Yeah I can't tell the difference. I own like 6 Strats and have gone through multiple sets of pickups on each and honestly, I've found that the easiest way to make my guitar sound better is to practice.
+mel obrien Oh, please. If that was the case I wouldn't have a couple of guitars that simply sound better than all my others, that hit the amp in the right way. If that was the case there wouldn't be an enormous industry and many manifest examples of the difference between pickups. I've changed pickups because a guitar didn't sound good, and then it sounded good.
@@boopsnoot2807 A whole bowl? Yeah, you'd be flexing something alright! (Your sphincter. I'm saying you'd be flexing your sphincter, is what I'm saying.)
Yes. And if you want a guitar than sounds just like a Fender, then buy a damn Fender. Don't buy stupid parts to make money for the TH-cam clickbaiters. Use your brain for a change.
Yabba Dabba well buddy I understand that not everyone has the money to buy an authentic american strat, but these are good options in order for them to get a better sound quality, I thank these “clickbaiters” ‘cause they help people out but maybe that’s something you wouldn’t understand
I also liked the Squier with A5 pickups! Position 2 & 4 sounded nice on the Fender, but that might be partly due to different pots/caps. I have a Squier Standard (A5), great guitar for the money. It has good pickups and a floating 2 point tremolo, I have no desire to change to a VM or CV (older 6 screw tremolo).
Darrell as usual you are spot on. It's not the name on the headstock that matters it's the time spent on playability and how a guitar makes you feel and play.
True. However, changing the pu's doesn't change the feel of the guitar. So just changing the pu's doesn't make a cheap guitar play like a more expensive one...
Check the pickup heights. Position 2 and 4 are mixing "normal" pickups (bridge or neck) in parallel with the middle reverse (magnetic) polarity, reverse wound (RPRW) pickup so there is some cancellation (and Strat Quack) but the volume should be okay.
Great video Darrell, would have liked to hear the difference between the guitars using the Squier with original pick-ups just to hear how much improvement there was to the sound.
My ancient Tele has all three (yes, three) pickups uncovered, cos someone thought it was a good idea way back then. Sounds great, but sometimes a string catches under a bobbin.
I'v had fenders usa Japanese and Chinese and the squires are almost as good sometimes even better once pick ups nut and tunning keys are changed over ... I'v got a Mexican usa and Chinese squire affinity strat with cheap £21 scratchplate alnico5 already in it ..from e bay ... and my Affinity actually plays and sounds better than the USA ... .. as long as your squire is set up nicely and has the mods mentioned it's an amazing guitar.
Hell my Chinese Fender with a bit of raised action sounded better than my Mexican strat. Like day and night difference. I think the only difference is body/paint quality.
I got one for ten bucks, after a set up it’s comparable to a much more expensive guitar with out the heart break that comes when anything happens to an heirloom guitar.
Been playing for 45 years and have collected lots of guitars. In this vid, I prefer the sound of the squier. Sounds fuller and more lively. Any tone difference I hear can just as easily be attributed to string brand, string height, pot differences, or microscopic changes on the tone pot. With that said, I would have liked to have heard each guitar played with a more Hendrix or Vaughan tone and with some different amps.
I found a 99 inffinity made in taiwan squire in the garbage. Put some locking tuners on it, and set it up. Plays great. Squires have an inherent problem with backround noise. It can't be near any mobile phone or it hisses savagely. In a professional setting without shielding the squire is totally unacceptable. Use a noise gate and cleans up but loses lots of it's bang. Mine is strictly a practice guitar. The action on it is insane. It stays in tune because I completely blocked the tremelo by jamming a cork between the block and the body. Other than that it's too unstable noise wise to use at a gig with high wattage. My corona strat however is another ball game. It's as quiet as my carvin. Thought I'd put in my two cents. Cheers.
Though wood night influence it a tad tonewood is mostly a scam. It's important for acoustic instruments but mostly irrelevant for electrics. I have done Harley Bentons that really sound outstanding.
So many variables come into play with tones as someone here said, from the actual players touch and picking to the materials the guitar is made from ect ect ect
@@j_freed The newer Classic Vibes match the old Nippon Squiers. That is, if you can handle the super skinny neck. Also worth mentioning is the Squiers that were made in Corona, CA around 1989-90. I had one of those for my first guitar, and sold it. I've been chasing that neck for 25 years. I'm about to break down and Reverb one, but they're so pricey.
