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
This is the kind of guitar that mom or dad would buy their kid who's looking to get into playing the electric guitar. This is not a professionals guitar and it certainly is not a high quality built guitar. This is a Squire guitar which is a off brand of the Fender music company and the body shape is pretty much a standard fender Stratocaster body shape. It has a reverse headstock which looks like you would see on most strat headstocks or on the guitars that Jimi Hendrix used to play. It has a humbucker and two single coil pickups and a tremolo bridge. It is a basic guitar that is a basic price for the beginning guitar player. UTILIZATION This Squire stage master was built for the high gain metal player in mind. This is still a beginner guitar but it would appeal more towards the rock interested guitar player or the metal guitar player. It's an all black guitar body with a Rosewood fretboard. You get a volume control any tone control knob and one pick up selector and that's about it. Not much else is necessary with this guitar. SOUNDS The tone of these guitars are pretty much trash. The pickups sound like garbage and the woods sounds like garbage. You can't really expect this thing to sound like a high quality super Stratocaster or a Gibson guitar. The price of these guitars were marketed towards the person who was still figuring out whether or not they even wanted to play the electric guitar. This is an easy guitar to dial in and there's not really much to you have to worry about. There is one control for the volume and one control for the tone. It is what it is and it can't do anything more than that. This guitar sounds like it sounds with any amp you put it through. It's not going to sound great through Marshall amp or a Fender amp but it really is just a deciding guitar to learn on order practice your basic guitar chops. For the price it is, it does a fine job at what it does. OVERALL OPINION I don't think that squire is selling these guitars new anymore so I believe the only way to get wanted in the used market. You can find these in the classifieds and on eBay quite easily. I've seen them go for under $200 used and in pretty good condition. That is a little bit more than the standard Squires Stratocaster but this one has the humbucker rather than the single coil in the bridge position. I would only recommend this guitar to someone who is still learning to play the guitar or discovering their new hidden talents.
