Deluxe Stratocaster FMT Review

The Deluxe Stratocaster is a special edition Squier with an impressive figured maple top and a white pearl pickguard. Finishes like these are typically seen on guitars costing ten times as much. It's an amazing value, and it's a real Fender designed Stratocaster. This special run instrument is a cut above the crowd in visual appeal.

Features:	9
Sound:	10
Action:	10
Reliability:	10
Impression:	10
Overall rating:	9.8
Users rating:	7.6
Comments:	24

overall: 10

Reviewed by: KillYourIdols, on january 03, 2006

Price paid: $ 249.99

Purchased from: Guitar Center

Features: I bought the Squier Deluxe Strat quilted top in 2004 for my birthday. It was a step up from a Les Paul Special II. It was made in 2004 and in the USA. The neck has medium jumbo frets and a 25 1/2" scale neck. My hands are quite big so it has enough room for my fingers. The neck is thin and very smooth. I would say that it is one of the best necks I have played on. The guitar has a quilted maple top and you can pick either an alder or agathis body. The finish on the guitar is beautiful! It caught my eye when I first entered Guitar Center. It has a deluxe antique burst finish that will captivate you! I didnt even beleive it was a Squier (many people think that Squiers are poorly made guitars but its not true). The body style is of course a Stratocaster. The bridge is a Synchronous Twin-Pivot Tremolo and are seen on very expensive Fender guitars. The controls that are given is volume, 2 tone, and 5 way Switch. The pickup configuration is S/S/S. If you don't like S/S/S, you can add pickups to your liking because of the swimming pool route. No need for expensive routing. The tuners are standard die cast tuners and the guitar did not come with any accessories. // 10

Sound: The music I play is mainly rock. The guitar is really great for anything. I play a little blues on it and it is awesome. I run the Strat through a Fender 212FM amp with a Boss Distortion pedal. The guitar does have a little buzz at high volumes with distortion. For me I think it isnt a big deal. The settings that I use for songs that have distortion is: volume - 10, tone - 10, tone - 10, and 5 way selector on middle and bridge pickups. Another setting that I use for songs without distortion or you just want a clean sound is: volume - 10, tone - 10, tone - 10, and 5 way selector Switch on neck and middle pickups. The sound on the guitar can vary. Mainly its the pickups and settings that you use. I have went to Kurt Cobain's noisy distortioned guitar to a clean, no effects, guitar. It all depends on your taste and this guitar will live up to it. // 10

Action, Fit & Finish: The setup on the guitar was very good. But I had to do some alterations to my liking. The pickups were adjusted to a nice height. The guitar had no flaws in the finish. As I said before the finish will stun you. The guitar was new becuase I bought it at Guitar Center. Came right out of the box and was the last one at that time. I am very pleased with this purchase. // 10

Reliability & Durability: The hardware on the guitar seems like it is going to last for a very long time. That's if you take care of it. The strap buttons are very solid. I don't have any problems about it dropping but I prefer you to buy a locking strap. You dont want to drop it and mess up the finish! I can really depend on this guitar. The finish on the guitar is going to last and isn't going to wear off just by playing. It might wear off if you throw it around. Hey! Why would you do that to a beatiful guitar? // 10

Impression: My overall impression of this guitar is that it is more bang for your buck. They are selling it at Guitar Center for $250! This guitar looks and feels like a $700 guitar! This guitar is really amazing. I highly recommend it for anybody that is a beginner or a pro. If my guitar was stolen I would buy another one. I wouldnt get something else! I really love the finish and the tremolo. This guitar does not go out of tune easily. That is a really nice feature. This is an awesome guitar! Go out there and buy one. // 10

Reviewed by: unregistered, on june 28, 2005

Purchased from: Guitar Center

Features:
- Special Edition, made in China, 2004
- 22 Medium-Jumbo Frets, Rosewood 9. 5" Radius (241 mm), 25. 5" (648 mm)Scale Length
- Body is Alder or Agathis, neck is maple, C-shaped
- Flamed Maple Top, 3-color sunburst, polyurethane finish on body and neck
- Standard Stratocaster body
- Synchronous Twin-Pivot tremolo
- 1 volume, 2 tone controls, 5-way selector
- 3 Alnico Magnet single-coil pickups
- Standard Die-Cast tuners
- Chrome hardware, 3-ply white pearloid pickguard
- No accessories. // 8

