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Guitar on a budget
Joined: Mar 17, 2019 Posts: 13 |
Posted on Mar 17 2019 07:52 PM
As an unemployed PhD student Im looking to pick up something really cheap to play some Surf on. It will be second hand, at least, but I am in New Zealand so no cheap porn shop possibilities. Everything here is expensive. What I would like to know is would I be able to use a Squier Bullet Strat and get the Whammy bar going right. Or is there no hope whats so ever? Any other el cheapo suggestions. After all its only for bedroom playing. |
Joined: Aug 22, 2010 Posts: 1013 Portland, Oregon with Insanitizers 
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Posted on Mar 17 2019 08:53 PM
We just had this discussion, although not directed to New Zealand: https://surfguitar101.com/forums/topic/31799/ —Insanitizers! http://www.insanitizers.com Last edited: Mar 17, 2019 20:54:16 |
Joined: Dec 27, 2012 Posts: 110 Ex SoCal -> Gainesville VA 
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Posted on Mar 18 2019 03:00 PM
sdennan wrote:
Unless that is a typo or some of that crazy NZ slang, I wouldn't recommend anything secondhand from a porn shop, particularly if Purell or Lysol are expensive down there too. Seriously, I think a Squirrel Bullet Strat would be fine, in my opinion any halfway decent guitar is a fine place to start. Don't get wrapped up about the brand or model... Good music including Surf starts at the fingertips of the player. I learned my first surf tunes on a Silvertone archtop acoustic that I rescued from the bed of my brother's truck for $5. Spent $12 to replace the missing tailpiece, bridge and tuners scavenged from the spare parts bin at the local music store. Get after it and wiggle that vibrato, make it go DOW-DA-DA DOW-DA-DA DOWWWW! Better to play on something than nothing at all, and nothing wrong with any strat copy for that! —Member in good standing, Mentone Beach Syncopation Reverberation Association |
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Joined: Jul 30, 2016 Posts: 854
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Posted on Mar 18 2019 09:23 PM
A Bullet Strat's main liabilities are it's junk tuners and the weenie bridge block. The bridge can be lived with but the tuners really should be replaced with something decent. Good high ratio tuners are a luxury that you enjoy constantly and can be removed and kept even if you sell the guitar. The other issue is probably that the fret ends will be sharp and funky but that can be easily addressed with a little time and effort. |
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Joined: Aug 22, 2010 Posts: 1013 Portland, Oregon with Insanitizers
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Posted on Mar 19 2019 04:28 PM
You can upgrade any underweight vibrato (bridge) block by gluing lead fishing weights (or lead solder) onto it with epoxy. You can easily reshape the lead weights to fit by lightly hammering with an ordinary hammer. The cost of materials is $2 to $3. This is faster and easier than replacing the block for several reasons: you don't remove the block, you don't remove (or even loosen) the guitar strings, and you should not need to enlarge the cavity the block is in (with judicious reshaping of the weights). —Insanitizers! http://www.insanitizers.com Last edited: Mar 19, 2019 16:31:50 |
Joined: Jul 23, 2014 Posts: 637 LA -ish
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Posted on Mar 20 2019 10:01 AM
Used Yamaha Pacifica can be had for pretty cheap. There are older/better ones that aren't so cheap, but current ones (last ten years) will meet your needs for a long while. —mj
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