Fix Your Guitar Instead of Selling It

A few weeks ago, I came across a 1989 Made in Korea Squier Stratocaster for sale or trade,  nearly identical to my first electric guitar.  Like so many other guitar stories you read on the internet, I sold it in pursuit of something more, and have regretted it ever since.

It did get me thinking about why I sold it though, and it's something I need to remind myself of on a near constant basis - If your guitar is not agreeing with you, the problem is your maintenance of the guitar, not the guitar's relationship with the magical voodoo fairies.

This one is listed at $425.

Let Me Count the Reasons

I really did love that Squier Stratocaster, right up until I started to get "good enough" to notice some problems.  

First and foremost, the guitar wasn't in tune up the neck.  With new strings it was barely noticeable, but as they aged, it became maddening.  For a 13 year old playing "Nothing Else Matters" over and over again, it was unacceptable.

No Kirk! James must emote first! Nothing. Else. Matters.

The second gripe was the pickup selector.  Position 5 selected the middle pickup.  At first I didn't notice, but as I progressed I realized home much more I liked the sound of my "middle position", and the realized that my "middle" was actually my neck.

Aside: Funny enough, I accidentally recreated this anomaly when I rewired my Telecaster with a Nashville Pickguard.  My ears kind of enjoyed it.  My OCD did not.

The third gripe was probably the most ridiculous of all.  As time went on, I got more and more into heavy music - Metallica and the like - and a Stratocaster wasn't exactly the best suited to that (with apologies to Iron Maiden and Yngwie).  Never mind that I had lowered the pickups to sit flush with the pickguard, effectively lowering the output to slightly above a whisper.

If you've concluded that I was an idiot, you're not only one.

Lazy and Stupid

Instead of considering that there were things to be fixed on the guitar, my adolescent self went immediately to "I need a new guitar!"  I was resolved.  I would get a new guitar.

With two music stores in town, it came down to a Yamaha Pacifica or an Ibanez Talman.  With one shop giving me a better trade in value for my Squier, I ended up with a Pacifica and a hard shell case. I never saw the Squier again.  Sniff.

It Could Have Been Made Better

Present day me would love to go back and slap teenaged me upside the head.  In case you're not sure why, lets go back to the three things that were wrong with the guitar:

1. Not in tune up the neck? Intonation is out.  See those metal saddles the strings run over?  They move.  Move them to fix the problem.
2. Confused Wiring.  First: Who cares.  Second: Buy a soldering iron, or take it to a shop.  Before the internet, we didn't have the wiring diagram resources we do now, so a shop would have been acceptable.  With the internet?  Learn how to do it dummy.
3. No output?  Try not lowering the pickups (Fender offers a setup guide for a reason).  Still not happy.  companies like Seymour Duncan and Dimarzio exist to fix this problem.  Get a replacement pickup for the bridge.

Years later, which would I rather have, a Yamaha Pacifica, or a MIK Squier Stratocaster? The answer is fairly obvious.  Although the Yamaha, eventually loaded with EMGs, served me well through years of teenaged gigging (I played with some older chaps fairly regularly), I'd still rather have the Squier.

Apparently, the one listed a couple weeks ago went for $350.  Not sure I miss my old one enough to pay that, but it got me thinking about it.

Do me a favour - Fix your guitar before you sell it.