M-80 Special Review

The Squire M-80 Special is a sleek, modern, sophisticated looking, fast-playing double cutaway electric guitar. Designed by Custom Shop Senior Master Builder Todd Krause, it features a bolt-on neck, basswood body, maple neck, rosewood fingerboard, 2 black humbuckers, chrome hardware, and more!

Features:	7.8
Sound:	8.8
Action:	7.3
Reliability:	8
Impression:	8.3
Overall rating:	8
Users rating:	7.6
Comments:	43

overall: 9

Featured review by: emo_rocker89, on october 17, 2005

Price paid: $ 199.79

Purchased from: Musician

Features: The Squier M-80 Special is a 21-fret double cutaway electric guitar with dual humbuckers. It has a basswood body and a maple neck. Two volume and two tone controls can be used to shape your sound, and a 3-way pickup selector Switch is standard. I found the features to be easy to use, high quality, and able to give me a wide variety of sounds. The only complaint I would have is that the pickup Switch is very weak. // 8

Sound: I play punk rock, hard rock, metal, and classic rock and this guitar is perfect for all styles that I have used it for. It can produce creamy highs and guttural lows for any style, and can easily measure up to much more expensive guitars. I run this guitar through a Line 6 Spider II 210, and it sounds excellent. It tends to have a brighter sound, which I prefer. // 9

Action, Fit & Finish: This guitar was perfectly set-up when I received it. The pickups were at the correct postition and the bridge needed no adjusting. I took it out of the box, tuned it, and it was ready to play. The only complaint regarding this is that when I got this guitar, the strings were already rusted. However, I do not know if this is because if the company or where I purchased it from. // 9

Reliability & Durability: I have used this guitar to play live shows with, and it has held up exceedingly well. I was forced to use it as my main guitar when my Les Paul was damaged before a show recently, and it performed wonderfully. The hardware and finish appear to be quite good, and are in no danger of being damaged from shows. // 10

Impression: Overall, I was greatly impressed with this guitar. It is perfect for punk, hard rock, metal, blues, or almost anything else possible. It measures up easily in quality and tone to my Les Paul, which cost over 3 times as much as this guitar. The price is one of the most astounding aspects; this is an amazing guitar for under 200 dollars. If it was lost or stolen, I would definitely buy another one immediately. Don't be fooled by the Squier name; this guitar is anything but low-quality. // 9

overall: 8.6

Reviewed by: unregistered, on march 31, 2006

Price paid: $ 200

Purchased from: Belli Brothers

Features: I picked up this guitar as my second guitar, the main reason being the humbuckers. I had been playing guitar for a year and doing considerable research, so as not to waste my money. The humbucker pickups are great, do not get a guitar with single coil unless you enjoy static and a constant buzzing. The neck wood is rosewood, which as I understand is a great wood, everthing seemed pretty much together. There are two volume knobs and two tune knobs which are great for getting the most out of your controls. 22 frets in all. One problem for inexperenced players is the fact that the neck does not have dots on the face and only has dots on the upper side of the wood. This is confusing and diffacult to play at first, personally I prefer my dots on the front and top so I can reference where I am quickily, however once you get use to playing while referncing from the top dots it doesn't make a difference. Why they did this I don't know, maybe to make it look badass because no one can tell it even has dots except the player. If you care enough you could paint or mark your own dots, or symbols on without too much trouble, just make sure you use the right paint. // 8

Sound: I use a spider Line 6 amp, it has a computer in it with quite a few effects, and sounds. The guitar is really clean thanks to the humbuckers. While I have little experence with other guitars, other guitars tend to sound alot more dirty. Not to say this dirty sound is bad its just different. The M-80 sounds really bright and clean, that's not to say you can't distort the hell out of it and make it sound like a monster. // 10

Action, Fit & Finish: The guitar has a good action and is pretty comfortable to play. There was one main problem that plagued me for about a month. The nut kept falling out of the output jack (where your guitar plug goes in). No matter how much I tightened the little bastard down it just would not stay. I took it back to the shop and it turned out that the actual output jack was stripped so they had to soder in a brand new one. This was covered by the warranty so it wasn't too big a deal. Whether this is simply my case or happans in others I don't know. What it does prove is that they do not handcheck and inspect the guitar. Thankfully you can, and with the warranty avoid any costly problems or repairs (not that I have found anymore). Just a heads up to inspect the guitar. // 8

