Squier Deluxe... YEAH! (heavy GAS content)

[Katastrophe]

Yesterday, while Mrs. K. and the stepdaughter were registering for baby stuff, I stumbled upon a Brook Mays music store, conveniently placed next to the Babies R Us.

I ran to the door.

Went inside, and noticed they had a fairly good sized Squier collection (mostly Bullets and Affinity Strats), with a Deluxe HH and a Satin Deluxe in vintage blonde, with a TS pickguard and 3 SC pups, with white pup covers.

After getting the salesman off the phone (I was the only one in the store), he grabbed the guitar for me and plugged me into a 30W Marshall combo.

WOW! For $199.00 these guitars are gonna be hard to beat. Fit and finish was every bit as good as the MIM Fender it was hanging next to. The medium jumbo frets felt perfect and the neck... well, I was in Heaven. It had a satin finish that felt almost like bare wood, which is my favorite. The salesman tried to spoil my fun by telling me that Squiers "don't have a good tremolo, and they go out of tune fast." I dismissed his uneducated comissioned salaried opinion and kept playing, yanking on the tremolo occasionally. Guess what? The guitar stayed in tune.

While the pups weren't in the Duncan / Dimarzio realm, but they had a good sound. The neck was pure clean Strat, bright and sparkly, and the bridge had a good, almost twangy bite to it. Way cool. Plenty of good tones on positions 2 and 4, sounding mostly like a 'bucker with the tone knob rolled back just a bit. Overall, there was plenty of clarity with the stock pups, and I liked 'em.

The guitar played every bit as good as the MIM I tried out recently, and I liked the neck and frets on the Squier more!

Fellas, I've found my next guitar. Now, I just gotta find the cashola, which should be coming soon.

[warren0728]

good plan...get all your gear BEFORE the baby gets here!!!

ww

[Spudman***]

I've been trying to tell y'all. That's why I have 6 of them now. Great axe for the price and yes I play out with them. If anyone gives me a hard time about playing a Squire I have no reservations about clobbering them with it because I got it so cheap. I'll just go get another to replace it and send the other remains to the Hard Rock Cafe for their collection. El Kabong!

[Tim]

I agree with Warren. Buy before the baby girl arrives. Of course you could always decorate her room with a "Guitar" theme. This could cause more GAS.

[Katastrophe]

I've been trying to tell y'all. That's why I have 6 of them now. Great axe for the price and yes I play out with them. If anyone gives me a hard time about playing a Squire I have no reservations about clobbering them with it because I got it so cheap. I'll just go get another to replace it and send the other remains to the Hard Rock Cafe for their collection. El Kabong!

I know... I know... I'll try and listen better next time...*hangs head in shame* Thanks to this site, I've shed just about all vestiges of gear snobbery in search of the next guitar. If, when I purchase my Squier, anyone gives me grief, I can show 'em on the headstock where it says both "Fender" and "Stratocaster," and smack 'em upside the head with same.

[SuperSwede]

The fret.net is a fantastic place! Probably the only place where your new Squier purchase gets as much "ooohh!" and "aaaahh!" as a Gibson or a Prs

[Spudman***]

The fret.net is a fantastic place! Probably the only place where your new Squier purchase gets as much "ooohh!" and "aaaahh!" as a Gibson or a Prs

It's all about having something that works and is good quality. Squier fits that bill nowdays. Sure a PRS is nice or a Blade etc. But what are you going to do for the next GAS attack? Those guitars need no tweaks. You'll just end up sounding like everyone else that has one. Not like a Squier Strat where the pickup replacement combinations are infinite thereby giving you your own distinct sound.

How's that for GAS justification? We should probably start a list of reasons how we can justify GAS.

[Katastrophe]

How's that for GAS justification? We should probably start a list of reasons how we can justify GAS.

Like we need any MORE justification for GAS! We got so much GAS goin' on here, if the oil companies found out, they'd try to charge us $3.00 a word.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

I've got to agree with Spuds, though. The Squiers I've played have been good, solid instruments. Nothing fancy mind you (except for some of the finishes); no exotic wenge fretboards or dreamy dove inlays, but I think they are following Leo Fender's initial model. Fender wanted to build a good, consistent guitar that didn't cost an arm and a leg to own. From what I've seen, the Squiers fit that bill nicely. Now, which color? The one I played was amber satin, not blonde. I saw a white blonde one on the 'net that had me drooling.

The store also had the coolest looking Epiphone LP Customs, but that's for another thread.