I Turned a SQUIER into an IRON MAIDEN Stratocaster

[@ScienceofLoud]

The first 1,000 people to use this link will get a 1 month free trial of Skillshare: skl.sh/csguitars11211 This 2002 Squier Stratocaster has been given a make over to resemble the '57 Fender Strat used by Dave Murray to record Number Of The Beast, but can it live up to the iconic sound of Iron Maiden? You be the judge. This video contains paid promotion from Skillshare. More details on how CSGuitars implements product promotion - www.csguitars.co.uk/disclosure Time codes : Introduction - 00:00 The Trooper - 01:08 Dave Murray's 1957 Stratocaster - 01:48 Squier Strat Modifications - 02:25 Installation Montage - 03:59 Skillshare Ad - 05:45 Achieving the Sound - 06:42 Mix Examples - 07:55 Isolated Examples - 10:31 Conclusion - 11:31 #ironmaiden #stratocaster #sponsor More from CSGuitars: Gain access to exclusive content at: www.patreon.com/csguitars Join CSGuitars Discord - discord.gg/csguitars Buy CSGuitars Merchandise - www.csguitars.co.uk/store Website - www.csguitars.co.uk Contact - [e-mail] ____________________________________________________________________ *Description contains affiliate links. Purchasing using one of these links will generate a small commission for CSGuitars at no additional cost to you.* Affiliate Links: Thomann - www.thomann.de/gb/index.html?offid=1&affid=367 Sweetwater - imp.i114863.net/2mGGg Reverb - reverb.grsm.io/csguitars Crimson Luthiery Tools - www.crimsonguitars.com/?ref=csguitars + Discount Code 'CSGUITARS5' for 5% OFF Gthic Jewelry - gthic.com/?aff=230 + Discount Code 'colin20' for 20% OFF Title graphics and logo by: www.studiosmithdesign.co.uk/ Join the discussion at: Facebook - facebook.com/csguitars Instagram - instagram.com/csguitars/ Discord - discord.gg/csguitars

[@stephendocherty6735]

Did you know that Dave had a couple of Squires in the early 80s? I know this because I have been in their fan club since 1980 when I first saw them at the Glasgow appollo...😁

[@jasonweber7426]

Funny enough, there were probably a lot of squires put in Iron Maidens back in medieval times, so this seems quite appropriate

[@SchwartzerAdler]

Except that the iron maiden as an instrument of torture was never actually used. ;)

[@shoegazeforever8810]

There were other instruments of toture that were never actually used other than to scare people into making confessions.

[@mrking1629]

Touche

[@chrisfusion6945]

Iron maidens were products of fixtures and were never actually used

[@vincenticyfiregeetar7656]

You're a genius

[@efa666]

Now if you turned a Squier into an actual Iron Maiden that would be impressive lol

[@mattkentqwerty123]

Ha very true. Made me smile 😊

[@dutch_urth]

I mean, that would basically just be the next iteration of the spiked BC Rich, wouldn't it?

[@richardwilliams1310]

Sliced and diced by ultra thin guitar strings

[@mrcoatsworth429]

Let's be honest, nobody would be talking about that strat if Murray hadn't bought and modified it. Kossoff is known for the LP.

[@leo78915]

wow kossoff's strat!

[@Ronno4691]

The Strat Kos is pictured wearing on the cover of Kossoff's Back Street Crawler album? Yep, no one remembers that!

[@mrcoatsworth429]

@@Ronno4691 That's nice. I don't pretend to be a Kossoff superfan, 'cause I am not, but I don't think I've seen a single live video where he isn't playing a Les Paul.

[@Ronno4691]

@@mrcoatsworth429 Lol

[@mrcoatsworth429]

@@Ronno4691 well? Prove me wrong?

[@kristapsv.v1750]

Damn, that was a close tone chase for that "2 Minutes to Midnight" tone!

[@SpectreSoundStudios]

Great job, Colin! That's a LOT of work.

[@johnwardle9667]

As I stumble and fumble over trying to learn the solo from the trooper, I turn to Colin to give me the strength to carry on. Even if my fingers can't physically move fast enough, the support and guidance on whether or not to cut the sleeves off one of my maiden t-shirts is much appreciated..

[@EliseOfTheValley]

Sleeveless maiden shirts add +10 to shred

[@ScienceofLoud]

The vest absolutely helps in tracking the solos. Could be the edge you need to get over the hurdle.

[@koolkutz7]

You need some studded wristbands, that may help ;-)

[@danielsheehan3783]

I also have a 10+ year old Maiden shirt that I cut the sleeves off and turned into a tank top. Work out in it all the time. I believe this is a perfectly fitting end stage for an old, faded band shirt.

