My first Squier Strat…

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Clifdawg

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Hey everyone! It’s been a minute. Been very busy with school and work, but I miss being a part of online guitar communities, so… How y’all doin’? Ya good?

Anyway, despite a Squier Strat pretty much being everyone’s go-to “first guitar,” I’ve never had a Strat - or any Squier, for that matter - in my 18+ years of playing. My church gifted me a little bonus for doing music (I don’t take any pay for it) at Christmas, so I decided to take the plunge and buy a Sunset Burst Squier 40th Anniversary Strat with gold anodized pickguard, gold hardware, bound neck and block inlays.

It is by any objective measurement a gorgeous (if ostentatious) instrument.

E52C182A-A9AE-4BE3-A3D3-C62EE1370E27.jpeg
It was also darn near perfect out of the box with the only issues being 1. A cosmetic defect where slightly more material was taken off the binding near the neck join when rolling the fretboard a bit (you have to be really looking for it to see it), and 2. An ever so slight buzz (not audible when plugged in) on an open high E string. It’s built to a higher degree of quality control than my MIM Player Telecaster, clearly. It better, this is the most expensive Squier… Ever. Six-hundred Greenback American Freedom Eagles, unless you get it on sale like I did for around 540.

The only complaint I have is that the pickups are not quite as spanky and sparkly as I would like, although I strongly suspect that it’s a deliberate design decision to make them as versatile as possible. Word on the street is that the guitar is pretty much a Classic Vibe 60’s with cosmetic stuff.

Here's a short demo just noodling aimlessly on my rig (Behringer SF300 Super Fuzz -> Westminster Effects 2716 -> NUX MG30 -> Line 6 Catalyst 60, recorded with just an iPhone):

 
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Clifdawg

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Bumping to say I put a video demo in the post. Sorry it's not great - I'm still in the process of moving and still don't have a studio proper to record footage in!
 

Matthews Guitars

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Actually the uneven neck binding thickness was literally the first detail I noticed. But that's because I've paid so many dues learning to do binding correctly and screwing it up a lot when I make my own guitars.


Nice axe, though.
 

Cal Nevari

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Hey everyone! It’s been a minute. Been very busy with school and work, but I miss being a part of online guitar communities, so… How y’all doin’? Ya good?

Anyway, despite a Squier Strat pretty much being everyone’s go-to “first guitar,” I’ve never had a Strat - or any Squier, for that matter - in my 18+ years of playing. My church gifted me a little bonus for doing music (I don’t take any pay for it) at Christmas, so I decided to take the plunge and buy a Sunset Burst Squier 40th Anniversary Strat with gold anodized pickguard, gold hardware, bound neck and block inlays.

It is by any objective measurement a gorgeous (if ostentatious) instrument.

View attachment 123984
It was also darn near perfect out of the box with the only issues being 1. A cosmetic defect where slightly more material was taken off the binding near the neck join when rolling the fretboard a bit (you have to be really looking for it to see it), and 2. An ever so slight buzz (not audible when plugged in) on an open high E string. It’s built to a higher degree of quality control than my MIM Player Telecaster, clearly. It better, this is the most expensive Squier… Ever. Six-hundred Greenback American Freedom Eagles, unless you get it on sale like I did for around 540.

The only complaint I have is that the pickups are not quite as spanky and sparkly as I would like, although I strongly suspect that it’s a deliberate design decision to make them as versatile as possible. Word on the street is that the guitar is pretty much a Classic Vibe 60’s with cosmetic stuff.

Here's a short demo just noodling aimlessly on my rig (Behringer SF300 Super Fuzz -> Westminster Effects 2716 -> NUX MG30 -> Line 6 Catalyst 60, recorded with just an iPhone):


Congratulations and HNGD! She’s gorgeous! Welcome back to the forum.
 

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