Results 1 to 19 of 19

Thread: Squire Mini conversion

  1. #1

    Thumbs up Squire Mini conversion

    For anyone curious i just converted a squire mini fender 21 3/4 in length to a five string mando thing. tuned F(.059) C(.046) G(.026) D(.017) A(.010)

    Here is basically what i did. guitar is a 100 $ model
    Removed the neck and nut
    sanded 3/16 approx off of each side of neck careful to not remove any wood from the base of the neck so it would easily bolt back in place. i sanded the fret board at the base using a drum sander that moves up and down and spins using the smallest drum tube. re beveled and dressed the fret ends and hand sanded the neck to a proper shape and finish. i trimmed the high end of the nut down to five slots and reshaped the nut end. used a piece of dowel to fill hole left from removing bottom tuner .i used tung oil which matched (quite well)the exposed wood on the neck back up to the finish well enough for me

    replace pick ups with rail style i used emg replacements for strat 15$ each
    replace bridge with through body style 5 string bridge and ferrules from moongazer.
    this requires drilling through the finish which will chip and crack good luck.
    i was fairly lucky and the small chips visible i coloured with a black marker.

    Replace the neck put on the strings which i acquired from an regular light 7 string set of d'addario
    Sounds and plays great would like better highs from pick ups but that i will work out later
    only spent 5 hours in total making this
    Last edited by rico mando; Feb-17-2010 at 3:49am.

  2. The following members say thank you to rico mando for this post:


  3. #2

    Default Re: Squire Mini conversion

    another pic sorry not very good shot

  4. #3
    Registered User flatt's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    London UK
    Posts
    138

    Default Re: Squire Mini conversion

    This looks great! You have done a lovely job on it. I have done the same with a much cheaper 1/2 size mini-Strat (19"). I didn't alter the width of the neck, as it didn't seem worth it; however I did fit Carvin AP11 pickups on it and, because the pole pieces are adjustable, I've managed to get equal volume across all the strings. Mine's only got the two PU's though.
    However, I notice your mini has got a truss rod in the neck. The downside of my little conversion is the neck is sort-of OK, but the frets are all up and down which means the action is higher than I would really like. If I had the craftsmen capabilities - and time - of which I have neither, I would love to replace the bridge with a through-body style with tremolo bar!
    But aren't they fun to play? It took me a while to get used to five strings ... ("am I playing in C now, on the bottom 4 - or in F on the top 4??") but as I get more confident I find I can go all over the octaves and still find something new to play.
    I notice you're on Vancouver Island? I did a gig at the Victoria Folk Music Society last summer ... what a great place to be!
    Thanks for the photos.
    Chris; London, England

    http://www.myspace.com/mandolinjack

    http://uk.youtube.com/user/MandolinJackFlatt



    (Furch MF23, Gibson A0, Hoyer archtop, a nameless tenor, Abbot banjo ..
    + some guitars)

  5. #4
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Location
    Arlen, TX
    Posts
    189

    Default Re: Squire Mini conversion

    I'm a little confused--when looking at the mini strats I found the string lengths to be 20+ and 22+ inches, respectively...?

  6. #5

    Default Re: Squire Mini conversion

    Your not confused the length is 22 3/4 my bad sorry was getting late when i posted the 20+ in scale would work as a octave mando i bet
    Last edited by rico mando; Feb-17-2010 at 1:39pm.

  7. #6
    ISO TEKNO delsbrother's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    Caulifonya
    Posts
    3,098

    Default Re: Squire Mini conversion

    Looks very cool! On my six string minis I just leave the sixth string off. The extra meat on the neck doesn't really bother me (and I am extremely lazy). Yours looks great though!

