Hi im new to the forum and fender guitars and im just wondering what is the difference between a squier and a fender?

Thanks in advance


Edit: Im not trying to start a debate or anything im just looking into a new guitar and was wondering if theres a difference

Squiers have a little less in them (thinner finish, not as good pickups, slightly inferior components, etc.). That all being said, Squiers are great. But Fenders are better. I have both myself.

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oh ok thanks.... dang replies come faster here than on the forum for the mustangs and jags and such lol

The Squier range starts with the Bullet strat around about $100 street price. An ok piece of wood but really cheap hardware. If your a beginner or on a budget this is fine but you may wish to upgrade it as you go or sell it when you out grow it. The rest of the Squier builds on quality, some of the more expensive ones are built to fairly high standards. Older Squiers are collectible as there was a point where the quality was similar to the Fender range.

The Fender series start with the (Mexican/MIM) Standard Strats at about $500 and various extras based on that. This is a good starting point for quality verses price. Then you get to the (American/MIA) Standard Strat at $1000 which is pretty much the Fender Stratocaster of the past with modern features (it comes with a hard flight case as well). Then there are models with more features or bling going up in price from there.

Fender Custom Shop is guitars built to order and limited runs. High attention to deal and small scale as opposed to the production line models and thus priced accordingly.

If you are looking for an instrument I would suggest playing a Squier Bullet, Fender Standard and then Fender American standard to get an idea of where your money is going at the beginning of each range.

Squier Strats
Bullet Series
Affinity Series
Artist Series
Classic Vibe Series
Deluxe Series
Obey Graphic Series
SE Series
Standard Series
Vintage Modified Series

Fender Strats
Standard
Classic Player
Deluxe
Classic
Highway One
American Special
American Standard
American Vintage
American Deluxe
Artist
Road Worn
Vintage Hot Rod

Fender Custom Shop Strats
Custom Artist
Custom Deluxe
Custom Shop Limited Edition
Custom Shop Ltd Dealer Select
Custom Shop Ltd Uk Dealer Select
Custom Shop Special Edition
Custom Shop Tribute
Limited Collection
Time Machine

I pretty much agree with most of what shockwarrior wrote there except that I would add that some of the upper end Squiers, such as the CV's for example, are quite comparable to the MIM's...and perhaps even a bit better for a bit less money (at least as far as brand new goes).

Certainly if you read through these forums as well as others on the internet, you'll see that some folks do spew off about Squiers being nothing but junk but the truth is they do make some fairly decent, very playable mid-priced instruments. At the moment I have 1 MIM and 2 Squiers (I sold both of my cheaper Bullets recently to buy an '85 Squier MIM) not counting the instruments that I've built myself. My MIM is certainly my "#1" but I've done a lot of work on her over the years to get her that way. My '85 MIJ Squier is certainly my #2...there -are- a couple of things I would like to do on her as well, but I have a couple of other Strat projects going right now that I would like to finish before I really start to modify the MIJ. I also have an '08 CIC Squier Standard "Special" and that's really a very lovely instrument to say the least...I have replaced the pickups with VN's and I would really love to replace the bridge (or the trem block at least), but otherwise she's a really great guitar, especially considering that I got her for only $200 new!

I think my single biggest gripe about Squiers is that I don't usually care much for the pickups...the Alnico's that came in my '08 were ok, but not really great. On the other hand, I feel the same way about the MIM's as well (at least the older MIM's...the newer Mexican pickups do sound a bit better to me...the older MIM pickups really left something to be desired). I also don't really care for the half-sized zinc trem blocks that come in the Squier Standards either...although I do understand that the CV's come with a full size block. Other than that, I really have no issues with the hardware that comes on the higher end Squiers at all...tuning keys, nuts, pickguards, etc., are all comparable to just about any of the Fender named Strats.

If you're considering a new or even used guitar my advice is, as always, to play everything in your price range (Fender, Squier or other) and then buy the one that makes you happy...only -your- ears, hands and heart can tell you what's really right for you!

