Can I Turn A KID'S Guitar Into CUSTOM Travel Guitar?

[@mishakildager]

I have done this will a fullsize bass and a fullsize guitar. Been watching videos like this ever since I ordered my Mini Jazzmaster and I am just constantly scheming about what nonsense I can do with it lol. I LOVE those wood tone knobs. Now you’ve got me thinking about what kind I want on mine haha

[@dannywilliams3516]

Good job Lucas. You're a man that knows his stuff. The guitar looks and sounds awesome!

[@derekjhorton]

Really awesome build! This tiny thing has got to be a lot of fun. A note about the extra cavity ground- my understanding is that it grounds the shielding paint.

[@christopheraaron8299]

The "shielding paint" they use in Squiers has almost no conductivity at all. I put copper tape in all of mine.

[@johnnorris1983]

Yeah.. you are actually grounding the rear half of the “faraday cage “ Restricting all Radio frequencies emitted ! Leave it off Mr Squeals..or put it back!

[@hearpalhere]

That came out sweet Lucas! I really love the look of the bridge saddles man, really brings the whole thing together. Those Alnica III pickups are sick too... I remember really liking them in one of your demo comparison videos. Enjoy your trip if indeed you are going somewhere and that is why you've made this! :-)

[@Mauitaoist]

Great job man and you're playing is freaking awesome right on

[@robbwylde2002]

Lucas, you realize you're a genius right? Please do more of these vids! Is there any way you could do a Fluence KSE or Modern install video that takes us step by step on how to do it? There aren't many good Fluence install vids on YT...

[@Cmoth040]

I was looking at one of these guitars for when I travel. Now, I'm going to end up spending the same amount of money to modify it as I would have on a full-sized guitar. Awesome, can't wait to get ridiculous. Quality work.

[@gidgelawrence]

Love! And yay Heather, great taste! Love those saddles, also. Love love love. You just know this is Cora's eventually ;)

[@LucasFowler]

Cora can have it whenever she wants to play :)

[@gidgelawrence]

@@LucasFowler Oh, oops, this is "Vicky Spit" on a diff acct. Anyways, hope all is well with your lovely family!

[@EXSENTRIX]

Wow! You did an amazing job! You're really good at this. I can tell you take pride in your work. Such a cool little travel guitar man. Sounds great too.

[@tofersiefken]

I just ordered mine this morning. I already have numerous other guitars, mostly 25" Fender scale length electrics, several steel-string acoustics & a nylon string classical, a baritone, etc. but I was looking for something short-scale. (My first electric guitar was a Peavey T-30 with a 23.5" scale length.) I was looking for something that I can drag around the house with me, noodle around on while watching T.V. in my office chair or record from my "studio console". I liked the fact that it has humbucking pickups even though I am more of a Strat guy than a Gibson / Les Paul guy, and the off-set body style is something I don't currently have. To be honest, if they had a Mustang version with the same 22.7" scale length, but with the Mustang wiring diagram I would have gone for that, but maybe in the future they will. I'm not a child nor a beginner, I just have small hands and I can make upgrades without feeling like I am defiling an expensive vintage instrument. I really like the upgrades you did on this one and it inspires me. I've heard mixed reviews on the tuners so if there is anything that I might want to upgrade first, it would be a nice set of locking tuners.

[@lohndavis3794]

If you would take 2” blue masking tape and place a strip on both sides of your razor blade leaving apro 3/16 of the cutting edge exposed and trim the tape to size leaving a good flap to handle makes it easier and safer to hold and find when the next time you go looking for it.

[@Mauitaoist]

I just got mine today oh my God I can't put the thing down it didn't really need any fret work, the pick ups sound okay for now, the strings are too skinny so I tuned it up to G and it sounded fantastic when I turned it down to E it was a little difficult to keep the tuning so I'm going to put on some 11s. I'm sure it'll be fine. I always put heavier strings on my smaller scale guitars works better that way just a tip for those of you that are new. This is the best guitar I've ever bought for this price point I'm extremely excited about modding this instrument and playing it. Lucas inspired me and i have the tusk saddles and trees and plan on doing a full mod. My 1997 American "Big Apple Strat" has Seymore Duncan pu and I think I'll use two of those "Pearly Gates" and "Classic 57" Ihave 17 guitars so this isn't my first rodeo

[@davidmarkham4391]

That turned out awesome man! I really dig the pick guard. It’s very beachey

[@Sean_Plays_Guitar]

I am doing this for my kid. Thanks for the inspiration...and for the djents 🤘🏻

[@christopheraaron8299]

I'm thinking about getting a Jazzmaster Mini, but I feel like a Jazzmaster should have a single coil sound, so I'd probably replace the pickups with humbucker sized P90s. That's what I have in my Epiphone LP Special and I really like the sound. I also put normal P90s in my Bullet Mustang and it's my favorite instrument.

