I was just looking at some threads and i came across the one about the fake MIM guitar..Some one said it looked like a Squire body..I have never owned or played a squire but have been curious about this myself ..It is what has kept me from buying bodies on ebay..Can someone educate me on the difference between squire and Strat bodies?..I know that some Squires are Plywood some are Bass wood but arent some alder also?What exactly do you look for?Is there difference in size and weight?Also what is a Starcaster body i have never even heard of them before i started seeing the Starcaster bodies all over Ebay...

The Squier bullet bodies are a little smaller than a Fender Strat body but thats the only thing I know about the two, or so I have heard. I've always wonder the same thing myself.

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I got a black cat bone, I got a mojo too.

+1

the starcaster is your everyday department store guitar starter set you can find them at target and costco

Squire bodies are a bit smaller and thinner than regular fender bodies. The real giveaway when handling one is the screwhole spacing at the bridge. Its 52mm. I dont know how that sits with current high end squires, I havent been lucky enough to handle one yet.

Also if you get to see the neckpocket theres a different hole in the pocket 1/2" wide straight through, as opposed to a standard fenders 5/8s wide and 8mm deep.

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No no and no

However, a Starcaster is not a Squier.

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James Burton Upgrade Telecaster
Hot Rodded Am Fat Strat Texas Special (now featuring Kinman Traditional II pickups)
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Other than the Squire Bullet Strat which is a bit thinner, I doubt you can tell the difference between Fender and other Squire Strat bodies based on e-bay photos.If the body has a finish on it it would be difficult to tell one from the other. Most companies selling replacement bodies will fit either the Fender or Squire Strat. The less expensive Squire guitars have a much larger cavity in the body for pickup mounting. In reality I'm sure there are more than a few Squire bodies with Fender necks that are sold as a Fenders.

Thread win.

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Some Guitars played through an amp...

Altghough this may be a positive way of telling the difference i think i will have to pass..Although i have spent multiple years in the martial arts i fear that my age will not allow me to break things over my head anymore...Instead i will wait for an unruly fan to jump on the stage and then i will do the old Keith Richards trick of smashing him in the head with the guitar ..If it Breaks i will then know my guitar was not a Fender but a Squier all along and demand a refund..

Take the neck off. Look for the markings.

Some Squiers are a little smaller/thinner, but there are a few that you really cannot tell. Sorry folks the Alder-bodied Squiers will react just like the Alder-bodied Fenders when smashed. Tough as nails, it will take several whacks to break them.

RK

It depends on year the Squier was made and yes the Bullet and the Affinity series have thinner bodies on them. Standards a Classics do not. Standards now days have Agathis bodies and the Classic Strats have Alder and Classic Teles have Pine.
These thing have change over the years though, you have to remember there were MIJ Squier's. There s been Basswood even.

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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

Newer Squires are made to the same specs as Fenders. It will be hard to tell.

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Would a picture help?



That's an old modcaster of mine. An early '90s Chinese made Squier body. For the record it is 46mm thick - that's one mil thicker than my American Strat. The Squier is a two piece basswood body with a polyester finish.

One way to tell it from an American is that the eight pickguard screw holes are not in the identical position to MIM and MIA versions (no doubt to make modding a bit harder and encourage a new purchase instead).

Before I converted it to a two-point it had the thinner 52mm bridge spacing as well - but then that is not unique to Squiers.

In short, as Cvilleira says the specs change all the time. There is no single factor that will definitively ID a bod as a Squier. Tricky, huh?

Cheers - C

PS A while ago we had a long and detailed thread about the possibility of plywood bodies on Squiers. Nobody could come up with any evidence that Fender have ever used plywood at any level of the catalog - and lots of evidence to the contrary.

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This is what the routing looks like on my 2007 Indonesian Squier Standard Strat:

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I really like all them "Aster" guitars. You know, like the Stratoc, Telec and Jazzm.