Good luck and welcome to the forum!
Jim

I had and sold a MIC Squier Tele last year. I liked it but upgraded to one MIM. Their a good entry level guitar and I was surprised with the quality of it.

I've always wondered if the body specs were the same as MIM and so on. I had a really nice Squier Vintage Modified (I think they called it) with Kluson tuners and it was an awesome little guitar.

It a nutshell, the squires are meant for beginners. The have smaller/thinner necks and are somewhat lighter. Electronic components should be changed entirely. So should the pickguard because its unshielded. You'll spend about $100 to $200 on the squire just to make it truely comparable to Mexican or American Fender guitars. At that point you may have spent enough to buy either Mexican or American Fender. Its all up to you. I had a mid-90's squire and miss it even today. To me, that guitar was the best ever. But my ears and skill have changed for the better since then, so who knows how it would sound to me today. Bottom line, Squires great guitars for a first start.

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As with any guitar it depends on the guitar itself. Some Fenders are crap and some are not. Some Squiers are crap and some are not. It does not matter the model, each guitar is different. All I can say is not to get hung up on Brand name. Play before you pay.

RK

I can agree to a point. Most of the time, the lower models guitars are not set up right. Mostly because the people buying them don't know any better, its more about the look at that point, not the quality or setup. I don't think I've found a guitar yet that is really junk after a good setup. (Then again, my daughter's First Act 1/2 size acoustic is really junk)

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Yea, my son's old RJ Reynolds was a real crappy guitar. New tuners and 3 set-ups could not help it at all. Ended up using it as a pawn shop sell (no one else would take it).

RK

I think I'll have to pay someone to take her guitar. But she's a little bit of a pack rat. She won't even give it her brother even though she doesn't play it....

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I own 2 Squier Classic Vibe Stratocasters. I own also a Squier Deluxe Hot Rails. I switched out the Duncan Designed for Vintage Noisless to have a more Rounded "Strat Sound". The CV's are extremely well crafter for chinese imports. The bodys are very thin alder. The necks are a tad too glossy. But the pickups and wood qualities are significantly worth the 300 a piece i payed. Now onto my Fender Guitars.

I own a Fender Standard Telecaster which is great sounding. Very warm. I changed out the electronics in it and changed the pups to Dimarzios.
The body is somewhat shielded. But the body wood and neck quality is superior to any Squier i have seen. Its the pickups that make it suffer. Once changed, it is as good as any american telecaster i have heard other than that MIM stamp on the headstock.

I own a Tom Delonge Strat. I bought it for the look. It is stock. Good guitar, but uncomparible to any strat other than the looks. They are routed for HSH i think so i may upgrade this. Still supperior to anything other than the JV squiers or the CV squiers IMO when it comes to quality.

My Highway One is supperior than all of the guitars i have listed. But the Squier Classic Vibes are so close to the sound of the Highways, you almost cannot tell. They both use Alnico 3's.

I think it boils down to quality. The CV Squiers definately rival Fender. But the quality of certain things is lacking. That being said, any squier below the CV line will be lower quality with the lower price tag.

Buy a Mexican and change out the pickups.

for what you pay for a Classic Vibe or Standard Squire series, you could of purchased a really good MIM strat. Those guitars are great, but if the MIM are better quality, why not buy a used one instead of a new Squire?

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DetroitBlues,

When I went out to buy a New Fender Stratocaster (MIM Standard), I played many of them. I also played a lot of Squiers. I could not find a MIM Fender Standard worth the $450 they were asking for (and I really tried). I fell in love with the CV 60 I played and for $300, well worth the money. Slightly better tone, nicer burst, and sustain for days. Like I said there are good and bad guitars in every line-up.

I do not buy used guitars unless I know the orginal owner. I have seen too many times people paying for a Fender and actually getting a partscaster hybrid.

RK