Another project or just get rid of it?!?!

[marklester]

hiya,

I'm in two minds, sell it....keep it and mod it.... no idea, so thought I'd post here and see what you all think....

It's a Stagg S300, I bought it for £35 which included a bag, rubbish lead and strap and a small practice amp...

I swapped out the tuners for some squier single post ones, the guitar now stays in tune.

I changed the rather dodgy nut for a graphite compound one and did a rough set up on it....

Unplugged it sounds okay, a little bit buzzy, but my fault, needs more tinkering...I put it back in the bag and left it cause wasn't happy with it, and was going to sell it but held off for a bit....

Plugged in it sounds a bit sterile, nothing amazing, just 'okay'.....sounds like a cheap guitar....however, it feels quite nice to play....

So, do I sell it, and shudder at the thought of 'stagg' and leave be, or do I keep it (as I'll only get about £40 back for it) and mod the living day lights out of it???? can't help thinking I'm selling it cause it's a stagg, whereas it's not a bad guitar to start with....

anyway, here's the pics....let me know any good random idea's etc.....




sorry for poor photo's, camera phone...will get better pics of it tonight...

let me know
ta
mark

[richieryan]

Hey, as long as the thing plays and sounds good, no worries. You know you will not be getting your investment back after the mods, so have your way with it.
I like the look of the body. It would look even better with a maple board neck! That's how I feel about my Samick. It will never be worth much for resale, but it kicks ass and I like it.

[marklester]

hmm, my thoughts exactly....the body is very pretty looking....

don't like the rosewood neck, it's a bit dark and no grain for my liking...but plays well....

if I was going to mod, I guess I'd do the electrics etc, and get all that right, and then keep eye out on ebay for a nice cheap neck to put on there....

hmmm....
m

[richieryan]

You know, if ya lose the neck and mount a nice Squier neck or even an aftermarket Fender licensed neck from fleabay, you'd never know it was a Stagg...
It's like my $25 SE. I went all out on it and replaced the tuners/nut/trem-bridge and pups. Now it's on the same level as my CV 50s Strat.

[marklester]

think your selling it to me very nicely hehehe

I did offer a squier neck up to the guitar, but sadly, the backplate of the stagg is a different size to the squier ones.....so not sure how I'd fill the holes and then re-drill them?!?

well, I got to think, it was worth the £35 for the body alone, it looks rather nice - and over time, replace a bit each month I guess I could get it pretty nice?

black scratch plate and a mini humbucker or two was my initial thoughts...

m

[ghostwolf]

Originally Posted by marklester

I did offer a squier neck up to the guitar, but sadly, the backplate of the stagg is a different size to the squier ones.....so not sure how I'd fill the holes and then re-drill them?!?

get a piece of hardwood dowel to fill the holes in the neck. use wood glue, trim the plugs flush, get the neck where it needs to be, clamp it in place, and re-drill. pretty simple, really. just take your time, and double check before you drill.

[marklester]

hmm, that doesn't sound too bad....what if part of the new hole i drill goes over where the dowel is? will this work or go very badly?????

thanks for the advice
m

[ghostwolf]

it won't matter, because the dowel is wood, too. you'll want to give the glue time to set up and dry, naturally, but once that's done, it's all good.
remember to use a drillbit the size of the screw shaft, minus the threads....

[S. Rock]

the guitar has a nice looking body. I like the color and a maple fretboard would look good with that color, too. to fill in the old screw holes, just follow "ghostwolf"'s suggestion. as he says, once the glue has a chance to "set-up"(harden), you should have no problems. I would definitely change the pickups. so yeah, have some fun modding.

[BillStickers]

If you're really unsure, as it seems, do a couple of simple mods. Buy parts that are resalable though. That way you can make it either a little more likeable or a little more sellable depending on wether you like it and want to keep it more after modding it.

