The Guitar Diaries part 17: Squier YN Stratocaster (November 2019 - Present)

 Well I'm glad I resumed work on the Guitar Diaries...

I bought this guitar on a total whim from Cash Converters in Stafford back in November 2019. Even though I've had two strats in the past I couldn't turn this one down for just £99. The great thing about most fender guitars is that they can be very easily worked on and upgraded, and that's what I had on mind for this. I was even more delighted when I got it home, checked the serial number, and discovered this is actually a highly regarded YN Strat, made in Taiwan in 1997.

I played it for a little while, and my memory is a little fuzzy with this guitar, but I think I discovered fairly quickly that the truss rod couldn't be adjusted as the Allen bolt had been rounded off (presumably it needed to be adjusted). But, I had a spare neck from a strat I'd never finished back in 2015. This was made at the same time as the self built jazz bass, but never finished. The body was meant to be semi hollow and P90 equipped. I put the neck onto the YN strat body, played with it a little bit but then dismantled it again. Essentially junk, the bits have lain around for a few years - the body is a standard strat body and so can have any of the myriad available hardware put into it, and I thought that maybe one day I'd have another go at making a neck and the body would be completed.

I began writing this blog entry about 30 minutes ago. I knew I'd still got the body, but did I still have the neck? I went and had a quick look - yes I did. Was the truss rod still unadjustable? I put in an allen key - and it worked! It obviously hadn't been rounded off at all.

As I write my mind is literally working overdrive thinking of the possibilities. To fully trick out a strat with the best hardware isn't cheap - and everything except for the wooden parts are rock bottom standard. But it's still less expensive than buying a fully loaded new USA Strat, and if there's one thing I've come to appreciate about Fenders - from this cheapest one to my USA made Johnny Marr Jaguar is that they're all basically the same as far as the wooden parts go, it's the hardware and the finish that makes the difference. 

I like the neck on this one - fairly think and satin finished. The body is white poly - I'll certainly strip that off and repaint it. The frets are all in good condition except for the 22nd which has taken a knock, so maybe that one could be replaced. I'll probably keep the Squier logo on it, I quite like the idea of it being the ultimate Q guitar.