Make Your SQUIER Sound Like a FENDER for $20!! 

Yeah I can't tell the difference. I own like 6 Strats and have gone through multiple sets of pickups on each and honestly, I've found that the easiest way to make my guitar sound better is to practice.

Not to flex but I can make a fender sound like a squier and a squier sound like a first act

In every blind test I actually preferred the Squier.

Darrell as usual you are spot on. It's not the name on the headstock that matters it's the time spent on playability and how a guitar makes you feel and play.

Moral of the story: Buy a good amp

Mind blown!!! I actually liked the Squier better on all 3 blind tests. 🤯🎸

7:10 - In the third test, I most definitely liked the sound of the Squier with the pickup upgrades. It had more clarity and growl in it.

Great video Darrell, would have liked to hear the difference between the guitars using the Squier with original pick-ups just to hear how much improvement there was to the sound.

What would have been interesting is to hear the differences between the old pickups and the new pickups on just the Squier.

Hi Darrell, it would have been good to hear the Squire PRIOR to you changing the pickups, and then after.

Would be nice to add a "before" demo of the Squire for comparison.

bruh the final test between those two guitars really sold me, I've played guitar and various other instruments for 10 years to build up the trained ear I have now and the amazon pick ups under that gain setting has the perfect amount of crunchy bits in the harmonic values as well as just being such a cleaner sound in the first place. Buying a few sets of them RIGHT NOW

Make your Squier sound like a Fender for under 20$: print a Fender sticker and put it over the "Squier" name on your guitar

I think those no cover pickups are kind of steampunk - I like them.

The new squier pickups actually seemed to have better separation and clarity, maybe due to those staggered pole pieces. In some cases, the fender sounded more "cohesive" and "vintage", but I liked the squier better for most tests

“I did the same test with a charvel so cal and a fender Stratocaster of similar model and my friends couldn’t tell the difference. So I though huh let’s try testing the so cal (£1400) and the strat (£999) and the squire (£159) and the difficulty my professional musician / producer friends had telling them apart made me realise we really have gone nuts in the gear snobbery department over the last 50 years. Let’s be fair, the most expensive strats nowadays emulate the first strats ever made. Back in those days they were made with cheap parts due to being new / mostly still experimental in its infancy. So we’re paying premium for parts that sound like cheap parts. Get the guitar you enjoy the feel of. Plug it in. Play it. “ - Andrej Tchaikovsky 2018

I own Fenders and Squiers, a Squier is no joke.

“i’ll be back in a snap” *snaps* *half of the guitars disappear*

This was one of the best squire / fender guitar shootouts I have ever watched! You did this right! Not to long, not too wordy and best of all you his the guitars. I have been playing pro for thirty years and I honestly could not tell the difference. Well done! Signed, Mr Jommins!

I purchased a set of these pickups and installed them on a Strat I built last year. With CTS pots, a CRL switch, vintage waxed cloth wiring and .33 NOS Bumblebee caps, I preferred them to the set of early 2000’s Fender Noiseless, and the new set of Fender Tex Mex pickups, I compared them to. They were surprisingly really, really, good. Only issue was finding staggered covers for the odd 48/50/52 widths. You also must take into account that the pickguard will need modifying, as the holes for the pickups aren’t going to be staggered either. Not a huge deal, but it’s something to consider.

I like to use a hotter middle pickup so that the 2 and 4 positions don't drop in volume.

I hate when people hate on squier guitars I had one for 3 years and I love it alot

I'm an old dude but I can remember a time when everyone called a squire a fender. You want to know why? Because it is a fender. If fender cant make a good sounding squire by now they should quit making guitars.

The only guitar that I’ve owned that got a spontaneous ovation when I simply took it off the rack on stage, was an Indonesian Squier Strat that had the Ritchie Blackmore colour-way. It had a nice neck and decent pickups, and felt really solid all the way around.

Do "make your fender sound like a squier" next!

