Squier Sonic Strat | Any good? 

I really like mine but yeah pickups MEH SO SO I never upgraded my pickups from stock but seeing as I'm not rich I have the guitar already and it feels great it's a SQUIRE FENDER Strat but I'm going to finally get a GOOD HUMBUCKER MAYBE SEMOUR OR DE MAZZIO stick that sucker in their then it'll sound better

1 Squire 2004 Bullet (Baltic Blue ,Gets confused as Royal and Sapphire ,Serial puts it as first run of the color) 2 2021 Squire Start Hss Bullet 2 2023 Squire Mustang HH Sonic Yeah i`m a Squire fan Own a 2022 Telecaster Affinity

@@ShaneLarocque Awesome 😃👍 That's a tidy Squier collection mate 😎👌

That's pretty great you were able to find a blue short scale, and not for too much money either - Congrats! Sounds like a job well done mate 😎👍 Enjoy!

Ah Brilliant thank ya kindly mate! You're the only person to mention it (maybe even the only person to notice it 😂). I wondered if it was worth the bother - it is now! Thank you 😀🙏

Thank ya kindly mate! 😀🙏 I certainly can't 😂👍

Most people including me aren't good enough for an expensive guitar. But I still lust after a real fender even though it won't make any difference ❤

@@chrisstephens6194 I started off on crap Guitars, but have played for 30 years. Its the difference between driving a shity beat up car over a sports car. But then starting out, the only difference i knew was the price;. i have had a few excellent guitars come and go. I have one guitar that i never take out, one that's a cheaper done up one like it.

@@chrisstephens6194 You deserve to play whatever guitar you want that inspires you to pick it up and play/practice 😀👍 I'm kinda done with Fender, (as far as buying new guitars) but I know that's easy to say when I have a few 😬. If you have to have one - I totally get that. Keep an eye outon the used market, sometimes great bargains to be had with the old MIM standards, or the MIC modern player series, you can pick those up for the same price as the higher end Squiers these days 👍

Ha Cheers mate! 😂👍 I think i've overused that Bolton pic in too many vids now 😂🙈

@@stevecassidyguitar The "Bolton" neck is classic though! Do you have an image for a set neck guitar? Sadly, I can't think of anyone famous named "Setnik".

‘Sigue Sigue Setnek’? 😇…………I’ll get my coat.

@@RobbieF I noticed Landon Bailey does the same Bolton gag. I wonder who was first 🤔 I'll bet i probably stole it from him 😂🙈 Also can't think of a Set neck gag 🤔 I'll go check more of Landon's vids 😜

Thank ya mate! 😀🙏 Great point Re the trem block - Someone smart needs to do this test 🤓👍

Thank ya mate! 😀🙏. Yeah your totally right, comfort and playability is everything for gigs. The Guitar in my IEM's never sounds great anyway 😂👍 (That's the IEM's fault - not the guitars)

Ha! Great minds! I actually had this clip in the edit (just the "Can ya dig it" part once) but i took it out 🙈. Was trying to stay strict to the sonic 🦔 references, which might not have been the best idea/angle 😂🙈

Thank ya kindly mate! 😀🙏 Oh yeah - I've seen thcordy vids, including his upload from today. What an incredible player that man is! 😎👌 One of my favourite players these days (not just a RU-vid Guitarist). Everything sounds great in his hands 😀👌

Also, my frets were great out the box and was set up perfectly for me. Although I'm sure the guys are merchant city music do a set up

Another great example of how Squiers can be great mod platforms - Good on ya mate 😀👍

Thank ya mate! 😀🙏 I need to purge some guitars before i can get anything else in atm tho 😂🙈

Thank you kindly sir! 🙏 Hope you have a great weekend too 😀👍

Thank ya kindly mate! 😀🙏 You're spot on mate - for us guitarists with our finger on the pulse, we know Squiers can't keep up anymore. But these other brands have still not quite made that en mass name for themselves yet. Will be interesting to see where Squier sits in a few more years, as these other brands and newer ones keep churning out even better quality, even higher specs, for even less! 🤯

@@stevecassidyguitar Fingers crossed Squier up their game as I think they are still capable of it. :)

@@GabrielNacu Agreed! They can still make great stuff - But they'll likely increase the prices too 😬

what do you think will be better at the same price

@@QuickBeat I've heard good things about the Harley Benton Strat and Tele copies at this price. On paper at very least, the specs are better 👍

Wow! You've really made me think here... 🤔 I wonder if I would still be a strat guy if I wasn't gigging 🤔. Definitely the most versatile Guitar for me for gigging, especially in HSS format. I also love the Neck/Bridge combo, I've got that mod on a few of my strats, and it's a regularly used tone 👍 Love your Gibson mod - Cheap N Cheerful 😂👍

I had to go down the Strat road for gigging because the guitarist in the band before me used a midi gizmo so when I replaced him they wanted me to do that too. The Roland GK midi pickup fitted and worked well on a Strat so that's what I did. Maybe you already have, but when you get around to recording the "Coconut Grove" album to sell at your gigs are you going to maybe pick up a few different guitars during the sessions for different solos and stuff. .

