Fender Squier 51

strat body with tele neck presician bass pickgaurd(i think).
humbucker in bridge with coil tap single coil for neck pickup
maple neck and fret board.

I play blues and hendrix stuff,this guitar has a very very clean unaltered tone,i have a 1994 fender strat and this guitars tone seems to be less muffled as my strats tone,but my strats tone is stronger and thicker,more in your face.the 51 does have a very nice tone though.

i got the guitar used,so i set it up with .13s.got really low nice playable action.and the neck seems thicker than my strats neck even though they are both c shaped necks,the neck is a very light color so im thinking about tinting it.

very durable guitar it will be used as a backup for my strat,or the opposite i want to gig this a couple times and see how it does,

never used it and probably wont need it

i really like the neck on it,the action is good,intonation is good.i really like the guitar alot,i will probably never sell it,maybe.

For a cheap guitar this has all you could want, different tones from the humbucker and single coil pickups, coil splitting, solid construction etc.

Mine sounds great, though it's been modded. But from what I've heard on youtube it sounds fine stock. I don't think people mod the 51 because it needs it but because the low price, quality construction and cool configuration make it a modders dream.

The 51's I have couldn't play better, buttery action, good feel and easy to play.

Built like a tank, worse that could happen is the usual finish chips and dings.

Fender is easy enough to deal with but I can't imagine why you'd need to call them about cheap guitar that's no longer in production.

Great value for the 51. Solid as a rock, both of mine have a one piece neck, crazy for a guitar that at one time sold new for as low as $99. Both of mine were bought used and had been modded but were still a great value at $165, you'd could buy a better guitar for that kind of money.

I'm not sure what year it was made. It was made in Indonesia. 21 Frets. 1 Volume knob, one 3 way pickup switch (the previous owner modded it).
Pickup configuration: S/H. The neck pickup is stock, I believe, and the bridge pickup is upgraded to a GFS Retrotone Humbucker. Maple neck, maple fretboard, basswood body. It has a strat style body. The bridge stop tail. The tuners are stock. The neck is relatively thin.

I like to play experimental type music, like post rock, shoegaze, but I also love to play surf rock and some blues. It is an incredible guitar for pretty much anything that requires a strat-like tone, with less noise and no tremolo arm. I play it through a Fender FM 212R (great amp!), my Big Muff, Boss ME 50 and several DOD pedals. It's surprisingly not noisy, even on the single coil neck pickup (I happen to enjoy noise, though). It has incredible sound ont he neck pickup, very fendery and strat-like. Slightly twangier in the neck. The GFS bridge pickup is surprisingly loud and toneful for a humbucker. Inbetween, it still sounds bright and bridgy.
I love the sound, it's incredible, it sounds generally as good ans my MIM Fender Strat- that's a shock, considering I have a Squier Strat and the case is completely different.

The action is excellent, it's pretty high, the way I live it. No fretbuzz.
The neck pickup is slightly low, maybe that's why it's so much more quiet than the bridge pickup. I kind of don't like that variance, it makes for unequal tone, but I bought this guitar used, so it was set up by the previous guy. Everything is properly routed.
No flaws, save for tiny dings and the volume knob is loose.

This guitar will definitely survive, I can tell. Feels amazing. The hardware looks like it will last, I need to get the tone knob glued in or something.
The finish is pretty durable. Strap buttons are solid. It's a dependable guitar, I would love to go on stage with it; as I said, I honestly see, in terms of quality, no difference between this and my Fender MIM Strat.

It can gig without backup for sure, but I would replace the tuners perhaps just in case, although they too are surprisingly durable. One necessary upgrade though is the nut, plastic squier nuts suck.

I wish I knew the year it was made. I have a Fender MIM Strat and I'm planning on buying a USA Strat deluxe or Jazzmaster sometime soon.
I love its strat blend with the tele look, makes for a very unique looking guitar. It has a beautiful sunburst finish, although if the pickguard was black it would look even better (it is white). I would definitely buy another one if it was stolen. I love the neck pickup and its slight slant, it gives it a fender mustang type sound- slightly twangier than a strat neck.

