I bought a squier as a beginner guitar, to learn on. My reasoning is why spend $1,000 on something I might not enjoy or keep at it. A lot of beginners and their parents think the same way. Those who give up sell their squiers or MIM, those who keep at it may sell their squier and MIM to buy a MIA. Those who do buy MIA, love and keep 'em. All these mean there are more used squiers and MIM for sale than MIA's.
Doesn't mean squier's and MIM aren't decent guitars.

The old adage "buy the best you can afford" usually holds true. (where "best" is not equal to "most expensive"). Many people simply can't afford "the best".

And then there is no way I would pay $1000 for my son's 1st guitar - a Squier was a good start, later traded up for a G&L Tribute at a small loss...he hasn't really played in a year. Seems there is still a market for 'beginner' gear.

For me on the other hand, there was no way I was gonna skimp, I hate "starter" gear - to me it means "cheap". A Martin, a Gibson LP and an Am Dlx were my 1st 3 purchases. Back then I didn't want non-USA, and spending the extra was worth it - I like being content materially. And I knew my losses if/when sold would be comparable - & tolerable. I have since bought (and sold) an MIM for lessons, tinkering, bringing on vacation etc. Turned out it was much easier to sell that $250 axe to one of my friends then it would have been a $900 strat, but EBay almost always allows one to move stuff, even $$ stuff, easy enough.

In the end it is all relative - how much you lose when you sell turns out to be pretty much the same across the board now. Much depends on where you trade. Thank EBay (its good and bads) for creating a huge market place that goes far for setting used prices, and thank the Guitar Center monopoly for controlling prices on new gear so most people can at least THINK they are getting a good deal when checking their stupidly high prices.

My 2c worth:

The basic premise of this thread is flawed right at the start. In the modern era of guitar manufacture, it's now very hard to buy 'junk'. The horrible plywood Columbus, Avon and Hondo copy guitars we bought in the 70s are long gone. Moving on..

I have 3 high quality guitars and about a dozen 'budget' priced instruments which I have improved. After I acquire a lower priced instrument (thank god for the Chinese) and I'm ready to upgrade it, I have a regime - playability first, then sound. Possibly appearance after that if I think it needs it..

I guess the truth is, I have a lot of 'cheap' guitars all fitted with outstanding hardware. This isn't good economics of course - a Squier Strat will always be seen and valued as a Squier Strat, no matter what you've done to it. You can tell people it has Seymour Duncan Alnico 2 pro s/c pickups, but they'll still say "yes, but it's a Squier isn't it?" Personally, I don't give a damn about that - I've never once bought a guitar with a view to it's resale value further down the road. I bought it because I liked it, there was something interesting about it and I thought I could make it better.

But I won't feel too negative about setting up an improved budget guitar against a top drawer instrument. The difference is usually the original build quality and the basic wood it's made of. Once you've dealt with the quality issues, the truth is that the wood is often not of great significance. We're not talking about high quality acoustics guitars here, or concert grade classicals, where the wood is critical. In many respects, on an electric guitar the wood is the basic platform rather than something that provides the dominant part of the sound. Once you've sent the signal through magnetic pickups, down some standard wiring and into fairly generic sound manipulation and switching components, you've lost the importance of the platform. As long as the wood is basically resonant, an easy test, all is well. And often, the woods are similar too. An American US built Strat is made of alder right? Well so is a Yamaha Pacifica 112V - buy 4 of them for the same price..

I won't buy any more budget instruments, but thats because I have more guitars than I'll ever need anyway.. (famous last words..) On my journey of improving them, I've learnt a huge amount about guitar construction and set up, about tool handling, and had a lot of fun in the process. And I know that each guitar has something of me in them. A bit of soul - certainly of time and effort. They are valuable to me for that reason and because they're unique, no matter what someone else thinks they're worth because their ears are blocked by dollar signs..

I'm not knocking Higher end quality guitars - as I say, I have some myself. And if economics is a factor for you, and if you're not interested in tinkering, then buy one. You'll almost certainly be guaranteed a great instrument.

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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!

Same here. I got an '01 Mexican strat because I wanted to put EMGs in a strat. It was $225 with a hard case and that is a steal in my book. The thing was in immaculate condition and I changed out the pickups and the block. The neck really is nice too. I would never have modded an American strat like that and I love the sound of it and play it every day. If I had money to burn, I would mostly buy high-end gear, but I still get a kick out of getting great deals on low end stuff and modding them.

