Hi,people. Just so you know, I'm totally an amatuer guitarist. I've
only been playing for about 1 year. I only have experience with a Squier strat. I was wondering what to get next(but I'm content now). Also, what amp do you think is good? Please respond!

It really depends on what you play, especially for the amp. What genres do you play? What are some bands you're into?

The next step up in Stratocasters from a Squier is usually a Fender Mexican made Standard Stratocaster. They run around $500 give or take.

Which Squire do you play Bullet, SE, Standard etc.?

You can modify a Squire for a few bucks and get a better sound. A nice fat all steel tremelo block and all steel bridge. For about $35.00 it will improve significantly.

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I remember when we were free!

I have an Affinity Series.

Try out some of the higher end squiers like the vintage modified or the classic vibe.

For guitars I would suggest as said above, to look into the higher end squiers, (I am impressed with the Classic Vibes,) or a made in Mexico model.

For amps, well, we really need to know more about where you'll be playing.
There's a whole different criteria for picking a bedroom amp than one for jamming with buds in the garage, or one for playing with people in bigger rooms. Not that one will be a better amp, but more the ole right tool for the right job kind of thing.

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I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

IMO i think u should stick with your squire for now, upgrade a little (change pup maybe) then when u get good and get some dough, buy an used American Standard Strat on Ebay (usually in the $500-$800). I would never settle for middleground like a mexican made because I don't find them reliable.

I would imagine a decent amp is going to make more of a difference than the original poster thinks. I would suggest he look into that first.

Even entry level guitars benefit greatly from proper amplification, entry level guitars are worlds ahead of what was available for that price range when I was starting out.

But even the best guitar in the world won't sound good through poor amplification.

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I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

1 year is a long time....do you like it? Are you going to stick with it?

If so, get a new American Standard Strat along with a Peavey Delta Blues or Classic 15 or 30 amp. This should hold you for a while, then you can think about getting a nice Gibson Les Paul.

Me? I got the LP 1st 'cause I loved the look AND the sound, but they are a bit more money and just seem to need a bit more work to get set up right.

In my experience with my bullet squiers, which is not much different than your affinity, the biggest change in sound quality was not pickup change but to install a better tremelo bar. If you look into the back of your guitar you will see a piece of metal that the string ends rest in and the tremelo springs attach to. The typical tremelo bar in a squier is a lightweight piece of alloy. What ever its metal consistancy its not very good.

There is a guitar parts supplier called Guitarfetish. For $20.00 you can order a nice big beefy tremelo bar made of solid steel or brass. I have tried both and find for the squier bullet the brass gives the guitar a slighty more beefy low tone than the steel. Either one will drastically improve the sound of your guitar. I have them installed on all my (4) Squiers and its always the first and most influencial modification I make.

Guitarfetish (GFS) also sells some other great stuff to modify your squier. Put a nice all steel or brass tremelo bar and an all-steel bridge and it will sound like a different guitar. I also went on and put GFS alnico pickups and standard fender tuners on all my squiers. They are really great little guitars and don't ever be ashamed of yours. I have american and mexican strats and I love my squiers just as much.

I hope this helps. If you have any questions I wll be happy to respond.

OL

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I remember when we were free!

Any of you who wanted to help me out about the amp, I posted about it on the Fender Lounge.

MIM Strats are an excellent bargain and sound and play great.MY current home rig is a Blues Jr. with a MIM Jimmie Vaughn Strat and the combination is just ideal.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.