@@Reeldin58 Great stuff - The Midi gear is fun. I have an old GK3 system too. Will have to do a vid on that eventually 😀👍 I don't think we'll ever record an album of covers 😂

Thank ya mate! 😀

Brilliant mate! That's the way to do it! Mods all the way - I'll bet it's nice & light too - Nailed it 😎👌

@@stevecassidyguitar 6 lb 13 oz :)

@@MrCurtyWurty Ideal! 😎👌

Totally agree - I'm a Jet convert these days. I know they're not as highly specced as some Harley Bentons, Earts, Solokings with the Stainless steelk frets etc. But man.. Jet have just totally nailed the perfect neck profile (for me anyway 😜)

@@stevecassidyguitar True words. Thx for your great work mate!

Aw mate! You're too kind - Thank ya so much! 😀🙏 I with ya on the purple "Ultra Violet" they call it. I think that's actually quite a rare and hard to find Fender colour, I think they did it on a Hendrix model. So pretty great you gcan get it on a (hopefully) lightweight Sonic and mod it - if you wanted. I'm really tempted to 😁🙈👍

Thank ya mate 🙏 Well, if it helps... the Bullet series has been discontinued and replaced with/revamped as the Sonic Series. Any Bullets you find now will either be New old stock or used. Nothing wrong with the Bullet series, you can find some great used deals on them just now. I do like some of the upgraded features and colours on the sonic series though. I just ordered a Squier "Debut" this morning from Amazon (Prime Day Sale) for About £100! I've heard good things about them so I'm keen to check it out 👍

Nice! that's a very unique take sir. Common wisdom would suggest that shortscale guitars are recommended for shorter stature humans. Interesting to hear of your experience 😀👍

Thank ya mate! 😀 Especially for the 5 thumbs up! 🤣👍 The Hiss wasn't the guitars fault, I'd recorded the audio too quiet on my interface and had to increase the volume in the video editor 🙈 Totally my bad. It was fine live 😅👍

@@stevecassidyguitar I had squiers in the past and they are great practice guitars, fit for modding guitars but still a bit hissy especially through powerful amps. 5 thumbs up good, 6 thumbs up better!

Ha! 😂👍 I bet they would sell well - Would be flying off the shelves! 😜👍

Cheers mate! Totally, it's not too bad at all. It comes in some more fun colours too. There's a nice purple one I like🤩👍

Ah good point Re the Rosewood! 😎👍 Did the Bullets always have rosewood? Even in the last few years of production? Fender pretty much stopped using Rosewood for a good few years on most other models

Ha! Cheers mate! 😀🙏 100% agree Re the mod platforms - Perfect for it 😎👌 I'm still hunting for a white affinity Starcaster 😁🙈

Haha I won't sell it! Squier is about to release the affinity starcaster deluxe, not sure if you got that news yet? Pretty cool as well 🤘

@@eertje01 I did not know about that! Must google now! 😀

@@eertje01 Ok! Checked out the Starcaster Deluxe - Very likely I'll pass. Headstock fail 😜👍 The sunburst maple one does look pretty great tbh. But.. It'sa bit too close in looks to my Fender cherry burst Starcaster. Thanks for the headsup tho! 😀👍

@@stevecassidyguitar yeah I like the og affinity better. But for a budget Tom delonge starcaster it's perfect🤘

Oh yeah - Awesome mod platforms these - Good on ya mate 😀👌

@stevecassidyguitar not only that. It is good platform to do mods yourself and learn. I did all mods myself, wiring, soldering.

@@elmarg7966 Defo! Before I started making YT vids, I had big plans to learn to do the mods myself, but the YT eats up all my spare time, so I get my tech to do it out of Lazyness and stupidity 🙈

​@stevecassidyguitar I totally agree with you about humbucker. When I changed squiers original humbucker to Korean Artec and pot to 500k, my squier turned into a metal machine

@@elmarg7966 The Artec stuff is great - Nice job mate!

