Fender Squier II Strat

1989 made in India. 21 Frets. Standard Strat S/S/S pickups & 5-way. Deep Pearl White gloss finish. Maple Neck with Indian Rosewood fingerboard. Tremolo. Replaced the Tuners with Mini Klusons. Jumbo frets on a very comfortable and fast neck. Purchased Used with hardcase for $75 in 1995.

Very clean & hot. Excellent tone.

Sweet low action. The Indians rock.

I've used this on 200 gigs with no problems. I sometimes leave the Gibsons at home.
Finish still fresh. Fit still tight. Solid and dependable.

It compares to my old & new Gibsons & Fenders in pro quality & reliability. In Value it has surpassed all other guitars I've owned. I took it to my tech to get it roadworthy when I bought it, he replaced the tuners & resoldered the pots, added more shielding, and added lock washers to the jackplate for $100. So the whole thing with setup cost $175.

Squier II Strat, 1991 (made in Korea), "N" serial number series with a Rosewood neck, red body/white pickguard. Had H/S/S original pickups, tremelo, basic strat setup for the most part.

surprising sound! Coming up on 20 years now since I bought this new. I had no intention of buying another guitar that day I was at Guitar Center, but I bought this one because it was so inexpensive, yet it played very well and the tremelo stayed in tune! I put new Bill Lawrence pups in and WOW what a sound!
These guitars have a GREAT feeling NECK to play! The Action also can be set so low with no "buzz" that it blows me away. It also has alot of sustain...I called Fender and found out that the body is made of Alder. (No wonder, since it's so heavy) It was always rumored to have cheap "plywood", but that's not the case. It is a heavier guitar, but has a better tone that's not as brash as most american strats.

These guitars are a uephoric surprise- Don't let the "Made in Korea" tag fool you. These guitars play and sound better than most higher priced American Strats that I've played!!

WOW...for some reason, the action on these guitars can be as low as you want with no "buzz". No other guitar I have had has lower action without some buzz. It seems well-made and has tested the times so far...

Durable, seems built like a tank other than the plastic tuners..

N/A

I've been playing guitar for over 20 years. My rig is all analog and has serious tone (without going into detail). To have a "Korean" guitar like this one that plays better than most expensive guitars I've played still boggles my mind. This is an incredible guitar!! The low action, great feel of the neck and surprising tone is a major plus for these Korean made guitars. I also have a PRS CE22 that is awesome, but I still love my Squier II more. The feel, play and tone of this guitar is irreplaceable!!! If both of my guitars were stolen, there's no doubt I would cry over this Squier II and not the PRS!!

I have 2 squier II's. the first one I baught is a korean squier II serial #E983354(made at the Cort factory IN 1989). S/S/S with a maple neck 21 frets. guitar is oyster metalic.(similar to vintage white with metalic in it).
I have left it totally stock except for custom pickguard. I am not sure what the wood is, but this guitar has weight to it!!!

I play southern rock and blues. This guitar sounds much better than the MIM strats. I have 2 guys I play with that play a 62 re-issue strat and a american delux strat and this guitar can hang with them all day long!! they can't believe this guitar every time I play with them.
I play through a line 6 spider III 30w. guitar sounds good on all settings but the bridge setting is where this thing really smokes! This guitar definatley has it!! The thing stays in tune every time even with the cheap tuners.

Baught the guitar used and all i did was switch to 10's and play with pick up height a little. action is perfect and the overall finish on the guitar is so much better than the new squiers! totally different animals!

I have played many gigs with this guitar! Rock solid. I don,t ever think about a back up. the thing is 20 years old and is getting better with age! It is my main guitar!

Haven't had to use it.

I have been playing for 23 years. I have another squier II. serial#S983015 Made at the Samick factory I beleive also in 1989. very good guitar but not as good as the #E Cort factory Squier II!!! I also have a ibanez, a Dean, and an Aria pro. If this guitar was stolen, I would be looking every where I could till I could find another #E just like it! These Squier II's in my opinion are unbeleivably UNDER rated!! The necks are like butter and the Serial#E guitars are the HOLY GRAIL of these guitars!!! I have played much more expensive guitars and always come back to this one!

The inspection tags say 12/80 on the neck and 2/81 on the pick guard. No "made in xxx" label or serial #. 21 jumbo frets, rosewood finger board, maple neck. 4 piece alder body. HSS 5 way. Black with white pick guard. Tremolo with narrow string spacing. This is my first guitar and got it used in 89, so it was like 8 years old when I got it. I knew Squires were lesser models than the standard Strat but I had no clue how different they were (or similar)till recently. Suffice to say this oldie will hold it's own against new Strats.

The humbucker is what I usually played early on for hard rock but now I play some other styles and actually use the switch. Sounds like a strat. I have a Ibanez S Series with an alnico PAT in the bridge position for the Les Paul sound now and you can really hear a difference. The Squire has more treble and fuzz. Neck plays great and there is no buzz.

There were no issues with this guitar. Once intonated and action set it has been fine. Screws on the humbucker were short so it had to be kept close to the strings but I didn't mind. Never broke strings. After 30 years all hardware is still shiny. Now that I have compared it to $500-1000 guitars I can't tell the difference, except for pick ups maybe. Tuners aren't the finest quality but it stays in tune so I never changed them.

I can't imagine it not withstanding live gigs. It's been solid for the last 20 years and I bought it from an artist who took it on stage. Some of the frets are worn a tad flat but still plays fine without buzzing.

Never had to deal with them.

Playing for like 20 years. My fav is my Ibanez just cause it's just totally sweet with a faster neck. I know some Squires are junk but I got lucky with this one. I also just got a Korean Squire for $50 and put USA string spacing trem on it. That plays awesome too (even though it is a plywood body, got it for taking camping, etc.) Nothing to hate except its almost as heavy as a LP.

squier II the headstock label is Gold with Black outline no serial number just squier with fender and statocaster writting Black nut boxy type tuners with the vintage style pegs and vintage style gromets for the tuners ( no nut to tighten down). the neck has no skunk stripe but is a flat radius and very glossy very vintage. maple with rosewood fretboard med to jumbo frets. very nice neck indeed. much better feel than a mex standard. stays in tune well. I took it apart and the pickguard has a inspection sticker that has 4/90 so that has to indentify it's a 1990. the guitars configuration is s/s/h.vintage style bridge ( like the fender stamped one, claw type but with no stamps. large block not the small ones typical in cheapo squiers. the body is black and the guitar is heavy but i'm convinced the neck makes up a lot of the weight. it is not plywood i looked carefully. I have a pearl white squier II body that is the same not plywood either.

the guitar sounds great. lot of sustain. the bucker is powerfull yet not muddy. the singles sound bright but not quacky. I'm gonna change them out. the guitar is not shielded but is painted all black in the pockets. and makes no amp noise.i am currently using a crate rfx 200s and it sounds great through it. this guitar has a very vintage feel and feels very much vintaged.

totally love the feel of this guitar solid for sure

very thick finish if you wnat to relish this guitar you'll be scratchin and sanding awhile. these necks are very!! very!! good

I have been playing quite awhile I own some expensive guitars fender and Gibson. and I am amazed on how well built the older squiers are.

I love cheap guitars that play well. I have a Korean 1991 Fender Squier Strat that was bought new. It was a gift from my son who was 18 at the time which automatically gave it a "cool factor". Right out of the box this guitar played excellent. Playing-wise it played as well as any of its more expensive Strat siblings. I could play all night without tuning the guitar unless a string broke. It came with the H/S/S pick up arrangement and 5 way switch mounted in the body. The controls were not mounted in the pickguard like a standard strat. The controls are the standard one volume and two tones.

The cheap hardware and electronics are adequate but due to the fact that I am partial to Les Pauls and humbuckers, I just never got used to that breaking glass sound of Fender pickups and the cheap ones they use in the Squier are even worse. Thin is the best word I can use to describe the sound of these pickups. The switch becomes noisy and cuts out after awhile and cleaning it doesn't seem to help.

I play blues, rock and country and the stock hardware is adequate, just not excellent. It delivered a full sound but a little on the thin side.

The fit and finish on the white body was excellent and the clear finish on the neck has stood up well over the last 17 years. With some minor adjustments (intonation and string height) this guitar played as well as any of my Les Pauls, maybe even better. The strings kept breaking though where they come across the saddles and every time one broke, all the strings went completely out of tune which made it unreliable on stage as my main axe.

Here's where cheap guitars really shine. You can modify the hell out of them for very little money, especially if you can find some used parts. I replaced the bridge saddles with graphite ones and haven't had a single string break due to the saddles since. I ordered a new set of good ol' USA pots and 5 way switch off Ebay and took out the bridge and neck pickups. I routed out the front pickup hole (and no, the guitar is not plywood. It's one chunk of wood all the way through). I then stuck in a set of Gibson humbuckers I had laying around and wired it up so that P1 (all the way back) lights up the bridge PU, P2 activates both the neck and bridge, P3 activates the neck PU, P4 the neck and middle and P5 the the middle, which is a single coil. Then I blocked the tremolo bridge which got rid of the tuning problem on the rare occasion a string does break. This also added a lot of sustain. I also eliminated one of the tone control knobs since I don't use the remaining one, let alone two. I covered the resulting hole with a small after-market pickguard.

Now I have the best of all worlds. A guitar that plays like a Fender (excellent), stays in tune all night, feels warm and smooth, screams like a Paul with that singing sustain and humbucker sound and still has that Fender single coil sound when I want it. My acoustic simulator works well with the single coil too and virtually eliminates the need to have an acoustic guitar on stage. With just two controls to contend with it makes the guitar easier to play as well. I spent about $30 on parts and a couple hours making the mods. Now this guitar is the best all around guitar I own and is my primary axe. Even after 17 years it still plays like a brand new Strat.

Never tried. Fender only warranties their Squiers for one year anyway. Besides modifying to this extent voids the warranty.

I've been playing over 50 years. I use a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe as my primary amp (60 watts) and an Ampeg Super Jet SJ-12(50 watts) as a back up. For bigger gigs that aren't miked a have a Carvin XV112 (100 watts). All of them have a single 12 inch speaker. My other guitars include a 75 year old Orpheum arch top, a 60 year old Martin 001, 1965 Guild Starfire with a Bigsby tremolo tail piece that does stay in tune when a string breaks, a mid 1990's Gibson Les Paul Studio with Burstbucker Pros, an Epiphone Les Paul Special that I put a set of Gibson Burstbuckers in, and a full-size Guild acoustic-electric guitar.

If it were lost or stolen I would buy the guitar again and make the same mods. As I said, this guitar is the best of all worlds, at least for me. The guitar body and neck itself is well made, making it an ideal platform, and doesn't sound too bad right out of the box but with some minor PU changes and a few mods it makes that $150 guitar sound and play just as good as a $2000 guitar. For a first guitar or one of many it is still a top contender. Let me qualify that by saying my 1991 Squier 2 is a top contender. Fender no longer makes the Squier 2 and I don't know how the quality of their latest Squiers compare to the one that I have.

I have a squier two made in Korea, very thick glossy finish with skunk stripe neck (Maple) the frets are smooth the frets are vintage style. the tuners are sealed square boxy type. The Body is a full thickness. same as a mex standard or American. The Body is not Ply-Wood. I repeat not ply-wood. the finish is a thick white pearl Jobber. triple single routing.

not sure what the original pick ups sounded like someone before me installed fender standard pu in it. Let me tell you the sound rivals my standard strat with blindfolds.

the overall feel of the squier two is truley a vintage vibe. The action stays low and the fit is like a glove.

good as it gets

yikes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Overall the squier two has an incredible neck pure magic it's fast, smoothe, and rock solid. The squier two is simply as good as my Jap strats squier / fender. I don't know who's spreading the rumors that squier 2's are plywood cause I have 2 of them and neither are plywood. these necks are the exact same as the Jap necks.

1989 Squier II made in Korea. Stamp on butt end of neck indicates '89.
Serial number starts with S9XXXXX. White plywood Strat body (yellowed from age) with white pickguard and maple neck with 21 medium frets.
Mine was upgraded with better tuners and 3 GFS hotrail humbuckers.

DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THIS GUITAR. It can easily compete with my American Strats. At first I tried some Custom Shop Fat 50's (great pickups) in it and it sounded pretty lame. Then I put a set of Mexican ceramic double bar magnet pickups in it with 500k pots. All of a sudden it had more bottom end, incredible volume, and a sound I've never heard from a Strat before. I must have lucked out on the perfect combination. It's not a thick or beefy sound at all but I have pedals that can compensate for that. It sounds super sweet with a compression-like pick attack, TONS of Strat-personality quack (that comes from the neck - not the pickups). This thing has resonance and volume that none of my American Strats (including my '76) has.

I can describe the neck in one word - effortless. Smooth, fast and butter-like. It blows my American Strats out of the water.

So far so good.

Don't know

I saw this guitar on Ebay and it was dripping with vintage vibe. My gut told me to take a chance and it was cheap. I checked out the reviews on Harmony Central and went with my gut.
When the guitar arrived I was skeptical about the reviews I had read.
I've been playing professionally for 30 years and have owned about 50 Strats in my life.
None have sounded like this one (including my '76). The pure sweet Strat personality is amazing. Think Dire Straits and country quack.
It's lacking in the thickness/bottom end department but the other qualities it has out-shines that problem.
THIS GUITAR DOES NOT SUIT AMERICAN STRAT PICKUPS. Use Mexican ceramic double bar magnet pickups with an output around 6.7 k.
The neck is absolutely effortless to play and it's probably the loudest and most resonant Strat I've ever owned.
I play through a '79 Deluxe Reverb and vintage pedals.

This one is the laminated maple/alder body. Description otherwise same as other reviews. Made in Korea.

I had trouble with sound from the time I bought this in about '91 or so. I always thought the buzzing came from the Squier 15 amp I got as part of the package. However, many years later, I find that there is a broken wire inside. Solder it to the most logical place and bam! sounds pretty good. They do sound good, but not great. Switch was so noisy the sound would crackle in and out while playing. Pots were very noisy. Finally, after replacing the pots and switch, it will play without cutting out.

Plastic coating is really tough. I painted over mine, but the paint just chips off super easy now. I didn't play this evil machine for years because every couple of hours of playing time, I'd snap a string.
Always the b or e. Replaced the saddles and now strings last okay. The tremolo block is made of some cheap potted metal and mine broke where the springs attach to it. Really shoddy stuff. Action when I bought it was crap. After replacing the nut, it finally plays ok. Wiring inside was pretty crude. No shielding in the body cavities, so it can be a little buzzy around computers and the like. Really, I have to say that the neck is the only really nice feature of this awful product. I love the neck. Oh yeah, I had to replace the tuning machines as well.

I wouldn't rely on this much at all. Mostly junk, except for the neck.

No experience

Here's where I share why I hate this guitar. Everything I had to replace had to be somehow modified to fit in this thing. Squiers are not made to the same specs as Fender products and it's a real headache to try and make aftermarket stuff fit this horrible thing. I have several other cheap guitars, but the only one worse is a Saga TC-10 tele copy that is laughable. I bought a Johnson JS-800 to replace this. I was going to use the pickups out of the Squier, but to my utter surprise, the Johnson EMG pickups sound just as good, with slightly less power. I still tried to use the Squier coils just for a trial, but the middle pickup is wired backwards. Just another in a long list of stuff that didn't work. Anyway, do yourself a favor and buy a strat copy that is closer to the Fender specs.

Squier II made in India One year only 89-90
White Pearl with fine fine golden metalic tint Body
The neck is maple with rosewood finger board.with frets larger then my MexicanStrat and a slightly wider fret then my American Standard.
Its also bottom of the neck struss rod adjustment.Like a reissue.
THE NECK IS THE BEST PART OF THIS STRAT bar none,it has one stamped "wave shaped" string tree.A D shaped neck frets finnish nice .It has Squier II in gold script with black outline the word Startocaster beside the script and Fender under it .The serial number is on a rounded off oval that tannish gold color with black numbers,and is glued to the lower back of the neck above the neck plate, the serial number is NO followed by five digits ,so its a 1990.Dont go crazy when you hear "plywood" as a body material IT IS NOT THE SAME PLYWOOD used for building your shed.It is like many many guitars made of "TONE"wood glued together,that way they dont need a perfect slap of wood they can glue them together then cut the body shape.So erase the idea its made of shed wood IT IS NOT.
The routing is three individual rectangles routed old fender style
It has get this "parafin wax potted pickups the covers are part of the pick up as itseems they are waxed in or that way from age.The pick ups also have a metal ground plate under each pick up.Some custom high end pick ups have these features.The wire colors used are green red and orange.Three very small tiny b500K rated pots all the same for the two tone and one volume control.Both tone controls have one tan capacitor one them that read 473 , 25V on them.
The five way switch is a high quality item that you can actually take apart if you wish its nut and bolted together not a cheap plastic one you will find on low end stuff.
The inertia block is a few 32nds narrower then a mexican block and also shorter in overall height ,you cant bolt a mexican inertia block in it without routing the body to fit. Also the bridge has cast saddles that mimic vintage stamped saddles with two allen key head screws each saddle.
The bridge plate is also different from mexican plates via the spacing between the first three bridge mounting to body screws and the second three bridge mounting screws.
The tuners are squarish ,any are a little weak but still very useable.
It has a three ply white black white pick guard with aluminum foil sheild under the pots and five way selector switch.
I bought this guitar just because it had such a vintage appeal the instant I saw it ,I walked up grabbed it plugged it in and walk out with it ten minutes later.this India one year only made guitar is rare and so much better then it first appears.

I play blues ,this guitar plugged into my Peavey Delta Blues tube amp with a single 15 inch speaker.Has all the strat sounds you get with a strat maybe a hint of brittleness but thats a strat,and thats with everything on ten on the tone knobs you can roll of that easily with the knob.
I also have in line with my amp a Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail reverb and a BBE Green Tube Screamer(these two pedals ad NO NOISE and you should own them)
I also use a Rocktron BlackCat Moan Wah wah Pedal.
The fiveway switch is getting quirky but in a fun way you have to wiggle it at times to get it in once in it stays connected and It just drips Vintage and I have played the relics and vintage gear this is Vintage its 17 years old.this can only go up in value not down unussual color and great old school sounds.

I bought it used and took it apart,intirely, clean it and re assembled and set it up to factory fender american strat specs.
Nut is nylon slash plastic in black .The nut is just generically cut looks cheap but gets the job done.
The finish after cleaning is reflective and shiny and a slight shade darker then under the pickguard.
It has body crack my the neck on on each side which I have seen on many strats they do not affect the playing or stability of this instrument just cosmetic.
It was grime and survace rusted on screws for pick guard and saddle adjuster screws and really the things High end "RELIC " guitars try to have.I cleaned them sprayed them with wd40 let them sit then reinstalled them .Hey Vintage is Vintage I dont want to change its massive Vintage appeal just wanted to get the grime off every nock and cranny.Now its clean sitting beside my Mexican and American Strats it just looks like their equal its that neck I tell you GREAT NECK.

I would play this guitar out the tuners youd have to keep and ear out for its, its weak link .also I would never use the wammy bar at its age it would add to much stress.I have four springs ,added two, to the two original ones, just so the bridge is flush and adds more body tone thru the strings .
its has one original strap button and one replaced one and both are tight.
id always gig with two guitars,but this is a fun instrument .
The paint has held up and seems thick to last.

Vintage stuff like this your on your own after poring thru alot of fender books . It seems authors try and brush the Squier models under the rug with out much mention of them .Certainly worth a book all to its own.You hav eto remember there was a period when Fender sold only imported models as their only sourse of income till they got there American California shop up and running followed by the Mexican plant...there may not have been a fender if not for the Japan,Korea,and that one year of support from India.

I have been playing since 1998 I play two hours a day every day.
I have a fender American strat 2002 that some one put three different pick ups in one 69 signed grey bottomed custom shop neck pick up ,one custom shop black bottomed middle pick up and on high end stacked single humbucker in the bridge.Daphin blue The seller thought it was a stock American Strat. alwayspays to look behind the pick guard.
I also have a Red transparent finnished with cream binding Hamer duotone very powerful classic sounding guitar.
I have a Mexican strat Alpine White,Rosewood neck,I fitted all gold hardward too with a Gold SRV laser scribed picture on neck plate,a three ply pick guard white black white and Gold high end Guitar Fetish Lip Stick Pick Ups.Strung with .012s GHS Boomers.
I bought the Squier purely on vintage appeal it drips with it.
I brought it home took it apart cleaned and reassembled it comparing all its parts to my fender strat and mexican strat...its not a cheap throw away guitar like some would have you think ,because it has Squier on the head stock, its a vintage piece made well ,sounds and plays well VINTAGE.

Solid black plywood body Squier II Fat Strat, stock S/S/H pups, the no pick guard style. Made in Korea, E9 serial number. 21 frets, standard scale maple neck with skunk stripe on back, 1 volume & 2 tone controls, 5-way selector switch, output plug is on the bottom edge instead of the top of the guitar. Standard tremolo bridge, stock Korean tuners. Chrome metal tele-type knobs. Supposedly manufactured in 1989.

I love the way you get the best of both worlds with a Fat Strat. You can play almost any style of music with the humbucker & single coils. I'm playing through a 100 watt Fender Rumble 100 Bass Amp w/15" Woofer & horn (a decent amp makes all the difference). Dependng on the guitar 5-way switch setting, I can get full rich sounds, bright sounds, or distortion with the humbucker. These stock pickups are really quite decent. Being fairly new to the strat sound, I am very pleased with the variety of sounds this thing makes without a pedal! It has great sustain. Even plywood bodys can get better sounding with age.

The solid maple neck & fret board are both awesome! I have heard Fender used some of their own necks to build certain Squires. I bought it used, so I cleaned it all up. I used 0000 steel wool to smooth out the fret board. Set it all up myself and put on new strings (10's...I'll use 11's next time). Action is fast & smooth. No sharp fret edges at all. I'll get around to having it professionally setup soon. Something I highly recommend. Having the plywood body gives it a less consistent finish, but who cares? It sounds great! The body is a 7 rating in looks, 8.5 in sound, and the neck is an 11.

In 3 years, this guitar will be 20 years old. I think it's done extremely well so far. The finish on the plywood looks fine for its age (and considering that it's plywood!). The Fender care kit did wonders. Buttons are solid, trem bridge seems okay too. The tuners are its weakness. I'll be replacing the stock tuners soon. But that's to be expected. After the new tuners, I'd trust it without a backup. I didn't spend much. It'll be fun to tweak.

Have no idea. But I love the Fender/Squier forum at:
http://www.fenderforum.com/forum.html?db=&message_area_number=26

I've played as a hobby since I was in Jr. high school in the mid 70's. I've been wanting to get my first strat style guitar for a while. I didn't want to spend too much money, yet I wanted the Strat sound. So, a nice used older Squier was perfect. I love how comfy the strat is on your forarm. It's not too heavy either. If it were lost or stolen, I'd look for another similar type Squire. I've heard it's hit & miss with these Squier II's, but the E9 series is a hit. I think for $75 + shipping...I did great.

Squier II Strat. Not sure of the year, probably 80s. Made in Korea, serial number S985848. There's another sticker at the bottom of the neck, a gold sticker. It had some numbers on it, but I can only read the last one - 6.

Plywood body, black with white pickguard. S/S/S config. One piece maple neck/board, 21 frets. Skunkstripe.

Decent tuners/bridge.

The guitar itself sounds just decent. I'm not using this guitar though. This rating will be on the neck:

The neck on this guitar is where it's at. The neck is AWESOME. The feel, the look. It's one of the best necks I've played.

The neck is so awesome that I just had to put it to good use. I had a Fernandes Strat copy with a nice, heavy body (alder or ash, not sure). The neck on the Fernandes was decent, nothing like the Squier. So I took apart each guitar and attached the Squier neck on the Fernandes body. It didn't fit perfectly, but I made it fit.

I still have the stock pups on the Fernandes body, but they sound good for now. I'll be putting in an EMG 89/SA/SA config.

