Guitar Info

“I’ve been working on the M-80 for a long time. I designed it for somebody who was playing at a club, working with a label, about to be signed, or had been signed. I wanted to build a “workingman’s” guitar for a new generation of players. That guitar evolved from many years of seeing things in guitars that I like or dislike. A lot of designs on that guitar are my gut-level reaction to what I see people playing, my playing, and what players tell me they like and dislike – or find comfortable and uncomfortable.

 “There’s a lot of design in the M-80 that doesn’t meet the eye. For example, the body comes from a shortened Mustang guitar. If you put a longer-scale Neck on a Mustang, you have to shorten the body so it feels right. I placed the strap buttons, so that when the guitar is hanging, it feels familiar. Let me put it this way … I’ve got 25 years in the business, and the M-80 is the accumulation of 25 years of designing and building guitars for the world’s most discriminating players.” – Todd Krause

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One of several Fender precision bass replicas made for me from parts (some original Fender/Squier) by Bailey Bros. of Bristol. Used extensively as a back-up touring instrument with Who's Next - a tribute to The Who.

Here is an ultra rare plexiglass Precision Bass. The body is made of lucite acrylic. See-through plexiglass. The neck is a 1997 Fender USA Precision Bass Classic series bass which features a slim Jazz Bass profile maple neck with a rosewood board. The original Fender tuning pegs are present. The pickup is a white capped EMG AXL passive Precision Bass Unit. The bass is finished with an amber-sparkle coloured pickguard.

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Middle pick-up on Strat has been replaced by 2 slanted Fender pick-ups, one covers the 3 bass strings and one covers the 3 treble strings. Fuller sound as 6 coils cover 3 strings. [I think he means 6 "pole pieces" - GLW] The signals are then fed out through 2 separate volume controls to 2 jacks - one going to the left amp and one to the right giving a fantastic stereo sound. Each jack can of course, have its own effects foot pedal like reverb, chorus or octave box etc. Special offer - on one Fender Stratocaster Squier (as opposed to Mexican) - $745 + $45 shipping. Will build to your own specifications [...]

Normal Strat pick-up coming from 3rd jack.

This can be used for normal Strat playing with volume, tone and switching between the neck and bridge humbucker. Playing the 2 together is not a feature found on normal Strats as they are usually combined with the middle pick-up. You can of course have a third amp for surround sound.

Once you hear the amazing sound you'll never want to play a mono guitar again (unless it's a Martin). If you are not happy please send it back as we really don't want to sell it. The guitar has been modified to professional standards by the Guitar Guru of Toronto, who has finely tuned the action and fantastic sound.

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I thought I'd keep the Fender theme going a bit if that's OK. I've been promising myself for years that I was going to buy a Fender. My shopping list is "pre CBS Strat" (which I came within a hairs breadth of attaining once - 59 body 60 neck, metallic green respray out of a can £100), Telecaster Esquire, Thinline with bound body, Jazzmaster with anodised gold scratchplate (which I came within an eBay's breadth of attaining last year £3000 and some change (1958, excellent-mint condition - almost unbelievable).

My sights have lowered significantly of late apart from the '94 aluminium body that I'd bid and paid for before the seller decided he couldn't send it to my unconfirmed address and backed down.

I've only ever sold one item through eBay so don't have much experience as a seller so maybe someone can help with me something. What is with this "unconfirmed address" thing? Sellers won't post to an unconfirmed address even though eBay says they are still protected. I'm not sure why eBay doesn't just drop the option as, in their FAQs, even they discourage sellers from stating it in their ads as it reduces the chances of selling. Also, surely it's us buyers who more at risk from "sellers" who don't deliver. After all, you receive our money before you ship so we are taking a much bigger chance.

Anyway, back to the guitar. I was checking out my local online classifieds (loquo.com) and found someone who was selling a 2005 Squier Standard Strat for €125 (£104). I went along, looked it over and bought it.

Maybe it was just my expectations but this seems to be anything but standard. I guess it's a copy of another, high-end, Fender. It's obvious this wasn't going to be a luthier's wet dream but it's not bad, by any means. The body is matt varnished, tinted mahogany (looking not too dissimilar to my Mum's coffee table), maple neck and rosewood fretboard (as I understand). Big old 70s headstock - nice. The fittings are Squier, enough said. The middle and neck pickups are very bassy and boomy and the tone controls don't seem make one iota of difference whatsoever to the tone. Anyone had the same experience? And, is there anything I can do to brighten them up without changing the pickups? The bridge humbucker is hard edged aggressive and has a bright, dry, shrieky tone. I love it.

I'm not a great trem user and this two point trem seems very delicate. It moves when I bend the strings! I'm going to add an extra spring or two and see if that helps. If not, I'll lock it in place with some blocks of wood. Any tips or comments on that appreciated.

