Fender Squier Stratocaster

This guitar was made in Korea in 1996. It has the standard strat configuration. The neck is made of maple/rosewood and the body is made out of many layers of plywood. The tuners in this model are die cast.

Even under the best of circumstances, this guitar sounds like you are playing through an AM radio. The body is made up of many fine layers of plywood. I think that's the fundemental screw up of this guitar. A strat is supposed to made of a light wood like ash or alder. This plywood contains an aweful lot of epoxy resin, as it's VERY heavy. For tonal purposes, it might as well be concrete. With every note I play, the neck of the guitar acts like a giant tuning fork, wanting to resonate a one fixed frequency sucking the tone out of the other strings.

I'd best describe the tone of this guitar as having dark and muddy lows, while the midrange and highs are harsh and metallic.

The tone control really does not do much. It's either fully open or quickly becomes fully closed. There is very little linearity between the two positions. You'll always want to leave it fully open anyway. Neither the middle nor neck pickups have optimum tone for any situation and the bridge pickup sounds extremely glassy. Splitting pickups cut's the treble too much. The electronics are poorly shielding as there is no shielding.

Worse yet, the guitar has die cast tuners. There is a lot of slop and play when tuning.

The guitar's tone didn't match ANYTHING that I commonly heard in 60's and 70's classic rock. It never got even close. Even the clean tone sounds completely different. Being a novice guitarist, this is very frustrating.

On the back side the a portion of the 2 joined halfs appear to have not been complely planed even eith one another. The laquer coat seems to have filled in the difference. Asthetically it is pleasing. The action is acceptable. The radius on the edges of the fretboard is a bit uneven with one noticable gouge.

I consider reliability to be able to pick it up and play it without constant retuning. The tuning swings between sharp and flat daily for no apparent reason.

Never dealt with Fender

Squires are inconsistant. Some come with machined tuners and a hardwood body instead of plywood. Not all of them could be this bad.

I could have upgraded the tuners of my squire to machined ones, and upgraded the electronics, but I would still be stuck with a heavy plywood body and a cheap trem.

This guitar was traded in for a Godin SD which is a drastic improvment.

When buying a squire be sure to compare it to a guitar of known quality.

Every so often, something escapes the ever watchful eyes of a company's bean counters. Case in point: My fiancee purchased a Japanese Fender Squier Strat in the mid 80's--with case--for under $300. It's a 1985 series according to the serial number. Bear in mind that for most of 1985, Fender was without any manufacturing plants in the U.S. due to the sale of Fender by CBS to then Fender President Bill Shultz (who was once with Yamaha) but without the inclusion of production facilities. Thus all production of Fenders was completed in Japan and a miscellaneous selection of other countries. Hence, it would be logical to presume that all the Fender line of instruments were built along side one another. The result being that even the low end instruments were receiving about the same level to detail that is usually reserved for the high-end models. Enter the 1985 Squier Strat. The features include a one piece relatively thin U-shaped neck and slab Brazilian rosewood fretboard with small nicely crowned frets. A beautiful black paint job on an alder wood body (it may even be one piece--it's not basswood as some people believe Squier was using--Basswood [a lightweight wood], though probably used a times, really became the standard by 1992), a standard tremelo system, great action, good pickups that actually humbuck in positions 2 and 4, and it even has a bone nut. This is one beautifully crafted guitar where all the various wood pieces are seemlessly constructed. It even sounds like my old 70's Strats in regards to how the wood resonates when unplugged. Today, Fender is charging around $1500 or more list for reissues of this quality. It's essentially a standard Strat similar to a 1960's vintage, which by the way was one of the models Japan was using to construct many of their guitars. I would actually rate this a 10 but only give it a 9 because of the pickups. They're good, but not top of the line. New pickups would push it above a 10 rating.

Sounds like a Strat--a good Strat. Full, thick, and sustaining, but bright as well, so actually, the pickups really do the job. Has a Hendrix/ Vaughn sound quality.

See my description for action, finish etc. in the first paragraph. Good hardware.

A lot of the new high-end Fender models feel like toys. This thing is a workhorse. Has a good weight in the body, but not like lead.

