probably a swimming pool route under the pickguard with that one anyway.

What would you suggest in the locking tuner selection?
I was thinking of any system that would be the most hassle free hence why I was looking at the pre-soddered kits. I would eventually consider buying something less good in that department, keep the wiring and the pickguard and just swap out the pick ups. Do you know if the cheap Amazon Alnico 5 pickups are any good?

The frets seem to be in good condition and i don't feel them jagged or cutting but they need treatment that's for sure as well as all the screws that look a bit oxydized from the years and probably humidity from my mother's house. The nut doesn't look too bad but I think it might be made out of plastic considering the price I payed for it when the guitar was new.

The neck has held up incredibly well and it's very straight. I'd dare say it has better action than my Sterling Majesty 7 String had when it came out of the box when new.

Pictures here to folllow up

THank you all once again looking forward to hearing from you

 

[SjPedro]

a few more

 

[kdm1218]

a few more

Glad to have you here and that’s a nice looking guitar you’ve got!

 

[Lanaka]

Greetings fellow Squierers (is that a word? hell I'm running with it)

My guitar journey has been a long one and when I moved to my own apartment with my girlfriend I brought with me my very first electric.
A Squier Bullet Stratocaster in a beautiful Sunburst, from 2004.

Now this guitar is shot to hell where the electronics are concerned as it was played by a 17 year old me who didn't know any better and wasn't very friendly with it.
Body wise the guitar is great, neck needs some polishing and cleaning but the electronics and tuners are kind of...well...unuseable. The guitar had already a lot of hum on the neck pickup when it was new and now even the tone knob seems to be destroyed.

I was thinking of doing 2 purchases/modifications to it.

Fender locking tuners and a pickguard with pre-soddered pickups. I'm thinking the Fender Noiseless SSS.
EDIT: Removed the David Gilmour set as I noticed they were active and that would probably require carving out a battery socket

My question are:
1- do you think this is doable without luthier work? I know my way around eletronics and soddering but I've got neither the tools nor the knowledge to go about and make holes on wood
2- Got any other recommendations for parts different from what I've chosen?

I'm doing this not because it's worth it or not but because this guitar has a lot of sentimental value as it was the first guitar I have ever purchased with my hard won money and my dad absolutely loved it and played it many times before he passed away (cancer is a bi***)

Thank you in the meantime.
I can add some pictures of ol' Brown Eyes if you guys are interested and if it helps

Ye should KNOW by now we're addicted to guitar porn, LOL! 🤣😉😁

Seriously speaking, any CY is a nice platform to start with. Yako makes solid bodies and necks.

First off the tuners, IF you're going with SPECIFICALLY Fender branded lockers, they're invariably the 2-pin screwless types that may require ye drilling two small holes for each tuner to mount. I don't know if your 04 bullet is the pinned or screwed type. Take a look at the tuners' backsides. If they look like my 2021 Bullets (see below), then they're compatible. Otherwise you'll either need to drill to get em to fit or opt for more traditional screwed lockers…just make sure that you get tuners with screws located the same as yours.




Did you know that Gilmour has two different signature pups? Yes there's the active EMGs but at same time Gilmour ALSO have the Seymour Duncan Custom single coil pups. This pup was originally developed in a collab between Seymour and David. There's two versions now: there's the Custom true single coil with either flat or staggered alnico magnet and there's the noiseless stacked Custom Stack Plus Strat.

I like using the staggered Custom/Vintage/Vintage for true single coils and the Custom/Vintage Hot/Classic for the Stack Plus Strats. Both are passive alnico5s. With the Stacked version, I recommend using 500k pots to minimize the high end loss.

Also a side note about using the EMGs, you can still use the EMGs without cutting. It will be a tight fit, but it IS possible to stash the battery in the control cavity. You may have to turn the pots' bodies a bit. Just make sure the wiring connections don't short on the battery body. Sometimes strategic placements of tiny bits of electric tape will help. 😉 If ye REALLY need more room, try switching to dime-sized Alpha pots or this Korean pot who's logo I cannot read, sorta looks like "dP." There's noting wrong with these pots, I reuse them a lot, many Squiers had them and they work just fine.

 

[Lanaka]

Thanks man! Can you tell it's not my native tongue!
No selfies here of that brown eye...I'd get the FBI/Interpol on my case in 5 seconds flat

Don't worry about nitpicks over words. Most people are intelligent enuff about names and the few who takes offense over little things are usually the ones you'd Ignore. Keep calling yer guitar "Ol' Brown Eyes." It's your guitar and as long as your intent is not offensive, most won't care.