[marklester]

hi, thanks for all comments so far...

seen a nice neck on fleabay for cheap but with rosewood....however, at the moment, the neck is usable so think I'll work on how I want the electrics to be etc and then once I got it nice, if it's worthy of doing, I'll change the neck and have a great one.....

thing is, what do I do with pickups etc so it's something different to all the other guitars...no point having two guitars that do the same thing.....

current guitars are:

squier affinity strat with wilkinson single coils (ratty squier affinity project thread)
squier affinity tele in black with a tonerider neck pickup (nothing else changed)
hofner colorama custom - humbuckers with split coil and grover tuners
ibanez artcore af75 jazz box thing - humbuckers and very large hollow body

So, what can I do that's different to all them for sound and configuration????

m

[YeahDoIt]

I sell the guitars that I don't use much and keep my favorite guitars.

You have a nice set of current guitars. I might sell the Stagg and look for a bass to purchase.

[marklester]

yeah I'm loving my selection of guitars - I kinda want a very diverse set of guitars for different sounds, depending on mood/song......and I've covered most of the ground..

Sold my epiphone les paul custom thing, cause I just didn't get on with it - sounded nice, but just didn't feel right to play....

the only thing I can think of doing with this one is humbuckering it...but then will it just sound like the hofner... hmmm....

thing is, if i do up the stag, I'll still only get peanuts for it if i sell it, so it'd have to be a project long term and change neck, then it'd not really be a stag anymore, I just love the body on it, very good...

The tele is in a bit of a state at the moment, nice playing, but I don't really get on with that too well, was going to change scratch plate, and the wiring to something better and then see....the neck is quite fat on it, and i like thinner necks really.....

but then i do enjoy stripping guitars and fiddling with them, and once the strat's done, they'll all be done, so no more projects.....but then must also think if i do up the stagg, i can always transfer the gubbings to another guitar at a later date....hmmm

I got an old early 1990's hohner bass sitting in the garage, been there for years, kinda abandoned project....

Oh I do have a tatty 'eros' les paul style guitar from the 70's that needs lots of work and a 'aristone' jazz box from what looks like the early 1950's that needs restoring too...maybe they should be next on the list...

ooh descisions descisions hehe...
m

[marklester]

Ahh, you got me thinking......

might put the stagg on the back burner for now and work on the MIJ les paul copy I've had for about 15 years...it's in the garage at the moment, three strings, battered body, dodgy electrics, but the neck is good and straight, and it's got potential to be something rather great....

kinda dated it back to the early 1970's and it's possibly an EROS guitar.....

I think I'll get some photo's and post them up of a full rebuild...will be the most difficult one yet!! hehe but I like a challenge, and well, old guitars were made quite well eh!
m

[richieryan]

I'm starting to feel some love for the Stagg strats. I started googling some info...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=263602_263622
This is the link for all of them on ebay:
http://instruments.shop.ebay.com/?_f...rat&_sacat=619
From Harmony Central:
http://reviews.harmony-central.com/r...trat+Copy/10/1
Product: Stagg Strat Copy
Price Paid: GBP 13 USED
Submitted 07/26/2009 at 04:31pm by Electric Ray

Features : 9
It's more or less an exactly replica of a contemporary Fender Stratocaster, only with an uglier headstock. T

Thought I would add some technical specs for those who are interested in modding (the assumption being that no-one in their right mind wants to be seen dead with a Stagg Stratocaster:

The following offered all care, no reponsibility - I measured this with a tape measure - it's not a scientific effort.

Neck Radius I would estimate at 9.5" - it's comparable to a standard US strat and definitely isn't ultra flat like some contemporary metal guitars - think blues not metal here.
Nut - 1 10/16"
Neck heel at pocket - 2 1/8"
Bridge (E - E string) - 2 1/8"
Bridge screws total spacing 2 1/8"
Individual saddles are 3/8" (10mm - note vintage saddles tend to be 11mm and won't fit without the bridge being replaced altogether)
Tremolo arm is fat - something like 1/4" - much fatter than Fender or Gotoh.
Frets are a good size; nice thick rosewood slab; the headstock is sadly ugly and is fitted with ugly tuning machings with "Stagg" plastered across the back of them.
Neckplate also has a rather ghastly "Stagg" plastered across it.
Singlecoil pickups of no particular distinction (it's an entry level guitar, after all) The hardware is all well put together and the electrics are done tidily.