Never had to call on Fender.

I've been playing for over twenty years--live and in the studio. I've played and have owned a wide selection of guitars through the years. A lot of the Squiers eventually became very low-end, but in the early Eighties, they held their own. They were considered low budget back then, but with the way guitar companies have been scrimping on production these days, these have become a sort of new standard of classic. It seems to take about twenty for the attributes of an instrument to be truely appreciated. Let's face it, a lot of instuments in the 70's and 80's were held up to the instruments of the 50's and 60's and were generally not favorably compared. Time generally dictates what is considered quality craftmanship. You will not get this kind of deal on a instrument today--not even in pawnshops (unless they think a Squier label should command a lower price).

I bought this thing new in 2000. It has 21 frets. It's all solid body. Great tone. standard 5 way with 2 tones and a voume. S/S/S. Made of alder body i think and a maple neck the finger board is rosewood, very nice work. Sometimes i feel that mine had special attention paid to it cause t doesn't play like a cheap little strat. and it has taken a beating. It's red. now covered with stickers and writing but hey, i've customized the bridge and everything to my likeing. everything is standard as far as i know but i wouldn't change a thing.. except for the tremlo which i would take out and put a normal stop tailpiece on.

Even though it's tabbo to play metal on a strat i like the sound. Good sound all around. Not alot of tone variation but i am happy. Good variety and versatility. Most tone changes i've made with the 5 way

everything was set up perfect i'd say. nothing else about it.

very reliable. very nice has been dropped several times lol. so i put strap locks on but everthing is fine.

N/A

Great guitar for beginer or pro! In fact i am going to model my custom after this one, just giving it a different look.

First off, I have 2 of these now. They are both made around 1992 (according to legend, a Mexico plant fire required 400 to be made to fill orders) and have Made in USA on the headstock decal. They are allegedly "Franken-Strats" or "Parts-O-Casters" made of whatever was availble in the CA plant.

They are standard 21 Fret, S/S/S, Not sure on body woods (both are heavy). Both have standard Tuners, Trem, pickups, electronics etc...

The black one (N9 serial number, decal on top of finish) has a Rosewood fretboard, big neck and a skunk stripe and significant flame in the maple. It is routed S/S/H, white pickgaurd. I have had it about 5 years.

The white one (E9 serial number, decal under finish) has a Maple capped fretboard, very thin neck and no skunstripe. It is routed S/S/S, white pickgaurd. I have had it about 1 year.

I have changed both sets of pickups (see sound), put Sperzel locking tuners and MannMade USA Trems on both.

Second off, the pickups were OK. I tinker a lot and I am in love with Rio Grande's products. I play all kinds of music, but SRV, and KWS are what I like to play for fun. Both off these guitars are very resonant unplugged. They have a beautiful strat tone through a straight clean amp as well.

Both Guitars have Rio Grande Tallboys. The black one however now has a DiMarzio PAF Pro in the bridge position.

They sound incredible. The black one has been all over the country with me and used for everything from country to metal to blues to church music. The Humbucker was added for the lead tone needed to play the harder stuff. I just haven't got around to adding a single coil tap yet (probably never will).

They are both very quiet (I added cavity shielding to all my guitars). I am using a Flextone II XL for gigging and a straight (no effects) Pro Jr in the bedroom. I have a Korg PX3 and a Digitech GSP2101 for recording and goofing off.

Both were purchased used, but the quality was top notch, definetly better than current US Strats I've played.

I had to shim the neck in both and loosen the truss rod in the white one to get them perfect.

The black one has been all over the US and Canada. It's taken a fair share of licks and continues to play great every time I pull it out. The white one hasn't left the building.

The black one was the "only" guitar with me most of the time on the road and it never let me down. I think the white one would do just fine.

Never needed it, never will.

I have been playing 20+ years. I currently own 10 guitars, 2 amps and tons of misc. junk.

If either were stolen, I would hunt them down and torture them. The black one is the first one I reach for. I have a custom one-of-a-kind $3,000 guitar that doesn't receive the attention I give the black one.