Sound: I use this guitar mostly to play blues, punk, and metal. This is the best guitar I've played for blues, plays, sounds, and feels as well as a Fender Standard Strat, great sustain, stays in tune even through whammy dives and string bends. Great for punk, especially surf-punk. This guitar is my 2nd choice for metal, only because I'm a humbucker guy when laying on the gain and distortion, but my first choice among other single-coil axes. I'm normally use this through a Drive 120-watt DSP amp, Danelectro Wasabi distortion pedal, (or a Zakk Wylde Overdrive if I want chunk, not distortion), and a Dunlop 535Q Wah pedal. This guitar isn't noisy at all whether playing clean, distorted, or through an overdriven amp, very rich and bright sound. This guitar can make all kinds of sounds, the action is great for pinch harmonics, the whammy is dual pivot, meaning you can pull up for screams as well as dive down for moans. The action is also great for bends, trills, slides, etc all over the neck. // 10

Action, Fit & Finish: This guitar came out of the box ready to play, I didn't need to make any adjustments at all. The action is perfect for just about anything, so no truss-rod adjusting needed. the pickups were set up great, all strings ring loud and clear for the length of the neck, no dull frets and no fret buzz. The finish and hardware were set up great, the pickup selector and control knobs adjust with no noise, this guitar has no flaws so far (after 7 months of ownership). My only complaint is having to remove the wrap from the pickguard and under the control knobs, but it's no big deal at all. // 10

Reliability & Durability: This guitar will excel for live playing, very durable and trustworthy. The hardware seems strong, no loose parts at all. The strap buttons are solid, no drops yet. I would definitely use this guitar through a whole gig with no backup. The finish is great, no wear yet, will last for a long time, even with heavy playing. // 10

Impression: Again, I play mostly blues, punk and metal with this guitar and it's a perfect match for each. I've been playing for 9 years and this is the best guitar I've come across for the amount I've paid for it. I also own an Ibanez Artcore hollowbody, Ibanez Dreadnought acoustic, Epiphone Studio LP, Gibson Custom LP, Fender American Strat, and a cheap nylon-string classical guitar, don't recall the make offhand. The Squier Deluxe Strat is among my favorites because of the versatility to play all styles of music. Don't be fooled by the Squier name, this guitar plays and feels exactly like an expensive Fender Strat, in fact I bought it to back up my Fender American Strat, but I find myself using the Squier almost exclusively.

If this guitar were lost or stolen, then I'd definitely buy it again, I'd may even buy the quilted-top version too. What I love most about this guitar is that it simply sounds amazing, there's nothing to hate about it. My favorite features are the beautiful finish, the dual-pivot tremolo (first I've seen on a Squier), and the '60s retro oversized head looks great too. I compared this to other Squier strats, and this guitar beats them all in looks, feel, sound, and features. The only thing I could ask for is that Squier would make a Fat-strat (2 single coil, one humbucker at bridge) with these features, as far as this guitar goes, it's perfect. // 10

Comments

[system123]

what's the difference between a fender strat and a squier???

[ronoh55]

nothing as far as i know...fender owns squier. Squier are just cheaper prices, and thus thought to be cheaply made, but that for the most part isnt so...at least if u get one made in the US. Ones made in Mexico or Korea idk....

[the_guy]

system123 wrote:

what's the difference between a fender strat and a squier???

fenders are:

better sounding, better made, made from better wood, have better pickups, made by better people, more pricey.

[Baby Hammett]

think of it like this
squier=Epiphone
Fender=Gibson

Squier is just a less quality Fender... just like an epiphone is a less quality Gibson..

[fenderdeluxe]

im 12 and i play mainly rock and metal and this guitars awesome it also looks beautiful it looks 10 times its price

[Erlend Johan]

I think it is a good guitar
I got one with a black finish

[ENADSIDOG]

this is an amzing guitar i play heavy funk i got rid of my american fender and just use this baby this is a n amzing guitar you wont find better, i play it through a huge stack and its sound is way better then a fender what ever you people say. some guitars are brillinat weather there 200 or 4500 dollars

[CobenBlack]

the_guy wrote:

system123 wrote:

what's the difference between a fender strat and a squier???


fenders are:

better sounding, better made, made from better wood, have better pickups, made by better people, more pricey.