- how to buy a Squier - > avoid "Strat" + "Tele" Decals - buy the "Stratocaster" + "Telecaster" decal models - - it's that simple and that easy to spot - - when it comes to Mustang, Jaguar + Jazzmaster just avoid Affinity + buy Standard - that rules out ALL the junk bodies... and google Squier Master Series Telecaster
Was surprised I could tell the Fender each time, even on my MacBook speakers (one is busted/rattling even). That said, I think the squier sounded fine. An A/B of the stock vs new pickups in the squier would be good.
This is the most accurate commentin the entire thread. You could 100% tell the difference, every single time. If you can't tell the difference, then you need to listen harder. That being said, what sound are you looking for? Are you looking for a start sound or a tele sound? I mean seriuosly, check out Brian Mays guitar, it's literally it's a matle piece him and his dad tur ned into a guitar....
I heard wrong only one time, I think I got distracted, I can definitly tell when I hear the Fender. It became extremely easy with positiin 2 and 4. The only thing I wonder is how much of the difference is coming from the bigger block tremolo on the fender?
I think the squiier is a little brighter, the fender has a little more warmth almost a little richer tone but for $17pups its phenomenal similarity and I actually like the squier more when he added overdrive and gain
The reality is, more and more professionals are steering away from the big brand, big budget offerings. We have reached a point where a $500 guitar can play as well and sound as good as guitars that previously cost $1000 and over. Competition has exploded and the big names have fallen behind, both in terms of value and quality. The best strat will always be a fender and the best Les Paul will always be a Gibson but the problem is, neither would be a new instrument. Now we pay through the nose for dated tech, poor QC (Gibson, I don't have any experience with new Fenders). Don't get me wrong, I loved my Fender Strat, it was a '68 and beat to hell but damn she played nice. I sold it for $100 before "reliced" was a thing. I picked it up for $50 and spent about anther $50 on it for a used Trem block and 2 knobs that were missing. This was in the 90's and it was worth nothing then, now I could have gotten 10 times my investment back, or more. It isn't more valuable, people just got dumber. Squires are great, cheap, playable and, with a few upgrades, every bit as good as a Fender. The same can be said of many ST and T type clones. Epiphone I am not a fan of, just personal preference though, not because they are flawed in some particular way. For Gibson style instruments I look at either the copyright era vintage clones or, for a cheap project base, something like a Harley Benton SC 450 or DC XXX. The vast majority of pros I know (earn their living in the industry) use Ibanez, Jackson, ESP etc. In fact, the only pro I know that regularly actually plays Fender or Gibson is a blues guy who has a killer 90's Les Paul Studio and 70's Tele (also a gem). He is also the oldest of the guys I know in the industry and has had both his axes from new. My brother would play the heck out of a Gibson Les Paul or a Fender USA Strat if he had them but as an expense, he would never pay the money they are asking for something that isn't actually any better than many guitars coming in at as little as a quarter of the price and vintage demands and even higher premium. I love how Darrell always advocates buying what feels good to you. Go to a store, pick up everything in your budget and have a good noodle then pick what made you smile the most. Don't let past stigma and nonsense snobbery decide for you.
“I did the same test with a charvel so cal and a fender Stratocaster of similar model and my friends couldn’t tell the difference. So I though huh let’s try testing the so cal (£1400) and the strat (£999) and the squire (£159) and the difficulty my professional musician / producer friends had telling them apart made me realise we really have gone nuts in the gear snobbery department over the last 50 years. Let’s be fair, the most expensive strats nowadays emulate the first strats ever made. Back in those days they were made with cheap parts due to being new / mostly still experimental in its infancy. So we’re paying premium for parts that sound like cheap parts. Get the guitar you enjoy the feel of. Plug it in. Play it. “ - Andrej Tchaikovsky 2018
It's not really nuts. You can get cheapo guitars which sound great, like shown, rather easily. The other thing is the finish work. You *might* find a totally diamond piece finish-wise from a cheap instrument, but most probably the finish is off, in one place or the other, or several. Take it to a service guy, and you're good to go - but already spent anohter $300-$500. And then the other question is, how well will the cheaper instrument run against the test of time? If you need an instrument as a daily driver, 40hrs a week for five years, you're probably better off with a more expensive instrument. If you make 40hrs a year as an occasional home player, then the cheapo will be just good.
