It certainly looks nicer this time around! 🟢Available on My Website: www.troglysguitarshow.com 🔴Reverb: tidd.ly/4aFiyhC 🐕 Private Help Sessions: troglysguitarshow.com/help-appraisals/
Idk man I think your kid would enjoy the guitar even though it’s not up to your standards. You regularly buy and resell guitars that are thousands of dollars and to compare that quality to a lower end squier that’s worth the money is insane. Kids don’t care if the guitar doesn’t sound the best as long as it’s cool and they like it. At least give your kid the option to keep it.
The funniest thing to me is that the stuff that really matters is there in this guitar. Good frets and the like. I like expensive guitars too, but pretending like there's any meaningful difference in a vintage Gibson that plays well and a bunch of wood scraps glued together that plays well is funny to me. The hello kitty guitar surely isn't my thing, but the, probably unintentional, pretentiousness of saying that "my kid deserves better than this" is crazy. A kid will 100% prefer playing the well made budget guitars over some bougie over-priced piece of cracked vintage thing simply because it looks good to them. Hell, I still would. I'm just used to paying a premium to get something I like the looks of. Turns out that pink/purple, fanned fret, extended range guitars don't generally come in a budget form. Lol
As a woman who was once a little girl, please give this Hello Kitty Strat to your daughter. If you showed your kid a Hello Kitty guitar vs anything else (price is no object!), she’d pick the HK Strat every time. No matter what it sounds like to you, she’s going to think she’s the coolest kid in town, as will her friends. It will boost her confidence and self-esteem to have such a coveted guitar with a character every little girl has loved in the last 50 years. She will want to pick it up to pretend with, as well as to actually learn to play for real. Heck, I was THRILLED when I once got a Hello Kitty lip balm set when my friend’s dad took us to FAO Schwartz in Manhattan for a little adventure. If I got a Hello Kitty guitar?! Wow! Please, I implore you on behalf of your little girl: don’t be a tone snob on this one. Give your daughter what SHE will want and be inspired to play rather than what YOU want her to play because you think the pickups on this guitar are weak/tinny and not beefy like Gibson’s. Don’t crush your little girl’s heart when she finds out one day in the future that she nearly got one of these guitars and then you selfishly didn’t let her have it because you felt it didn’t live up to your standards.
@@Hyperlink1337 how about don’t break your little girl’s heart? Trust me, I was a little girl once. I am qualified to say that that’s much worse than a man’s ego. For the record, I’m also not questioning his ego. I’m just trying to help him realize that his little girl won’t care what the guitar sounds like, how much it cost, or what company it came from. She will care that it has an iconic character that is seen as a role model and cool in her eyes. Could be Hello Kitty, Rainbow Bright, My Little Pony, or a million other iconic characters - but the tone ain’t gonna matter.
Is it really though? The classic vibe series are very well liked and were priced at 430-460, they didn't include any kind of case. The specs on this (tuners, gloss neck) are more similar to the classic vibes than $250 affinity series, I just don't think Trogly has spent much time with the low-end, especially fender.
I really don't understand your conclusion. Besides the pickup, it seems to be superior to most of the guitars from your "high-end Gibson world " so why wouldn't your daughter like it?
I generally agree with Trogly on most of the guitars he documents/reviews but had a different opinion on this one. I think some of the extra price/value comes from the custom paint job, different coloured inlays, custom pickguard, limited edition factor, custom gig bag, and what was presumably a bespoke router template/program for the single humbucker & square cavity on the back. All things considered, plus the licensing, I thought $500, whilst pricey for a Squier, was justified.
Bro your daughter should absolutely have a guitar like this that she can be excited about. Pickups and hardware can be changed, but this is a special guitar for the colors and branding. Just give it to her and she'll have a wonderful memory for life
@@mylesstevens4367 I felt the truth of that in my fretting hand. I have two MIC Squiers, and both of them have basically perfect frets compared to my sharp AF MIM Player I Tele, supremely uneven Player II Jaguar, and my Am Pro II Thinline Tele which is going to need a little elbow grease to get the fret ends nicer.
I never comment on this stuff but I feel like I'm taking crazy pills, that pickup sounds great to me. Super clear, will actually cut without having to spend a bunch of time getting it to cut and leaves room for everybody else. I'm listening on huge studio monitors though, I dunno.
The fret job does look good, and I like the fact that they've trimmed the tangs and dressed the slots with filler. To me that is superior to having the fretwire completely flush with the fretboard edge. With the latter, any fret sprout you feel immediately.
Great quality guitar. A guitar that stays in tune, has great parts and forces you to make sounds with your hands.... Awesome. No tremolo, nothing to fiddle with. Just great wood, nice finish.... Decent parts.... Well done Fender/Squier.
@@MynameisMayco ? I just opened my HK 2024 Squier, and it’s a great beginner/intermediate jamming guitar. The frets are freaking awesome and even up and down the neck. It’s no AM Pro II or MIJ Hybrid II, but it’s snazzy for what it is (not at MSRP though, that’s definitely just for the branding.)
@@shanewalton8888 for real. How many times can he say the same thing about les pauls in different trim levels? It's a shame he doesn't see how cool these Squiers are.
I agree with all those who say you should give your daughter one of those Hello Kitty guitars anyway! She's gonna LOVE it! 😊 What Gibson / higher-quality equivalents would there be anyway?!
Love mine - surprisingly well made, resonant and great neck. The pickup may be a bit low power for the metallest amongst us, but for anything from punk to hard rock it's great ( I use 10-46 on mine). The ultimate plug-and-play lil machine.
