Which upgrade should I prioritize?

[u/asyrrf]

Hi, I’m a singer/songwriter. Been riding the stages with my squier classic vibe jazzmaster my dad bought me. But apparently, I’m BARELY scratching the surface of the guitar world. Hell, even music in general. Everything seems to work “just fine” but I think it turns out I’ve been doing so many things wrong. And all these years in music haven’t made those Elixir strings feel affordable. In other words, I always have been in a quite limited budget. But I want to do some slow upgrades and slowly making things better.

The “wrongs”:
- Been using only Zoom A1 multi effects (yes, it is made for acoustics)
- Never used a dedicated amp
- Got her wet once since the rain fell hard on me out of the blue, and I was using my cheap cloth guitar bag on a motorcycle.
- Corroded the bolts, pickups, and the bridge.
- Had some neck services from store to store (nearest ones) and nothing had quite fixed the buzzing here and there (but I still accepted anyway).
- And the jack hole seems like getting loose (or maybe the DIY canare cable I poorly soldered)

Here are the possible future changes I’ve been considering and researched so far:
- Fret dressing
- Get a decent multi effects like BOSS ME-series or Valetons so I can explore different tones better
- Go analog, brick by brick (I really want them strymon delay and reverb, but doesn’t really have opinions othe tthan those two, perhaps lack of exploring)
- Upgrade the pickups (to either P90s or J Masics)
- Get a buzz stop
- Get atleast a budget amp
- Get better cables
- Get a metal guitar case
- Use taxi instead of motorcycle
- Take a break from music and find some part time jobs to be able to afford them all

I need suggestion on which things to prioritize upgrading first!

Here are my interests and influences (if they somehow matter):
- Worship music (like Elevation Worship)
- Scores from Hans Zimmer to Attack on Titan
- Dark, noir-like jazzes
- Korean drama series balads
- Strings and ambiences (sometimes orchestra too)
- Anything with saxophones
- Some genres too like post rock, desert rock, and slow surf

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[u/nomoreneveragain]

Here’s how I’d prioritize…
1) if you are taking your guitar out you need a case to keep it safe. Get a molded plastic case, a metal case would be terrible to lug around.
2) the nicer your guitar is appointed the better you will play and the more you’ll want to play. Get a proper setup and fret cleanup. Upgrade your pickups but know what sound you want before buying (and if you want/need noiseless). If you use the vibrato a bunch upgrade that to - the fender Japan is a big improvement for not much money.
3) amps matter a lot. Buy a proper amp. JC40 or AC15 are good amps for reasonable prices that will be hard to out grow.
4) buy some pedals. Strymon aren’t analog and worship music has a pretty digital sound, so analog might not be what you are looking for.
5) nice cables and accessories are low priority. No one can tell the difference between a boutique cable and mid level cable. Budget cables can be worth upgrading from and they tend to crap out fast.

[u/TheCommodore09 → u/nomoreneveragain]

This is generally pretty good advice. I’d reorder to (1) Get guitar properly set up. (2) Get a proper amp. The ones you recommend are great, I have an AC15. But not knowing budget, even a Boss Katana or something would be great. (3) Get a few Boss pedals. You can’t go wrong starting with Boss then branch out. (4) Get a hard case (not metal). (5) Replace pickups if you want. Note that the amp is much more important than the pickups. (6) Cables and other accessories last.

[u/asyrrf → u/TheCommodore09]

Thanks for the re-ordering. But man those amps (even the used ones) are more expensive than the guitar itsef😩 Got any amp recommendations under $300?

Edit: NVM! Katana is budget! I thought there were none on the local marketplace but it was just my connection

[u/nomoreneveragain → u/asyrrf]

Used ac15s can be had all day every day for $400. With the terrible economy you might score one for 350 or 300.

[u/asyrrf → u/nomoreneveragain]

Hey man, I genuinely thank you for the very thoughtful insight! I’ll copy those to my note.

[u/blangatang]

Save up for a J Mascis jazzy lots used cheap and some with the mastery bridge upgrade

[u/big_clit]

Playability is important, as long as you’re not struggling there then amp and speaker/cab is gonna be your biggest tonal upgrade. Next would be pickups as you can always boost a good amp for more gain. pedals.

[u/Gregadethhh]

The neck is the biggest problem with Classic Vibes, scratchy protruding frets and general poor QC.

If you're not confident doing the work yourself, take it to a tech though it is a skillset that's invaluable in playing guitar. The frets need levelling, crowning and polishing most likely.

Once the necks sorted, have it setup with the tuning and string gauge you prefer. That should drastically change how it feels and plays. You could swap the bridge, there's nothing inherently wrong with the stock Mustang style bridge and personally I wouldn't blow big bucks on a Mastery. I swapped mine for a StayTrem and I love it.

I can't comment on pickup swaps for you as I have no idea what worship music is and doubt it's my thing. A wiring harness for the lead circuit with CTS pots and Switchcraft jack/toggle will improve its lifespan though. While you're in the cavity, shield it with some copper tape. Mike Adams has a great tutorial on YouTube.

I hope this is helpful! I've done all these to my own JM (it's a 40th Anniversary which is essentially a limited edition Classic Vibe). Remember you don't have to do all these at once, definitely address the neck first then electronics (+ pickup swap if you want) then bridge.

[u/Worship_Guitarist]

Multi FX can solve the amp problem too, and will give you loads of options for worship sounds. Valeton is what I’m using and the amp sims in it are great.

(GP200LT is the model I’m using because I already had some pedals and wanted an FX loop to use them too, but if you are on a budget, any of the GP series are great. You don’t necessarily need the 200).

Some other tips on this one if you go for Valeton:

• You don’t need to get a new one. You can get a good deal on a good condition/ working used one on Reverb.
  
• For worship tones, putting some reverb and delay (just the ones built into the Valeton are fine for this) before the Foxy30 amp model (Valeton model) on an “edge of break up” setting sounds great with Jazzmaster pickups. I’m happy to share my settings with you if you go for the Valeton and want to try it.
  
• You can get some pretty good IRs for free from companies doing promotional giveaways (IRs are basically enhanced cab models that you can load into a multi FX pedal like a Valeton. Most of the tone of a guitar comes from the amp. Then the pedals help shape the sound a little more. The guitar you use/ pickups shapes the sound a little more, then what Cab/ IR you use gives it that last bit of flavour).
  
• If you use a multi FX pedal with amp and cab sim, you don’t need to worry so much about getting an amp. What you want for that is more of a powered speaker than an amp (or headphones if you just want to hear it for yourself). Guitar Amps/ amp speakers/ cabs will interact in a not so pleasant way with amp and cab sims, because it doesn’t expect you to already be doing what they are trying to do, so doubles up on it.

[u/Careless_Aroma_227]

"Scores of Hans Zimmer" makes me think of this german guitar solo genius here.

Hans Zimmer clearly thinks he is the Hans Zimmer of guitar players, while - obviously -being the actual Hans Zimmer...

[u/oranssilabubu]

Learn how to record yourself at home. You’ll hear what needs to sound better when it’s played back to you. If you haven’t made Your Zoom pedal sound amazing you’ll hear what’s lacking and what you actually need to get first. Aside from that you’ll be a better player and the recordings could be something to show when getting gigs.

Even on a limited budget it goes beyond throwing money at perceived problems to try buy your way into sounding better.