@@lassivaatamoinen5468 how so is an expensive guitar going to be more durable? Okay if we are not talking about 90-120 euro guitars that have bridges made out of molten beer cans, but affordable guitars as in 250-500 euro Squiers, Epiphones and Ibanezes. How are they less durable than Gibsons or Fenders? I don't see any reasoning behind that.
I own a Fender strat as well as a couple of strat copies. In every case, the copies sound better than the Fender, which has retired to my closet. Modern name-brand guitars are mostly crap nowadays. You can buy really nice guitars for under 1K and you'll probably be happier.
The new squier pickups actually seemed to have better separation and clarity, maybe due to those staggered pole pieces. In some cases, the fender sounded more "cohesive" and "vintage", but I liked the squier better for most tests
TheDooo, a popular guitar TH-camr, played a regular red Squire Stratocaster for basically half of his life until he decided be wanted to buy a new guitar. Listen to his song Ascend. It didn't matter if he had a low-end guitar. It sounded amazing.
I'm an old dude but I can remember a time when everyone called a squire a fender. You want to know why? Because it is a fender. If fender cant make a good sounding squire by now they should quit making guitars.
Yep! I just bought an upper end Squire for that exact reason!! Sorry but Fender guitars are made cheaply now AND Squire has been putting out better guitars for a while now!!!
As the owner of a few Squires myself, this is definitely the kind of video I'll need! Always appreciate the gear and tech lessons and content man! Great work!
I love Squires, you can mod them, make them to your liking without feeling nervous by maybe ruining your thousand dollar or whatever priced expensive Fender. I've owned 6, have one now that I play more than my Wolfgang. I picked it up at a Yard sale for, ready... $5 bucks!. Did some work to it, making it to my liking, and it plays awesome. Strats are more comfortable to me. Once again, Thanks for the video Darrell 😉
I purchased a set of these pickups and installed them on a Strat I built last year. With CTS pots, a CRL switch, vintage waxed cloth wiring and .33 NOS Bumblebee caps, I preferred them to the set of early 2000’s Fender Noiseless, and the new set of Fender Tex Mex pickups, I compared them to. They were surprisingly really, really, good. Only issue was finding staggered covers for the odd 48/50/52 widths. You also must take into account that the pickguard will need modifying, as the holes for the pickups aren’t going to be staggered either. Not a huge deal, but it’s something to consider.
Darrell, I bought the same color Affinity Strat from a pawn shop last year for $60. It was mint with the plastic cover on the pickguard. I installed Tusq string trees, a steel tremolo block and a GFS prewired pickguard. The trees were $ 8 , block and pickguard $ 48 . Less than $120 and I have a great guitar I can take anywhere with a Blackstar Fly. Thanks.
There's something so relaxing about coming home from work and sitting down with my dinner to watch your latest video. They're always just very well put together and informative.
bruh the final test between those two guitars really sold me, I've played guitar and various other instruments for 10 years to build up the trained ear I have now and the amazon pick ups under that gain setting has the perfect amount of crunchy bits in the harmonic values as well as just being such a cleaner sound in the first place. Buying a few sets of them RIGHT NOW
This was close. They both sounded really good to me. Today it's really about preference, and "ego" because as a mix engineer, I can tell you, if you can play well, in the context of a song/mix no one will even care what guitar you used. How many of you remember the guitars we used to get out of the Bluechip Stamp booklet back in the day? LOL ...yeah .. I know .. Im old..er LOL
Why not? I have added a Tele neck pickup to my Les Paul junior and it plays well with the P90. A whole new way to get what I need from a guitar I love playing.
I don't think they are the same size though. The tele pickup is slightly smaller in the space between the screws. But if you got a custom pickguard maybe... That would be epic.
My 2007 Affinity sounds and plays better than my '68 rosewood and '74 maple neck Strats and stays in tune better! Of course, I sold those and am glad and don't worry about the Squier getting stolen.
I have a fender mim strat but want another to leave tuned down a half step w/heavier gauge strings for some blues rock stuff. Tempted by the affinities. Do y'all know if the ones they make now live up to the older ones y'all have?
I had the same thoughts. I'm not too familiar with the Fender original pickups' DC resistance, but it sounds like they have a lower DC resistance than the cheap (inexpensive) Chinese pickups. The Chinese ones being between 8-9.5K on the DC resistance would account for the tone difference. Not bad China! I'm becoming more and more impressed with certain Chinese products, but they still have a long way to go to pull their entire reputation out of the dumpster.
