Squier Late 80's Japanese Stratocaster Reviews 
5 / 5 based on 1 reviewsI got this guitar at my local pawn shop (where I was an employee until I went off to college). It retailed for 499.95, but I traded 2 guitars for it.
This guitar is awesome. I read a review of an 80s Squier on this website, and I totally disagree. Japanese Squiers are really awesome guitars. I tested it trough a Fender Hot Rod deluxe amp, and the sound was much better than that of an American Standard Strat with Lace-Sensor pickups they had at the store. This guitar plays like a dream, and is what I will test all other strats against. The blue finish (darker than lake placid) is a little dinged up, but it gives the guitar a really cool vibe. I know I had seen George Harrison playing one of these on a video of "while My Guitar Gently Weeps" that I downloaded, and now I know why!!!
The only thing I didnt like was the hum that the pickups put out. My previous strat had EMG's, so hum wasn't a problem. The sound these pickups have, however, more than make up for this little problem, and my Cuyber Twin has a built in noise gate anyways.
This guitar is built extremely well. I know many Japanese guitars are respected for their qualits, and this one is no different. The Trem works very smooth, even though the setup from the store doesnt allow me to pull up on the bar. Fender suggests that the bar should be able to pull a note up one semi-tone to have the "Factory" setup. I actually favor this setup, hoewever, since it allows the guitar to sustain better. The neck is thin, but not as thin as an Ibanez RG, and allows for some pretty fast runs.
This guitar is amazing. I am kinda elitist, thinking that "by Fender" isn't as good as the real thing. I can honestly tell you I have been proven wrong. If anyone is looking for an affordable, well playing, well sounding strat, guitars like this can't be beat. I can tell you right now I will have my eye out form more of these guitars. Today's Squier's arent as good of quality (Being made in Korea), but this guitar has made me a believer in the quality of Japanese craftmanship
Justin Goble rated this unit
on
2003-08-08.
