Fender Squier Deluxe Strat Review

The Squier by Fender brand is best known for making good quality copies of Fender instruments without all of the bells and whistles, like special quality woods, specialty bridges, and high priced electronics. By doing this, they more or less decimate the price of Fender instruments to make them sensible for musicians on a budget to buy. One of these guitars is the Fender Squier Deluxe Strat. Let's take a closer look at it to see just how well this stripped down model performs.

Features: The body of the Fender Squier Deluxe Strat is made of Basswood, and is solid throughout. There are several finishes available, including old classics like Daphne Blue and Pewter. In both versions, the three ply pickguard is white. These guitars have a genuine vintage look about them. The neck of the guitar is bolted on the body, and is made of maple with a satin finish. It also has a polyurethane finish (which is a fancy way of saying glossy) and black dot inlays on twenty two medium jumbo frets. All of the hardware, including the tuning heads, input jack, and Tremolo bridge are chrome. Another nice aesthetic feature on the headstock is a metallic gold Squier logo. Electronically, the Squier Deluxe Strat has three Duncan Designed single coil pickups in classic Stratocaster position, one volume and two tone control knobs, and a five position selector switch. In another effort in the looks department, the electronic parts all have an aged plastic finish to further accentuate the vintage look.

Playability: One of the reasons the Fender Stratocaster has remained an enormously popular guitar over the years is its playability. The body of the Squier Deluxe Strat is well countoured and light, making it easy to stand up and play for lengthy periods of time. Also, its deep cutaway makes for nice high fret access despite the bolt-on neck. Also, many users agree that the action and finish of the Squier Deluxe is just about perfect. The action, or string height, is nice and low, the strings are easy to bend, and the neck is smooth and easy to run up and down quickly.

Sound: The Duncan Designed single coil pickups really make a difference in getting that classic Stratocaster sound. They are very versatile, allowing anyone playing to go from richer and deeper tones to thin treble solos quickly and easily.

Overall: The Fender Squier Deluxe Strat is an excellent all around instrument for those musicians who already have an idea of how they want to play and sound. It's easy to play, looks great, and can span nicely across nearly every genre of music. You can find the Squier Deluxe Strat in music stores for about $250.