  8. #7
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Fort Worth, TX
    Posts
    285

    Default Re: Squire Mini conversion

    Quote Originally Posted by flatt View Post
    ...but the frets are all up and down which means the action is higher than I would really like. If I had the craftsmen capabilities - and time - of which I have neither, I would love to replace the bridge with a through-body style with tremolo bar!
    See this photo-illustrated article on leveling and crowning frets. The job is much easier than you would think and doesn't really require special tools. I've taken two guitars that were below average and turned them into my second and third favorite guitars (behind a custom-built job from a local luthier) using this guys instructions. It took me one evening for each.

    Instead of expensive aluminum sanding blocks I used two 2' orange plastic I-beam spirit levels from home depot. On one I used the dremel tool to hollow out the areas to clear the frets - that one I used as a straight edge to ensure that all of the relief is out of the neck before beginning. Note that the I-beam is flexible enough to bow if you push hard against it, but it is very straight so if you don't put any pressure on it it works fine.

    I cut the other spirit level into two, 1' pieces and used 3M spray trim adhesive to glue 400 and 600 grit wet-or-dry sandpaper to them.

    If you have to take a lot of metal off some of the frets then you will need a crowning file, in my case I was able to get away without one.

    John

  9. #8
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Fort Worth, TX
    Posts
    285

    Default Re: Squire Mini conversion

    Quote Originally Posted by rico mando View Post
    ...this requires drilling through the finish which will chip and crack good luck.
    i was fairly lucky and the small chips visible i coloured with a black marker.
    Handy tip for next time. Cover the area to be drilled with masking tape, rubbed down pretty tightly. Then, use a forstner drill bit. A forstner bit looks somewhat like a regular bit except at the very tip, where it has a squared-off cutting edge that will cleanly cut a circle as the bit begins to penetrate. You can get clean cuts in most painted woods with one (if the guitar is particle board it might still chip).

    You also want to drill as nearly perpendicular as possible with the forstner bit, to prevent chipping. It sounds like you have access to a pretty good shop so I'm sure there is a drill-press lurking around there somewhere.

    BTW, very nice idea and very nice work. I've been toying with the idea of converting one of my electric guitars to a five string "octave mandola" but leaving all six tuners in place and doubling the high string. I figured I'd tune it C G D A EE but I was kind of concerned about the long scale tuned in fifths. I never would have thought of getting one of those little "kiddie guitars." You just saved either my Tele or Strat the indignity of being carved up.

    Gee, maybe I'll get one of those cute little pink "daisy rock" guitars and...nah, not gonna happen!

    John

  10. #9

    Default Re: Squire Mini conversion

    Quote Originally Posted by ...and Master of None View Post
    Handy tip for next time. Cover the area to be drilled with masking tape, rubbed down pretty tightly. Then, use a forstner drill bit. A forstner bit looks somewhat like a regular bit except at the very tip, where it has a squared-off cutting edge that will cleanly cut a circle as the bit begins to penetrate. You can get clean cuts in most painted woods with one (if the guitar is particle board it might still chip).

    You also want to drill as nearly perpendicular as possible with the forstner bit, to prevent chipping. It sounds like you have access to a pretty good shop so I'm sure there is a drill-press lurking around there somewhere.

    BTW, very nice idea and very nice work. I've been toying with the idea of converting one of my electric guitars to a five string "octave mandola" but leaving all six tuners in place and doubling the high string. I figured I'd tune it C G D A EE but I was kind of concerned about the long scale tuned in fifths. I never would have thought of getting one of those little "kiddie guitars." You just saved either my Tele or Strat the indignity of being carved up.

    Gee, maybe I'll get one of those cute little pink "daisy rock" guitars and...nah, not gonna happen!

