Restoring My FIRST Electric Guitar! 2003 Hardtail SQUIER Stratocaster | Axe From The Grave

[@ScienceofLoud]

This 2003 hardtail, single humbucker Squier Stratocaster was my first electric guitar. Inspired by Squier's new Sonic HT Strat I restore this 20 year old axe to its former glory. Squier 2023 Sonic Stratocaster : Pink - thmn.to/thoprod/560978?offid=1&affid=367 Black - thmn.to/thoprod/560976?offid=1&affid=367 Support on Patreon - www.patreon.com/csguitars More details on how CSGuitars implements product promotion - www.csguitars.co.uk/disclosure #squier #sonic #stratocaster Timecodes: 00:00 - My First Guitar 01:03 - Selecting a Humbucker 01:36 - Renovating a Super 10 Humbucker 03:01 - Wiring the Pickguard 04:04 - Recap of Work Done 04:27 - Full Mix Sounds 05:41 - Isolated Guitar Sounds 06:44 - Closing Thoughts & Patreon 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.*

[@RaccoonHenry]

thomann links are not working, or is it just me?

[@esersoniiisilva7388]

Wow you have a shirt from guitar pusher from the Philippines ❤

[@swoashoh1328]

That right side of the bed cover was phenomenal man, seriously impressive stuff, colin

[@jacob_krause_official7286]

In general, that is the perfect shade of orange, but especially for a guitar

[@ScienceofLoud]

Thank you. These kind of videos are funded by supporters on Patreon. If you aren't already, you might consider helping me out there. It means I can do more of these and less sponsored content: www.patreon.com/csguitars

[@lukejones0826]

My grandfather’s first electric guitar was a hagstrom 2 from the 60s. When he got it it was a sunburst finish with a strat-like headstock and a wammy bar & he used it like that for quite some time. Recently (or somewhat recently I don’t really have an exact timeline) he decided to make some modifications to it so he sanded the finish off to the natural wood and redesigned the headstock to be a 3 on a side style with the g and b string tuners flipped for whatever reason. The frets are worn down to next to nothing but it’s one of the best guitars I have ever played!

[@turtle420.-.]

It pleases me to know that we had the exact same first guitar. I loved that thing so much. and I miss it.

[@kennyleejohnson5253]

Such a simple and COOL guitar. I love Squier Strats .

[@BryanHRBrodie]

My 1st electric was a black Korean Strat from 1989 and it’s been through many mods and pickups but has ended back as original apart from the pickups. Still the one guitar I gravitate to and would never sell.

[@vav413]

Great job Colin! That Atreyu cover had me time traveling back to HS. I still have the discman I wore that CD out in

[@mathias6423]

yeah good ole days and not much problems in life when listening to songs like that one =)

[@ThatBaritoneGuitarGuy]

I remember those Bullet Specials very well. Amazingly, they were actually good enough to make us feel like proper rockstars.

[@benjipc5637]

Shout-out to the Guitar Pusher shirt you're wearing in this video, glad to see a store from my country being represented here.

[@ScienceofLoud]

Guitar Pusher is a fantastic store and the staff took great care of us on our visit to Manila.

[@chrisgoblin4857]

Not listened to Atreyu in time. Memories of annoying my parents trying to learn Bleeding Mascara as a 15 year old who thought he could sweep pick haha. Great vid Colin.

[@justinvzu01]

That was me half a year ago. lol. Spoiler alert, I couldn't. lol

[@RobbDizzl]

Ah, old school Atreyu. Those were the days. 😊

[@gamingwithbam]

I really like the orange

[@N7Infil95]

Truly wicked. I did the same thing to my first guitar: a '94 Fender Squier Series Strat. True Fender wood, cheap Squier everything else. I gutted the guitar prior to 2020 to begin to upgrade it but an incident not COVID related put a year's damper on it. In 2021, I finally got around to making it sing again. First upgrades were replacing the white triple single pickups and pickguard with a 3 ply single hum with a Wilkinson PAF Overwound in reverse zebra with a 500k CTS pot, fresh Switchcraft jack and jack plate, Wilkinson economy vintage trem, fresh economy tuners, and a Graphtech Black Tusq nut. Felt great to make it loud again. When one of the saddle screws stripped, put in modern saddles. Then came the most major upgrade in a Fishman Fluence Modern pickup. Really loud and responsive. The most recent upgrade was a Hipshot locking tuner kit for vintage sized holes, which needed a little aid from a tapered reamer. All I need now is fresh frets to replace the flattened originals. But it's still a fun time to play.