I just bought this guitar a month ago at a pawnshop. I liked the action it had unplgged evev though the action was high it was a player. the neck is thin and fast very heavy coat of lacquer covering. like the old fenders. The tuners are heavier constructed than the ones that are casted togeather, and they dont go otta tune very easily.there is no origin name anywhere on this guitar. but the squier logo on the neck is done in a very cool gold with black outlining. I took it completly apart and the neck is stamped mar 15 E 1 ! and thats all I can read. The frets are fat might of been re-fretted. because the action was high caused by the upward bow.I live in nevada so I believe that this was a working guitar cause somebody knew what they were doing with this guitar. it had tens strung on it and man this guitar smoked.the body cavities are independly routed. the finish is a thick white pearl. the bridge works just fine. the prior owner had 5 springs installed.The body is heavy but I have tried to identifi it as plywood but I cant I can always tell plywood but this body is grainy giving it a plywood look, but I dont think it is. what ever it is its got sustain and tone to the bone

I have alot of guitars and this is up there with my jap squiers. I dont know if there stock pups but what amazes me is the prior owner shielded it with copper and this thing can sit in an opera (Quiet) the resonants of this guitar growls

fast, expensive feeling. weighted for live playing nicely. very underated guitar perhaps other peoples experiences were caused by getting models that have been stripped of their good parts or properly abused. this guitar was a gem to find

hell solid gold

nope on the dope

Well the one I got is as good as it gets so I was lucky. One thing very important! that I noticed. I tried changing the neck and this ones neck pocket was slightly smaller making it difficult to find the right neck.Remember this one is the pearl body. I bought another squier 2 neck off ebay I thought it would fit... and it did not. it's a shame cause it's a hella hott neck silver logo and very nice indeed. but to wide. so you'll have to watch this

This is a Squier II that I got in 1989 when I learned to play. It was my first electric and I'll never part with it if for no other reason than it was my first electric.
As far as features, it's the same as any other Strat, only cheaper. Cheap and junky, actually. That said, the only original piece of hardware on this guitar is the trem, although not with original saddles, because I put string savers on it.
I've swapped the pickups for a set of EMGs, which came all wired up, ready to drop in. The pots, 5-way selector, and jack were all there. The tuning heads were replaced with Sperzels, and the nut was replaced with one of those great rolling nuts. This thing NEVER goes out of tune.
A lot of people joke about the body, but if you pull the pickguard off, you see the body was routed for the S/S/S pickups. Go to Guitar Center right now and buy a $1200 Strat, pull the pickguard off, and see what you get. A big ass hole that can accomodate any pickup combination. That's so... big business. Were's the soul, man? The soul? I'll tell you where. It's in an '89 Squier II.
It has all the features I'm looking for. Pickups, knobs, a bridge, and tuners.

Things thing sounds like a champ. A champ, I say. Sure, the EMGs make it sound like whatever effects you run it to, but it sustains all day. I've used this thing with a grip of amps and effects through the years and it was always good. Sure, this category is probably meant for when it was stock, but I can't remember that far back. So... 10.

The finish is some kind of crackley, sparkle thing. It's not as gay as it sounds. Let's call it white. It's a solid white. How can you mess that up?
The action on it is incredible. It's so low and so fast. There's no buzzing or rattling anywhere. It's the lowest action of any guitar I own or have owned.

This guitar is, uh... math... math... 15 years old and still going strong. I've dropped it, knocked it over, had it fall off of a wall hanger, had it fall off of numerous stands, and it's fine. Nicks, chips, and plenty of playing wear all over it, but isn't that what builds character? I'm not afraid to get drunk and wave this thing around. After drinking I won't even take my PRS's out of their cases.
I've played it live and it was great. But what kind of dingleberry gigs without a backup?

Never had to deal with the company, knock on wood.

Man, this is my favorite guitar, ever. EVER. If my house was on fire and I could only rescue one guitar, this would be it. My PRS's, my Steinberger, and all the rest of the Jackson, Ibanez, whatever I've got can burn. But I'd rescue this guitar. Sentimental value.
I'm thinking of adding one of those piezo saddle setups to it. Then it'll be complete.
If it was stolen I'd cry like a little girl and drink a few bottles of vodka. I don't know if I'd replace it because then I'd just have a junky 15 year old guitar with no sentimental value. That said, there's one on Ebay right now for 22 euros. Maybe a second Squier II would be entertaining. I could do some really horrible Frankenguitar things to it.

Made in Korea circa 1991. Standard Strat set-up, with 21 frets, three single-coil pickups, five-way selector switch, three pots, crappy vibrato unit, tuneable bridge. I've never thought about what the body is made of--it has a thick coating of black paint--but it's probably plywood. Neck/fretboard is maple with "skunk" stripe on back. Still has original tuners, which work well. Came with a well-padded Fender gig bag.

I use it with a Line 6 Spider 112 Combo amplifier, usually on one of the two "out-of-phase" pickup settings, which produce a full, jangly tone. On the amp's "clean" setting, with a touch of chorus, some delay, and a little reverb, it sounds like heavenly choirs! I've never had a "real" Strat, so I have no frame of reference, but I have difficulty imagining an American-made model making a nicer sound. (I feel no need, at least, to spend a load of money to find out.)

I think the store I bought it from had to set it up, but they did a good job with the intonation, the string height, the pickup settings, and the neck. I've had to readjust the intonation to accommodate the light-gauge GHS Guitar Boomers that I favor, but it still plays like butter.

The five-way selector switch is junk, which makes switching settings in mid-song an adventure at best; moreover, the tone/volume pots are cheap and really kill the sound at lower settings. However, since I generally play solo for my own enjoyment, these things aren't issues for me.

I'd change the pickup selector, the tone/volume pots, and probably the bridge pickup if I were going to use it live, but I would consider it sufficiently reliable with those changes. I've had it for thirteen years now and nothing has broken on it (although, in fairness, I didn't use it much until I bought my Line 6 amp).

Great guitar for a cheapo. I bought it for the price; also, I'd had a Gibson SG, and I wanted to try a Strat-style guitar. If it were stolen, I'd buy something similar, at least, since I'm in love with Strat tones now.

1992 Fender Squier II Strat, Korean Made. 21 frets, standard chinsy Fender style tremolo, although I have blocked it off for better tuning stability and sustain. Came with the standard S/S/S configuration, but I yanked out the bridge pickup and installed a Seymour Duncan Hot rails. Neck and fretboard are maple. The Body appears to be plywood, no joke! Stock tuners that actually keep the guitar in perfect tune. I can't say I could vouch for them with tremolo use, as I have mine blocked off.

This guitar has been kicking around since I bought it for a friend back in '92, neither of us really played it much and it wound up back in my hands for good in the late 90's. When it was new, it did truly play and sound like a $200 guitar, probably the main reason it was barely played. I recently decided to fire it up again and make it a usable guitar. The volume pot had crapped out to the point beyond a simple cleaning to take away the noise, so I soldered in a new one, and put in a Duncan hot rails pup in the Bridge position at the same time, in order to give the guitar a fatter, thicker lead tone. As you probably know, a standard single coil in the bridge postion isn't going to cut it if you play any kind of music that's even a little heavier than say...Jewel. As far as the way it sounds now...Does Plywood sound better with age? It blows away my American strats, all of which cost $800 or more and have REAL Alder and Swamp Ash Bodies. I can nail just about any standard Strat lead tone, from Gilmour to Hendrix to SRV. Believe it or the not, the stock neck and middle single coils really scream. Could it be because Gilmour and Hendrix used standard stock pickups in their most well-known songs and solos? The guitar can nail just about any awesome clean or lead tone, with the exception of nu-metal dropped-D stuff, but whaddya want from a Strat?

This is what really amazed me with the whole aging process, it seems logical that wood will SOUND better over time, even plywood. But it even PLAYS better know, WAY better! I could probably continue to lower the bridge saddles and tweak the truss rod even a little more, but I am very happy with the action. I own 14 guitars and this guitar has the lowest action of them all, with no string buzz or dead-spots!! This defies the logic of all "American-Strat" snobs who seem to think it's impossible to get a non-american Strat with great fretwork and super low-action. It's almost TOO easy to play. The maple fretboard has darkened a few shades over the years, as well as the Creme-Colored paint on the body, it's at least 5 or so shades darker than the paint under the pickuard, which was never exposed to the aging process.

I doubt I will ever take it on a gig, as it's annoying to deal with other players in the crowd who will see fit to ask me 1000 questions about how I am getting "That sound" out of a Squier. It's as sturdy as any strat, for what that's worth, but I will probably never take it out of my house.

Never dealt with Fender, but I live about 3 miles from Fender's home office in Scottsdale, AZ. So I am sure I would have no problems if I needed to go down and have a little "chat" with them : )

One of my favorite guitars, truly defies all standard guitar player logic when it comes to brand names, prices, production country, and materials. I guess that's just another reason I have a soft spot for it, and will probably hang onto it until I die.

it has a maple wood neck the guitar is black and has h/s/s/ configuration with the pickups and locking tunners 21 medium frets and a standard trem

i play lots of grindy punk and metal tunes nd the humbucker in it suits me just fine ive been running it through a peavey studio course 210 and a polytone mini brute and i think it is a very good sound very rich

i bought the guitar used and the only thing i found wrong with it was the strings were set to low and they buzzed and the volume knob makes lots of noise and cuts off if you turn it down

i use this guitar during gigs with no backup and i fully trust this guitar the finnish is a little thin and is starting to wear off but in a gig if you use the tremelo alot have a tunner

i have been playing for seven years now and i love this guitar other gear i have is a washburn g-2v a squier standard strat fender f-200 acoutic a 1940 harmony fhole acoustic a kingston electric as soon as i get some money im going to fix the volume know and put in a different humbucker maybe a high output on

Late 80's I think. Maple neck, three single coils... have swapped the standard p'ups for Lace Sensor Blue/Silver/Red combo. 21 frets, nice old fashioned trem (which is a misnomer, it's vibrato), cheap-looking tuners that stay in tune nicely.

Sounds great. I bought the lace sensors in my My Bloody Valentine/Smashing Pumpkins/Big Muff wall of fuzz days. It's good for that. These days I prefer some mild overdrive or clean w/flanger. It's good for that too, but the p'ups are a bit bassy, which I compensate for w/ a filter effect set to the top end... sounds very SRV with this configuration, if a bit hissy... I think I could do even better w/ a 7-band eq pedal, which I'll maybe get for my birthday. Most of good tone is in the EQing. The P'ups themselves are very clean... the stock pickups had a nice down and dirty tone, but not particularly clear-sounding.

The neck plays very nice for a budget guitar. Not as nice as a Mexi or American standard, but good enough. Good feel. I custom painted it black and green. The electronics (p'up selector, volume, tone knobs) are not great. You get that static sound when switching pickups or rolling off the volume... maybe I'll get those replaced for my birthday too.

The tremolo is great. Stays in tune well, good for surf guitar sounds and blues.

Not top quality, but nice enough.

I'm sure it will be around 40 years from now.

A very nice guitar. If I were rich I'd get an American Standard (I do have a Mexi Telecaster, which is great), but really this is good for me. I play at home and do some recording. Nice tones and fun to play. It was a good deal.

Paid $189.00

nade in Korea 1989

Starting to play again after 20 years. My teacher (met him coaching his son in soccer) picked it out when he was having work done on his strat. It has 22 frets s/s/h pickups, 5 way switch and is cream with no pick-guard everything else seems to be stock. This thing is in mint condition. The guy that teaches me has played with everyone (Bob Seager, Bonnie Raite, Robert Cray, and JIMMY PAGE)!! So I trust the guy when he said we really lucked up on this one. I got a gig bag, lots of picks, and a cord out of the deal. I am currently playing out of a 15 watt orange amp.

the thing sounds great to me.

Action is good and it seems to stay in tune. The intonation is also good

Don't know yet.

Just got it.

Just started playing again after 20 years. I love the thing and would buy it again.

