Squier STC-Shaped Guitars

I purchased this guitar about a year and a half ago, from the late "Honkey Tonks" in Southend highstreet. It was a birthday present- my first electric guitar (after two years acoustic)- and it cost around £170, with a Fender 15G amp. There, in all honesty, isn't really much to like about the guitar. I mean, it was and is a good starting guitar, yet it is not actually a good guitar.It looks alright i guess...and you an play it... Alot! It goes out of tune easily, the tremelo is rubbish, it can't handle distortion, the strings will buzz every once in a while, the screws (everywhere!) fall out, it scratches and dents easily, and it sounds poor- clean and distorted. Poor. As i earlier said, the srews fall out, it goes out of tune and it is easily blemished. This is the sort of guitar you should get if you are an extreme beginner- i personally wish that i spent a bit more cash on a better guitar! This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I got this guitar in an affinity series strat pack from Billy Hyde Music blackburn for $700 (au) I think this is a great guitar, it was my first guitar and i fell in love with it, it has an extremly fast neck and is terribly comfortable, i think squier have put this guitar together briliently! the only thing that i dislike about this guitar is its pickups, they're perfectly fine but i like to play more heavy music on it and the single coils arnt as apropriate for that but its perfect for any other kind of music! Squier have done a great job putting this guitar together, nothing is loose and it just feels right. It produces a great sound but its not as apropriate for heavyer music, (but just chuck abit of crunch gain on ur amp and its fine) Great guitar have to be one of the most comfortable guitars ive ever played, bigginers should jump on this guitar because its curtainly will inspire you to play! buy it now This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I acquired this very simple and uncomplex unit for around $170. It was given to me last Christmas for I was in dire need of an electric guitar, so I thought. I like the stylish view of the Fender made instrument. It is black with a maple neck, very common but classy. It is very easy to restring, a BIG plus for me since I have better things to do than sit around restringing my guitars. The guitar was made very user friendly and easy to pick up and just mess around with. For one thing the volume "knob" came loose after like the first month, which didn't really bother me since it still worked. But eventually you had to finess it to a certain possition, which was tricky since you could turn the knob 360 degrees multiple times. Not only that but the full bass and treble pickups hum a little when u switch them on. The construction and quality are very good I'd say for the price you pay for it. I know I've dropped it getting it out of my car or banged it walking around a corner, but it just laughs at the punishment. The only problem I had was with the volume knob once, but thats fixed now. If your looking for a cheap, sturdy, easy playing guitar, then this Squire is right for you. May not give you the sound or "flashiness" you may be looking for but its price, its unbeatable. The #1 guitar for beginners. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Small-scale neck 22-3/4" scale length Three single-coil electronic pickups Master volume and tone controls Maple C-shaped neck Rosewood fretboard 20 medium frets Hard-tail 6-saddle bridge 60 cycle hum UTILIZATION This guitar... I honestly don't have a lot of good to say about it. It's ok. It works, it plays notes. It's somewhat decent for a kid that wants to learn and has to have a Strat like his dad or mom or uncle. It's certainly a better choice than a First Act guitar from Walmart. But the Ibanez Mikro guitars can be had for a tad more, and with much, much better quality. These Mini Strats suffer from crap tuning machines, a bad fret job, and terrible pickups that hum constantly. Also, the wood that the neck is made of seems to be much more affected by humidity and temperature changes than others. SOUNDS It sounds like a Strat. A bad, noisy Strat, but it still sounds Strat-like. It won't sustain forever, and it's not a studio-worthy instrument, but it does plug in and make sound. If that's your only requirement, this does it. It's a bland sound, but it functions. It's just not a good sound. OVERALL OPINION Again, it's a bland guitar. I love a lot of Fender products, and even a few Squier products, but this is not one of them. Please, if you're a parent looking to buy a kid his or her first guitar, consider the Ibanez Mikro series instead of these. They are much better quality guitars, and will keep the kid from getting discouraged better than this Strat will. If the kid MUST play a Hendrix guitar, or a Stevie Ray guitar, this will probably inspire them to pick it up more, because it is somewhat like their idols guitar. But this Strat is just a bit better than a First Act beginner guitar, and that's saying something.

