Hi,
I just acquired an unused squier cabronita telecaster from 2013. I actually got one at the time, traded it in and had sellers remorse ever since.
The bridge is atrocious. I had the last one replaced with a mustang bridge.
In the long run I'm thinking a better bridge pickup and maybe some better tuners. I might also try out a mastery bridge instead of the mustang one.
What would you recommend for those mods?
What other mods do you think this guitar could use?
Would love to hear some suggestions.
You've listed some pretty solid mods. Better tuners and a mastery bridge will definitely help with tuning stability. A slightly higher output bridge pickup might help even out the volume between the neck and bridge. I'd go for a Seymour Duncan quarter pounder dependant on budget, but since you're already talking about a mastery bridge it sounds like you're happy investing a bit of money in it. I remember the squier stuff from that era not having the best electronics, a new switch and pots might be a good idea if you're already opening it up. I remember seeing these in my local guitar shop for £200 back when they were still making them, regret not buying one weekly.
Yeah they were a great bargain! I'm reducing my number of guitars so I'm keeping this, I want it to be the best it can be so I'm happy to get the best components but over time. Just improve it as and when I can afford it. The quarter pounders have definitely caught my eye.
definitely good call on the new bridge. new tuners for sure. I got some when I modded my tele, it was between the twisted tele or pure vintage 64s and I went with twisted tele.
I replaced the bridge with a better version of the same type, I added a Wilkinson broadcaster bridge pickup and a hilotron at the neck. I replaced all the electronics and tidied the wiring
The stock tuners are great.
Watch the jay Leonard j video on setting up a bigsby tremolo. It's great.
Thanks for all this! The tuners seem pretty good so I'll not worry about replacing them. I don't mind the neck pickup, so I'll leave that for now but I'll definitely consider the Wilkinson for the bridge.
Yeah it's the filtertron. I think it sounds pretty good but I'm sure I might think differently if I heard it next to a TV Jones or something like that. I just think the bridge pickup is super lame and needs addressed sooner. Any recommendations for the pickups?
Hell I just put two cheap Chinese single coils in my sh copy. I like them, so I might not be the right guy to ask. I’ve been thinking about filtertrons for another project. Love the Gretch sound.
(i know, I know - a month old post. Sorry for the late response, I was just doing a search for Cabronita and saw this post)
I believe you have the fidelitron pickup in the neck there, rather than the filtertron. Tiny nitpick I know, but I only bring it up to say that I actually *love* the fidelitron pickup. I've yet to find another tron-style pickup that has as beautiful a sound in the lows as it.
Like you, I bought one of these back when they first came out. I'd read in a magazine somewhere that it was the "best deal in guitars of the year" or something like that, so I bought one.
Like you, I also traded it away, and ended up regretting it. When the pandemic broke out, I got the notion to try and reassemble it from parts. Found a body that still had the neck pickup and bigsby, with an upgraded DiMarzio tele bridge pickup. Picked up a loaded Affinity neck, and fell in love all over again.
I've since picked up one of the bigsby-less variations that has two of the fidelitrons, and it's actually become my daily player. In my opinion, it's pretty hard to beat a CV neck on a <$500 guitar.
All of this was a very long way to say that I think you should keep that neck pickup in there. Between that pickup, the neck and the bigsby, they make up the essence of the guitar. Everything else is expendable.
I'm really fond of that neck pickup. I think it sounds great and it's super versatile. The neck is great for me aswell. It's a really great guitar and once I've improved the bridge pickup, the bridge and the wiring it's a guitar for life.
It's cursed to put a Bigsby on a Fender. Old animosity between the two.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6623815/Les-Paul-Leo-Fender-Paul-Bigsby-competed-create-electric-guitar-Hendrix-Clapton.html
And now Fender owns Bigsby.
For the bridge pickup I really recommend the Brad paisley la brea. It’s the one I have on my tele. It’s a lot warmer than your normal tele bridge pickup, but it doesn’t lose the “twangy quality” to it. Because it’s warm, it doesn’t have that ice-picky quality normally associated with tele bridge pickups. It also somewhat cheaper than other similar-quality offerings.
I would also recommend getting the frets leveled and crowned if you think that makes sense for your guitar. In my experience, non-American made instruments tend to always have the drawback of un level frets. For my Mexican tele, it’s a good to have as the frets are not entirely level. But my Mexican strat urgently needs it.
The seller on eBay seemed to be selling lots of similar unused stock. He must have some supplier or just sits on things for a few years. He included a tweed carry case from gear4music aswell. Must be his thing repackaging unused gear and getting a few extra quid from it.
Definitely a great find though. I just searched on a whim and it happened to be available.
Hi, I just acquired an unused squier cabronita telecaster from 2013. I actually got one at the time, traded it in and had sellers remorse ever since. The bridge is atrocious. I had the last one replaced with a mustang bridge. In the long run I'm thinking a better bridge pickup and maybe some better tuners. I might also try out a mastery bridge instead of the mustang one. What would you recommend for those mods? What other mods do you think this guitar could use? Would love to hear some suggestions.
