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Has The Fender Squire brand improved ?


bernardo gui

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I've been pretty impressed with the Vintage Vibe series of guitars they have been putting out the last few years. A few affinity series I have played were not particularly good. So, based on my limited sampling, I would say they have improved in some of their lineup, but their bottom of the line stuff is not really very great. Certainly a vast improvement over, say, 10 years ago.

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I've been pretty impressed with the Vintage Vibe series of guitars they have been putting out the last few years.
A few affinity series I have played were not particularly good.
So, based on my limited sampling, I would say they have improved in some of their lineup, but their bottom of the line stuff is not really very great. Certainly a vast improvement over, say, 10 years ago.

 

First I agree (based on my sample of just 1) that the affinity series are not the quality level I'd go to again (although mine looks nice, does play well and sounds okay)

 

I like my '51s, Tele Custom II and Duo-Sonic

 

- and yes, compared to the Squier Strat I bought for my son back in the early 90s, they've all gotten better.

 

It used to be that they used plywood that wouldn't even hold the strap screws, the tuners were so chunky w low gear ratio that it made precise tuning an extra challenge; it had a high fret that had to be filed down, and of course the plywood body had very little resonance. Only thing good about it were some vibey hot ceramic strat p'ups. Obviously designed to be bold enough to cover over any crap wood body. I discovered that the hard way by making the mistake of putting better pickups into that guitar. I learned that their cheap stock p'ups were better voiced for a laminated body than the upgrades to Lace Sensors were in that guitar.

 

But with any guitar company, Fender included, generally the higher you go up their product line the better the goods. (and then inversely the lower the average review ratings will go - it's just a common phenomena in the guitar geek world that the less people have to pay, the more generous they are with the praise, and the more they have to pay, the more critical the review will be).

 

I guess my only concern with coming across recommending Squier is you have to decide what you want from it and where you want to take it. If you're going to get into some modding that's money that could come from a higher level model and eventually you're not only upside down in the investment but still limited by the platform. If you're happy anywhere along that spectrum, then I whole-heartedly recommend Squiers. ;)

 

Here's my Affinity. Not a tone favorite, but nice looking guitar for $140

 

AffinityTele.jpg

AffinityTele001.jpg

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I'd say the brand is the best it's ever been.

 

Huge variety of a number of desirable guitars with a selection of cool colors and pickups decent enough for most non-snobbish folks.

 

You could make the argument that most of the current offerings aren't quite as good as the JV series or SQ series and maybe even the Vistas and Pro Tones, but the variety of playable Squiers available at most Guitar Centers is pretty staggering.

 

And no matter how you want to spell the brand, it's still 'Squier'. :lol:

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I think Squier has always been pretty good... I have bought and traded a few strats over the last couple of years, and to be honest, it has rebuilt my faith in the trusty stratocaster. Most of them have been really very resonant, and well made, and that is just the base models. The pickups are a bit crap, but that is probably to be expected when you can pick them up quite cheaply second hand.

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I'd say the brand is the best it's ever been.


Huge variety of a number of desirable guitars with a selection of cool colors and pickups decent enough for most non-snobbish folks.


You could make the argument that most of the current offerings aren't quite as good as the JV series or SQ series and maybe even the Vistas and Pro Tones, but the variety of playable Squiers available at most Guitar Centers is pretty staggering.


And no matter how you want to spell the brand, it's still 'Squier'.
:lol:

 

IMO, the original JVs have not been surpassed but over the years I have seen great improvements in the line. One of my students got a Squier "Strat" about four years ago. It was made in Indonesia and is very similar in quality to a Yamaha Pacifica.

 

I was also very impressed with a CV Telecaster one of my friends bought recently and had me replace the pickups in it for him. The only reason he wanted to replace the pickups was because he played my Warmoth tele with Seymour Duncan Vintage Stacks and he really liked the Duncans.

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Best - OG MIJ Squier 1982 . Then down hill with the made in Korean with plywood bodies

Then up a again with the Korean Protone series.

Downhill again with made in Indonesia, India and early Chinese versions.

Up again with the CV and VM but the first half year of the Made in Japan 1982 trumps them all. Those had US parts.

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Blanket statements like this is what makes info here useless. No way early chinese squiers quailty come close

to first year 1982 MIJ squiers .

 

 

whats better about a a mij vs a classic vibe?

 

 

and dont say made in usa parts , lol.

 

its just as blanket to say all 1982 squiers are better than classic vibes-they arent. Both lines are as good as each other.

 

i say classic vibes are better because they are us spec.

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Squier

 

 

I usually don't say anythng about the horrible spelling when it comes to this brand, but it is right on the headstock!! Yep, good stuff coming out pf China and Indonesia these days. Love my Classic Vibes and Vintage Modifieds...SPELL IT RIGHT, it's embarassing.

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I usually don't say anythng about the horrible spelling when it comes to this brand, but it is right on the headstock!! Yep, good stuff coming out pf China and Indonesia these days. Love my Classic Vibes and Vintage Modifieds...SPELL IT RIGHT, it's embarassing.

 

 

its an easy mistake since its a guys name,and most probably assume its squire the newb knight. then add in esquire and it gets even more confusing.

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