I will say though that I'll never get over passing up on the American Deluxe in Tobacco burst last year for $899 brand new on one of those Fender Friday deals - hard to justify spending $800 on a MIM re-issue when a deal like that is to be had. That guitar needed nothing and I would have never given it up!

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I think this premise is really flawed. Relatively price wise, I have a $2500 Custom Shop '65 Reissue that makes your $1,000 American Standard seem like a Mexican Standard Price to price ( 2:1), but that doesn't mean anything at all. I own 1 American Artist Series Strat, 1 CS, and a couple of Squiers. Yes some guitars are better than others, but they all bring different things to the table which I can appreciate . People buy guitars for different reasons. Some buy to tinker, some for a hobby, and some want a serious pro-level instrument straight out of the box. That said, just because something is cheap doesn't mean a few upgrades here and there can't make it a quality instrument.

Skysc,I Know what you're talking about, but some people probably can't buy that nice of a guitar without going broke with the economy in its current state, so instead, they're forced into buying something in a lower price range.

2 of my 4 Strats are MIM as is my Tele and they all are superb guitars, in fact my MIM Jimmie Vaughn has become my main guitar lately as it has a sound and feel that's very close to my old MIA original 65 Strat.The old MIM quality issue has long since been blown out of the water,there are great guitars coming out of Mexico these past few years and are just as good and in some cases better than guitars costing much more.

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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.

The whole premise of this thread is flawed. What about high end guitars that have parts changed?
I recently changed the pickups in my customshop strat. Why? Because I wanted to. Every guitar I own has something extra. I took my customshop strat that had s1 and scn's and put a set of very vintage sounding pickups in it. Wired up in a vintage config', even a 3 way switch. A upgrade, no. A sidestep, yes.

What about the guitar you've had since Moses got circumcised and have outgrown, but just cant part with due to sentimentality?

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No no and no

Its all about what you like. Cost has nothing to do with it.

I'll throw my opinion out for the sake of argument. I have American, Mexican, and custom-built Strats, and I have a vast preference for modded MIM's and custom-builds. The only reason I have the American guitars is because I got them at good prices, and they're no longer made.
On the price issue, if I'm going to spend $1000, I'd prefer to buy a MIM Strat, then change the neck and electronics. Why should I buy an American Standard with noisy pickups and a skinny neck, and then spend the money to upgrade it? Just my two cents worth.

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Strat+Tweed=Tone

I think the reason vaires. Some folks just like to tinker and buy low end stuff to tinker on, knowing that if they mess up they just spoiled a $120 Bullet instead of an $1200 MIA Strat.

Its a part of the creative process, and it's fun to tinker, it's a challenge. I know how to remove and reset the neck, adjust the trussrod, install upgraded tuners, change pickguards and pickups.....etc. I learned all this by tinkering on my Squiers.

I have 4 Squiers and I love them as much as my MIA and MIM. They each have thier own sound and personality. I have modifyed them and play them as much as anything else. I have a sunburst Bullet that I keep by my desk at work. I don't worry about it being stolen or beat up. If it does well I will miss it but another one can be had without taking out a loan. I would never leave my MIA or MIM at work over night.

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I remember when we were free!

I look at it this way....my next two strats im going to mod from the start...why? I already have two deluxe's one with SCNs and one with N3s I have a USA Standard with stock and a Standard (MIM) with stock pick-ups...the things im going to replace from the start is the pick-ups and tuners (i so love the the ease of the locking tuners)....so for a long time I was thinking on getting MIMs....the only reason i decided on staying with USA made is because we are still in our rut (we are coming out of it...but its still a ways off) not that me buying two or three strats a year will save any jobs, but it makes me feel as i did my part.

Now my question......why spend big bucks on something you plan on changing to start?

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2008 Am. Std. Strat
2008 Am. Deluxe Strat
2010 Am. Deluxe Strat
2011 Am. Std. Strat
2011 Am. Std. Strat
Hot Rod Deluxe
Hot Rod Deville 410

Kong,

Ya just can't let that one go, can you? I'm waiting on Fender Friday to get cranked up again. Here's to hoping.

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'10 Gibson LP Studio Faded
'09 Fender American Standard Stratocaster
'08 Fender Classic Player 60s Stratocaster
'07 Fender Classic Player Baja Telecaster
'05 Breedlove AC 25 SR Plus

Just buy and do as you wish with your instruments as long as it makes you happy. Who are we to impose on what makes other people happy?