I Customized a 3/4 Stagg Guitar, and You Can Too…
Guitars come in many flavors. And if you are just starting out, choosing a guitar that is at least on par can be difficult; especially if you are trying to find one on the cheap. With this customization I turned at $180ish guitar, into a $280+ish guitar
This article is for two people. Someone who is looking how to get a good guitar on the cheap. And people like me, who were scouring the internet to see what parts fit in a 3/4 size Stagg guitar.
Starting off:
Why pick a 3/4 size, Stagg guitar? The reason for me was twofold. Firstly, I needed a smaller guitar due to my smaller fingers. I was struggling to learn how to fret. Secondly, out of all of the options out there like Squire Mini Strats (as well as regular size), and the slew of “branded” guitars; none of them came with a body made of Alder wood. A wood type you can often see in higher priced guitars. On top of that, the bare Alder wood body on this guitar made the choice easy. Now, you may be intimidated about upgrading parts in your guitar. But to be honest, it wasn't, especially because I got parts which agreed with the body.
Guitar Head:
The guitar came with non-locking tuners, meaning you have to continuously twist the string around the tuner peg. A better option was to upgrade these to locking tuners, in my case gold locking tuners. Locking tuners hold a tune setting better than non-locking tuners as they are tightly holding the strings in place. When putting in tuners you can run into some issues. Sometimes the tuner holes are too small (you have to open it up), or the screw hole for screwing down the tuners are in a different position (you have to drill new holes). Fortunately for me, the tuners I tested, fit right through the tuner peg holes. Additionally, the holes which are used to screw down the tuners was just a bit off when I tried to line it up. However, I was able to use the screw holes anyway as the screws went in just fine. The only other customization that I made to the head, was to sand off the Stagg name in order to make way for a custom logo. A waterslide logo to be specific , but I will give that its own section.
Part: Musiclily Pro 6 inline Guitar Locking Tuners
Guitar Neck:
The only mod I made to the guitar neck, was to file down the sides of the frets as they were far enough out that sliding down the neck would heart. Fortunately I knocked that out with a sanding bit on a Dremel (not sponsored lol).
Guitar Body:
Pickguard: This was the meat of the mods. Starting off I wanted to change the pickguard. But I soon learned that the only way to pull this off would be to get one custom made. There are no pickguards on the market that match this guitar’s screws. I searched high and low, and the only one I found that might fit, is one for the Squire Mini Strat; Problem is, it only has two holes for knobs and this guitar has three. To be clear this is a problem with the 3/4 size Staggs, a full size Stagg will probably have many options. So, plan canceled.
Bridge: When it came to the bridge, I knew I had to search for a tremolo bridge in gold. With this guitar, the space for a new bridge is quite limited. The first bridge I bought, turned out to be too big. I took note of the bridge block and decided to hunt for one similar in appearance, as finding direct dimensions was hard. The next one I got fit perfectly. After taking the strings off and opening up the back cover, I just unscrewed the old bridge and added the new one. It is an unknown name brand bridge, but it worked perfectly. Both in color (gold) and sound.
Part: Swhmc Golden 6 Strings Electric Guitar Tremolo Bridge
Pickups: The pickups are a bit tricky, but I knew if I wanted higher quality, I would have to swap them out. And swap them out I did, with Fender Tex-Mex pickups. Changing pickups can be challenging as you need to de-solder the stock pickups from both the switch and the pot (where they are grounded). I opened up the body (unscrewing the pickguard), took photos for reference, and basically reverse engineer their connection in order to make my connections. The Fender pickups came with a nice guide showing what should be connected to what. I almost added no new solder and mostly used the solder which was there for the old connection. I heavily recommend watching some videos if it’s your first time.
Part: Fender Tex-Mex Strat Pickups
Mono Output Jack: One part that is overlooked, probably the most, is the output jack. It plays a roll in getting sound out, so it only made sense to seek one out which would up the quality if not maintain a higher quality output. The jack I found has 4 points of contact when you plug in your 1/4″ guitar wire. Two for the ground and two for the hot. Again this require some soldering, but was way easier as I was only dealing with 2 connections. I was able to solder off the old jack, and use the same solder for the new jack. Just be very sure you are connecting the right wires, black is often ground. As for sizing it fit perfectly, as did the gold Fender jack plate.
Parts: Pure Tone Multi Contact Mono 1/4" Output Jack, Fender Guitar Jack Plate Gold
Everything else (Logo/Strings):
After completing all of the main components, I prepped to add custom logos using inkjet waterslide paper. A paper which when you put it in water, the clear part slides off with whatever you printed on it. There are many video about this, but I’ll share what I did.
Logos:
- I printed the logos I wanted on the paper, gave it about ten minutes to dry. Then I spray painted Rust-Oleum Clear Enamel Spray Paint, on to the paper. I made sure to add a thick layer of the spray and let it dry for about 3–4 hours.
- After applying the logo where I wanted, I let it dry for about 20 minutes, and then added a good amount of Tru-Oil Stock Finish on top. This needs to be done at least 3–4 times, until you can faintly see the edge of the waterslide.
- After all of the coat is completely dry, I used fine 0000 steel wool to scrape over the logo until no waterslide edge is visible. This method produced a matte like finish above the logo which was exactly what I was looking for.
4. I did the same for the back cover. Since it is plastic I only covered it with the spray enamel. After about 5 coats, I used the steel wool to again create a matte like finish, which just so happen to match the look of the base back cover.
Strings & Setup:
The last thing I did was to add the strings. Selecting the right ones are completely up to the user. In this case I went with Elixir Electric Guitar Strings Light (.010-.046). The last part was to adjust the bridge height, adjust the action of the strings, tune it up , and set the intonation of the bridge. After that all that was left was to adjust the pickups to my liking, and I was good to go.
Conclusion:
I hope this article can help others who are seeking to customize their 3/4 Stagg guitar (or any other 3/4 guitar). As someone who went into it blind, I knew I would run into parts that wouldn’t fit. So I’m sharing what parts did work so hopefully others can use those to figure out what they want to do. After adding all the mods, I have to say the guitar sound great, and looks great. Aside from that, nothing feels better than playing a guitar you put work into! Good Luck!
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