Your child deserves the kind of guitar that inspires them to play, and is set up optimally. (Also: Your humbucker deserves the tone pot of a proper value that complements its sound, even it has to be an internal trim pot!) (Also also wik: Chococat is the best Sanrio character, so I'm holding out!)
We had at least 1200 in stock at guitar center and they sold out within less than a week. They over saturated the market with these so I don’t see the value staying with this one, although it plays great!!
Any ideas if they’ll restock? Fender customer service said they plan to have everything back in stock in a few weeks though no set date yet. I’ve seen enough guitars initially sell out from hype only to saturate the market and drop in value later. Still bought one cause I’m a metal head who’s obsessed with Japan & would be fun to play metal on this but I’m skeptical these will be the “investment” many people think they’ll be.
Regarding how limited they are. I called Fender customer service who said they would restock everything. But Sweetwater said they don’t have any restock planned. I am more likely to believe Fender. Since this is for Hello Kitty’s 50th anniversary, they’ll likely want to sell it for the next 12 months. Also Fender is a company with the goal of generating profits, if they see the demand for these Hello Kitty guitars is there, they will absolutely want to sell more. They will gain nothing by artificially limiting their sales. And they never clearly stated how many units or for what duration of time these would be limited to. I could be wrong but I’ll be surprised if they don’t restock. Seen many hyped or limited guitars sell out when the initial demand was high only to get re-released or restocked later. Tom Delonge strat, Adam Jones Epiphone, Bonamassa Lazarus & ES-335 just to name a few. Companies seem to enjoy making things seem “limited” to push sales only to go back on their word a little. Regardless, glad I could order one of the Hello Kitty models before it sold out. I’m just skeptical they’ll really be limited.
The only point I will make is Japanese companies and their licensing can be strange at times, even for popular franchises. I'm a Godzilla fan and some of the licensed figures are made in silly small numbers less than 50, or a "one day license" for conventions. It is mind-boggling and frustrating at times that they'd go through the effort for such little profit and end up angering more fans than pleasing them. I hope Fender makes more so everyone who wants one can grab one and prevent needless resellers gouging prices on the secondary market.
I got my white one on Thursday and it plays better than I expected. More like a Classic Vibe series than an Affinity series. I'm planning on swapping the pickup to a Seymour Duncan JB
It's INSANE how good those frets look compared to the Fender made in mexico stuff I spent wayyyyy more on from the past couple of decades. Awesome to see the improvements in guitar manufacturing.
500 bucks for a "squier" is steep, but I've owned my fair share of Mexican made guitars with a "Fender" decal instead and none of them had frets looking that good. In fact, I've sent back a few Mexican Fenders for the fretboard not even being properly sanded, never mind the frets. Yet more proof that country of origin and name on the headstock no longer mean anything. Also, if you're complaining that a guitar is "almost distorting your amp" and rolling off the volume cleans it up, it means it's a high output pickup and you should...shock...turn down the pre-gain on your amp!
Name on the headstock definitely means a lot 😂😂 if you’re looking at fenders then sure squiers seem just as good because they all click together like lego sets but a Gibson is always gonna knock an epiphone out the park in terms of quality.
$500 doesn't mean nearly as much now as it used to. Example, in 2003 I bought a new Ibanez RG320QSTR for $600, adjusted for inflation is just over $1000 now. So if you're comparing prices from your past or what you're accustomed to seeing value as, $500 now is like $250 to $300 15+ years ago. So for a Squier it's actually priced very appropriately.
I replaced the pickups on my 2006 version with DiMarzio Evolution 2 (pot/wiring as well) … if anybody is planning to do the same you need to get F-Spaced ones.
People like to diss the Squires but Ron Thorn, who used to be the lead principal Master Builder at Fender Custom shop said his favorite guitar of all time to play was an early 90's silver series Squire. I have one also and I've had it since 94 when I bought it used. A customer brought it into the shop to trade for a crappy Fender HM Strat and the second I played it, it went into the back room never to see the showroom again... For me, some of the Squires are like Yamaha electric guitars: hugely underrated.
I bought my 15 yo daughter one for Christmas for 4 hunitt clams with a coupon. She loves it. I played it and it feels good, sounds good and no sharp frets. Plus a nice gig bag! "NO RAGRETS!"
I was fortunate enough to get the only one my local guitar center had, I'd ordered it for store pickup the day after they released so thankfully it was still in the box & not mutilated as a floor model yet lol that said though, I've modded the hell out of it already & it's hilariously awesome! Fishman Fluence Modern Ceramic wired to a push/pull volume for voice 1/2, Graph Tech staggered ratio locking tuners, TUSQ nut, & a Gotoh battery box. There was some labor involved in the planning & routing of the battery box, plus opening up the tuner holes for the locking tuners, but it was well worth it imo. I didn't buy it to resell at an exorbitant price, I bought it as a mod platform to have fun with at gigs, but with enough functionality to be reliable & sound great, & I think I've achieved just that. The HK Squier rocks!
Sounds like a single p90 strat. Not sure what you're hearing, but it sounds super clean and no buzzing or fuzz from the frets... They did a great job with the price they were targeting. I truly don't hear what is wrong here...
Cost and availability of wood. Poplar only grows in the U.S. and other countries with a similar soil density and humidity level. Asian countries are too hot or tropical during the summer and most wood that grows in the USA needs a warm climate but with lots of rain. Japan and other countries like it don't get the required amount so those kind of trees don't do very well. If it's too wet the roots rot. Japan is a lot more like Hawaii in that it won't have the correct climate for most tree species to thrive.
