Squire to Fender Stratocaster

[Ice_phoenix1]

I just want to know if anybodys tried converting a Squire strat into a Fender stratocaster by replacing the electronics?

Would it sound the same/little difference as a Fender? Or is it better just to buy a fender strat from a shop?

Any comments would be appreciated.

[R Whittington]

upgrading the electronics on a Squire will improve the guitar...but it won't "transform" it into an American strat. If you'd really like a great buy in a Fender instrument, check into the HighwayOne series.

[Frugle]

its not necessarily the sound that makes a squire a squire in my book. I don't like the feel and playability of the squire. Yes, replacing the electronics may make it sound more like a real strat, but it will never feel like one.

[hallowspirit]

Squires are made out of poor matierials like plywood. Eveyone i've seen had cracks in it near the neck, probably just the finish. i have a hard time taking anyone searious as a guitarist, who thinks a squire is a good guitar.

[elsteve9]

BTW:

Highway One guitars are just mexican strats assembled in the U.S. Construction might be a little better, but I never felt they were much better, especially since you're close to U.S. strat territory.
I love the new boring old American Strats though.
I'm a big fan of used guitars, but I might try and spring for the New (since...2003? They changed some stuff then, or maybe the next year) Am. Strat.
Not to run down the idea of a used one.
Just my .02.

And I would totally agree that the answer to your original question is "No, not really. Not hardly close, unless you find an extremely well constructed old squier, like some of the japanese ones."

-Stephen

[Alex53]

My Squier is not made of plywood.

[Teleman78]

If you have a line on some great pickups for little or no money, by all means give er the upgrade. But three good Seymours will cost you around $200, maybe a trade up would be the smart money. Good luck! P.S. yes, good guts make a big difference. Rarely do you get your money out of a Squire with upgrades if you go to sell it later.

[nismo]

I've had dozens of guitars over my 50 years on the planet.
Still have atleast a dozen plus 5 mandolins.
I still have a couple Martins, a Taylor, LP, Am Strat, 3 Yamahas, 2 Washburns along with several other brands, including one Squire Strat.
The guitar I usually play when it comes to electrics is the Squier.
With a few mods: good tuners, good pickups and a blocked trem is sounds better "more harmonics" than my stock fender.

The neck on my Squier is not quite as nice as the fender but is close.

A good source for inexpensive pups can be found at Carvins website. I highly recommend just buying one of their pickguards with the 2 single coil and 1 Humbucker and the pots already prewired.

http://www.carvin.com/products/singl...AG2R&CID=GTR/K


The down side is Carvin's shipping has to be the worst company I've ever done business with. After talking to one of the managers about the problems I had getting my order "it took 3 calls because the didn't send the complete order" they sent me 5 sets of Elixir strings for free.

[joey.y182]

I own a Squier Affinity Strat and I should have gotten a Standard. I'm upgrading my guitar to make it sound better, so does anyone know if Fender Strat pickguards fit Squier Strats?

[RA2]

The sound and feel of the strat are unlike any other the squire is cool for learning but if you won't tone get the strat.

see mine in action here "It's just a matter of time" it's a standard american strat.

keep the music alive

[kman2007]

I have owned a few squires in my day....and they served me well for what I was doing, mainly practicing.

I had a nice Martin D16T (not to be confused with the GT) along with these and it was my main guitar, if fact I still have this guitar and will probably never rid myself of it. I wasn't much into electrics then because I was in college and always moving around in the summer and on breaks and the acoustic was easier to use all the time and I didnt get it taken away in the dorm.

Anyway...back to the squires - some are ok, some really suck - it seemed I had one of each but they both sounded about the same. I do know this, if I play my American Deluxe Strat through the same amp I played my squires through (a fender champion 110), it sounds like a cheap, crummy guitar. Now I do remember playing my first squire through a Fender Blues Deluxe Amp way way back, and it sounded pretty darn good. So, as far as sound goes, I would say your amp is going to show alot more improvement in tone than changing your pickups.

As far as feel, playability, quality, and looks goes - there is no comparison. Simply said, you get what you pay for. An American strat will without a doubt feel, play, and look better (and most likely sound better - certainly will hold tune better, have better intonation, scream when you bend the strings, and sustain better - or at least mine does). The biggest problem I had with my sucky squire was that the neck would constantly be bending like a willow or it would sound funny on the g string or would go out of tune while you were playing it. All things you don't want if you want people to take your guitar playing seriously.

But, for what I said - I always recommend squires to people looking to start playing. They are cheap, you can usually find a pretty decent one if you take someone who knows guitars shopping with you (the crappy one I had was given to me as a gift by someone who did not know guitars) and you have a big selection and they are easy to play. I've seen many friends give up on guitar because they bought a cheap acoustic to learn on only to be plagued by an untunable beast with strings tighter than skin on a frog, hard even for a good guitarist to play a chord on. So don't bash squires, they have thier purpose in the guitar food chain. But if you think you are good enough to decipher these minute tonal differences between pickups (I am talking tone, not output) then you better first get a good tube amp, ditch the squire and more up to a mexican or american strat!

[Suek]

Squires are made out of poor matierials like plywood. Eveyone i've seen had cracks in it near the neck, probably just the finish. i have a hard time taking anyone searious as a guitarist, who thinks a squire is a good guitar.

Plywood ? LOL No they aren't some are pieced together with pieces of Alder but it isn't plywood. I've seen many stripped down and it isn't plywood that you put on your windows before a storm.

[Bluesman48]

I bought a Fender Squire Strat back in 1996 took it to my guitar tech had him put in a set of Texas Special p.u.'s and a Switchcraft input jack. Does it "sound" as good as the real thing? I don't know but I like it.

[guitarplayer_pr]

. . . like to say things like "Squier is bad because it's not a Fender" or "Squiers sound awful" and so and so. I'd like to say this: a lot of people listen with their eyes, not their ears. I've played awful Squiers, of course, but also played really great ones. The same I can say with Fenders. A good Squier doesn't sound like a Fender, some might say. Gibsons don't sound like Fenders, either, and I don't see anyone complaining. I have a MIK Squier Strat, modded with GFS Lil Killers (coil-splitted) and locking tuners. Does it feel or sound like a real Stratocaster? Definitely not; but then again, I'm not a big fan of Stratocasters to begin with. It sounds somewhat like a Stratocaster, but it's a tad warmer and darker. For a good hard rock or alternative sound, this one feels better than Strats, and that's what I look for with it.

[TimmyP1955]

The sound and feel of the strat are unlike any other the squire is cool for learning but if you won't tone get the strat.

see mine in action here "It's just a matter of time" it's a standard american strat.

keep the music alive

Nice! Big family.