Squier Sonic Strat LRL California BL

I visited local guitar shop, trying out guitars around 1.000 Euro. I tried this cheap Squier for beginners just for fun (just to see how bad it is compared to more expensive guitars). To my surprise, it played quite well! Long story short - I stuck with the guitar, because it resonated really well and it had long sustain. After leaving the shop (without buying it) the guitar stuck in my head. I ordered that model from Thomann - hoping it will be as good as the one I tried in person.

It arrived and my wishes were heard :-) Guitar is very lively and I think it is because of thinner body (compared to american Fender Strat). Somebody did setup the guitar for sure. Octaves were fine, action was higher then I prefer, but this is quite personal (and easy to fix). Frets are fine and I have zero issues here. Colour of the body is really nice and is applied perfectly. I changed factory strings to set that I prefer (10 - 52 Elixirs) and re-do the setup. What surprised me the most is that the vibrato is in fact functional and stays is tune and is really smooth. I have owned (years ago) at least two or three mexican Fender Strats and their vibrato units weren't as smooth. I was not expecting this at all! Vibrato block itself is that thinner/cheaper one, yet the sustain is great.

Another surprise were the pickups - I have spare AlNiCo set, that I've planned to replace those stock pickups. But those (ceramic) pickups aren't bad at all. Especially for clean tones. All those Strat flavours are there. The pickups itself were set too close to the strings so I decreased them a bit - it helped! Overdriven tones aren's so Stratty (see YouTube videos to know what I mean). I guess if you upgrade them to AlNiCo's it will help. Another surprise were tuning machines - usually those cheap models have "jumpy" tuners. Those tuners definitely aren't jumpy. They are smooth. They don't hold tuning that good as some high-end ones, but they work fine. For the money the whole guitar is FINE instrument! Fun to play.

If I have to find flaws: neck profile wasn't absolutely perfect. It would need some sand paper work to make it 100% smooth. I would consider changing pickups for those who are lusting for vintage Strat sounds and also changing tuners to stable ones.

Overall rating: great guitar for those who are beginning, for those who want to try Strat (just to try if you like it or not) or those who are on tight-budget. The guitar is fine as is, it has quite good setup from factory and is good mod-platform for those who want upgrades. Highly recommended! Also this model is made in Indonesia, not China (wow!).

EDIT: I have changed pickups to AlNiCo 5, it sounds great now! I also changed tuners to locking Klusons, the guitar stays in tune even using the vibrato unit. Another pleasant surprise when I removed pickguard - it comes with ALPHA pots made in Korea - soldering itself is absolutely clean! The body is routed for H-H-H configuration in case somebody wonders.

Guitare achetée en attendant de pouvoir vraiment remplacée une météora vendue pour raison économique.
Je ne m'attendait pas à apprécier autant cet instrument.
Après un bon réglage, les sons Strat sont là, le manche satiné est très agréable. Je l'utilise en guitare rythmique et ça fait clairement le taf.
Je la recommande sans hésiter: en cas de budget très limité, pour les débutants ou si vous voulez vous essayer à la stratocaster.

Fue comprada más bien para regalar firmada y que quedase como elemento de decoración, pero cuando me llegó quedé bastante sorprendido con la buena construcción. Venía con la acción de las cuerdas prácticamente perfecta, y su construcción, tacto y sonido están muy pero que muy bien para una gama de entrada como esta; además de que mantuvo realmente la afinación tras los primeros usos.
Casi me la quedo! Buen trabajo por parte de Fender por mantener su sello de calidad en su subgama.