1989 Squire II Strat with an American Strat Serial Number, #E984796; made in Korea. 21 Frets, Solid top, has master volume knob and two tone knobs with 5 position selector switch. I don't think that these are the standard three single pick ups as they scream... they are fantastic. Hard, heavy laminated black body is a great resonating mass for the strings, and the neck is the nicest maple 'U' fatty neck I have ever played... and I'm an old guy who has played a lotta guitars. Small headstock has silver with black outlined 'Squire II Stratocaster Fender' on thick, smooth, high gloss finish. The bridge is a solid Floyd Rose and the tuners are sweet, smoothe Gotohs. There was a heavy gig bag with it

I play this thing all of the time in Rock and even in Church. I use a small Crate Limo amp with digitals, a 30 year old Phase 100 phase shifter, and another 30 year old Phase distortion box. The sound is solid, sweet, full, funky, bright, and all of the above with a change of the selector switch. I share this little gem with my friends who play guitar and they all want it.

The plywood body has slight imperfections underneath the side black paint, but these are hard to see. The parts all are tight and it never seems to go out of tune. Wierd. The neck is amazing. I have never been able to play anything as well.

The Gotohs are fine and the body, neck, frets all hold up under hard thumping, dropping, falling. etc. The top tone knob gets a little crusty if not turned periodically... but after a few cranks it quiets down. This is a rare stand alone, do it all guitar.

I don't contact Fender.

I have played since the early '70's, and know that, like people, each guitar is different and has its own personality. I would not trade this crazy little Squire II strat for a $2500 factory job, as it plays like one now. IF you played this, you would want to beg, borrow or steal it.

Have no idea what year it was made. But it was made in Korea!
It has a total of 21 frets.
Laminated top.
Has Tele like dials that are for volume tone tone. With a 5 way pick up selector.
Pick up config is s/s/h wich i realy like.
Stock pick ups. But not for long.
Finish is jet black with no pick gaurd.
Body style is a regular strat except that the plug-in is on the side ( excuse my bad termnology )
bridge is a standard is a Standard strat but iam prob going to get a floyd rose.
Tuners SUCK like plastic sorta. But iam also going to get some locking ones.
The neck is solid maple with small/medium frets.

I play punk rock and it satifys me in tone quality.
Iam using a mashall 300 watt YEAH!!!!!!! or not. Just a Rocktron 45watt.
I make it noisy, but in my mind its not noisy if the o/d isnt on so i guess it isnt.
I keep it on all humucker or single and hum. Gives it a ebrasive sound to me. Sorta dark. More of an obnoctious sound like my own personality wich i like.
Total love the whole thing!

I have no idea how the factory set it up. Got it t a pawn shop.
Pick ups werent adjusted at all until i bought it. . All of its perfect to me now except for the crap tuners bridge and one of the single coils wont screw down all the way and wiggles.

I've played many a show with it. Because its all i have. I holds up awsomellylylylyly. Hardware is crap. Buying all new stuff for it. But the pick ups are fine.The finish kinda makes me mad. With the solid black you can see every finger print and every time the pick touches the guitar. i cant get the pick marks off of it. Solid strap butons but iam going to get the locking thingy i've seen around.Yes i do use it at gigs without backups cuz its the only one i have.

Been playing it for 5 years.I own no other guitars but a couple of amps thats about it.Nope i love this guitar to death. If it got stolen i would hunt the person down and gut them like a fricken fics. Then get a wal mart guitar and beat them to hell and back till he or she never wanted to see a guitar again.! I wish it had everything i list above. i'd liuke to share to the worl: I have no money No job no car, but Iam in a band!

I saw one Made in USA,with 23 frets solid,Volume, tone, 5 way selector
Pickup configuration - S/S/H, H/H, Body style strat Tuners Non-locking Rosewood frets cable

Style - Rock
Amps - Peavey & Korg 1500g Effects processor
Clear as a bell that chimes in silence
Bright sound
No dislikes

Everything is perfect and suits my needs

Reliable and durable both in lifetime & sound

Bought in a black market.

Playing for 4 years
No
I'll buy it again
The clarity of sound and the inspiration I get from playing it!
I can't compare it with its equivalent counterparts, since it gives me everything I want. Hence I need not compare it with anything.
Yes, a free amplifier with processor.

1989 Squier II. Made in India. I saw one other Indian made one on this board. Blood Red. Rosewood Neck. JUMBO FRETS...why I bought it.

The body appears to be solid. The red paint is put on thick, even under the pick guard. The pick up cavities are all separate.

The truss rod is only accessible at the base of the neck, and you have to remove the neck or pick guard to get at it. There is no inlay on the back of the neck.

Sounds Good.

Intonation was way out but tightened up easily. The G string nut slot was cut too deep but I filled it in with two layers of super glue. New 10gage strings....no buzzz...saddle feels warm.

Still waiting to see about durability. First indications show that it stays in tune.

no.

I think I scored big time.

Korean, I'm guessing 1991, s/n M1121310. A pretty faithful
knockoff of a '50's vibrato-equipped Strat (3-p/u, 1-ply
pickguard, etc) except for the string trees ('60's/'70's
style stamped) and the 5-way selector switch. The standard
cheap tuners are also non-Stratlike -- the strings thread
through holes in the shaft sides, rather than into holes
inside of slotted shafts.
The neck is a nice grained maple; the body is laminated
(plywood) but light in weight.
If you like Strat features, then this is reasonably similar,
except for the lousy tuners.

Surprisingly aggressive-sounding, staggered single coils. They
are darker than any Fender pickups I've ever used, and remind
me most of the old hot Di Marzio Strat pickup (the model name
of which escapes me.)
I plugged it in right after my '77 had broken a string onstage,
and, having never used them back-to-back before, was very
surprised at how much louder the Squier was. I really like
the sound, to be honest -- it's not overly bright, it has good
balance, and a real growl. A great mate for my furry-sounding
Princeton Reverb.
Being single-coils, there's some noise, but it's not ridiculous.
The bridge and neck are great -- I'm no fan of middle pickups
in general, but the other two make me happy.

I bought it new. I got so frustrated with the factory
setup (and tuners) that I really didn't use it much for
about 7 years. I had other guitars to play, and had bought
this for its light weight (I'd recently injured my back.)
It languished until I swapped out the tuners for some
Stewart-MacDonald "vintage-style" slotted tuners. I put
on Graph-Tech graphite string retainers, and handed it off
to a great setup guy, with instructions to block off the
vibrato with a piece of basswood so that it would not move
anymore.
When it came back, it was a gem. It plays great, stays in
tune forever, and looks like a real '50's beast -- red w/
maple, like Mark Knopfler's old one.
So, the factory setup sucked. The neck pocket fit, the neck
alignment, and the wiring are all quite good, though. Because
of that, the guitar's stock shortcomings were fixable. As with
most cheap guitars, replacing the tuners and disabling the
vibrato assembly are the keys to wrangling a nice guitar out
of a small cash outlay. A real sleeper. (The lowish grade is
for the setup, not for the very decent body and neck work.)

It's as solid as the next Strat. Down the road, I wouldn't
be surprised if the saddles become prematurely grooved, as
inexpensive saddles will. If I start breaking strings, I'll
replace them. I haven't broken a string since 1999, so if
two or three snap in a month, I'll know that it's time.
The stock tuners were shit, too, but you need to replace
those just to make the guitar playable, so those don't
count in my case -- they're long gone.
I have on scratchy pot which I need to clean. The switch,
the other two pots, and the output jack are all working
fine, and are solidly installed. My guitar doesn't get beat
on, but it looks as if it could take it if it had to.

N/A

I have a ton of gear, collected over 25 years of playing.
I bought this to save my back, but it's turned out to be
a really nice guitar. I absolutely needed to do two things
to make it playable -- replace the tuners, and disable (or
re-spring w/ heavier springs) the vibrato. Now it's a budget
gem.
I once suffered through watching a gig where the lead guitarist
was playing one of these, with the original tuners, and
with the sloppy, loose bridge. I don't think the guitar was
even tunable, as it came from the factory -- the bridge
moved every time he'd tighten a string. I told him what needed
to be done, but he got frustrated and traded the guitar in
on something else. I'm glad I kept mine.
As modified, it's a 10 in my book. Off the hook at the store
it was a 6.

Korean made, 1989 Model, Serial No. E 983249. 22 frets, maple neck, black alder body (pretty sure it's actually alder, too), standard strat controls and configuration. Came with absolutely cheap bridge and tuners: seemed to be aluminum outsides with plastic insides for the tuners (the caps actually came off with too much regular use). It never stayed in tune before I had some decent hardware put on it. Pickups are stock, cheap S/S/S. Slightly better off for a Squier, nowadays they skimp more on the wood than hardware, which can be replaced.

I play lots of Jazz and some rock now, though this was my first electric and I was heavy into the Clapton and Zeppelin stuff. I just wanted something to plug in and play, and for the time it worked for me. I use a Marshall MG50RCD, and the sound is fairly decent from the guitar. The pots have always, always crackled; there is just no getting around it. I actually had to hit the damn thing to quit making noise (it works).

It sounds...well like a Strat, really. Usually, the sound is sub-standard. Crappy bass, the 2 and 4 selectors rarely work, they just sound like the tone is all the way down, all of the time, no matter how I mess with the knobs. The mids are actually nice on this one, though, and if in the bridge or neck position, the guitar stays true to a Strat sound, just less tone. In general, the three middle selections are awful, and I stay away from them.

If I could describe the tonal pallette, I could say it sounds as though the guitar just isn't trying hard enough. It simply refuses to reach for a good low or upper sound. Its personality is apathetic. I think that sums it up nicely.

Well, I bought it used. There are some rather large blemishes on the edge of the body, on the bottom. I think it gives the guitar some personality, doesn't affect the sound, anyway. The nut is original, old, plastic, and s*$#@y. Pickups actually fell out from their places for the longest time, I finally had the gall to get it set-up by a friend of mine and he had some springs to put in. Plays much better now. Action can't be lowered beyond a certain point, or the top three strings will sound sitarish (if i dished out 30 bucks for graphite saddles it might help, but it's not really worth it). String pinchers on the headstock are very old, look like they're about to fall out. When I bought the guitar, the tuning caps were approaching the tear-apart condition, which they eventually did. I spent 100 bucks three years ago to get the tuners and bridge (the bridge that SNAPPED when I attempted to put on 12-guage strings), and all the better for it; when fixed up the guitar actually feels all right enough to play. I have 12s on it now, and though it doesn't help a whole lot with tone, it gets by. Like I said, apathetic. This guitar is a sleepy teenager.

This guitar would serve as a last-resort rock back-up. It can fill in for lifeless power chords. If I were looking for a weird sound, I would automatically run to this instrument. The hardware I have on it now is sturdy and reliable, but the pick-ups are nasty nasty. If I had those replaced, this would no doubt become a decent piece.

The finish is pretty much moot at this point, the huge gash in it near the bottom just begs it to remain beaten up. I had to replace the strap buttons, twice, and the second time I did, I had to use carpenter's putty to secure them. Those suckers don't move at all, now --sturdy as hell. If I weren't playing anything imporessive, I might gig with this little buddy. It's fine for jamming with friends or debuting a new song to a small group. Shows, though, I would say off limits until I get some ok pickups (if I even do).

Overall, it was originally crap. Afer working on it, I'm proud of the fruit of my labor (or dollars, anyway).

Going to Fender about this guitar would be like approaching the Federal governement for a bad book of food stamps. This is more of a do-it-yourself type thing, a good guitar to learn about how solid-body electrics work.

I've been playing for five years, presently. I stick to my Jazz brain and rock roots. Since I was a beginning electric guitarist at the time, I think it was an ultimately good learning experience. I should have saved up for a decent Strat, though, so I couldn't have been turned off by the bad sound that I thought was me.

If this particular one were stolen, I'd be sentimental, it was my first electric. I wouldn't rush to buy a new Squier anything, however.
I really didn't compare it to much, it was all I could afford at the time. I appriciate the experience, though. It's been fun in a frustrating way.