I wish it had a better nut, maybe a bone or L.S.R nut, and a floating tremolo- that would be incredible! I also wish the body was Alder, but this Basswood is incredibly vibrant and light, I have no problem with it.

I have a Squier Strat and in terms of quality it is nowhere near this guitar. I'd honestly say I'd prefer this gutiar over my MIM strat, and my MIM Strat is my baby.

Don't know what year - sold it a while ago. Changed nut, filed fret ends, sanded back of neck, otherwise stock.

Based on price, this is a ridiculously good sounding guitar. Like most, I purchased this on clear-out for less than the price of a good pedal. Again, rating factors in price paid. One pickup was way better than the other, can't remember which, but you could get better tone than any Mexican fender (save the Classic Player series) with that pickup.

Lousy, but you get what you pay for, and you get more tone than you pay for with this baby. Bridge needs to be replaced. Fret ends protruded. Intonation not set up from factory (some cheap guitars are set up, e.g. OLP). Plastic nut. Tuners not as bad as everyone says. loctite the shaft so they stay in the headstock. Tighten the screws on the ends a little, and not too bad. One rockin' stock pickup, on OK.

Bridge will rattle eventually no matter how much time you spend setting it up properly. Cheap Asian pig-iron low-tolerance machining. Again, you get what you pay for. Swap that out, and there's nothing really wrong with this guitar.

Never used it.

I've been playing acoustic for many years - lost track a long time ago. Electric for maybe five years. Great tone for the price. Some cheap upgrades and you could be happy with this guitar for a long time. I wouldn't buy another one as I'm mostly back to acoustic. Based on price plus upgrades, still great bang for the buck.

Body: basswood
Neck: maple, C-shape with polyurethane finish 21 medium jumbo Frets, hard-tail 6-saddle bridge,

1 single-coil Strat pickup (neck), 1 hot humbucking pickup (bridge)
3-position rotary selector Switch, push/pull coil selector Switch (on master volume pot)

Great finish - Sunburst

I have been playing since I was 7yo. I leaned classical and later rock, country, folk, blues. I stopped play for about 10 years, and sold my electric. Just decided to go back and play found this for $100 on e-bay. Great and flexible guitar. Rock, Blues, Jazz, anything. Sound is awesome. If you can find one snatch it up. The sound is awesome through either my premier amp or Fender GDEC.

Plenty of variety with the 5 selections of neck and bridge pickup, plus the advantage of coil cut on the humbucker. Stock pickups are great, though you could mod them easy enough.

Could have another pickup in the middle position but with the humbucker it is not a real issuer

Excellent condition for a used guitar. I hear the fit and finish varied, but from all I have read and seen, these are well made guitars.

Very reliable though I have not had it long. Definitely a gig guitar without backup. (You should always have a backup!)

Have never had to call.

This is a great guitar, and was highly under-rated. Squier 51's are probably more popular now than when they were in production. I will not be modding this one and found others who have also not modded or just given them a slight tweak, like upgrading the bridge or replacing one of the pickups.

Get one, play it for a while before you consider modding it.

Love this guitar.

Very meat and potatos guitar. 3 way rotary switch coil tapped humbucker in the bridge pickup and slant orientation single coil strat style pickup with a top laoding hardtail bridge. This was the stock configuration. Tele style neck 1 piece maple. I bought this guitar to mod out. Out of the box it's really good but very basic. Body was blonde polyeurathane finish. I refinished it same color but with nitrocellous. Black single ply pickguard.

Again I bought this to hot rod. Out of the box though it's really impressive sounding. Coil tap is strat sounding. Full humbucker is very bluesy lots of tonal varity even without a master tone. The neck pickup to me sounds somewhere between a strat and tele. Very nice sounding for a Squier. I was really impressed and saved the the electronics for a future project.

