expiredSlickweasels posted Sep 21, 2023 04:51 PM
Item 1 of 4
Item 1 of 4
expiredSlickweasels posted Sep 21, 2023 04:51 PM
Squier 40th Anniversary Electric Guitars: Telecaster, Jazzmaster, Precision Bass
+ Free Shipping$300 each
$599
Guitar Center
Visit Guitar CenterGood Deal
Bad Deal
Save
Share
Leave a Comment
Top Comments
And here's a BETTER deal for the Vintage Edition 2-color sunburst Stratocaster: https://slickdeals.net/f/16939594-squier-by-fender-40th-anniversary-stratocaster-vintage-edition-electric-guitar-satin-wide-2-color-sunburst-256-fs-at-musician-s-friend-256-49
Also, I can't wait to play my, I mean her, new bass every day while she's at school.
You're always in here singing the praises of products other than in the OP. Say what you want, the Monoprice guitars are often acceptable but not great out of the box. I handled one of their new Strats just yesterday. The fret ends were pretty sharp -- not as bad as the Starcaster next to it, but definitely not comfortable -- and the neck felt completely unfinished. It was smooth, but didn't feel good. Sure, you can fix the sharp frets. You'll need a fret file (unless you want to damage the fretboard), steel wool, tape, etc. to address it. The lack of finish? That's harder. Not everyone wants to buy tools and spend the time learning to use them and the time improving the guitar to be comfortable to play. Fixing guitars, amazingly, does little to help you play better.
Most guitars benefit from a setup. New players should simply pay a professional to do it. It's $50 or so, but few want to pay that on a $50 guitar.
Fixing frets and replacing a nut costs even more. Putting in a better pickup (even a decent inexpensive Wilkinson) still more. Swapping out tuners that slip, as I did on a no name counterfeit Strat I like a lot, more still. And none of that helps your skills as a player.
So if you want to learn to be a guitar tech, the sub-$100 guitars are great. If you want to play, with your main expense being a setup, get something like this $300 Squier and have at it. If you want to give a nice gift to a kid, these Squiers are a great value in decent guitars.
26 Comments
Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.
And any brand new, just made guitar you buy can benefit from YOU learning how easy it is to super set it up; to your liking. No matter the level of setup it arrives with. Which will be a little unless you pay for it and it's specified in a list. No matter the cost of the guitar from $56 eBay (watch it over time) to $5000 and on up. The Monoprice $70 classic sales come with a padded case worth more. Don't be price ranged by observing $1000 guitar prices all day. Of course a used one may have a super detailed setup, of some level. You are better off DIY, custom super setup on a new guitar. All parts must be in balance. that's why the nut is critical. You can shape it for free it or just add a $100 TUSQ nut *if* needed. Just watch videos first. Not expensive parts.
You're always in here singing the praises of products other than in the OP. Say what you want, the Monoprice guitars are often acceptable but not great out of the box. I handled one of their new Strats just yesterday. The fret ends were pretty sharp -- not as bad as the Starcaster next to it, but definitely not comfortable -- and the neck felt completely unfinished. It was smooth, but didn't feel good. Sure, you can fix the sharp frets. You'll need a fret file (unless you want to damage the fretboard), steel wool, tape, etc. to address it. The lack of finish? That's harder. Not everyone wants to buy tools and spend the time learning to use them and the time improving the guitar to be comfortable to play. Fixing guitars, amazingly, does little to help you play better.
Most guitars benefit from a setup. New players should simply pay a professional to do it. It's $50 or so, but few want to pay that on a $50 guitar.
Fixing frets and replacing a nut costs even more. Putting in a better pickup (even a decent inexpensive Wilkinson) still more. Swapping out tuners that slip, as I did on a no name counterfeit Strat I like a lot, more still. And none of that helps your skills as a player.
So if you want to learn to be a guitar tech, the sub-$100 guitars are great. If you want to play, with your main expense being a setup, get something like this $300 Squier and have at it. If you want to give a nice gift to a kid, these Squiers are a great value in decent guitars.
The aged hardware seems more "waterspots" than "aged", but seems to work OK.
The bridge pickup is nice and twangy. The neck pickup is definitely not as treble heavy, although I'd not say it's muddy (as some reviewers elsewhere have said). I might play with raising the height of the treble end of that pickup.
But what really needs to be said: THAT NECK. Lovely in color and absolutely smooth and slick. That satin finish couldn't be any better. AND THOSE FRETS. I haven't yet checked them for level, but the ends are the most beautifully finished of any guitar I have. They're smooth and rounded, with not a sharp edge anywhere. There's no trace of fret sprout, although that might yet appear. My Fender Player Stratocaster's frets aren't this nice, mostly due to the tiniest bit of sprout.
It seems well worth the $300 so far.
None of that is new. But what is new is that the Mocha Telecaster is @ $300. The Dakota Red and Vintage Blonde have been going on sale everywhere for a few months. But the MOCHA stain was, at best, $380.
Having seen all three in person. This was the one I wanted and was happy to see it at $300.
Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.
https://imgur.com/2zauzTG
https://imgur.com/2zauzTG
The aged hardware was the one thing I don't care as much for on these models. It's OK, but it looks like water spots to me.
1. The necks and fretwork felt REALLY good on my blonde one. The finish was a solid A-, with a minor finish blemish in the curve of the horn. The satin finish felt nice to the hand and was slightly translucent. The anodized aluminum pickguard was really sweet; Fender sells it aftermarket to put it on other Teles.
2. The nut was not cut perfectly flush on either side of the neck; it protruded maybe .5 or .75 mm on each side, but you could definitely feel the sharp edge of it.
3. The bridge pickup was decent. The neck pickup, though, was really muddy and dark, even when sharply increasing the treble EQ on the amp. This was noted in several reviews of these, so I think it's the pickup. For most Tele players, this is likely the first thing to switch out.
4. Three of the six tuners on mine had noticeable play (slop) in them that made tuning more difficult: Get close to pitch, a little more...darn, it's sharp now...detune a little...bring back up...overshoot...etc. I find this frustrating on every guitar I've played that has this issue. There is no straightforward way to tighten things up, so replacing the tuners as a set is likely the best option. This was noted in at least a couple of the online reviews.
5. Mine did not want to stay in tune. I'd tune it up and start playing. After a couple of minutes, I'd notice the chords sounded off. A tuning check usually revealed at least three strings out of tune. Oddly, the strings went *sharp* on mine, which points away from tuners. (I would expect a sloppy tuner to let the string go flat.) This persisted even after enough playing across a few days to allow the strings to stretch fully. I suspect something in the nut or bridge. Replacing the bridge is easy (and I prefer separate saddles to the 3-saddle bridge anyway), but will require setting up the action and pickup height again. Replacing the nut isn't *hard*, but requires a bit of tweaking to make it right. Paying a professional might be the better choice for many.
After calculating the cost in money and time to replace tuners and one pickup and to figure out the tuning issue with any related parts or adjustments, I decided to return the instrument.
It was a hard decision because I really liked the feel and appearance of the guitar. It was also brand new. However, convincing Fender to treat those tuners as a warranty issue seems like an uphill battle at best, and I don't really like having to *fix* new guitars. (Adjustments are one thing. Fixes are something else.) My experiences with Classic Vibe Squiers have been uniformly positive, so that might be a next step for me.
For everyone else, these are things you can look at on the instrument you received, to see if it meets requirements.
Leave a Comment