This is a 1989 Squire II strat made in INDIA. Yep, according to the Fender book there was a plant in India for one year. Evidently they had quality control issues and they closed the plant down. However, this guitar is very well built and the ring and sustain is incredible. I agree with a previous reviewer... close you eyes and strum a G and E cord with power. If the guitar sounds flat it is probably plywood and glue. Mine is solid wood I believe to be alder. The pickups are cheesy but they are easily replaced and I am going to replace them and put a tone-x switch in the mix. This is a S/S/S classic configuration and the body cavity in not routed into one big whole where all the pickups go--classic strat style as it was meant to be. The finish is a nice pale yellow gold with a rosewood neck. Also, this guitar stays in tune. I can bash it, leave it in the case for days, pick it up and perfect pitch. This surprised me but since it is an '89 I figure all the wood has settled into position. Came with case. I am very happy with this and I use this for informal jam sessions when I don't want to carry my McCarty around my other guitar fanatic friends--ooooh that's nice can I play it? No! The McCarty stays home unless I'm gigging or recording. By the way the McCarty blows any gibson out of the water. I don't care to hear excuses like, "ya man but the les paul has a different vibe"
Crap, McCarty invented the les paul and this is the real 59 paul the way it should have been. Anyway, this Squire II is probably made more like a strat than some American models. Remember when they routed the body out and replaced a tone control with the input jack. Geez, what's that save $20 in production costs?

Rings for days... change the pickups to your style. Using a Marshall studio 15 with a sealed mesa 1x12 cab. Whoa! Also have a 55 Grommes head modified at the Soldano shop in Seattle. I use that with a tube king. Sonic thunder indeed.

Action fine tuned at Mike Lull's guitar shop in Bellevue. He is incredible and he knows his stuff. Worked on all of Alice In Chains guitars, Heart, etc...

Four bolt neck solid as a rock

Helloooooooo

I enjoy it and I would buy another one. I think the stuff made in '89 is better than the new stuff. They are really pumping them out now. The stuff I have picked up at Guitar Center is junk.

this a pretty old squier II strat. me and my dad had it laying around and one day he said he wanted to make it better. so we took it apart completly and gave the body to his friend who worked at Lexus(yes the car company). when we got it back it was pearly silver-ish gold. it looked so cool! then we bought sperzel locking tuners and put them on the neck. then we got a seymour duncan hot rail pickup. we blocked all of the other controls except the volume and the trem. we also put a blue pearloid pickguard on it. now here's the catch, as you may have figured out this is just like the tom delonge strat. but we did ours about a year before his came out.

with the duncan it sounds awsome.

action is perfect. no buzzing. Awsome!

very reliable!

didnt deal with them

AWSOME!!!

made in korea blood red finish standard strat setup s/s/s pickup configuration neck is fairly thin not as thin as an ibanez (duh)but just a little thicker, gloss finish on neck which i dont really care for cause your hands stick to the finish cheap tuners and vintage style tremolo bridge also on mine neck and bridge are slightly narrower than a fender strat which is a pain in the ass cuz fender replacement parts dont fit and plywood body

the sound of this guitar is ok not the best but its pretty good. it does have that quack that strays are famous for i dunno why though i cant stand that quack sound but heres how each pickup sounds- the bridge is bright and thin and twangy (i use the mid shift on my amp to fatten up the sound) sounding distorted sounds good the middle is a little warmer sounds kinda like that my own prison clean sound the distorted its ok but i dont use this pickup much the neck pickup has the best clean sound of the three very warm and darker than the mid and bridge think hendrix hey joe and thats pretty close in all i give it a 6 cause it could be more versatile and the bridge and middle sounds could be much better

got it used so i have know idea how the factory setup the pickups were setup pretty good but i mess with them alot to see what sounds i can get the action sucks high as hell and still buzzes all over the neck frets are worn down which is probably the cause but dosent buzz through the amp much so i dont really mind the finish is fairly thick but will stinn chip and crack wich i also dont mind cause in my opinion a few scratches and dings kinda give the guitar character. the tuning sux with the trem but i dont even use it anyway i keep it flush and leave the bar layin around my room

this guitar may or may not be suitable for live playi i dunno i dont ever play live i do use it for jazz band at school and for that it serves the purpose(especially considering the fact we probably only played jazz the class like twice usually the teacher tells me to play along while he plays somethin he wrote or other students get me to play along) the strap buttons are descent but i will eventually replace them with strap locks. its dependable as long as u dont use the trem i wouldnt use it live without a backup(even though i dont play live now)cuase u never know what will happen

i dunno

overall its a considering what i payed its damn good but it still could be better but it serves the purpose. i've benn playing for a yr now and this is my second guitar my first was a junk synsonics terminator(read my review) if it were stolen i'd be mad but i'd get over it cause i may be getting a shecter i wouldnt lose it cause u gotta be pretty dumb to lose a guitar. currently my setup is squier strat> original crybaby wah> peavey chorus> fender roc pro 1000 amp .i wish it it had a humbucker but o well

Late 80's(?) Made in Korea Squier II strat. Standard strat setup - S/S/S. Maple neck, thin and flat, skinny frets, vintage white pearl-ish finish. Cheap tuners. Has standard whammy, but I will probably just block it off.

Really like the neck and those skinny frets. I don't know what the wood is, but it is really light. I have long thought that the light ones somehow sound better.

I have a real nice Strat Plus Deluxe (lace pickups) and an early 80's Ibanez Roadstar (strat-style), both of which are excellent instruments. However, I have been on the lookout for a 'straight' Strat - that is, regular pickups, classic sound.

I spied this "Squier" (snicker, snicker) in a pawn shop for $89.00 and figured 'what the heck', I'll give it a try. The neck was bowed to hell, action high, but otherwise in good shape.

Plugged it into a Hot-rod deluxe, strummed a nice open "g" chord, and WOW. It was 'that' sound. Gorgeous, ringing sustain. Clear as a bell. Position 2 and 4 - perfect classic sound! I've been playing for 30 years, have owned many guitars including a '59 strat, and this sucker is right up there with the best of 'em. Now mind you, no one was more surprised than me. But every once in a while you come across an axe that just has it, and you can tell from the first note. I'm sure there are countless numbers of these out there, and I wouldn't be surprised if most of them sound unremarkable. All I know is this one does it for me.

I got it home and adjusted the truss rod and it came right up good. Left just a little relief, and left the action high. Otherwise I did not touch a thing.

I assume the pickups are stock, but I don't know for CERTAIN. They are white w/ staggered pole pieces. There is only one small thing sound-wise for which I deducted 1 point. The high e string is slightly quieter that the g or b string for some reason. Maybe it is the staggared poles - I don't know. Most noticeable in pos 2.

After truss rod adjustment, action is nice - high, like I want it. As for fit and finish, I don't see any glaringly poor fit. All looks good to me. Tuners ARE cheap, though.

It has made it this far, I doubt it is going to suddenly fall apart!

n/a

Based on what I paid, I have no hesitation giving this a 9. Hell, I'd give it a 7 or 8 even if it wasn't inexpensive.

If it was stolen, I doubt I would easily find a 'special' one like this, but I would try. Otherwise, I would probably have to pay a lot more to duplicate the sound.

Korean, probably a '96, typical unremarkable Strat hardware, three single pickups, two tone controls, one volume and a 5 way switch, trem bridge, non-locking tuners (I personally despise locking tuners and would rip them off any guitar I bought and burn them) maple neck, unsure of the body, but it's exceptionally heavy, fire-engine red, bought used

I really like it's tone, very versatile, I can play anything from jazz to death metal, though you may not be able to create a specific tone, you can almost always find one that works, I use a Crate G160XL and no effects, this amp is somewhat limiting as it's tone is definatey solid-state, not VERY full or rich, but it suffices, perhaps a little too much like every other strat for my taste

I bought this gutiar used, but I know the fellow well, and I don't think he'd get it setup (he wouldn't buy a guitar that didn't feel right from the factory) and it felt nice, the pickups were in a mediocre position, I did do a little tweaking, to good effect, construction is very solid, but that's no surprise considering the simplicity of these guitars construction

Live player, yes, not without a backup, as mine, at least, is prone to humming everynow and then, and the pots and switch tend to crackle as if they're corroded, (i've had t de-corroded several times) the hardware and finish are plenty rugged, it's held up numerous abuses since I've owned it with minimum problems

I've been pklaying 5 years, I own a few other fender products and some no-names, I would definately get a similair guitar were this one stolen, but probably not this excact model, this guitar is certainly the better of any other squier, and probably the equal of many fenders made in korea and japan, it's certainly better than the Ibenezs, Carvins and any one of a number of fender copies that are becoming popular, if this guitar could improve in one area it would tone, while it's the area I rated best, and it is good, it doesn't seem to shine in any genre, and lacks any individuality

It's a Squier II with no other identification. It had a humbucker at the bridge position. I was given a used Squier pick-guard and pick-ups. To make it a Standard setup. Year? Manufactured?
Has a tremelo system. Wouldn't stay in tune, installed Schallers and now it's rock solid stable.

I have a '96 Strat. and this sounds like @#$^ compared to a real one.
I replaced the bridge pick-up with a vintage '59 pick-up, it just isn't capable of producing a nice sound. The body is heavy and I don't know what kind of wood it is. It is not standard plywood though.
I'm going to replace the body with a Warmoth, Alder body. Should sound good with that and a set of Fender Noiseless pick-ups.

This guitar is comfortable and has great playability. I use it 90% of the time for practicing. This is an excellent beginners guitar (afer replacing the tuners). This guitar isn't excessively noisy like I've read in other reviews. If you have that problem, have it fixed (grounds are usually the problem).

Nice rugged guitar, electronics are minimal quality as expected.

Great playing guitar for any level player. Sound is crap don't expect much. If you like effects you can sweetin' it up though. Or Overdrive it so it doesn't matter.

not sure of the year. made in korea(yeah i know...usually if it's not american people look down on it but this one's awesome i think). 21 frets. 5-way selector. has volume and tone knobs. not sure of the make of pickups, their configuration, etc. white finish...age has caused a small shine to it. good fret size.

sounds really good, especially with the diversity of my style. sounds good for rock, funk, any type of music pretty much. i dont' have an amp. i actually hook the guitar up through a karaoke machine. it has a light but sometimes thick sound. a good variety in sounds. great effects with a whammy bar and the whammy bar doesn't throw it out of tune. it sounds good clean but any jazz effects(in my opinion) sound crappy.

as far as i can tell everything is factory. no real flaws. i did lower the height of the bridge for possibly faster maneuvering.

very reliable. has been dropped, dented, banged, everything(unfortunately). strap buttons are good but the strap i'm using easily slips off because the strap itself is cheap.

never dealt with the company nor looked for much information on it. just played.

i've been playing nearly a year and a half. it's a very good guitar if you know how to use it and know how to play. if it's not fitting someone's sound though i wouldn't recommend. it fits mine so i think it's awesome. it has a good clean sound, great action, good grip, great neck and body. light.

Was made in 1998, 22 fret, V/T/T pots, 5-way selector, String through body, black with white plastic laminamte scratch guard, solid maple neck, FAT neck, body is wood/wood materials laminate, *(have heard it called 'plywood', but I have never seen any plywood like this!)

I play rock, jazz-rock, blues-rock, and jazz-rock-blues-fusion with some new sounds worked in, but not too obivious. I usually play "bottleneck" syle with some slide when needed with sliding cords.

I'll probably be good on the guitar if I live to be 150 years old, but can hear very well and was blessed (or cursed) with perfect pitch. ( I told this to a guitarist when I wanted to use his tuner--the high e string centered with his tuner--I had used an electronic organ, he was very suprised) The 'plywood' body is in damn near perfect resonance with the rest of the guitar, I suspect by design. This gives a wonderfull hamonic 'distortion', presence and feel to the guitar.

I use a crate 80w and this guitar really matches it well. Just about the time you may think the sound is not bright enough, adjust for max treb., you begain to realize that this guitar really responds to operator input and can make the full range of sound by how you hit the strings. (I do tend to break a lot of 11's though)

Dislike creaky tuning keys, volume control too close to where I play ( I am going to reduce the heightof it by 1/2 or so

I bought this guitar at a hock shop and noted when I got it home that it was untouched since new, probably had origional strings on it, which I replaced before trying it out.