[@SchwartzerAdler]

My GF collects all the shirts that I've become too fat to wear and plans on making a blanket from them.

[@CatsInHats-S.CrouchingTiger]

They’re so comfortable without the sleeves! 😝

[@kobalt_ren01]

@@SchwartzerAdler That's really sweet! Also sounds like a cool blanket.

[@chicsamson6457]

@@SchwartzerAdler If any are 30 plus years old they can go for over £300 each

[@SchwartzerAdler]

@@chicsamson6457 Unlikely, most aren't older than 15 years. Some perhaps 18.

[@TheVeryHighKing]

The white and black thing in the top corner before the ad lol. That was a blast from the past

[@nwojdak]

Hell yes! I've been waiting for you to bring that bullet back! So excited to see it again. Looks and sounds awesome!

[@Merjia]

Modded Squiers are awesome. This thing definitely has the spirit of Eddie in it!

[@shramiac]

Dave’s backup guitar on the World Slavery Tour was actually a Squier that had been set up HSH like his two main Strats. Of course, Squiers in the early/mid 80’s were Japanese built and of a high quality.

[@elang7961]

Yeah but the squier one had smaller fret than his kossof strat, but still 80s squier is just like fender without fender logo and 90s squier is just what made squier have bad rep, especially on late 90s with squier use plywood on the guitar, and it sound terrible with poor sustain just awful electric guitar

[@JeanMarceaux]

@@elang7961 weren't Pro Tone Squiers made in the 90s?

[@TheEternalWayfarer]

Exactly, it was the sunburnst Strat, while his first backup (almost identical to the Kossoff but with rosewood fingerboard instead of maple, which he plays in the 2 Minutes to Midnight official video) was a Fender Strat. While the "classic" Superstrat was modeled after Van Halen's Frankenstrat (HSS), Dave's '57/'63 Strat was one of the first examples of Superstrats and his setup was similar to would-be Steve Vai's JEM (HSH, which gave more variety to the sound).

[@shramiac]

@@TheEternalWayfarer The rosewood board Strat also had a Kahler fitted to it.

[@TheEternalWayfarer]

@@shramiac Probably because it is softer to maneuver than the Floyd Rose.

[@RolandDeschain1]

Ahhh, I remember my early days as a thin, young metalhead squeezing myself into a pair of tackle-mashers and trying to make my Sepultura 'Chaos AD' long-sleeve look like my mother hadn't just ironed it for me.

[@nuclearbeige3038]

I have my own guitar of theseus on my hands. A peavey raptor exp plus. Started with tuners and then it evolved into hsh with 2 post trem, coil splitting, I. Series parallel, phase switch 7 way mod and an active overdrive, active preamp, and a momentary kill switch. All the way down to the paint job being redone in black, pink, and purple burst wood dye finish.

[@michaelheath76901]

I love your approach to using a classic guitar as a tool, rather than a shrine. It took me a long time to decide that on my own. I finally came to the conclusion my '68 Les Paul was mine, I never intend to sell it, so I replaced the P90 soap bar pickups with EMG 81/85 P90 size pickups. I was 12 watching MTV whenever I had the chance when Run to the Hills came on. My jaw hit the floor! That was 40 years ago and I've been a fan ever since. Rock On, Brother! 🤘😎

[@nicomordorr]

I did the same but with a SX stratocaster and all the same hardware. Nice work!

[@b2tall239]

Great video. A few years ago I bought a Squire Strat in a pawn shop for $35. The '70s-style neck was (and still is) teriffic so it was a no-brainer. It's been my "Frankenstrat" ever since, a guitar that I can crack open and swap pickups whenever I see something that interests me. It currently has a Duncan Invader at the bridge and a Duncan P-Rail at the neck. Needless to say I use it almost exclusively for metal jamming. It's a great way to learn about modding guitars without having to worry about screwing up an expensive axe.

[@jimadams8182]

Great job! Mine is a Fender American Standard, used off the shelf DiMarzio pickups. I had to jigsaw an offset hole to move the volume pot away from the pickup ring. UP THE IRONS!!

[@GUITARKITWORLD]

I was headbangin with that intro man! haha lovin this channel already. Iron Maiden fan here too! That strat would be perfect for some IM jam!

[@peterjohnson4932]

Hey Colin, nicely done! I've had similar ideas - rather than slavishly copying a guitar down to the minutest detail I prefer doing something "based on" and putting my own spin on things, as you've done here. The result? A recognizable "nod towards" but with lots of your own personality - It makes it YOUR guitar. And those pickups sound awesome! You got a real variance in tones between them.