    John
    i originally had some bass strings on the mini to get the full six but i found it was hard to get a good balance across the neck. you guessed right particle board encased in plastic . i could of done a better job but then i wouldn't be starting with a $100 new guitar. just hacked at it and hoped i would get lucky which i basically did. the thing sounds great ! really balanced in string tension , might spring for a better pick up. still need to find a guitar with a good neck before you start a project like this . i looked at about 15 mini 's around town and only one had good strait neck i recommend the conversion if you have some tools and know how. which it sounds like you do
    Last edited by rico mando; Feb-18-2010 at 12:42am. Reason: grammer

  11. #10
    Registered User flatt's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    London UK
    Posts
    138

    Default Re: Squire Mini conversion

    Quote Originally Posted by ...and Master of None View Post
    See this photo-illustrated article on leveling and crowning frets. The job is much easier than you would think and doesn't really require special tools. I've taken two guitars that were below average and turned them into my second and third favorite guitars (behind a custom-built job from a local luthier) using this guys instructions. It took me one evening for each.

    Instead of expensive aluminum sanding blocks I used two 2' orange plastic I-beam spirit levels from home depot. On one I used the dremel tool to hollow out the areas to clear the frets - that one I used as a straight edge to ensure that all of the relief is out of the neck before beginning. Note that the I-beam is flexible enough to bow if you push hard against it, but it is very straight so if you don't put any pressure on it it works fine.

    I cut the other spirit level into two, 1' pieces and used 3M spray trim adhesive to glue 400 and 600 grit wet-or-dry sandpaper to them.

    If you have to take a lot of metal off some of the frets then you will need a crowning file, in my case I was able to get away without one.

    John
    Thanks John - an excellent tip! I shall give it a go.

    These little babies certainly are fun to play, once you get used to having all those extra octaves (and the "playing in two keys" syndrome) under control! Very occasionally I wish the neck was thinner, with - for example - a 5-string "D" chord ... on the top strings it feels like a mandolin G-chord, but you need to whack your thumb on the bottom string to make it a "D" - LOL does that make any sense?

    "Daisy Rock"? What a great idea! Heart-shaped pink? Could be a wow!!
    Chris; London, England

    http://www.myspace.com/mandolinjack

    http://uk.youtube.com/user/MandolinJackFlatt



    (Furch MF23, Gibson A0, Hoyer archtop, a nameless tenor, Abbot banjo ..
    + some guitars)

  12. #11
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Fort Worth, TX
    Posts
    285

    Default Re: Squire Mini conversion

    Quote Originally Posted by rico mando View Post
    i originally had some bass strings on the mini to get the full six but i found it was hard to get a good balance across the neck.
    Yeah, I can see where that would be a problem. I just reread your original post and noticed that you're using a .059 for an F. On a full scale guitar tuned CGDACE (another of my experiments) I use an 0.056 for the low C. So, I don't think it would be very easy to tune down to C on one of these shorter scale instruments. It's still a cool idea, though. I may just have to tune a little higher than I wanted.

    Quote Originally Posted by rico mando View Post
    you guessed right particle board encased in plastic
    .
    Hey, if it was good enough for Danelectro in the 60's...

    Quote Originally Posted by rico mando View Post
    i recommend the conversion if you have some tools and know how. which it sounds like you do
    More tools than know-how, unfortunately. I can do simple modification and adjustment stuff but everything I build from scratch looks like the birdhouse I built in third grade. I won't tell you what that neck would look like if I took a drum sander to it!

    John

  13. #12
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Fort Worth, TX
    Posts
    285

    Default Re: Squire Mini conversion

    Quote Originally Posted by flatt View Post
    Very occasionally I wish the neck was thinner, with - for example - a 5-string "D" chord ... on the top strings it feels like a mandolin G-chord, but you need to whack your thumb on the bottom string to make it a "D" - LOL does that make any sense?
    Yep. But in my case I probably wouldn't use traditional mandolin-family chords at all (especially since I'm just learning the instrument). I would probably play it more like a guitar tuned in fifths, i.e. using bar chords almost exclusively.

    In fact, all this craziness, including buying an acoustic mandolin with a fishman pickup and beginninig the long road to learning to play it, all came about because I started playing with guitar tunings. One thing led to another...

