Guitars > Stratocaster Guitars

Advantages: Endorsed by Fender, very well made.
Disadvantages: Little choice of colour and hard to get left-handed.

...same factories as the "normal" Fender guitars and is of almost the same quality; just a reduced price tag. There are 2 types of Squier, and the Standard is the better of the 2. This guitar has everything the more expensive models have, and I have even seen some people performing on stage with these types rather than the full-price Strats. It is of a medium weight, and generally speaking, you will need to factor in the cost of a gig bag to carry ...
...even then it's still great value as a starter guitar. The colours and designs are more limited than its more pricey brothers and sisters but having said that, because it's cheap, you could always have fun customising its look for yourself. They are also pretty robust and are easy to clean. I did find it hard to get myself my left handed model though, so you may need to order it in specially if you need it. ... Read review

Advantages: Price, playability and erm....price?
Disadvantages: Everything not mentioned above

Basic Specs: It has 3 single coil stock pickups, a standard fender tremolo bridge, 2 tone and 1 volume knobs, 3-way selector switch. First of all, don't parade the fact that you have a squier. They're generally despised in the guitar world. It looks similar to a Fender Mexican Strat, followng the basic stratocaster design. Sound quality Its bad, but its not horrible. For the untrained ear, its fine for about a year. But soon you realise ...
...The stock pickups are poor and mine broke after a few months. Horrible response, and .... FEEDBACK. It's actually shocking. As soon as I switch it on these days, there is and instant hum, and a loud one at that. NOT good. But to be fair, the tone knobs add some versatility to the thing. You can get a sharp, bright tinny tone to a dark, muddy tone. Replace the pickups on this thing to something of higher quality and you should be sorted in this sector. ... Read review

Advantages: Great neck, good build quality, value for money
Disadvantages: Low output pickups, not suited for heavier music styles

Introduction I own a Fender Stratocaster 1962 reissue guitar that I purchased way back in 1989. This guitar was manufactured in Japan at some point during 1988. This guitar is something that I am pretty fond of, what with it being my first "proper" guitar, and at the time taking me the best part of a year to save up for! I purchased this guitar from Peter Cook's music shop in London and paid the sum of £299. Try buying a guitar made in Japan for ...
...it has features common to Fender Strats of that era. These include: 1962 neck profile Thin fretwire Body contouring based on the 1962 model Stratocaster Maple neck Rosewood fretboard "Kluson" style tuners 3 vintage voiced single coil pickups Vintage style tremolo 3 ply scratch plate "Candy apple red"; metallic finish Stratocasters from this period were made with a one or two piece alder or ash body, but this reissue features a basswood ... Read review

Advantages: Classic, look style and sound of 50's Strats. Solid construction.
Disadvantages: Single ply pickguard a bit flimsy and does not sit flush.

...style syncronized tremelo Bridge, Vintage Fender Ping style tuners, 3 single coil Strat pickups with staggered Alnico Magnetic Poles. Single ply pickguard (what was used on the origional Strats) and aged plastic knobs and pickup covers. Mine is in Surf Green and was made in Ensenada mexico in 2002. Being a Made in Mexico after 2000 it's body is (as per the Fender catalogue) Alder, the finish is near flawless, and as I bought the display model, the ...
...say closer to what Leo Fender had in mind than the modern American and Custom Strats. The Bridge pickup is clear and bright, and the Neck pickup with some "crunch" on the amp, sounds great. I play everything from Pink Floyd's "Wish you were here" to Black Flags, "No Values" and the tone is either sweet and pleasing or rough and raunchy depending on which pick up combination I use. The finish on the neck is flawless and the fit of the 7.25 radius ... Read review

Advantages: Tough, durable, wide variety of tones, ergonomic body, fast neck
Disadvantages: Hum and noise due to stock single-coil pickups

Bought a maple-neck (with black plastic dot markers) sunburst Am Std Strat from Bentley Music in Kuala Lumpur in 1992 for RM 1 670. came with a rectangular hardshell case (not form-fit) with screw-type SKB hinges and lock (padlock not provided). Had to go through 7 guitars until I found 1 that had a flaw I could correct (faulty volume pot). This goes to say that all the guitars I tested had unpardonable flaws such as poor string-polepiece alignment ...
...lose tone and sustain) or scratchy/poorly tapered volume and/or tone controls (makes the guitar unsuitable for live gigs until these are replaced). This should not be the case with a fine company such as Fender. Quality control must be tightened, in my humble opinion. As mentioned before, out of neccessity; I chose one with everything 'in order' except for a faulty neck volume pot (the one closest to the bridge). A quick switch to a new Ibanez 250K ... Read review