A Tele might be a good shout! Apparently I do too many Strat vids 😂🙈 Specifically HSS strats, I've got about 10 vids incoming 🙈 But I do love em 🤷‍♂️ But yeah Tele might be a smarter move - Cheers! 😀 👍

It's a great wee strat - They have it in much cooler colours than this too 😜👍

Ah yeah! Like the old Bullet Mustang? Or the old Showmaster/Stagemasters? 😎👌

You don't have to do any of that mate 😀 If you love your Bullet - stick with it 😀👍

Have you tried the Debut yet? 😀I'm starting to get the GAS 🙈 Surely you need something more special than that for No 200 tho? 😀

😂👌 He told me he sent it last night, so it should be with you by wednesday at the latest 😜👍

Great point well made sir 😎👍

Definitely mate - Excellent mod platforms 😀👍

Very good point sir. 😎👍I'll definitely have a look, But i'll probably have more luck finding out online. A lot of times the stamp for the value is hidden under a big gloop of solder. Unless there's another way to tell I don't know about? I've actaully get my other JS400 in with the tech just now getting the mod where the bridge see's 500k and the single coild see 250k via resisitors etc (I have no clue how this works - I'll leave it to the pro's 😜👍)

Yeah It's the pale one. Not sure what the "rosewood" variant is - probably laurel or pau ferro i'd guess.

I wonder if "Guitar Center Guitars" might suffer from similar conditions as "School guitars". 🤔 That would only explain a couple of the issues tho, not the nut of course. They're definitely thinner bodied tho Like you say not the best for mods, Especially for trem blocks, but I know some companies (wilkinson/GFS) do make short blocks to accomodate this scenario. I believe Jets are now slowly starting to creep into the US market (If that's where you are). It will be a while before they can make an impact if any. I think it's been almost 4 years we've had them in the UK.

Totally agree = Strats are super versatile (Especially HSS) 😎👍

Thank ya kindly sir! 😀🙏 But yeah - Squiers are probably still the best mod platforms, especially if you wanna put Fender (or 3rd party Fender made) parts on em. You've got the best chance of compatibility 😀👍

Totally agree! I've been thinking about picking up a Squier affinity Starcaster in white - It sufferes from the same problem, but a guy who posts here, stained the neck on his and it looks awesome! Might have to give that a go 😀

Yeah mate, It would probably help to lower the bass sides a bit 👍 Good shout! But they do generally just sounded a bit more "muffled" - I still have this one here 👍

@stevecassidyguitar Try lowering them. At some point I will block out some time to seriously play about with pickup heights on my guitars. Last week I A/B'd my purple Squier CV 50s tell against my Fender reissue 52 tele. The 52 was warmer whilst the CV50 was airier and thinner sounding. I raised the pickups on the CV 50s and it sounded more like the 52. So there's a rabbit hole waiting for me to lose my mind in. Sometimes though, a pickup is just rubbish and needs to be replaced.

Thank ya kindly mate. I know the brand - I'll keep an eye out for a deal on one - cheers mate 😀👍

@@stevecassidyguitar 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍🎉🎉

Wow! Just a single p90? I wish i was the kind of player that could eek every tone out of that set up. I "need" at least 4 pickups 😜. But that's it tho mate - pefect mod platforms 😎👍

😜

ooooh! That's a tough one. It's actually been a long time since I've tried a new Pacifica. Generally speraking they have a good rep for QC and consistency. The common wisdom would be to get a Pacifica if you don't wan't any issues/problems and just want to get on with learning the guitar. Personally for me, I'd recommend a Jet JS400. I find these so much more inspiring to play than a Pacifica. But there is a higher chance you could run into a part that needs upgraded here and there Ultimately, if you'r up for a wee tweak like maybe upgrading the saddles, then The JS400 is hard to beat at those prices. I've did a load of Jet vids, you can check out. I rate them as closer to Fender than anything else (imo)

About £400 😜 But nah - there's quite a lot of differences. Especially with the new player 2 series. But almost every part/component of the Fender will be higher quality; Alder body, Better pickups, 22 frets, Better quality hardware, but the most noticeable difference is in the pickups I'd say 👍

Oh yeah, there's a plethora of budget strats - They're everywhere these days! Heard good things about the Staggs - I know Rich is a fan 😀👍 Good luck with the mod project 😀👍 🕊️🦅🐦 (Soz - No pigeon emoji) 😂

@@stevecassidyguitar that last les Paul type I bought for 30 quid is a Stagg and it’s my favourite guitar at the moment, ( actually got it for free because I sold the acoustic for £30 😂) might put a set of pro buckers in it, not sure what pickups to go for in the Strat style Stagg , but I’ll get something decent I reckon though , plus good tuners 👍👍🤠🎸

@@c.h.fieldsports9876 You always get the best deals mate! 😂👌Is the Stagg HSS by any chance?

