Argos Squiers

LastMantra

I had a plywood bullet. Tarted it up a bit (actually I probably spent a fair bit of time effort and money!) and it was perfectly good. Actually pretty nice to play. 
Some "guitars" are just toys though. 
Can be a bit like cheap mountain bikes. Disposable crap.

No idea about these particular ones though....so no help at all really 

Funkfingers

The ninety quid guitars and/or £200 Starter Pack bundles are for the Crimbo present market. 

Junior has expressed an interest in learning the instrument. Parents do not wish to lay down very much money on what could turn out to be a passing fad.

If/when Junior advances to a more expensive instrument, the £89 guitar gets handed down to a younger sibling.

phil_b

Funkfingers said:

The ninety quid guitars and/or £200 Starter Pack bundles are for the Crimbo present market. 

Junior has expressed an interest in learning the instrument. Parents do not wish to lay down very much money on what could turn out to be a passing fad.

If/when Junior advances to a more expensive instrument, the £89 guitar gets handed down to a younger sibling.

but £200 is not a small amount of money. but if all you get for that is crap are people just being ripped off

jonnyburgo

Second hand affinity strat - £50, second hand fender mustang Amp- £50. Thats what i'd do. Got my son a HSS affinity Strat for that. Blocked off the trem, tweaked the neck and its a bloody good little guitar for the money. Weighs as much as a dining table mind...

Neil

I've been brought down to earth re cheap Squiers.

I'm at my Son's place in Florida for the month and he kindly bought me what I guess was  Squier starter pack second hand with a little Rocktek amp - it's horrible.

I set the intonation and generally fettled it but it seems like a toy with a shorter scale than normal plus a narrow neck with bunched up strings that my sausage fingers can't cope with too well.

I'm having to smile and say how great It is.

It was kind of him to buy it but it's horrible.

MartinBush

Thanks chaps. I think I get the message re the Argos items. On the Affinity guitars, I'm yet to see one for the prices some have been lucky to get them for. I may be looking in the wrong places though.

thegummy

MartinBush said:

Thanks chaps. I think I get the message re the Argos items. On the Affinity guitars, I'm yet to see one for the prices some have been lucky to get them for. I may be looking in the wrong places though.

There are always people saying "buy used buy used" on forums but any time I've tried to look I can just about never find what I'm looking for up for sale.

Not sure if those people maybe browse the market with an open mind and buy what takes their fancy or if they wait patiently for months/years til the specific thing they want comes up.

Maybe I'm not looking in the right places either.

MartinBush

I look on Gumtree and ebay but if you find a Squire it's usually priced above what I'd want to pay for what would essentially be a punt. An Argos guitar would be a punt too.

Of course sounding people out on here is free, which is a very good thing.

Wolfetone

The Squier brand represents quality from absolute garbage to sublimely awesome. It totally depends upon year and manufacture source. The brand has almost become irrelevant as it's been represented on so many quality levels. 

rossi

The prices seemed to have reached daft proportions on Gumtree lately.Some are more than you can buy a new one  for lately .I just look in Norwich area and maby I  scooped up all the cheapies .The first SE I bought was 20 and the last 45 .I paid 60 for a full Affinity kit that looked brand new ,minus that string of course . .I give the amps to a charity one .I consider the strat not to be a beginners guitar as it takes a decent set up to get to stay in tune . The Epi 100 quid job  is better for a learner I think.only my view of course .

thegummy

Wolfetone said:

The Squier brand represents quality from absolute garbage to sublimely awesome. It totally depends upon year and manufacture source. The brand has almost become irrelevant as it's been represented on so many quality levels. 

That's the thing with branding in general, people act as if brand names are a signifier of quality (and the marketing people want this) but in reality it really isn't.

People might see Jeff Healey using a Squier branded guitar that was made in Japan to a higher quality than Fender themselves were making in America and take that as a plus point to get a current day Squier.

The two guitars aren't connected in any way at all other than at a very abstract corporate level.

It would be great if brands really did signify quality, it would make buying decisions so much easier in the very confusing market. Maybe that's why some hang on to the idea of branding being a reliable quality indicator despite knowing on a more logical level that it isn't. That and the brainwashing.

Wolfetone

thegummy said:

Wolfetone said:

The Squier brand represents quality from absolute garbage to sublimely awesome. It totally depends upon year and manufacture source. The brand has almost become irrelevant as it's been represented on so many quality levels. 

That's the thing with branding in general, people act as if brand names are a signifier of quality (and the marketing people want this) but in reality it really isn't.

People might see Jeff Healey using a Squier branded guitar that was made in Japan to a higher quality than Fender themselves were making in America and take that as a plus point to get a current day Squier.

The two guitars aren't connected in any way at all other than at a very abstract corporate level.

It would be great if brands really did signify quality, it would make buying decisions so much easier in the very confusing market. Maybe that's why some hang on to the idea of branding being a reliable quality indicator despite knowing on a more logical level that it isn't. That and the brainwashing.

Absolutely spot on

MartinBush

I happened across a Gear 4 Music strat this evening which I expect is in the same price bracket  as the argos squier. It looked impressively cheap and felt that way too. Apparently this particular one arrived hard to play, then the Jack went dodgy and one of the tuners went wrong.

I agree with what's been said about major brands in this thread too. The marketplace is a confusing environment.

darthed1981

thegummy said:

Maybe I'm not looking in the right places either.

Also me - people seem to try and sell them for basically what they paid for them (or more).

MartinBush

There is a perception with some people that when a guitar is 10 years old, and if it says Fender on it somewhere, it's "vintage" or somehow valuable. I don't think this is helped by Squire, as stated above, being on the headstocks of some excellent guitars and some dross.

darthed1981

Anyone else think "Argos Squiers" sounds like a character from an Agatha Christie novel?

thegummy

darthed1981 said:

Anyone else think "Argos Squiers" sounds like a character from an Agatha Christie novel?

hahaha brilliant

Scootermuppet

Well I’ve bought one yesterday for £89 for my son. I own a number of Fenders and yes it’s cheap, very light, a hard tail (no back cover or springs) but we oiled the fret board popped on good strings and it’s intonation for now is fine, holds its tuning and plays well. I wouldn’t gig with it but I would jam at home with it. Finish shows the different woods on the body but apart from that it’s ok.

merciful-evans

phil_b said:

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.

I would expect a Squier guitar to be fit for purpose. Some of those Argos guitars are not. For instance, they are offering the Jaxville ‘Hades’ starter kit. That should be withdrawn from sale.

I got one of these from the local tip’s shop for £15. I wanted the body for a cheap parts-caster. Body (basswood) & neck (maple) don’t seem too bad. But hardware and electrics are junk. Because the output jack isn’t made of proper metal it does not hold the jackplug in. Its too soft. The strings are difficult to remove because the holes in the trem block are too small. They are too small because the block is too small. Shaving off a fraction of a penny at ever turn leads to products that should never be manufactured. The Jaxville kit is up for £129.99.

 

I too haven’t played a poor Squier… Yet!

pintspiller

As we all know, any guitar that has string height, pickup height, trussrod and intonation set will sound better than one that hasn't. Irrespective of price.