I mean, who's gonna take offense at the name Blackface? I'm not. That's the nickname used on a popular Fender tube amp series.

What would you suggest in the locking tuner selection?
I was thinking of any system that would be the most hassle free hence why I was looking at the pre-soddered kits. I would eventually consider buying something less good in that department, keep the wiring and the pickguard and just swap out the pick ups. Do you know if the cheap Amazon Alnico 5 pickups are any good?

Like @MAS Tequila, I recommend the Hipshot lockers, specifically with the UMP system that allows mounting on almost any guitars without drilling.

If yer talking about these A5 48/50/52mm pickups with clear bobbins (below), they're not bad. Just be aware that the pole spread IS 48mm neck, 50mm middle and 52mm bridge, so if ye want custom covers be sure to get them in the same spreads.



Just be aware that sometime cheap is CHEAP. While I liked these A5s, I had to go thru 3 sets to piece together one set I liked. First "vintage" set had a dead middle and a high 10κΩ bridge, second set had an incorrect high powered neck pup 9.0κΩ instead of advertised 5.6κΩ and a dead bridge, final set had everything working but is a high output set. So I said "fukit" and cobbled together a high output set that had a 8.5κΩ neck, 9.0κΩ RWRP middle and a 10.0κΩ bridge and installed it. Sounded better than I hoped. I need get one more set and piece together another maybe mixed vintage/hot bridge set for another project. Mind ye, I first did this musical chair when prices for these pups were running 12-15$ per set, nowdays they're running about 21$/set or more. I'm less inclined to do this shenanigans now but hopefully they've sorted out the quality and packing issues by now. Just make sure ye document and photo the packages and unpacking when they arrive from Amazon and Ebay and contact the seller immediately with those pictures if there's any issues.

I liked this set of chrome-plated brass pickup covers. They're quite good and looks nice. Very different on a Strat and works great with a chrome covered humbucker. Prices for these has risen from the original 8-9$/set pre-covid to an average of 12-13$/set nowdays. And that's, like the pups, with free shipping.

The frets seem to be in good condition and i don't feel them jagged or cutting but they need treatment that's for sure as well as all the screws that look a bit oxydized from the years and probably humidity from my mother's house. The nut doesn't look too bad but I think it might be made out of plastic considering the price I payed for it when the guitar was new.

Sounds like ye only need a fret dressing job to clean off the crud. Rinsing in white vinegar and scrubbing with a toothbrush oughter fix the screws. Optionally ye could just replace them, they're not expensive.

Unless the nut is made of Nubone or real bone, yeah, I'd replace those plastic nuts, pound for pound some of the biggest tuning stability issues comes from those plastic POS for nuts and their cruddy cut jobs. I love using TUSQ nuts.

The neck has held up incredibly well and it's very straight. I'd dare say it has better action than my Sterling Majesty 7 String had when it came out of the box when new.

Most Squier necks are surprisingly good! Unless they're outright broken or missing, I see no reason to replace them. At worst, I replace the tiny frets (mostly on the older ones) with my preferred stainless jumbo or super jumbo frets. Not that hard to replace them on Fender/Squiers, just time consuming, but most of that time is in the full setup (end dressing, crowning, polishing), the actual swap is just 5-15 mins at most.

 

[SjPedro]

Ye should KNOW by now we're addicted to guitar porn, LOL! 🤣😉😁

Seriously speaking, any CY is a nice platform to start with. Yako makes solid bodies and necks.

First off the tuners, IF you're going with SPECIFICALLY Fender branded lockers, they're invariably the 2-pin screwless types that may require ye drilling two small holes for each tuner to mount. I don't know if your 04 bullet is the pinned or screwed type. Take a look at the tuners' backsides. If they look like my 2021 Bullets (see below), then they're compatible. Otherwise you'll either need to drill to get em to fit or opt for more traditional screwed lockers…just make sure that you get tuners with screws located the same as yours.


View attachment 264653

Did you know that Gilmour has two different signature pups? Yes there's the active EMGs but at same time Gilmour ALSO have the Seymour Duncan Custom single coil pups. This pup was originally developed in a collab between Seymour and David. There's two versions now: there's the Custom true single coil with either flat or staggered alnico magnet and there's the noiseless stacked Custom Stack Plus Strat.

I like using the staggered Custom/Vintage/Vintage for true single coils and the Custom/Vintage Hot/Classic for the Stack Plus Strats. Both are passive alnico5s. With the Stacked version, I recommend using 500k pots to minimize the high end loss.