Reliability & Durability: Its hard to say, I've had the guitar for 3 months. I had an interesting problem about 2 months after I got the guitar, the first fret on the B and High E string sounded really twangy, like a citar. This problem onset itself about 2 months after I got the guitar (I've had the guitar for four months). When I held down the strings on either those two frets the string was slightly touching another fret. I brought it back to the shop the same time I brought it back for the output jack. All he had to do was adjust the screws at the end of the neck to bring the taper up a little. The shop owner said that it was due to the humidity and heat. Once again covered by the warranty and not a problem. So, whether this was the guitar problem or the weather and happans to all guitars I don't know. The good thing was it was covered by the warranty, wasn't a big deal and now sounds great as ever. // 8

Impression: I play a lot of genres, metal, punk, grunge, jazz. I have two teachers, ones a metal head and ones a classical guitarist. When the metal head picked up the guitar he approved it with flying colors. I feel that for a mid grade guitar this is one of the better ones availble in sound and style. For the price range there are alot of guitars availble however, most of them don't have humbuckers, rosewood and a good warranty. For the price, compared to most other guitars in its level, I would recommend this guitar. Infact if I lost it, I wound't consider a higher level guitar, and most likely buy this one again. I was worried when buying this guitar about the quality, I didn't wanna spend a lot but wanted something that sounded good, and the name Squier kinda turned me off. However, it's proved it worth, and I recommend it to you. Even when I move up to higher more flashy guitars, I think I will always be able to depend on this one for a good sounding solid backup. Happy guitar hunting. // 9

overall: 5.6

Reviewed by: BGM>YOU, on november 12, 2007

Features: The M-80 is a 21 fret piece of crap basically. It has a maple neck that within about two or three months of getting it becomes very worn hard to play on. It really doesn't have many good features to it besides the fact that strings can be put on it very easily and it's impossible to break. // 6

Sound: I have a variety of sounds that I'll play in. The main one would be grunge, and it does actually give an okay sound for that. But, I like to play a lot of hardcore and Morello-like things. And it is no good there. I don't use a ton of effects. A wah and a comple distortion pedals. My amp has built in effects like delay, chorus, tremold, ect. and really if I use the slightest distortion I can't even hear those effects well. It has an overall mediocre sound. // 7

Action, Fit & Finish: It was set up terrible evidently. Maybe that's why I hate it so much. The pickups are probably my biggest problem. Within two months of owning the guitar out of the blue both screws on one of my pickups go flying out. I pick them up to notice that one is significantly larger than the other. And it has other flaws. The wiring is bad. When you plug the cable into it, a wire inside revolves, and if you plug it (or move it at all) much at all. The wire breaks. And I'm suprised after about five times of this happening it even works. // 4

Reliability & Durability: Yet again. The hardware is awful. So no. The strap usually stays on fairly well though. And I can depend on it for jamming and acting crazy (and no, that isn't why it gets messed up. I started going crazy with it when I found out what a pile of crap it was and how little I would care if I broke it). The finish is okay. Since I got this as a gift it isn't really what I wanted. But it's okay, plus the guitar itself only weighs about eight pounds. And since at the moment I have no backup. Yes. // 5

Impression: I answered style up there. I've only been playing for somewhat over a year. I own a wah, distortion, and delay pedals. I wish I had asked for another guitar. I would definately get something else if it were stolen. I like that it's light and sturdy. I think you know how much I hate most everything about it though. // 6

overall: 8.8

Reviewed by: unregistered, on january 03, 2006

Price paid: $ 127.19

Purchased from: media play

Features: Our local Media Play went out of business. I was just toying with the collection of crap 'til I played the M-80. I was pleasantly surprised and since I own an early model (Jap) Squire Strat, I know they can be hit or miss good/bad. I had to set it up, but I love the feel. I do find the selector Switch to be cheap but replacable. I've owned it a day but have no regrets so far. I don't buy without first playing, but at the price I couldn't pass. This is more than just a beginner guitar. Close your eyes and let your ears/hands make the call. // 9

Sound: Haven't owned it long enough to experiment, but can see it being very versital. It is very comfortable and easy on the eyes, like a good woman. It is for sure a quiet (humbucking) guitar. // 9

Action, Fit & Finish: The guitar was in good shape, but I had to take several out of the boxes to find one with a straight neck. One was twisted. Two were straight. A father and son bought the other good one. Selector Switch is cheap and flimsy. // 8

Reliability & Durability: I always take two gutars to gigs, I can't wait to play this one live. I don't foresee any problems. Like all instuments, just take care of the damn thing and it will last you. // 9

Impression: This guitar was/is definitely a bang for the buck buy. I would recommend it for any seasoned player, especially a Fender player like myself. Don't let the made in Indonesia fool you. I own a recording studio and definitely plan on using this for recording. Hey, why not? // 9

Comments

[tpot06]

I think that i may haveto go and check this guitar out. I want a fender type guitar as a 2nd guitar also. Good job guys!