    Anyway, if I buy, build, or convert a five-string mando thingy it will be because I intend to play it with bar chords. On an instrument tuned evenly in fifths you can move the bar chords not only along the neck, but across it as well. I've also found that it gives much nicer voicings of some chords - like the major 7, than you get from bar chords in a concert-tuned guitar.

    John

  14. #13
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Fort Worth, TX
    Posts
    285

    Default Re: Squire Mini conversion

    Just FYI - I noticed something on the local Craig's List today that I almost bought. It's a Brian May "Mini May" guitar. It supposedly has a solid wood body and it has a 17" scale - which seems like it would be almost perfect for a mandola conversion.

    If I had time to fool with building stuff right now I would have jumped on it like a cat on a junebug.

    John

  15. #14

    Default Re: Squire Mini conversion

    i have picked up a samick avion for$ 150 canadian that is 19in scale waiting parts to convert it. might have alder body according to web site. it has a arch les paul style bridge that is 17mm high so i will have to lower the neck to get a germain bridge to work

  16. #15
    String-Bending Heretic mandocrucian's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    Virginia
    Posts
    3,210

    Default Re: Squire Mini conversion

    I won't tell you what that neck would look like if I took a drum sander to it!
    It supposedly has a solid wood body and it has a 17" scale - which seems like it would be almost perfect for a mandola conversion.

    If I had time to fool with building stuff right now I would have jumped on it like a cat on a junebug.
    There's no necessity to narrow down the neck. In fact, I would advise against it, especially if you plan on doing stringbending. On the low strings, you'll be doing push-bends (so you don't deaden the next higher string while doing licks which work both strings. So on the bottom end, having that extra neck width where the low 6th string would have been, allows you to bend your low string (I tune an octave down - GDAEa or GDAEB because it provides more versatility than mandola CGDAE, allowing the instrument to better substitute functionally for a e-gtr).

    Don't even bother respace the nut, or the bridge, unless you must have more spacing between your strings due to more than average finger thickness. You can remove the uned machine head and individual string bridge saddle (if applicable) so that they don't rattle around. With a 17" scale neck, you don't need to even consider shortening the scale length as you might with a 19" or 21" inch.



    Niles H

    Mandocrucian tracks on SoundCloud

    CoMando Guest of the Week 2003 interview of Niles

    "I could be wrong now, but I don't think so!." - Randy Newman ("It's A Jungle Out There")

  17. #16

    Default Re: Squire Mini conversion

    I just bought an Olympia OSP-1 mini electric that I'm going to turn into a 4- or 5-string mandola or octave mandolin. It's got a 19" scale length. I'm not planning on sanding the neck or anything like that--do I need to do anything other than just strap new strings on there? Any suggestions for what kind of strings? Also, if I only keep the top 4 strings, would that affect the tone, since part of the pickup is going more or less unused?
    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	100_3217.jpg 
Views:	237 
Size:	45.3 KB 
ID:	50593

  18. #17

    Default Re: Squire Mini conversion

    just start putting the strings on and play. I have my 19in strung G(.050)D(.035)A(024)E(.014)B(.010) not fully sure about other tunings but my D A E B came from a pack of light mandolin strings . I would recommend visiting emando site or emailing martin there he probably has your possible tunings all ready worked out and can mail you the strings you will need.

    You should probably post your question in a new thread as this one is getting old and many of the informed people who generously posted here may not recheck this thread. so you will get more attention in a new thread. cheers
    Last edited by rico mando; Feb-25-2010 at 12:02pm.

  19. #18

    Default Re: Squire Mini conversion

    Good suggestions-I'll check out the emando site, and if that doesn't answer everything I'll start a new thread. Thanks!

  20. #19
    Oscar Stern s11141827's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2019
    Location
    2486 Govoners Drive South
    Posts
    433

    Default Re: Squire Mini conversion

    They make a 6 string Version which is tuned C, G, D, A, E, B. Octave4Plus makes those strings & Magma makes Nylon versions

Bookmarks

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •