Squier Strat

Bruh, I wasn't criticizing the instrument at all - of all my Fender guitars, a MIM is my #1! I was giving you a little poke on the spelling of the brand in the thread title... Well, it was intended as a friendly poke but reading it back I see how that got a bit misconstrued. If I wanted to poke fun at cheap guitars I'd take a hard look at my latest acquisition, that MIC Gretsch... :rolf:

I'm not much of a Strat guy either. In my hands a Strat always sounds exactly like a Strat which is a nice thing for the right application but it's a bit limiting. The range of tones I can get from a Tele are astounding in comparison despite the limited controls and lack of a third pickup. Different horses for different courses. I certainly wouldn't want to be Strat-less when I want 'that' sound.
Hell yeah, I got a absolutely killer Mex std recently. I've had all kinds of Fenders, CS, Vintage, Am, Mex, MIK, MIC, MII..... There's not much to them and most can be turned into pro level instruments if you know how.
 
My view is simply that a guitar consists of two elements; the wood & craftsmanship and the electronics. Budget guitars don't have good electronics generally, but pickups are random and the rest is easy and cheap the replace. Pickups are a random sort of thing to me; what works well with one guitar might sound like crap on another. My #1 has cheap ceramic pickups - I can't explain why they work in there, but I even went out of my way to buy another set from @Eric'45 . I appreciate the super-duper Bare Knuckles in my Strat or the top notch Fenders in my anniversary Tele but I've never really seen a clear ratio from good to bad correlating with price in that regard.
Then there's the wood and craftsmanship. Even the cheapest factory will churn out the odd guitar that's really well done and by happy accident has the right cut of the right pieces of wood, etc. Less common than with expensive guitars but not impossible. A cheap guitar *can* be better than a hundred expensive ones, the chances are just a lot lower - and you'll want to swap out some parts here and there.

EDIT: @ibmorjamn I think you're a guitarist if you play guitar. That's the definition I go by. To be a musician, you have to play what other people want to hear. And to be a pro you have to get paid to do so or earn money from it somehow.
 
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My view is simply that a guitar consists of two elements; the wood & craftsmanship and the electronics. Budget guitars don't have good electronics generally, but pickups are random and the rest is easy and cheap the replace. Pickups are a random sort of thing to me; what works well with one guitar might sound like crap on another. My #1 has cheap ceramic pickups - I can't explain why they work in there, but I even went out of my way to buy another set from @Eric'45 . I appreciate the super-duper Bare Knuckles in my Strat or the top notch Fenders in my anniversary Tele but I've never really seen a clear ratio from good to bad correlating with price in that regard.
Then there's the wood and craftsmanship. Even the cheapest factory will churn out the odd guitar that's really well done and by happy accident has the right cut of the right pieces of wood, etc. Less common than with expensive guitars but not impossible. A cheap guitar *can* be better than a hundred expensive ones, the chances are just a lot lower - and you'll want to swap out some parts here and there.

EDIT: @ibmorjamn I think you're a guitarist if you play guitar. That's the definition I go by. To be a musician, you have to play what other people want to hear. And to be a pro you have to get paid to do so or earn money from it somehow.
I consider myself a fan of music that led to playing. I really wish I had spent the time when I was younger but circumstances happen. I did dedicate a lot of time playing as a teenager. I just never got past mediocre. Even now , a year or 2 ago I really started playing more , all I got was sore knuckles and fingers tips. In part due to string bends at or above one step.
 
My view is simply that a guitar consists of two elements; the wood & craftsmanship and the electronics. Budget guitars don't have good electronics generally, but pickups are random and the rest is easy and cheap the replace. Pickups are a random sort of thing to me; what works well with one guitar might sound like crap on another. My #1 has cheap ceramic pickups - I can't explain why they work in there, but I even went out of my way to buy another set from @Eric'45 . I appreciate the super-duper Bare Knuckles in my Strat or the top notch Fenders in my anniversary Tele but I've never really seen a clear ratio from good to bad correlating with price in that regard.
Then there's the wood and craftsmanship. Even the cheapest factory will churn out the odd guitar that's really well done and by happy accident has the right cut of the right pieces of wood, etc. Less common than with expensive guitars but not impossible. A cheap guitar *can* be better than a hundred expensive ones, the chances are just a lot lower - and you'll want to swap out some parts here and there.

EDIT: @ibmorjamn I think you're a guitarist if you play guitar. That's the definition I go by. To be a musician, you have to play what other people want to hear. And to be a pro you have to get paid to do so or earn money from it somehow.
Yep, I basically check out the wood! Where's the emojis on this mug?
 
Bruh, I wasn't criticizing the instrument at all - of all my Fender guitars, a MIM is my #1! I was giving you a little poke on the spelling of the brand in the thread title... Well, it was intended as a friendly poke but reading it back I see how that got a bit misconstrued. If I wanted to poke fun at cheap guitars I'd take a hard look at my latest acquisition, that MIC Gretsch... :rolf:

I'm not much of a Strat guy either. In my hands a Strat always sounds exactly like a Strat which is a nice thing for the right application but it's a bit limiting. The range of tones I can get from a Tele are astounding in comparison despite the limited controls and lack of a third pickup. Different horses for different courses. I certainly wouldn't want to be Strat-less when I want 'that' sound.
I was never a Strat guy. I had reasons at the time. Then several years ago picked up a MIM Strat. Now I wonder what took me so long. It and the G400 are probably my favorite guitars.
 
Where's the emojis on this mug?

KvTrsyg.png
 
Hell yeah, I got a absolutely killer Mex std recently. I've had all kinds of Fenders, CS, Vintage, Am, Mex, MIK, MIC, MII..... There's not much to them and most can be turned into pro level instruments if you know how.
The good thing about Fender is that you literally can mix and match bodies/necks/electronics to find out what you like and what works well together. I have yet to hold a better Tele Neck than the one of my 2007 Mexico Standard. That guitar just plays well, stays in tune and is literally bulletproof.
The thing with "cheap" guitars in general is not that they are bad. IMO there is more variation. the majority is good, with a few that are very good right from the start and a minority that are not very good at all. There is a low percentage of junk, but the majority can be made into very decent, and well playable guitars.
 
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