[@alteredbrain]

Atreyu sounding right off the hook made me go back 20 years ago too !

[@Vegokuxoxo]

That shade of orange is SICK and the right side of the bed cover took me back to learning it on my squier..15 years ago.

[@ssblu2112]

That Orange is sick looking! Beautiful guitar!

[@ev1lund3ad]

Looks like a perfect punk rock machine 😍

[@concretebadger]

Great stuff. It's cool to see that you've kept it, too. I still regret selling that late 80s Korean-made Squier Bullet strat that 16-year-old me bought second-hand with money from his first job in order to play Oasis and Green Day badly!

[@jezmez68]

Teenage you did a bang-up job on those ferrels on the back. NAILED IT!

[@christravis8288]

I have the same model. Still all factory spec. Just loved the colour combination.

[@TheM00ndawg]

well, teenage boys know about cranking.

[@bioniclefan1]

30yo boys know a thing or two about it as well 😂

[@tntisbased]

Is this a mids joke or a masturbation joke

[@bioniclefan1]

@@tntisbased yes

[@jroobz]

Hahah

[@Jesterhead21]

Never been a Strat guy nor am I a fan of single pickup guitars, but this axe is killer!!! Now I need one

[@kboett77]

Glorious! I'm still rocking mine (in black) modded with a added Casino Neck pickup and I got rid of that useless volume knob and replaced it with a 3 way selector.

[@ladyjulia4038]

This is so freaking cool friend. Keep killing it you handsome devil!

[@toddr2375]

I bought one of those new back in '03 and still have it. The neck is one of the best I have ever played. With the exception of string changes, mine is completely stock. Thanks for doing this video!

[@RaccoonHenry]

I wanted to see how you addressed the super straight string-through ferrules!

[@justinvzu01]

Man, I love Atreyu. The Crimson still slaps.

[@dimitris470]

I got the SSS hardtail bullet a few years back, and with some work it's glorious. Easy to fix and service, its a great learning tool. With a good setup it's easily one my easiest to play guitars. Even the pickups sound amazing

[@thisguy2973]

Man, right side of the bed! Haven’t heard that in YEARS!!

[@jeromewagschal9485]

I got one 🙂 Bought brand new in Phoenix back in February 2003 when it came out for $99... Great strat, I'm fortunate to own many higher-end Fenders and some vintage ones too but I just love that little orange thing 😁😁😁 I completely modified mine too...

[@BoojayDeeth]

Gotta love a good Squier. Pink yeh. That orange rocks! My first guitar was a fabulous early 80's Tokai T type. Kept it stock, still have it, still amazing.

[@cageliner]

I'm not sure why this video popped up on my feed, but I thought I'd say hello. 3-4 years ago I bought a pawnshop 2004 Squier Bullet like yours but in Ice Blue Metallic for $67 US. It was dirty and needed a string change but I took a liking to it. I did a set up and it played very well, but the single generic humbucker wasn't doing it for me. I butchered the guard and installed a Gibson P-90 soapbar with a black cover. I also added a tone pot and Tele knobs. As a Fender scale Junior, it does the thing now! Cheers!

[@justinmann1397]

I don't even play guitar anymore but I still have to check in to support Collin!

[@jamesnewton485]

To keep it more authentic you should've plugged it into a Line 6 Spyder amp. I don't know if that is what you had back then but I'd say it's a pretty good guess. Tube screamer was on point!

[@kennethnielsen3864]

Thanks for sharing.