You gotta love the bang for the buck on this. I traded a Jap Strat for the black one and paid $200 for the white one. I see them on the net from $200 up to $500. Yeah, I put alot of money into the hardware, but the basic platform was worth the investment.

I bought a hot rod red affinity squier strat 2nd hand coz i needed an axe that woz red coz i need 2 look a bit like hank marvin if i play all his stuff but something that wouldn't break the bank. tremolo is gorgeous 2 use. action good, not brilliant. tuning can b difficult but once u've got it right it's good nuff. think there should be some more colours in the range tho.

suits me style (hank marvin)brill, but the pickups will probably need changing before long. they're not bad but r a bit cheapy. use effects through pedals so that makes noise but can get annoying. better noiseless single coil pickups would be friendly.

i bought the guitar 2nd hand and once i bought it i gave it 2 someone 2 spruce up like i usually do, so cant say much but i know that there werent any flaws, and the wood that makes the neck looks lush, brilliant wood grain! i think i hit lucky!!! Action nice but not brill.

stands live playing well and the hardware seems 2 be able 2 last, but when i got it the trem arm cross-threaded itself and had 2 replace bridge, so i was naffed off coz o that. good finish, loks very durable. i would be happy 2 use @ any gig without backup, but then it's still relatively new.

bought guitar 2nd hand.

own a standard sqiuer fat tele which is peach 2 play. own a marlin which was obviously once brill but is now practically dead coz of old age. use fender deluxe 90 amp which is lush through a zoom gfx 707 whick gives a lot of feedback @ close range, but long leads help that problem. best feature is tremolo which is perfect for hank marvin style. good beginners guitar but fender will have to do better for others 2 beat the yamaha pacifica 012.

I've had this guitar for about 3 years. It was my first electric guitar. Standard stuff...3 single coils rosewood fretboard, etc etc.

I play anything from hard rock (metallica or newer stuff) to stevie ray vaughan. the guitar has a mediocre clean sound, the guitar still doesn't have much resonance and hardly any sustain. distortion is pitiful, it sounds like a big mushy pile of crap. falls out of tune all the time and the whammy bar is a joke

action was ok when i got it, but now one of the bridge saddles is like cock-eyed and another is all out of whack and the strings are all uneven...yuck

HORRIBLE!!!! falls apart after a year! only my neck pickup works now, the bridge doesn't work at all. all rusted everywhere..i've kept this guitar up and everything it just sucks, piece of crap

i didn't think this guitar was worth wasting time talking to fender people about what a horrible instrument they made...actually i should say the 3 year old chinese kids

any guitar under $300 unless you buy used or through ebay or something will suck...instead of buying this piece of crap, find a decent used guitar for $200 and play on that...if your into the strat tone get a used fender mexican strat, at least those have decent parts...or get a used ibanez rg for those of you looking for heavier sounds...only buy this if you want a crappy sounding guitar that will fall apart within a year

I have a sunburst Strat with 3 single coil pickups. It was made in China. It has Rosewood fingerboard. Well, no surprises. It's a Strat...

It has awesome clean sounds. I'm not fully satisfied with it, but I can't find a better sounding guitar for even the double amount of money. The stock pickups are hissy and not really suitable for distorted sounds. As much I like the neck PU's clean sound (bright, metallic and powerful (quite high output)) I hate the bridge's distorted ones (with overdrive it screams too much, with distortion it is muddy).

I got it second hand with fine setup. Action is cool. I must be a lucky one, but it seems that it has high quality wooden material... the finish is nice, confortable and such. I like it. Really.

The body finish can be damaged quite easily. One of the tuners gone free recently (e1). And one of the springs gone wrong at the bridge (e6). The PU selector has contact errors at the neck position (which I use the most). I hate this. However now I could solve it to be consistent when the error occur: If push it slightly like I would switch (but I don't switch) I can disable the PU's so I have an on-off switch on my guitar for free :-) Recently I've found out that I can't get off the volume knob from the potmeter. I'm quite annoyed. This potmeter is very noise and even a contact spray barely helps. Thanks god it doesn't really breaks strings and it stays in tune for quite a long time.

Never dealt with the company.