If this reflects the 'factory' set up, it's terrible, and many of you who said this guitar plays terrible may have been playing an unadjusted or poorly adjusted version.

I have spent at least a 1000 hours making my cheap strat bad knock-off
play. Mine plays like grease compared to this unadjusted guitar.
So I did a very basic leveling of the frets and string hight adj. and intonation. Like magic! Have never heard such a dramatic change in sound for these adjustments. Pure harmonic resonant sustain--this guitar's got it! Not surprised some compare it to very costly guitars(sound only)

Overall finish average. ( had an SG with perfect finish, sounded like crap even when worked over)

Love the fat (wide) neck, always wanted this. This is the first guitar I have had out of five that when I am playing it the music I imagine suddenly shows up on the guitar, as I am playing.

Have not had it long enough, but beats every guitar I have had except the Gibson SG I had that always sounded flatter that the floor.

No warrenty, but lots of information available about guitar.

I would get another one right away if I lost this one. Am going slow with the adjustments and replaceing hardware, can use everythingbut the tuning keys, but they work too

this is a pretty basic stratocaster style guitar. 5 way selector, tremlo, white finish,maple neck, 21 frets etc. I think the body is made of either ash or alder. I've put some gotoh tuners on cos the other ones were pathetic, but these seem to hold up well. Cos its qite old the frets are worn, so i lowered the action and now she plays perfect. I got it with a strap and a hem lock. I think the picups are just standard.

This guitar suits my playing style. This is hendrix,berry,clapton any blues. I also play classic rock like led zeppelin and santana etc. This guitar can have a good range.Although the picups are factory standard it can have a good mellow tone but also has the characteristic bright tone of a stratocaster. It does have quite a bit of feedback ,but this can be expected from single coils. Overall this guitar has a nice bluesy tone to it. I play it through a marshall 65 w valvestate reverb amp and it sounds sweet. This guitar would be no good for metal, it hasn't got enough power from the single coils. If you are wanting to play metal i suggest that u get something with humbuckers eg epiphone les paul.

i bought this guitar second hand so did not get it factory prepared. When i recieved it, it was in good condition but a few adjustments were needed. AS i have mentioned i have put new tuners on as the other factory standrd were poor. The bridge and pickups are a bit rusty but this doesn't seem to have affected the sound. The bridge is the same ones used on the stratocasters at this time, so are of a good quality. I have adjusted the action because of the frets and now it plays great and feels like a proper 60's vintage style strat. Everything else seems to be working fine.

It has got a few bumps and cracks, but this can be expected from an older guitar. The hardware has lasted quite well but has rusted a bit and the finish seems to be in qiute good order. It is quite reliable but i would need a backup if i was playing live just in case any problems occured.

never had to deal with them. Prefer doing stuff myself.

I've been playin for a couple of years now. This was not my first guitar, i had a crappy legend. If it were stolen i would probably buy it again, or if i had enough money buy an original 60's strat (the dogs bo**ocks). My favourite thing about this guitar is the way it plays nad feels. It feels like a 60's vintage. I don't like the factory tuners, they definately need replacing and if i get some more money will possibly change the pickups and replace them with some polarised 60's strat ones.

korean-made, unknown year, mystery wood, typical strat controls and pickup configuration, maple neck. i loved this guitar for it's jimi-looking white-discolored look. i never really played it when i first got it at the pawn shop (about 6 months ago), i knew the electronics sucked and i was going to replace them anyway. somebody had already replaced the stock tuners with schallers, bonus. i was pawing through a spare-parts bucket at a guitar shop and found two gold lace sensors attatched to all the rest of the electronics i would need to finish it off ($55 plus tax, with no wear on them). the used "regular" good quality pots and switch didn't fit in the space allotted for the crappy electronics, so i had to rout down some wood to make them fit. i also replaced the crap 2-ply pickguard with one from a real strat. i painted the compartment with conductive paint also to minimize noise. i put a duncan mini 59 in the bridge position (leftover from another guitar i sold)

i play kind of hard rock/punk distorted stuff. i have this guitar laying around my basement studio to bash on for fun. hell, it's the only one i ever play around the house any more. i play locking trem, humbucker beasts on stage and the squier is a beautiful change of pace. i love the old jimi-kind of feel and look, i get a reak kick out of playing it for fun, but it's not the sound i look for on stage. it's very quiet, and i get a real variety of sounds from it, i love the mix of the bridge mini 59 and center lace sensor. it has a whole bag of tricks when it comes to a variety of sounds. bright and glassy to "sophisticatedly crunchy", i guess. i love the feel and look of the neck. i really play rough at times, so it goes out of tune often. i tune down a full step (two full steps to C on the low e), so i can't say i ever break strings. i think i'm going to have to break down and replace the bridge with something a little more solid, the out-of-tune thing gets old sometimes, and i know this guitar is one i'm going to hold on to. my basement setup is a marshall 50-watt combo and no effects

the setup a-la-pawnshop sucked ass, i planned on rebuilding it anyway so i suppose it really didn't matter. white (slightly metallic and pearly-looking) paint was lovingly discolored to the yellowish-thing. i love the way it looks

love the action. feels tasty

i've changed it so much that i don't really know that my opinion on this really matters, but here goes anyway (i know these guitars will grow on you if you end up with one like mine, and you'll want to fix her up a little)

the finish seems fine, but without the thickish 15 coat laquer over the top (i prefer the thinner laquer coat, i kind of like the little dings, considering the color/aged jimi look) the guitar is mechanically very solid, but the bridge just sucks ass and won't stay in tune under abusive circumstances. i would definitely depend on it (and check tuning every two songs) it's reliable enough to play without a backup (like i said, i don't break strings) i've never had a bad sound out of it

don't need them, i get more of a kick out of working on it myself

been playing 4 years, lifelong guitar fan, own a carvin dc, kramer pacer backup. if my squier II was ripped off, i'd definitely replace it. i ditched my 3-year-old mexican standard strat that i bought new the second i picked up the squier II and haven't looked back since. love the vintage feel and look, although it's probably not even 10 years old. dislike the cheezy original hardware, naturally. if you want a guitar that feels like a great strat, without spending your ass off, you can't go wrong with this guitar (with upgraded parts, that is)

This guitar was made in Korea. It has a single-single-hum configuration. It is a plywood peice o crap. It is definately one of the worst guitars i have ever played. The tuners will start untwisting as you look at them. I can't believe i learned how to play on this hunk of junk. I promise to break this one day on stage.

It is very noisy and has a very annoying continuous hum to it. Hardly any sustain. The sound just goes away almost as you play it. I've seen guitars in toys r' us that are better than this one.

The action on this thing is horrible! No matter what i tried, it would not get lower. Don't even waste your time on this garbage.

I brought this guitar onstage with me for the first time. I plugged the cord in and,...it fell out. I tried again and it would not even hold the chord in. JUNK! I think that happened after or before the strap fell off because of the crappy strap buttons. Depend on this? yeah frickin right! The only reason i would have this guitar at a gig is to smash that sucker!

I've never dealt with the company.

Don't buy this guitar. don't accept it if it is given to you. It might spoil your inspiration to keep playing. It will not hold up on stage, or in your room. It is evil. I absolutely despise this guitar. Out of a scale of 1-10,...i give it a -50.

I bought this baby at a pawn shop a couple years back, and let me tell you it was one of the best deals I've ever come across. Yeah, sure, it's got a plywood body, but it is rock solid and had a darker tone than a standard solid body Strat. No douby about it, this is a ghetto guitar, but it holds its own in a rock band.
The neck is very good and hasn't needed an adjustment in years and I regularly tune down a full step to D. Currently I'm in standard tuning. Maple fingerboard. Standard black finish. Fat frets.
Three single coil cheapo pickups. Intonation - very good.

This thing sounded like a hunk o junk till I put in some Hot Rails in the bridge, a Silver Lace Sensor in the middle and a Vintage Rails in the neck. Now it cuts like a hot razor. I've gigged for three years with this as my main guitar. It is very good for all types of classic rock, country (When the Rails are split) and anything else I feel like doing. I don't care if I paid 150 bucks for it, it works.
I scalloped the neck and now the bends are slidin like butter!
I don't like it's weight too much, pretty heavy, but it is lighter than a bass. I run it through a Crate Vintage Club 30 watt. Great clean tones and very good crunch and sustain.

This guitar has a decent finish, pretty rugged. Action has always been good. It holds together well and is very solid. The plywood body does bother me sometimes when I think about it. The trem goes out of tune quite easily, but I run it with the springs tight and the bridge against the body- better sustain.

This thing has never let me down. The tuners are pure junk, but keep it in tune. Maybe I'll change em when one of em breaks. I keep looking for excuse to get rid of this guitar in favor of a more expensive one ,but it earns its place in the arsenal due to its solid reliability. This thing is built as solidly as any other Strat I've seen.

n/a

I would look for another Squier II. Then I'd soup it up and see how it held up to this one. I've been playing for 20 years and I have 5 basses, Ampeg SVT III 2 Martin acoustics 12 String electric, Dano Sitar and a 56 hardtail Strat.

made in korea but i don't know when
22 frets
black body maple neck
volume & two tones
seymour duncan humbucker at the bridge
seymour duncan single coil at the neck
dimarzio hot rails in the center
string through body bridge
schaler tuning pegs
$100.00 in a pawn shop
best deal i've had in 10 years

i play a variety of styles and it stays in tune quite well

This is a Korean or possibly Japanese made Squire II Strat that I bought out of the closet of a repair shop for $80. I don't know the year but many of the Squires use a stick=on serial number that falls of easily. I think it's probably a mid-90's. I'm getting back into guitar after an 8 year abscence and I prefer to rebuild klunkers rather then spend the bucks. This guitar was complete although the electronics didn't work, so they were happy to part with it. It had a black body probably of Alder which I painted satin white. This body oddly seems a bit thicker then American Strats. The neck is maple with a rosewood fingerboard which I bleached and gave a maple stain. Looks good! This is a damn good neck!! But it seems a bit thinner then American Strat necks. I kept the white pickguard and the back two pickups as they seem to sound like older Strat pickups which I like. I put a red Lace against the neck. I do my own setups and totally reworked the tremelo bridge so it stays in tune.

Other then the thinner neck (I've got sort of stubby, fat fingers), this guitar sounds and plays somewhat like a good Telly, but with a darker sound. The pickups are noisy (including the Lace) but its not really noticable when playing/ I play in a Stevie Ray Vaughan style, mostly hard blues, and some Hendrix (figures huh?). I play through a homemade amp using my own tube preamp design and an old Hitachi power amp section. Sorta sounds like a blackface era Fender Twin Reverb. I use only a wah and fuzz (an old MRX) as I prefer that the guitar makes the noise.

Setup was crap when I got it, but as I said, I do my own setups (and repairs-and I build from scratch too), and its great now. The still stock electronics seem to work fine, but I can tell they won't last long. The stock nut was badly slotted so out it went. Actually, for a cheap guitar, the Squire II Strats seem to have nice workmanship, at least of the woods. Other then tweeking and recoloring, I found the neck to be as good as any Fender or quality replacement neck I've ever seen! The action is very smooth. The finish was too beat for me to rate and as I said, I have refinished it.

I'd use this guitar anywhere, and have. I am reminded of Hendrix needing multiple swings to smash his guitar at Monterey. I think my Squire would have lasted a bit longer. This thing is solid!! I can depend on it and would use it at a gig without a backup and have.

I have delt with Fender on other matters and found the experience to be rather like finding one's way through a maze! And when you finally get someone, they usually say that they don't work on that part. But this does not deminish my belief that Fender is the master electric guitar company of the world. I should point out that I have ALWAYS had better luck dealing with their authorised service centers then with Fender directly.

I own a fine Telecaster vintage 1968. I played in bar bands as a profession for some 20 years then quit to work in film and TV. But after retiring in that field, the call of the fretboard came back to me, and I play now mostly for fun and to relax. I like this guitar a lot and would consider getting another if it "dissapeared!" What I don't like, and in fact have never liked on any Fender guoitar, is the stock tremelo bridge. Seeing what Kramer and Floyd Rose have done over the years, I'm frankly surprised that Fender has not really changed their own in-tune killer design in so many years. You can make them stay in tune...but, com'on Fender!!