I’m a bass player who has jumped to the Squire line. Went to GC, $1200 budget, looking for a 4 string bass. Played every Fender/Squire bass in the store, ended up buying a new surf green Squire 70’s vintage bass, w/discount cost me $399, added a Seymour Duncan quarter pounder pickup, $90 installed, so for about $500 I bought a great sounding bass that played better than other Fender bass guitars for hundreds less. Have played it professionally for over a year now, still love it. Squires Rock!
Really love this channel. The way Darrell describes the tones is the most accurate I've heard and makes sense to me. Thank you Darrell!! Makes me want to get a copy and start swapping!!
Exactly all your paying for is good propaganda buy a good wood guitar buy excellent electronic and have a Luther set it up and bang 3-500.00 guitar is as good as any pro guitar excluding fantastic paint job if you're in to vanity nothing wrong with that I'm in to the sound and playability but paying 2000.00 for a fender or a Gibson is fools Gold! As far as I am concerned.The only good thing is some fool will give you back close too what you paid for it maybe more and I'd be lucky too get my 300 bucks back for modded guitar but who cares I am only 300 bucks in if it's robbed catches on fire playing Hendrix who cares!!!!!!
The "Vintage" sound is when the magnets on the pickups start getting a little weaker over time. That is what the fellow who designed the Stratocaster stated when interviewed a few years ago. I bought a Squier a few years intending to mod the pickups & put a Graphtec Hexaphonic kit in it, was I ever surprised when I got home & discovered the body was too thin for what I wanted to do to it.
Certainly not, the price for the expensive guitar is to compensate for the higher quality materials, finishes, hardware, etc. which all do affect sound, but most importantly affects the way it plays You can get a really good sound out of a 200 dollar guitar easily with the right amp and cab, but it just won't play like a 500-1500 dollar guitar. They certainly sound different, and I generally think the higher quality material guitars have more interesting character to the sound, but that is all opinion based anyways, but for someone who just wants to play music and have fun they can certainly use a cheaper guitar and still get a great sound
Man that Squier looked cool with the clear bobbins. REALLY liked that look. And sounded so close to the Fender, the average listener would never notice.
The only guitar that I’ve owned that got a spontaneous ovation when I simply took it off the rack on stage, was an Indonesian Squier Strat that had the Ritchie Blackmore colour-way. It had a nice neck and decent pickups, and felt really solid all the way around.
A surprisingly close match! The Squier sounded a just little bit less brilliant (or ever so slightly darker) with those inbetween positions but I could hardly hear any obvious difference with the single pickup comparisons. I'd really like to watch and hear such a comparison with a "mid to high endish" Fender Tele and a Squier Tele as I'm really not sure if replacing the pickups in my 50s Vintage Vibe Series Tele will actually make an audibly discernible improvement...
Ndlanding it helped in keeping tune, and it helped in a brighter crisper tone too. It was a very easy swap and made for a noticeable improvement for low cost. I highly recommend, I just ordered off of amazon, a two pack for like $7, for was perfect and the slots were cut accurately.
The Squire looks great without the covers. Kinda "Strat meets Mad Max" industrial looking. Great video. Keep up the great content. Good to see a review of a low-cost upgrade.
Swapping from ceramic to alnico was a positive move for a cleaner, classic stat sound. I'll only add that any good guitar player can make virtually any guitar sound at least decent.
A little bit more would be, "Can you sound like a pro, without a lot of dough? Yes, you can, and I'll show you how to make that pretender sound like a Fender!"
honestly i think the bulk of the difference is in the feel and how far you can push it. different pickups would react differently to your amp and effects setup. the end sound might not be that different to a listener, but as the player, you should be able to feel the difference. how much force you use to pick the string to get a certain tone will definitely vary depending on the pickup.
yeah, nah. Pickups are some magnets with some wire around them. There's NO reason why they should cost more than 20$ a set. If you slapped a 300$ price tag on the chinese set and called it a 'special series', you'd like the chinese set more. A lot of musicians get lost in 'instrument voodoo' when they don't understand the technicalities of instruments and go down a similar rabbit hole that audiophiles go down (hurr durr cable risers for accurate sound transmission!) With active pickups, this is a bit of a different thing; EMGs use 'normal' pickups but have their circuit after them, Fishman fluences have the coil as an actual PCB. If you cloned the PCB and/or electronics after that; same sound, more or less.
Loved the video, thank you - can't tell the difference! Very often perceptions of what is better are psychological, because of preconceived notions and peer & market influences. Ultimately it's what you play and how well you play it.
For me : Test 1 : Fender Test 2 : Fender Test 3 : Squier Test 4 : Squier Test 5 : Fender And there's not much difference in the 5 and 2 test between Fender amd Squier... love the Squier!
It would be nice, if the test were made with an amp, and no post editing! With some multi effects or emulators, all guitars tend to sound almost the same! Thanks for the demo!
Ok man, that is the FIRST demo I have seen, and I buy and sell so I look at a LOT of them, that was really helpful and possibly even worth more than the several minutes I spent watching. thanks and yes I did suscribe.
This comparison just goes to prove that all the talk about putting "better" pickups in a guitar means very little, especially if you play high-gain. Distortion tends to make all pickups equal, so there's little point in replacing pickups at all. Fifty feet from the stage, live, you can't tell the difference between the cheapest pickup and the most expensive. particularly if you're playing with distortion. That's the reason I never replace pickups.
One video doesnt prove anything bud. There's obviously a difference between hot vintage, humbuckers, actives, noiseless, etc. You can get all of these in single coil form factor. This guy just swapped similarly specced pickups
Without having read any comments before typing this.... I'm going to say the affinity sounded better in almost every comparison.... During all the blind demos the guitar that I found most pleasant ended up being the affinity. Position 4 however sounded best on the Fender however.
I can definitely tell the difference when testing in the 2 and 4 position. The Fender sounded janglier than the squier, like what a Fender is known for. I couldn't tell the difference in the first set of tests though.
On the in between 2 and 4 positions the Squier had clearer dynamics that to me are more classic. Both were very nice tones. One thing I did notice, was the playing was more relaxed when playing the Fender, showing there is far more going on than the Pickups. But may be simple enough to sort without spending any further money.
@@memeburgler187 People blow way too much money on boutique pickups. Ever hear about Planet Tone? Hand-wound Strat pickups for $34.95 each, and they sound fantastic. give them a listen.
Pretty amazing how well the Squire holds up here. I bought a Squire Contemporary series HH, put a DiMarzio SD for the bridge and a GFS Crunchy Pat for the neck and it sounds amazing. Was totally blown away by the QC on it as well, not a single fret end needed to be sanded down or anything. Only thing was the skunk stripe on the back was a little raised compared to the rest of the neck, just needed some light sanding and that was it. Your money goes further than it ever has with guitars these days, now I just gotta stop myself from buying more of them
Change out your wiring harness, lose the low quality pots, and switch. Put a Pure Tone output jack, great mod for like $10 bucks. Graphtech bridge saddles would be great. Locking Fender tuners should fit with no drilling, and you'll be very pleasantly surprised.
The savings from buying these inexpensive pups went to a new 5-way switch. I have now made 8 separate upgrades to my Bullet Strat. Next, the pots and saddles. Then a cool Logo. Definitely, my baby.🥰
There is so much snobbery regarding what name is on the headstock, in my opinion put decent pickups in the Squire & you got a good guitar, most if not all USA guitars are over hyped & over priced.
For first 3 comparisons I had picked the Squier consistently LOL... but for positions 2 and 4 I liked the Strat... For the cost, I think I would buy 3 Squiers in different colors as opposed to one strat.
The Fender has a very noticeable deep, richness to the tone that the squier lacks. I have 2 Squiers and just starting to learn how to modify one..... to make my own frankenstrat. They are so cheap I could buy 5 of them for the price of a cheap fender.
It was quite easy to recognize the fenders in the blind test...I prefer the sound of the Chinese ones in the out of phase position...for 17dollars it's an amazing result.
Quick remedy for the clear bobbins on the Squier replacement pickups- instead of trying to find aftermarket covers, just paint the bobbins. Use nail polish that comes with a little applicator brush in the bottle cap. No problem finding a proper color. Be careful and you won't mess up the pole pieces. Worth a try!
Both guitars sound fine... the trouble or difference between a Cheap guitar 🎸 and a Fender USA Pro is the feel! You pay for what you get and it’s worth the money to buy the top of the line. At least for me... the neck and over all feel and the ease of play always better on a Fender American Pro!
