All Fender Squiers made out of plywood?

wickedmartini

wickedmartini

New member
I've been looking for a guitar to overhaul for my nephew. Something I can make a project out of and get my nephew into a better guitar. My buddy has an older Squier and he owes me a couple of bucks. Essentially I would get the Strat for around 40-50 bucks. It's in very good condition and dates to around 92-93. The decal on the headstock looks like a standard Mexican Strat but there's a small Squier logo on the tip of the headstock. Any way I can tell if this thing is made out of plywood before I tell him that I'll take it?

Thanks!
 
Re: All Fender Squiers made out of plywood?

Pull the pickguard, and you can tell real fast if it is plywood. You will be able to see clearly the layers of wood. Another way is if the finish is a burst. Fender painted the whole forearm cut black to hide the plywood.
 
Re: All Fender Squiers made out of plywood?

Sporky McGuffin said:
Does it matter?

How's it sound?
Click to expand...


Yes.

Was only able to plug it in once but the controls and jack are kind of shot so all I heard was a pile of noise and some good old fashioned crackling. My nephew has been playing a cheap guitar and I would just really like to put something together that would be a decent step up from what he has now.
 
Re: All Fender Squiers made out of plywood?

i have a 1994 MIM Squier like you describe.... mine is a Black strat with an all maple neck... i've only seen them in Black and a few in White... the original bridge was just like a MIM standard but they had solid cast chrome saddles... the tuners were more cheap then the MIM Standards.....

I routered my 94 MIM Squier out for 3 full sized humbuckers years ago and i can say for sure it is a solid wood body, no ply... I would assume the guitar in question should be the same... Over the years i upgraded the bridge and tuners off an early 2000's MIM strat as the parts were almost free from a tech friend... with the bridge and tuners upgraded my Squier is basicly the same guitar as a MIM Standard now...

other cheapness of the MIM Squier was the electronics and Pickguard... the Pots where mini pots and teh switch was some cheap thing... The PU's are exactly the same as a MIM Standard... the Pickguards were 1ply and not the same holes as a MIM/MIA guard that was on the later MIM models
 
Re: All Fender Squiers made out of plywood?

WhoFan,

Sounds similar to what I am looking at but with a rosewood fretboard. Looks like a MIM bridge and the cheaper tuners. The pickguard was changed on this guitar. It has a built in tuner. Yes, a built in tuner. I'll see if I can pop the pickguard without offending anyone and see what's underneath.

Thank you everyone!
 
Re: All Fender Squiers made out of plywood?

i have a 91 MIJ squire. i always tought it was alder. but as soon as i stripped down the black paint, i found out it was plywood..

but it sounded good even with the stock pups
 
Re: All Fender Squiers made out of plywood?

wickedmartini said:
WhoFan,

Sounds similar to what I am looking at but with a rosewood fretboard. Looks like a MIM bridge and the cheaper tuners. The pickguard was changed on this guitar. It has a built in tuner. Yes, a built in tuner. I'll see if I can pop the pickguard without offending anyone and see what's underneath.

Thank you everyone!
Click to expand...

Ya i remember they had rosewood boards too... i walked into a music store in Toronto in 1994 and they had a huge pile of these MIM Squiers at the front door... as well as a bin full of MIJ Squier necks for dirt cheap... i walked out of there with a MIM Squier just for the hell of it.... Normally this store only sells high end stuff so it was odd to see all these cheapies... but they said they got a special deal on them...

it's even easier to pull off the spring cover on the back and look at the walls of the trem rout.. But sometimes that is not the best test either... i've seen a few cheapies that have what looks like Plywood yet it was just marks from the CNC router... But that is rare... that most likely will not be the case with a MIM Squier
 
Re: All Fender Squiers made out of plywood?

i remember some of the MIM Squier years they had 3 colours to pick from... Red, Black, and White... i've never seen a red one myself... I've seen lots of the Black finnished ones and 1 White one over the years.... anyone seen a red one?
 
Re: All Fender Squiers made out of plywood?

gnoj_LL said:
i have a 91 MIJ squire. i always tought it was alder. but as soon as i stripped down the black paint, i found out it was plywood..

but it sounded good even with the stock pups
Click to expand...

WOW....a MIJ with plywood!!!!!! :no:
 
Re: All Fender Squiers made out of plywood?

Sporky McGuffin said:
Does it matter?

How's it sound?
Click to expand...

Yes! Absolutely matters! Plywood is glued pieces of wood. Sounds like lifeless crap! Lots of dead spots in the wood. Doesn't breath like it should. Sustain sucks. If you're not dirt poor don't get one!

Moonsorrow said:
WOW....a MIJ with plywood!!!!!! :no:
Click to expand...

Gotta be a fake! Japanese use mostly basswood because it's readily available in those regions. Never seen a plywood guitar come out of Japan ever. I bet it's a Chinese counterfeit made to look like an MIJ!
 
Re: All Fender Squiers made out of plywood?

Laminate does not equal what we know as plywood (referring to the 335 construction here).

;)
 
Re: All Fender Squiers made out of plywood?

I always wondered how it could be that much cheaper to make a guitar out of plywood than and actual solid piece of lumber.
 
Re: All Fender Squiers made out of plywood?

Really? Plywood? I have a late 90's squier body and it looks to be made of poplar.
 
Re: All Fender Squiers made out of plywood?

It was only the basic entry level Squires that got plywood bodies. Most of the guitars were poplar or alder.
 
Re: All Fender Squiers made out of plywood?

SixStringSales said:
Yes! Absolutely matters! Plywood is glued pieces of wood. Sounds like lifeless crap! Lots of dead spots in the wood. Doesn't breath like it should. Sustain sucks. If you're not dirt poor don't get one!
Click to expand...
For the most part yes but, I have played some ply guitars that did sound good. On cheaper guitars, even alot of the solid wood models can sound like crap too. So, who really gives a rats ass if its ply or not? Shouldnt the question be if it sounds good and if it functions properly?
 
Re: All Fender Squiers made out of plywood?

Lu_B said:
I've brought and sold 3 MIJ mid 90's Squiers that were ply, once I knew they were plywood they lost their mojo.

Only buy 80's MIJ Squiers now
Click to expand...

that sucked huh.. once i found that it was plywood....neh. but still love that guitar. but i wish it was alder tough so it would look great stripped.

ey Lu_B, did you like how those MIJ squiers sounded and felt? (disregarding the plywood thingy, just feel tone and sound)
 
Re: All Fender Squiers made out of plywood?

SixStringSales said:
Yes! Absolutely matters! Plywood is glued pieces of wood. Sounds like lifeless crap! Lots of dead spots in the wood. Doesn't breath like it should. Sustain sucks. If you're not dirt poor don't get one!
Click to expand...

well mine sounded nice. i've also heard some positive comments from plywood users. it's not as good as the real wood and quality control from plywood is substandard but you might reconsider the crap you were mentioning.

SixStringSales said:
Gotta be a fake! Japanese use mostly basswood because it's readily available in those regions. Never seen a plywood guitar come out of Japan ever. I bet it's a Chinese counterfeit made to look like an MIJ!
Click to expand...


dude what are you talking about?? do some research first
 
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