This is an update. I've now replaced the stock pickups with Lace Sensors, Blue neck, Silver middle, Red bridge. I can now say that this guitar kicks serious ass. Better than the more expensive Fender Strats now. I highly recommend the sensors. They are clear, sparkly, almost noise-free, and sound great clean or distorted. Overall rating now: 10

I don't know how old this thing is. When I bought it from the pawn shop, the strings were rusted to hell. The pickups are a little rusty too. 21 frets, usual strat controls, all single coils, maple neck, slightly-thinner-than-normal squier body, plastic tuners, non-tremolo bridge.

Well, a violinist friend of mine bought a white Squier Strat II from a guitar store for $100 bucks, and it plays great. So when saw a black one at a pawn shop, I had to have it. I took about a half hour comparing it side by side with a regular squier they had, and though the other one looked nicer, this one sounded better--more Strat-like, at any rate.

The pickups are cheap, it's true, but they don't sound half bad. I will replace them with some Seymour Duncan Alnicos eventually. The tuners are really cheap, but the guitar stays in tune really well despite the fact. And no tremolo unit also greatly helps tuning stability.

As far as feel, it feels very similar to my Fender Standard Tele--that is, it feels really good. You can tell all the hardware and electronics on this thing are cheap, but they're also usuable. Who knows, I may eventually have to replace it all, but the guitar itself is good, and buying new electronics is cheaper than buying, say, an American Standard Strat.

Tone... sounds pretty stratty. Chunky, glassy, however you want to describe it. My Tele sounds smoother, but that may change when I trade out the strat's pickups. It sounds good overall, but a little less clear than I'd like. I think the guitar is pretty old, judging from the rusted pickups.

Music style? What style? Ha ha. I play blues, rock, pop, psychedellic/experimental stuff (my favorite), classic rock, a little punk rock, sometimes some pseudo-metal, a little psuedo-classical stuff, reggae... pretty much anything except "contemporary Christian worship." Whenever I hear anyone talking shop in here and they mention that they play that shit I become enraged. I'm a Christian (in the sense that I believe in Jesus), but I HATE Christian rock/punkrock/metal whatever. Rock is all about rebellion. Punk rock for Jesus? If Joe Strummer were dead, he'd be rolling in his grave.

Action is great. The pickups were too low, so I raised them. Had a few dings on it, but I don't care. It's a Squier, it's supposed to be a ghetto guitar. It was black with a white pickguard, but I painted the pickguard black and painted green Tim Burtonesque designs all around the edges. It looks pretty damn cool now.

The guitar itself will probably withstand most anything. The hardware and electronics may possibly give out, but this guitar is somewhat of a backup, my Tele is my favorite axe. I do enjoy playing it though, and it will probably be a lot better once I upgrade it.

Not a clue.

Been playing for 3.5 years. I'm doing pretty well for my relative inexperience. At least that's what I'm told. My biggest guitar influences are Andy Summers, Jimi Hendrix, and Jonny Greenwood/Ed Obrian from Radiohead. Starting to be influenced by NIN and latterday Bowie stuff. I play through an exorbitant number of effects (Wah, Multi-fx, Fuzz, Flanger, Tremolo, Chorus, Pitchshifter/whammy/reverse, echo) to produce very synthesizerish and ambiant weird sounds, and just as often through minimal effects for playing good old classic blues rock Hendrix/Zeppelin stuff. Here's a tip, kids. If you can make your guitars sound like keyboards and your keyboards sound like guitars, you will have some unique, bitchin sounds indeed.

Oh yeah, the guitar. Sounds good. Not great, but good. I'll put in another $200 bucks for pickups and such, and I'll bet it will be a match for most any American made strat. I've found that when it comes to Fender products the price tag means jack squat. You can spend $1000 for a piece of crap or spend $200 and have a great guitar. Or vice versa. The important thing is to always play it before you buy it. Despite Fender's inconsistancy, they do make the best guitars in the world. The Fender Telecaster was the first ever large production electric guitar, and no one's been able to make a better guitar, even 50 years later. Different, but not better. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

This guitar was made in '94, and had a few problems w/ it at first. I bought it used from a pawn shop for 110 bucks and it came w/ a 12 watt Marshall practice amp, a shit-ass strap and some alful picks. The volume pot didn't work so I replaced it and had the intonation checked and the action set. Recently I replaced the tuners w/ Fender American Standard tuning machines (i think they're schaller). I play in a band, so staplocks were a necessity as well. It has three stock single coil pickups and some unknown kind of body material. The neck is maple w/ 21 frets and has a great feel. It also has one volume and two tone knobs and a 5 way pickup selector switch.

I have a fender roc-pro 1000 full stack w/ several effects in this order: Boss GE-7, Ibanez TS10 tube screamer, Boss DS-1, Dunlop Crybaby wah, and in the effects loop i have a boss CS-2 chorous and a phase 90. The squier has a kick ass clean tone on the neck pick up. The roc pro really complements the squier well. I also have an Ibanez RG520QS. The ibanez doesn't have as good a clean tone. As for distortion, I love good heavy distortion...and w/ just the amp's distortion, it sounds almost twangy. But once I add the GE-7, it's quite heavy and looses the twang. The sounds on both clean and distortion are awesome.

The set up when i first got the squier blew ass. The action was good though. The intonation was horrible esp in the upper frets. I have already mentioned my improvements...money well spent. The finish is alright, it now has a few battle scars and whatnot, but it still looks good. I alway doubted Squier guitars until I played on this one.

I gig with this guitar all the time. It's durable as hell and could withstand the armageddon. The hardware will last as long as I am around and shit. I can always depend on this axe.

I called fender once to find out what year it was made in...the bastard who sold it to me said that it was made in 1979...what the hell??? the support was helpful and I didn't have any problems, but I did wait on hold for freakin' ever.

This is definately a great guitar. I've been playing for two years now and I can say w/o a doubt that I spent my money wisely. My friends have les pauls, american standard stats, and mesa boogie amps. The Squier could obviously never compare to that stuff, but can hold it's own.

Hey guess what. Turns out that these squires are made more like vintage strats than 90-98 american made strats.
The 90-98 americans used a venear to cover up the fact that they started making them out of cheaper basswood. The glue in the venear kills tone!
Also, 90-98 american strats have a HUGE single cavity routed out under the pickgaurd instead of 3 seperate cavities like vintage strats (and squires).
I've read that Fender has sinced stopped doing this. But don't all you people who paid all that extra cash for the word "American" on your strat feel kinda silly.

OK all you ignorant 15-year old kids. SINGLE COILS HUM! DUH! You should have known this before you bought on of these guitars and tried to play Mettalica.
IF you're looking for funky strat tones hear they are. The pickups sound nice for classic strat tones (don't expect Les Paul/humbucker tones from a strat kids), but also keep in mind we're not talking Lindy Fralins or VanZants here.
But, it did sound MUCH better than one of my student's Deluxe American Strats equiped with Lace Sensors. I think the reason for this was because his Deluxe had a laminated metal flake finish with a super thick clear coat.
Also, this guitar might just be made from a nice plank of tone wood instead of the normal second-hand scrap wood that gets sent over seas.
Bottom line: 1. Use your ears. 2. Know what you are looking for tone-wise.

Strats aren't known for playing like silk. Unless you're Yngwie Malmsteen, pick a different shred machine. The fit and finish/action is middle of the road.

I'm just pulling it out for the few tunes that call for strat tones. But I'm sure it will hold up to live playing well enough. Why shouldn't it? It's not like I'm using it to dig a hole or cut down a tree.

Does what it's supposed to do.

This guitar was made around 1990 or so probably in Japan. It has 21 frets and a laminated cherry red finish. It has a volume and two tone knobs with a 3 way selector switch. It has a S/S/H configuration, and I am not sure what kind of pickups, probably some cheap factory pickups. The body is probably cheap compressed plywood, and the neck looks to be Maple. The bridge is the standard strat bridge, and it has regular tuners as well, nothing special. It seems to have jumbo frets on the mahogany neck piece. It's a pretty basic guitar.

This would be a pretty good blues guitar, it has a relatively good sound. I don't use the single coil pickups very often, but they have a warm tone which would be great for a blues guitarist. Most of the time I stick to using the humbucker, but it has no tuning knob so it has no range what so ever, but it is much better suited for metal then the single coil.

The action on this guitar is very low, with surprisingly few buzzes, which I like very much. I love how thin the neck is on this guitar, it makes it very very easy to play, which was very good for me when I was learning. This is probably about my favorite thing about this guitar.

I have used this guitar to play one gig, and I would probably never do it again, it weighs a ton! It is pretty durable, but it snaps strings very easy, and it does not hold tune very well. I would use this as a backup, but never as my primary guitar.

I have no clue how their customer support is, I have never had to deal with them.

I have been playing for a year and a half and this is a pretty good guitar. It was very nice to learn on, but I wouldn't use it as my regular guitar. If it was stolen I would probably be a bit upset, but nothing to get really upset about, I am sure I could find another just like it, and for probably cheaper. I prefer using my Westbury Standard, which is a very nice guitar.

-Made in Korea -typical Strat specs with cheap parts though -the body has unknown type of wood (which is a lot heavier than most strats I have used) -S/S/H pickup configuration -maple neck, rosewood bridge

I play hard rock, blues (like some SRV, Clapton and Hendrix) and heavy metal. I use a Zoom 1010 and some other stompboxes through a Mesa Boogie Studio Caliber. All I can say is that this guitar doesn't really cut as most strats can. I'd attribute that to the cheap electronics. However, I tried to compensate this by adjusting the pickups' height and using .010 -.048 gauge strings.
I guess this guitar fits blues or other light music. This guitar doesn't suit heavy metal or crunchy hard rock.

Good side: -jumbo frets -standard action -properly routed bridge -standard strat specs
Bad side: -Frets easily get pitted -The guitar gets out of tune so easily because of the lousy tuners. -Electronics produce hum at certain times, even at the humbucker position. -Pole pieces of the pickups are staggered but they do not align with the fretboard's curvature. As a result, it is hard to have proper string balance. -THIS GUITAR IS HEAVY. I don't know of what kind of wood this thing is.

not that dependable... Hardware and electronics are cheap... I just changed the volume pot recently. I also reset the neck and bridge lately. I had to relevel the frets to get the right action. Generally, the parts are not heavy duty.

I have a Japan Floyd Rose Strat, a custom elec. guitar with Duncans and a Floyd Rose bridge, a Gibson SG 61 Reissue, and I think this guitar is the one I least liked using. Good thing it ain't mine. For a low-priced guitar this is quite satisfactory, but if you are serious with tone, better spend a few more bucks to get a better sounding guitar. Or, if you have this guitar and have fallen in love with it, you can try changing the pickups and that would dramatically change the sound.

Purchased new in 1991, made in Korea if I remember correctly. This was an upgrade for me, after a year-long stint with a Harmony! Maple neck and fretboard, with 21 frets. Strat-shaped body of unknown hardwood, with thick black gloss finish. Stock S/S/H pickups, standard Fender 6-screw trem, chrome volume and tone knobs, 5-way selector. No pickguard on the Squier II model, and a humbucker in the bridge as stated above, which is why I bought this instead of the Squier "Standard" Strat. Chrome tuners, plastic nut, the usual cheap appointments for an Asian Strat.

At the time that I owned this guitar, I was just getting into metal. For Metallica, Guns n' Roses and what I perceived to be "hard stuff" at the time, the Squier II was the way to go for me. Although a little noisy, the pickups sounded as good as any other through the variety of cheap practice amps I played it through. Sufficient crunch from the humbucker for hard rock and most radio-friendly metal, and I never really used the singles enough to judge their quality. At that stage in my musical endeavors, I was purely a rhythm player, for which the stock pickups and rather lacking sustain were good enough.

Setup at a reputable guitar shop, I can't complain about the condition of the guitar at the time of purchase. It's pretty tough to mess up a plain black paint job, and I never once adjusted the action on the generic bridge. The neck was certainly too thick for the fast lead playing I do now, and was somewhat uncomfortable even then, but typical for Strat standards. While not the sort of feel I would prefer now, it was flawless as setup and finsh go.

