The second guitar I'll be working on is a Squier Stratocaster Standard I call "Old Biscuit." This is a 25.5-inch scale guitar; the body is full-sized, but in terrible shape. Both the body and neck are covered with dings, dents, and scrapes, many fairly deep. Stickers have been applied over much of the body to hide the damage. Paint or lacquer is inconsistent and partially missing. Tuners are not sealed and do not work well.

Backstory: I told the pawn shop owner that it was an ugly guitar that really didn't go with the rest of his beautiful inventory [well it didn't....] to try to get him to lower the price. He lowered it to $60, but I know he is making about $35 on the guitar, so $60 is not low enough for me to buy it. I planned to purchase each guitar for the Twelve Guitar project for no more than $50 at garage/yard sales and pawn shops. I arrived at this figure based on my experience working at the Music Makers Shoppe, a local music store. Dan Aguire, the owner, taught me that he could only expect to resell a guitar for half its general current value ["general" being the operative word here]. He reasoned that since his store has to make money to stay in business, he can only offer potential guitar sellers half of the likely amount for which he will be able to sell the used guitar. For example, the "general" value of a new Squier Strat is currently about $200 on the Internet. Dan could expect to sell this guitar used for about $100 if it is in excellent shape; therefore, when a customer wants to sell him a Squier Strat in excellent condition, he would be able to offer $50 for the used guitar. Utility, upkeep, sales labor, and any other overhead costs would all have to be met with the $50 for which he would hope to resell the guitar. A guitar in poor condition would sell for considerably less, but would not be appropriate inventory for a music store [unless it had been fully repaired, which would cost much more than the $50 the store would recover]. So, with this concept, even the $50 planned expense would usually be more than the guitar is actually worth. The advantage with Squier Strats, if I can get them, is that they will be consisently interchangeable. The individual parts are worth more and will consistently fit other Squier Strat guitars. Right now, however, my knowledge is limited, and I don't know enough about other brands to determine interchangeability.

On this particular Squier Strat, a previous owner installed a homemade bridge (actually more like a metal version of a saddle you might see on an acoustic guitar). This bridge is screwed into the guitar body. The tremolo claw, springs, and block are missing. I can tell that someone worked very hard at grinding and filing this piece of metal into the shape, but not being adjustable and not immediately fitting with the standard tremolo system, it will need to be replaced.

Today I will be disassembling the guitar, recording parts/dimensions, and planning its remodel.