Well I don't expect anything to come out of the factory set up to my taste. Had some sharp fret edges, didn't take a lot to fix that. Frets are tall narrow frets still I like them.

I didn't really give it a chance. I completly modded mine out repaint, Got a vintage Seamour Duncan tele Pickup and coil tapped humbucker for it. Custom short tele style ashtray bridge 3 brass compensated saddles. As it is now, I'd put it against anything else out there in a test of endurance.

Don't know never used them.

This is a great modders guitar. I enjoyed working on it over the past 40 days. Stock they're really nice, it's different and will stand out. If you've got a collection and are looking for something that will stand out and be different pick one up if you can find them. These were the first among the vintage modified series so they're on par with Squier Standard seires, maybe better. I love this thing especially after modding.

Ok, don't know what year it was made because I bought it used, and with a replacement neck. I bought a stock 51 neck off ebay and swapped it on. I've had this guitar about 6 months now.

The rest of the features are more or less stock, except for a replacement humbucker in the bridge position. I only know this because the coil tap doesn't work, and when I took it to get it reconnected I was told the humbucker was 2-conductor instead of 4-conductor. Not sure if the neck pickup is stock or not.

The body is of the tobacco-burst variety. The pickguard is probably the stock one, but has been sprayed black, and the top half has been cut to be more or less strat-shaped. Looks odd, but really cool.

Apart from the neck, the only mod I have made is swapping off the knobs and putting on some Jaguar-style black ones.

The neck, despite the headstock, is NOT a Tele neck. This neck is chunky, like a baseball bat. Took some getting used to at first, but now I am used to it and really like it. The wood is nice maple, with a few birds-eyes scattered about.

In all, I have a unique, not-so-hot-rod of a guitar. I like it.

As for features, not much at all.

The guitar sounds AMAZING. I play with no effects, through a Marshall MG-10, with the contour set to 8. The humbucker (I have no idea what it is!) sounds really great. Mid-rangey, grunty, and strong, it sounds almost like a Les Paul-type grunt. Very full sound. I imagine it would sound great distorted, but I haven't tried it. Sounds good with the amp overdriven.

The neck pickup is totally different and equally impressive. It sounds like a strat. And I mean it REALLY sounds like a strat. Lots of pick attack, very clean, clucky and plucky. Just a beautiful clean sound.

Despite the lack of a tone control, neither pickup sounds overly trebly or harsh. But I still would like a tone control for the variety it offers.

But for what it is now, 10's all the way !

I have no idea about the factory setup. I had it professionally done, and it came out quite well. The action is a little higher than I would like, but everything else is spot-on.

For the strings, I have d'Addario strings, either 10-46 or 11-48. I don't remeber which.

I have to be careful adjusting the piickup heights, because if I bring them too close to the strings, they fall back into the route, which is a pain in the butt to correct. This is especially the case with the bridge pickup.

In all, no major flaws, just as long as I leave it alone.

The guitar would definitely stand up to live playing, even without a backup. But I'm sure no self-respecting working musician would gig without a backup.

The guitar seems very duarable, but I should change the pickup height adjustment screws for longer ones.

It's a Squier, they're built like mini-tanks.

No idea, I go to a luthier

I've been playing about 9 years, but have only gotten serious and made real progress in the past 9 months. I have already mentioned my amp, and I also own 3 other Squier guitars: an 07 Jagmaster, an 01 Affinity Tele, and an 08 Affinity Strat. The 51 is by far the best sounding of the bunch, but the neck is toughest to play.

If lost or stolen, I would definitely try to get another one of these, but would probably leave it more or less stock. I'd try to find a blonde.

I do wish it had a tone control, but that lack is also part of the guitars thrown-together charm.

In all, a pretty good guitar that oozes unique style and charm. She may not look like much, but the sound sure packs a punch...

