Fender Squier II Strat

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