Unfinished business - Squier Stratocaster

[leevc5]

Once upon a time there was a thread started by a poor boy that suddenly went down in flames when it was getting very interesting.

There was some really good posts being made regarding Squires (affinity and standard) and if they where a worthwhile starting point for a good guitar.
Some trashed the Affinity while others praised it, the same with the Standard.
Some trashed both and said MIM is the starting point while others took the line that a starter American Stratocaster although expensive was the worthwhile investment if you are in it for the long run.

I would like if possible for this thread to be resurrected and really focus on each guitar and what it's strength's are what it's weaknesses are and how they might be overcome.

As a start I will take the position that I can take an Affinity Strat (that has an Alder body and maple neck and also comes with a maple fret board which I prefer): replace the electronics, replace the tuners and put a good set N3s in and have a guitar that would match any American Built Strat at less the 1/4 of the cost.

Any takers?

 

[dominus]

Re: Unfinished business - Squier Stratocaster

Will it match an American Strat? No.

Will the American Strat be 4 times better? No.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Unfinished business - Squier Stratocaster

+1

Anything else beyond the previous post is subjective.

Quality control across all of the Fender/Squier price points can and does vary. There will be fantastic budget examples and "Friday afternoon" expensive ones. My idea of a superb guitar could be the next player's idea of dog poo.

We are reduced to generalisation.

 

[leevc5]

Re: Unfinished business - Squier Stratocaster

+1

Anything else beyond the previous post is subjective.

.

Perhaps you could tell me of anything that is discussed on these forums, except specific technical issues(which probably account for 1% of the posts), that is not subjective.

 

[vjm]

Re: Unfinished business - Squier Stratocaster

Had a Squier Strat laying around and just upgraded it and it plays & sounds great. I used parts I had around the house. Warmoth flame maple neck, CTS pots, CRL switch, spertzel locking tuners, callaham tremolo, Dimarzio air zone bridge, Dimarzio cruisers middle & neck.

 

[ehdwuld]

Re: Unfinished business - Squier Stratocaster

ok
I have a Bullet Squire project hanging unfinished in the back
I just cant muster up the enthusiasm to finish it

I have owned a Standard and a Affinity
the Affinity body is slightly thinner than the Standard
while the necks didn't strike me as dramatically different
the bodies are the main divergence

My current Strat of choice is a MIM

my buddy has a Mexican Squire and a floyded Japanese Squire
he also has a Samick Strat copy
he regularly gigs his three and gets fine tones from them

his Mexi Squire has a set of Fender Vintage Noiseless and a Dimarzio PAF Pro in the bridge
the Samick has Gold Lace Sensors
the Japanese Squire is in transition

we have compared the Stock MIM with the Stock Samick pickups and with My Standard Squire with Stock pickups

the MIM was slightly better tone wise

the feel of the necks are almost Identical
with the Samick being slightly thicker chunkier

when I got the MIM
the Affinity and Standard Squires had to go
just didn't quite do it for me

the new American Strats have compound radius necks and two point tremelos
this is probably the biggest difference between them and the MIM Standards

if your a neck feel type of guy
the different neck radius could be important

The Standard Squire




The Bullet Squire Project




MIM Standard

 

[Godin15]

Re: Unfinished business - Squier Stratocaster

Myself I would give up on the Squire and MIM Strat and go with a Godin Session Strat, you won't have to change anything for roughly $500 American a great quality and a very playable axe.

 

[leevc5]

Re: Unfinished business - Squier Stratocaster

I recommend get over Squier/ Squire altogether, and get an MIM Strat instead. Upgrade the pickups, and be done with whatever is bothering you regarding sound, playability, build quality, etc. Squier/ Squire IS NOT the real Strat, it's a cheap copy of Strat. That's why some versions have thinner body and some are made of plywood.

Show me a Squier Strat made of plywood.