@@solarismoon3046lots of poplars in Canada, including parts many Americans think are inhabited by igloo dwellers. But a lot of variation in soil density and humidity within the US, as well as in Canada, but certainly some overlap.
So I've been playing with the fuzz for about a week now, and find it sounds great in conjunction with a touch of amp distortion, and starting everything around 30%, dialing in to taste. Get just a bit of color, keep the tone down to roll back a little sharpness but not totally crush the dynamics. Using a few other fuzzes in the same combo, I do like the tone Kitty gives me, so I'll definitely use it. Of course I've got it in a full noise-pedal rig right now, so the other extreme end of the spectrum!
for $125 in 2006 i thought they _were_ a great deal. when I bought my first real guitar when i was 16 usa made highway 1 strats started at $500 and i had to buy a mexican strat for $425 because i just couldn't afford a full five hundred bucks as a dishwasher, Its crazy how time and prices change. I think a modded HK strat would be a killer at parties and would _probably_ appreciate.
bought the white one, and god damn i have fallen in love with the guitar. i can't seem to put it down. something about seeing a cute cat on my guitar makes me want to pick it up and play for hours.
I won over 70 guitars. Core PRS, GIBSON, Fender USA, all really nice stuff. I bought the HK and I was really surprised how nice it was. The fret work was immaculate. I have not been able to put it down. I did however change out the pickup to a Duncan Distortion. I've let a couple of friends try it and they both loved it too.
For what it's worth, Trogly read the stamping on the neck where it goes into the neck pocket as probably reading "SOKT." I think it's "SQKT" - "SQ" for Squier and "KT" for Hello Kitty.
The best pickup to add to this guitar is the Seymour Duncan Secret Agent tele neck pickup. Sits underneath the pickguard and you could technically add a push/pull pot as a pickup switch to avoid charging the look at all
Whatever amp you're using makes it sound pretty nice to it. A humbucker mod is super easy to do and relatively cheap. And that fuzz pedal is also pretty good sounding if you tweak it a bit
I was hoping to grab one of these, but they're sold out everywhere -- even the white one. Don't think these are worth the inevitable mark-up, so I guess I'll wait for the 60th anniversary.
Pretty and cute Hello Kitty Strat. Nice frets for a Squier! String through hard tail and side input jack are nice choices I'd like on more Squier models. Mods definitely improved the tones.
Great video!!! What about the fact that it's missing a tone control as far as the extra brightness? It might be a bit of both factors, the pup and with no tone control.
I think the stock version sounds better, also the grain pattern on the stock on is more interesting. And you better give that to your daughter. Make it for Christmas. It will just be something super special.
A few years back I purchased a mint Hello Kitty body in black for $50. I installed a Duncan ‘78 and Fender Roasted Maple Strat neck. Jumbo frets. It rips!
7:25 I had a Squier duo sonic(MIC) in my past and it was great….except for the gloss maple fingerboard. I had to dump it just because of that. Now, I see that those are selling in the used market for about $430.00 US, but were well made.
I’m usually totally against these cheaper guitars, but I’m actually shocked at the feel of this guitar. I’ve already ordered a Bare Knuckle Holydiver to change out the pickup. Also, the fuzz pedal, when set correctly, sounds pretty good. It’s a fun guitar to play around with. My first strat! lol and only one ever! lol
I bought my daughter a Hello-Kitty guitar and fuzz pedal. She ended up on a stripper pole, unmarried with 3 kids, covered in tattoos, and living in her car. (with pink hair, of course).
By the way, Vard used much more than Super Distortions. Do a little research on his pickups. He also used Gibson, Ibanez, Seymour Duncan, DiMarzio, etc.
In 1976, I bought my first Strat, black on black, maple neck, black tolex case, $245. In 1985, a Dakota red on white, maple neck, black case, $380. At $500, somebody's making good money on these.
Idk, it’s kinda cool to have a different sounding guitar than just throwing a name brand pickup in it that everyone already knows what will sound like. Different sounds make you play different ways and expand your playing abilities
It would be interesting to see and hear the difference between this and the Squier Sonic Stratocaster HT. They are both very similar guitars, with the only main main differences being the addition of a tone nob and the jack socket being in the traditional spot for a Strat, and the price!!!
As someone who also buys too many guitars, this has been one of the most fun ones I've bought this year. I think it's a perfect guitar for anyone who's starting out or just wants to rock out and have a good time!
Looks and sounds like a good guitar to me. Aside from the juxtaposition of playing a pink girly cartoon guitar for metal, one of the things that makes this guitar ideal for some is the simplicity. One knob, no trem, and a single bridge humbucker. There are people who pay crazy money for customs with these specs. Modded or not, it looks and sounds like a great guitar. Maybe not for guitar snobs, but for $500 it's a steal. Keeping in mind that you're someone who buys multiple thousands, if not tens of thousand dollar guitars and thinks they're legitimately any better objectively than a well made budget (or even mid priced) guitar. They're wood, cut into a shape, with strings on them. Maybe I'm naive, but I've owned many guitars not to flip of all price ranges, and while I did/do love my $2k+ guitars, my all time favorite and most used guitars are well made budget guitars. A $300 used Ibanez with stickers all over it and a $200 counterfeit Gibson. If the guitar is built well, and this one looks like it is, then it's all about looks and if you think you can project your bougie $5k+ finish-cracked tastes over looks on anyone, let alone your kid, is funny to me. My dream guitar, and first personally bought guitar, was any explorer shape I could find/afford and it was a rondo Douglas ghost for around $200. I still own and love it. If your kid wants something pink and cute, I hope you're willing to obliterate the resale value of a Gibson/pricey guitar, because looks are hugely important to new players. That 50 cent scratch plate may be the difference between pushing through the frustrations of early learning and giving up outright. I'm not price shaming; there's nothing wrong with really liking pricey guitars. I love them too, but to discredit this guitar in any way is asinine to me. It's a unique and cool (for some, maybe not me personally) guitar that'll serve just fine to learn on, and room to upgrade if you really want and still have a guitar that plays just as good as, say, a Gibson without the obnoxious heft and poor upper fret access. Tl;dr I think your expectations are pretty out there. Looks (as well as good playability) are more important than vintage expensive stuff to people just picking something up before they're super passionate about it.
