Squier Electric Guitars

Beginner, play modern rock, metal. Play when I get the chance. Got it at Sam Goody for $90 with my girlfriend, figured it would be a nice buy for both of us to play on. It is decent quality for the money. Nice design. The clean sound is pretty good. With the right amp or pedal you can have good distortion as well. The lightweight is nice too. This guitar is great for a beginner. The pickups are not very good, lots of noise. Also, after about a year with the guitar, the cheap asian wires got fried. That is about the only major issue with squires and epiphones, they use cheap wiring and parts. Everything is pretty nice. Mine came with a black painted fretboard which I like. Also the pickgaurd is high quality three ply with the protective plastic on it. The 5-way switch is nice as well. The only negative is the wiring and pickups, but this isn't a huge issue for a beginner. A great buy for a beginner. You get quality fender design at a great price. This thing is nice to learn on and gives you good enough sound. If you plan on taking it really seriously, and playing loud and heavy a lot, I don't recommend getting this guitar unless you plan on upgrading it, which might not be worth it, unless you are like me and doing it as a hobby and want to have the best Squire around! This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I got this at guitar center about two years ago. I paid $149.99 for it. I got it becuase at the time I was really into Jake E. Lee of Ozzy and so I got it. I like the look and feel of this guitar. Very wide range of sounds makes it great for players who are more for show than music. I like the shape cause it fits perfectly on your body. I dont like the toggle switch or the whammy bar. The toggle always gets shorted. And the whammy is horrible. It throws it completely out of tune. but if you take off the cover on the back you can make it tighter. That helps a little. Or you can do like Eddie Van Halen did and put coins under it to keep it put. Over all its a great guitar. Good for begginers and people who want to put on a show. I love it for certain solos and songs. When I feel in the mood to put on a show I use this guitar. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I bought the tele Custom 2 as it looks sweet and it was purchased at a local shop. I paid 480 as I had to get it specially made as Im a lefty. I loved how it looks and how it plays. It was as if it fit perfectly in my hands. I did do some changes to it like give it a gold pickguard and things like that. The double Duncan Design pickups looks a little retro and work perfectly and I haven't had any problems with pickups and with the guitar. There isn't much that I don't like except that it has a very small colour selection. There's only 3 different colours to choose from. I think the construction is perfect for me and I like the look of it too. The quality is very good and I have no cracks or anything. Overall I love my guitar. There's only one thing I had a problem is that because Im a lefty it costs quite a bit more that just a righty guitar. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

This guitar is great. I bought it on sale for $150 canadian at a Tom Lee Music Store. I used to play acoustic, but always played songs by bands that used usually an electric guitars (Rush, The Cult, Duran Duran,those bands). It was the last one there, and obviously due to the low price and great quality. What I like about it was everything. It has great sound, and a great stylish look (different from the regular strat body)The black head compliments the crimson body and dot pearloid inlays. It stays in tune pretty good, and I rarely have to tune it. It has 4 tuning knobs, 2 volumes and 2 tones each for the different pick ups. Oh yes....... The pickups. 2 dual humbucking pickups, each with there own individual tone and volume knobs, and a 3 way toggle, position 1 being for the bridge pickup, position 2 for the neck and bridge pick up, and position 3 for the neck pickup. *Great Guitar* There is nothing about it that I don't like, except for the strings that came with it. They snapped very quickly, but I guess every guitar needs a string change after a while. The durability of it is great. I had a party at my house recently and some little kids got into my room. I guess one of them thought he was a rockstar, picked it up, pretended to play it, and dropped it. Hearing the huge bang, I ran into my room to find it lying flat on the ground, the strings vibrating, and a dent in the hardwood floor. Surprisingly, there wasn't a dent not even a scratch in the body. I guess you could say that it is quite sturdy and durable. All I have to say is if you like to yank on your strings when you play, change them or keep an extra set of strings and a power winder with you when playing it..An amazing guitar for the price I paid, and if you like a guitar with great sound and a great look, get this guitar and get ready for some serious rocking. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I got this axe in the UK (most convenient for me as I am a UK resident) in Wycombe. A little shop called Percy Priors that do mostly Ibanez, ESP and BC Rich. I got it brand new for £99. I got it because I was looking to buy a seven string guitar to give me more notes to play around with when writing new songs. Pickups - Two humbucking pickups, which for stock pickups have really nice tone and really hot output with almost no noise. I merely have to touch the string to get a screaming pinch harmonic. Neck - The neck is wider than normal (obviously) but isn't very deep. It's nice and shallow which I like very much. I find it comfortable. Headstock - Good quality machineheads. I think the reverse headstock looks damn cool. Keeps tuning well. Had to adjust intonation a bit, action is about right. No tremolo bridge and only a three way selector, but the pickups can be easily done. It stays in tune well, feels like a lot of care and attention was put into it. Its not fragile. Sound great for the price. I love it to bits. I don't know if i'll buy another guitar, i'll just change machine heads and pickups and change the wiring. The woodwork is amazing This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I bought this guitar at rock steady music in England for £100 reduced from £150 that is about $180 from $250. great price, its a good starter guitar but i have started to grow out of it now. the pickups give out a relatively good sound for two single coils occasionally tinny sound but an alright price. After about two weeks of playing, the guitars bridge pickup broke. i took this to the shop aand they were going to charge me about $30 for a new pickup. i went home and unscrewed it and all there was was a loose wire. After this the input broke due to a very flimsy screw. I have a Marshall MG 10 practice amp obviously not very loud, and even if you put this on the brigde pickup and use distortion over half way, the amp will screech. i wasnt very pleased with this. the construction in my opinion is poor. the screw and the wire as well as minor drops that can take large chunks out of it. i think that this is a good starter guitar but it would NO WAY suite an intermediate guitarist. there is not enough variety for what you can do with this guitar and it takes a good amp head to turn out a good tone. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I paid two twenty for my first guitar and i have a thirty wat amp that was bought for me before my mom died and for some reason it has no distortion to it and i need something to make the sounds i need for our band "infiltrator" and i play the same sound for all of my chordes.I just hope i win the boss so i could sound like i need to when i need to. it brings different sounds to our music we play. i need something to bring sound to the music we play yea maybe i could get more guitars or something this is like alot of sounds in one. its digital it sounds like from reading about it that it is probubly high tech man if i win the boss you will be hearing of us soon. this is what ive dreamed of getting but i dont have five hundred ends to buy it.by the way you guys have a nice cover page. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Picked this guitar up from a Roland shop in Subang Jaya, Malaysia. I paid RM1200 for it, thats about U$315. The actual price was RM1500 or U$395 but i got it cheaper coz i bought a Behringer Firebird amp with it. Also it was a showpiece model and was already hanging at the shop for about 5 to 6 months. Anyways i was looking for my first guitar and i was torn between an ESP F-50 or this Squier. I heard alotta bad stuff bout the cheaper Squiers and i had a hard time deciding which one. After thinking for bout 2 or 3 weeks i decided on this one. When i first saw this guitar, i fell immediately into love with it. Even though im 16, but the classic but stylish design of this Squier attracted me, even though i kinda also liked the cooler design of the F-50. Mine was a black metallic version and the colour IS GREAT!! The shape really compliments the colour. The thing that i liked best bout this guitar was that it had a mahogany body. AT THIS PRICE ITS A STEAL!! MY friend had a mahogany-bodied HAMER but he got it for a cool RM6000++ , or U$1580. With this super body the sound that exudes from it has a warm and rich tone. Mind you i achived that with only my 15watt Firebird so imagine the kinda sounds that u will get if u use it with those middle or high end Marshalls, Peaveys, etc etc. Another nice point is that is has Duncan Designed humbuckers. TO get those for that kinda price is kinda rare, so this guitar is really value for money. It also has 4 control knobs, 1 tone and 1 volume for a humbucker and the other 2 for the other hum. That means u can really play with it and get the sound u want coz u have individual control over the hums. The finger board had plenty of pearloid and abalone. Heck even the head had a diamond shaped abalone and mother of pearl inlay. It may not matter to sum ppl, but i really liked the class that this guitar exudes. And for this price, its a steal. Only a minor gripe bout the 3-way toggle. Its abit loose and