Fender Squier 51

- Finish: two-tone-sunburst, nice job, one-ply pickguard
- Body: strat-style, Basswood (four Parts)
- Bridge: fixed, top-loader
- Neck: tele-style, 648mm, one-piece-maple (yeah really), frets look pretty jumbo to me, narrow C-shape
- Made in: Indonesia
- Frets: 21
- Controls: master volume (push/pull for coil tap), three-way pickup switch
- Pickups: SH, all passive

Be careful when you buy that guitar without actually seeing it, because I already had 51s in my hand that:
- had a glued on maple fingerboard instead of a one-piece
- had a single coil screwed into the pickguard not into the wood
- hab a completely crooked bridge

Were lucky with mine...

Suits perfectly for Blues, Rock or Hardrock, which I usually play. Am using it with a Crate GT65. Single-Coil is a bit noisier than the ones on my strat. Problem with this guitar is the divergence of the pickups and/or missing tone control. If I set up my amp right to suit the bridge humbucker then the neck single coil loses its life completely. Vice versa if I adjust the amp to make the single coil sound good than the humbucker is way to brittle and sounds like an egg slicer ;) They are just not balanced. The humbucker has to much power or the single coil has way to less. The difference of distortion level at the same amp settings are enormous. Because I like the humbucker better i'm gonna replace the single coil with something more powerfull. Single coil also has not the right blues sound. Not warm enough and at the same time treble's missing, too. Humbucker produces lots(!) of overtones... great lead pickup, could be a very little warmer. Coil tap is a cool feature - and if that fake single coil at the bridge sounds better than the real one at the neck than somethings wrong.

Just had to get it in tune it and make it intonate. One of the four bridge mounting screws is drilled veeery badly but you don't see it until you get close enough. Some of the adjusting screws interfere with the strings when the bridge is set up for intonation (have to cut two of'em). Nut is a pretty flimsy piece of plastic. Neck is nice (satin finish), fits even better into my hand than my strat's neck!

We'll see ;)

Four years warranty@soundland... has nothing to do with fender/squier.

Have now been playing for five years. Also got a squier strat. Its a really nice guitar. Better (at least to me) than a lot of way more expensive guitars and a neck to fall in love with! Would buy it again if stolen, but it's not so easy to find another almost-perfect one (warning@features).

Favourite features:
- paint job
- neck
- humbucker
- design
- controls, coil tap

Dislikes (that will get replaced):
- single coil
- nut
- bridge

this is the second one of these guitars i have bought.this one is the blonde one with the black pickguard.this one is just as good as my first one.that one i only used the neck.this one i plan on leaving mostly stock.

this guitar like the first one sounds very good.i am going to leave the stock pickups in this one.i use peavey transtube amps and this guitar sounds very good with them.i play rockabilly music and buddy holly is my biggest influence.this guitar fits these styles very well.

this guitar came out of the box set up very well.the fit and finish are excellent.this guitar has a one piece neck like the first one.some i have heared are two pieces but none of the ones i have seen have had a two piece neck.

i just got this guitar so i have no idea how it will survive.but i see no reason why it won't last for a very long time.

this guitar is a very good guitar.nuff said

Maple on maple neck - irritating. Why not just a one piece maple neck? Some reviewers here claim they have a single piece neck, and they very well might. One thing you can count on with budget guitars is inconsistent construction, materials and quality control. Shouldn't complain, though, for only $99. The Guitar Player magazine review says the body is alder, but Sam Ash, where I bought it, describes it as basewood, which is probably right considering where it was made (Indonesia). I seriously doubt its alder and wouldn't count on that. Its slightly thinner than a strat body.

The volume knob and pickup selector could use some kind of marker so you know where the volume is set and what pickup you're on. My pickup selector is set backwards, I think - you turn it toward the neck to select the humbucker. Should be the other way around.

The humbucker coil tap is a very cool feature and the main reason for buying this guitar.