Mine was made... Oh I haven't really bothered to check the serial number yet. I bought it off craigslist with the original strings still on her. She's got 21 frets. Basswood body, maple fingerboard. Push pull pot. Mine was sunburst with an AWFUL AWFUL bright white pickguard. The sunburst finish is beautiful. She's got a humbucker in the bridge and a single coil in the neck. Passive pickups. Both of them are pretty decent pickups for the price. It's a strat body with a tele neck. I don't really mind the bridge.

I play in the OSU jazz band and have a local gigging "rock" band. I have my 51' and a epi les paul (Hey, I'm a college student, I'm poor, maybe one day I'll be able to afford a Gibson. But it's the player, not the gear that counts anyways). I run her through a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. I've only swapped out the tubes to JJs. Beautiful Fender single coil sound. It's not noisy at all even at high volumes in gigs. She's got a pretty full single coil sound and a meaty bucker sound. There's TONS of variety you could do. I'm a huge Clapton fan so I play tons of blues but also jazz, pop, rock, etc. This guitar does it all. FOR ONLY 100 DOLLARS you couldn't ask for more.

The factory had the action pretty high. The pickups were perfect and the finish is BEAUTIFUL. Uh pickguard SUCKS. I changed to to the pearl deluxe pickguard from guitarfetish.com. It looks so nice. The neck is awesome and not too thin or thick. Although it's kinda weird... the neck seems to be slightly thicker as it progresses from bolt to tuners. The guitar needs to be adjusted and set up, but all guitars do. Even Gibson customs. Everyone has their own preferences.

She has withstood tons of gigging. Solid guitar. Hardware will last. Finish is thick and beautiful. Straps... uh put locks on if you're gigging. This is my main/backup guitar. I switch between 51' and LP depending on mood.

I would imagine it would suck. Go to your local tech. Never needed them yet.

I've been playing for years now and spent countless days in GC playing every guitar I could ever dream of owning. This stands up to the best of them. I would buy one if it got lost. Now that I've upgraded the pickguard it's perfect. I just wish it could make me breakfast.

Ordered two of these guitars in 2007.
NOS as its been discontinued for awhile.

#1 Black/White showed up with a one piece maple neck.
A gorgeous paint and neck and all hardware in immaculate shape.
Flawless I must admit.

#2 Sunburst showed with a 2 piece maple, curly maple top-piece on the neck. Very eye catching. And for this price! a gorgeous guitar.

I love the hardtail. The Fender-ish design is all here, really a fun guitar. Tele neck, Strat body, P-bass pickguard single ply.

Single in front, Hum in back, with split knob for the running the hum in seperate coil mode.


I prefer the 1.68 neck(US Standard Strat 2000 and on).
Gibson LesPaul lovers enjoy the tighter spaced strings.

The SQUIER 51 is 1.65", bigger than the Squier Strats at 1.61 and others. The Squier 51 is in the middle. C-shaped 9.5, very nice in my opinion.

1.65 the strings are a few thousandths closer together (near exact to the Gibson Les Paul's in general).

I notice it!! many players won't.

For $10 and some filing a new Strat nut will space the strings a bit more, but I'm too lazy most likely.(we're talking thousandths of an inch here!)




Its very different than my US Standard Stratocaster, but really a great guitar.

Thee neck was gorgeous to me. The sound of the humbucker was not my fav Humbucker. It had more of a Dimarzio sound, both the soft tone, LP with the flip switch between the Rythm and Treble.
Most people have their setting and it stays there. This has a great tone in the front and I leave it there 90% the time.

These are Standard pickups that can be changed out like any guitar.

Compared to many other guitars....I give this one a 10. Only because Sound is subjective. I hear and play $1800 guitars that suck. Some do, some don't...some have "your" vibe some don't.

Setup from the factory was ok. My US $1,000 Strat was re-setup when it arrived....so what's the beef?

People spend hundreds and hundreds fixing up expensive guitars, so out-of-box setup on this $100 guitar isn't an issue. It was fine.

As a gearhead, I played with the setup some using a tuner. All was well.

Put on new strings is all I had done. Wipe the guitar down....smiled.