[@bluezy1]

More like this! Super underrated! Thanks

[@jeriouspopsicle8153]

I’m in the process of upgrading a squier mini strat for my daughter. Thought I had what I needed but now I realize I need some cool contact paper! Thanks for the idea

[@RockStarOscarStern634]

JS110 Flatwounds would save the frets from scratches

[@giovanigiorgos2955]

That sounds awesome especially your overdrive tone. What is your amp and pedalboard set up?

[@mykar.418]

This video was a joy to watch 😁💕

[@DonThorvund]

Great work, Lucas!

[@han36solo]

Really turned out great! Sounds good and Eb too!

[@jcoulter43]

That turned out great! Loved the tones. You may have inspired me to give one of these conversions/upgrades of a mini a try. God bless and rock on 😎👍🎸

[@LucasFowler]

Thanks! I find little projects like this fun and satisfying :D

[@yagoravell7944]

Looks and sounds great, only if you would paint the headstock white and put chrome knobs, that would be perfection! Hahaha

[@ninjad.musica9404]

That was a great job, awesome!!! 😮🤩🤩

[@ranman58635]

I've had many mini Squiers. My red stratocaster mini is the best! I upgraded a lot and hemispheric frets are the thing now. The older one's are better in my opinion. I put a blade humbucker in too. The only really big complaint is the saddles can't be lowered past a point or you lose your tension. I will be drilling some feral holes.

[@globalnova]

shim the neck a bit maybe?

[@ranman58635]

@@globalnova to angle the neck back?

[@globalnova]

@@ranman58635 to angle it downwards towards the headstock.i.e. raise the very end of the neck heel up a bit so that you can have higher saddles.

[@tetianaorlenko8477]

Sounds great! congratulations! wich string gauge did you used?

[@HenryStix619]

That was so fucking sick I’m glad I watched this after buying one

[@Jaloja]

Metal and Flowered Pick Guard got to be the new standard.. Now get your "Death Metal" vocals dialed in.

[@ZL1LoVeR]

This is pretty awesome!

[@sevenrhye]

That looks and sounds awesome. Just bought a used one and might try out some of these mods.

[@keithbirdsong1036]

Sir that thing sounds great 👍🏻 nice job great idea 💡.

[@aplanebagel]

how was the tuning/staying in tune after all the mods ?? I would really love to do a similar project thanks! great video !

[@ggvbeer4339]

this would be amazing on a Custom Shop version

[@crimpingpliers]

great video. i wonder how this little wonder looks and sounds three years later.

[@DommoDommo]

Does the pickgaurd paper come up if your pick hits it?

[@globalnova]

very nice job. what gauge strings did you put on? and do you remember the saddle string spacing? thank you.

[@globalnova]

replying to myself as there was no reply. i have since modded the absolute shit outta mine and it's awesome. the only con is not having more frets. i use11s in Eb but reckon 10s would be fine in E.

[@markbailey2374]

You can buy that. It's called a jackson dinky. I have one it's great and kids can learn on it too.

[@nicecybermaus]

sounds amazing! totally want to do a conversion now too! did you keep the original strings or did you upgrade them? if so, what did you put on? also, where did you get the router template for the humbuckers?

[@JohnQuincy1776]

I have thought about a mini strat for a travel guitar, since that is the only one in lefty.

[@klee_of_c8082]

Nice job, Lucas! The little JM came out 🆒👍 I’ve been sprucing mine up & never thought of graphtech tusc saddles. Any particular type/size on that or one size fits all? Thx for fab content, keep it coming!

[@LucasFowler]

These are the ones I purchased, though it looks like they've gone up in price a little. www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009JXEG4K/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[@klee_of_c8082]

Many thanks!