[the1]

Squiers arent so bad, but I dont like Basswood that much.

[Zolderzombie]

tpot06...this is NOT a Fender type guitar...it's designed by fender but it doesn't sound like one, it has humbuckers and it's a piece of shit compared to a real Fender.

[Ibanez_shredder]

^^^Uhh, most guitars do have humbuckers...

[GuitarJunkie]

^yea...infact some telecasters come with humbuckers

[schecter006]

^ Yeah but must don't

[richabanana]

"do not get a guitar with single coil unless you enjoy static and a constant buzzing." - this guy apparently thinks strats arent worth shit?... not a fantastic opinion.

[badman86]

my strat has single coils, it doesnt hum. Obviously he hasn't yet explored the world of stacked single coils or truss rod adjustment for that matter, in anycase, I don't trust guitars made in asia, except japan, japan is cool.

[dbryndel]

wow squire haters r ****ing idiots!! i think the Standard Squire Strats play better then ****ing gay ass ibanez shitty metal guitars!

[drop-dead666]

FUCK YOU YOU FUCKING DICK IBANEZ KICKS THE SHIT OUT OF FENDER THEY FUCKIN SUCK THE SHIT OUT OF DONKEY DICKS

[drop-dead666]

and strats suck they do hum and just because they have 3 pickups doesnt mean they're better and ya they just plain suck

[drop-dead666]

id like to see some shit like jimmy paige play an alexi laiho solo holy ****ing shit listen to a song by children of bodom you'll be blown out of your mind

[WaitingForTime]

lmao ok children of bodom suck shit haha yngwie malmsteen uses fender and he kicks the shit out of that death metal bullshit same as dave murray and adrian smith

[cap'nkirk]

richabanana wrote:

"do not get a guitar with single coil unless you enjoy static and a constant buzzing." - this guy apparently thinks strats arent worth shit?... not a fantastic opinion.

Except that good single coil pickups doesn't have that much hum anyway, there's going to be some but humbuckers don't have the same warmth as single coils, generally speaking.
Squiers are pretty good for the money, plus there easily turned into project guitars.

[mrbounce]

haha those last couple posts were awesome. keep it up

[llama_guitarist]

drop-dead666 wrote:

and strats suck they do hum and just because they have 3 pickups doesnt mean they're better and ya they just plain suck

haha alexi laiho is amazing but don't be dissing jimmy page, maybe without him alexi wouldn't have become famous...i really don't know but hey it could be a possibility. i really don't know what this had to do with ibanez or squiers because neither alexi or jimmy play either of them...

[Dan Steinman]

oh great, another single-coil versus humbuckers fight. that's productive. look people, single coils and humbuckers have different properties, and are used to get different sounds. One is not better than the other, they are just designed for different sounds and different styles of playing. For a given sound, you might want the extra warmth of a humbucker, or you might want the brightness of a single coil. You decide. Can we stay on the subject of the squier guitar?

Personally, I think it's great that squier has been diversifying because previously they only offered single coil guitars this cheap, you'd have to spring another 50 or so for humbuckers. Humbuckers are much easier to deal with FOR BEGINNERS because the added sustain and output offer a little forgiveness for their still developing skills. Single coils, especially on cheap guitars, need a little more finesse to get a good sound out of them, but they offer some sounds that humbuckers do not AND VICE VERSA, DON'T PANIC, NOOB SPAZZES!

[greenday_kevin]

this is a cool quitar....cool but they don't have it in my country yet....(Malaysia)its a very nice place here,..

[berteth]

i have a squier p bass special...its a pretty good beginner bass..but i cant stand the p bass pickup...whenever i pluck a string it always make an annoying clicking sound...ive adjusted it to different heights and tried to see if the wires were screwed up but everything seems to be in the right place...im not sure if fender pickups do this but im thinking of buying one...

[GlamSpam]

Dan Steinman wrote:

oh great, another single-coil versus humbuckers fight. that's productive. look people, single coils and humbuckers have different properties, and are used to get different sounds. One is not better than the other, they are just designed for different sounds and different styles of playing. For a given sound, you might want the extra warmth of a humbucker, or you might want the brightness of a single coil. You decide. Can we stay on the subject of the squier guitar?