Sound : 7
Pickups are passable, crisp and glassy clean, and sound ok overdriven (again, if your a bluesy/country player - a metal-head would hate them with a passion, and they break up loosely, and even the bridge isn't particularly tight , but not earth shattering. You actually need to roll the tone pots off a little otherwise they're too bright and biting (I lowered them right back away from the strings.


Action, Fit, & Finish : 9
The body is three piece Alder, and is actually rather well finished (though the three parts weren't book matched), which was actually a shame, given what I had in mind for it - which was to put it through hell in the name of credibility. I took the body off, tied a rope through the trem cavity, hooked it up to my bike, and drove it round the park for half an hour. Looked nice before, but it looks COOOOOOOOOL now - like Rory Gallager's one!

The neck is very playable indeed - I got one spot where it fretted out at a full tone bend (I play with a fairly high action) but nothing that can't be buffed down. But the headstock is so ugly I'm getting a replacement neck with a fender style headstock. Purely for cosmetics - I'm exceedingly vain.

Reliability/Durability : 9
Fine - though since i've wantonly destroyed and reassembled it I have only myself to blame.

Customer Support : 2
There's no way of contacting Stagg through their website, which blows. I wanted to get tech specs as per above, but had to measure them myself with a tape measure (All care, no reponsibility accepted!

Overall Rating : 10
Have played for 25 years and I own 20 odd guitars, including three US Fender Strats and a Custom built job. From a playability perspective, this is definitely in the ballpark - the pick ups are a little crumby, but not too bad. For a beginner this is perfect.

And hey - this cost me ??13 on eBay - better value could not be had on the planet.

[richieryan]

Here's a bagful of youtube vids using them:http://www.youtube.com/results?searc...agg+strat&aq=f

[Bangbang]

Originally Posted by YeahDoIt

I sell the guitars that I don't use much and keep my favorite guitars.

You have a nice set of current guitars. I might sell the Stagg and look for a bass to purchase.

I see no point in keeping anything I don't use.Mmmm...maybe I should seel my guns and get a MIA Custom

[richieryan]

I have that conflict as well. Guitars and guns are my hobbies, but I'm not wealthy enough to go all-out with both.

[marklester]

morning,

well, whilst my little girl was having a bath last night, I thought I'd have a play on the stagg - sounds silly, but my partner baths the baby, and I sit in the corner and play some toons...nice and echoy in there!!! hehe

From my initial set up on the stagg, I was actually rather impressed, played really nice unplugged.....don't like the nut - I changed it for a graphite one but it's just not ringing nicely - think I'll change for a bone one...

when plugged in to rubbish practice amp, the neck pick up sounds nice, a little thing, position two had the nice strat sound, but the bridge pickup sounded rather rubbish to me, but then I never play on the bridge pickup anyway....

think next week I'll take it to the studio as it iis and have a go at it!!

m

[YeahDoIt]

It's such a pretty guitar. I like the wood grain, the red stain with the varnish.

I used rubber bands to hold a little microphone to the horn of my Affinity and recorded. It sounds much like an acoustic guitar that way. I am tempted to mount a small acoustic microphone inside my Affinity and connect it up as a 4th pickup so I can get acoustic or electric sounds out of the same guitar. You mention the neck pickup sounding nice, you might like that mellow acoustic sound too.

An internal acoustic microphone could make this Stagg really special, different sounding from the others.