I shall be using this experiment with so it may well begin to transform, Frankenstein-like over time. Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Pass the soldering iron Igor!

Stop Press: Just seen a Squier Obey Telecaster for €150, hmmm Franken-Tele-Strat-stein-thing! Where is that saw? Seriously. Anyone have experience of these Teles?

David in Transylvania

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

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Fender's subsiduary Squier are mainly known for producing budget-conscious versions of Fender guitars such as the Stratocaster, Telecaster, Precision and Jazz Basses. Occasionally they have been known to do something more adventurous and issue an original model guitar not based directly on any Fender design.

The Squier '51 is one such guitar, and whilst I say it is "original" it very clearly borrows and combines elements from three Fender designs, namely the Strat, the Tele and the original '51 Precision Bass.

Essentially you could say that it has a hardtail basswood Strat body married to a Tele neck, with a '51 P-Bass pickguard. It has a single coil pickup in the neck position and a humbucker at the bridge. There is no tone control but a rotary pickup selector and a coil tap option for a range of sounds.

Judging by comments I have read about this guitar on the net, it seems it was a very popular instrument. Such a pity that it was only in production from 2004-2006. Of course, it was a guitar very popular with tinkerers and guitar modders, and judging by the number of photos I've seen on eBay and elsewhere I wonder how many stock examples are left in the world, because so many seem to have been upgraded.

Pictured above we see two examples in Vintage Blonde. On the left is an untouched stock Squier '51, and in the middle and on the right a customised example featuring upgraded pickups including a P90-style in the neck position, and a Dynamic Fender Vibrato as found on certain other Fender guitars such as the Mustang. (Finally, an S-type guitar with a tremolo that might actually work nicely!)

The Squier '51 was one of the guitars in my "500 Guitars" book, but the publishers unfortunately used an incorrect photo of a Squier Strat.

See the Squier '51 Modders Forum for more customisations!

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

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The seller of this Squier Showmaster currently for sale on eBay tells us that:

I did the distressed green finish myself - I can guarantee there is only one like it in the world

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At the risk of being accused of writing yet another blog post which has "content generated by other people" (apparently ALL my content is generated by other people - see the comment by "Guest" here), I'm going to share with you this rather inexpert "relic" job on what apears to be an otherwise perfectly good Squier Strat.

This horror was spotted by Suzanne, who comments that "Heavy relic is putting it mildly. That thing looks as if it belonged to Sloth from The Goonies."

G L Wilson

NB: There are a lot of blogs STEALING content and bandwidth. If you read this anywhere else but on guitarz.blogspot.com then you are reading a blog that STEALS content. Please support original bloggers!

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Of course most Stray Cats fans would be more interested in a Gretsch hollowbody, but nevertheless the unique artwork on this Squier Stratocaster is very nicely executed.

G L Wilson

NB: There are a lot of blogs STEALING content and bandwidth. If you read this anywhere else but on guitarz.blogspot.com then you are reading a blog that STEALS content. Please support original bloggers!

Hey, its Ben again from All About Guitars again

And this is my USA Squier!

USA Squiers are very rare. Some of them have a serial number with a E = Eighties (1980s) prefix, and some of them have a serial number with a N = Nineties (1990s) prefix.
USA Squiers were made for less than a year spanning 1989 and 1990 before production of Squiers went back to Mexico.

This was a period when Made in Japan Squiers had stopped and then they moved Squiers to Mexico, but there was a fire in the Mexican factory which disrupted things for a few months in which Fender USA made the Squiers.

My Squier was made in 1989 in Corona, California, US. The sound is very good, just like an american Fender guitar from that time & I really love it!

#1: People who can't spell "Squier"

Top left: Squier "Rolling Rock" Telecaster
Top Right: Phil Wayne Custom "Elysian" Telecaster
Bottom: Schecter Bomber Girl

* or "tasteful" depending on your point of view, but I know which side of the fence I'm on!

Tele with T Rex vinyl pickguard

The Top 10 Guitars For Girls are rated and reviewed over at Electric Guitar Review. I don't really get the author's beef at Gibson and Squier for dumbing down their girl guitars by equipping them with less control knobs. I always thought that a single volume knob (and pickup selector) is all you really need. Tone controls on guitars are usually just a big waste of time. Who really uses them? Perhaps what Gibson and Squier are saying in reducing the knob quota on their girl guitars is that women are more practical and less likely to be impressed by a vast array of virtually useless controls.

Squier "OBEY" Instruments With Graphic Designs By Shepard Fairey

Fender Hello Kitty: Fender take on Daisy Rock and Epiphone's Emily strange model in an attempt to appeal to the girls with this range of Hello Kitty Squier guitars.

Line 6 Offers Variax 700 In Two New Colours: Big wow! It's still as ugly as sin. Is it any wonder that people are taking the guts of Variax guitars and putting them in, for example, Squier Stratocaster bodies?