[@timvanboening9432]

Pretty awesome, man! I put some fresh D’Addario XL 10s with wound G on my Strat tonight. It’s a ‘96 black label MIM that was the guitar I learned to do wiring on. Thing is a tank, man! I have a story. Close to twenty years ago, my friends were over at my house, and my friend decided he wanted to attempt the swing the guitar over your shoulder and catch it trick like so many Emo and like bands were doing at the time…and he wanted to use my Strat. The other friends were all for it, and I was in shock and didn’t put up a fight. The Strat had strap locks, so it should be fine, my friend said. Part of me wanted to see it, part of me wanted to grab my baby away. We all go out to my front lawn, and my 6’4” friend gave it a good hard swing over his shoulder, and stripped out the screw of the lower end of the body. My Strat flew about ten to fifteen feet up in the air and soared about as far and landed headstock first into the Rocky hard SoCal desert lawn. I quickly ran to it and kneeled as I picked the guitar up to inspect. I looked down the neck, straightened the neck with a tweak and strummed a D chord. Still in tune. Thing is a tank.

[@AP-uv7qs]

I would rock that! Simple and effective! Rock on 🤘

[@do00]

Fantastic job. Man, that final result is lush! I want one! :D

[@jessebusen]

Honestly, and orange Strat with a slab rosewood fretboard and a hot humbucker sounds like absolute heaven.

[@TomaszStachewicz]

nostalgia hit hard on that atreyu, i almost forgot i loved this song!

[@KennyStMarie]

My first guitar was 2002 Bullet Special in silver sparkle finish. Great guitar, shouldn’t have sold it! Thanks for sharing the video! Very cool!

[@georgeprice4212]

I had a 1992 Squier Stratocaster that I loved, lost, got back, only to lose again and have yet to see it turn back up. I only had to have one very important thing done to it, and it only cost me the installation fee: replacement of tuning keys. I had a set of black Grovers that I saved from a destroyed Lotus Telecaster style guitar (and before that, a no name pink guitar), and had those installed as the ones on the Squier were frozen stiff (and the ones that did work didn’t hold the tuning). So, I know the quality of Squier guitars first hand.

[@joachimdeissler3198]

Sounds and looks great🤘🤘🤘

[@JosephGallagher]

That last cameraphone clip is so priceless...

[@pyromaniaxe1187]

What's the song?

[@JosephGallagher]

@@pyromaniaxe1187 I don't know, really

[@peterharrell7305]

Picked up one of those hardtails in blue with a maple fretboard. I'm kinda blown away at how good that thing sounds.

[@DanielStephenTurner]

That colour is killer!

[@hardstones17]

I actually just upgraded my first personally bought guitar as a kid, an Ibanez GART60. It plays like a dream now and its great, I cant wait till later on I continue to do more modifications to it.

[@espltd1000]

Love that song 🤘🤘

[@alexcorona]

I just got a Barreta and it’s my favorite guitar now.

[@sideB-ult]

That is my first guitar too! Also my main one It was given to me by a friend of my dad, it is the red one but someone had modified it before it ended up in my hands. Instead of the stock humbucker it has a Gibson Dirty Fingers pickup

[@Fedethedangerous95]

your playing sounds really great! this bullet looks and sounds pretty cool

[@slaytallicadeththrax4547]

Me on the weekend... 2:22. Couldn't have said it better myself!

[@PooNinja]

My first real guitar was a squire II HSS strat maple neck candy apple red top mounted hardware. God I loved that guitar, I should have never sold it!

[@benebluesman]

I've also recently embarked on the restoration of my first guitar. It's an Old Kraftsman (Kay factory) that younger me decided needed a scalloped fretboard..

[@Buttterscotched]

Love the outro video at the end

[@leegallatin480]

I wish they offered this orange model , I would choose this over the blue / Pink one offered today. Great vid, that guitar sounds great

[@jonnylawless6797]

Right Side of the Bed was the first guitar solo I learned. I actually learned how to play lead listening to Atreyu.

