My first electric. Fender Squire

Troyboi · #1 07-23-2017, 03:38 AM

Well today I decided to lash out and buy my first electric guitar. A Fender squire with a Samick 20watt practice amp. Now I know these guitars are Chinese cheapies but for $99 on Gumtree I thought well it will do as just a hack around for now. I'm still playing my acoustic guitar and practicing everyday but wanted this guitar as just something I could use for fun.
I broke a string when cleaning it today but was going to replace all of the strings anyway. Any suggestions on what to get?
Also one of the pick ups has rust on some of them. Should I try to clean this off or replace it?
Finally what exactly does the lever switch do on the guitar?

1neeto · #2 07-23-2017, 04:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Troyboi

Well today I decided to lash out and buy my first electric guitar. A Fender squire with a Samick 20watt practice amp. Now I know these guitars are Chinese cheapies but for $99 on Gumtree I thought well it will do as just a hack around for now. I'm still playing my acoustic guitar and practicing everyday but wanted this guitar as just something I could use for fun.
I broke a string when cleaning it today but was going to replace all of the strings anyway. Any suggestions on what to get?
Also one of the pick ups has rust on some of them. Should I try to clean this off or replace it?
Finally what exactly does the lever switch do on the guitar?

Congrats on your NGD! Ok, first we needs a pic to see what switch you're talking about. But my guess you're taking about the 5-way switch. It's for selecting pickups. If the switch is down (towards the bridge) then that means only the bridge pickup is selected, the second position is the bridge and middle, and third position is just the middle, then middle and neck, and then just the neck. Experiment with it, the first thing you'll notice is how the tone gets brighter towards the bridge and how it gets warmer towards the neck.

And it's Squier (sorry it's a pet peeve of mine). Can you take some pics of it, like from the headstock?

Troyboi · #3 07-23-2017, 04:21 AM

Here are some photos of my Fender SQUIER...LOL

This is the amp.

I unscrewed the pick up closest to the bridge to try and get some of the rust of it then noticed that they are adjusted to a certain height. How do I get it back to its correct position? Does it have to be a certain distance from the strings?

1neeto · #4 07-23-2017, 05:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Troyboi

Here are some photos of my Fender SQUIER...LOL

This is the amp.

I unscrewed the pick up closest to the bridge to try and get some of the rust of it then noticed that they are adjusted to a certain height. How do I get it back to its correct position? Does it have to be a certain distance from the strings?

Sorry pics don't work. Yes, the pickups are adjusted for height. Basically, the closer the pickups are to the strings, the louder it gets. But with single coil pickups (traditionally on a strat) the pickups are also magnets and they "pull" on the strings which kills sustain. I don't want to get too much into pickup height setup but that's the gist of it.

Troyboi · #5 07-23-2017, 05:54 AM

Can you see the pics now? I can after fixing the links.

1neeto · #6 07-23-2017, 06:00 AM

Yes they work now!

Troyboi · #7 07-23-2017, 06:20 AM

So what's a good set of strings I should get for this?

blue · #8 07-23-2017, 08:47 AM

Matter of preference. Most electrics on the wall at guitar stores will either have 10s (more common) or 9s. So even though it isn't really accurate, you can consider those medium, or light. I say it isn't accurate because lots of us prefer 11s.

So if you want "light" strings go 9. If you want "medium" go 10. If it's your first electric and you are used to acoustic, I'd start with 10 just because it may be easier to adjust.

FrankHudson · #9 07-23-2017, 09:49 AM

Rust on pickups is not a problem, it doesn't impact how they work.

Strings. I'd suggest the Ernie Ball Slinky set. Widely available, not too expensive and they sound fine. Get either the light (.010 for the high E string) or extra light set (.009 for the top string) set. If you're an acoustic player and used to the higher tension of electric strings, get the .010 set.

You've learned what the lever switch does. In the 2 and 4 positions you also get noise cancelling (hum that might be present in other positions is greatly reduced) and a cool sound, often called "quack" that is very distinctive, though it will be at a lower volume than the other positions.

