The Squier '51 was a poor seller and was blown out for $69.99. Will history repeat itself? I'd love to be able to buy a high quality brand new guitar for less than $100. I'd even order one sight unseen. What is the next guitar that will be blown out at bargain prices?

That's crazy. I don't know, but if it's $70, I'd go for it.

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1984 Squier Contemporary Stratocaster
1986 Peavey Envoy 110
1967 Kingston Acoustic

Let's not get too misty eye'd about the Squier 51.

I do own one, and I bought it when they were being sold off cheap. Ironically, they had just started to acquire their 'cult' reputation even as they were being pushed out of the doors at many Stores.

The truth of mine - as a new 'stock' instrument was not especially pretty. The neck is beautifully shaped, but the fret work was barely serviceable. A couple were noticeably high, they weren't subject to a final finish and they had very sharp edges. And so sharp you could easily scratch your hands running them up the edge of the board. The cheap plastic nut was very badly cut, sufficient to stop the open strings ringing out clearly.

As for the body, I recall the neck pocket wasn't very well cut and the neck didn't therefore sit particularly well. The finish was just about serviceable but it is patchy and thin. Nothing like the quality of other Squiers, which come close to rivalling any other name guitar out there, including Fender. The body is not quite as deep as you'd find on a Squier Strat.

The hardware wasn't actually too bad, but the saddles were pretty naff. The pickups were exactly what you would expect from a cheap guitar, but they did sound acceptable. The tuners were an offence to man and God alike..

Like many others, I've now sorted virtually everything on the guitar that needed doing. But that all cost money, and made even the cheap 'get them out the door' 51s poor value for money actually, even at the heavily discounted prices. Mine cost me £100.00, but I've spent another £250.00 on it over time. As a result it's a £350.00 guitar that would probably never realise that price if I ever sold it.

All of which is a shame. Because I think the ideas behind the 51 should have made it an absolutely cracking guitar. It's bold, exciting to look at, and can be made to sound fantastic. Which is why I persevered with mine. With sympathetic Seymour Duncan alnico 2 p/ups, mini Grover tuners, a few other odds n sods and some body and fret work, it's now everything the design promised to be, with great tonal options despite the lack of a tone knob. I struggle to understand why Squier had so little faith in it from day one. The Squier strats for instance were much better instruments as stock. And just think, had Leo Fender and his team made some slightly different decisions right back at the beginning, then the Strat would have always looked like a 51..

Still want one (and why wouldn't you)? Get the Fender Pawn shop guitar eqivalent while you can. It's a strange thing, I picked up my 51, even from the very first time, and it just felt so right - so absolutely spirit of Fender. And it still does..

This one is mine:

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Fender Highway & Classic 60s Strats, Fender Toronado, Telecaster, Gretsch Projet, Charvel 3, PRS SE Soapbar II & Custom 24, Burns Batwing and many others!

I would like to see the 51' come back. They were great for mods, plus I bought the last of the local stores inventory and made some extra getting rid of them.

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The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

Thomas Jefferson

It never went away, it just changed to a Fender and went up several hundred dollars.

Squire is what everyone wanted because they bought them too mod! Price made that right!

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The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

Thomas Jefferson