This is nuts. The Squier sounded better to me

Was surprised I could tell the Fender each time, even on my MacBook speakers (one is busted/rattling even). That said, I think the squier sounded fine. An A/B of the stock vs new pickups in the squier would be good.

very interesting indeed. Thanks for this Darrell.

TheDooo, a popular guitar RU-vidr, played a regular red Squire Stratocaster for basically half of his life until he decided be wanted to buy a new guitar. Listen to his song Ascend. It didn't matter if he had a low-end guitar. It sounded amazing.

I think the squiier is a little brighter, the fender has a little more warmth almost a little richer tone but for $17pups its phenomenal similarity and I actually like the squier more when he added overdrive and gain

Ok man, that is the FIRST demo I have seen, and I buy and sell so I look at a LOT of them, that was really helpful and possibly even worth more than the several minutes I spent watching. thanks and yes I did suscribe.

excellent! as always! i like the look of the pickups with the B&W Squire. the sound speaks for its self! haha

Been playing for 45 years and have collected lots of guitars. In this vid, I prefer the sound of the squier. Sounds fuller and more lively. Any tone difference I hear can just as easily be attributed to string brand, string height, pot differences, or microscopic changes on the tone pot. With that said, I would have liked to have heard each guitar played with a more Hendrix or Vaughan tone and with some different amps.

The reality is, more and more professionals are steering away from the big brand, big budget offerings. We have reached a point where a $500 guitar can play as well and sound as good as guitars that previously cost $1000 and over. Competition has exploded and the big names have fallen behind, both in terms of value and quality. The best strat will always be a fender and the best Les Paul will always be a Gibson but the problem is, neither would be a new instrument. Now we pay through the nose for dated tech, poor QC (Gibson, I don't have any experience with new Fenders). Don't get me wrong, I loved my Fender Strat, it was a '68 and beat to hell but damn she played nice. I sold it for $100 before "reliced" was a thing. I picked it up for $50 and spent about anther $50 on it for a used Trem block and 2 knobs that were missing. This was in the 90's and it was worth nothing then, now I could have gotten 10 times my investment back, or more. It isn't more valuable, people just got dumber. Squires are great, cheap, playable and, with a few upgrades, every bit as good as a Fender. The same can be said of many ST and T type clones. Epiphone I am not a fan of, just personal preference though, not because they are flawed in some particular way. For Gibson style instruments I look at either the copyright era vintage clones or, for a cheap project base, something like a Harley Benton SC 450 or DC XXX. The vast majority of pros I know (earn their living in the industry) use Ibanez, Jackson, ESP etc. In fact, the only pro I know that regularly actually plays Fender or Gibson is a blues guy who has a killer 90's Les Paul Studio and 70's Tele (also a gem). He is also the oldest of the guys I know in the industry and has had both his axes from new. My brother would play the heck out of a Gibson Les Paul or a Fender USA Strat if he had them but as an expense, he would never pay the money they are asking for something that isn't actually any better than many guitars coming in at as little as a quarter of the price and vintage demands and even higher premium. I love how Darrell always advocates buying what feels good to you. Go to a store, pick up everything in your budget and have a good noodle then pick what made you smile the most. Don't let past stigma and nonsense snobbery decide for you.

A surprisingly close match! The Squier sounded a just little bit less brilliant (or ever so slightly darker) with those inbetween positions but I could hardly hear any obvious difference with the single pickup comparisons. I'd really like to watch and hear such a comparison with a "mid to high endish" Fender Tele and a Squier Tele as I'm really not sure if replacing the pickups in my 50s Vintage Vibe Series Tele will actually make an audibly discernible improvement...

The "Vintage" sound is when the magnets on the pickups start getting a little weaker over time. That is what the fellow who designed the Stratocaster stated when interviewed a few years ago. I bought a Squier a few years intending to mod the pickups & put a Graphtec Hexaphonic kit in it, was I ever surprised when I got home & discovered the body was too thin for what I wanted to do to it.