The split humbucker sounds a lot like my Rickenbacker 450 with the toaster pickups. I’m hearing some jangle. BTW, I modded that guitar with a Dimarzio Super Distortion. What a crazy thing to do, right? It’s now back to its original state.
It certainly looks nicer this time around!
🟢Available on My Website: www.troglysguitarshow.com
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I bet it plays better than the $11,000 made-in-the-same-place "patriotic" MAGA guitar Trump is grifting right now.
Idk man I think your kid would enjoy the guitar even though it’s not up to your standards. You regularly buy and resell guitars that are thousands of dollars and to compare that quality to a lower end squier that’s worth the money is insane. Kids don’t care if the guitar doesn’t sound the best as long as it’s cool and they like it. At least give your kid the option to keep it.
This, especially if the main complain is the pickup, he could even change the bridge or tuners if the kid likes the look.
Wait, he's actually taking this guitar seriously like it's a Gibson? Fuck that
@@DaNooch669 yeah, the channel lives up to its namesake.
The funniest thing to me is that the stuff that really matters is there in this guitar. Good frets and the like. I like expensive guitars too, but pretending like there's any meaningful difference in a vintage Gibson that plays well and a bunch of wood scraps glued together that plays well is funny to me. The hello kitty guitar surely isn't my thing, but the, probably unintentional, pretentiousness of saying that "my kid deserves better than this" is crazy. A kid will 100% prefer playing the well made budget guitars over some bougie over-priced piece of cracked vintage thing simply because it looks good to them. Hell, I still would. I'm just used to paying a premium to get something I like the looks of. Turns out that pink/purple, fanned fret, extended range guitars don't generally come in a budget form. Lol
@@foxtrot889My kid wil play ONLY THE FINEST mint condition 1952 Stratocaster, personally hand-crafted by Leo Fender and baptised by the pope.
As a woman who was once a little girl, please give this Hello Kitty Strat to your daughter. If you showed your kid a Hello Kitty guitar vs anything else (price is no object!), she’d pick the HK Strat every time.
No matter what it sounds like to you, she’s going to think she’s the coolest kid in town, as will her friends. It will boost her confidence and self-esteem to have such a coveted guitar with a character every little girl has loved in the last 50 years. She will want to pick it up to pretend with, as well as to actually learn to play for real. Heck, I was THRILLED when I once got a Hello Kitty lip balm set when my friend’s dad took us to FAO Schwartz in Manhattan for a little adventure. If I got a Hello Kitty guitar?! Wow!
Please, I implore you on behalf of your little girl: don’t be a tone snob on this one. Give your daughter what SHE will want and be inspired to play rather than what YOU want her to play because you think the pickups on this guitar are weak/tinny and not beefy like Gibson’s. Don’t crush your little girl’s heart when she finds out one day in the future that she nearly got one of these guitars and then you selfishly didn’t let her have it because you felt it didn’t live up to your standards.
Still can switch the pickup.
This comment 🤍
never question a man's ego
@@ballyshannongirl that too lol. 😂
@@Hyperlink1337 how about don’t break your little girl’s heart? Trust me, I was a little girl once. I am qualified to say that that’s much worse than a man’s ego.
For the record, I’m also not questioning his ego. I’m just trying to help him realize that his little girl won’t care what the guitar sounds like, how much it cost, or what company it came from. She will care that it has an iconic character that is seen as a role model and cool in her eyes. Could be Hello Kitty, Rainbow Bright, My Little Pony, or a million other iconic characters - but the tone ain’t gonna matter.
$500 for a Squier is quite steep, but then again that Hello Kitty trademark wasn't free, so yeah, why not
I believe it's because that is the market price. Scalpers determine the real price of a guitar and that price is over $500 right now.
Is it really though? The classic vibe series are very well liked and were priced at 430-460, they didn't include any kind of case. The specs on this (tuners, gloss neck) are more similar to the classic vibes than $250 affinity series, I just don't think Trogly has spent much time with the low-end, especially fender.
@@kimiko41 He ought to spend more time with low end guitars. They suit his playing more.
I really don't understand your conclusion. Besides the pickup, it seems to be superior to most of the guitars from your "high-end Gibson world " so why wouldn't your daughter like it?
Honestly it feels like pure pretension on his part
It's better than his playing...
*plays the sickest, filthiest post grunge fuzz riff of all time*
Trog: “meh, that pedal sounds okay I guess”
The man himself!
Just put a Gibson Humbucker in it, then give it to your daughter. These guitars are bound to become collectables just like the first ones did.