There not made by better peope, there not always made from better wood, the low down fenders use the same pickups as squiers, and as such they dont sound better.

they are more pricey though. basically the difference is the price and a whole lot of snobbery. unless you talking about paying 600(gb pounds) or more for the fender, at which point, yeah, i'll agree with the above. but the lowere fenders? theres no difference that i can tell.

[nick dixon]

CobenBlack wrote:

the_guy wrote:

system123 wrote:

what's the difference between a fender strat and a squier???


fenders are:

better sounding, better made, made from better wood, have better pickups, made by better people, more pricey.

There not made by better peope, there not always made from better wood, the low down fenders use the same pickups as squiers, and as such they dont sound better.

they are more pricey though. basically the difference is the price and a whole lot of snobbery. unless you talking about paying 600(gb pounds) or more for the fender, at which point, yeah, i'll agree with the above. but the lowere fenders? theres no difference that i can tell.

This guy knows what he's talking about. I have to say apart from very minor cosmetic details and such, the Squiers are practically the same, and if not play even better then some of the fenders. 2 of the nicest guitars I have ever played was one my friends squire Telecaster standard, and my own Squier Stratocaster Standard.

My other friend has an american startocaster deluxe in olympic white with classic pickups and all the goo-gaws, its quite nice, but my squier plays and SOUNDS better. Yes thats right!, you heard me.

Apart from the fact people are obsessed with the "strat", you know, THE strat, there isnt much differnce between squier and fender except for the prices. I payed £50 for my gorgeous strat in 2 colour sunburst and 70's headstock... im laughing because my freind payed just short of 700 for his fender

I will say that there are good guitars, and bad guitars. Try before you buy. YES, alot of fenders are better then squiers, and sometimes vis versa. it all depends, and NO 2 guitars are ever the same.

I have a 1994 japanese stratocaster 1962 re-issue... My squier plays better then that too.

do you homework and dont jump on the elitist bandwagon of being a fender snob / wanker

[picklepopcikle]

im thinking of buying a squier strat but i really want it to last. should i buy the fender strat instead or will the squier last me till the day i die(which si quite a long time away)? im also thinking on buyon an amp...any recommendations?

[picklepopcikle]

im thinking of buying a squier strat but i really want it to last. should i buy the fender strat instead or will the squier last me till the day i die(which is quite a long time away? im also thinking on buyin an amp...any recommendations?

[Anjohl]

Does anyone know what type of Trem bar this guitar uses? I bought one used, loving it so far, but a strat-style trem I bought won't fit it at all, it's too small.

[super_strat_man]

[quote]nick dixon wrote:

CobenBlack wrote:

the_guy wrote:

system123 wrote:

what's the difference between a fender strat and a squier???


fenders are:

better sounding, better made, made from better wood, have better pickups, made by better people, more pricey.

There not made by better peope, there not always made from better wood, the low down fenders use the same pickups as squiers, and as such they dont sound better.

they are more pricey though. basically the difference is the price and a whole lot of snobbery. unless you talking about paying 600(gb pounds) or more for the fender, at which point, yeah, i'll agree with the above. but the lowere fenders? theres no difference that i can tell.


This guy knows what he's talking about. I have to say apart from very minor cosmetic details and such, the Squiers are practically the same, and if not play even better then some of the fenders. 2 of the nicest guitars I have ever played was one my friends squire Telecaster standard, and my own Squier Stratocaster Standard.

My other friend has an american startocaster deluxe in olympic white with classic pickups and all the goo-gaws, its quite nice, but my squier plays and SOUNDS better. Yes thats right!, you heard me.

Apart from the fact people are obsessed with the "strat", you know, THE strat, there isnt much differnce between squier and fender except for the prices. I payed £50 for my gorgeous strat in 2 colour sunburst and 70's headstock... im laughing because my freind payed just short of 700 for his fender

I will say that there are good guitars, and bad guitars. Try before you buy. YES, alot of fenders are better then squiers, and sometimes vis versa. it all depends, and NO 2 guitars are ever the same.

I have a 1994 japanese stratoca

[super_strat_man]

[quote]nick dixon wrote:

CobenBlack wrote:

the_guy wrote:

system123 wrote:

what's the difference between a fender strat and a squier???


fenders are:

better sounding, better made, made from better wood, have better pickups, made by better people, more pricey.

