2013 Squier 51 Review
My first electric guitar was an MIK Squier Stratocaster, with a rosewood fretboard, in an aged Olymipic White with a black guard and white plastic. I traded that guitar towards a Yamaha Pacifica, thinking that I was taking a big leap forward.
Aside: I wasn't, but that doesn't mean the Pacifica was a mistake. It was, and still is, a solid beginner guitar. Don't believe me? Check out Rob Chapman's latest video here.
When I finally purchased a USA Fender though, it was a Telecaster. I'm not sure if it was Pete Anderson, Jimmy Page at MSG, or a combination, but I wanted a Tele, not a Strat.
Years later, it was because of the Squier that when I had the opportunity to buy my Eric Johnson Stratocaster in White Blonde, I jumped. The first thing I did was put a black pickguard on it.
When I came across a "like new" Squier 51 in Vintage Blond, a Frankenstein of a Stratocaster, Telecaster, and early Fender bass, I knew it was time for a new guitar.
When I finally purchased a USA Fender though, it was a Telecaster. I'm not sure if it was Pete Anderson, Jimmy Page at MSG, or a combination, but I wanted a Tele, not a Strat.
Years later, it was because of the Squier that when I had the opportunity to buy my Eric Johnson Stratocaster in White Blonde, I jumped. The first thing I did was put a black pickguard on it.
When I came across a "like new" Squier 51 in Vintage Blond, a Frankenstein of a Stratocaster, Telecaster, and early Fender bass, I knew it was time for a new guitar.
Finish
The first and deciding factor in my acquisition of this guitar was the finish. I love Fender's blondes - 01 and 07 in case you're wondering. This one is a 07, decidedly less white than my Eric Johnson Stratocaster, though they need to be side by side to really see the difference.
Aside from color, the finish is applied evenly and without a trace of blemish. The one irregularity I noticed was in the pickguard, where just above the upper left corner of the humbucker in the picture above you can see the cut wasn't clean. Since there is more material than required, I can eventually just sand it smooth.
Neck
Unlike the Squier Jaguar I own (also made in Indonesia), this guitar's tuners seem quite good - I've tuned once since owning it. The fixed bridge certainly helps, but tuner slip seems to be absent here. The Jaguar, on the other hand, needed a replacement set before approaching playable.
The neck construction is a different story though. Instead of a faux-nitro, slightly tinted affair, this neck is a raw maple neck that was about as smooth as a bag of nails and splinters. Q/C took a break on the day this came out of the factory, but thankfully the frets were level, with no sharp edges to be found.
This is still a beginner neck though, narrow in both width and girth. It's comfortable, but compared to modern USA instruments you'll immediately notice a difference. It reminds me of an early 60s Stratocaster that appeared at a local store a few years back - I remembered being shocked at how narrow the neck was.
Pickups
One of the really interesting things about this guitar is the surprising number of sounds you can pull despite the minimalist approach to the controls. While the "tone knob" acting as the pickups selector is a nice change from standard Stratocaster or Telecaster switching, it's akin to Jaguar switching - novel but uncommon for a reason.
Back to range of tones - the volume is a push pull affair, allowing you to split the bridge pickup for convincing single coil sounds. Given then string through body construction, it's hardly surprising that these split coil tones lean more towards Telecasters, but a closer listen reveals that it has as much to do with some upper register aggression (bordering on harshness) from what I can only suspect is a ceramic pickup.
Still, I'm interested in something better, so the happy coincidence of a local selling a GFS Retrotron Nashville set means I'll be replacing the bridge pickup sooner rather than later. The neck pickup will have to wait though.
Hardware
There doesn't seem for be much to go wrong here, but I have noticed that despite the relative simplicity of the bridge setup, there is some ungodly rattle coming off the G string when fretting certain notes. I'm certain it is the bridge, because applying palm pressure to adjacent saddles seems to eliminate the buzz. Something tells me that one of the height adjustment screws is off - with the sides of the saddles being squared, one of these screws could be slightly raised without causing the corresponding lean in the saddle.
Two potential solutions. If my hunch is correct, a simple adjustment will take care of it. If not, new saddles may be called for. I'd consider a new bridge, but the string through spacing vis-a-vis the mounting screw spacing seems weird, and I'm not willing to start filling this thing full of holes. It's a keeper so long as I'm entertained by it, so any change needs to be reversible. New saddles are an option, if only because they can be removed and are useful on other instruments with similar spacing if I do decide to sell.
Two potential solutions. If my hunch is correct, a simple adjustment will take care of it. If not, new saddles may be called for. I'd consider a new bridge, but the string through spacing vis-a-vis the mounting screw spacing seems weird, and I'm not willing to start filling this thing full of holes. It's a keeper so long as I'm entertained by it, so any change needs to be reversible. New saddles are an option, if only because they can be removed and are useful on other instruments with similar spacing if I do decide to sell.
The Verdict
Overall, I'm really pleased with this guitar. It just goes to show that with $200, a little patience, know-how, and some time on your hands, you can get yourself a really great looking, off the beaten path kind of guitar.