Not a Gibson pickup, something with the correct spacing at least a Dimarzio
@@DJKr15py spacing only matters if you care about looks, it doesn't change the sound
Right, he's acting like it's a lost cause haha. Bros hearing with his wallet.
I generally agree with Trogly on most of the guitars he documents/reviews but had a different opinion on this one. I think some of the extra price/value comes from the custom paint job, different coloured inlays, custom pickguard, limited edition factor, custom gig bag, and what was presumably a bespoke router template/program for the single humbucker & square cavity on the back. All things considered, plus the licensing, I thought $500, whilst pricey for a Squier, was justified.
@@jamesharrismusic2573 could you imagine how excited he'd be if it was a Hello Kitty les paul instead?
If it was a Hello Kitty Les Paul he wouldn’t have given it to his daughter because he would be keeping it for ‘the future museum’!
@@jamesharrismusic2573 lol that's true
Bro your daughter should absolutely have a guitar like this that she can be excited about. Pickups and hardware can be changed, but this is a special guitar for the colors and branding. Just give it to her and she'll have a wonderful memory for life
So basically every complaint you have about the tone is actually the fault of your modification. Got it.
Penguin friend? Wtf
Bad Batz Maru is his name. His father is a professional pinball player.
Oooh imagine a Pompompurin Starcaster. Or Coronado. It'd have to be a semi hollow because he's a Big Boy 🤭💕
Lol Squier has Better QC than Gibson's Muprhy Lab now a days, dang 😂
"Play authentic" /s
Squier has better QC than Fender too lol
@@mylesstevens4367 I felt the truth of that in my fretting hand. I have two MIC Squiers, and both of them have basically perfect frets compared to my sharp AF MIM Player I Tele, supremely uneven Player II Jaguar, and my Am Pro II Thinline Tele which is going to need a little elbow grease to get the fret ends nicer.
I never comment on this stuff but I feel like I'm taking crazy pills, that pickup sounds great to me. Super clear, will actually cut without having to spend a bunch of time getting it to cut and leaves room for everybody else. I'm listening on huge studio monitors though, I dunno.
This channel is just really into les pauls. If it isn't a les paul, there's something wrong with it in his eyes.
Just need to add a capacitor to round off that top end.
Bro's hearing with his eyes and his wallet. I'll take that guitar all day.
The fret job does look good, and I like the fact that they've trimmed the tangs and dressed the slots with filler. To me that is superior to having the fretwire completely flush with the fretboard edge. With the latter, any fret sprout you feel immediately.
Great quality guitar. A guitar that stays in tune, has great parts and forces you to make sounds with your hands.... Awesome. No tremolo, nothing to fiddle with. Just great wood, nice finish.... Decent parts.... Well done Fender/Squier.
Cope
@@MynameisMayco ? I just opened my HK 2024 Squier, and it’s a great beginner/intermediate jamming guitar. The frets are freaking awesome and even up and down the neck. It’s no AM Pro II or MIJ Hybrid II, but it’s snazzy for what it is (not at MSRP though, that’s definitely just for the branding.)
The coated bag stops moisture from entering, although they should be vacuum sealed to work correctly.
Someone on another channel wondered if that foil bag was an attempt to protect the guitar from temperature change.
best guitar on the channel all year
oh please! hahaha
@@shanewalton8888 for real. How many times can he say the same thing about les pauls in different trim levels? It's a shame he doesn't see how cool these Squiers are.
You daughter should have the guitar she wants, not the guitar her dad wants for her...
Why couldn't a son want this also?
@@potato9832he probably doesn’t have a son that plays guitar?..
@@potato9832 They could, it's just not relevant because the creator of the video was specifically talking about giving it to their daughter
I definitely love the look of the maple fretboard with red dots.
Makes me wonder why different color inlays aren't a bigger thing.
I agree with all those who say you should give your daughter one of those Hello Kitty guitars anyway! She's gonna LOVE it! 😊
What Gibson / higher-quality equivalents would there be anyway?!
Tinker with volume knobs when using Fuzz pedal, that's the area where it shines.
Full for fuzz tone, 7 for dist/ overdrive, 3 for cleaner sound
Open G with a slide and a fuzz. That's how one can fix any guitar that's not physically broken.
Love mine - surprisingly well made, resonant and great neck. The pickup may be a bit low power for the metallest amongst us, but for anything from punk to hard rock it's great ( I use 10-46 on mine). The ultimate plug-and-play lil machine.
Your child deserves the kind of guitar that inspires them to play, and is set up optimally.
(Also: Your humbucker deserves the tone pot of a proper value that complements its sound, even it has to be an internal trim pot!)
(Also also wik: Chococat is the best Sanrio character, so I'm holding out!)
Stacked potentiometer with concentric knobs seems like an ideal drop in or minor alteration.
i really like the made in china squiers. somehow they're closer to fender spec and quality. Feels like it's out of the classic vibe line up
We had at least 1200 in stock at guitar center and they sold out within less than a week. They over saturated the market with these so I don’t see the value staying with this one, although it plays great!!
They have already gone up in value and are temporarily sold out. I'm hoping they make more as they promised when I contacted them.
They only made 500 of these this run.
@ those reports would be false
@@banditkeithkingofduelmonsters it’s all temporary, the hype will die soon
Any ideas if they’ll restock? Fender customer service said they plan to have everything back in stock in a few weeks though no set date yet. I’ve seen enough guitars initially sell out from hype only to saturate the market and drop in value later. Still bought one cause I’m a metal head who’s obsessed with Japan & would be fun to play metal on this but I’m skeptical these will be the “investment” many people think they’ll be.
