Focus On: Squier Electric Guitars

Squier guitars were introduced in the early 1980's after a court case between Fender and a Japanese manufacturer Tokai, the brand was born largely due to the success of the Tokai brand after they had huge success replicating the Fender range for a fraction of the price. As Fender was alerted to this market they negotiated with a Japanese manufacturer to produce replicas of classic Fender Stratocasters and Telecasters under the brand name of Squier.

There are 4 major advantages that Squier provide :-

• Great value for money - most Squier models are financially within reach of a wide cross section of musicians including beginners and novices.
• Kudos - Squier replicas are so identical to actual Fender guitars that from a distance they are indistinguishable. Hip and trendy teenagers will love this "cool-factor" as Fender guitars are one of the coolest guitars to be seen playing
• Quality - In order for Squier to publicly declare that they replicate Fender instruments under licence, their products have to be of a certain quality. Squier guitars are notoriously easy to play thanks to first class raw materials, manufacturing processes and quality components.
• Upgrade-ability - many third party companies produce replacement Fender components such as pick-ups and hardware. Due to the fact that Squier guitars are almost dimensionally identical to Fender instruments, this allows certain parts of the guitar to be upgraded to further enhance the sound and playing experience

Squier replicate the most popular configurations of Fender Stratocaster and Telecaster guitars, they also provide replicas of the Precision and Jazz Bass.

Other models include the Artist Series where Squier work closely with a particular recording artist or musician to create a guitar, bass or acoustic instrument designed to meet their exact requirements.

Over the years Fender have produced alternative pick-up configurations on the Stratocaster and Telecaster guitars. During the late 1960's celebrity guitarists would modify their Stratocaster's by replacing the single coil bridge pick-up with a high output hum-bucker as rock music became the dominating force.

Years later Fender acknowledged this requirement by releasing Stratocaster and Telecaster models that had this very same factory-fitted modification. Squier followed suit and now have several models of Strat and Tele instruments that have hum-buckers fitted in either the bridge or neck pick-up location, These are commonly known as the HSS Strat, Deluxe Hot Rails Strat or Vintage Modified Strat and it could be argued that the addition of the hum-bucker makes the instrument even more suitable to rock music.

Squier Telecaster & Squier Stratocaster

The Squier Telecaster models that include a hum-bucker as part of the pick-up configuration are the Vintage Modified Telecaster Custom & Custom II models. Other signature models such as the J5 and Derek Whibley signature model also include a hum-bucker as does the OBEY Graphics model. Squier provide a total of 15 different styles of Telecaster whilst there are 22 different configurations of Stratocaster excluding the starter pack models.

There are 10 replicated models of Precision Bass and 8 models of Jazz Bass, Squier also have one off replications such as the Classic Vibe Duo-Sonic 1950's model and the retro-styled Jagmaster. Squier recently introduced the half scale electric guitar known as the "Mini" and the "Mini Player" - ideally suited to younger children. Aside from these there's a small collection of entry level acoustics plus a mini-classical and mini-acoustic model.

Squier now have all of the bases covered and can provide authentic Fender replications for a wide range of models and at a price that won't break the bank. The great advantage that musicians have is that they can purchase a great value guitar, bass or acoustic instrument that looks and feels just like a Fender and with a quality level that provides a great playing experience. Check out this website for more details on Squier and Fender products.