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View Full Version : 80's - 90's MIJ / MIK Squier Guitars



Nelskie
August 15th, 2006, 01:43 PM
I thought it might be cool to have a thread for vintage Squier owners to post information, links, and other stuff about 80's / 90's era Squier Guitars. Even though there were literally hundreds of thousands (maybe even millions) of these guitars made and sold back then, it seems to me that there is still very little about them information-wise.

I myself am very fortunate to own not one, but two of these fantastic instruments. Both are 1987 models - one MIK (made in Korea), and the other MIJ (made in Japan). Although these instruments do not attract as much attention as the Fender-branded MIJ re-issues or standard models, they are still regarded as fine instruments in their own right. As a matter of fact, many owners, as well as collectors, say that the sound / quality of the older Squier MIJ / MIK instruments rivals that of some of their American-made Fender counterparts - a statement that I do not find at all susprising.

One Squier-related thing that I do find surprising is that the *official* Squier web page has zero information on older models. Man, that's so weak. If you think about it, wouldn't it be a feather in their own cap to show some pride in both their history & guitar-building legacy - - instead of continually playing the understudy role to their Fender cousins. I know a LOT of folks (including myself) whose first *real* taste of Fender tone came courtesy of a Squier guitar.

Anyways, to get the thread off to a good start, I've attached a couple of links I've found useful in identifying my own Squier instruments. The first is a SN # dating link that I used to ID my MIJ Strat. For some reason, the MIK models have some really screwy SN #'s, so if any of you MIK owners have a better resource for dating, please let me know. I'm curious to know where my own MIK model was built:

http://pub123.ezboard.com/fguitarsbyfenderfrm7.showMessage?topicID=14.topic

Squier instruments also came in many of the standard / custom Fender colors. If you were wondering about the actual name / code of the color that's on your axe, wonder no more:

http://www.guitarstop.com/Fender/colorchart.htm

Strangely enough, my (2) Squiers are color coded (08) - Ocean Turquoise ('87 MIJ) and (09) - Candy Apple Red ('87 MIK). I've also rassled with the idea of getting a (41) Vintage White guitar, so then I'd have one in red, white, and blue! How's that for patriotic? :D

Vintage Squier owners . . . lemme' hear ya'!

6STRINGS 9LIVES
August 15th, 2006, 03:22 PM
Nelsk... Squire made some damm fine guitars , especiallly in the early days , but you are right regarding the amount of info available on line ..sketchy to say the least , the same holds true for most mij guitars ... heres a good link to check out ....http://www.squierjv.info/

Nelskie
August 15th, 2006, 05:39 PM
Nelsk... Squire made some damm fine guitars , especiallly in the early days . . .
Indeed. I've also played my share of newer models, and have been very impressed. I used to have a 2003 Squier Tele Std. in the awesome 3TS finish, and that was a great guitar. A few choice mods (F-script tuners, Vintage Noiseless p'ups) pushed that axe into another dimension playing & tone-wise.

The newer Squier models share many features with their vintage 80's / 90's brethren, all of which make them terrific players, and great instruments to own. ;)

Great JV link, BTW.

SuperSwede
August 16th, 2006, 03:52 AM
Absolutely, the quality of low-end guitars (and especially squiers) has gone up a lot! Of course they are nothing like those old JV strats, those were definately up there with their american cousins!

Spudman
August 16th, 2006, 08:14 AM
I earned my living with my mid 90's MIK Strat. Nothing wrong with that. I'll put a photo of it up soon.

Spudman
August 16th, 2006, 07:48 PM
The main Strat is the one that looks black but it is deep maroon or Midnight Wine. Korean from 96. It came with a plain white pick guard so I made it much more differenter than it used to be was. :confused:

I've made plenty of $ playing it so I think Squiers qualify as a decent instrument. It's got the best stock bridge pup I've ever run across on a Strat.

Nelskie
August 17th, 2006, 05:55 AM
The main Strat is the one that looks black but it is deep maroon or Midnight Wine. Korean from 96. It came with a plain white pick guard so I made it much more differenter than it used to be was. :confused:

I've made plenty of $ playing it so I think Squiers qualify as a decent instrument. It's got the best stock bridge pup I've ever run across on a Strat.
Yarrrrr! Them thar be some tasty Squiers, Spudman.

You & I already had a conversation about the p'ups in the older MIJ / MIK models a week or two ago. I think you'd mentioned something about the magnets. Maybe you'd be kind enough to re-iterate your assessment regarding the p'up thang in another post here?

The stock single coil sets on my two '87's are probably the best-sounding stock Strat p'ups I've ever heard. And the cool part is that both of my Squier Strats sound different (even tho' they were both built the same year.)

Spudman
August 17th, 2006, 09:39 AM
The pups in the MIK maroon Squier are ceramic believe it or not. I found the secret with this particular set is to move them away from the strings closer to the scratch plate. They clean up and sound full this way however, I still keep the bridge a little higher and it sounds fine. Not thin at all. It has a tad more mid-range and bottom than any other Strat pup I have. I haven't measured them to know their electronic specs so no info there.