The body, neck, and scratchplate are definite Fender.
If you look at the circular holes in the neck pocket and towards the lower bout of the body they are the same as Fender production line guitars out of the Corona plant of that time.

You can make em out on this one through the flames



The pickups, pots, switch, trem and tuners are all Squier. After severely modding mine, my advice is to seriously ask yourself if you're that unhappy with those parts.
The tuners I changed because they'd lost their stability.
The pickups I changed to vintage noiseless and gave the old ones to a mate. Worst thing I ever did. It took me on a journey that cost hundreds of pounds in experimentation.
The electronics, well I've always been a tinkerer. I would have mucked about with em at some point.
The trem. I use the trem a lot. I'd stripped the thread inside the block, so I put a Wilkinson trem on. After a while I put an American Standard trem on.

In all honesty the changes I made, aside from wiring, haven't done that much for the guitar.

Here it is in it's current incarnation. With Gibson Burstbucker 3's magnetically out of phase. Fast.... and loud.

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No no and no

Hi

I don't know if this will help but I own a MIM 1995/1996 stratocaster (Not a fat strat) and I took a few pics to show my guitar. I have the sticker (Described by other posters).

The only difference I see is the tuners (See pictures).

I didn't like the pick ups in mine and I replaced them recently with fender 57/62's (Arjays recommendation). I am really impressed with them and glad I did it. I've found it interesting that the guitar was carved in the Corona factory. I've always liked how the neck felt/played and I don't think I could get rid of it.

Anyway here are the pictures









Sorry the flash ruined the pictures somewhat but you get the idea.

Hope this helps and enjoy the guitar - it looks great.

Take it easy.

Tom

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Fender MIM 1995 Standard Stratocaster
Fender USA 2012 Deluxe Telecaster

Looks like you got a nice new guitar, bro! I think it would be sweet to change the pickguard and back plate to an aged pearl. Enjoy!

nikinija
Thanks for all the info you've provided. I think I've got it straight now. Neck and body were produced in Corona and all electronics and hardware are Squier parts.
The only thing I'm planning on replacing at this point are the volume and tone pots due to the noise they produce. Also I'm changing the pickguard and back cover to an aged pearl. No reason other than personal preference.

BassettsAllSorts
Very nice guitar. What didn't you like about the pups? I think the ones on mine are great.

monkeysanta
Thanks for the compliment. I do really like this guitar. I'm thinking the aged pearl pickguard and back cover will look good.
As I've stated, I'm actually a bass player and I've only occasionally snuck a little playin' time on the band's guitar player's Strats. Other than that I've had a cheap 30+ yrs old Yamaha acoustic at the house that I play every now and then. I'm now fixing it up for the grand kids. Cleaning it up and putting some nylon strings on it for them. It'll be their guitar to play when they visit.
I've spent the last few days playing the Strat and I'm having a blast. This is one of my wife's weekends to work, so I'm home alone, crankin' it up and having my own private concert!
I've got 3 new songs to learn on bass by tomorrow night. None of them have much going on bass wise, but I had to put the Strat up and get started on them. I've got the lead vocals on one of them so I need to put some extra time in on it.

Thanks again everyone for the info. If you have anymore or if anyone else has any, please share.

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2012 American Standard Precision V - Candy Cola Red
2012 Squier Vintage Modified Jazz V - Surf Green
2011 FCS Custom Classic Special Jazz Bass V - Violin Burst
1996 MIM Stratocaster HSS - Black
1975 Precision Bass - 3 Tone Sunburst

Thank you I love it and I could never get rid of it although I may have to buy a new Strat in the future

I just never got on with the pick ups but it could have been my shoddy playing or my crap amps over the years but I felt like changing them could be the best option. I figured american made pups would be better and I just bought a USA deluxe tele so a US strat is a long way off.

I really like the 57/62's though the guitar sounds great so I may have been hasty but I'm satisfied with the result. I might change the volume/tone knobs to the aged colour to make it all match. I a bit of a tart in that respect.

This forum is so great for finding out information and I love hearing about peoples new guitars. After reading your post I had a long play on my 1995/1996 strat and I've got to say it put a nice smile on my face.

Take it easy

Tom

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Fender MIM 1995 Standard Stratocaster
Fender USA 2012 Deluxe Telecaster

WOW!!! I actually inspired someone????

Hope you had as much fun as i did.

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2012 American Standard Precision V - Candy Cola Red
2012 Squier Vintage Modified Jazz V - Surf Green
2011 FCS Custom Classic Special Jazz Bass V - Violin Burst
1996 MIM Stratocaster HSS - Black
1975 Precision Bass - 3 Tone Sunburst

hi! i was interested reading this thread, since i recently bought a Fender mim and it had this "squire series" decal .i bought it for very cheap
i did some checkings after that . i have to say, it is more different than any other Strat i've seen, and the first Fender i've played that i actually found extremely comfortable! the neck is amazing!

i emailed Fender to make sure it's a genuine Fender guitar and NOT Squier. i was rather dissapointed with their reply. they didnt have ANY INFORMATION on these guitars, couldnt deliver any knowledge of the parts were made or anything at all, but one thing the guy did say is that it is in fact a GENUINE FENDER GUITAR. not Squier.
so there you go.

the sound is awsome too, although i sometimes feel that the differences between the single coil and the hum are not that vast, but after playing some American strats at a friend's house, which i thought had very uncomfortable necks, and they had a TERRIBLE bridge pickup that was VERY trebly that it hurt my ears... so the bridge hum on my mexican is a much better choice.

anyway, here's some photos. notice it has a floyd rose, which by the way i would be happy to get rid of.