theodoropoulos Posted February 7, 2011 Report Share Posted February 7, 2011 My major question was what makes an expensive guitar expensive....for example the squier is in lower level than Stratocaster but what is the things which are cheap???You can tell me lower budget pickups,lower quality tuners and bridge but i must insist on 2 things... intonation and wood...if all the intonation is wrong then the instrument is not appropriate... as far as the woods concerns do they check it accoustically in Stratocaster or they just put alder(whatever piece).. i am planning to buy a Squier to make an experiment with high quality pick ups to see if the quitars gains credits but if the intonation or other structural things are bad then everything is meaningless.. could i have your opinion?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted February 7, 2011 Report Share Posted February 7, 2011 squiers intonate just fine - tuning stability is not always so good with the cheaper trems but there is not reason for intonation to be bad squiers can certainly be improved by changing parts Some of the newer squiers like the classic vibe series are amazing for the money. I wouldnt bother with the affinity range but the standards are usually good for improving Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FireFly Posted February 7, 2011 Report Share Posted February 7, 2011 More expensive American made Strat models will be made out of one piece bodies with less imperfections. The wood will be quality top knotch always. At most, you'll have a few joins under paint, but the joins will be perfect, and the wood will be perfect. On squires, the frets are smaller, inlays and dots are made from different materials to save costs, routs under the pickguard will be different; single routing technique to accomodate several pickup styles can cut costs. Multiple routing shapes on different guitars will drive up costs, as someone needs to write the CNC program. Finishes are supposidly different too. I'm not sure if they still do nitro finishes on newer fender usa strats. I know the Squires are all some sort of thick poly though. Squires are going to have cheaper hardware which lasts less time, and overall, the instrument will need more repairs and adjustments in the future than a well made instrument. In short, squires are generic bodies slapped together with whatever cheap materials are available, and USA fenders have a lot more time put into QC, and more time put into design as far as routs go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Our Souls inc. Posted February 7, 2011 Report Share Posted February 7, 2011 I think it depends on the model of Squier you're getting. You couldn't buy my Squier Stagemaster from me. People have tried. my stagemaster is a 24 fret, 2 humbucker, Floyd rose equipped model with neck through construction. It was an $80 pawn shop score - it had a bad bridge pickup. *evil grin* I put a Duncan 'blues saraceno' trembucker in it and it became my #1 guitar for years, even getting grabbed before my U.S.A. Jackson ,my Ibanez RG470 or my actual 'Fender'. So really, it all depends. As Wez noted, it will intonate just fine I'm sure, but depending on which model of Squier it is - I'd say ditch the electronics, pick-ups , output jack , tuners and tremolo and it'll be a whole different beast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theodoropoulos Posted February 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2011 what about the modern "c" shaped neck??affinity series has not that...Do Stratocasters have it?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VanKirk Posted February 7, 2011 Report Share Posted February 7, 2011 Tone is very subjective so I won't comment on how body wood affects tone but I have personally switched out pickups, resoldered wiring, leveled and dressed the frets and replaced the nut on my $350 Mexican strat and now the action and tone (the tone I like) is as good as my American Fender. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theodoropoulos Posted February 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2011 Tone is very subjective so I won't comment on how body wood affects tone but I have personally switched out pickups, resoldered wiring, leveled and dressed the frets and replaced the nut on my $350 Mexican strat and now the action and tone (the tone I like) is as good as my American Fender. οk,i see...all here agree that if i change pick up.and generally hardware it can reach a very good result... it's very funny people pay 12.000$ or more to get a model from Steve Ray,and all things could cost just les than 1000.. only the name "SRV" is expensive... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim37 Posted February 7, 2011 Report Share Posted February 7, 2011 your always gonna pay more for a sig series guitar thats just how it is. btw sorry i know its just me being **** but squier and fender are the branding while stratocaster is the model. any how my first guitar was a squier and i didnt like it at all they have a narrower string spacing (more for youths than adults) also like said above the hardware is cheaper. if you can find one of the older mexican squiers there suposed to be decent guitars. i have a mexican fender and love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoCaster Posted February 7, 2011 Report Share Posted February 7, 2011 I haven't checked out any Squires lately but where they're manufactured has a lot to do with how good of a guitar you get. I would probably stay away from the Chinese or Indonesian built ones, the Korean built Squires are really good as are the Japanese ones. The very early Japanese Squires were just as good if not better than their American made counterparts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted February 7, 2011 Report Share Posted February 7, 2011 I would take a squier classic vibe guitar over any MIM fender i have ever played - thats quite a few and i have never found one that impressed me. but i have upgraded a few MIM's to something that didnt bore me - usually with new pickups and trem block as a starting point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim37 Posted February 7, 2011 Report Share Posted February 7, 2011 but i have upgraded a few MIM's to something that didnt bore me - usually with new pickups and trem block as a starting point. i will admit i have two mim's one of them is my favorite guitar the other one is sitting in need of strings and has been that way for atleast 6 months. so yeah i will agree but i wouldn't even trade that one for a indonesian squier. i havent ever put one of those in my hands that i like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrKeef Posted February 7, 2011 Report Share Posted February 7, 2011 My major question was what makes an expensive guitar expensive....for example the squier is in lower level than Stratocaster but what is the things which are cheap???You can tell me lower budget pickups,lower quality tuners and bridge but i must insist on 2 things... intonation and wood...if all the intonation is wrong then the instrument is not appropriate... as far as the woods concerns do they check it accoustically in Stratocaster or they just put alder(whatever piece).. i am planning to buy a Squier to make an experiment with high quality pick ups to see if the quitars gains credits but if the intonation or other structural things are bad then everything is meaningless.. could i have your opinion?? Couple of things I might say. First and foremost, you'll NEVER recoup any money put into a Squier should you try to sell it. (People see the word Squier and they won't care if there's solid gold hardware on it) So save all of the original parts. If you need/want to sell it somewhere down the road, return it to its original condition. Any high end parts could then be sold off separately. As regards modifying them, my first suggestion would be to get better quality machine heads (tuners). I had a Squier that I put a set of Schaller locking tuners on, and it made a world of difference regarding tuning stability. Upgrading the pickups would be a good way to go also. I put a set of Fender Vintage Noisless pickups on that same Squier and it was my main axe until it got stolen. The pickups also made a world of difference. If you want to experiment with modification, you might try Guitar Fetish. com (google it). They have all kinds of parts/pickups that are really inexpensive. You can fool around some and not spend an arm and a leg. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.