Personally, I think it's great that squier has been diversifying because previously they only offered single coil guitars this cheap, you'd have to spring another 50 or so for humbuckers. Humbuckers are much easier to deal with FOR BEGINNERS because the added sustain and output offer a little forgiveness for their still developing skills. Single coils, especially on cheap guitars, need a little more finesse to get a good sound out of them, but they offer some sounds that humbuckers do not AND VICE VERSA, DON'T PANIC, NOOB SPAZZES!

Straight up man. Single coils sound better through a compressor, thus making them beter solo guitars however they are single coils and thus there is noise, (unless you buy an expensive noise gate) I guess Humbuckers would be better for a rythym guitarist since he wants just a nice warm sound rather then a sound that "up in your grill".

[GlamSpam]

berteth wrote:

i have a squier p bass special...its a pretty good beginner bass..but i cant stand the p bass pickup...whenever i pluck a string it always make an annoying clicking sound...ive adjusted it to different heights and tried to see if the wires were screwed up but everything seems to be in the right place...im not sure if fender pickups do this but im thinking of buying one...

Ugh make sure when your plucking (or picking) that YOU AINT HITTING THE PICKUP. Don't worry, just a noob's mistake. If that's not the problem then maybe its just the pickup so get a new one.

[OneStepAway]

First I have to adress the user 'WaitingForTime' for being such a f***ing retard. Anyone who has actually listened to Children of Bodom can at least appreciate Alexi Laiho's guitar prowess. I am a huge fan of the band and I don't like to put up with people disrespecting their music. Also, as far as Ibanez and Fender... Ibanez wins by far. I have played guitars from both of them and can definitely say that Ibanez not only a cooler look, but their sound is so much better. Fenders used to be great but nowadays it seems that they're lacking in quality. Next time you buy a guitar, do yourself a favor... buy something from Schecter, Dean, Gibson, or Ibanez. Those are all great.

And WaitingForTime still blows.

[Ibanez_shredder]

^^^ nice job man, my vai will whoop his ass anyday

[geekboy42]

why must we use such nasty words? Why can't we all just play our guitars and get along? We're musicians, not annimals!

-T.S.D.

[pyro8857]

goddamn... some of you people are worse than microsoft fanboys... there's no sense in dissin someone's equipment. you use different sounds and styles. and whoever says jimmy page sux can go back to his parentss basement and blow himself.

[rhcpfan118]

i personally like humbuckers better, although i play both, i think that the higher end epiphones (like my epi les paul custom) are pretty good guitars, with a decent sound. it would probably be better with a better amp than the one i currently have. fender just has a classic look that everyone can associate with guitars, gibson has a better quality guitar nowadays (ALL gibson guitars are made in america, unlike fender) don't bite my head off, it's just an opinion.

[MORRELLORULES]

i own both a fender and an ibanez and they are two totaly different guitars its like trying to compare elephants to grandma's

[Slash_HuDsOn]

drop-dead666 wrote:

id like to see some shit like jimmy paige play an alexi laiho solo holy ****ing shit listen to a song by children of bodom you'll be blown out of your mind

if you're going to make fun of jimmy page at least spell his name right dickhead

[irockoutloud!]

ok, i have to admit after awhile my strat did start to buzz quite annoyngly but i moved my pickups up and down to different hights to get the buzzing to queitn down but still make it sound good so, yea the strat is good ,and sounds good for some songs but my les paul standard rocks

[ozzyomega]

Fender make good basses, but shite guitars

Ozzy

[WaitingForTime]

OneStepAway wrote:

First I have to adress the user 'WaitingForTime' for being such a f***ing retard. Anyone who has actually listened to Children of Bodom can at least appreciate Alexi Laiho's guitar prowess. I am a huge fan of the band and I don't like to put up with people disrespecting their music. Also, as far as Ibanez and Fender... Ibanez wins by far. I have played guitars from both of them and can definitely say that Ibanez not only a cooler look, but their sound is so much better. Fenders used to be great but nowadays it seems that they're lacking in quality. Next time you buy a guitar, do yourself a favor... buy something from Schecter, Dean, Gibson, or Ibanez. Those are all great.

And WaitingForTime still blows.

yeah good one, dipshit

[Abnormal_Omish]

i have a squire strat and it plays just as well as my gibson 57

[RadioMuse]

I've generally been unimpressed by Squiers however this one interests me because I could easily afford to buy it then invest another $100-150 in Seymour Duncan or DiMarzio pickups. Though I've never been happy with the feel of Squire necks, something about them just feels cheap when compaired with a Mex Fender or most of thier competitors (Ibanez, Jackson, etc). Personally I think Gibsons are highly overated, yeah they sound great and play great but you're going to blow at least $700 to get one where I spent $350 and managed to nap a hot-rodded Tele.