As noted in other reviews, a cross between a strat and a tele. The humbucker can go from fender twang to ear-piercing bright to grungy crunch.

The single coil neck pickup is nondescript - not great, not bad, just ok. Works best in the middle position with the humbucker. I play it through a Vox AD30VT (modeling amp), and I find that this guitar really responds to the different amp settings for a lot of tonal variety - more so than a Les Paul copy I have.

I would describe the overall sound as "primal". Don't look here for subtle overtones, etc., like you get from a Fender strat or tele. Thats ok, though. Sounds great with 11 gauge strings for a no frills, low down blues sound. Of course, you can always change the pickups as others here have done, but the tone is unique and very useful as is.

Judging from other reviews, quality control seems to be all over the map. Maybe I lucked out, because my guitar was very well put together, right down to the intonation.

The fret edges are totally smooth. There was some grinding on the top of the frets when bending strings, but that went away after a few hours of playing - I guess I smoothed them out. The maple fretboard is perfectly meshed into the neck, but you can tell its a separate board from the difference in color. Overall the neck is very smooth and pleasing to hold. It even has some nice flame and Birdseye patterns.

The no-name tuners seem to work well as the guitar stays in tune. The black body is flawlessly finished, but looks ugly with the white pickgaurd, in my opinion. I plan to paint it black with a white border on the beveled edge. I had to adjust the truss rod, action, and intonation when I installed 11 gauge strings, but obviously that would have to be done on any guitar.

All in all, very good fit and finish. For the price, I give it a 9. I would give it a 10 if it were available in some different, cooler colors. The blond body with black pickguard looks great, but you can't find it, at least not new.

Seems very solid, but only time will tell...

Never used them.

I've only been playing a couple of years and I don't gig. My other guitars, including my son's, are a late 80's Japanese Fender strat, a Les Paul copy, and an Epiphone Flying V (GREAT action and sound. Highly recommend this guitar). The 51 compares favorably to all of them.

I've always wanted a Telecaster, but don't want one as bad now since this guitar produces those icy, twangy, crisp tones that the tele is famous for. I play them all through the VOX ad30vt, which I think is a very good sounding amp.

If it were stolen, I would definitely replace it. It's a steal for $99 and I should probably buy one or two more while I still can. I think they'll go up in price since they're so popular and no longer being made.

This thing is sort of the PT Cruiser of Fender guitars; it's "vintage" styled, but it's not a recreation of any one guitar. It's like "Fender's Greatest Hits." And thank you, Fender, for making it a fixed bridge.

The only styling cue that doesn't fit is the big ugly black humbucker; I'm planning on swapping it out for a chrome PAF that will look the part better.

I am in love with the neck pickup on this guitar, especially on a clean setting. It's that chimey Telecaster sound, which some people hate, but I adore. The humbucker sounds okay too, but it's a little "quacky" sometimes.

Mine is the sunburst finish, and it's got some good woodgrain on it. The finish is flawless. The intonation was off out of the box, but I as able to set it without a problem. Heavier strings help the buzz, and next time I'll go heavier still, to REALLY put some yank on the neck.

I found a couple crooked screws, and one stripped one on the bridge. The wood of the body is a little soft, so be careful, or be prepared to do the drill-and dowel trick.

The knobs WILL fall off. You can pull the coil-tap about three times before the volume knob comes off in your hand. Somewhere, I have a box o' guitar bits with a set-screw knob; I just have to find it.

It hasn't left my house yet, but so far, so good. Everything seems solid enough. I'd play out with it.

Haven't dealt with them at all. But I probably wouldn't, especially on a $99 guitar. I'll fix it myself if something goes wrong.

This is my third or fourth Squier guitar, and yeah, they're not quite as polished as the "real" Fenders. But they're a fraction of the price, and they're perfectly serviceable instruments. I'd like to see some nicer hardware and a better bridge pickup, but those things can be changed. The "bones" are there.