Its been over 4 weeks no issues. Its a maple neck and basswood body. It appears to be a great guitar..

Live playing this guitar is probably as good as 80% of them. I won't say and haven't tested this out.

however you drop a $2500 LesPaul down the stairs at a gig and a $100 guitar....which one will depress you financially?
If your friend accidentally raises the guitar up and runs the headstock into the ceiling fan!! Which one will have a bigger financial depression attached?

This guitar is solid. The tuning pegs feel nice, its a good guitar. BAsswood is softer, there are expenisve guitars made of Basswood.

As I read it, Basswood is in between Alder(STrat) and the Mahogony (LesPauls).

For $100 this is a great guitar. Is a $3400 Les Paul better? It has some better wood and better chrome plating, maybe some nice pickups...it also costs $3300 MORE!!!!

So better is relevant. For a $100 I give this Squier 51 a 10.

No Idea?

Great Forums and Happy owners and Modders are available for this guitar.

30yrs of playing.
Mostly Home Recording/Hobby now...several earlier years live.
All kinds of tastes. I've had the full range of guitars.

The neck is important to me. Probably my #1 choice preference.
There is no right or wrong, necks are for a players choice.

My favorite is the 1.68, 9.5 rad, Satin finish, rolled edges found on the US STrat 2000 and to date (9/2/2007) and vintage yellowish color. Very specific.

Nothing to do with price or brand name.

And the Squier 51 has the 9.5, and the 1.65 is noticeable but ok.
The neck can be stained with shoe polish and rubbed down and it's beautiful.

The neg's is the frets are a bit rough on the edge, in my opinion.

but for $100...I feel guilty saying anything bad, as its as good and definaitely as fun as my $1000 Stratcaster.

The 51 has a Rare factor too, its discontinued, its got the Fender-ish vibe going, its cheap,

its a great deal at $100...an amazing deal.

My 2005 '51 feats:

- black BASSWOOD body / white '50s style pickguard (Strat)
- maple neck
- fixed bridge
- standard tuners
- standard 21-fret Tele neck
- HxS pickups
- pots: 1VOL (bridge coil tap) + 1 P-UP SWITCH

It is NOT a MIDI-ready 3-pickup dual-output piezo-bridge guitar, but it does something that I could rarely find in a MIDI-ready 3-pickup dual-output piezo-bridge guitar: perfectly nailed Fat Strat and Tele sounds, with a completely no-brainer approach. I'm a simple guy. It is a very SIMPLE yet powerful design for meat-and-potatoes players like me. It is just a guitar design that has really made me smile in a long time.

It is very clever in its raw way but some people will find the design too minimal. Well, if the MIDI-ready 3-pickup dual-output piezo-bridge guitar is ten... Go for eight.

Hence its crossover nature, it can be used for anything that is banged through a guitar now'days. I used it for modern metal - worked; funk/rock - worked; country-twang - worked; laying tracks in the studio - worked; onstage abuse - worked.

With careful settings of treble and presence (aye, this beast is BRIGHT) it sounds decent - and often better than its original elder Fender MIM brothers - through any piece from my amps. Tonewise I have no complains: basically, tone is in the fingers and the '51 is a nice playground for them. It is Strat when I want to sound like a Strat and it's Tele with an attitude. I'm a modder freak so it is quite odd that I have no desire to change pickups this time. They just sing well for me. Actually, I prefer it to stock Fenders because it does have some distinctive character beyond owning the tone of stereotypical Strats and Teles.

Downside: if you want to go onstage with this ax you MUST change bridge adjust screws. The original ones on mine were too small and they started to dance out when I started to dance in. Bigger screws - problem solved. With this little fix it can become your super lo-cost gig-axe that can take beats. Anyway, I have no desire to bang it around too much. It's such a nice simple old-fashioned little gal.

About rating... Well, it is definitely not your classy Music Man or Fender Custom Shop tone, but in the $100 category I can not pick a better axe. It is strictly subjective, but the ones that for me come close conisdering feel and vibe start about $600...

