Post by Tony Ravenscroft on Dec 21, 2020 10:41:15 GMT -6
Good heavens. I just went chasing trivia bits over at Squier-Talk.com -- what a mare's nest! 
I mean, first they split the brand up by model... so under Squier Stratocasters there's "Classic Vibe, Vintage Modified, Affinity, Deluxe, Standard, Bullet," plus Squier Series (both MIM and MIM). And THEN they have Japanese Vintage Squiers and Squier Vintage Modified Models and Other Squiers.
And then they let the clueless run wild, with no attempt at curation. Grabbing one thread, a new member (experienced hobby player) asks what the heck a "Squier Strat SE" is and how it fits in the hierarchy.
I know a little about Squiers -- yes, I've done bits of research, and I own a few, but it's really NOT an exciting brand as merely "Fender's little brother." I do sometimes take good notes as I proceed, though, resulting in scary mutants like my "random Squier notes" thread.
The first response to the noob -- from, naturally, someone with over 1,000 posts, therefore a typical "humble Expert"
-- almost gets it right, says it's part of the ubiquitous "starter pack" that (IMNSHO) clogged shopping-mall piano stores around the world for years. These semi-playable beasts were dumped on a generation of hapless kids apparently to discourage them from EVER wanting to play guitar. At best, the nut is high, the fret ends are sharp, intonation is off, and the trussrod is loose so intonation is high to hide the buzz. All that COULD be readily solved by a $50 setup... which of course The Folks won't spring for because "whaddaya mean, spend MORE money on fixing a NEW guitar, are you NUTS?" (The only upside here is that some kids go to YouTube and figure out how to do the work themselves, which I admire.) That's why most of the SEs get dumped for $10 or turned into art projects.
But then our Expert shoots off a foot, and declares that the SE is "about the same as a Standard."
No. I mean, like... no. Just no.
The SE is sub-Standard (pun intended). The SE is sub-Affinity. The SE is sub-Bullet.
(Nevertheless, the Expert gets thanked by a dozen others for his wisdom.
)
The biggest blessing of the SE is that, unlike the Affinity, it's a full-thickness body (IME at least) so readily takes OEM-spec Stratocaster parts, specifically the "tone block" slug of the classic "synchronized tremolo" assembly. However (again IME),
EASY TO SPOT: decal is all black, and says "Squier STRAT by Fender," making it the only Fender Stratocaster that's pointedly NOT "a Stratocaster," which ought to be a hint. As well, there's no black plastic liner around the trussrod hole.
Therefore, considering the misinformation, I am going to use this thread to parse out some of the available information about the use of the Squier brand.
I mean, first they split the brand up by model... so under Squier Stratocasters there's "Classic Vibe, Vintage Modified, Affinity, Deluxe, Standard, Bullet," plus Squier Series (both MIM and MIM). And THEN they have Japanese Vintage Squiers and Squier Vintage Modified Models and Other Squiers.
And then they let the clueless run wild, with no attempt at curation. Grabbing one thread, a new member (experienced hobby player) asks what the heck a "Squier Strat SE" is and how it fits in the hierarchy.
I know a little about Squiers -- yes, I've done bits of research, and I own a few, but it's really NOT an exciting brand as merely "Fender's little brother." I do sometimes take good notes as I proceed, though, resulting in scary mutants like my "random Squier notes" thread.
The first response to the noob -- from, naturally, someone with over 1,000 posts, therefore a typical "humble Expert"
-- almost gets it right, says it's part of the ubiquitous "starter pack" that (IMNSHO) clogged shopping-mall piano stores around the world for years. These semi-playable beasts were dumped on a generation of hapless kids apparently to discourage them from EVER wanting to play guitar. At best, the nut is high, the fret ends are sharp, intonation is off, and the trussrod is loose so intonation is high to hide the buzz. All that COULD be readily solved by a $50 setup... which of course The Folks won't spring for because "whaddaya mean, spend MORE money on fixing a NEW guitar, are you NUTS?" (The only upside here is that some kids go to YouTube and figure out how to do the work themselves, which I admire.) That's why most of the SEs get dumped for $10 or turned into art projects.But then our Expert shoots off a foot, and declares that the SE is "about the same as a Standard."
No. I mean, like... no. Just no.
The SE is sub-Standard (pun intended). The SE is sub-Affinity. The SE is sub-Bullet.
(Nevertheless, the Expert gets thanked by a dozen others for his wisdom.
)The biggest blessing of the SE is that, unlike the Affinity, it's a full-thickness body (IME at least) so readily takes OEM-spec Stratocaster parts, specifically the "tone block" slug of the classic "synchronized tremolo" assembly. However (again IME),
- that body -- basswood, or maybe poplar -- is lifeless and boring, generic, no tonal personality, halfway between "meh" and "bleah," not particularly good for any genre/style in particular, and (yep, IMO) a plywood body would be much more interesting
- there's probably a nice thick irregular layer of paint in the neck pocket, which will minimize both tone and sustain
EASY TO SPOT: decal is all black, and says "Squier STRAT by Fender," making it the only Fender Stratocaster that's pointedly NOT "a Stratocaster," which ought to be a hint. As well, there's no black plastic liner around the trussrod hole.
Therefore, considering the misinformation, I am going to use this thread to parse out some of the available information about the use of the Squier brand.