 

[ehdwuld]

Re: Unfinished business - Squier Stratocaster

mahogany bodied Gibsons with maple caps are by definition Plywood

the photo flame picture of wood on cheap Squires form the 80's also counts

some folks see the wood grain in the neck pocket and think plywood

some of the 80's Strat copies did have Plywood bodies

some may have been Squires, IDK

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Unfinished business - Squier Stratocaster

Had a Squier Strat laying around and just upgraded it and it plays & sounds great. I used parts I had around the house. Warmoth flame maple neck, CTS pots, CRL switch, spertzel locking tuners, callaham tremolo, Dimarzio air zone bridge, Dimarzio cruisers middle & neck.

Doesn't sound much like a Squier to me... Sounds more like a nice parts guitar with a Squier body!

 

[NotCardio]

Re: Unfinished business - Squier Stratocaster

As was said earlier, it's all subjective. Even with expensive guitars, it's still all subjective. And whether something is worth the money or not is determined by whether or not it's worth it to you.

MIA vs Squier? All you have to do is hold one of each, and you can immediately tell they're not the same thing. MIM vs Squier, same deal, but less of a difference, depending on the Squier.

Among Squiers, the Vintage Vibe (not to be confused with the Vintage Modified) are a cut above, right up there with MIM, IMO.

That being said, I have a penchant for cheapies, mutts, beaters. There are Affinitys that I prefer the playability to MIAs, simply because of the neck profile or neck finish.

To each his own.

Addendum: I do think that MIAs, being made of 'better' quality wood, sustain longer. Just my observation.

 

[Brandenburg]

Re: Unfinished business - Squier Stratocaster

Show me a Squier Strat made of plywood.

ill do so.. yea.. its plywood but it is als been highly modded and sounds ALOT better than alot of real wood guitars.. this model of bullet in its original config (3 singles,chrome hardware)was somewhat uncommon..from what i gather..headstock decals are different than most bullets ive seen.. took me awhile to track down what the serial# meant as its not in any online database.. its a 1995

 

[daan]

Re: Unfinished business - Squier Stratocaster

Show me a Squier Strat made of plywood.

I have one right now:


and have had several others:

absolutely, 100% ply:

The EARLY (very late 80's/1990-1) Korean Squiers are ply. Pretty much anything later are "real" wood. 400 pieces with a veneer over the top, but they're wood.
And the yellow-ish one sounded exactly the same when I changed the heavy Ash body to the ply one (I kept all the same parts exept the body when I changed it, other than having to shave the bottom of the tremolo so it didn't stick out the back

 

[daan]

Re: Unfinished business - Squier Stratocaster

If you want to mod a guitar, Squiers are a pretty good "base" to start with. Everybody and their brother makes Strat parts, and for the most part Squiers have standard shapes, hole locations, etc. I bought a couple GFS bodies meaning to make parts casters out of, and I had to fill/redrill bridge/neck mounting holes, the pickguard didn't cover the route, etc. That pretty much never happened on any of the Squier stuff I messed with. Yeah lots of them are thin, but all you gotta do is cut 1/4" off the bottom of the fulcrum block and you're good. Or get a hardtail...
If you want to mod, and want to start with a Squier, in order of "closeness" to a "real" Strat
Classic Vibe: Every bit as good as any name brand stuff. Of course, they cost almost as much...
"Wayne's World" "Excalibur" Strats- Every single one I've handled has been EXTREMELY nice, like "too nice to cut up" nice. Again, they cost as much as a Fender-branded guitar by now, too...
Pro Tone Squiers: Same thing, they're totally legit guitars in stock form, but cost as much as a Fender
Stagemaster: "Super Strat" guitars, instead of vintage specs. $$$ (but worth it)
90's MIM "Squier Series" (I have a Strat and have had a Tele in the past, my understanding is they're 99% the same as an actual MIM Fender, with cheaper electronics. The bodies/necks were actually made in the factory in CA and shipped to Mexico for finish/assembly, etc. Just like any MIM.