The Squier Classic Vibe Stratocaster 50s edition is designed to be like a reissue of the classic 50s Strats of old in both feel and tone, but with a price tag that's about 1/100th of the original 50s Strats. They're made by the Squier corporation in China and features an alder body, a maple neck with 21 frets, vintage style tuners and fulcrum tremolo bridge, and the standard compliment of 3 single coils, a volume and two tone controls, and a 5 way selector switch. The plastics on this guitar are aged to resemble an older guitar, and the neck finish has a vintage looking amber tint to it as well... very cool. UTILIZATION The design of this guitar is like an old Strat. I've found the Classic Vibe stuff to be much lighter and more resonant that some of the other Squier models and that's a step closer to being like the originals. The upper fret access is decent on this guitar, but the glossy neck finish does prevent moving too fast I find... it would be nice if the finish was a little thinner. It's basically designed like a good Strat, and that's what it should be. Getting a good tone from this guitar is not difficult due to the great pickups that are used. There is rumor that the stock OEM pickups in this guitar are made by Tonerider Pickups, and I wouldn't argue with that, because they certainly sound far superior to any of the Squier or Duncan Designed pickups that I've heard over the years. They have a decidedly "Strat" tone that covers a great range of tones from Dick Dale, to Hendrix, to Eric Johnson. Awesome. SOUNDS I've tried the Classic Vibe 50s Strat with various Fender, Marshall and Mesa Boogie amplifiers. The clean tones are quite nice. The neck pickup has that wonderful throaty and gutsy Strat tone that we all know and love. The middle pickup offers a great facsimile of Stevie Ray's famous biting blues tone. Positions 2 and 4 give that quack that's perfect for Hendrix or Dire Straits, and the bridge pickup is just the ticket for surf, rockabilly or other things that require more treble in a clean tone. Kicking in some overdrive reveals a thick and viscous lead tone that reminds me heavily of Jeff Beck or Eric Johnson, which is NEVER a bad thing. Even at higher gain levels this guitar retains good clarity and brightness. The pickups are fairly noisy, but they're standard single coils so that is to be expected. OVERALL OPINION All in all the Squier Classic Vibe 50s Strat is a superior instrument for anyone looking for a serious "Strat" for not a lot of cash. These street at about $350, which is a BARGAIN for the tones and craftsmanship that these guitars offer. If you prefer the character of rosewood, check out the Classic Vibe 60s Strat. Either way you can't go wrong!

The Squier Pro Tone Fat strat was made in korea. It's a 22 fret, standard scale strat. It has a floyd rose licensed tremolo bridge. There are 2 single coil pickups in the middle and neck position, and a humbucker in the bridge position, all of which are controlled by a 5-way pickup switch and a volume and tone knob. The maple neck is very smooth and playable. It is, perhaps, my favorite feature of the guitar. UTILIZATION The maple neck has a nice feel, and, of course, being a strat, you dont have to stretch too much to reach the high notes. It's pretty heavy for a strat, but I suppose you can thank the floyd rose vibrato system for that. I'm not too happy with the electronics and I think I need to upgrade it. SOUNDS The humbucker is very heavy, so it's really nice for a powerful, dirty sound. I've used it on tube and solid-state amps. The neck is so smooth, but the floyd rose is not for the simple-minded. Ive had it for 8 years, and Ive never had it professionally set up, which will most probably make the guitar shine. It has detonation issues once you move up the 5-way switch, so the neck pick-up is rather noisy. Im sure this is due to a mechanical issue onset by a user, not the factory. OVERALL OPINION After 8 years, It remains the favorite guitar of my bassist. I guess because it's low and dirty. I love the color scheme, it's like a fender deluxe. No one I know has a pro tone fat strat, or even a pro tone series squire, so it's pretty cool having one. It is definitely a head turner, but, unfortunately, people often only see it as just another squier. I had initially wanted a fender standard strat, but when I saw this guitar which was quite an eye- catcher, I decided I could settle with it. I do believe I made the right decision, because it was cheaper and just as reliable. I would have made the same choice if I had the chance. Fender doesnt like to disappoint...

I used this while practicing in a garage band not too long ago. It was made in Japan, had 3 pickups, all of the stock configuration, with a volume and tone nob. My friend who owned the guitar said that the neck was maple, but I believe he bought that new. UTILIZATION The neck on the guitar originally was alright, but at times, felt pliable and brittle. The last frets were easy to access due to the style of the body. The guitar is well balanced and was not overly heavy or awkward shaped at all. The sound was alright, but could use a little tweaking, maybe new strings or some new pick ups. SOUNDS This guitar is suited for pretty much any style of music, as it only a beginners guitar, and with the right effects, can sound a lot better. I played it through a 15 watt old Kustom guitar amp, but my friend uses a Fender amp, and it sounds far better through the Fender amp. I use a clean chorus and a distorted chorus primarily, but switch to phase shifter and flanger from time to time. My favorite thing about this guitar is the price, but my least favorite part is the stock hardware, as it is very cheap. OVERALL OPINION I have used for about 2 months, and my friends used his for a year. The price is really what got us, but the hardware is horrible, and the pickups are pretty lame, but will get you by. I played on an Ibanez and an Epiphone but bought this as a lugging around guitar, as I didn't want to damage the others. For the price, this is a good guitar, but there are better out there, like the Epiphone Les Pauls or the Ibanez RGX20's are also better than the Squier guitars. I would probably just spend my money on a better Epiphone over one of these.