I'm playing for 5-6 years now. In Hungary a non-professional guitarist cannot really afford a guitar over 400$. (and beginners cannot afford more than one guitar) I've tested quite a lot guitars under 400$ and I think this was the best choice. Compared to American Strats it is as good with only a few exclusions (bridge pu for example). Perfect for clean sounds and I plan to keep it for clean melodies and rhytmic chording. But I will purchase an other guitar as soon as I can afford for distorted sounds... or I gonna replace the bridge PU with a humbucking one (like an Yngwie Malmsteen DiMarzio)... or both :-) Regardless, if you are low on budget and wanna play clean sounds -- buy this. It will serve you well for a few years.

My Strat is a Arctic (ivory)White colour only 6 months old. 3 single coil pickups, 21 frets, rosewood fingerboard, standard synchronised tremolo

I like playing Eric Clapton style songs and blues. This guitar is great for the bluesy sound it has.

The guitar doesn't require any changing now. I get a awesome bluesy sound.

This guitar has knocked everything in my bedroom and still looks new. The only thing i want to change is to get Fender Lace Sensor pickups

Haven't needed it

I have been playing for around 6 months and have been around every local guitar shop trying out different guitars. None come close!
I love the ability of the Strat that it will give you the sound you want. I usually go through stings very quick, bend strings hell of a lot playing Clapton style music
Definatley go for the Strat if you want to play blues.

Made in japan
22 frets
2 humbuckers
Volume control, Tone control for bridge Humbucker, Tone control for neck humbucker
Sunburst brown imitation wood finish with black pick guard
Switch to go between humbuckers
Dunno if it has a different name but there were two versions in the shop and I went for the more expensive one where the "squier" is written in silver instead of black

This is probably the best sounding guitar I've ever played although thats no great compliment as all the others I've played have been acoustic or cheap imitations of fenders and gibsons.
I'm using it through a zoom gfx-707 and a Marshall AVT50 (the marshall makes a big improvement in the quality of the sound).
Generally it sounds pretty good although there is this shitty crackling noise always in the background if you listen carefully(although you wouldn't notice it if you weren't listening for it).

This is my first guitar so when i got it i dindn't realise that the action was WAY too low so that the strings always rattled against the frets until my guitar teacher told me and i took it back to the shop which they fixed in about 30min.
The low E string doesn't fit properly into the groove for it so when I play it it sounds different from the other strings.

I'm not sure I'd trust this guitar live cos I had some trouble with it previously when the sound just cut out for no reason and i had to take it back for repairs. It had done this before but only for like a couple of seconds and it still does this on occassion for absolutely no reason which is why I'd be nervous to play live with it.
The finish is fine and only breaks when you smash it against something.
The hardware seems just as tough as any other guitar and the guy at the shop said he'd read a review in a guitar magazine where they smashed several strat imitations up and the squier still played really well at the end and got a rating of 4/5, so its only really the wiring that lets this guitar down.

Never dealt with the company but the shop that sold it me, It had a 1yr guarantee and in that year when i brought it in to raise the action or for repair they did it free of charge although they did have it for like a month when it was supposed to be getting repaired.

I really like this guitar the way its so easy to play and sounds really good and its great the way it gives its own distortion/crunch when you turn the volume up to 10 cos my first amp didn't have a dist channel. The tuning is perfect and the strat shape fits perfectly with your body. My only complaint with this guitar is the dodgy wiring which has dissapointed me so much.

indonesian made, don't know the year, 21 frets, 5 way selector, volume, 2 tone knobs (not much effect from these), standard fender trem. dont know what its made of, pretty light, in galactic purple with a light neck (maple?) and a white pickguard, pretty spectacular for the price i paid

my musical style is rock n roll and it sound ace! it ranges from bluesy to rock and is really versatile, lovely bright sounds

action set perfectly and pickups set well, may replace them when i start to gig it

this guitar seems very durable, a few knocks have happened and is virtually unscathed

not dealt with fender

ive been playing for about 1 year and i also own a westfield acoustic, my favourite feature is the colour, i had to hunt around for it but at the price this guitar blows everything else in the same bracket out of the water! encore, hohner, yamaha, sorry lads, you just can't compete, hail king squier!