Here's the general recipe for setting up a Stratocaster type guitar pickups. Start with the neck pickup selected and adjust it until you think it sounds best. You can even raise or lower one side more than the other. Do not get the pickup too close to the strings though--as mentioned, too close and the magnets won't let the string vibrate freely enough. Then go to the middle pickup and raise or lower it until the volume matches the neck pickup alone, and then do the same for the middle and bridge. There are no rules on this though. Some players lower the middle pickup lower than volume matching to keep it out of the way when picking, and because they like the sound that way.

Here's a run down from Fender on some other setup stuff:

https://support.fender.com/hc/en-us/...itar-properly-

From my experience, sound-wise, inexpensive electric guitars can sound great. Enjoy yours!

1neeto · #10 07-23-2017, 11:16 AM

As for strings, I prefer EB slinkies 9's. I'd say 90% of electric guitars come with 9's, which means the guitar is set up for that gauge of strings. Especially a strat with a floating tremolo bridge. Anything higher than 10's and you might have to really set up the guitar, that means filing the nut so the bigger strings can fit in the grooves, truss rod setup to compensate for the extra tension, add springs to the tremolo, and intonation will need to be set as well. Also, because of the scale length of a strat, they become considerably harder to play with bigger gauge strings. 11's or 12's on a strat, with feel much different to 11's or 12's on an acoustic.

Plus, light strings will really train you to have a softer touch when playing which is very important for playing electric. Note bending will be extremely easier with 9's too. So yeah stick to 9's if possible!

Troyboi · #11 07-24-2017, 05:10 AM

Ok so I brought some new strings tonight and put them on the guitar. Gee electric guitars sound so cool..lol.
I'm concerned about how the bridge looks. The adjustment screws seem all over the place and the 3 bass strings are on a different angle to the first 3

And heres how high the strings are from the pick ups. Do I need to lower the action maybe?

Thanks once again for the tips and setup advice and links etc

Troyboi · #12 07-24-2017, 06:05 AM

Just been reading the link posted by Frank Hudson on setting up Fenders properly
https://support.fender.com/hc/en-us/...itar-properly-

But Im stuck on a few things. Can someone explain what they mean under the section "Intonation roughing it out" as I don't understand any of it.

Also under the heading PICKUPS they say this... Depress all the strings at the last fret. Using a 6" (150 mm) ruler, measure the distance from the bottom of the first and sixth strings to the top of the pole piece.
What exactly is the pole piece??

saxonblue · #13 07-24-2017, 06:31 AM

Congrats on the purchase, I wouldn't sweat it about the rust, also god knows why the saddle for the G string is on that wonky angle but it just ain't right, get an allen key & straighten it up.

Electrics are actually really cool in learning about intonation & set up as the saddles are adjustable in both height & length. Other tricks to adjust action include positioning of shims between the neck pocket & the neck itself and how the deck is setup with the tremolo springs, you can have it floating a bit or decked flat, either option has it's pros/cons. The setup manual should take you through these. I'd exhaust these methods before I hooked into adjusting the truss rod as well.

Also, don't adjust the string height to suit the pickups, go the other way & adjust the pickups to suit the strings after the strings/action/intonation etc. are setup to make the guitar as playable as you can get it.

As far as strings go 10s are a good baseline to work from. Up to you beyond that whether to go lighter or heavier & remember a change in string gauge affects the setup.

Have fun

P.S. the pole pieces are the 6 metal bits sticking out of each pickup.

mbenzel · #14 07-24-2017, 08:36 AM

One of the best guitar players I have seen/heard is Jack Pearson and he plays Squiers sometimes. Do a search for "jack pearson plays squier" to see some discussion related to this.

If you're into bluesy sorts of things then check out https://youtu.be/76NFehA9s9k.

If you like jazzy sorts of things then check out https://youtu.be/R_RedkHDifA.

FrankHudson · #15 07-24-2017, 08:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Troyboi

Just been reading the link posted by Frank Hudson on setting up Fenders properly
https://support.fender.com/hc/en-us/...itar-properly-

But Im stuck on a few things. Can someone explain what they mean under the section "Intonation roughing it out" as I don't understand any of it.

Also under the heading PICKUPS they say this... Depress all the strings at the last fret. Using a 6" (150 mm) ruler, measure the distance from the bottom of the first and sixth strings to the top of the pole piece.
What exactly is the pole piece??

The round sliver magnet pieces the poke out from your white pickups are pole pieces.

(I resisted the urge to make a cheap Chopin joke...)