1987 Squire Stratocaster:

Inspector #20

Inspector #20

Ambassador of Tone
Fallen Star
Country flag
Bought for me by bandmates in 1988, this guitar went through several changes over the years. The first mod was 5 springs to lock the tremolo against the body. Next came a Duncan Quarter Pounder in the bridge. Shortly thereafter, I swapped in a HS3 in the bridge, followed by a Virtual Vintage Solo, moving the HS3 to the middle and then a YJM in the neck position.

Then, in 2003, I routed the bridge for a humbucker, painted the cavity to match, but never installed the humbucker until 2011. The bridge pickup is a GFS double-slug 13.9k with hum cancelling GFS 'Tru-Coils' in the middle (10k) and neck (7k) positions.

Shown here with the strap I made myself in 1983, I keep it largely for sentimental reasons...

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I keep asking myself why I keep this old 1987 Squire....

It's ridiculously heavy, full of surface cracks, and it has been leveled and crowned many times since getting it new in 1988.

The cast (pot metal) bridge block split open in 2011, and I finally located a steel replacement with this guitar's oddball wide string spacing.

Pickups...its been through so many changes!!!!

This isn't a "Holy Grail" guitar by any means. It's a relic of sorts and it doesn't sound all that fantastic or unique... although it is dead silent.

I guess it reminds me of a time when playing music was my entire life. It was my only income source and I was totally devoted to the craft.

This guitar traveled the Hollywood Strip, played the Whiskey, the Troubadour, spent nights with me sleeping in the bed of a truck, was the only guitar that wasn't sold during a divorce (probably because it wasn't worth anything) and still looks decent despite its age.

This old, grainy still image from a 1988 video is all the evidence that remains of that first show, just a few hours after my bandmates chipped in and bought it for me.

I still have the original pickguard that contains my old load out of VV Solo/HS3/YJM hum cancelling single coils.

I think I may just switch it back...Thoughts????

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That Strat has so many memories with it and has been through so much with you...and it was a gift from band mates! That alone makes it super special and something to hold onto! As for returning it to original...do you still play it, would you if it was original??? Are any of us what we were nearly 40 years ago...I think I'd leave her as is....
 
Sp8ctre said:
That Strat has so many memories with it and has been through so much with you...and it was a gift from band mates! That alone makes it super special and something to hold onto! As for returning it to original...do you still play it, would you if it was original??? Are any of us what we were nearly 40 years ago...I think I'd leave her as is....
Click to expand...

I do play it every now and again, but the 13.9k bridge humbucker is way hot for my liking...and if I keep it H-S-S, I think it may need a more PAF-ish bridge pickup.
 
Just got hired on by a SoCal Blues band as bass player. They want some guitar too...so....I need to stock my Strat back out with the old pickguard with the DiMarzio VV Solo/HS3/YJM combination....
 
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