Who has owned a squier Strat/Tele?

[TelePaul]

Well? Seems like every budding guitarist is issued one of these. Reliable as anything for the money.

 

[andydeedpoll]

haha, yep.

'cept some local pop-funk band thing are running around with it, after they broke a string before a gig and i'm too nice to say no when they turned up here on their way there

meh. i'm very aware that, even though i'm playing a fairly good Squire, if there's anything i can't do it probably isn't because of the instrument yet =P

Andy.

 

[Greg_L]

I have a squire strat and a mexican strat. The Squire is an okay piece, but I gotta get rid of the stock pups. Mine are way way too bright and twangy. I know thats supposedly what strats are good for, but damn, my pups go overboard. I like the bridge and trem way better on the squire though. I can divebomb that thing and it stays in tune. On the mexican, if I even look at the trem, it goes out of tune. I like to play surfy sounding stuff sometimes, so the squire is good for that. It stays on the stand for pretty much everything else though. For punk or rock stuff, I use my mexistrat or my SG.

I have a squire p-bass too, and I have no complaints with it. Put some good strings on it, and its no different than a real p-bass.

 

[Anfontan]

I have a squire strat and a mexican strat. The Squire is an okay piece, but I gotta get rid of the stock pups. Mine are way way too bright and twangy. I know thats supposedly what strats are good for, but damn, my pups go overboard. I like the bridge and trem way better on the squire though. I can divebomb that thing and it stays in tune. On the mexican, if I even look at the trem, it goes out of tune. I like to play surfy sounding stuff sometimes, so the squire is good for that. It stays on the stand for pretty much everything else though. For punk or rock stuff, I use my mexistrat or my SG.

I have a squire p-bass too, and I have no complaints with it. Put some good strings on it, and its no different than a real p-bass.

If bright pickups are your only problem, you might just change the capacitor in the tone circuit-.05 microFarad is a standard in a Strat I think. You might try a .02 microFarad or a .01 microFarad to darken the tone and get some bass in there. Hmmm....I just realized the bridge pickup has no tone control-that will work on the neck and middle pickup though. Heres a schematic to show where the capacitor is located.
http://www.stewmac.com/freeinfo/I-3192.html

 

[Unsprung]

I own 3 Squiers...an Affinity P-bass, Fat Telecaster and a Bullet Special. I'd been planning to sell off the P-bass, now that I've got a Fender Standard Precision Bass, until I realized that some things I want to do will sound better with flatwounds, and others with roundwounds. The Fat Telecaster has plenty of gusto, in positions 2 and 3...exept through the 15W bass combo that came with the P-bass (the humbucker alone gets too muddy). Not a problem through my Vox T25 bass combo, however. I've got GFS Lipstick pickups for it, so it'll be interesting to hear what it sounds like, whenever I get those swapped in.

The Bullet Special, by the time I get the mods done to it that I'm planning, will only resemble a Bullet Special in body only. I'd "made the mistake" of buying a Fender So Cal Speed Shop Strat, and I knew the Fender would sound better than the Squier, when I ordered it from Musician's Friend, but when I got it and actually plugged it in...OMG, it soundly trounces the Squier! I'd ordered a TV Jones PowerTron, and was originally going to drop tune one, and standard tune the other, and the PowerTron would help the Squier keep up with the Fender, so I could discover which one to tune what way. Instead, I'm going to order another TV Jones PowerTron (neck), and convert the Bullet Special into a baritone. The "typical Strat" routing should be there, beneath the current pickguard, and I figure a Strat HH pickguard would be useful as a template for routing the neck route for a humbucker.

I sometimes knock Squier, a bit, but typically only with a Gibson vs. Epiphone/Fender vs. Squier comparison, with there being Epiphones that can be every bit as good, or sometimes better than their Gibson counterparts. I can't completely knock Squier guitars (especially since I own 3, and admit to it), although they typically don't compare to, or match their Fender counterparts. I'd once tried a Squier Bullet Special through a number of different combos at (now defunct) Mars Planet, with the last one being a re-issue Fender Twin Reverb, and I nearly knocked myself out of my shoes with that one. Unfortunately, at the time, the price of the Bullet Special was even a tad out of my reach, so when the prices finally dropped to $100.00, I bought one.

