Stewmac Upgrade kits

[MikeEdgerton]

No mandolin content yet.

Stewmac is advertising these "upgrade kits" for Squires and Epiphones.

https://www.stewmac.com/browse/Fender_Upgrade_Kits

https://www.stewmac.com/browse/Epiphone_Upgrade_Kits

I like the concept. Take the inexpensive brands from a major manufacturer and pretty much sell the difference in hardware to bring it closer to the higher end product offered by that company.

Can mandolins be that far behind?

[Br1ck]

Well, the biggest single contributor to an electric guitar's sound is a set of decent pickups, where the biggest sound contributor to a mandolin is quality wood and good build quality. I've been modding and building telecasters for many years. I haven't had a factory built guitar in several decades. I long since learned that if I bought bodies and necks from USA Custom or Warmouth, pickups from the likes od Fralin or Lollar, and hardware from Glendale, I could build as good as a tele type guitar gets for around $800, and a pretty darned good one for $500. I'd say sound contribution is 90% pickups, 10% everything else. So replace cheap bridges, plastic nuts, pickups and pots will yield a big sonic improvement.

So take an MD 305 or 315, and what can you do? They already upgraded the tailpiece, so you could get new tuners, yielding no sonic improvement, maybe get a new nut, and a Cumberland Acoustic bridge. Small improvement for money spent. Get a professional installation of nut , tuners and bridge, and perhaps a fret level and crown, and you'd be within view of a used A style that would floor you.

Do the above to a cheaper mandolin and get nothing worthwhile. Lipstick on a pig comes to mind. So short answer is no, I don't think it makes any sense, not that you couldn't sell a bunch.

Don't for a minute think I haven't thought of a Cumberland bridge for my Michael Kelly, for what would be just because. But disapointment, I fear, would be the result.

[MikeEdgerton]

I agree but there is something said for selling Waverly tuners, a James tailpiece, a Calton case and TI strings as an upgrade package.

And then there's the electric mandolin upgrades. I just like the concept.

[Br1ck]

I'm curious as to what mandolin would be a candidate for those upgrades. If you had an F5S for instance, that $1500 extra would get you a Big Mon. Would anyone spend $1500 upgrading an MD 515? Put one in a Calton?

$200 wort of pickups can make a squire strat sound remarkably good.

[MikeEdgerton]

OK, since this seems important let's look at it this way. You upgrade the pickups on the Squier Strat for 300.00 and the value of the Squire Strat is the same sorry to say. It's still a Squire. You take a 50.00 POC mandolin and install Waverly tuners, a James tailpiece, and put it in a Calton case and it's going to be worth somewhere around 600.00 more. You'll spend more than 800.00 to get that but the value will increase because someone will buy it because the parts are recognizable. They'll toss the mandolin and own the parts. Which upgrade added more value to the final sale? Yeah, I think it's interesting and this is fun but we've had people for years looking to upgrade tuners, tailpieces and bridges from low end Kentucky's and such. It doesn't have to be this drastic but it could be done.

And, I hadn't even thought about new tuner buttons. Change the color of your stock buttons.

[mandroid]

I had to do a bit of work to upgrade my FM61, but as its all atached to a new scratch plate ,
I can put the Korean one back on,

then sell the modestly upgraded one; pickup, concentric pots and jack, separately..


Might be release time on it..

[Br1ck]

If you are talking of adding value to a cheap mandolin, get Chris Thiele to sign it. No part you put on a 315 is going to make it sound like a Collings. Put a set of Lollar pickups in an Epiphone 335 clone and it will sound pretty close to the Collings 335 clone.

I'm not saying someone with a 315, dandy mandolin there, wouldn't derive satisfaction from a James tailpiece or a set of Waverlies, but if you sold your 315 and added &700 cash, you could buy yourself a used Weber or Silverangel A and most, I believe, would be far happier,

An you'd sell the Squire after putting the stock pickups back in and sell the Lollar pickups.

[Mando Mort]

Interesting...there is always a market for folks who like to tinker with their toys regardless of the resulting market valuation.

I have done a few parstcaster projects using Squier bodies and upgrading the neck and hardware, putting in Fralin loaded pickguards and stripping the bodies and repainting/finishing with excellent results. I may not be able to get a lot for them, but I didn't do it for that reason. I just had fun and learned a lot and ended up with really good guitars.

