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Gave my daughter a Squire Strat for her 16th B'day

JonL

JonL

Lunatic Member
My younger daughter turned 16 yesterday. She's been talking about learning guitar on and off for a while and signed up for "Beginning Acoustic Guitar" in school for next semester. I got a great deal on a Squire strat starter kit... guitar, little amp, gig bag, strap, tuner, cable, stand, instructional DVD... all new in one box for $170. She was totally blown away. She loved it and we watched some of the DVD together and she was playing three chords within 30 minutes. I hope she sticks with it... I think she will.

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Amazing you can get all that for just that little amount. I think it helps when you start out young. I wish her luck and she should do well.
 
It is amazing that you can get all that so cheap, and it's also amazing that the guitar plays extremely well. We didn't plug in the amp to see how it sounds, and my good rig isn't here at home... that would really be telling (a 2009 Chinese Squire through a 1961 Fender Vibrolux... interesting!) The fit and finish isn't perfect but not bad. The materials aren't the best (the neck is made out of some very strange looking wood, perhaps it's third quality maple), but if it holds up for three or four years that's good enough.

Unfortunately the reason it's so damn cheap is because it's Chinese. $170... the store's gotta make $20 on it (it was a blowout sale at a local independent store... at Guitar Center the same rig is $190.) Freight to the store's gotta be $20. Fender's gotta make $10, that leaves $120 for the raw materials, labor, packaging, shipping from China, profit for the Chinese factory... I don't know how they do it.
 
I bought a cherry Epiphone SG and the quality is very good. Now if I was a real musician I might be able to tell the difference but the Chinese can make some pretty nice stuff. It really is tough to beat the price. Especially for a beginner.
 
Sweet sixteen and a new electric guitar, life is good! :thmbsp: Wish her a happy birthday from all of us. :yes:
 
You're a good Dad. And she's damned lucky to go to a school that still has a music program. So many have been the victim of budget cuts - makes me wonder about our priorities.
 
Good for you (and her), Jon. I was thinking about the same Squire package for my son at Christmas until I came upon a great closeout deal on a Standard Strat (Made in Mexico). It is remarkable what you can pick up for little $$$.

Now you need to crank up "Are you Experienced" for the 3rd time in a week to show her her ultimate goal.
 
That's a great gift. Soon she will be asking you for some new pickups, a tube amp and a slide.
 
Very nice gift and she looks very happy with her new instrument. I like the white pearloid on white colorscheme. Those Squier strats are fun to mod, too.

My son is sticking with the violin, so I am trying to figure out how to afford a decent full sized instrument - his 3/4 is too short now. You mentioned acoustic classes - does she have an acoustic guitar as well?
 
I bought mine in 1999 and it's still in good shape. It didn't have the pearloid pickguard, just a flat white one. Good guitar for the money.
 
tensleep said:
You mentioned acoustic classes - does she have an acoustic guitar as well?
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No. Nor do I :no:. I'll find out if the school has loaners or if we need to rent one. If the rentals are crappy and expensive, perhaps I'll look for a decent used Yamaha or similar, or I'll see what's available new for not too much $$$. Maybe we'll share the acoustic, though it isn't a very practical solution.
 
Never played a "rental guitar" that I didn't want to chunk in a dumpster within a few minutes. There may be decent ones out there, but I've sure never seen one.

Some of the Yamahas are nice, and I see one or two in just about every pawn shop/guitar store I walk into, and usually for less than $200 for earlier models. I just bought a Blueridge BR-40, and for less than $400 (brand new) it sounds monster. The set-up sucked, but a truss rod adjustment and a little judicious filing to deepen the nut slots, worked miracles. Playability now after maybe fifteen minutes work? 7 on a 1 - 10 scale, sound about an 7.5 - 8. I've played better for sure, but not for less than 1,000 dollars.
 
I bought youngest daughter, then a twelve-year-old, the Squier (their spelling!) Fat-Strat kit a couple of years ago. As other here can testify, I know little about guitars and after decades of trying realized I like listening to music better than playing it. But I found the Squier benefitted from replacing the godawful strings it came with. For a few bucks you can get some D'Addarios, or the exact same stuff real Strats come with and they play better, and don't seem to cause so many problems with tender young fingers, or staying in tune. The Squier has held up well, albeit with gentle use.

I recently bought my middle daughter a Fender acoustic-electric, after several decades of good luck with a Korean-made Fender acoustic I got my wife. The Fender is a CD-360SCE, I think (it's away at college), Chinese-made, but a very nice guitar. I compared it to the new low-line X-series made-in-USA Martins but thought the Fender was a cut above in quality and wood at around $400.

I dabble with a used Chinese-made Epiphone Les Paul which, best I can tell, is a very nicely made guitar, though I'd rather have the "real thing" made in America. I make up for it with all-USA-made electronics and speakers in my hi-fi systems with the exception of the CD players. At least all three Fenders I've bought new have come from the same local small guitar shop and involved the shop's owner in each sale. That's worth a lot to me and I don't believe I paid any more than big-box prices for the Squier. :thmbsp:
 
Squier as in V.C. Squier.
squierguitars.com said:
Fender acquired U.S. guitar string manufacturer the V.C. Squier Company in 1965; by 1982 the Squier name had resurfaced as a low-cost “value brand” alternative initially manufactured and distributed in the Japanese domestic market and soon offered to Europe, North America and the rest of the world.

At the time, many other established brands offered affordable copies of classic Fender models including the Stratocaster®, Telecaster®, Precision Bass® and Jazz Bass® guitars. When Squier versions of these instruments appeared, demand for them as the “official” cost-conscious alternatives was immediate, and a brand name was reborn.

To maintain and control costs over the years, Squier instruments have been produced in several nations, including Japan, Korea, India, China, Indonesia and Mexico. While the brand has produced its share of innovative designs over the past 25 years, its main focus and most successful approach has always been to be the “value brand” alternative to its big brother, Fender.
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I hadn't realized the unusual spelling until it was pointed out a few posts back. Then when I looked at the box and saw the "Squier" logo, I thought maybe they did it so the "er" at the end of the name would resemble the "er" at the end of Fender... it does give a certain similarity to the logos.
 
Great BD present.I say anytime they show an interest in music,indulge 'em:thmbsp: My drummer's son turned 14 Saturday.He's a percussion monster,too.I've gigged live with her son probably 80 times or so.Start 'em early! Best wishes!
 
I gotta agree about encouraging the musical talents- My 16 y.o. daughter got a piano last Christmas, has a great voice, & just said the other night "Records sound so much more real than CD's! " The young may save us yet!
 
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