"Squier SE" guitars (Those were the guitar/amp/stand/strap/picks "starter pack" everything in a box guitars) Those are always full-depth solid wood bodies, Agathis/Basswood. I had one of those, it was very nice, other than cheap hardware/electronics, which you'd be replacing anyway...

Squier Standard: These are the nicest Squiers (other than the CV ones, that really are too expensive to buy just to mod) Everything is full-depth, solid wood construction with all holes, routs in the same place as "real" Fender stuff. My Tele started out as one of those.

Affinity/Bullet/other Squiers: These can be hit or miss, full depth, slightly thinner, or thin. MOST were wood, but there are Ply ones, too... Specs changed over and over, depending on how cheap they wanted to spend on making them. These are the cheapest ones, they made them in INdonesia, China, Korea, India, etc. Pretty much anywhere that was as cheap as possible. THese are the ones people think of when you say Squier... I've had a couple that were OK, and a couple that I ended up not using, because of my parts not fitting. THese are the $50 pawn shop ones, and that's probably what they're worth... but you can make a decent guitar out of them.
Oh yeah, "Lite Ash" guitars were Korean, but labeled Fender... made alongside Squiers in the same factory. THey're not shaped 100% like a MIM/MIA so you'll have to mod neck pockets and bridge locations (and guardplates)
Sorry about the novel, I just wanted to pass along what I learned over the last couple years building partscasters. If you just want to make something for yourself, these are a great start, they don't cost a whole lot and they USUALLY have standard shapes. Getting stuff from places like GFS/Rock Audio/ etc. you may or may not be able to just bolt something together, and they usually end up costing more than just starting with a Squier in the first place.

 

[daan]

Re: Unfinished business - Squier Stratocaster

More stuff you may already know: If the arm contour and belly cut are painted a solid color on a burst finish

Then it's most likely ply. All the Lotus/Hondo/Aria/Univox/no-name guitars I had, were ply and painted just like this, no matter what the "middle" wood area looked like.

 

[leevc5]

Re: Unfinished business - Squier Stratocaster

Well I stopped by my not so friendly local pawn shop today to see what the deal would be in putting a strat together.
I found:
Squier Affinity $90 would need electronics $30; Tuners $40; pickups (SD Vintage Staggererd Strat) $140
MIM Strat $300 would need (SD Vintage Staggererd Strat) $140

So either an Affinity for $300 or a MIM for $440.

I think I would go for the MIM if I was on a budget. If cash was not an issue I would get a:
http://shop.fender.com/en-US/electric-guitars/stratocaster/american-vintage-56-stratocaster/0111502806.html#productsPerRow=3&srule=price-high-to-low&start=1

 

[Rand-O-Monium]

Re: Unfinished business - Squier Stratocaster

Yum

Lerv my Squiers!

 

[ehdwuld]

Re: Unfinished business - Squier Stratocaster

Well I stopped by my not so friendly local pawn shop today to see what the deal would be in putting a strat together.
I found:
Squier Affinity $90 would need electronics $30; Tuners $40; pickups (SD Vintage Staggererd Strat) $140
MIM Strat $300 would need (SD Vintage Staggererd Strat) $140

So either an Affinity for $300 or a MIM for $440.

I think I would go for the MIM if I was on a budget. If cash was not an issue I would get a:
http://shop.fender.com/en-US/electric-guitars/stratocaster/american-vintage-56-stratocaster/0111502806.html#productsPerRow=3&srule=price-high-to-low&start=1

I would suggest the MIM
frigg that Pawn Shop

look here
GC Used

 

[Rand-O-Monium]

Re: Unfinished business - Squier Stratocaster

It's always good to have a "buddy" at the Pawn Shops, I/"we" got a MIM Squier for $50 out-the-door.

Just sayin'...

GC used is usually pretty good,too,tho.

 

[leevc5]

Re: Unfinished business - Squier Stratocaster

I would suggest the MIM
frigg that Pawn Shop

look here
GC Used

Thanks,,but I have all the guitars I need. This is just theoretical. Plus, I HATE GC!