It's really very dumb to get into a fight over brands though. Ever company has at least a guitar or two that's going to be total shit to you in they don't they'll probably take all your spending money from the last 8 months to afford one, and that's assuming you have a job...

*sigh*

Play what you like dammit and quit telling others what they should like and therefore play.

[Inliner]

for the people arguing about Humbuckers and Single coils, get a 'coil-tap' switch which cancels one pickup on a humbucker n turns it into a single coil like satriani

[sdyulolo]

I think you're better off with a PRS SE Singlecut.

[musicmydrug16]

I got this guitar today...good pickups

[guitar is yummy]

got one and i think i love it

[guitar is yummy]

Slash_HuDsOn :
drop-dead666 wrote:

id like to see some shit like jimmy paige play an alexi laiho solo holy ****ing shit listen to a song by children of bodom you'll be blown out of your mind


if you're going to make fun of jimmy page at least spell his name right dickhead

I am shocked

[Underoath^]

Ok, so im gonna go totally off topic here and say something about the M-80. Its a great guitar for cheap. The only thing i found wrong with mine was that it was missing a spring under the top pick-up. So that bothered me for awhile. It sounds really good clean or with distortion. And its pretty solid too. If it got stolen, i would cry then buy a new one.

[Unsworn]

Seriously thinking of saving up for this guitar. I've been learning guitar for about 3 months, and aparently I'm progressing incredibly fast. I have a 5th hand Fender stratocaster that's in bad shape and sounds like shit anyway, and I'd like to be able to choose between my acoustic Fender and an electric guitar that actually works. I loved the look of the wine red m80, and according to my guitar teacher it's specs look pretty damn good. So I think this might be the guitar for me.
Oh yeah, and anybody disrespecting anybody elses taste in music, not only is it annoying and you know you hate it if anybody retaliates, it's elitist bullshit and something I'd expect from 9 year olds.

Roisin Knight, 14, England

[Ali-b912]

lol at the dumbass who was talking about children of bodom, shovelling crap at page. first of all page played a gibson most of the time. second children of bodom suck and have a queer name. third pages solos could actually eat any children of bodom solo, throw it up and make a origami crane out of it. and also is this guitar like a doublecut les paul shape? the picture is at a crappy angle and i cant tell if its strat or DC Les paul

[mxh]

Have one of these. They're alright but mine's starting to fall apart.

[offlink]

I have this guitar. I love the way it looks and I can strech my arms out a little when I stand up to play it and C-tuning doesn't feel too loose on it. The way I have to tune the strings to get good harmony is similar to how I had to do it on my crappy Affinity Strat, though: The first string (highest tuned string) needs to be tuned a little sharper and the third string needs to be tuned a little flatter (the third string's tuner is also really sensitive and clicks when you turn it if it hasn't been touched in a while just like it was on the Affinity Strat). This makes these two strings sound like shit played open but putting pressure on the neck (essentially bending it a tad) while playing evens it out meanwhile playing on any fret on those two strings slightly detuned as I described doing above makes them sound more in tune with the other normally tuned strings while playing. I don't know if that's a common Squire thing since my last Squire did the same thing or what but to me, since I don't have enough money to buy a top of the line guitar, it's a minor inconvenience since I don't consider myself a pro worthy of a premium axe anyways. It looks good, I've had it a year and played it quite a bit and it's still holding together without a single hardware problem besides the bridge pickup slipping down slightly over the course of time since the screws are either a little too short for the casing or the screw holes in the casing are a little stripped... But what makes me sick is that that's how it came in the box. Hopefully MusiciansFriend.com didn't just ship me a defective return like I'm starting to think they do a lot... Anyway, it's sexy and it holds together but it's got some flaws that most people would prefer not to have to deal with after shelling out 200 bucks for a 120-140 dollar quality guitar. The humbuckers are probably the only reason it's more expensive than a low-level Strat but they're good enough for me since I play rhythem and don't really crave a better pickup set. When I see it in the corner, I just can't help picking it up and riffing on it for about 20-30 minutes after I get it tuned. It's a good looking guitar to have laying around for casual rocking and if you can get past the flaws (or have the know how to fix them) then it'd be totally worth the little extra work to make this sexy bitch perform!