Anyone here own a Fender Squier Strat?

[tekriter]

I'm looking to buy my first guitar, and a knowledgeable buddy told me to get a Fender Squier Stratocaster to learn with, and if I was serious I could get a real American-made Strat after a couple of years.

Anybody have any experience with one of these?

Thanks!!

:hi:

[KissMyAsscroft]

1. The Mexi-Strats are cheap but nice...

They are actually pretty cool guitars. And cheap.

I would check out some used shops/classifieds/Guitar Center and just buy a guitar you like.

What's the point of buying a cheap guitar you dont like? You only live once, just try tons of guitars and buy the one you connect with.

A lame guitar that you dont truly love is just going to piss you off.

[LoZoccolo]

3. Yeah but...

...an expensive one that you don't get around to playing much will too. :)

[LoZoccolo]

2. Yeah I have the Fat Strat.

Yeah, it's a good beginner guitar - I recommend it.

[gmoney]

4. The Squier Strats are unbelievably good...

Just test drive it and see how it feels in your hands.

And how far wrong can you go for $175?

[mitchum]

5. I had a friend who had one...

and after I bitched and bitched at him to replace the stock tuning heads with Grover Minis (@$35), he had a very nice (and very cheap) guitar

[furrylitldevil]

6. I never did like Fender

But that goes back to the whole "try everything to see what you like" I think every big company has good cheap guitars out there, no sense buying something you're not going to like to play.

[CrownPrinceBandar]

7. This goes against instant gratification......

but wait to get a decent guitar if you can. When I was in HS I skimped and bought a cheaper Strat and it blew (not a bad guitar per se, but it wasn't real good either - took a hit on resale, too). I was never so happy when I picked up my American Standard Strat. The diff was night and day. Yes, it was expensive, but I woulda had it sooner had I not dropped the dough on the other Strat.

[LastKnight]

8. this music store salesperson take on it (kinda long)

you can get into a squier 'affinity' stratocaster for about 150-200 bucks, great guitar for the price, and if somones looking to learn i suggest this one, squier makes a starter pack for electric guitar that features this guitar, an amp, and a bunch of accessories(including tuner)... the package runs about 300 bucks and is worth the money because you get the guitar and an amp thats worth around 100-ish bucks and a bunch of accessories for a good price. but you can get those guitars seperately as well as in the packs.

the affinities are pretty sturdy pieces for thier price as well, if thiers gonna be a problem with em due to use, it will be the 5 way selector switch, and thats a snap to replace.

the year warranty on the squier products is nice too

however, if getting an expensive one and a cheap one is gonna make the difference in you wanting to pick up and play it, go with what you will WANT to play, not something your just suffering through, it is a hobby afterall and should be enjoyable. you can get into a nice american made fender strat or tele for about 600-800, but thats about the lowest american made ones come these days. mexi-fenders are all different, you have to play em to know if thier any good, some of em have good necks, some of em i cant tollerate, thier are other factors that enter into it too, all of which probably wont make a difference when just starting out.

if your just lookin to start, go for the pack (cost efficient) and has everything you need to get started. any questions feel free to PM me.

i own an american strat... and a gibson SG classic, the sg is probably my current favorite... but the strat has its uses.

peace

-LK

[Enraged_Ape]

12. Here's a link to that Strat Pak

http://www.grandmas.com/ItemFenderSquierStratPak.html

Great buy on a nice guitar and everything you need to get started.

Ibanez has a nice starter pak, as well, for bass. For a beginner, these starter paks are the way to go. I've got my eye on the Ibanez kit as I type this.

[LastKnight]

14. thats the one nt

[Blue_State_Elitist]

9. I would go acoustic first.

That's what I did, and after getting good I got a 57 custom reissue Les Paul Goldtop. It's god like.

[ComerPerro]

10. Get the Squier Strat pack

Stratocaster, Chord book, Fender Frontman amp, cable, and a strap. Great package, and you can find them for pretty cheap.

If you do consider getting a better guitar in the future, and you still want a Stratocaster (I am not a big fan of Fender, personally) I would definately go with an American Strat. They run about $800, have great pickups, and usually have a very nice maple neck.