Abused on a regular basis as part of a garage band guitar rig, this guitar held up well...although the current owner (my younger brother) has done his best to let it go to hell. When properly cared for, even a low-end guitar like this can last a long time. Unfortunately, that does not mean you should leave it in your trunk overnight in the middle of a Minnesota winter. I did just that, and the wiring headed south when I finally brought the guitar in from the cold. After being fixed, it was as good as new.
I can't complain. Take care of your guitar, and it'll take care of you.

I started playing in 1990, and this was my second guitar. I gave it to my brother a couple years ago, he beat the piss out of it and then set it aside to collect dust, and now I'm fixing it up for him after years of neglect. At the time that I owned it and played it, most of my friends and bandmates were suitably impressed by it. At one point, a "friend" who was fixing a wiring problem for me "went out of town" with my guitar still in his posession. I assumed it was stolen, but eventually he returned it intact. I would have missed it, considering that I don't like the typical Squiers with pickguards and S/S/H pickup arrangement. But since then, I have grown accustomed to the Jackson Dinky body shape and neck, so no more Fenders for me.
Not a bad guitar, and a LOT better than the Squier Affinity series out there now. If you like the Fender style nad can find a now-discontinued Squier II, it's worth the money. But with dozens of guitars in that price range now, take the time to shop around. I tried other guitars at the time and this is what I picked, but there are a lot more options worth considering...especially now that Jackson, Ibanez, ESP (LTD) and other brands have budget lines available.

1990 Korean made. Made like a 50's Strat. Put S/D pickup's in it. Maple neck is the best of all my guitar's. White body. Added TBX tone control.Hardware is cheap but works well. I keep it very clean. Custom shop pickguard. Gig bag. Bought new 1991. Body seems to be made of compressed wood of some sort.My first Guitar.

I play blues so does this guitar. I also own a Hamer archtop and Fender Super Strat.And this Squire keeps up with both of them.I play thur a Fender Deluxe reverb (reissue).When you put in on 2 & 4 It,s as sweet as it can be.I baby it because it was my first.The only down side is the hardware it's junk. It's a great first guitar.

It was not set up very well.I bought a book and did it myself.The neck is it's best side just right.You must hotrod these guitars.I slowly put in about 200 big ones.I want to keep it and play it.The pickups that came with it were junk.

This thing is tough. My cat run into one of my guitars and they all hit the floor. I had a PRS then and the neck got all loose and messed up the Squier lost the white cap on the selector switch. The PRS is bye bye now.

YA right.

I have compare it to other guitars and it can stand on it's own. It's not a 1800.00 guitar but it plays like one to me. It has a tone all it's own.I don't know if it's the cheap hardware or the pressed wood but it's got IT.

this is a korean made strat, though i'm not quite sure of the year. it came with a little 15-watt amp so i not complaining about the price. it's got a 21 fret maple neck and what i beleive is an alder body. it has a volume and 2 tone knobs and a 5-way selector switch, though the tone knobs seem to just be for show. it has a s/s/h pickup configuration and what looks to be a remake of the old synchronized tremolos of older strats but i'm probably just giving my hopes up. it also has a black finish with no pickguard. i haven't been dealing gutiars for too long so i couldn't tell you much else.

i mostly play classic rock and metal and this suits me just fine. i play through a little fender bullet amp along with a dunlop hendrix wah, a boss ds1 distortion and ph2 super phaser. i can a pretty wide variety of sounds out this setup though i tend to prefer the amp drive to the ds1. the pickups aren't top of the line i admit but they don't sound like shit. the single coils' hum is a little noisy but its nice a more vintage sound. i've grown to love the humbucker on this guitar. i play stuff from led zeppelin, pink floyd, hendrix, van halen, metallica, and so forth and it sounds pretty good.

i'm not sure of its history though it did have a dings and scratches in it (what do you want its used)

the only problem i've had is i had to have the volume knob assembly replaced due to large amounts of unwanted static but other than that it's been great. i beat the HELL out my strings (i've snapped picks in half!) and the bridge holds up pretty well

never had to go to them

i've only been playing for two and half years and this is still my first guitar but i know i'm going to have it for a quite a while. i've become very attached to it and it would tske alot for me to part with it. i love this guitar but i'm looking into getting a big apple strat

I got this as my first guitar in 1989 as a gift. It's a Korean Fender Squire II. 21 frets, ebony finish, and has no pick guard. 5-way selector, 2 coils one humbucker, of unknown manufacturer.I believe the body is Alder (I could be wrong) and a maple neck and tremlo. Although none of the electronics and hardware are anywhere near high end, This guitar has potential.

I play on a Randal half stack and various effects pedals and this guitar sounds pretty good. The coil pickups suck (loud humming) and the stock humbucker was very a little high on the treble side. I replaced the stock humbucker with a Duncan JB Trembucker and it's really like playing a different guitar. I couldn't believe it! I play mostly blues and rock with a friend with a classic american strat and the two sound STUNNINGLY SIMILAR! The Squire II has a decent range of sounds (but not as good as my Epi Les Paul). One more thing... In order to have tone control you have to re-wire the humbucker to a tone knob or else you're stuck with treble, treble, treble. Still

I got this one brand new and the guitar was solid. I must be one of those lucky people who got a well made one because a lot of people bash this guitar. Intonation is still good after 9 years. This guitar has never failed me. The pick ups are obviously one of the major drawbacks (hence the lower price too) as the coils hum a little too much, especially under distortion. The tremlo is second rate too. Try not to pull too hard because it will go out of tune.Other than that construction was well done. Like I said, I might have gotten lucky.

Like I said, this guitar has never failed me. I have played with it live before, but in front of a serious audience, I'd opt for my Les Paul. This would probably come out on stage with me for some wild Hendrix or SRV. If you bash it a little or break strings... oh well! It's showing a little wear after 9 years but I still play it almost every day. I love this guitar.Still very solid after all this time.

Never had to call them.

I might have gotten lucky with a well made one but this is a great first guitar. Its rare, reletively inexpensive, and has a humbucker for some fat tone (once you re-wire it). Mine was (is) durable and with a few bucks can sound really great with new pickups. I've been playing for 9 years and have had several guitars (Ibanez aka I've-been-had, Epiphone and Fender) and I keep coming back to this one. All it takes is a little faith in what it can do to justify spending money to upgrade it. I'm telling you. it's worth the extra bucks.

its one of those japan ones I think, got it pretty cheep 21 frets laminated top 5 way selector crapy pickups okay tuners and it came with a 50 cent strap, a ibanez bass pick and 3 extra pick guards.......dont ask why I dont know, I felt kinda stupid getting all this stuff I didn't need. think the only think I got that was acualy used was the guitar and the mesa/boogie acoustic guitar polish for my satin sea gull acoustic......

I play this outa a laney GC-80 and it still sounds like poop. It has a terrible buzz in the back ground gets on my nerves. it sounds pretty decent when using a masive distortion like DOD's death metal or grunge. cant stand this guitar

um if I ever played this thing live I think I might do that thing at the end where you smash it on the groundand bust it in a million peices so at least I wouldn't get booed off stage

um it has lots of problems I never use it any more cuz I have a american standard strat with the texas special pickups so I might sell it for you know like a brand new pooper scooper or capo or somethin um I'm not gonna bother with a warranty

I've been playing for about 4 years and this thing in a peice of junk I wish I could have asked if this was a "good guitar"!!!! I bought it cuz I was just startin out and you know you always hear people talking about the strats and stuf so I thought "hey, its a fender why not!!!"the only thing that some what good about this is that squire "II's" are super hard to find and when I smash it they're gonna be even harder to find

made in 1990 in korea; volume, 2 tone dials, and a 5-way selector switch that sometimes made the sound go out completely. but since then, i got it replaced and it works beautifully. it had 3 single-coil stock pickups, but i changed the neck pickup to Fender Gold Lace sensors and it sounds bitchin now.. i'm about to replace the other two with the same. maple neck (i don't know about the body)and blood red satin finish. the bridge is starting to rust, but it's still holding up. the tremelo was bent (probably by the previous owner), but i never use it anyway (besides, it makes the strings go out of tune). the tuners were hard to use: they didn't turn very smoothly, but i since replaced them with Sperzels, and they work great.

i've compared this to an american standard strat, and the sound is, amazingly enough, comparable (probably because i always use the neck pickup, with the tone turned all the way up.. sounds less tinny that way). my theory is that it's all psychological -- US strats, of course, FEEL better on the fingers, so they tend to almost SOUND better because of it. and since i've replaced the pickups to Gold Lace Sensors, the sound quality is really really excellent and, in my opinion, even better than the US strat with stock pickups. i run my Squier II through a Marshall JCM900 (marshall distortion is the best!) and various Boss effects, and it sound just plain awesome... thick and heavy with the neck pickup. i can make it sound like the pumpkins easily.

the pickups and action was just fine when i bought it off my friend (of course, him being the guitar expert, it would have to be). however, the pickguard screws are rusted (but the pickup screws weren't... hmmm. sounds like different metals in the screws). the tuning pegs are a bit cheap, but i replaced them. the fretboard is glossy, i'd rather it not be, but it really doesn't bother me too much.

this guitar has been through hell and back with two equally clutzy owners. i have never broken a thing on this guitar except for strings. the finish is pretty durable so far, strap buttons fine. i can totally depend on this.. i usually use this as a backup guitar for my gibson SG standard, but strangely enough, i have more faith that this one will hold up in the end. save for the breaking of strings, i would use this one without a backup.

never contacted the company

i've been playing for five years, own a gibson SG and my good ol' marshall half-stack, and the sound comes through the best with this fender through my marshall. the fretboard isn't as lovely as the US strat, but i can live with that.. paid less at least. i love the fact that i totally revamped this guitar from being a stock-everything to having the best tuners and pickups, and sounding just like a $1000 guitar. for those of you who complain to no end about your cheap-squiers-wish-i-never-bought-it-in-the-first-place, just spend a bit more and replace things on it. don't let it go to waste. experiment!!

1990 made in Korea.22 Frets. Pickups S,S,H (unknown make and model). Controls Volume,Tone(bridge),Tone(middle). Body made of pressboard,red with no pickguard.Looks pretty good with black pickups and no pickguard. Neck appears to be Pine(probably maple). Like the feel of the neck,but had to tighten it down was loose when I bought it.Changed tuners to sperzels because of constant tuning problems(helped tremendously)

Use wah and DOD FX7. Bridge sounds good but very noisy.Bridge and middle less noisy,but still noisy.This may be due to lack of pickguard for shielding. Humbucker sounds good but a little thin.Next project to change pickups and maybe rewire for tone adjustment to humbucker.Volume pot a little noisy when changing volume and middle tone has to be lifted up to adjust, not sure if this is by design to keep tone from being changed. I found a great site on strat wiring on Harmony Central. I haven't been there in a while but it was at johnatchley.com.

As stated above the neck was loose. Intonation was terrible. The neck was straight but had to adjust string height because of various buzzes. After not to many uses had to change input jack because of intermittent(constant)outages. My wife helped me with the soldering she used to work at Fender when it was in Fullerton,CA and she told me she could't believe how sloppy the wiring and soldering were.

This guitar would not be a good live choice maybe not even a good back up live choice. Guitar is great for practice and jamming with friends at the park. I plug into a Pocket Rocket and then into some 3 watt headphone speakers. Actually doesn't sound too bad. If it got stolen during my travels, I would be more bummed about losing the sperzel locking tuners than the guitar itself. 8 years may say a little for duability but I keep it in a hard case.

Never dealt with company. I've done all repairs and modifications myself. $149 kinda take the pressure off screwing it up.

I've been playing off and on for 26 years. My first electric was a 1960 Fender Mustang, I still have it but I took it in for a new nut and pickup and they screwed it up almost beyond repair.(sob)I would love to by a new guitar but its hard to plunk down $1000 bucks for something decent when yesterday I was bitching about $200 dollars for my daughters 8th birthday party. I sure wish I'd met my wife when she worked at Fender, I'd proabaly have a couple of top of the line American Strats.