Also a side note about using the EMGs, you can still use the EMGs without cutting. It will be a tight fit, but it IS possible to stash the battery in the control cavity. You may have to turn the pots' bodies a bit. Just make sure the wiring connections don't short on the battery body. Sometimes strategic placements of tiny bits of electric tape will help. 😉 If ye REALLY need more room, try switching to dime-sized Alpha pots or this Korean pot who's logo I cannot read, sorta looks like "dP." There's noting wrong with these pots, I reuse them a lot, many Squiers had them and they work just fine.

Glad to assist in the good old guitar porn! A fan of it myself

I didn't know that about the Gilmour Pups. I think it's something else to consider.
I don't feel like going the active route because if they are as power hungry as my Majesty, opening up the guitar every month or so to swap out a battery isn't something I look forward to
I don't know if you can tell by the photos I posted but the screws holding the tuners together are diagonally placed and I have yet to find aftermarket lockng tuners with the same position. I am really trying to keep the "hole drilling" and "wood carving" to the bare minimum.

Don't worry about nitpicks over words. Most people are intelligent enuff about names and the few who takes offense over little things are usually the ones you'd Ignore. Keep calling yer guitar "Ol' Brown Eyes." It's your guitar and as long as your intent is not offensive, most won't care.

I mean, who's gonna take offense at the name Blackface? I'm not. That's the nickname used on a popular Fender tube amp series.



Like @MAS Tequila, I recommend the Hipshot lockers, specifically with the UMP system that allows mounting on almost any guitars without drilling.

If yer talking about these A5 48/50/52mm pickups with clear bobbins (below), they're not bad. Just be aware that the pole spread IS 48mm neck, 50mm middle and 52mm bridge, so if ye want custom covers be sure to get them in the same spreads.

View attachment 264658

Just be aware that sometime cheap is CHEAP. While I liked these A5s, I had to go thru 3 sets to piece together one set I liked. First "vintage" set had a dead middle and a high 10κΩ bridge, second set had an incorrect high powered neck pup 9.0κΩ instead of advertised 5.6κΩ and a dead bridge, final set had everything working but is a high output set. So I said "fukit" and cobbled together a high output set that had a 8.5κΩ neck, 9.0κΩ RWRP middle and a 10.0κΩ bridge and installed it. Sounded better than I hoped. I need get one more set and piece together another maybe mixed vintage/hot bridge set for another project. Mind ye, I first did this musical chair when prices for these pups were running 12-15$ per set, nowdays they're running about 21$/set or more. I'm less inclined to do this shenanigans now but hopefully they've sorted out the quality and packing issues by now. Just make sure ye document and photo the packages and unpacking when they arrive from Amazon and Ebay and contact the seller immediately with those pictures if there's any issues.

I liked this set of chrome-plated brass pickup covers. They're quite good and looks nice. Very different on a Strat and works great with a chrome covered humbucker. Prices for these has risen from the original 8-9$/set pre-covid to an average of 12-13$/set nowdays. And that's, like the pups, with free shipping.

View attachment 264657



Sounds like ye only need a fret dressing job to clean off the crud. Rinsing in white vinegar and scrubbing with a toothbrush oughter fix the screws. Optionally ye could just replace them, they're not expensive.

Unless the nut is made of Nubone or real bone, yeah, I'd replace those plastic nuts, pound for pound some of the biggest tuning stability issues comes from those plastic POS for nuts and their cruddy cut jobs. I love using TUSQ nuts.



Most Squier necks are surprisingly good! Unless they're outright broken or missing, I see no reason to replace them. At worst, I replace the tiny frets (mostly on the older ones) with my preferred stainless jumbo or super jumbo frets. Not that hard to replace them on Fender/Squiers, just time consuming, but most of that time is in the full setup (end dressing, crowning, polishing), the actual swap is just 5-15 mins at most.

The "Brown Eyes" came from a very old Tenacious D skit where he "kills off" his guitar "Brown Eyes" when he realizes Sasquatch isn't real. I've gone into the habit of naming all my guitars from there on out and it isn't meant as derrogatory, it's really just because it reminds me of that sketch (even though in that sketch it was an acoustic but I digress)

Yeah I'm thinking of making a good shopping list, and once i have everythng get to work but I am investigating this months in ahead since I am right now taking care of building a new pc for my studio/mancave/office but I like to research things slowly and with time because I prefer to buy smart than to buy expensive if that makes sense.