There not made by better peope, there not always made from better wood, the low down fenders use the same pickups as squiers, and as such they dont sound better.

they are more pricey though. basically the difference is the price and a whole lot of snobbery. unless you talking about paying 600(gb pounds) or more for the fender, at which point, yeah, i'll agree with the above. but the lowere fenders? theres no difference that i can tell.


This guy knows what he's talking about. I have to say apart from very minor cosmetic details and such, the Squiers are practically the same, and if not play even better then some of the fenders. 2 of the nicest guitars I have ever played was one my friends squire Telecaster standard, and my own Squier Stratocaster Standard.

My other friend has an american startocaster deluxe in olympic white with classic pickups and all the goo-gaws, its quite nice, but my squier plays and SOUNDS better. Yes thats right!, you heard me.

Apart from the fact people are obsessed with the "strat", you know, THE strat, there isnt much differnce between squier and fender except for the prices. I payed £50 for my gorgeous strat in 2 colour sunburst and 70's headstock... im laughing because my freind payed just short of 700 for his fender

I will say that there are good guitars, and bad guitars. Try before you buy. YES, alot of fenders are better then squiers, and sometimes vis versa. it all depends, and NO 2 guitars are ever the same.

I have a 1994 japanese stratocaster 1962 re-issue... My squier plays better then that too.

do you homework and dont jump on the elitist bandwagon of being a fender snob / wanker

[/quote]You guys are just so ignorant of the shitiness of your squiers and are completely convinced that they sound the same or better than real Fender Strats. None of the worlds greatest guitarists play squiers and they shouldnt, because their music would sound like shit. When i picked up my first electric guitar, a Epiphone Les Paul 100, i thought it sounded great, until i realized i just didn't have the $$ to pay for the better sounding gibsons and Fender Strats. Plus, Fender knows that their squires suck and thts why the put Squier Strat in big font and then(by fender)in tiny writing.

[Anjohl]

I bought an FMT Squier, and I have to say the above poster is dead wrong. Here is the list of guitars I have owned:

Fender Jag-Stang
Epiphone Les Paul
Sammick Strat-copy
Squier FMT

The Squier is definitely the best of the three. It's got FANTASTIC intonation for clean play, and its distortion tone through my beloved marshall is great. It's instant Iron Maiden/Pink Floyd, it's that good.

I compared this guitar to a pair of G&L guitars costing 1200 each, and mine held it's own. Is it as good? Not really. But I will say that I liked the clean tone on my Squier better than both G&L's, and I have been palying guitar for almost 15 years.

I like the fact that I can get a decent Stratocaster tone, with the authentic specs, but I don't have to worry about every little spec of dust and every ding on the guitar, because it DIDNT cost me ~$1000.

Are Fenders better? In almsot every way. Except price. And the rule of "As good as yoru weakest link" applies positively here. If you are a beginner-intermediate, a decent higher-end Squier is a godsent, reliable, sounds great, easily replacable. To the average musician, there is no real perceptible difference between a Squier and a Fender, similarly to how HD-DVD looks only a little better than standard DVD.

And just like in the above statement, the average consumer is satisfied with the lower-end version, because the extra cost is disproprtionate to the extra quality. If you want a rock/pop guitar with great versatility, the Squier FMT/QMT is a great but, probably the best Squier makes (That and the Hot Rails Strat).

[bluekanoodle]

OK, I have this Squier, and I just went out and bought a brand new fender American Deluxe today. I also have a new Squier affinity that I bought two days ago to use as a beater (it’s going back to the store now though), so I hope that I am qualified to make some comparisons between them.

My Squier Deluxe FMT has been upgraded to SCN Pickups, in addition I have replaced all the electronics to match the American Specs. That means that taking electronics out of the picture we're left with the guitar and hardware itself to compare.

The comparisons were all done with the same settings and the same amp, a fender blues junior. I also played them through a Roland Micro cube and a Digitech RP250 through a Monitor.

Right off the bat let me tell you side by side now, the Squier affinity sucks compared to both of these. To those of you who have one and like good for you, but there's no comparison. It sounds weak, thin and very twangy (and not in a pleasant Telecaster sort of way. This guitar was professionally setup when I bought it, but other then that it’s completely stock.

So lets compare the Deluxe Squier and the Deluxe strat. As far as fit and finish, no doubt the fender is much better built. It feels solid, all the joints are very well put together and the fretwork is amazing. The Squier does win points for its beautiful Figured wood top, and as far as that goes I think it s the winner.

