Squire Master Series Esprit

[RocketMan]

Just grabbed one in Trans. Red or Wine, whatever they call it. Great piece of set-neck Mahogany. Super smooth playing neck and light, thin body. Love the curves.

Now the debate starter...

Dropping a new pair of S.D. Seth Lovers and paper-in-oil caps into an inexpensive Korean made guitar. Would you do it? Well, I did and the piece turned out fantastic. I went in open minded and aimed to have fun with this experiment and the thing turned out just sounding fantastic. These are a bargan and are great players, IMHO.

[Jonnda]

It is a shame no one has given you a response :toobad so i will.

I have a Malaysian plywood squire bullet that came with one humbucker and volume knob. I have added the following:

Carvin TBH-60................................................ ...........36.99
Carvin FT6 black sting thru bdy bridge........................39.99
three way switch, also from Carvin...............................7.00
Carvin WS1 (shielding/wiring kit).................................9.99

Various other electronics ( extra wire, sealed military grade pots, caps, and resistors ect.) and vintage chicken head knobs were free.
Why? Because my dad let me have access to the room where they repair audio equipment in the "audio arts and acoustics" department at the college where he chairs said department, they inherited allot of old electronics equipment and never used spare parts from scientist Richard C. Heiser, who also invented the TEF analyser.

Never mind that...

My point is that i put $93.97 (not including shipping, or my labor) in to a guitar that cost $87 on ebay (not including shipping).



Now that i add it all up, thats about $180 to play with, if i had saved up more i could have just got the carvin bolt kit i wanted from the get go.

However, I had only played guitar for two years and my dad either payed for all or more then half of the original guitar's cost. I had no real job, and not much chance of saving up for a good guitar.

So as i got annoyed with the crap fender calls a bridge, and tired of only being able to quack with that one pup.... things got replaced or added.


I did what i could to make my guitar more playable, when i could afford it. And it sounds like you did a similar thing to your Korean guitar.

Do i think we are crazy? Yes, I came close to putting a pair of Kinmans in that bullet.

Would i do it again? Yes, but i'd choose a Rondo guitar to start with instead.

Dude, go for it. Make all the mods you want on your cheap guitar, jack up the value, make it sound/play better. Just realize like i did that no matter what i put on my guitar, that it is still cheap plywood at heart made with an "eh, good enough" quality control attitude.

[BradKM]

Congrats on a great guitar.

I was blown away by the quality of those axes when they first came out...but I never plugged one in for a serious test drive. If the electronics were a little lacking, I'd say the impressive feel and quality of the rest of the guitar would definitely make a new set of pickups and the other bits and bobbles totally worth it.

[Jonnda]

I want to revise my last comment, i check up on the price of your guitar. i would not call your axe cheap. but the post above this one sums everything up.

[Mikey]

Rocket man,
Do it!
Just do it.
GO ahead, DO IT!
You know you want to, do it
doitdoitdoitdoitdoitdoit.

Have fun and do it

[RocketMan]

Mikey....
Did it! Did it! Did it! Love the finished product. Due to the chambering of its Mahogany body it has quite a wide tonal range. Those Seth Lovers are fantastic. No wax potting so there's mojo to spare. Wired it up in the traditional "50's style" Les Paul scheme (third wiring scheme I tested). Seems to better retain the sparkle when you back off the volume knobbers.

[cram]

Why not?? I put a set of PRS Dragon II's I had laying around, in mine...sounds great.

[rick31797]

I am not sure what guitar you bought, what year would it be>. I have a 1985 Fender Flame Elite..They also made the Esprit model..These where master series guitars made in Japan..Is this what you have or the newer model.

Rick

[Stewie]

I have the Esprit with the Vintage Sunburst. It is quite a nice guitar. I do no like the pewter hardware and I will probably change it. I was not unhappy with the Duncan Design pickups. I did have some problems with the input jack though. The volume just dropped right out. So I will be changing that for sure. Was there any issues with fit etc. I measured up all the hardware and it seems that standard gold or nickel replacement parts should fit.