@@stevecassidyguitar no mate, it’s a 3 single pickup type

Yeah there could be a couple of factors at play there 😜👍 Also if you've just got a single HB, there will be less in the circuit - coud be a factor 🤷‍♂️ But over all the pickups just lacked clarity and didn't have enough treble for me

@@stevecassidyguitar I get the clarity part. That's why I love Dylan's pickups so much ... They are designed for clarity so you can hear every note of your chord. I am considering two of his ceramic humbuckers for the guitar. A Hello Kitty sticker should just fit between the two pickups 🙂

Yes indeed mate, I'd pretty much always recommend an HSS strat as a first guitar. It has the moste versatile selection of tones. Which is ideal especially if the player isn't 100% sure what type of music they'd like to play on it. An HSS strat will do a fantastic job of anything you throw at it. Just be mindful, in 2024, guitars at these prices can sometimes need a bit of set up work to make sure yoiu get the best start. If it's difficult or mildly painful to press down on the strings and get a clear sound, it won't be a fun learning experience. You can see exactly what I mean in this vid here... ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-jWJ5H5LgG6o.html I unboxed this new Squier Debut - It was hard to play out of the box and not fun. As soon as I gave it a wee tweak (took 20secs) It was awesome! If you know a Guitarist, (who knows their stuff) I'd have them look over it for you while it's still in the "returns timeframe". This is also a good reason to maybe buy in your local Guitar retailer, you should get better support there, you can even ask them to have thier in house tech give it a once over for you. Hope that helps mate - Enjoy the journey 😃🎸🙏

Hard tail is a good shout for beginners 😎👍 Harley Benton/Jet also very worthy contenders at this price.

@@stevecassidyguitar The new HB ST's look amazing spec but a little bit more money that the Sonic series but the HB ST DG is amazing as close as you could get to Gilmours Strat for less than £200 😏🤣Keep up the great work on the channel mate love your content👍🤘

😂😂🤣 HA! I Lol'd! 😂👌

Jesus was a Ginger ? ❤😂

@@willistaylor4077 Oh yeah, I'm sure he was Scottish too. Remember that time he turned water into Irn Bru?

@@stevecassidyguitar 😄😄❤️

Hey Muggs! Thanks for helping the Algo 😀🙏

Ha! 😆👍 Apologies Clair, your comment ended up in the "Held for review" section probably because of "Telegram" 😂🙈. Just seen it now - soz👍

@@stevecassidyguitar Haha no worries

Agreed 👍 My review is all lies 👹 Just "Based on a True story" 😜

@@stevecassidyguitar Haha. No. I mean, you gave a great review (I recently bought the sunburst from Amazon) but I kind of meant the beginners or amateurs who bought the guitar for a first guitar and love/hate it is usually what sells me. I used to play and stopped for years because my rotator cuffs are frayed. I had a wild hare up my ass one day and bought the guitar so I can start playing again and the guitar feels great! I have no problem with frets or action but I get what you're saying about the deeper tone. I dig it for blues. But nobody told me I would forget how to play if I stopped playing for years! I am gonna use the free three months of lessons I got with purchase. Sorry for the long reply but that you for the review and showing us what it sounds like LIVE. I will never get as good as you but it was nice to see a cheap guitar in action!

You might be right! 😀 Now I'll have to try both! 🙈😂

Totally agree regarding modding, rather than buying a more expensive guitar that probably doesn't have "all" the appoinments you'd want anyway. Only great if it's a keeper though. Re-sale is another story

@@stevecassidyguitar i only buy a guitar to play it , not as a wall hanging or an investment, or to add to a collection, i got 6 guitars 5 that dont get played much , all in hard cases, even my old chopped up kramer that got mention in rolling stone in th 80s...its retired and i cut away most of th body with angle grinder in th 80s ...so resale?inah..cant imagine havin a really great guitar JUSTto say i have it.

Spot on, I have no complaints about the playability of this one 😀👍

That's the way aha aha - I Like it! 😀👍

Yeaaahs!! 😂👍 No-one mentioned anything about the Sonic references I put so much work into 🙈👍

Nice one! Love it 😀👍

Yeah not ideal 🫤 It could be the common fretboard wood shrinkage, but I still had to mention it anyway 👍

The colours are a bit of a giveaway too - Although I have been very tempted by the "Ultra Voilet" (purple) one. I'd have to change the neck on it though... and the tuners, and pickups.. and trem... Ach I'll just leave it 😂

@@stevecassidyguitar These are just Squires attempt to compete with other brands entry level models, and best avoided. Why waste money that you won't get back trying to turn them into a decent guitar. As much as like Ibanez, their Gio models are more miss than hit and are also a waste of money.

@@Micky500 Not for me they don't i have tried them and they just don't say buy me.

Ha! Cheers mate 🤣👌

I think I'm gonna have to try a Debut 😁👍