[@joeydurant6267]

I know it literally says mini in the title but is it just the body thats shrunken down? What is the scale length is what im asking.... And honestly will go google. I do like the contact paper guard btw. I used make guards out of formica countertop material.... Just a suggestion.

[@davidmarkham4391]

“I mean that doesn’t suck for a $180 guitar” 🤣

[@nathanking1110]

Dude friggin love this, what strings did you go with?

[@russelmarzo4421]

i want your guitar its soo beautiful

[@RockStarOscarStern634]

3/4 Size Guitars double as travel Guitars because of their compact size.

[@RockStarOscarStern634]

Did you know that Parlor Guitars can make great Travel Guitars

[@HappyHermitt]

Its alresdy a good traveling guitar. You put wheels on ot?

[@jobseeker6145]

Are they Fender locking tuners?

[@danielsgrunge]

That looks like a million bucks!

[@deanmccaskill5495]

Hey man great vid! The meant to ask you for a while... So...I just ordered PRails. I know you have some so.. I think that demo you did was brilliant. Only thing I don’t like about humbucker/P90 things is I think they look weird. The P rails I feel are even worse looking. That’s just my weird OCD. Do you think there’s any way to cover those things? Does SD offer something that you know of? I’m getting them anyway but I was just wondering. Thanks for reading this... I caught you playing Needle from Second Helping a while ago. Great job I’ve been playing that for years and I learned a thing from the way you do it. Cheers From Canada! DM

[@LucasFowler]

I hear ya, they aren't very attractive as pickups go IMO. You might try something like these. They may affect the sound of your pickups, but since they are non-magnetic plastic, I can't imagine them doing much. It would at least make the pickups look a bit more "traditional", or at least like active pickups. www.amazon.com/Timiy-Plastic-Sealed-Humbucker-Pickup/dp/B07JNBF1L9/ref=sr_1_16?dchild=1&keywords=black+humbucker+covers&qid=1622253209&sr=8-16

[@deanmccaskill5495]

Hey thanks! Unfortunately they say they’re unavailable but at least I know what to look for. That wouldn’t look too bad I don’t think. Do you think they’d cover those things if I did find some? And hey... thanks for the kwik reply man. You’re a great player btw. Same style as me.... you’re just better ha ha!!

[@LucasFowler]

@@deanmccaskill5495 I *think* they would cover them but I couldn't tell you for sure. It might be good to find some really cheap ones to try :P

[@Newnodrogbob]

@@deanmccaskill5495 as of today the link is showing them back in stock

[@deanmccaskill5495]

@@Newnodrogbob Huh. Mine still shows unavailable... that’s mot the first time I’ve had that happen. Maybe it’s cause I’m in Canada... but I use Amazon.com all the time. My default is Amazon.ca but I go over to .com frequently Very strange. Thanks though

[@Mauitaoist]

With all of that space under the pick guard I'd be tempted to put in a couple of springs for a built-in Reverb effect. I think one of the reasons the Strat sounds so good is the Springs resonate when you play it inside the cavity

[@RockStarOscarStern634]

The machine heads on this are sealed gear tuners, they're a big improvement over the old kluson tuners they used to use on these Guitars.

[@RockStarOscarStern634]

EMG pickups would work better

[@tofersiefken]

Just curious, what gauge strings did you use and are you in a standard tuning, or did you tune up to compensate for intonation issues associated with short-scale instruments?

[@billyturk8117]

Where would I get decals at for the pick guard?

[@atheomicha]

really cool mods! now to find a case that will work...:)

[@LucasFowler]

I went with this: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07G793ZZG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[@gingerdrive2696]

Nice choice that's the one I got for my mustang.

[@simsrecording]

Impressive work! Loving your videos, man. Last year I did an upgrade on my cheap Epi LP Special ii from 2011-12 and I am pretty proud of it. Grover tuners, SD pickups... Feel free to check it out!

[@LucasFowler]

Good job! Tinkering with guitars is a lot of fun :)

[@vintagesimplexfirealarmsof6440]

how good does that shred

[@KoolKatDave]

Nice work! Some of your playing style is really weird and I mean that in a positive way. It's like you took guitar lessons from aliens...

[@skaldlouiscyphre2453]

Jazzmaster? Looks more like a Jagmaster.

[@MathewsGuitarWorks]

👍