[@glass.hammer]

I love Morello’s Soul Power strat so built one from some used Fender parts. And I put my own spin on it for sure. Found an excellent American FSR Fender neck, switched out the pickups to my favorite Seymour Duncan, full-size humbucker, added a kill switch soft button in a better place for my playing, 12 way switch and adjusted the tone knobs with different caps, rewound some stock single coils I had lying around. I just need to decide on something to draw onto the black body. And of course that mirror pickguard.

[@ThatMattGoodMusic]

Those pickups sound fantastic! As a fan of both extensive wiring and pickup mods, and 2002 Squier Strats (I have one that I've modded heavily, the neck is wonderful and I like the slightly thinner body) I really enjoyed this video. You've made me want to pursue winding my own pickups!

[@ElvesvsShinyRocks]

I'm not even a big iron maiden fan, but, like... The Trooper is just, so good. Anyway, love the build, love your channel, just, much love!

[@petec4302]

Wow, absolutely awesome job, sounds fantastic. Would love to see more of how to play "Fear of the Dark", just love the guitar work on that song.

[@blacktoothfox677]

Just popped in to wish you all the very very best for 2022! - also, I cant wait to do my own version of this project, I have a box of specific bits, like a big-ass hi-mass dimarzio bridge he used for a bit... Its just gotta be done! I love what you did here. And the channel. Cheers man!

[@ashergrey105]

great single(double in fact)coil sound! and gorgeous sound overall. congrats!

[@gregorykalla2565]

This was fantastic!!! Great playing and explanation

[@jcdelas]

Love how well produce are the cover. Sound fantastic

[@ScienceofLoud]

Thank you!

[@Avonidsed]

Up the Irons!!! I did something similar with an old strat copy I had, but I found some Epiphone pickups on our local buy-and-sell site for $30 can, a wilkinson M series for the middle, locking tunders, roller string trees, all-brass bridge and a brass nut. Made more of a Motorhead theme with the finish (the Dead Man's Hand)

[@creepingjesus5106]

It's damn good by the way, it's what Squiers are there for! Although a few years ago when Fender put out the 70s RI, I could see nothing but Eddie Clarke's Strat from classic Mötörhead! Bill Lawrence rail bucker in the bridge, an iron cross or two, and a few cig burns here and there...mint!

[@cameronglynn825]

Good stuff as usual

[@twenty3electronics]

I’ve heard splitting a coil that way causes string drop out when bending, which is why fender used a z shape, such as the p bass, electric xii, and G&L guitars

[@vorpalblades]

That's not how magnetic dipoles work. They separate the coils to affect the tone.

[@TheStobb50]

Thank you I was just thinking about converting my ageing Squire into a double humbucker thank you for providing the ideas on how to do it

[@yanikem6655]

Hi Colin, great build! Dave actually used modded Squiers with rosewood fingerboards on the World Slavery Tour in 1984-85!

[@andrexavier8147]

Genius! Congratulations. Greetings from Brazil.

[@TheStrykerProject]

You make these mods look so easy. Well, maybe for most people they are, but I struggle greatly trying to mod guitars (beyond tuning peg swaps, anyway), especially if any fabrication is involved. That strat looks and sounds amazing! 🤘🏻 🍻

[@peteburgess3683]

Awesome job and Dave had a 62 rosewood neck version as seen on live after death video. Also its now for sale on ebay for £39,000!😜🤘

[@PeterMoore350]

I really enjoyed this video. I was having a crappy day and this made me smile. I love the split middle pickup you made - if I was to search for something similar from one of the usual manufacturers what would i search for ? I suppose there is a local NZ guy that makes pickups so I’ll probably support a local business and ask him. Again thx for making me smile and I will probably do that mod in the future albeit all black. Cheers from NZ 🎸👍😎

[@roosternm6830]

I bought an off brand copy of Dave's HSH Strat and it had an actual Dimarzio Super Distortion in the bridge. It was a Japanese made Strat so it was a decent guitar. It became my go to guitar. This was back in 1984

[@Ronno4691]

Good video, Cozy. I approve of the extensive modding undertaken to achieve your very own Dave Murray tribute axe.

[@elikirkwood4580]

I think setting up a bunch of different pickguards for the guitar and wiring in some type of hot swap connector for the output jack would be super cool

[@DanCooz323]

I actually did something like that for one of my Les Pauls. Added quick connects, so I could swap in whatever set I want; 490/498, Jazz/JB, Burstbucker Pro.