Fat ten here.

Right out of the box it was sooo perfect that I needed four hours of setup, re-screwing and worrying about with 20 years of practice as an axeman/techie. Well, shiny metal and plastic things were screwed loosely on the thing all over, oh yeah there was some foamy wrap rip-rap and there were six or some wires, too. I just got a screwdriver, took everything apart and put together with care, put on wires that deserve the term "STRING" and I live happily even after.

I wouldn't like the idea of being attacked with one in a dark street. It's... Solid.

Well, there is a big no-no for packing workers... But anyway, the CNC lathes were well programmed, the materials are pretty decent, fits are okay - just grab your tools to get high. Change the loose bridge height adjustment screws with bigger ones and get higher. Otherwise, it's a problem-free pupp. Deserves a seven.

It is absolutely okay, keeps tune well and tends not to fall apart in nasty conditions. After a proper setup you can go hunting with the little bastard. Attaching a bayonett or a scope might be a lil' challenging - but playing a setful of Yngwie Malmsteen solos are FAR MORE challenging, for ex.

The official dealer is a great guy here. The max rating is for him. Well, and for the fact that after a poolful amount of beer intake he can still play any note-perfect anything from anyone.

So, there are subjective things that drive you to make a choice. My car dealer is a huge Metallica fan, my boss loves Dream Theater, my dentist is a helluva Hammond organ player and a diehard John Lord fan... You get the idea.

I love to get cheap and rare guitars with character and upgrade them radically to fool people. My fav setup is my Warmoth LPS axe through a JD Hendrix Special wah and a juicy JCM900 SL-X. During the years (since '89, approx) I have gone through an amount of guitars, amps and gadgets. I sold most of them by now because I realised that I need only a 2-pickup guitar, a wah and a cranked tube amp sitting on a Celestion Greenbacked cab to make me smile so I invested the money coming from excess guitar gear in mic preamps, soundcards and microphones instead. Now I only have a couple of 2-pickup guitars, wahs and amps around: Warmoth LPS (stellar), Hohner L75 (pickup testbed, nice backup axe, with the best neck dimensions ever), luthier-made EVH (for Eddie's Eruption's sake), Essex E-6 (bad rare guitar with good tone), Squier '51 (you know), Marshall JCM800 50W (hot Marsh), Marshall JCM900 SL-X 50W (hotter Marsh), Selmer T'n'B (Beatles generator), Laney AOR Super Lead (praise Vinnie Moore), Diezel VH4S (the best amp emulation ever), Cry Babies, Klotz cables, Neutrik plugs, TLAudio and Focusrite preamps, Shure and Rode mics, Echo soundcards, M-Audio monitors, Mackie, Mitsubishi, Adidas... Okay, enuff.


The Squier '51 was the biggest surprise for me in years. I love this guitar just the way it is. I love its features and reliability for its ridiculously low price tag. I hate the fact that Squier stopped its production this year.

I would gladly steal one (or persuade someone to lose it any day). Well, if I had the attitude, of course.

The '51 is a simple, sweet looking, nice redneck girl: it won't show you everything for the first sight but once you get in touch, you get touched really naaaasty. In cases it's not the best looking classy girls from the best families are the best to funkeety-funk with.

Go dirty. It's good to wanton in a haybale with them gals. Don't bang for the buck. Bang for the bang. Get a '51.

(...and never let yourself be fooled by commercial masterminds...)

- 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

TV yellow model, has no tone contol, has 3 way selector & coil tap. Nice c-shaped neck in maple w/maple fretboard. 1 s/c, 1 hb. would like tone control, especially since my valve jr head doesnt have 1.

Very nice blues guitar for the money with a wide variety of tones. I had a $300 Ibanez that did not sound as good & wasn't as versatile. Single coils is very nice, especially at low volume. HB is a little bitey & bright, but is beefy as well. An amp or pedal w/a tone cotrol would take out some of the bite. Action is a little high out of the box & intonation needs set, but most axes are like that, aren't they? May not even mess w/action as it is not way high & I play open tuned slide occasionally. I can't see Carlos Santana on stage with one of these, but for a shi**y player like me, its all you could ask four for 99 bucks! Rating is based on price/performance ratio.