switches easily, but the guy at the shop said it was meant to be like that so i dunno whether the Koreans screwed-up or the guy was bulling me. Other than that, everything was fine. The construction is good, like i said earlier i had my doubts when i compared it to the F-50 but after buying it i realised it is a real solid and sturdy guitar and the finishing is good. Quality wise is really good, considering all that stuff i said earlier..the body, hums ..etc etc. I haven't dropped it yet so im not sure how it would be if i tried that. But anywayz overall build is great and that goes to show that whatever ppl may criticize about squiers, as long as u find it ok go ahead and get it. I was really torn between this and the F-50 coz i read alotta reviews that condemned the Squiers and i really wanted to shun this guitar becoz of that. But after realising that i should give it chance i found that it surpassed all my expectations for that price. So i u are a first timer or just starting out , GET THIS GUITAR!! u wont regret it and i can bet u, u will be amazed too. Unless yours comes from a way out country that u can't even spell its name, the quality of this guitar should be as good as mine and live up to the Fender name. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Purchased last May from Musicians Friend for $99. It was a birthday gift for my twelve year old son who wanted to learn to play guitar. I was pleasantly surprised to find that this little guitar was really quite good. After I bought it I started hearing horror stories about Asian made guitars, but I must have been lucky, this little guitar plays easy and has a good feel to the neck. The scaled down size is perfect for my son. And although the pickups are not high quality, it sounds pretty good. And, best of all, my son likes it and its small size and ease of use have encouraged him to continue to practice despite the frustrations that one encounters when learning any new instrument. The strings that came on the Mini Strat were less than spectacular. A quick string change using a spare set of Super Bullets from my guitar case made a big difference. Also, the strap lugs work loose every now and then and have to be tightened up. The pickups hiss a bit more than I like, but overall they sound pretty good. Despite the low price and poor reputation of Asian-made guitars, I found this to be well constructed and the fit and finish is very nice. All the bolts and screws are tight (although the strap lugs loosen up every now and then). For a youngster of small stature who wants to learn to play electric guitar, it is hard to beat the Squire Mini Strat. It is fairly light, easy to handle and sounds good – oh, and its looks are pure Fender. Perfect for the aspiring rock star. You can find other scaled down guitars, but most are a disappointment. The Mini Strat is not a high quality instrument – but for the money, it delivers good tone, good construction and good value. I give it a 3 out of 5 because the reality is just that – this guitar isn't meant to be a 5. It is meant to be a scaled down strat copy for those who want a small electric guitar and for kids on their way to arena stardom. And it does so, admirably. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

My wife surprised me with it for my birthday, so I'm not sure on the price ('cause she's an excellent haggler), but I'm guessing around $225.00. I know she got it at Guitar Center. After playing an acoustic for 25 years, I wanted to find a new challenge. (You just can't do 'Little Wing' justice on an acoustic.) I originally was looking at a Telecaster, but decided a Strat offered more options. I tryed out a few different Strat models, and decided on the Fat Strat with the single humbucker, double single coil pick up arrangement. I was going to buy a Fender. When I was trying out the different Strat models, I didn't notice that the Fat version I picked off of the wall was a Squire. After playing a Fender Standard Strat, a Highway 1, and the Tom DeLonge model, I didn't see any immediate difference playabilty-wise between those and the Squire. Once I realized that it wasn't a Fender, and really compared them, I found the Squire to have a slightly flatter, and maybe narrower, fingerboard. Other than that, for all intents an purposes, the Squire and the Fenders are pretty much the same guitar. They feel the same, they play the same, but the Squire's a hundred and a half cheaper. Once I got mine, I tweaked the bridge a tad, but that was about it. Choice of finishes (big woo). Mine's Shoreline Gold. I didn't want Black or Red; that left Gold (I wanted Sunburst, it doesn't come in the Fat version.) Maybe I lucked out, but so far eveything's tight and solid. The Shoreline Gold finish is flawless. I ain't no Stevie Ray, I don't 'gig'. I wail on my Strat in my basement, any audience is comprised of my wife, kids, and dogs. I play well enough to qualify for, and appreciate, a fine instrument, but can't justify a grand for a guitar budget-wise. The Squire fits the bill perfectly, I can (finally) do justice to 'Little Wing', and I didn't miss any mortgage payments. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