[@jairotena8281]

Pretty sure Dave Murray had a backup that was similarly spec'd like his original, but with a rosewood neck and a Kahler on it. So it's more faithful than you think

[@luisnunes3863]

Great playing, colin! 🤘🤘

[@vadimf8301]

Great work dude \m/

[@Dzo826]

Ok, you did a serious great job on this!!.. Methinks I'm gonna have to get me a Squier and do the same thing!!.... GREAT JOB, my man!!..

[@Traumglanz]

Wow, Henning was right, science of loud from really small Scottish people is amazing. Easy subscription.

[@hamishsummers8585]

"I positioned myself at two minutes to midnite out of respect" brilliant, mate, fucking brilliant!

[@CatsInHats-S.CrouchingTiger]

You really did a beautiful job on your guitar!

[@SerjBassist]

I always wondered if it's possible to add some form of quick connection between the output jack and the rest of the circuit, so you could easily swap different pickguards to a strat without having to unsolder and solder every time.

[@pjstraightedge]

This Strat looks and sounds so good! Excellent work Colin. A full cover of The Trooper would be the tits! 🤘🏻

[@DanCooz323]

Colin, you should do a full cover of "The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner" on that beaut!!

[@green8923]

Not only did you do a great job creating such a great Maiden Machine of a guitar, you also did a great job of getting a good Steve Harris bass tone, which is a very important ingredient!

[@richardwilliams1310]

Awesome job Colin, you are one clever dude that plays well too \m/ Great video m8 \m/ Cheers!!!

[@eddiejr540]

Looks awesome and sounds even awesomer...yea I’m makin up words...always good stuff when Maiden is rockin!!!!

[@guitar19971]

Looks and sounds great Colin. Definitely sounds a lot like Maiden to me. Do you think you could do follow up vid explaining the pickups (specifically the humbuckers) in more depth? I love hearing you talk about that stuff

[@mattkentqwerty123]

Cool just cool……………………….soooo coool!!! Love the fact you made a “replica” but put your own personal touch and feel to it….Epic!!!

[@NunoGuitarsSilva]

This is really great stuff, congrats!! 🤘

[@bradchervel5202]

Holy shit your tone had so much edge to it. Cut perfect and your bass tone thumped!!

[@jdoyel1]

Love that middle pickup!

[@svenkaahedgerg3425]

Great video. A lot of fun, especially the middle pickup

[@free-birdrocker8809]

Dude, you rock. You wind your own pickups? Dude! Thats awesome!

[@Randyplaysguitars]

Glad you played wickerman🤘 Definitely one of my many faves

[@liamwilson42]

I really enjoyed this video , amazing how a Squier of latter build could sound that good

[@stevemaass3074]

Very cool. I wanted one of the Dave Murray strats when they first came out but passed because of the price. That’s a pretty nice, economical alternative. Well done.

[@nicolamontoro]

Sounds and looks amazing. Great work

[@joshuamarcelo9791]

I’ve been building a squire Dave Murray inspired Strat as well that I name ‘Stratomurry’ based off of his fender signature Strat for the past year. It’s my favorite guitar to okay that I own!

[@palukens]

Great job! You've been practicing, the riffs are awesome! And your as fine of a PAF waxxer as has ever been!!!

[@akwamarsunzal]

Nice mod and sweet playing! Great video! :-)

[@moonboogien8908]

Pickups sounded fresh... Very nice job!

[@klauswigsmith]

Totally unrelated to your build, but I never realized how similar the choruses for Run the the Hills and Sun & Steel were to each other! Ok, back to the video!

[@markpell8979]

Sweet! Gives me ideas for my Squier which is already an HH but that trick middle pickup you made is very interesting. So THAT is how you make a noiseless single coil! Brilliant. And by the way you played the shit out of it man, sounds great.

[@siwiaz5494]

I love that Strat! Please cover Aces High with that beast! Many Greetings from Germany!

[@blacktoothfox677]

I've LITERALLY got a little box of bits waiting to do this EXACT same project!!!

[@Mr.Goldbar]

more major manufacturers should make these split coils in Strat housing :D

[@picksalot1]

The guitar looks fantastic! Modded guitars are great, and unique ones are even better. You can't be unique standing in someone else's shoes. 🤘

[@joshvandruff1790]

Awesome work! Love the tones on it and the sneaky “single” coil is an awesome idea.

[@valuedhumanoid6574]

I was the PROUD owner of a Maiden jacket. My mom (yes, very metal) sewed a full Iron Maiden Number of the Beast on the back of my Jean jacket. Then I cut the sleeves off and put that over my black leather coat. Then sewed those two together with a chain that went from arm to arm across the back. Then many other smaller patches of my other favorite bands with iron cross pendants and any other cool shit I could find. It was a work of art.