[@ak2112]

great video. going to grab one of the new sonic HT H strats.

[@DeformedDevices]

I have a bullet. I picked it up just as a beater. 20 years later I realize now what a gem this was. The neck has no business being this good.

[@kobalt_ren01]

Loved seeing this restored, and now I have a sudden need to go listen to that Atreyu track haha. I recently rebuilt my own starting strat-style guitar which had been sat around pretty much since covid started as a husk. Put a better quality Aria neck on as the stock Jaxville neck needs some work (if it's still usable, which I have my doubts), added a killswitch button, added a HSS layout with angled bridge hum, and even some electrical tape letters on the pickguard because I'm very much a Billie Joe Armstrong fan. One thing I didn't account for though... need a shim for the new neck, so that's on the way.

[@triledink]

You litteraly almost just made your old guitar into one of those Squire Sonic strats, but with better specs. Its good that some companies make cheaper single humbucker strats nowadays.

[@_oe_o_e_]

Reminds me how my $99 bullet from ‘01 still has the finest neck finish of any guitar I’ve owned

[@PossumGamer]

I still play mostly in Drop C because I still listen to that era of music lmao

[@diegoflores3831]

reminds me a lot of a Charvel, not because of the obviously similat shape, but the paintjob looks brand new and it´s more metal oriented, looks like the guitars charvel makes, simple but designed to shred

[@evenzeroescanbeheroes6875]

Man, I sold my first guitar, which was also a Squier about 4 years ago, and I regret doing so. I'm thinking about picking one up and moddong it for the nostalgia. One with a hardtail would be a huge plus.

[@BAND-MAID-USA]

That’s a badass looking guitar right there. I’d get the headstock painted to match too.

[@adambrzycki8088]

Was not ready for Right Side of the Bed. Suddenly I'm back in my childhood bedroom ripping on Burnout 3.

[@jarrusjenkins]

I love it mate! I'm glad you still have your first guitar. I still have my Squier Affinity strat and I modified mine in a similar vein to how you had yours before you converted it back. It also looks similar to yours :) Just need me a Victory Kraken to go with it...

[@abunai.j]

Love this series, man. There's a lot to learn here for sure. Makes me think I need to grab my old Washburn BT-2 Maverick and restore it. It's my first guitar (we were broke as a joke, and my Grandma knew how much I loved music and pinched her pennies to get it for me), and I'd love to do it, but it's got things wrong with it that I've never learned to redo, like new frets. Maybe it's time to try. Just nervous to screw it up irreparably...

[@thebipolarbear1]

That was my first guitar it's a twenty years anniversary bullet I loved it because it was like tom delonge signature strat

[@oliverjames7315]

The blue tape. Memories.

[@misubi]

Very cool color. Fender should do more of those.

[@glenbertalimpulos9609]

nice guitar pusher shirt!

[@MarkArthur]

Nice shirt!!

[@fongy200]

Surely to God that band was not named after that Indian kid from the Never ending story? Great content as always. My son is into modifying his Guitars, he's forever buying 'value brand' Guitars to meddle with but the Guitars he uses are Westfield ones. He swears by them and to be fair by the time he's done 99% of them have turned out to be really good. I have mentioned Squire to him on a few occasions and he pulls his face unless it's a CV or contemporary. Anything but a Bullet or Affinity. 2003, that's the year he was born. I have tried an Affinity and thought it was good, especially as a platform for modification, lol. He's also on about winding his own Pup's, he's saving up for a winder. I might sling him a few quid so we can both have a go. Thank you for your superb content.

[@emerortiz13]

Guitar Pusher😮😮😮

[@BullFrog96]

I had one of these but pulled it apart and ended up ruining it. I regret doing that. I would love to have it back in original condition. I still have the body and neck and just need to refinish the body and redrill the tunning peg holes. Just another project I put on the side.

