Never has the concept of "you get what you pay for" been better illustrated than with the Squier Strat. As a guitar teacher I have seen it's popularity sky-rocket over the past 10 years. Currently about 2 out of three of my students turn up to their first lesson with one of these instruments.

There are many incarnations of these critters: Affinity, Standard, Fat Strat, Deluxe and more - prices range from about $150 to $300.

The guitar is based on the Fender stratocaster - the most copied guitar in history. Features like 3 single coil pickups, double cutaway, tremolo bridge, 5 way switch are all there. From a distance you could even mistake it for the real thing. Since Fender actually owns the Squier brand, one would have thought that they would take some pride in their heritage and do a half decent job. Not so I'm afraid! To say that quality is patchy would be a gross understatement. Of the 50 or so that I have sampled over the years, some were OK (only just), but most are afflicted with one (but usually more) of these ailments:
1) Severe hum from the pickups.
2) Noisy switch making loud clicks when selecting pickups.
3) Scratchy volume and tone pots.
4) Inability to stay in tune.
5) Poor intonation that cannot be compensated for with the fine tuners.

Even when the instrument works according to spec, it still falls considerably short of giving the player an enjoyable tactile and aural experience. The sound is thin and lacks punch, the action is too high and when lowered, produces all kinds of buzzing noises and the hardware feels cheap and flimsy.

I suggest that if you want to share in the legendary imagery of the Fender Stratocaster, then go and buy yourself a Fender Stratocaster. A standard Mexican Strat costs less than $400. It's by no means as fine a guitar as an American Standard, but it is a good, solid entry level to intermediate instrument. If you ever decided to
give up guitar playing - statistically 80% do give up in the first year - you can always recoup at least half your initial investment in a Fender. The Squier will fetch $50-100 depending on the model, maybe a bit more as a trade-in. Financial aspects aside, the best reason to stay away from the Squire strat is that it's substandard playability and tone are unlikely to motivate the beginner to commit to the long hours of practice needed to master their craft.

For a much better beginner's guitar, please read my review on: The Epiphone G-400.

Better still, if you can afford the real thing, check out the Fender American Standard Stratocaster

Recommended: No