Action was a little high, but well within the playable range. Frets could be a little smoother but that will take all of 10 minutes. Overall, very good for what it is.

I dont see this as a touring musicians main axe. It would make a decent backup (believe it or not) especially with better quality tuners installed. Seems very solid - for what it is (remember 99 bucks). Its good enough as is for a hack like me.

No opinion about "squire" by fender. I bought from MF & their customer support is very good.

At this price, there is no reason to not own an electric guitar if you want one.

Lots written about this guitar already... no need to list again. I recently bought a Tele Squire affinity series ($169), replaced the electronics, filed the frets, finished the neck, and was impressed at how good a cheap guitar could sound. Got me psyched to buy another cheap guitar and I noticed the '51 on sale at MF for $99. To my surprise, the '51 is a much higher quality guitar than the Tele Affinity (made in China). Neck is higher quality, overall quality is just superior, and it cost less (go figure).

Like others, I bought this guitar as a "project" guitar (it's only $99 so if I screw it up, no big deal). My plan: change out the pickups (I have good ones not in use, so I wouldn't have to buy new ones), rout out the control cavity to fit a tele control plate, install tele vol and tone pots and selector switch, trim back the pickguard and kabaam... great sounding guitar with not much money spent. I take the guitar out of the box and start playing it and to my amazement... it sounds great! I've thrown my plans out the window. Stock pickups are excellent. I think eliminating the tone control gives this guitar alot of its character. Also surprisingly, the neck and bridge pickups are fairly well balanced (very rare in a guitar with a sing + hum setup). I have also fallen in love with the ability to split the coil on the HB to get the single coil functionality.

Unlike my recently purchased Squire Tele Affinity, which looks great but sounds pretty bad without modifications, and which was set up terribly (not even an attempt to intonate correctly, frets unfinished and sharp, etc), this guitar was set up perfectly (or nearly so) right out of the cardboard box!! Just change the strings and go! I did notice some discoloration on the fretboard after not much playing time. Probably due to neck not being finished (perhaps some sealer but not much else). I've just finished doing some minor fret filing and putting a coat of polyurethane on the fretboard. I will probably not put any on the bottom of the neck, because the neck feels sleek and fast as is. Just want to protect the fretboard. People have said the $99 price is worth it for the neck alone and I would agree.

?? I don't have a good feel for the push-pull pot (reliability should be good) or especially the rotary selector. It's very functional, but not sure if it will hold up.

Unknown. Puchased from MF. Easy to talk to a phone sales rep, but I've not had much luck talking with a knowledgable support person (not sure they even exist). Ordering a guitar on the internet is great for convenience but otherwise risky. MF has a 30-day no questions asked return policy, so if there were any flaws I was prepared to send it back. Fortunately, it's perfect.

Great... I'd buy another if I could find any legitamite excuse to do so (I already have way too many guitars!). This guitar is light and the wood really resonates nicely when played (unlike my Am Standard Tele which is good quality but much heavier and not lively). This guitar even sounds good unplugged! MF said this model is being discontinued, so I would highly recommend to buy one while you still can. The butterscotch version with black pickguard was totally sold, so I opted for the sunburst, which also looks pretty good.