Regarding how limited they are. I called Fender customer service who said they would restock everything. But Sweetwater said they don’t have any restock planned. I am more likely to believe Fender. Since this is for Hello Kitty’s 50th anniversary, they’ll likely want to sell it for the next 12 months. Also Fender is a company with the goal of generating profits, if they see the demand for these Hello Kitty guitars is there, they will absolutely want to sell more. They will gain nothing by artificially limiting their sales. And they never clearly stated how many units or for what duration of time these would be limited to. I could be wrong but I’ll be surprised if they don’t restock. Seen many hyped or limited guitars sell out when the initial demand was high only to get re-released or restocked later. Tom Delonge strat, Adam Jones Epiphone, Bonamassa Lazarus & ES-335 just to name a few. Companies seem to enjoy making things seem “limited” to push sales only to go back on their word a little. Regardless, glad I could order one of the Hello Kitty models before it sold out. I’m just skeptical they’ll really be limited.
The only point I will make is Japanese companies and their licensing can be strange at times, even for popular franchises. I'm a Godzilla fan and some of the licensed figures are made in silly small numbers less than 50, or a "one day license" for conventions. It is mind-boggling and frustrating at times that they'd go through the effort for such little profit and end up angering more fans than pleasing them. I hope Fender makes more so everyone who wants one can grab one and prevent needless resellers gouging prices on the secondary market.
I got my white one on Thursday and it plays better than I expected. More like a Classic Vibe series than an Affinity series. I'm planning on swapping the pickup to a Seymour Duncan JB
I prefer it with the matching headstock, tbh.
I would swap the pick up to a nicer sounding one and give it to your daughter. It’s a really sweet guitar in my opinion.
I actually loved the fuzz. Had a great synthy sound.
I have the fuzz. Its pretty decent but the JHS fuzz is 10xs better and the same price.
It's INSANE how good those frets look compared to the Fender made in mexico stuff I spent wayyyyy more on from the past couple of decades. Awesome to see the improvements in guitar manufacturing.
Honestly! Its a shame how the frets were in a vintera road worn, total shame! I got this guitar and the fret job was impecable
For real. I got a Vintera II Bass VI and the fretwork os just ass on it.
500 bucks for a "squier" is steep, but I've owned my fair share of Mexican made guitars with a "Fender" decal instead and none of them had frets looking that good. In fact, I've sent back a few Mexican Fenders for the fretboard not even being properly sanded, never mind the frets. Yet more proof that country of origin and name on the headstock no longer mean anything. Also, if you're complaining that a guitar is "almost distorting your amp" and rolling off the volume cleans it up, it means it's a high output pickup and you should...shock...turn down the pre-gain on your amp!
It might not mean what it used to but to say it means nothing is one hell of a stretch.
Name on the headstock definitely means a lot 😂😂 if you’re looking at fenders then sure squiers seem just as good because they all click together like lego sets but a Gibson is always gonna knock an epiphone out the park in terms of quality.
No it wont, a high spec Epiphone will blow an entry level Gibson out of the park while having 3/4 the price of that low end Gibson one.
@@TheCommentator353I love all my Gibsons!
$500 doesn't mean nearly as much now as it used to. Example, in 2003 I bought a new Ibanez RG320QSTR for $600, adjusted for inflation is just over $1000 now. So if you're comparing prices from your past or what you're accustomed to seeing value as, $500 now is like $250 to $300 15+ years ago. So for a Squier it's actually priced very appropriately.
I replaced the pickups on my 2006 version with DiMarzio Evolution 2 (pot/wiring as well) … if anybody is planning to do the same you need to get F-Spaced ones.
Mine ( a 2007 ) got a Seymour Duncan Invader, push-push ( volume/direct-out ) plus kill switch...
Does not really matter wether F spaced or not
People like to diss the Squires but Ron Thorn, who used to be the lead principal Master Builder at Fender Custom shop said his favorite guitar of all time to play was an early 90's silver series Squire. I have one also and I've had it since 94 when I bought it used. A customer brought it into the shop to trade for a crappy Fender HM Strat and the second I played it, it went into the back room never to see the showroom again...
For me, some of the Squires are like Yamaha electric guitars: hugely underrated.
I bought one and put a Seymour Duncan invader in it. The invader was so on sale for 90 bucks couldn’t pass it up and now it shreds
I bought my 15 yo daughter one for Christmas for 4 hunitt clams with a coupon. She loves it. I played it and it feels good, sounds good and no sharp frets. Plus a nice gig bag! "NO RAGRETS!"
how does Cat Scratch Fever sound on it?
He started playing it at 17:16 but Terd Nugent threatened to shoot him with a bow and arrow so he stopped.
I was fortunate enough to get the only one my local guitar center had, I'd ordered it for store pickup the day after they released so thankfully it was still in the box & not mutilated as a floor model yet lol that said though, I've modded the hell out of it already & it's hilariously awesome!
Fishman Fluence Modern Ceramic wired to a push/pull volume for voice 1/2, Graph Tech staggered ratio locking tuners, TUSQ nut, & a Gotoh battery box. There was some labor involved in the planning & routing of the battery box, plus opening up the tuner holes for the locking tuners, but it was well worth it imo. I didn't buy it to resell at an exorbitant price, I bought it as a mod platform to have fun with at gigs, but with enough functionality to be reliable & sound great, & I think I've achieved just that. The HK Squier rocks!
I thought the same thing…this thing does not sound like a humbucker at all! It does have that twang of a Tele!