The Squier Standard Series Telecaster is meant to offer a Tele style guitar to musicians who may not be ready or able to spring for a real deal Fender model. It's pretty simple and loyal to the standard Tele specifications, so upon first glance I figured it might be a good guitar for jamming on to get that Tele sound for not a lot of cash. It features an agathis body (very common wood with these lower end Squiers) a maple neck with rosewood fretboard and 22 frets, sealed chrome tuners, a standard Tele style bridge and a pair of generic Squier pickups wired to the standard Tele control plate. They're usually built in China, though I have seen some Indonesian models from time to time as well. UTILIZATION The design of this guitar isn't particularly ergonomic... there's no real contouring to speak of and the finishing/shaping of this Tele is crude at best. The neck does have a satin finish which would be a great feeling thing, but like many of the other Squiers I've tried, it's marred by sharp, point fret ends, a poor factory setup, and in this case the rosewood used for the fretboard felt quite cheap and dry. Even for $200 I'd expect better than this. The upper fret access isn't great given that the frets are poking out at the player and it makes getting up there a bit harder. Getting a good sound out of this guitar isn't really difficult being that it's quite a simple design. The stock pickups and electronics are not great, but they can be made to sound at least passable through a GOOD amp. SOUNDS This guitar does have some nice Tele-esque sounds lurking within which is great, but it's really at the mercy of the stock electronics. The pickups that are in there from the factory really don't do the classic Tele sound justice. They're fairly muddy and undefined, and the bridge pickup has icepick type highs that can't easily be dialed out. Through a GOOD tube amp like a Twin Reverb or a Dr. Z Maz I was able to conjure up some average sounding country or blues tones. Switching to the drive sounds, the best I was able to get was a brash and distorted punk tone... the guitar really doesn't have the definition needed for more articulate chord or lead work with distortion. OVERALL OPINION All in all I think the Squier Standard Telecaster just misses the mark. For $200 new it's not worth it. The quality of this guitar is pretty poor, and it would need quite a bit of work to be a decent playing and sounding instrument, and to do that would cost more than the guitar is worth. I'd just look elsewhere if you want a cheap Tele to jam on... there are definitely better options than this.

The Squier Vintage Modified Fat Strat is another design that is based on a "modified" guitar. For many years people took their Fender Strats and put humbuckers in the bridge position to fatten up the tone for rock music. This guitar pays homage to that in a modern and affordable format. It's got an Indian Cedro body, a maple neck with rosewood fretboard and 21 frets, standard chrome tuners, a 6 screw fulcrum tremolo unit and three Duncan Designed pickups. Two are single coils, and in the bridge there is a hotter humbucker, reminiscent of the hotter pickups that were installed in many Strats in the seventies and eighties. It's basically like a typical Strat that's had a high output humbucker installed in the bridge position for some real raunch, much like was done back in the day. UTILIZATION The design of this guitar is reasonably ergonomic. I found this model to be a bit heavier weight wise than I would've liked or expected in a Strat, so it might not be my first choice for a live guitar. That being said the contouring is a nice thing to have, and the neck has a good satin finish. The fret ends could use a little work, but they weren't as bad as some of the other Squiers I've tried. The upper fret access is as good as it's going to get for an unaltered 4 bolt neck joint. SOUNDS The tones out of this guitar were pretty cool. The pickups Squier are getting from Duncan seem to be hit or miss, but this guitar makes good use of them. The single coils are nice and jangly sounding as a Fender should be. The neck pickup in particular has a nice bell-like chime to it that I found really excelled through a clean amplifier. The stock humbucker is definitely hotter than the other pickups and works best when used with a bit of drive for classic or hard rock tones. It has a nice bite to it and is surprising given the price. Overall I think the guitar is great sounding but leans towards sounding better for drive tones just because of the humbucker that is used here. OVERALL OPINION All in all I think the Squier Vintage Modified Fat Strat is a great deal for someone looking for a reasonably priced fat strat that can really rock for not a lot of cash. The gun metal finish is really cool, the feel is nice and slick, and the tones have a lot of punch to them. The quality control isn't 100% up to par, but with a bit of minor work setup wise, you could have yourself a truly cool tricked out Strat that would really scream.