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Post subject: What should I do???
Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 10:15 am
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First let me say hello to everyone, I'm new here and kinda new to the guitar. I started learning the guitar once 5 years ago but went with the drums instead and now here I am again. I couldn't get away from the urge. Now to my point. For my birthday my significant other got me a squier kit to begin practicing with. It came with the Squier se special edition Strat. My question to all of you is.......

Is this particular Squier one to put money into? Should I begin modifying this guitar a little along (such as better pick ups, locking tuners, strings, .........) or save my money practice on it the way it is until I can get a real Strat?


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Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 10:55 am
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It is a real Strat! :D I have a Squier Strat that I've had since I was 11 and I've been modifying it. And even if you do get a Fender MIM Standard, you'll probably end up having to replace the pickups too. The difference is that on a Squier you'll probably have to replace the pickups, tuners and tremolo. On a Fender it's just the pickups. Play a Squier and play a Fender, decide which one you like best and get it. The cost of a Squier + mods and a Fender with minimal mods are about the same.

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Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 11:06 am
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Welcome to the Forum.

My personal opinion is to play the Squier as is. If you decide to stick with guitar you can always purchase a different guitar later down the road.

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Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 11:22 am
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yea, i guess it is a real strat (no offense). I definetly am going to stick with the guitar this time. I wanted to finish learning it every since I gave it up for the drums. I've already went out and got a decent amp with backing tracks to play along with ( i won't mention the brand to save myself the scrutinization :wink: ) and finally got the blisters on my fingertips to callouse so i'm going through with it. I guess I do need to just sit down with a Fender Strat and see how it feels Compared to my Squier Strat and see what that tells me. Any additional advice is welcome, Thanks everyone.


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Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 3:27 pm
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No, keep it bone stock. Take all that money for mods and save it to buy a new guitar. The lower-tier Squiers are fine ... don't get me wrong. It is just not worth modding them. For what you would have to spend on mods, you could get a used MIM Strat.

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Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 4:02 pm
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My wife got me the same starter set in Christmas '07, and I've been playing it (and taking lessons) ever since. I just ordered an American Standard Strat, but to be honest, it was because the prices were about to go up. I plan on playing my Squire as well as the Fender in the future. I'd have been perfectly happy playing the Squire for a while in either case.

It'll be nice to have 2 guitars now, so I can take one in for work and still practice!


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Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 4:51 pm
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I would suggest that you keep it stock for a while...but if you haven't done so already, get it professionally setup.

Then do your research and build your own custom guitar. That way you get exactly what you want rather than something fender tells you to want.

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Post subject: Re: What should I do???
Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2009 12:08 pm
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it's me wrote:
First let me say hello to everyone, I'm new here and kinda new to the guitar. I started learning the guitar once 5 years ago but went with the drums instead and now here I am again. I couldn't get away from the urge. Now to my point. For my birthday my significant other got me a squier kit to begin practicing with. It came with the Squier se special edition Strat. My question to all of you is.......

Is this particular Squier one to put money into? Should I begin modifying this guitar a little along (such as better pick ups, locking tuners, strings, .........) or save my money practice on it the way it is until I can get a real Strat?


As you can see, there are a lot of various opinions on this subject from "don't do it" to "build your own". My opinion is that there are some mods that even on a "cheap" instrument are well worth doing. Pickups are a prime example here...you can always slap some really great pups in that sucker and if you decide to go with a better Strat later, you can always put those great pups in the new Strat. As other's have indicated, even the MIM Standards typically have rather sucky pickups (at least mine did) so it's a worthwhile investment in either case. As far as other mods go...that' really depends on the instrument. If the guitar has "sealed" tuners, as apposed to cheap "covered" tuners, then I wouldn't bother changing them. Personally I think that locking tuners are a waste regardless of which model Strat you own (but that is strictly -my- personal opinion). If the instrument has a tuning problem for example, you can do more with a proper setup than locking tuners will -ever- achieve. On the other hand if the guitar does have those cheap covered tuners, even a cheap set of sealed tuners will make a -huge- freaking difference to you and are worth the investment.

The bridge is another matter. Most lower end Strats, Squire or otherwise...and even a few of the Am Stds, typically have low mass and/or zinc alloy trem blocks which tend to really kill the instrument's sustain. If this were an MIM I would whole-heartedly recommend changing the trem block but on a Squire...you may or may not be able to find a suitable replacement and if you do, there's a good chance you won't be able to use it on anything else later anyways. -If- you can find one for a reasonable amount, then sure...go ahead and change it as it will make a notable improvement but I wouldn't spend more than $50 or so tops on something like that.

I would like to add that personally I don't think that doing mods on this instrument is a bad thing at all. Certainly it's a low end instrument, it's never going to be worth a lot of money even if you keep it all original, etc., but it's still -your- guitar...you should do whatever you feel needs to be done to make it playable. Also, later when you do upgrade to a better instrument, you'll have a nice "back up" guitar as well. Honestly, I won't even go to a practice or a jam with only one guitar, let along play a gig...you just never know when you're going to break a string or when something else is going to happen (...the strap comes off, the guitar falls to the stage and the guitars headstock snaps off!). As with everything else here this is just my opinion, but I think it's always a good thing to have a decent "spare" guitar...even if it is only a cheapy.

My advice to you is to start with the pickups...again you can't go wrong there. Then as your playing skills increase and you've had time to really evaluate the instrument, you can decide later "if" and "what" you need to change. You may even find that you're happy with the guitar as is :D.

Peace,
Jim


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Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2009 8:05 pm
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little bro,
welcome to fender land, you have a fender solid body electric guitar, that opens a lot of musical doors for you, and, because it is fender that means you can hear, more doors are flying open every second now. you have some questions. first put together a set of songs, other peoples or your own, that way you can play without a backing band, just in case. you can hear which translates to you can sing, or, go instrumental. play that set as much as possible, for your friends, open mic nights, coffee houses, house parties (this will get you exposure which leads to paying gigs or maybe a working band).every time you think about up grade, teach yourself another song (your song list is getting longer, helps when the crowd wants more). now, what do you need for your fender guitar? the best guitar cord you can find, you won't lose any sound that way and every one who hears you will love you for it.
have fun,

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Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2009 7:49 pm
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I recommend to play the hell out of that guitar.. and instead of upgrading it you can buy a standard strat eventually :)


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