[@Brannington]

been considering modding my Squier Jagmaster by stripping the finish off, getting a new wiring harness by either emerson or gunstreet, grabbing a new goofy pickguard off aliexpress and wiring a single coil into the neck position 🤔🤔🤔 not sure if i want to keep using the stock bridge humbucker or swap it out for a super distortion but we shall see

[@scottcarpenter701]

our first guitar: i think it's the best thing for a player to have a cheap enough guitar to 'work on' to learn how to work with the very real Carpentry it is we get into.. then when you have an instrument you care enough about, you know what not to do then!

[@skaman125]

I want the purple Esquire H and Bronco just for the sake of modifications. Love seeing these “disposable” low price guitars get turned into sleepers.

[@sagittated]

Get out of my head, I've already got pickups selected for the purple esquire and a bronco bass. Still haven't pulled the trigger on either, but I've been going back and forth on those two. Maybe both eventually.

[@scoosh.productions]

6:00 onwards... I recognise those riffs 👀😩

[@meyer4527]

hey for your more music video sections whats you lighting setup

[@Moose_Hawkins]

My goal is to do this to my old Ibanez Gio one day. It served me extremely well, but the frets and electronics are pretty much shot, and I scribbled all over it in silver sharpie back in high school (in a cringey imitation of Joe Satriani's Black Dog guitar). Maybe one day when I actually get some working space 😂

[@ralpherl5657]

Lmao, I had a 2003 Squier that I later sanded and spray-painted orange. I also listened to Atreyu on repeat from 2003-2006

[@martinclayton7260]

I must admit that I prefer your orange strat to the new pink one.

[@dannywannys]

Was really hoping to get Colin vocals when I realized the song, awesome stuff nonetheless

[@booitsnick]

The orange is one of the rarest colors I have a black and a metallic blue one. Greatest cheap guitar ever

[@Left_Hand_Path]

Haha atreyu as the demo track is perfect for that 2003-04 vibe

[@fistinair1979]

Black tuners would really complete the look here.

[@ScienceofLoud]

It of course originally had black tuners, but back in 2008 (when I came to make some changes to the instrument) I didn't have as many options for upgrades as I do now. GuitarGuitar in Glasgow had one set of 6 in line tuners and they were chrome. Finding black hardware locally just wasn't an option back then. It's been this way for so long now that I like how it looks and is a reminder of a more exciting time in my life.

[@tattoodan4277]

I had a couple of friends in the time they were new get them and they were the only new squires that were not just consistent but they were all excellent not just beginner guitars but shockingly well built and playing pair d with a micro cube and many of the early 2000’s guitarists were born at least in my nowhere town in NS Canada I started playing a couple years earlier than that and cut my teeth on a Yamaha EG112 kit which was closer to the average new squire guitar quality of the time and nowhere near as excellent as those hard tail single HB squire bullet guitars were

[@OW79]

What's the background music for "WIring The Pickguard" @3:05

[@Sean_Plays_Guitar]

Ahh....remember youth? That was good stuff 😂

[@hunterplaysguitar2301]

Nice shirt

[@adriangarcia2459]

Whats the name of that cloth tape you used for your pickup restoration? Where i can get it?

[@mathias6423]

ooh the Duncan Invader, that one I remember as being heavy! Man I wish I had your skills soldering and stuff. The guitar looks sick. Wow that Atreyu riff took me back man ! How does supercheap Squier guitars like these feel to play compared to lets say a MIM style Fender like the Fender Player series ? I wanna buy a cheap guitar to play some Maiden on.

[@justinvzu01]

I'm just pissed they didn't make the pink single humbucker available left handed. I really want a cheap pink guitar.

[@stephanematis]

I guess Squier decided that having "Bullet" in the name is against the whims of the modern era. Even though with history dating back to CBS era Fender truss rods ... Sonic is a good name ... but why no Sonic Blue as that might be a ... shoe in choice. No?! Nice playin' Colin. My first guitar is an Ibanez RS135, the first pointy headed RS. My first Fender was a Bullet Strat, gold star logo ... that I should have never sold.

[@73prd]

Love that colour what's the proper name for it

[@Gyrokosher]

I'm intrigued by a hand rank pickup winder...?