Featured review by:
tilleking, on november 27, 2006
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
Price paid: $ 365.9817
Purchased from: Sound Control
Features: This guitar was made in 2004, and is made in China. It has a 22 fret neck and a laminated top. There is a hollow section with an f-hole, which supposedly amplifies sound acoustically, but it is not really any louder than any normal electric guitar. I bought mine with a gloss black finish, which looks alright, but gathers dust very quickly. It has a fixed bridge with a string-thru body. There are two volume controls, two tone controls and a 3-way selector. It features two Seymour Duncan humbuckers and non-locking tuners. Sound Control threw in a really good Warwick gig-bag, a strap, two leads and 'as many picks as I could stuff into my pockets'. Service there is great, and there is brilliant choice! Well worth a look if you Live in the West Midlands! // 7
Sound: I play rhythm guitar (mostly) in a band, and this guitar suits the part quite well. I have a Vox AD50VT (which sounds great) and my guitar can get quite a good sound through it. I tend to favour warmer sounds, so the neck humbucker tends to get used more often. However, I play guitar in a punk/indie band, so I do require a little bit of 'crunch'. So I usually set the 3-way toggle in the middle position, and fiddle with the volume controls, to set the bridge humbucker on about 4, and the neck humbucker on about 10. (I never mess with the tone controls, they are always on full). When I do play lead (from time to time), I can achieve a really good sound with the bridge humbucker too (when playing it through a Boss MetalZone pedal, you can even achieve Trivium-style sounds). The pickups are quiet mostly, but between songs, you really do need to turn the volume off because there is usually a slight buzz. Overall, the sound is pretty good. // 8
Action, Fit & Finish: The action on this guitar is incredibly low. I might even go as far as to say that it is the lowest action I have ever seen on a guitar. This low action makes it very playable (but not with a slide). However, after about two years of ownership, I got horrendous fret-buzz at the fifth fret on the B string. I did, however, manage to remedy this with a file. My Telecaster features a fitted neck, which is unusual for a Fender. It has a rosewood fretboard and C-shaped neck. The body, neck and headstock are all painted black. There is white binding around the body, which makes the guitar look ever-nicer. The controls are metal, and two of them came loose after I bought it, and one actually came so loose that it could no longer control the volume. I did, however, fix this with a screwdriver. Overall, however, the build quality is very good for a Squier. I loved it's appearance for the first two years of ownership, but I now wish I had bought a 'traditional' Telecaster (with ashtray bridge, etc). // 7
Reliability & Durability: I've not played this guitar live yet but I'm pretty confident that it will 'withstand' Live playing. The hardware does seem like it will last. The strap buttons were your 'bog-Standard' strap buttons, however, I did replace them pretty soon after purchase, with locking strap buttons (which are definately worth worth buying). I feel like I can depend on this guitar, it's a Telecaster, the 'workhorse' of guitars. I would take another guitar to a gig, however, as backup. The finish seems like it will last, though I have knocked many parts of the guitar into walls and doors when walking around with it. I'd say it is a really reliable guitar! // 9
Impression: This guitar does suit my style pretty well. It's great for just knocking around the house with, and taking to a rehearsal room to practice. I've been playing guitar for nearly three years. I'm close to buying a US Deluxe Stratocaster, which I can't wait for! I also have a Boss MetalZone pedal (which I got because it was cheap) and a Marshall foot Switch which works with my Vox amp. I don't regret buying this guitar one bit, I had heard about it's release in America, and found out that it was to be priced at £350 as a minimum in the UK. When I saw it for £200 in Sound Control, I wet myself (not literally. I've always thought that they had priced it up wrong). I wouldn't buy it again if I lost it, because I'd want some variation in guitar ownership. I think the f-hole looks really classy, and so does the white binding. I've begun to think of it as a cheap guitar now though, but it's been good to me, and I still use it on a daily basis. // 9
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