But really matters are the sound. To really here the difference between these to guitars, you have to play them trough a tube amp, no your modeler does not count. Trust me when I say until tonight I could not here the difference between a modeler and my tube amp, but holy cow to does the American Strat make a tube amp sing. Don’t get me wrong, the Squier still sounds great, but there are definite differences.

I’ve only played for about 10 months, so I don’t know the technical name for what I am hearing, but the American strat has a much creamier, more diverse sound. It’s almost like to describe it you have to listen to the sounds between the sounds. It’s like a choir of angels singing to your notes. I don’t know how to say it. I would say the squire with a pickup upgrade, can get about 60% of the sound, but its that 25% that is where the magic happens. For a blues or classic rock or clean sound, the American smokes the little Squier, Under heavy distortion the difference while still there, is definitely less noticeable

But keep in mind to get that close, I have to spend almost 550 dollars. Both of these Guitars blow my old Mexican strat out of the water by the way

Conclusion, these are both great guitars, and If your trying to keep your equipment costs down, the squire is an awesome guitar, but its no American Deluxe. I think both these guitars are in the same place in their respective product lines. The American definitely has more little touches that really make this a work of art
Just be prepared to spend a little money down the road to replace the stock pickups. Will I have the Squier in 10 years? Probably not, it’s a road worthy guitar, one that I don’t mind taking in the car with me. The American is destined to be a family heirloom that I one day pass down to my grandchildren.

Total Cost for the American Deluxe $1025
Squier FMT $550 (250 for guitar 200 for pickups, 50 for a real pearloid pickguard, not the flimsy one that came with it, and 50 for the upgraded electronics)

So for approximately half the cost of the American you get 60% of the tone. Granted the American has a much nicer neck, S-1 switching, locking tuners, hand rolled fingerboard, etc so honesty I’d say you get half the guitar that American s for Half the price. To those who claim a sock Squier is anymore then half the guitar at 1/10 the price, you obviously have not spent any serious time with the two. It’s the small details that make a big difference when they are combined.

Give me a few more days to play and I’d be happy to provide sound samples between the 2

[vienteSiete]

I've been searching for days for a good comparison and 'just wanna say that the above post is really helpful...\m/

[Teen Spirit]

^what he said.

[G-loony]

uhuh so i guess that if i want to play, uhm let's say...

Clean Like Nirvana/The Vines/The Kooks (that kind of tacky clean) but also use my BOSS DS2 pedal for more of a Weezer/Bloodhound gang/SOAD kind of distortian this guitar would be kind of perfect ???

I'm in a crisis for a new guitar but i haven't got 500 for a decent fender.

So i am asking you guys...
I Can Has Squier ?

[Anjohl]

The only thing you will lose G-Loony is the thickness of a humbucker. That will make the SOAD sound a LITTLE thin. BUT, if you only a relativley NEW player, I wouldn't worry about it, get a strat and don't look back.

If you plan on playing a lot of heavily distorted rock/metal, you might want to look for the vintage modified squier with the humbucker in the bridge position, or considar if you are willing to spend an extra $75 to have a seymour duncan hot rail equipped into your squier.

[FRAGaLOT]

When it comes to how good the Squire vs. Strat, and the assumption they both use the same pickups, why hasn't there been any talk about the strings?

I bet they both come with the same stock strings from Fender, and sound the same. But when you wear them out and replace them, do they sound better or worse? Are you comparing a Squire with old strings vs a Strat with new ones?

And are Fender made strings better than others?

[FRAGaLOT]

After searching around the difference is that the Squire is a mass-produced guitar made in Eastern Asia by cheaper labor, thus it's sold cheap.

Where as the Stratocaster is made in North America, built by people who earn well above minim-wage. The guitars are inspected and go though more scrutiny and QA than an Squire. It's also assumed a Square won't last as long as a Strat.

[FRAGaLOT]

Gotta Love Wikipedia
here's the history of Fender
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fender

And here's the story behind the Squire brand
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squier

[ippystratman]

i cant understand why people are bothering to say that squier strats arent as good as fender strats. Of course they arent, but look at it this way; proper fender strats cost a bitchload, my squier cost $400 and thats with an extra $100 added on coz im a left hander. Squier strats are good quality guitars especially for the price. It really irritates me when people say squiers are crap because they are great for the pricerange.