[MikeEdgerton]

I'm pretty sure the signature won't add any value to the mandolin. You're missing the point. Just because the change in pickups might make it sound better to you or anyone else it is subjective. Mort has it right and that's pretty much the only reason to make these changes either way, to make you happier with your instrument. Goes for the Squire and the inexpensive mandolin.

[Nevin]

OK, since this seems important let's look at it this way. You upgrade the pickups on the Squier Strat for 300.00 and the value of the Squire Strat is the same sorry to say. It's still a Squire. You take a 50.00 POC mandolin and install Waverly tuners, a James tailpiece, and put it in a Calton case and it's going to be worth somewhere around 600.00 more. You'll spend more than 800.00 to get that but the value will increase because someone will buy it because the parts are recognizable. They'll toss the mandolin and own the parts. Which upgrade added more value to the final sale? Yeah, I think it's interesting and this is fun but we've had people for years looking to upgrade tuners, tailpieces and bridges from low end Kentucky's and such. It doesn't have to be this drastic but it could be done.

And, I hadn't even thought about new tuner buttons. Change the color of your stock buttons.

I disagree. It is just as easy to remove the parts from the Squire and sell them as it is with a mandolin. Maybe more so as there is a bigger market. Either way you are unlikely to break even if you sell or part out.

The best reason to upgrade parts on an instrument is that you like it except for that part. The second best reason is you like messing with things.

[Jeff Mando]

I've bought a lot of Squier strats at pawn shops for $50-75 that had upgraded pickups that I was able to part out on eBay. Sometimes they have upgraded other parts, as well. Often you can double or triple your money if you want to do that much work....sell the neck, sell the body, etc.....pack and ship everything, pay the fees, like I say -- a lotta work...

OTOH, I've got a couple Squiers that I haven't done anything to and they are gig-worthy right out of the box. Nice weight, nice finishes, nice body contours, good sound, good stuff for not much money.....IMHO.

[MikeEdgerton]

I disagree. It is just as easy to remove the parts from the Squire and sell them as it is with a mandolin. Maybe more so as there is a bigger market. Either way you are unlikely to break even if you sell or part out.

The best reason to upgrade parts on an instrument is that you like it except for that part. The second best reason is you like messing with things.

They may not be readily recognizable. In some cases you would be buying them sight unseen. I do however totally agree with:

The best reason to upgrade parts on an instrument is that you like it except for that part. The second best reason is you like messing with things.

The problem comes in when you're sure that your new tuners and tailpiece will make your cheap mandolin sound just like the top of the line mandolin you always wanted. I believe in going in with your eyes wide open. I change things because I love hot rods.

[CES]

I have a Squire Strat I won in a fundraising auction for a local Hospice House. Didn’t want or need the guitar, it was purely for the cause. I had to do some set up, but it’s a very serviceable guitar. I’ve actually considered doing everything in the upgrade kit except for the locking tuners, + some shielding. I’ll keep an eye on these and pounce the next time there’s a decent sale or discount code...

And, it’s for the sake of tinkering. I’ll probably eventually give the thing to a kid at church or one of my brothers’ kids...

[thistle3585]

I have people regularly spending $150+ on upgrades, pickup, bridge and pots, for import electrics and they are getting their money out of them when reselling them. The few import acoustics I have owned where I upgraded did not give me a full return on my investment but I was able to sell them at a higher price than had I not upgraded. It made them more marketable. In the end, the upgrades were worth it if I was keeping an instrument for personal use and not to flip.

[Jeff Mando]

I have people regularly spending $150+ on upgrades, pickup, bridge and pots, for import electrics and they are getting their money out of them when reselling them. The few import acoustics I have owned where I upgraded did not give me a full return on my investment but I was able to sell them at a higher price than had I not upgraded. It made them more marketable. In the end, the upgrades were worth it if I was keeping an instrument for personal use and not to flip.

Along those same lines, using a touch of salesmanship when selling an instrument on eBay, I have explained the upgrades and also mentioned the guitar plays fantastic due to a recent professional setup, which cost me $75 (whatever amount you want to put) -- that seems to appeal to online buyers, there's that magic word again, "setup."

[MikeEdgerton]

...In the end, the upgrades were worth it if I was keeping an instrument for personal use and not to flip.

And there is the crux of the update concept. Upgrade because you enjoy the upgrades even if they may not get you more on the resale side.