When I Bought My Guitar I Wouldn't Have Been Able To Tell You What What Was Great Or Not But I Played Alot Of Them. The One I Bought Felt And Sounded Better To Me Before I Even Knew The Price. Do I Wish It Cost Less. Yea. Am I Happy Today. Yea.

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Vintage Hotrod '57 Strat, 81 G&L L2000 Series E Bass, Fender Musicmaster Bass Amp.

It's called subtleties(overtones and nuances,usually only seasoned players can hear)and you pay for the little subtleties for each move up.The big boys Fender and Gibson have marketing down to a tee and "know exactly" what people want and they make it very expensive to get exactly what you want.You are correct somewhat though as the top of the line gits 3-10K and up are the only truly good instruments(there might be an exception or two but I doubt it) .Thousands of dollars for subtleties but worth it for the "great wood"(only exists on these instruments)hardware and loving TLC(improves tone tremendously)when made.It's not snobbery at all just brilliant marketing!They know exactly what their customers want and assume(rightfully)the customer will pay whatever they ask and they are correct!My son just bought a '60 VOS LP Standard(3K).It is a much better LP than current standards and others.Too rich for my blood though,as I'd never spend that much money on "any" git.

I don,t think any Squire pick ups sound as good as a set of Abby wound ones or John Cruz. Not that Im a gear snob but A cheap guitar is a cheap guitar however you can make them better.

We've seen this subject over and over. The same thing always comes up between Epiphone vs Gibson. I own both Squier and Fender Strats. Let's face it if the Squier was the same as a Fender, they would put themselves out of business. The idea is to offer a good guitar at every pricepoint. I think of the Teisco guitar I started with in the 60s and compared to todays Bullet Strat it was total junk. The Squier guitars are very good but you can't compare them to AM Standards. It isn't knocking Squier to say they aren't the same, after all their pretty inexpensive compared to an American Strat. The Classic Vibe Squiers in my opinion could carry the Fender brandname as they are very nice and I think very close to the MIM Standard in terms of quality etc. Nothing wrong with a Squier but most objective players can see that Fender is a step up in quality just as Gibson is a step up on Epiphone.

Quality is in the eye of the beholder- a lot of things if you pay a reasonable amount of money- you can get of good quality.

I think there is a difference in quality in SOME squire/fender stuff, but is it worth the price difference?

I think a company needs to have different price points to cater for all spectrums of the market it serves. But when the level of quality outweighs the price tag, then you have to wonder. I think the neck joints in Epi les Paul guitars are better than Gibson USA- a lot of non-epi Japanese Les Paul knock-offs will rival Gibson Customshop quality for a fraction of the price. Is it worth the price difference? I ask again. Well, that's ultimately up to you and your wallet to decide.

Ponder this though- most of Fender sales are indeed MIM Standard, Classic, C.Player products before you go near MIA stuff. Again, its Quality vs. Value.

Play on folks

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I have a Squier Standard Tele that I've modified with new pickups, and have set up to my tastes. Here's the thing: while it now sounds just as good as its American Standard cousin (maybe even better), it still feels "not-quite-there": tuners aren't as nice, I had to replace the noisy switch, it doesn't hold tuning as well with lots of heavy bends, the saddles/bridge are really cheap, etc. You can feel the difference in quality. It's not huge, and it's still a good, solid guitar, but there's a difference.

That said, I paid $60 for it, so I'm not expecting a Stradivarius. It makes twang twang twang come out of my noise box, so I'm happy.

Squiers are good guitars but not as good as a Fenders.

I hate this thred, its retarded.

your gonna ask about brand snobbery on a FENDER GUITAR SITE, seriously?
own by fender nontheless.
nothing wrong at all with being brand loyal. its just the way it is. some people swear by fender, some gibson.
i cant honestly believe that you have played any upper middle or higher end strats and think the squier is anything close. set up right the squier can be a better than stock squier by a long shot i agree, but to say they play just as good and sound better lets me know right away that you havent played very many quality fender strats.
there is a night and day difference. go get your best squier and play it side by side with an american deluxe or a jimmy v strat and you will notice a difference right away just by picking up the guitars, and then play them. then when your done with each, plug them in and replay them. there is just something to be said about a professional level guitar
that screams quality and well made. look at it this way, if they were anything close to being the same, Fender could cut their costs down by millions every year and sell the squier for much much more than they do.

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

I have an old Squier for the kids at home, although it plays surprisingly well and sound ok through a low budget amp, it is pretty pale in comparison to my US gear when plugged into a good tube amp. Squier is worth every little bit of money though. Understood not everyone can afford high price stuff and if I was broke I'd probably be playing a Squier. But as of now, I buy locally grown US made Fender.

I have said this before and I will say it again, the upper end Squiers like the CV series play and sound just as good as the Fender Standard (MIM). So if you looking for a guitar on a 3-4 hundred budget, save some money on the Squier. When it comes to the upper budget Fender, Fenders play and sound better. I am by no means a guitar snob, I'll play a Cort copy as long as is plays and sounds good. If name matters, buy the name.

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RK

2007 Fender Highway 1
2012 American Deluxe
2015 MIM Dave Murray HHH
2010 Fender Blacktop
1987 Fender Avalon Acoustic
2012 Marshall DSL 15 watt head

If you don't like it then you don't have to reply. The fact that you even did is retarded. Simple.

some squiers will surpass mia/mim quality Vs. Value/price. It's happened in all markets where cost of production in the east and quality is higher & more profitable. and I reckon it will happen to guitars before long. Like I said, majority of Fender sales are squire and mim.

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I've got an Epiphone and I can tell you from first hand experience that the difference is mainly fit and finish and component quality. A good set-up on an Epiphone makes it feel exactly like the instrument it is copying. And if you want to change your pickups like you change your underwear, it doesn't hurt the wallet as much to try it with an Asian knockoff.

well geez, isnt that enough?

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

Not really. The fit and finish on new Epiphones rivals any Gibson USA I've seen lately. Factor in that a lot of the new model Les Pauls already come with premium components and you start to realize that you're spending an extra grand for a different name on the headstock. And those folks who spend another grand on top of that for something that came out of whomever's "Custom Shop" probably should be in one of those Christmas commercials about flagrant overindulgence.

Having owend an Epi LP Classic (quilt top), I can say it rivaled the more expensive LP's.

I wouldn't necessarily compare the higher end Epi's to the Squirers. I'd say they more closely compare to the MIM Fenders.

Maybe a slight step down from the MIA Gibby stuff, but not that big of a step down. Just like the MIM Fenders may be a slight step down from the MIA stuff, but not that big of a step down.

Just like you wouldn't be undergunned with a MIM strat, I never felt undergunned with my Epi LP's.

Sold the Epi to a buddy because I needed cash to fund an acoustic I really wanted. Still have the Acoustic but miss the Epi. LP.