RickyWicky wrote:
I figured it would be a better quality product compared to other strat copies, seeing as it is a Fender product... albeit cheaply produced.)
People seem to occasionally get lucky with Squiers, but I've never played one that wasn't rubbish. They sell because of the reasons you've stated above. I'd ditch it and get something decent rather than trying to use a shoddy guitar as a platform for upgrades.
Buy second hand - that's the first thing. You pay a huge premium buying new which is not rewarded for longer than it takes to pull the plastic off the pickguard.
If it's a pure Strat you want, get a Mexican Fender (easy to find, decent guitars) or, if you're lucky, get a Japanese Fender or a Japanese made Tokai (Tokai used to make Fenders for Fender Japan, so the quality is identical).
Otherwise it's hard to go wrong with a Yamaha Pacifica. The lowest priced Pacifica should sell for less second hand than your bullet-Squier but be a vastly superior instrument. But Pacificas keep going up to the level of USA Fenders, quality and spec-wise. Unfortunately, most owners of high-end Pacificas don't know what they have and tend to advertise them simply as a "Yamaha Pacifica," (which can net you some insane deals. My buddy's 700 series Pacifica cost about the same a Squier).
Edit: And (haha) I bought my made-in-Japan, 900 series Pacifica new because it was going for about the same as a Mexican Fender at the time. Best deal ever.