I love Squires, you can mod them, make them to your liking without feeling nervous by maybe ruining your thousand dollar or whatever priced expensive Fender. I've owned 6, have one now that I play more than my Wolfgang. I picked it up at a Yard sale for, ready... $5 bucks!. Did some work to it, making it to my liking, and it plays awesome. Strats are more comfortable to me. Once again, Thanks for the video Darrell 😉

Really love this channel. The way Darrell describes the tones is the most accurate I've heard and makes sense to me. Thank you Darrell!! Makes me want to get a copy and start swapping!!

I like the look of the pick-ups without covers.

They sound so close! Very nice demo! Sounds as good as my MIM and the trem system is superb!

As the owner of a few Squires myself, this is definitely the kind of video I'll need! Always appreciate the gear and tech lessons and content man! Great work!

There's something so relaxing about coming home from work and sitting down with my dinner to watch your latest video. They're always just very well put together and informative.

Very helpful video, thanks!

Surprised I preferred the squire in all the blind test great video I’m tempted to have a go at building a parts bin strat

Wish i coulda heard it before pickup change

The moral of the story is, Fender is ripping you off

I wonder how the old pickups would have compared? Regardless, the Squire does sound pretty nice! Another helpful video, good job.

A really fun challenge Darrell! Thanks a lot!

This was close. They both sounded really good to me. Today it's really about preference, and "ego" because as a mix engineer, I can tell you, if you can play well, in the context of a song/mix no one will even care what guitar you used. How many of you remember the guitars we used to get out of the Bluechip Stamp booklet back in the day? LOL ...yeah .. I know .. Im old..er LOL

Darrell, I bought the same color Affinity Strat from a pawn shop last year for $60. It was mint with the plastic cover on the pickguard. I installed Tusq string trees, a steel tremolo block and a GFS prewired pickguard. The trees were $ 8 , block and pickguard $ 48 . Less than $120 and I have a great guitar I can take anywhere with a Blackstar Fly. Thanks.

Well thank you so much!!!! I'm studying guitar, like how to play and build then and you're helping me a lot !!! ty so much

My Squier I got 14 years ago came with Seymore Duncan Alnico 5 pups, it is a first series Vintage Modified Stratocaster. Still love everything about it....

I liked the Squier better. Still had the Strat chime and just a hint fatter.

I actually liked the squire more PD: You should try Tele Bridge pickup in Strat

Another great video Darrell. I've just spent ages trying to improve a cheapo Strat neck [not a Squire]. I tried everything in my armoury, but achieved little. The problem seems to be that the materials used and the basic physical set-up, plus the intrinsic poor quality properties of the cheaper neck means that they can never be improved beyond a sort of basic 'just about playable' level. I've never been all that bothered about pick-ups - as long as they work and sound ok. It's all about the feel of the neck [with a hint of tuning and intonation issues] for me. If I get any fatigue/frustration after a couple of minutes of trying one, I just put it down.

Man I just love the way those clear pickups look!

Blind test, I picked squire each time... would have liked to hear the squire original sound added in too.

I put some headphones in and didn’t look at the screen on the blind test. I didn’t even know you changed guitars.

Thank you! Awesome work!

You realy displayed the full capabilities of the strats in the vid . 😂😂

**puts bad 20$ pickups in american strat** "Now they sound exactly the same!"

I loved the Squier better every time with headphones and multiple listens.

Great once more!!! This proves that we've always paid for the brand reputation more than for the intrinsic product quality

Great demo.

Makes you wonder why Squier doesn't just use those $17 pick-ups.

I bought the same pickups when I built my son's Strat. They came with covers though. These pickups really did bring that guitar to the next level.

Fascinating! Thanks! :-)

Very useful, thank you.

On the in between 2 and 4 positions the Squier had clearer dynamics that to me are more classic. Both were very nice tones. One thing I did notice, was the playing was more relaxed when playing the Fender, showing there is far more going on than the Pickups. But may be simple enough to sort without spending any further money.