Body Basswood
Neck Maple, C-Shape,
(Polyurethane Finish)
Fingerboard Maple, 9.5??? Radius (241 mm)
No. of Frets 21 Medium Jumbo
Pickups 1 Single-Coil Strat?? Pickup (Neck),
1 Hot Humbucking Pickup (Bridge)
Controls Master Volume, 3-Position Rotary Pickup Selector Switch
Pickup Switching Push/Pull Coil Selector Switch (On Master Volume Pot), 3-Position Rotary Pickup Selector Switch, (In Place of Tone Control)
Bridge Hard-tail 6-Saddle Bridge
Machine Heads Standard Die-Cast Tuners
Hardware Chrome
Pickguard 1-Ply White
Scale Length 25.5??? (648 mm)
Width at Nut 1.650??? (42 mm)
Unique Features Telecaster?? Headstock,
Vintage Tinted Neck,
1-Ply White ???51 Style Pickguard,
Chrome ???51 Control Plate,
Knurled Chrome Dome Control Knobs,
Dot Position Inlays

This is the best $100 guitar that I've ever played.

I can get a nice humbucker sound, tele bridge sound, out of phase strat sound, strat neck position sound. It's a really versitile guitar. The pickups are slightly noisy when you switch the humbucker into single coil mode.

On a regular scale of 1-10, I would give the action a 6 (this means comparing it to a $1000 strat).

Comparing it to any other guitar priced at $400 or less, it's a 9.

I'm judging this guitar within the realm of affordable guitars, therefore I give it a 9.

It's solid as a rock. The tuners and hardware are as nice as an MIM.

I have 2 MIM Fenders and 2 PRS guitars. My wife bought this guitar for me to teach my 10 year old son.

This is a great student guitar and I've recorded a couple songs with it. If you need a guitar for a kid or a "fun" guitar for an established musician, this is a really nice buy. I've played for 32 years and I own 6 Martins, 1 Larrivee, 1 Gibson resonator and all my electrics. The 51 is a fun little guitar. If you are into modding, this would be a gem.

this is a update on the squire 51.the stock guitar was very good but i only saved the neck from mine.i ordered a american standard strat body and put this neck on it very good fit.i got a fender custom shop pearloid pickguard and some fender custom shop vintage pickups.the body is white.i put a ghoto tremolo on it.now i have a very cool custom fender guitar that cost me about 500.00 to build.the squire 51 is worth buying just for the neck alone.this guitar is all fender parts except the tremolo.you can't buy a fender new like this for this low price.all parts i bought new.this is my favorite guitar now.

I knew the neck was not a high glossy finish and did not expect it to be but I ordered the blone with black pickguard and was a little let down cause I thought it would be glossy instead of matt finish. Body is painted well and I really like the pick ups and coil tap switch.

It sounds like I wish my strat sounded. In fact the darn thing that cost me only $100 sounds better than most guitars I've ever owned and I have owned some nice ones. The back humbucker gives you a great drive sound like a Les Paul kind of and you can use the coil tap for a strat bridge pick up sound or my favorite it right in the middle with both back humbucker and single coil together just sounds wonderful. No tone knob but you won't miss it. It can sound sharp and percussive or more round and mellow. I am blown away.

OK so I get this guitar in the mail and discover there are a few screws on the pick guard that are kinda in crooked but get this...There was a screw in the jack plate that did not go in all the way and the head was stripped out. I removed it with a pair of pliers and found that the screw was a half inch long. I am surprised that kind of flaw went unnoticed at the factory but I guess a few will slip by now and then. I replaced it.
I had to set the neck a little and the intonation and the action was way off. You must know the basics of how to set a guitar up or pay to have it done. Once you do that it plays like a dream. It's worth the work you need to put into it.

I think the knobs seem a little loose and the bridge could be replaced but over all it seems like a fine guitar. I would have no problem using this as a main guitar and would not be afraid of the other boys making fun of me for playing a Squire.

Don't Know

Well I've had several different guitars over some 25 years of playing guitar and I liked this one so much I bought another one in black. I don't know why I felt the need to buy the same guitar in a different color. I guess I am so impressed with the first one that I will like having 2 and if I want to get rid of one it would make a terrific Christmas present for any guitar playing friend. But I doubt I'll be giving either one up anytime soon. At $100 a pop it would not be out of the question to buy all three color options and modify them in what ever funky ways you desire. I imagine there is a lot of that going on. These little jems are going to be favored classics in the future.