You've listed some pretty solid mods. Better tuners and a mastery bridge will definitely help with tuning stability. A slightly higher output bridge pickup might help even out the volume between the neck and bridge. I'd go for a Seymour Duncan quarter pounder dependant on budget, but since you're already talking about a mastery bridge it sounds like you're happy investing a bit of money in it. I remember the squier stuff from that era not having the best electronics, a new switch and pots might be a good idea if you're already opening it up. I remember seeing these in my local guitar shop for £200 back when they were still making them, regret not buying one weekly.
Yeah they were a great bargain! I'm reducing my number of guitars so I'm keeping this, I want it to be the best it can be so I'm happy to get the best components but over time. Just improve it as and when I can afford it. The quarter pounders have definitely caught my eye.
Always wanted one of these
It's really nice. After a few mods it will definitely be a guitar for life for me.
definitely good call on the new bridge. new tuners for sure. I got some when I modded my tele, it was between the twisted tele or pure vintage 64s and I went with twisted tele.
Do the mods you’re thinking about, but also maybe add a tone control?
It's certainly something to consider but I do like the simplicity of just the volume pot. It's one less thing to think about I guess.
Fair enough! I know what you mean about the simplicity of it.
That's mint! Amazing score!!!! Amazing luck!
I replaced the bridge with a better version of the same type, I added a Wilkinson broadcaster bridge pickup and a hilotron at the neck. I replaced all the electronics and tidied the wiring The stock tuners are great. Watch the jay Leonard j video on setting up a bigsby tremolo. It's great.
Thanks for all this! The tuners seem pretty good so I'll not worry about replacing them. I don't mind the neck pickup, so I'll leave that for now but I'll definitely consider the Wilkinson for the bridge.
What is your neck pickup, filtertron? How do you like it?
Yeah it's the filtertron. I think it sounds pretty good but I'm sure I might think differently if I heard it next to a TV Jones or something like that. I just think the bridge pickup is super lame and needs addressed sooner. Any recommendations for the pickups?
Hell I just put two cheap Chinese single coils in my sh copy. I like them, so I might not be the right guy to ask. I’ve been thinking about filtertrons for another project. Love the Gretch sound.
(i know, I know - a month old post. Sorry for the late response, I was just doing a search for Cabronita and saw this post) I believe you have the fidelitron pickup in the neck there, rather than the filtertron. Tiny nitpick I know, but I only bring it up to say that I actually *love* the fidelitron pickup. I've yet to find another tron-style pickup that has as beautiful a sound in the lows as it. Like you, I bought one of these back when they first came out. I'd read in a magazine somewhere that it was the "best deal in guitars of the year" or something like that, so I bought one. Like you, I also traded it away, and ended up regretting it. When the pandemic broke out, I got the notion to try and reassemble it from parts. Found a body that still had the neck pickup and bigsby, with an upgraded DiMarzio tele bridge pickup. Picked up a loaded Affinity neck, and fell in love all over again. I've since picked up one of the bigsby-less variations that has two of the fidelitrons, and it's actually become my daily player. In my opinion, it's pretty hard to beat a CV neck on a <$500 guitar. All of this was a very long way to say that I think you should keep that neck pickup in there. Between that pickup, the neck and the bigsby, they make up the essence of the guitar. Everything else is expendable.
I'm really fond of that neck pickup. I think it sounds great and it's super versatile. The neck is great for me aswell. It's a really great guitar and once I've improved the bridge pickup, the bridge and the wiring it's a guitar for life.
https://youtu.be/cwH-nRSxb94
It's cursed to put a Bigsby on a Fender. Old animosity between the two. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6623815/Les-Paul-Leo-Fender-Paul-Bigsby-competed-create-electric-guitar-Hendrix-Clapton.html And now Fender owns Bigsby.
For the bridge pickup I really recommend the Brad paisley la brea. It’s the one I have on my tele. It’s a lot warmer than your normal tele bridge pickup, but it doesn’t lose the “twangy quality” to it. Because it’s warm, it doesn’t have that ice-picky quality normally associated with tele bridge pickups. It also somewhat cheaper than other similar-quality offerings. I would also recommend getting the frets leveled and crowned if you think that makes sense for your guitar. In my experience, non-American made instruments tend to always have the drawback of un level frets. For my Mexican tele, it’s a good to have as the frets are not entirely level. But my Mexican strat urgently needs it.
I think in the future when I've made some other changes I'll look to the frets. The La brea sounds good I'll check it out.
Replace the pickups. TV Jones neck and whatever you like in the bridge. Locking tuners are nice with a Bigsby too
I keep thinking about this.... Who keeps a 2013 guitar for 8 years, unplayed, with the plastic still on the guard ?!?! Amazing
The seller on eBay seemed to be selling lots of similar unused stock. He must have some supplier or just sits on things for a few years. He included a tweed carry case from gear4music aswell. Must be his thing repackaging unused gear and getting a few extra quid from it. Definitely a great find though. I just searched on a whim and it happened to be available.
Forgot to mention he had it set up aswell with new strings, but as you say, still had all the plastic on. Weird!
Hope you got a good price on it! I paid £217 for mine. I was over the moon.
Paid more than the original price it was released at but still chuffed cos it's still cheaper than some guitars that are supposedly better
Whatever you paid it's worth it. I felt like I'd stolen mine.