I don’t even play guitar... but I love how customized squires look and sound, over the American made ones

My Squier affinity has always been the most comfortable, best sounding guitar Ive ever played. All 24 years I've had it.

This has been banging around in my head but my Squier is white. I found pickup covers for the 48-50-52 pickups in both white and black for under like $6.00 USD. So now you can make it sound great AND still look pretty.

Actually the Squier sounded better that the Fender to me in this test with those pickups. Brighter, clearer, and nicer!!!

The Squire looks great without the covers. Kinda "Strat meets Mad Max" industrial looking. Great video. Keep up the great content. Good to see a review of a low-cost upgrade.

Awesome video! Thanks! I got a Strat Pro I with VMods pickups and a Squier that I love a lot because of its tiny frets. I recently bought 3 Texas Special on Marketplace so they will end up on my Squier! LOL

thanks for the comparison video. it changed my perspective about guitar.

I thought the Squier sounded a little better, all the way around.

Thanks, an interesting little experiment; they did sound similar. Would have been interested to hear the Squier with it's original pickups as well.

Wow! The sounds are really close! I couldn't tell the difference! Great comparison, thanks!

I bought a roached squier 5 year back as a project changed everything from the tuners down kept the neck (love the neck) and body i put in a knob to give me neck and bridge together for a Tele sound now it's a great guitar very comfortable to use and sounds great i prefer it to my G&L Tribute Legacy it just feels right.

honestly i think the bulk of the difference is in the feel and how far you can push it. different pickups would react differently to your amp and effects setup. the end sound might not be that different to a listener, but as the player, you should be able to feel the difference. how much force you use to pick the string to get a certain tone will definitely vary depending on the pickup.

"let's find oat"

Great vid! Thanks!!!

Man that Squier looked cool with the clear bobbins. REALLY liked that look. And sounded so close to the Fender, the average listener would never notice.

I actually like the lookuncovered. Its unique

You would have loved to hear the original pickups too

I've put Dimarzio Pbass pups in a squier Pbass. I changed the pots and cap + copper shielded the inside. Adjusted the action neck and intonation with the proper tools. Best bass I've played so far

For first 3 comparisons I had picked the Squier consistently LOL... but for positions 2 and 4 I liked the Strat... For the cost, I think I would buy 3 Squiers in different colors as opposed to one strat.

For $7 I upgraded the nut on my affinity to a bone but and that helped it noticeably. Great comparison video!

It would be nice, if the test were made with an amp, and no post editing! With some multi effects or emulators, all guitars tend to sound almost the same! Thanks for the demo!

I just upgraded an old Strat copy with a set of these Alnico pup's, they are great! I got the ones with the cream covers and took the silly logos off them. I've linked to this video as your sound tests are much clearer and better than mine (I used my cam's mike, I should have used the line out) Cheers mate!

Thanks for the video! I agree with your conclusion.

I have many guitars. I play my inexpensive ones all the time. Two are Squier Strats (not Affinities), and they are excellent.

I can definitely tell the difference when testing in the 2 and 4 position. The Fender sounded janglier than the squier, like what a Fender is known for. I couldn't tell the difference in the first set of tests though.

That's frigging nuts!!!

I’m a bass player who has jumped to the Squire line. Went to GC, $1200 budget, looking for a 4 string bass. Played every Fender/Squire bass in the store, ended up buying a new surf green Squire 70’s vintage bass, w/discount cost me $399, added a Seymour Duncan quarter pounder pickup, $90 installed, so for about $500 I bought a great sounding bass that played better than other Fender bass guitars for hundreds less. Have played it professionally for over a year now, still love it. Squires Rock!

you get a signal dip when you run 2 p-ups together so maybe thats why the middle is hotter

I just bought a Squire and love it

Swapping from ceramic to alnico was a positive move for a cleaner, classic stat sound. I'll only add that any good guitar player can make virtually any guitar sound at least decent.

I like the look of the pick-ups without covers. Like a rebel flippin'-off the dress-code.😈