I have a Lake Placid Blue Bullet Strat SSS HT arriving today that I bought (brand new) as my first guitar to modify. I’m also waiting on a new pickguard and a Seymour Duncan SH-6 to arrive as my first change. After that, I’m going to look into single coils to put in the neck and middle positions. I mainly play black metal (hence the SH-6), but also shoegaze, emo, goth, and general rock and stuff.
So, any suggestions for things to do? Could be for the guitar in general, or those specific genres. Any suggestions are welcome!
I don’t think anyone has recommended to give the frets and neck some love. Cheap Squiers can have fret sprout, less than level frets, and gloss necks (this is more preference but roughing down to satin with a dish scrub pad or very fine sandpaper feels great to me). I would definitely recommend doing these and making sure your truss rod is properly adjusted so it becomes a guitar you actually want to play rather than a guitar with great electronics that plays terribly.
Fretwork and stuff is up next! This Squier actually feels a bit better to me than my Fender Player Telecaster, which was slightly difficult to realize. The deets are great, though they could be smoother, so I want to polish them up nicely. No sprout or anything, yet.