Sounds like a single p90 strat. Not sure what you're hearing, but it sounds super clean and no buzzing or fuzz from the frets...
They did a great job with the price they were targeting. I truly don't hear what is wrong here...
Some of these new Hello Kitty guitars are made with okoume wood (for the body) while others are made of poplar. Not sure why.
Cost and availability of wood. Poplar only grows in the U.S. and other countries with a similar soil density and humidity level. Asian countries are too hot or tropical during the summer and most wood that grows in the USA needs a warm climate but with lots of rain. Japan and other countries like it don't get the required amount so those kind of trees don't do very well. If it's too wet the roots rot. Japan is a lot more like Hawaii in that it won't have the correct climate for most tree species to thrive.
@@solarismoon3046lots of poplars in Canada, including parts many Americans think are inhabited by igloo dwellers.
But a lot of variation in soil density and humidity within the US, as well as in Canada, but certainly some overlap.
So I've been playing with the fuzz for about a week now, and find it sounds great in conjunction with a touch of amp distortion, and starting everything around 30%, dialing in to taste. Get just a bit of color, keep the tone down to roll back a little sharpness but not totally crush the dynamics. Using a few other fuzzes in the same combo, I do like the tone Kitty gives me, so I'll definitely use it.
Of course I've got it in a full noise-pedal rig right now, so the other extreme end of the spectrum!
2:36 Lol the one I got doesn’t have the actual pull bit of the zipper, so it’s just closed and I can’t open it
Does your daughter like Hello Kitty? If so... mod. If not... get her something she will fall in love with and be inspired to play. :🙂
They probably assume everyone is going to swap the pickup, so they just put a cheap generic pickup in it.
for $125 in 2006 i thought they _were_ a great deal. when I bought my first real guitar when i was 16 usa made highway 1 strats started at $500 and i had to buy a mexican strat for $425 because i just couldn't afford a full five hundred bucks as a dishwasher, Its crazy how time and prices change. I think a modded HK strat would be a killer at parties and would _probably_ appreciate.
bought the white one, and god damn i have fallen in love with the guitar. i can't seem to put it down. something about seeing a cute cat on my guitar makes me want to pick it up and play for hours.
I waited too long to finally decide to get one and the white was all that was left. It's supposed to show up Tuesday. Can't wait to check it out
I won over 70 guitars. Core PRS, GIBSON, Fender USA, all really nice stuff. I bought the HK and I was really surprised how nice it was. The fret work was immaculate. I have not been able to put it down. I did however change out the pickup to a Duncan Distortion. I've let a couple of friends try it and they both loved it too.
For what it's worth, Trogly read the stamping on the neck where it goes into the neck pocket as probably reading "SOKT." I think it's "SQKT" - "SQ" for Squier and "KT" for Hello Kitty.
Great! Imma buy this guitar and play some speed metal with it and play shows using it.
Fender: 'We don't want to make a 7 or 8 string Strat... That would upset our traditional boomer customers'
I just received mine, and I’ll say they’re Classic vibe spec.
I bought the pink and off-white & 0 regret!
Waiting for my free time & motivation to get them modified!
0:16 Zipper review for anyone wondering
The best pickup to add to this guitar is the Seymour Duncan Secret Agent tele neck pickup. Sits underneath the pickguard and you could technically add a push/pull pot as a pickup switch to avoid charging the look at all
Whatever amp you're using makes it sound pretty nice to it. A humbucker mod is super easy to do and relatively cheap. And that fuzz pedal is also pretty good sounding if you tweak it a bit
I was hoping to grab one of these, but they're sold out everywhere -- even the white one. Don't think these are worth the inevitable mark-up, so I guess I'll wait for the 60th anniversary.
Pretty and cute Hello Kitty Strat. Nice frets for a Squier! String through hard tail and side input jack are nice choices I'd like on more Squier models. Mods definitely improved the tones.
Great video!!! What about the fact that it's missing a tone control as far as the extra brightness? It might be a bit of both factors, the pup and with no tone control.
Yeah, some minor modifications might be necessary. Fischman humbucker, locking tuners, Evertune bridge will do the trick.
Only problem with this is that he’d have to mod the pickguard since the Evertune will be too wide.
@@damienalvarez2957 True but that does not matter to me. High End stuff on a medium quality guitar makes a decent guitar after all. And it's pink!
Now I want to know what guitar Trogly will give to his daughter. Any guesses? I hope it’s the Fender Japan one.
I think the stock version sounds better, also the grain pattern on the stock on is more interesting.
And you better give that to your daughter. Make it for Christmas. It will just be something super special.
Waiting for a green one with KEK.
The stock pickup is definitely the weakest point, but everything else feels solid to me. Replaced the pickup in mine and it's come to life
I don’t mind the sound. A bit thin. But yeah. It’s a cool piece of gear
A few years back I purchased a mint Hello Kitty body in black for $50. I installed a Duncan ‘78 and Fender Roasted Maple Strat neck. Jumbo frets. It rips!
Do you think the inside of the back plate can fit a 9-volt battery? Asking for myself so I can put an EMG 81 in mine 😅
I would dump the original pickup and throw on a seymor duncan pickup
Thankfully they did not put a swimming pool route. I cant stand that.
My guitar is made of okoume wood and it’s pretty good. I love that guitar and it’s pretty light and sounds good
20:13 - cringe tone snob moment
Have mine since almost a month now. Threw a dimarzio xn2 in it to play some bolt thrower. Quality is perfect on mine, literally flawless.