It's really too bad they quit making these. I may very well pick up another one used to customize. I keep picturing one in Surf Green, with a pearl pickguard and lipstick pickups...

Mine is black with a white pick guard, with the maple neck. Feels like an oak bough in your hands -- solid as a rock, and hard enough to be used as a self defense weapon. I consider this a feature (for the playing factor, not for acutally repelling attackers). Classic strat body, but with more of a mellow tele tone to it, a combo I like quite a bit. The pickups are nothing special, but come on, I paid $89 for it on sale at MF. I particularly like the humbucker/single coil option. True, there's a bit of edge to the sound, but only at certain settings. Otherwise, a very ringy, clear sound with good detail.

I admit it -- the electric is pretty much an experiment and a toy for me. I'm a masher, and for that purpose, this thing is phenomenal. Tone purists will probably turn up their nose at this thing, but I love the places where the dissonance comes out -- it's usually warm and buzzy, rather than harsh and edgy, although cranking the volume full can give you more edge than you probably want.

Finish is beatiful. As far as action and fit, well...

The setup was garbage from the factory -- you couldn't go five frets up without hearing obvious tone problems. Hey, I'd never set up a guitar before, so I got digging on the internet, pulled out the screwdrivers and hex keys, and went to work. I had a good time doing it, and now the guitar sounds great, but if that kind of thing isn't your bag, you might want to avoid the MF specials on this thing. Sure, it might come set up fine, but if it was like mine, it's going to take hours of fiddling to get it to sound right.

What this thing lacks in features and finesse, it makes up for in stockiness. I'm a rather big guy, and I don't know that if I hit a fit of on-stage rage, if I actually COULD smash this thing. The tuners could probably be a bit tighter, but everything else is rock solid. Very deep black finish that I'm not scared to play. Again, except for the strings, I can wail on this thing and not think twice about it. What a cheap electric should be, IMO.

No experience.

Look, if someone gave me a Gadeau in an even swap, it wouldn't take me a second to say yes. This isn't a finely tuned machine. But everything doesn't have to be perfect to have fun on it, and make some really wonderful music. You can play the '51 in a lot of styles without it holding you back in the slightest. No subtlety or finesse, but just a solid rock and roll guitar. I'd buy it again in a heartbeat.

This guitar is a combination of strat and telecaster features. It trys for the best of both worlds and fails miserably on both counts.

There is nothing subtle in the sound indeed it is very harsh. It comes without a tone control, which normally I never use, however with this beast I would like to have used tone to take off a brittle top end.

This is where I am most disappointed with this guitar. The neck is rough and you need to file the fret edges to get some degree of comfort.
I adjusted the intonation to get open strings, harmonics and 12th fret notes the same, however the 2nd and 3rd fret notes were a mile out. I compared the fret spacings with that on my Mex Strat and they are quite different.
Changing chords on this guitar can render some horrible shocks.

It is made to normal Squier standard - adequate but not brilliant.

I have several guitars, ranging in quality. In my collection is Squier Affinity fat strat - it is far better than the Squier 51. It appears that Indonesian build is rubbish compared to any other Fender manufacturing base.
If you want a great guitar for about ??100 try a Richwood - they are real class.

You know the features. You got so much for so little money, but I don't consider them unecessary. If I wanted a strat, I'd buy a strat. If I wanted a tele, I'd buy a tele. This is it's own thing, but mixes in so many things AND the controls make it fun to play. The split coil is really effective--I was going to swap it out for a regular pot and just use the humbucker alone, but I like it stock.

This is a great sounding guitar. I own a nice Les Paul and a Jimi Hendrix tribute strat, so I feel like I have the bases covered. I've owned every American vintage model Fender you can think of and I always sell them because they all need a few upgrades, but I feel like upgrading ruins the vibe of buying a vintage reissue so I ditch them. This just sounds great and works. The neck pickup is very "stratty" in a good way. The split-coil bridge setting sounds like a weak tele, but cool. The humbucker alone is really effective. I will use this for slide or maybe for a dirty sounding garage rock/reverbed-out tone. Just think Bo Diddley, The Black Keys, or The Kinks. This will get you there, but do some quick setup adjustments.

