I'm not generally a Strat, or Squier guy, but....

Okay, I absolutely hate to make this post because I liked the look of this guitar so much and I wanted to love it- I tend to like squire quality, and the combination of wood and pups sounded like an absolute winner.

However, I have to sadly admit that when I got my hands on one today it pretty much sucked... Very heavy weight, but nothing like a heavy p90 Les Paul sound... It was pretty anemic... not even snappy or bright in a more fender direction.

The action was a bit high, but that doesn't bother me because I tend to like higher actions.. it wasn't a setup thing, I just don't understand why this guitar felt uncomfortable and sounded pretty boring.

Of course every guitar is different, I might have just found the one bad apple, or what I don't like maybe exactly what everybody else likes... But I tend to circle back to form follows function and it is possible to put lipstick on pigs.

Anybody else have better luck out there?
 

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Well, that is unfortunate. Did you get the sense that it was that model that was the issue or that particular guitar you played?
 
zionstrat said:
Okay, I absolutely hate to make this post because I liked the look of this guitar so much and I wanted to love it- I tend to like squire quality, and the combination of wood and pups sounded like an absolute winner.

However, I have to sadly admit that when I got my hands on one today it pretty much sucked... Very heavy weight, but nothing like a heavy p90 Les Paul sound... It was pretty anemic... not even snappy or bright in a more fender direction.
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Hmmm - I played a Fender way back when once in a shop and really dug it. Must try them when I see them...
 
Not really into Fender/Squier's either...but it's got charm

As far as woods go the Ibanez SA I bought about a year ago has an Okoume body & Ebony fingerboard and it's one of the best sounding (and playing) axes I've bought over the last year or so (and I bought a lot of them)...

It's got TONE




...and playability :bigthumb:

 
Mincer said:
Well, that is unfortunate. Did you get the sense that it was that model that was the issue or that particular guitar you played?
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It just felt heavy and awkward and didn't have the sparkle or thump that I associate with p90s.

Physically, there was nothing wrong with the guitar, it just felt heavy and weird to me. As an example, I've never been able to play an actual Gibson firebird.. there's nothing wrong with them they just feel weird.

It could all be imagination.. I imagined it would feel like a mahogany Stratocaster and would sound like any of the cool incantations of a p90 guitar.

But considering Ace played one and had a good experience, it sounds like it's either me or I just found a dog.

But they're out there (this one was it GC), so would love other opinions and glad I got to try one.

And I still think it's one of the neatest looking designs I've ever seen :-)
 
might just not be the guitar for you. i love firebirds, but i have friends who hate em. i buddy of mine has the fender version, its heavy and i dont love the neck shape, but it sounds damn good
 
jeremy said:
might just not be the guitar for you. i love firebirds, but i have friends who hate em. i buddy of mine has the fender version, its heavy and i dont love the neck shape, but it sounds damn good
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Jeremy I hate to do anything to degrade the firebird whatsoever.. because you're right they're one of the best sounding guitars ever... It's just me :-)

But one of my favorite mods is to throw a firebird in the bridge with p90 or in the neck with a humbucker... It's one of my favorite pickups in general and definitely my favorite to wind.
 
Mincer said:
Maybe they should have weight-relieved the body somewhat. Or found real lightweight mahogany.
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Yeah it's possible they just got the mahogany from the bottom instead of the top of the tree and that's when you get the ridiculous weight without a lot of tone.

But that may be rare and unusual for this design.
 
zionstrat said:
But considering Ace played one and had a good experience, it sounds like it's either me or I just found a dog.
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I played a REAL Fender - not one of these. When Fender did the original run of them. Not a Squier. This might be different. We'll see.

Oh yeah...HIT THE GYM!!!! You and Mincer can spot each other....
 
Mincer said:
There is no excuse for an $800 guitar that doesn't stay in tune. That was my experience with an SE (semi hollow).
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I love my Squier Classic Vibe Strat. Now, mind you, I did swap the bridge out for a MIM Standard (same spacing), and the tuners got upgraded to Gotoh's when I put staggered height tuners on my Warmoth build which had those Gotoh's originally. And then I added a baseplate to the bridge pickup (great add-on BTW) and swapped the volume pot out (which was the first change overall). I wore out the cheap pot fast. Ended up replacing the other 2 when I opened it up to put on a new baseplate. Swapped the jack while I was at it. The bones are great. Solid body, great feeling neck. The pickups are decent enough for me. The stock bridge was OK but the MIM Standard really made a difference in how I feel the body resonate. Bigger block too. Out of the box, a solid value.

This dual P90 Strat looks great. I remember the USA model. Gassed hard for one. I need another guitar like I need a hole in the head. Already trying to move one of my basses since I play the Jazz and Precision more and I'm playing bass more these days anyway.
 
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If the new Silencer pickups sound great, it would be awesome to have some sort of Strat like this Squier with 2 of them.
 
From what I've seen/heard, the pups in this Sq are noticeably brighter and lower output than a Gibson style P90, they're like 6.5k and 4H. So if you want that classic P90 sound and keep the guitar, a swap is in order.
 
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