Am I being a snob...!?

robgilmo

I had a Squier Standard Tele, loved it, really, its was an excellent guitar, then I got a Baja and the difference was obvious, not so much in build quality, the Baja was just more of what I wanted, neck profile etc, would I buy another Squier? Yes, In a hearbeat. I sold the Squier in the end as I had bought another guitar and one had to go, but it was a hard decision and I regretted it for ages.

Guitar snobbery? I do and I dont get it, I get it because people like to have nice things, I dont get it because sometimes we dont see a nice thing unless its something that other people class as being ''nice''.

If I were in your shoes, being indecisive like this, I would wait until after the lock down and try one, then if I didn't like it at least I could nuke it from orbit, just to be sure.

Or,

I would buy the guitar that matches the specification that you are comfortable with, what it says on the headstock is pretty much a none issue if its not something you feel comfortable playing.

TheMarlin

I’ve got a Mexi strat, flippin’ awesome guitar,(Classic Player 50’s) and the only strat I’ve ever properly bonded with.  More so than the CS Journeyman one I had. 

The previous owner modded the nuts off of it - and though I probably wouldn’t have done those mods, the end result is excellent.  Wouldn’t change a thing about it.  Bought it blind here for a bargain price, and feel like I mugged the poor chap. 

Try a few, buy the one that talks to you. 

On your budget, Mexi all the way. 

Marlin 

Jez6345789

You gotta do what works for you but I don’t really get it. I like fancy guitars but I love cheap guitars or partscasters that get people going WTF is that. 

hotpickups

Haven’t looked back since getting my fender Vintera strat. Although I always have kicked myself for selling my 80s squire JV strat. Olympic white with mint pick guard looking like the vintera I have now. Maybe I see it as a replacement but really still feel I should’ve kept the squire. Bloody lovely that guitar was  

phil_b

Danny1969 said:

I've got 3 Strats now and none of them are Fender,  none of them cost more than £300 either. Basically a Tokia and 2 partscasters. I've played just about every kind of USA strat, some are great but some are a tad overrated  and a lot of money for what they are. A Strat copy with good pickups and a good setup can be as nice to play as a USA Strat  ... IMHO 

none of them are fenders so non of them are strats. snobbery?

Schnozz

This is the daftest thread I've read.

DaevidJ

Perhaps it is due to owning a couple of the more expensive guitars that I would actually consider buying a squier... in this instance a Bass VI. That name does not bother me as it has a heritage that I have no issue with. Plus for the price it is a relative steal!

HAL9000

I don't actually own one but I have played a Squier CV Strat a few times. It sounds like a Strat but, for me, the neck isn’t that great (slightly gloopy finish, and a little on the skinny side). My ‘go to’ is a 2015 Mexican Std Strat. IMHO it has a far nicer neck (satin finish, bit more of a handful) than the Classic Vibe. 

I actually really like the mix of modern features and vintage look of the CV Strat and really think that Fender/Squier have got things pretty much right with it. For me though it is let down by the neck (and also the small sustain block).

dogload

Personally, i think it's snobbery but I completely understand it. If you've only ever owned 'budget' guitars, then it's easy to assume that 'the real thing' is going to be much better.

Being of 'a certain age' I learned to play on a Hondo Less Paul copy and dreamt of the real thing. As it turns out, I have never owned a Gibson Les Paul (or any other Gibson apart from the Explorer I had for a day before returning it) as after a while and various trade-ins I wanted a Stratocaster. To that end I purchased a Tokai, which I have to this day, and have never found another Strat that comes anywhere near to being as good.

These days, my guitar collection whilst including a couple of Rics and a handful of Fenders, is mostly comprised of my Tokai, Squiers, Epiphones and other 'non-prestige' brands. My main guitars for playing live are Squier and Epiphone.

It's like size - it's more important how it feels and what you can do with it. I remember when I saw Green On Red many years ago and was amazed that their guitarist Chuck C. Prophet IV was using a Squier Tele and he still sounded great. I think i got one shortly afterwards (and I still have that one too).

If you have a cheap guitar that sounds good and feels good and does what you want, keep it. Get a second guitar!

Sassafras

I think it's vital to spend as much as possible on guitars.
You don't want people to think you're cheap.
And contrary to public opinion, it is possible to see the logo while playing, you simply need to adopt a hunched over your instrument stance.

thumpingrug

Yes you are being a SNOB.  If you want a good basic strat then a Squire CV is a good choice.  Nothing wrong with them at all. However what you clearly want is a fender badge.  Nothing else will scratch that itch.  Just remember that Fender made a lot of shit guitars in the 70s and they all had that badge on them.  Its not a quality mark.

pintspiller

When I watch a black and white film on TV I am scared somebody will call at the house and think I have a black and white TV.

HAL9000

dogload said:

If you've only ever owned 'budget' guitars, then it's easy to assume that 'the real thing' is going to be much better.

If you have a cheap guitar that sounds good and feels good and does what you want, keep it. Get a second guitar!

^ This (in spades).

Years ago I had a Squier Affinity Tele. Superb neck, had that Tele ‘spank’, and ridiculously good for a £140 (at the time) instrument. However, in my head, it wasn’t a proper Telecaster. It didn’t have through-body stringing. It didn’t have the skunk stripe, it didn’t have the ‘cup’ jack socket. I don’t honestly remember now but I suspect the name on the headstock could also have been a thing. Whatever, it wasn’t a ‘real’ Telecaster and it got moved on. 

It got replaced with a US Standard Telecaster. Had all those things I thought I wanted and was quantifiably a better guitar. However it’s also a pretty generic guitar that just happens to be Telecaster shaped. Apparently at the time (around 2005) Fender we’re making pickups that sounded like peoples’ perception of what an electric guitar sounded like rather than what, say, a Tele or a Strat should sound like. 

Strangely the Squier was more Tele than the US Fender ever was. A cheap and cheerful guitar with nothing fancy about it that, despite its cheap electrickery, actually sounded like a Telecaster. It’s the only guitar I’ve ever regretted selling.

My only excuse is I was younger and less bright back then.

pintspiller

HAL9000 said:

My only excuse is I was younger and less bright back then.

Most of us are guilty of this. Still are in some ways if we'd admit it.

p90fool

Fender make guitars at most price points in factories all over the world. 
Having a Fender Stratocaster used to have a certain attraction but it's meaningless now, most of them are Squiers anyway really. 

That's no reflection on their quality by the way, my proper American Strat made in the original Fullerton factory is a bit crap compared to most Far Eastern Strats.

mrleon83

Check out a G&l legacy tribute, awesome hard ware , full trem block and build .. I had a classic vibe for a month and to me it just felt cheap, the G&l is in another league .. 

skullfunkerry

Of all the guitars that I flipped in the last couple of years, the only one I regret selling is the Squier Contemporary Active Strat. I'm seriously thinking about getting another one...

Lewy

clarke_111 said:

Sarge said:

If you're buying it to play you'll not see the logo, if you're buying it to look at however..... 

true...

Not true....you'll see the logo when you're looking over at it deciding whether to pick it up and play it or not.

robgilmo

What if you sand the logo off, or put some masking tape over it? You could even write Fender on the tape, or Gibson, or solid 18 carrot gold, or what ever you want really. 

Lewy

I don't see this as simple snobbery. Guitars are functional objects, obviously, but they are also romantic cultural icons. And music is art...it's ok to embrace that stuff. Most of the greatest music creators allow themselves to be inspired by things that others might see as stupid....like the association of a brand to a hero etc. "Snobbery" seems to me to require the belief that objectivity is the only way value should be judged. Not sure that applies to art.