The actions was high, so I lowered it. The fret edges are rough, so I will fix them. There's nothing fancy about this guitar and it's more than I expected for the money. Putting new strings on (at least 10's) is a must.

I will be nervous gigging with this because I worry about tuning issues. I may do some upgrades here and there, when I have extra money to tinker with this. I will try to just leave it stock and make it work. At most I'll put some reissue Kluson tuning pegs, new pickups and upgrade the pots--if I decide to gig with it. I think it's a good gigging guitar because you won't have to worry about it getting trashed or stolen.

I have been playing for too long. I've owned tons of guitars and sold tons of them along the way. I don't like to own a lot of gear, so I keep things that work or are fun to have around. I own a solid bassman ltd reissue, a few Fulltone pedals, and a few guitars. This is a keeper. I may change my mind, but it's nice to leave it on the stand so when people come over they can just knock it around and I don't mind it being a beater. It sounds good for recordings and mixes in well with other guitars on tracks. Find one, if you can. I looked all around L.A. and found a few left at Sam Ash for $99...better grab one soon.

Polyurethane body 'shell' over basswood, 3/4 thickness strat body, top load six saddle chrome hardtail bridge, one piece maple tele 25.5
neck, tele headstock, 9.5+ radius, almost med jumbo frets, cheap white nut, one coat sealer only. Neck sometimes two piece, can be birdseye fretboard, still wif skunkstripe. Comes with cardboard box, allen tools, serial numbers. Made mid 2004 thru late 2006, at Cort plant in Indonesia. 21 frets. 3-6 piece solid basswood body. Three way pup radial dial, coil tap, yields five settings; Volume but no tone control. Single coil neck, tappable HB in bridge, all passive.

Neck pup alone can be too bright, varies from guitar to guitar.
Blends of pups + HB alone, tapped + untapped, yields plenty of good sounds from Peavey Classic 50 2x12. Quietest in center position, with coil tapped (?) Pup output a little low for loud live music.
I don't shred or play cannibal metal, so I can't comment there.
No tone control means the pure pup sound can come straight through your amplifier. How often do you not have your tone control dimed?
The tone sort of takes care of itself as you turn the volume knob, which knob is push pull to handle coil tap.

at $ 100 street price, you must look at this guitar not quite as a kit, but as a guitar that may require some set up, and will definitely need intonation + screws tightened or upsized. In all but the clumsiest or most innocent hands, this guitar can be worked up with available tools to be a very good player, maybe a 400-500 $ guitar. Don't overtighten the tuners, which work fine, but refit kluson style for better function and appearance. Pickguards are not interchangeable always, many screw configurations. HB + ring can be mounted too far towards controls. Bridge needs work/ can be replaced.

Don't strip the urethane off this body, as the wood is dentable and not that pretty. Take the neck off and put some Deft on it, or you'll wear thru the sealer and get the dirt look. Buttons for straps have big screws, fine. This is probably your backup guitar at the gig. It is, except for what I've said above, as stout as the usual Fender tele or strat. It can be readily upgraded with hdwr, bridge or saddles, tuners, and be your main guitar.

Fender and Cort have been around for years. I'd personally be sheepish complaining about anything on a $100 guitar. This is a gift, and don't forget that.
The Fender guy on the phone in Corona was polite, but he knew basically less about this guitar than you did before you started reading the first entry here, or he wouldn't say. I don't mind.
Finally, this guitar was discontinued as of February, 2007, tho some can still be found in sunburst or black in unopened boxes. Wxcept for achived reviews FMIC website's been swept clean.