Picked up a white 1 and a pink 1 to go along the the original pink and black models from the original versions.
7:25 I had a Squier duo sonic(MIC) in my past and it was great….except for the gloss maple fingerboard. I had to dump it just because of that. Now, I see that those are selling in the used market for about $430.00 US, but were well made.
I’m usually totally against these cheaper guitars, but I’m actually shocked at the feel of this guitar. I’ve already ordered a Bare Knuckle Holydiver to change out the pickup. Also, the fuzz pedal, when set correctly, sounds pretty good. It’s a fun guitar to play around with. My first strat! lol and only one ever! lol
I bought my daughter a Hello-Kitty guitar and fuzz pedal. She ended up on a stripper pole, unmarried with 3 kids, covered in tattoos, and living in her car. (with pink hair, of course).
love that you are reviewing it
I bought a couple of the OG's before the meme tax hit them. The fit, finish and feel is quite a bit nicer on these new ones. Loving mine!
The cheap brass baseplate on that humbucker is primarily what makes it sound like a tin can. I’m guessing it’s a cheap ceramic magnet as well.
By the way, Vard used much more than Super Distortions. Do a little research on his pickups. He also used Gibson, Ibanez, Seymour Duncan, DiMarzio, etc.
Weird. Not a half hour before you uploaded this I was thinking about the Hello Kitty I got for my niece in 2009. Synchronicity.
Baked potato? 😔 … I was hoping for a massive Burrito …
In 1976, I bought my first Strat, black on black, maple neck, black tolex case, $245.
In 1985, a Dakota red on white, maple neck, black case, $380.
At $500, somebody's making good money on these.
Where’s the neck pick up? I’m not buying a Hello Kitty Strat if I can’t play jazz on it.
Idk, it’s kinda cool to have a different sounding guitar than just throwing a name brand pickup in it that everyone already knows what will sound like. Different sounds make you play different ways and expand your playing abilities
1:00 Hey, that’s my yard and my 2006 HKs! 😊
You could always use an automotive paint protection film on that pick guard if you want to prevent it from scratching.
This is basically the evil tom delonge strat, as if those ones weren't evil enough
It would be interesting to see and hear the difference between this and the Squier Sonic Stratocaster HT. They are both very similar guitars, with the only main main differences being the addition of a tone nob and the jack socket being in the traditional spot for a Strat, and the price!!!
is it better or worse than the original (mid 2000's) one?
As someone who also buys too many guitars, this has been one of the most fun ones I've bought this year. I think it's a perfect guitar for anyone who's starting out or just wants to rock out and have a good time!
That split coil tone sounds not very good, but that stock sounds fairly good for a cheap squier pickup, and bad pot
Looks and sounds like a good guitar to me. Aside from the juxtaposition of playing a pink girly cartoon guitar for metal, one of the things that makes this guitar ideal for some is the simplicity. One knob, no trem, and a single bridge humbucker. There are people who pay crazy money for customs with these specs. Modded or not, it looks and sounds like a great guitar. Maybe not for guitar snobs, but for $500 it's a steal. Keeping in mind that you're someone who buys multiple thousands, if not tens of thousand dollar guitars and thinks they're legitimately any better objectively than a well made budget (or even mid priced) guitar. They're wood, cut into a shape, with strings on them. Maybe I'm naive, but I've owned many guitars not to flip of all price ranges, and while I did/do love my $2k+ guitars, my all time favorite and most used guitars are well made budget guitars. A $300 used Ibanez with stickers all over it and a $200 counterfeit Gibson. If the guitar is built well, and this one looks like it is, then it's all about looks and if you think you can project your bougie $5k+ finish-cracked tastes over looks on anyone, let alone your kid, is funny to me.
My dream guitar, and first personally bought guitar, was any explorer shape I could find/afford and it was a rondo Douglas ghost for around $200. I still own and love it. If your kid wants something pink and cute, I hope you're willing to obliterate the resale value of a Gibson/pricey guitar, because looks are hugely important to new players. That 50 cent scratch plate may be the difference between pushing through the frustrations of early learning and giving up outright. I'm not price shaming; there's nothing wrong with really liking pricey guitars. I love them too, but to discredit this guitar in any way is asinine to me. It's a unique and cool (for some, maybe not me personally) guitar that'll serve just fine to learn on, and room to upgrade if you really want and still have a guitar that plays just as good as, say, a Gibson without the obnoxious heft and poor upper fret access.
Tl;dr I think your expectations are pretty out there. Looks (as well as good playability) are more important than vintage expensive stuff to people just picking something up before they're super passionate about it.
Was the ground not soldered to the bridge? Or did you you unsolder during the tear-down?
The 500 number for how many being made is very unlikely, I’d honestly be surprised if the didn’t restock by at the latest February
The Doooo's favorite guitar.
I got the white one, looks much better than the pictures online. You surely have to put one of these in the museum..
Pink is cool but think I like the white more. Route it for a white EMG81 mmm yeah.
Why is the skunk stripe not needed just because a maple fretboard is used?
Because they installed the truss in front, then capped it with a maple fretboard.
@@brucerichard2904 I get that, but why couldn't they do that with a rosewood board?
The split humbucker sounds a lot like my Rickenbacker 450 with the toaster pickups. I’m hearing some jangle. BTW, I modded that guitar with a Dimarzio Super Distortion. What a crazy thing to do, right? It’s now back to its original state.
I have an original one and I also put a push/push pot in it (but with a Dimarzio Satchur8 pickup).