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MGR/SKEETER « Squier Stratocaster »
Published on 03/06/04 at 15:00 I bought this guitar, dig this, at a yard sale for 20 bucks. It was a mess, scuffed up and very dirty, as if it had sat in a damp dusty place for a long time.
I prefer the Squire strats, particularly the Indonesian ones, over the american and Mexican ones, simply because the american and Mexican made ones are of inconsistant quality, and I have never seen an american strat that was either easy to set up or held a setup once you did it. This strat has a rock hard neck that keeps its shape. I set it up twice, once when I cleaned it up (it looks new now, just needed cleaned and buffed out) and then again a couple weeks later (which is how I always set guitars up, if the truss rod needs much adjusting). I set the strings lower than on any strat I have seen, and it does not fret out anywhere. For some reason, it is hard to set american strats up with low action, they tend to have this weird buzz that does not really sound like fret buzz at the 5th -12 fret on the 6th string. This one does not do that, and the fretwork is excellent, I generally need to level and dress the frets on most guitars I aquire. Not this time, or for that matter, with any of the Korean guitars I have bought. They just seem to know how to put frets in right across the water. The only thing I might change on this guitar is the pickguard, which is nice, but only 1 ply, I would like to put a mother- of-toiletseat one on it. The electronics are great, nice and quiet considering it is single coils, and they have that nice strat tone. they are a little hotter and have a little fatter tone than most strats I have played. Hot AND tonal is hard to find.
Also, the tuners are well made, they look like gotohs, and gotohs are the best I have used as far as durability and tuning. gotohs have a high tuning ration, which makes the tuning more precise. Changing strings however, can be a bitch without a winder, being as the ration is higher and you have to turn it more times per wind. big deal. what you get in accuracy is more than what you give up in the tedium of changing the strings.
If I had paid 250 for this guitar, I would still be happy with it. I have been playing for going on 40 years, and this thing is a gem. It sounds right, it plays right, and, impossible for a strat, it stays in tune, all the time. I pick it up and play it, even if the studio has been cold over night, the guitar holds it's tune. THAT is rare.
It is typical strat construction, the body is somewhat heavy for a strat, which, I prefer heavy guitars, they are denser wood and sustain a little better. The fretboard is maple, not sure of what the other woods are, but whatever they are, they are the right choice, they have good tone, and the neck is as steady as if it was made of steel. I have an old framus with a laminated neck that is impossible to change shape, and this neck seems to be like that, it never changes.
I am amazed at the superior quality of guitars in general coming from the far and near east. They must have fantastic quality control, you seldom see a korean, indonesian, chinese or especially japanese guitar that is not precise and well made, and, they are all IDENTICAL, they seem to be all stamped out of a mold made of granite or something, I mean, they are all so close it amazes me. You can pick up ten identical american made guitars up, and every one is different. Not so with those made overseas, I can't figure it out.
This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com
I prefer the Squire strats, particularly the Indonesian ones, over the american and Mexican ones, simply because the american and Mexican made ones are of inconsistant quality, and I have never seen an american strat that was either easy to set up or held a setup once you did it. This strat has a rock hard neck that keeps its shape. I set it up twice, once when I cleaned it up (it looks new now, just needed cleaned and buffed out) and then again a couple weeks later (which is how I always set guitars up, if the truss rod needs much adjusting). I set the strings lower than on any strat I have seen, and it does not fret out anywhere. For some reason, it is hard to set american strats up with low action, they tend to have this weird buzz that does not really sound like fret buzz at the 5th -12 fret on the 6th string. This one does not do that, and the fretwork is excellent, I generally need to level and dress the frets on most guitars I aquire. Not this time, or for that matter, with any of the Korean guitars I have bought. They just seem to know how to put frets in right across the water. The only thing I might change on this guitar is the pickguard, which is nice, but only 1 ply, I would like to put a mother- of-toiletseat one on it. The electronics are great, nice and quiet considering it is single coils, and they have that nice strat tone. they are a little hotter and have a little fatter tone than most strats I have played. Hot AND tonal is hard to find.
Also, the tuners are well made, they look like gotohs, and gotohs are the best I have used as far as durability and tuning. gotohs have a high tuning ration, which makes the tuning more precise. Changing strings however, can be a bitch without a winder, being as the ration is higher and you have to turn it more times per wind. big deal. what you get in accuracy is more than what you give up in the tedium of changing the strings.
If I had paid 250 for this guitar, I would still be happy with it. I have been playing for going on 40 years, and this thing is a gem. It sounds right, it plays right, and, impossible for a strat, it stays in tune, all the time. I pick it up and play it, even if the studio has been cold over night, the guitar holds it's tune. THAT is rare.
It is typical strat construction, the body is somewhat heavy for a strat, which, I prefer heavy guitars, they are denser wood and sustain a little better. The fretboard is maple, not sure of what the other woods are, but whatever they are, they are the right choice, they have good tone, and the neck is as steady as if it was made of steel. I have an old framus with a laminated neck that is impossible to change shape, and this neck seems to be like that, it never changes.
I am amazed at the superior quality of guitars in general coming from the far and near east. They must have fantastic quality control, you seldom see a korean, indonesian, chinese or especially japanese guitar that is not precise and well made, and, they are all IDENTICAL, they seem to be all stamped out of a mold made of granite or something, I mean, they are all so close it amazes me. You can pick up ten identical american made guitars up, and every one is different. Not so with those made overseas, I can't figure it out.
This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com