Squier Debut Telecaster: Max Upgrades/Max Ridiculousness

At the end of the last video on the channel where I reviewed the Squier Debut Telecaster I said I would complete the following upgrades to the guitar:

• Replace the tuners with Graphtec Ratio Tuners.
• Replace the nut.
• Condition the Indian Laurel fretboard.
• Install a new set of Fender Vintera 50s Telecaster Alnico pickups
• Build a custom modern wiring harness with quality components.
• Install the Bigsby b5 tremolo system on the guitar using the factory bridge.

The body and the neck have good bones. This inexpensive little guitar makes for an economical modding platform for projects.

I pulled the neck from the guitar, so it was easier to work on the neck and body separately.

Installing the GraphTech ratio tuners was easy enough. I removed the old tuners and then needed to use the InvisoMatch Mounting Plates that are supplied with the tuners and that matched the guitar’s original tuners holes. This made the tuner replacement process go really quick with no need for drilling.

I tried to replace the nut with a GraphTech TusqXL standard fender nut and found it is not a match even if sanded, I will later take a bone nut blank and make a new nut for the guitar.

https://stewmac.sjv.io/0ZrXNV

Using Monty’s Montypresso I conditioned the Indian Laurel fretboard. I left the conditioner on the fretboard for a couple hours while I worked on other parts of the project.

I had recently purchased a brand-new set of Fender Vintera ’50s Vintage Telecaster Pickup Set. The Neck pickup is an Alnico 2 magnet driven pickup and the Bridge pickup is built upon Alnico 3 magnets. I have heard these pickups in a Vintera 50s Telecaster and really liked them but had yet to install them in a build. For less than $100 per set they are a good deal.

The wiring harness that I built is a modern Telecaster design. It is made up of 2 CTS 250k Solid Shaft pots, Oak Grigsby 3-way pickup selector switch, and a .047 uf Capacitor.

There is on pot as the volume control and the rear pot is the tone control. This is the pot that the .047 capacitor is attached to.

The holes for the pot shafts on the guitar’s original control plate were way too small and I did not feel like drilling them out, so I ended up replacing the control panel with a control panel with standard US hole sizing.

The installation and alignment of the Bigsby b5 was where I spent most of the time in the modifications. I took my time and did not want to make a mistake. This is one of those times were measuring twice, drilling the hole once is the best credo. My phone kept dinging as I was getting text messages so I muted it so I could focus on the work at hand.

https://stewmac.sjv.io/zNQXVM

I did not have any string handy, so I used two small gauge guitar strings to help me align the b5 bridge with the rest of the guitar. I threaded a string on the two outside posts all the way to the low e and high e tuners. Then I would move the guitar around to different angles so I could be sure I had everything aligned properly.

The guitar’s original top loader bridge is difficult enough for me to string strings through the holes and up through the saddles. Now add in the complexity of also threading the guitar strings through the Bigsby as well and you have a REALLY difficult guitar to restring.

What I found was it was easier to feed the bridge first and then pull the string back and thread through the Bigsby. I used a pair of long nose needle nose plyers to put a nice round bend in the string before wrapping it around the rear post of the Bigsby.

Then while holding the string tight, I fed the string through the tuner and wound the string tight. Once I got a system down it went pretty fast after the first one or two strings.

I lost the screws for the bridge a long time ago so I used standard screws that I would use for a vintage telecaster bridge.

To center the pilot hole, I used a Vix bit. Once I had a good center hole, I then used a1/8th drill bit and finished drilling the four holes to the proper depth that I had measured. Vix bits are used mainly for drilling the center hole in door and cabinet hinges. The bit is inside a spring-loaded sleeve that rests against the round edges of the hole in the Bigsby, centering the bit perfectly.

You can pick up the bits on Amazon for less than $10 and I use them all the time when I install any type of bridge in a guitar.

The last thing I needed to do was enlarge the string holes in the bridge. The strings were rubbing and therefor would be binding. Once I drilled the string holes out to a larger size the strings seem to pass through unhindered.

For the subject of angle of string break with the bridge the height of the saddles on this bridge it more than makes the angle break needed.

The only thing I am left with a concern about is that the string separation is different at the bridge than it is on the Bigsby. The Bigsby is narrower by a small amount causing a fan effect.