Argos Squiers

MartinBush

Hi all

I am asking this just out of curiosity as I know the responses would likely include "save your money and get an affinity", however, I'm curious.

Has anyone bought, played or seen one of the argos Squire strats?

I know they dont have a trem but they seem, from first glance, to be good value... or are they?

Martin

equalsql

I've yet to see a bad Squier guitar.

 For the money they do look to be exceptional value but it would be interesting to see how good the setup is on them out of the box. It's certainly worth a punt and Argos, from my experience, do have a decent returns policy for counter sales.

phil_b

no trem might be an advantage for a beginner

thegummy

equalsql said:

I've yet to see a bad Squier guitar.

 For the money they do look to be exceptional value but it would be interesting to see how good the setup is on them out of the box. It's certainly worth a punt and Argos, from my experience, do have a decent returns policy for counter sales.

What is it about them that make you think they'd be exceptional value?

I have one, though it's from years ago, and every aspect of it is much worse than in what I'd call a normal guitar.

If someone was poor and could only afford that and didn't already have a guitar I'd say get it as it's infinitely better than not having a guitar.

But someone who can afford better and is just trying to be a penny pincher isn't going to get the bargain they expect.

Paul7926

Kinda depends on your expectations.  I recently rescued a squier bullet strat from a charity shop. I think it was built in 06 so it's not new.
After some cleaning and basic setup It plays ok and is certainly not rubbish. I'm also sure that it's not a patch on an expensive guitar but as I'll never own an expensive guitar it's not an issue for me.
Your not gonna get a custom shop guitar for only a few quid but they are not unplayable junk either.

MartinBush

If they did a tele I'd be more interested as something I'd be happier to leave lying around and possibly modify in the future. Could these be modified?

Like I say, it's just curiosity. I'd not be asking if it was a bogus brand, but its Squier/ Fender.

equalsql

thegummy said:

equalsql said:

I've yet to see a bad Squier guitar.

 For the money they do look to be exceptional value but it would be interesting to see how good the setup is on them out of the box. It's certainly worth a punt and Argos, from my experience, do have a decent returns policy for counter sales.

What is it about them that make you think they'd be exceptional value?

I have one, though it's from years ago, and every aspect of it is much worse than in what I'd call a normal guitar.

If someone was poor and could only afford that and didn't already have a guitar I'd say get it as it's infinitely better than not having a guitar.

But someone who can afford better and is just trying to be a penny pincher isn't going to get the bargain they expect.

All the Squier guitars I've played in the past 30 years have been decent instruments for the money. I've owned many and have always been impressed with what you get for the price. Sure, as with any brand you can get the odd turkey, but generally I have found them to be exceptionally good value. I would also recommend the Yamaha Pacifica range.

thegummy

MartinBush said:

If they did a tele I'd be more interested as something I'd be happier to leave lying around and possibly modify in the future. Could these be modified?

Like I say, it's just curiosity. I'd not be asking if it was a bogus brand, but its Squier/ Fender.

I think if you're expecting it to be better than a 90 quid guitar with no logo or one you didn't recognise then you'll be very disappointed.

Squier/Fender don't have any special ability to squeeze extra out of a bottom end material budget, they're just a business and want the "guitar my kid will give up in a couple of months" money along with all the other markets they make money in.

Funkfingers

Project-tastic!

Looking at the photographs, some of the hardware is cheap 'n' nasty. It can be upgraded. A bit of DIY fettling to nut slots and fingerboard edges should improve the playing experience.

At £89, I would think of the Argos-supplied guitar in the same way as a charity shop or car boot sale find EXCEPT it will not have the evidence of abuse or neglect.

phil_b said:

no trem might be an advantage for a beginner

The fixed bridge is infinitely preferable to an unstable ultra-cheap vibrato. For my tastes, through body stringing would improve matters. (Another DIY task.) 

stimpsonslostson

It’s a no from me. 

My first guitar was from Argos (admittedly it was an Encore- it was awful), but if I were looking for a REALLY cheap guitar I’d be checking Thomann for Harley Bentons. 

MartinBush

thegummy said:

MartinBush said:

If they did a tele I'd be more interested as something I'd be happier to leave lying around and possibly modify in the future. Could these be modified?

Like I say, it's just curiosity. I'd not be asking if it was a bogus brand, but its Squier/ Fender.

I think if you're expecting it to be better than a 90 quid guitar with no logo or one you didn't recognise then you'll be very disappointed.

Squier/Fender don't have any special ability to squeeze extra out of a bottom end material budget, they're just a business and want the "guitar my kid will give up in a couple of months" money along with all the other markets they make money in.

I dont think I am expecting that as such. But I guess you do feel ever so slightly better with that name on the headstock as opposed to Rockwood or whatever. And for £89 if it would make a good basic guitar to practice mods on to me it's good value.

That said, if it wasnt a Squier I'd not be looking at Argos.

oh_pollo

Argos Squiers sounds like a Sleaford Mods support act.

MartinBush

oh_pollo said:

Argos Squiers sounds like a Sleaford Mods support act.

For that reason I may have to get one...

dazzajl

At some point in the price line, a guitar must dip below the level of being a stable, playable instrument. You’d have to try one to see if this is below that line. 

I have a Bullet Tele that wasn’t a lot more that I really like. It’s a full sized and specced guitar thats cheap but not in any way nasty. 

phil_b

dazzajl said:

At some point in the price line, a guitar must dip below the level of being a stable, playable instrument.

I think you could be correct on this point but it is a concept that really irritates me. Any product should be fit for purpose at any price. If you can not build and sell a playable instrument for  £90 then you should not be selling a piece of crap at that price.

thegummy

For a poor person who can't afford more, there's no question - it is better than not having a guitar (which isn't necessarily the case for all cheap guitars, I bought my toddler a toy guitar thinking it would lose its tuning almost instantly only to find that it just can't be tuned to begin with).

If it's your kid's 20th fad of the year then it will limit the money that will be wasted when they give it up but, again, will be tuneable so they can sample actually playing music.

But if it's for someone who can already play the guitar to any level, or an adult who isn't just having a month-long fad, at that price level it's quite a small number of pints of beer, starbucks coffees - or whatever else we spend money on without thinking - to get up to something that is massively better.

I.e. if you have a Mexican Fender you could spend many hundreds of pounds on an upgrade and barely notice any difference but at this level you're talking 20 pints or coffees worth to get an Affinity which is a big jump in quality.

skunkwerx

Best question in the q&a for it... 

thegummy

skunkwerx said:

Best question in the q&a for it... 

lol that's the target market for these

munckee

I think you hit the nail on the head at the start, get a used affinity or standard - or as mentioned above look at harley benton.

rossi

An Affinty is only a few quid more so not sure they are worth buying but a top loader strat has a certain appeal to me as my Tele is a top loader.Might wait t until they appear on Gumtree  .Far better buy is a used  Squier SE .I get them for around 40 quid  off Gumtree , cheapest 20 ,always with a string missing .An alder full size  body and nice sculpting of contours plus full size neck .Cant go wrong .

themeinside

rossi said:

An Affinty is only a few quid more so not sure they are worth buying but a top loader strat has a certain appeal to me as my Tele is a top loader.Might wait t until they appear on Gumtree  .Far better buy is a used  Squier SE .I get them for around 40 quid  off Gumtree , cheapest 20 ,always with a string missing .An alder full size  body and nice sculpting of contours plus full size neck .Cant go wrong .

Inadvertently got one of those as my first guitar, brand new from Denmark Street. Went in to look for some kind of strat and was handed one of these. Maybe 2004? Has a properly beautiful birdseye neck. A pretty good accident I think!