Amazon has this set and I was wondering if any of you had any experience with these Alnico V sets :


But at the least on a first stage what I want to do is:

-neck cleanup;
-tuner replacements
-Pups and Pots replacements

See how it plays and holds tuning and if I need to go deeper with nut replacement, refretting, etc , I'll look into it hopefully with your amazing counselling

 

[MAS Tequila]

Find a CV loaded pick guard and drop it in.

Here is one of mine.

This one is going to end up in a Starcaster Strat.

 

[Lanaka]

I didn't know that about the Gilmour Pups. I think it's something else to consider.

I think even Gilmour preferred using the Custom over the EMG. I like both the true single setup (Custom/Vintage RWRP/Vintage) and the Stacked version which is what's used on the Fender Gilmour Sig guitar (Custom/Classic RWRP/Vintage Hot), altho I personally prefer to reverse the positions of the Vintage Hot and Classic and use the non-RWRP Classic.

I don't feel like going the active route because if they are as power hungry as my Majesty, opening up the guitar every month or so to swap out a battery isn't something I look forward to

It depends on how often ye use the guitar, but if it IS your main, then yeah, Id figure the battery probably will last about 2 months, less if ye use it daily. I have an active Ibanez XH300-BKF that still on the same battery i installed last year, but admittedly I only occasionally play it. I'm going to convert it from an active HH with just a volume pot to a passive setup with either a Strat 1V2T or a Les Paul 2V2T setup. Only thing I'll reuse is the cosmic black 3-way toggle. Maybe then shall I actually use it more!

2011 Ibanez XH300-BKF

I don't know if you can tell by the photos I posted but the screws holding the tuners together are diagonally placed and I have yet to find aftermarket lockng tuners with the same position. I am really trying to keep the "hole drilling" and "wood carving" to the bare minimum.

I took a closer look and think that Gotoh, Grover, Hipshot and Schaller all have tuners that has a screw that matches your stockers. However they won't use the upper right holes. I'd plug those upper holes with the original screws.* Be aware that there's two very similar screw configurations, one has the screw inline with the left side of the tuner housing and the other sticks out to the left a bit from the housing. I'm not sure which one would ve correct for your application.

* However if you use the Hipshots with the UMP, the UMP will cover the extra hole thus negating the need to plug with the original screws. Methinks your best option is to use Hipshots as they don't require drilling and is blind to exactly what holes ye already have since it wont use any screws.

The "Brown Eyes" came from a very old Tenacious D skit where he "kills off" his guitar "Brown Eyes" when he realizes Sasquatch isn't real. I've gone into the habit of naming all my guitars from there on out and it isn't meant as derrogatory, it's really just because it reminds me of that sketch (even though in that sketch it was an acoustic but I digress)

No worries about the name, you keep calling it Brown Eyes! Thanks for the back story on the name, I was curious as to how ye chose the name! I name all my guitars too, mostly in Hawaiian.

Yeah I'm thinking of making a good shopping list, and once i have everythng get to work but I am investigating this months in ahead since I am right now taking care of building a new pc for my studio/mancave/office but I like to research things slowly and with time because I prefer to buy smart than to buy expensive if that makes sense.

Yup, it's always best to take yer time proceed "with all deliberate speed." I liked that term, which I took to mean, go forth at a pace that ensures accuracy and thoroughness without missing anything important. I like researching projects and allow them to gel into a cohesive whole over time, BEFORE actually starting on the physical project. At same time I'll "accumulate" the necessary parts so when I have enough to get the core of a job done (for example, having all the electronics for the pup upgrades, but not worried if i still dont have the straplocks), I will know right away if there's any issues in the upgrade (for example: find out the pups is a 2 wires, in a project calling for coil splitting with 4 wires).

You have priorities, and ye need follow them. That's ok, in fact it's good that ye can stick to the priority list and get em done in the order required! We're patient and can wait for ye to get yer guitar projects done.

…Now HURRY UP!!! 🤪🤣 Just kidding! 😆😁

Amazon has this set and I was wondering if any of you had any experience with these Alnico V sets :
View attachment 264695

I've seen those and, sorry I have no experience with them. I prefer Fleors and Artec from Amazon and eBay.

But at the least on a first stage what I want to do is:

-neck cleanup;
-tuner replacements
-Pups and Pots replacements

See how it plays and holds tuning and if I need to go deeper with nut replacement, refretting, etc , I'll look into it hopefully with your amazing counselling

Sounds like ye have a solid plan and is moving forward with all deliberate speed! Good lucks man, keep us posted!