[marklester]

ah yes, an acoustic pickup would be rather a good mod for the guitar indeed..

as I never use the bridge pickup of any guitar, I like the mellower sounds, I could loose that pickup altogether and wire something up there? then with the switch could blend the mid pickup with the acoustic one for crazy sounds???

where did you say you mounted the little mic? the horn? which bits thhat (sorry for ignorance)

very interested in this idea....as some songs would be nice with a jangly acoustic sound.....would you need extra jack socket or wire up with normal controls? would you need the active ones that require a battery or you think little mic one would do the job?

anyway, sorry for all the questions, but please do explain - this could be the destiny of the stagg!! hehehe...
m

[marklester]

could you butcher one of these type mics and put it under the scratch plate or something? and then wire it up to the switch? or will that sound wrong?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TUNER-PICKUP-M...f#ht_737wt_911

hmm
m

[BillStickers]

OMG! I had the same idea! I was thinking about sticking some sort of acoustic pickup under the Scratchplate of my Strat '51... but it seemed like too much hassle...

BUT if you are OK with potentially buggering up £6 then go for it! You could always reattach a jack on the end... not the original but yh...

I'd experiment with that for sure

[marklester]

had a bit of a search after my last post and it seems that people have said the best place to attach the pickup is in the back of the guitar by the springs as this causes lots of the sustain and vibration!

So, disconnect the bridge pickup, install the pickup attached to the tremalo block from the back of the guitar, wire it up to the switch in bridge position and hey presto....

actually to do the testing you could leave it all as it is and try it as the pickup does have a jack socket on it - think I might experiement with a cheap clip on like the link I sent - if it sounds pants, then it's only a fiver - worth the risk if the gains are high!

m

[YeahDoIt]

I get different sounds depending where I place the microphone. You might experiment and discover the place that works best in your judgment.

I marked the attached picture with a red circle the area (what I call a horn of the guitar) where I attached a microphone using a rubber band, you might call it a gum band.

I used my condenser computer microphone, held it to the guitar with a rubber band and recorded. It was a sound test. I can't really hear how things sound when I'm playing an instrument so I record and listen to the recordings, sometimes the next day. Things sound different when I listen to recordings.

You might go to a resale store and buy something with a microphone in it: an old cassette tape recorder, telephone or possibly headphones - headphones can sometimes work as microphones, plug them into your guitar amp and test. The price might be 0.5 British Pounds. Remove the microphone element and wire it into place.

That tuner pickup on ebay might work, it's a microphone that clips onto things.

You might mount the microphone under the bridge pickup, use foam sponge type material to hold it in place, perhaps tape it to the wood - it's microphonic so I don't want it to bump against things.

Wire the microphone in place of the bridge pickup. I imagine volume and tone controls work as usual. I don't know how to balance the volume of the microphone and the regular pickups, one might be much louder than the other.

[richieryan]

Gee, I don't know... It all sounds a bit like Yeoman's work and hardly worth the trouble. Perhaps you should consider donating it "across the pond"...

[marklester]

lol, no problems but I tihnk the shipping might be a bit expensive..

really wierd, had a go of it last night and the G string had a horrible twang to it, sounded terrible.....but if i pressed down on the string above the nut, the 'twang' stopped and it sounded better?!?!?!

So I removed the string tree that held the two strings down and now it sounds much better and no twang?!

After playing it for about half hour yesterday, I can't really fault the way it sounds - having trouble intonating the bottom E string, but it's virtually spot on now - might change the saddles....got some wilkinson ones I could put on..

going to try it toinight in a rehearsal....so we'll see....the pickups sound rather flat and uninspiring, but want to see how it feels in the hand to play....if it's grand, then I'll keep, if it feels pants, I'll loose it...

should hold tune okay, the cruddy stagg tuners were binned and some squier ones were put on it.....we'll see anyway!

m

[blues4me]

Originally Posted by richieryan

I have that conflict as well. Guitars and guns are my hobbies, but I'm not wealthy enough to go all-out with both.

I have the same addictions. Guns & Guitars.

Nice body, It would be awesome with a maple neck.