[kayleybeth]

11. If price is not a major consideration...

think about buying a Gibson Les Paul.

My husband loves his 1960s-re-issue American strat but he still prefers the Les Paul to anything he's ever played.

I play a little and I find the Les Paul much easier to play than a strat. But then I'm pretty lazy :-)

[ComerPerro]

17. um

The bare minimum Gibson LP will run around $1200.

[ZoCrowes]

18. Eh

You can find a used studio for around $700

[ComerPerro]

19. shit! I forgot about the studios

Ok, those go for about $900...

[ZoCrowes]

20. My first decent electric was studio

of course the pots were fried and it needed a new nut but it was mine. Fixed it up and sold it and have regretted it for the past two years

[truthspeaker]

21. But you can get an Epiphone Les Paul for $500

Are they any good?

[LastKnight]

22. they vary...

gotta see how the fretwork is on em, if the hardware is worn or not... usuially thier ok though, more consistant than squier is as far as quality is concearned, more expensive too.

-LK

[ZoCrowes]

24. Quality can vary greatly

on Epis depending on the model, year it was made and where it was made. I played one of the low end Epiphone Les Pauls and thought it played horribly. It was straight off the wall and it looked like a few of the higher frets were improperly put into place. That being said my current axe of choice is an Epiphone Casino. It's a hollowbody dual cutaway design that lists for $1000 but you can find it in the $600-$700 range. Right now it's the perfect guitar for me. I replaced the stock pickups (epiphone p-90) with the actual Gibson variety and replaced the stock tuners with Grovers and the baby plays like a million bucks.

[ComerPerro]

25. Sounds like a very nice modified guitar

Those tuners and the Gibson humbuckers ought to make that thing sound really nice.

Casions are great guitars anyway.

[Clovis Sangrail]

13. If it's your first guitar

DON'T run out and buy an expensive guitar.
If you're just starting out and you drop $1000 on a guitar, you're going to be really really unhappy if it turns out that you don't care for guitar playing as much as you thought you would.

Get a ~$150 guitar, and if playing is for you, find a better one.
Go to a bunch of shops and play around with as many different ~$150 guitars you can get you hands on.
The Squires are a good value, as are some of the Rogues... but all guitars play and feel different. For instance, I like wider fingerboards than the Squires have.
Find the one that you like best and get that one.

One of my favourite guitars to play was a $150 Danelectro repop. Had exactly 1 sound, but I could play that thing all day long.
Alas, I traded it for a banjo.

[ZoCrowes]

16. The problem with starting to cheap

A lot of new guitarists I have come across always start cheap, can't get the sound they want and the guitar sits in the corner gathering dust. You don't want to go dirt cheap however it is possible to find affordable quality axes.

[ZoCrowes]

15. There are lots of factors to consider

Do you just want something you can bang around on for a bit or would rather have something that will last you a while?

What styles of music do you dig?

There are two styles of Squier Strats that are currently produced. The Affinity's and the Standards. The Affinity's are good begginer guitars but most of the time they get replaced after about a year or so. The Standard's use much better hardware and tone wood (Alder as opposed to Agathis on the Affinity.) If you can find one used look for a Fender Squier Bullet Series. They are discontinued now and where made in the Japanese factory and the Mexican factory for a while. Those where damn good guitars for the price and they are dirt cheap now.

What kind of price range are you looking at? Some of the smaller companies like Dean and Hamer make excellent budget range guitars that put the Squiers to shame.

Another thing I would like to add:

If you want to buy something truly quality get a good amp. I know guys who have spent $1500 on a guitar they were going to play though a $150 Peavy Rage. A good amp can make a shit guitar sound like a million bucks.

[EV1Ltimm]

23. I have a squire 2 fender strat...

i've done so many things to that poor guitar i'm surprised it hasn't sprouted legs and run away...

i've dropped it, kicked it, spilled dr pepper on it, stepped on it, thrown it, replaced the low-e with a high-b from my bass to make it sound like a seven string, covered it with various stickers... and now it's currently sitting in a case tuned to c-g-c-g-g-e so i can play "burden in my hand" or "head down" or other various soundgarden songs.

i couldn't bare part with mine, but they're solid. i've had 10 years of good play out of it.

(edit: added coherentness)