Squier FSR Detonator Strat

Keep in mind all ratings are based on comparing this guitar to what you would expect out of one in this price bracket. Body: Alder (Strat style), Neck: Birdseye Maple (C-Shape), Polyurethane Finish (Gloss Black), Fingerboard: Rosewood, Frets: 22 Medium Jumbo, Black Pickguard, Black Headstock, Chrome Hardware, Synchronous Twin-Pivot Tremolo (Chrome Plate with Satin Saddles) Machines, Pickups: 2 Seymour Duncan (Designed) Detonator Humbuckers (Bridge & Neck), Kill Switch (which replaces one of the normal tone knobs you'd expect on a Strat), 3 Position Blade Switch (Bridge, Bridge & Neck, Neck). The guitar is made in Indonesia (typical of Squire), so you're not getting the quality you'd get from a guitar made in the U.S., but then you're also not paying anywhere near what you would if it was.

This guitar is not your average Squire when it comes to sound. The pickups are pretty amazing for a guitar under $200. I believe the Detonator's are the "Duncan designed" version of Duncan's Invader pickups; high output for aggressive styles. Feedback can be an issue as these are perfect for that, but if you know how to handle it, there's no problem. These things seriously will peel the paint off your walls if you have a great amp to go with it. I have a couple of Marshalls and various stompboxes and when cranking the gain up on the amp, these pickups produced more crunch and face melting distortion than I would've imagined. You can definitely get that good metal sound out of them, but surprisingly, if you roll off the volume and roll back the tone on the neck, you can get a decent warm tone to it (can you say "obligatory ballad?").

The action needed to be reset as it was buzzing on the G & B strings at the 9th fret, but fixing that only takes a minute. The pickup height was right where I would normally put these types at. The finish was great right out of the box; I was surprised at the serious gloss it had to it and the look is great (Black with Chrome accents; serious attitude). Again, what seems to be the theme with this guitar is that this is not your average Squire. The only thing I can find between this and a $900 Fender (although they don't make a Fender version) is the name on the headstock and $700.

I have actually gigged with this guitar (and a back up as I never play without one; been burned before on that) and got quite a few great comments on it; no one could believe it was a $200 Squire. It seems like it's pretty reliable and should hold up, but although it seems good I wouldn't put it at the level of a good Gibson, ESP, Ibanez, etc. I would, however, put it up against any Fender I've used.

I haven't had to deal with customer support.

I've been playing for 12 years and own 15 guitars (Gibson LP Custom, ESP, Ibanez, a couple of Spanish Flamencos, etc.), Marshall JCM900 Stack & MG250, Vox Tonelab SE, Wylde OD & Wah and various others. If this guitar was lost or stolen, I would buy it again because it's a fun guitar to mess with and not be concerned about damaging it (besides, a Strat with a kill switch is just too cool). The deciding factor for me on this guitar was the look. I'm not big on Strats (Fender, Squire or knockoffs), but this one grabbed my attention; love the black with chrome and black pick guard, black 70's headstock. The only thing I wish they did different on this guitar is I wish the kill switch was where the volume knob is and the actual volume and tone knobs were moved down to the "normal" tone knob positions. The reason for this is because the way I play, I have a tendency to hit the volume knob and end up turning it down.