Matt

 

[Elton Bear]

Got me a '96 Strat, served me well for about 3 years before I put EMGs in it, and that did another 2 years before I upgraded to a no-brand Telecaster copy

 

[chazba]

I had a very early Sq strat that someone's girlfriend had beat the piss out of with a hammer. I got it for under 100$. It had an EMG SSH set up on it but they weren't damaged. I stripped it down and found that the body was made of 1/2" square strips glued together. It was the heaviest strat I've aver seen, but would sustain till tomorrow. My bubby had a body shop and sprayed it with Silver metallic GM laquer with a clear coat. It was magic under stage lights and would become whatever color the stage lights happened to be. With the EMG setup, it didn't sound much like a strat is supposed to sound, but had a real "hi-fi" sound that was more musical than you'd expect. I sold it to a kid and I hope he appreciates what he's got!! Older Sq's are OK by me.

chazba

 

[Greg_L]

If bright pickups are your only problem, you might just change the capacitor in the tone circuit-.05 microFarad is a standard in a Strat I think. You might try a .02 microFarad or a .01 microFarad to darken the tone and get some bass in there. Hmmm....I just realized the bridge pickup has no tone control-that will work on the neck and middle pickup though. Heres a schematic to show where the capacitor is located.
http://www.stewmac.com/freeinfo/I-3192.html

Well I wired my mexican strat to have bridge tone control and a toggle-switch to turn the bridge p/u on in all positions, so I can wire my squier the same way and get bridge tone control on that one too. Thanks for the tip.

 

[treymonfauntre]

i had a super cheap pre-squier strat, looked just like the modern made in mexico ones but it only cost about $150 brand new
pickups and hardware rusted over and i hated the tremolo and sold it for $100 10 years later.. can't complain really!

 

[Phildo]

I love my Korean-made, plywood-bodied Squier Strat and - and here's the rub - so do many of my friends who normally don't have a good word to say about Strats. Black body, white p/us, tortoiseshell scratchplate, r/w fingerboard. It's the dog's nuts.

It's been through many wiring and p/u mods and is currently resting at standard Strat wiring with a Duncan stacked 'bucker in the bridge, Fender Lace sensor in mid and Fender Vintage (50's?) in the neck. I've been offered a 90's US strat in exchange for it recently...but it's going nowhere...

 

[danny.guitar]

I owned a Squire Strat. Worst guitar I've ever played. I've also played on a few that weren't too bad, but I guess I got a bad one out of the bunch.

I think the one I got wasn't setup properly, almost every fret buzzed. It was also heavy as hell. It looked real nice though.

Also, the pickups were shit.

I could have replaced the pickups and gotten it setup properly, but it just seemed like a waste of time/money so I returned it and got an Epi LP.

 

[Anfontan]

I've never owned a Squire, but I have a Fernandez Strat copy that is the best playing and recording guitar I own, and that includes a Gibson les Paul, Epi Sheraton 2, and a Fender Strat. I pretty sure the Fernandez was made in Japan, has a basswood body and its louder than the Paul, really odd for a bolt on I think.
From the moment I saw it on the rack in the store I wanted it, as soon as I played it I had to take it home!

 

[zacanger]

I've got a Squier mini-strat. Love it to death. Had a Bullet Special, loved it, but tore it up, I think.

 

[HateMail]

My first guitar was a squier strat, it served me well and took a beating. I eventually spent much more than the guitar was worth to upgrade it: GFS p-90 pickup, 2 fender single coils off of ebay, all new electronics, black pickguard.

But its my baby and I can never sell her.

 

[Monkey Allen]

I've owned 2 of them but I'm niether proud nor not proud of it, I just owned them you know!

 

[Greg_L]

I've never owned a Squire, but I have a Fernandez Strat copy that is the best playing and recording guitar I own, and that includes a Gibson les Paul, Epi Sheraton 2, and a Fender Strat. I pretty sure the Fernandez was made in Japan, has a basswood body and its louder than the Paul, really odd for a bolt on I think.
From the moment I saw it on the rack in the store I wanted it, as soon as I played it I had to take it home!

a friend of mine has had a fernandes P-bass for about 15 years now. he wont get rid of it. he also has a jazz and a thunderbird, and he swears by the fernandes as his main bass. i guess theyre pretty good.

 

[Ben Logan]

I currently own two Squiers: an Affinity Tele and a Squier Affinity P-Bass. Love 'em both.

I own a Gibson Les Paul and a 60's Mustang. They're better sounding, but I swear the Squiers are better playing - and not just because of the set-up jobs.

I just sold my American P-Bass. Since I'm not playing out with the bass, I don't have to be embarrassed by the diminuitive Squier. I wish I was "above" the snob factor - but the Squier P-Bass looks like a toy! There's just something "off" about it, in a comical way. Sounds good on a recording though. I like it quite a bit.

 

[Creamyapples1]

I got a Squier Bullet Strat when I was 16, it was a trade off with my Pops, I cut my longass hair, he buys me a guitar. I've had it ever since, been through countless pups, pickguards, mods and still going strong. A very comfy axe indeed. It's no American Strat, but I love it!

 

[BentRabbit]

It's the only guitar I own... 'Cept my Dean Bass...

But I'm a drummer...

 

[Ben Logan]

I got a Squier Bullet Strat when I was 16, it was a trade off with my Pops, I cut my longass hair, he buys me a guitar. I've had it ever since, been through countless pups, pickguards, mods and still going strong. A very comfy axe indeed. It's no American Strat, but I love it!

Ha! You can either be a rocker, or look like one. Not both under Dad's roof.