[@plumbummusic2051]

Don't worry too much about the neck, Colin. Dave himself changed it to a rosewood fretboard with a locking nut around 84/85 after switching to a floating trem.

[@bpabustan]

It'a a-happenin' baby! Amazing tones I must say.

[@MattCitrano]

I've been thinking about this exact guitar and topic a lot lately! Thank you! I loved Iron Maiden growing up and always thought Dave's guitar was the coolest.

[@steelfalcon472]

I modeled my squire after Randy Rhoads' Sandoval V Although my squire doesn't have a cut out for 2 humbuckers so I Improvised a bit In the Neck I have a DiMarzio Super Distortion Single coil Middle: DiMarzio Pro Track Bridge: a DiMarzio Super Distortion Humbucker (the bridge was the only side cut out for a Humbucker, and I have it slanted like Jake E Lee's bridge pickup) I also replaced my Squire's tremolo system with a Vega Trem and replaced the String trees and Nut with GraphTech ones. I kept the white coloring for the pickups because I didn't wanna change too much of the look of the guitar, it's my first electric guitar ever and I'm happy I could rebuild it to keep up with my band's instruments. To me the neck shape is too perfect for my hands to just abandon it for a new guitar. Oh I also replaced the Potts to I think DiMarzio 500's

[@migsterman67]

“I’ve positioned myself at 2 Minutes to Midnight out of respect for the man”, absolutely brilliant! 😂

[@occamseraser]

Love your work Colin!

[@albertplaysguitar]

Wow, fantastic! Amazing job, sound, guitar, playin... wish I had 10 percent of your technical ability.

[@blessedheavyelements8544]

Best Regards and Best Wishes for all this great content!

[@peskypesky]

absolutely amazing!!

[@erojerisiz1571]

3:17 that split single coil is genius

[@Shr3dd3r2k8]

I'd keep the rosewood. Better playability, and it looks fantastic. I've got a 90s Squier that's been my baby since I rescued her from a garage sale for $37 in 2007. She's had some work done, but that body and neck are original. The pickups were trash, so I put in some Carvin models. (two single-coil size twin rail humbuckers and one of their covered single coils for the mid.) The tuners were ditched for Grovers, because staying in tune is nice. The pickguard was as trash as the pickups, so she's got a three-ply NOS (white/black/white) A black bridge fitted with a brass block as well as a black jack cover finish it all up, contrasting with an Olympic White body that had turned a gorgeous cream color from too much sun exposure. I often don't feel worthy when I play her, lol.

[@handlethisyoutube]

Oh yes. This is what it's all about. Keep calm and mod on!!

[@patrickkowalski8256]

Colin, if you ask yourself “Can I Play With Madness,” just make sure you don’t squabble with “The Evil That Men Do,” and let’s add no “Fear of the Dark”. Big Maiden fan myself. Play them on guitar myself all the time

[@Furtheronmusic]

Excellent job Colin.

[@mr.nobody68]

I'll add a little bit of additional volume if Maiden comes on the radio but I've never been able to get into them. Not sure why. I'm just super picky about music. This was a great video to watch

[@Sammonkeyfist]

Cracking job Colin. 🤘🤘🤘

[@TheSchane]

the opening run of jabs had me in stitches!

[@jameswayland2339]

Colin , have you ever considered making and selling your own line of boutique pick ups ?

[@lachienicholson1510]

I think he does or did on the CS guitars website

[@ianfurqueron5850]

I have a project brewing to build Dave's "#2" guitar from the Live After Death era - the one with the Kahler bridge - partly because I already have the Kahler... I recently picked up one of the main components - a set of the chrome pickup rings - which happened to be for F-spacing humbuckers. The guitar I'll be building into this will need to be repainted black, but the current finish received a really bad relic attempt by a previous owner, so I'm not bothered with refinishing it. It also has the rosewood fretboard like Dave's Kahler Strat had. Should be a fun project... I'll probably take the easy route and order Dimarzio pickups.

[@chrisdaviesguitar]

Nicely played dude :)

[@distortionclubla]

thx for the vid C, and thx for the examples...

[@MusicTherapyLaz]

Cool video man... I've been in the process of slowly modding my MIM Blacktop Strat with some custom Vinehame doubke cream pickups, a Tesi switch... and more... already have a Vega-Trem installed... loving the guitar mods! ROCK ON! 😎🤘🎸🐦

[@Zephirot080]

I can't stop drooling at this gorgeous guitar

[@darkestfugue]

nice job, and you bass playing is great