I don't know which Squier's you are rubbishing but I recently got myself a Squier Affinity Strat, according to the serial number made in China in 2005.
I am no electric guitarist and my only experience has been on my Peavey T-60 ( 36 Year old solid USA built guitar that weighs a ton). The Peavey has two humbuckers and I have been battling to get Strat tones out of the thing until I acquired the Squier.
Being no expert and not having anything to measure the Squier against I don't have much of a problem with the guitar. The neck is a lot chunkier but quite playable.
Tonally - I am not too sure what to expect but it handles distortion quite well, although at a lesser volume than my Peavey.
I am playing it through a Cube 30 (please excuse my horrible Amp, but I am a bedroom "Electric" guitarist). Clean Sounds - choosing some of the Modelling Amps e.g. Fender Twin Reverb, the signal does breakup quite nicely when increasing the gain and using the neck pickup!
I am not standing up for Squiers at all because my experience is totally limited but my Squier seems to be of a reasonable Quality for a beginner!
Saying that I did try some Squier Bullet strats and they were not of the same standard
- See more at:
http://www.guitarforum.co.za/general-discussion/good-quality-beginner-guitar/?action=post;num_replies=13#sthash.kpLndb9A.dpuf
Yes, granted. There are a few (Strats) that are quite decent, my friend's Squire Strat included (limited edition black with mirror scratch guard- don't know what they called it). However, and I know this might not always be the case, the good ones I have seen, tend to be rather pricy for something branded Squier (my friend's once again case in point). I'd rather pay a little extra and get a Mexican made Fender. beginner or not, there is nothing wrong with starting with a bit of quality, and at least you wont need to replace it regardless of your later skillset. Then again I would never actually buy a strat, not while the Telecaster is an option. it can pretty much do anything a strat can and more, and at the same price.
if you think about it, someone new to guitars who doesn't really care or only cares about aesthetics and who hasn't put any thought into it will almost always land up buying a strat, whereas you see someone with a telecaster and its safe to say they take it more seriously and probably knows a bit about guitars. naturally I am in no way saying this is the case with everyone playing a strat, and for many people it is perfect for them. But, in the almost 15 years I've been playing, nearly all the people I have seen start playing and loose interest soon after or buy a guitar without any real consideration, bought a Squier Strat. So now when you see someone with one you don't really know, is it a bachelor pad decoration? or are we about to Jam and let some riffs fly!
That aside, as longs as you tested the waters when you make the decision for your first guitar and it feels right and comfortable for you, that guitar, regardless what it is, is far more valuable than a R70K signature model that is just sitting in someone's collection gathering dust.