I have ten of these things, Scout's Honor. I've got other stuff I love, too many to mention, and this cost twenty five percent of my next cheapest guitar, and yet I don't feel let down in any way when I'm playing one of these. This guitar is really not to be 'wasted' on beginnners or the uninspired, it just needs your loving attention to be fully set up. I don't like giving tens, but because of the ridiculous and unmatched price/value relationship, I give it a

This is an update to my previous post, see below. not the easiest pickup change but easier than most. The screamin demon (lead,HB) fit perfect. but the lead on the classic stack(neck, SC) was kinda short and I had to add to the white wire. There are adjustment screws for the neck pickup,which is a body mount pickup, save and re-use these or you'll have a mess trying to pickguard mount this pickup with the short wire length."i understand now..sensei..." re-use the foam adjustment pad also. no routing necesary...Hooray!

pickup and string replacement...$200, better sounding squire...priceless. strung it up with the 11's and went right into some VHII...it's choicey.

stiffened the neck, adjusted the saddles...all is good.

Well now I have a $300 squier '51. I feel alot better about the sound and playability...it Rocks. I've spent alot more money on failed projects. So it's really is great when one works out for a change.

And alas, I get to do the $99 review of this guitar. and I took the time thistime to place it under the correct manufacturers site. Squire's I believe...should be listed under Squire. Not fender squire, Renault made my Nissan but the insurance company says Nissan... any how out of the box eevrything looked great, nice strat type body with a adjustable stop tailpiece, satin finished maple tele neck with diecast tuners, p-bass control set with a push pull volume(coiltap) and a three way rotary position knob in the tone postition. a real good solid basswood body feel. some standard fender pickups , a humbucker and a single coil in the neck.21 frets... made in Indonesia

Hears where the boar eats the cabbage...anything that activates my tinitus(tin ear) ain't the greatest.been playing 26 years and prefer metal/classic rock/ country. haven't done a setup on it yet for the 11's, and it came strung with 9's so I'll try to be fair. I've only run it through my Cube60 and A/B'd it with my junebug custom strat w/ kinmans, and a thinline tele w/dimarzios,(did not adjust eq during comparing) it had a thin sound without doing any EQing, kind of tinny in comparison but, I believe a setup with the 11's and some adjutments could get some of the shrill out of it. I also haven't played it through a stack.it get's a little noisy with effects and that always means...pickup changeout time. it plays great otherwise, setup was okay out of the box and overall for $99 I'm happy.

All of it was better than I can do, I build and do laquer finishes, but you can't beat a nice poly coat done right. Unfortunatelly, and take note: there is no pickup adjustment for the neck single coil. If you decide to replace it you may need to rout the cavity and add adjustment screw holes through the pick guard. the standard pickup height seems pretty good for the ware. every thing else is just fine.

I'm sure this guitar can take a beating upfront. I've been playing squires since 1986, and I still have them all. The newer ones concern me though with the wire gauges,pots, switches and solder, but I haven't had a failure yet.(i have a new Obey tele and an Obey strat '06 purchases played 3-4 hours a week, no mods, no probs) this beast is getting an electrical overhaul...pup's, switches, wires, jack and pots. but that's my doing. for the Earl Shreib price of $99...I have no fear. I'd gig it in a heartbeat.

never dealt with squier/fender on guitars.

Hey 26 years ago I wish this guitar was around...of course for $99. my first guitar was an epiphone genesis, made in Taiwan, cost $200. took it in to get restrung and found out the neck was cracked. $400 later I had a jumbo refretted 18 pound log that I suffered with for 5 years...till I got my first squire. I have alot of very high dollar equipment and guitars. I just like the simplicity of gigging with good quality stuff, low cost,good sounding. so if the beer bottles start flying I can defend myself and not cry. If it were lost or stolen I'd probably be pissed, more over the labor and $200 dollars worth of pickups(screamin' demon and classic strat plus) I'm about to install. Squire makes new guitars everyday so I'd find a replacement, and start over...26 years ago I think if it was available, I'd definately have to replace it...or buy the fender Lead II...ah the memories. hey it's a good guitar. Rock on