Agree, I own 6 electric guitars, ranging from my starter of $300 and more fancy ones around 1k/1.2k. They sounds the same. And screwing around with the bridge makes them almost play identical. To the guys asking which one to get? What ever you think looks nice/plays nice. The only big difference is single coil or humbucker pick ups, so figure out which one you like. Only bottom of the barrel guitars (read: ones you can get at wallmart etc) are not worth your time edit: A amp on the other hand is a different story...
That's true to a point. Some of the cheaper stuff I see at Guitar Center has action problems, fret buzz, cheap hardware and the crappy tuners. Suprisingly, fit and finish (woodwork) is usually not an issue on the cheaper instruments.
I sanded the finish off a 335 Yamaha acoustic electric plugged into a pa I played three songs A guy who plays a Gibson an a guy who plays a Taylor asked what kind of guitar is that it sounds really good. I was strumming with my thumb an picking with fingers. LOL just my Yamaha they seemed dumb founded a cheap guitar could sound so good.
Yeah I can't tell the difference. I own like 6 Strats and have gone through multiple sets of pickups on each and honestly, I've found that the easiest way to make my guitar sound better is to practice.
Changing pickups doesn't usually make your guitar sound better. Usually just make it sound different. Better is a matter of opinion.
@@fragtagninja1633 You won't be able to tell any difference playing live in a club. Changing pickups is a waste of time and money.
Bryan Sim: You got that right.
+mel obrien Oh, please. If that was the case I wouldn't have a couple of guitars that simply sound better than all my others, that hit the amp in the right way. If that was the case there wouldn't be an enormous industry and many manifest examples of the difference between pickups. I've changed pickups because a guitar didn't sound good, and then it sounded good.
I can tell the difference under a controlled environment but I do agree that player's touch makes MUCH bigger difference and it's not even close.
Not to flex but I can make a fender sound like a squier and a squier sound like a first act
Not to flex, but I can eat a whole bowl of wheaties.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
@@boopsnoot2807 A whole bowl? Yeah, you'd be flexing something alright! (Your sphincter. I'm saying you'd be flexing your sphincter, is what I'm saying.)
Awesome!
My death metal band only plays first act instruments. Yah, we get bitches.. u jelly..
7:10 - In the third test, I most definitely liked the sound of the Squier with the pickup upgrades. It had more clarity and growl in it.
Make your Squier sound like a Fender for under 20$: print a Fender sticker and put it over the "Squier" name on your guitar
Pietro Rossetti hahaha like it
99.9% would not be able to tell the difference.
i actualy did that
Guitar value: *increased by 50%*
ik its a joke but he said sound
Moral of the story: Buy a good amp
Yep.
shadowtechn9ne orange
Yes. And if you want a guitar than sounds just like a Fender, then buy a damn Fender. Don't buy stupid parts to make money for the TH-cam clickbaiters. Use your brain for a change.
@shadowtechn9ne old fender tube amp. Super Reverb
Yabba Dabba well buddy I understand that not everyone has the money to buy an authentic american strat, but these are good options in order for them to get a better sound quality, I thank these “clickbaiters” ‘cause they help people out but maybe that’s something you wouldn’t understand
In every blind test I actually preferred the Squier.
Me too.
yup me too! They were all very similar but I slightly favoured the squier every time
Same here. Not huge differences, but the cheap pickups sounded ever so slightly better to my ears.
were opposite. i always choose the warmer ones
I did too.
Mind blown!!! I actually liked the Squier better on all 3 blind tests. 🤯🎸
Yeah thats squier sound so very good
Same here adam...the squire had more clarity even, to my ears.
Same here
I agree completely.
I also liked the Squier with A5 pickups! Position 2 & 4 sounded nice on the Fender, but that might be partly due to different pots/caps. I have a Squier Standard (A5), great guitar for the money. It has good pickups and a floating 2 point tremolo, I have no desire to change to a VM or CV (older 6 screw tremolo).
What would have been interesting is to hear the differences between the old pickups and the new pickups on just the Squier.
good shout
It should be squier original pickup x squier new pickup x fender
It would be also interestig how the fender souds like with Chinese pickups.
Agreed. The original ceramics vs the new alnicos would have been a great comparison.
Absolutely
Darrell as usual you are spot on. It's not the name on the headstock that matters it's the time spent on playability and how a guitar makes you feel and play.
True. However, changing the pu's doesn't change the feel of the guitar. So just changing the pu's doesn't make a cheap guitar play like a more expensive one...
I like to use a hotter middle pickup so that the 2 and 4 positions don't drop in volume.
Nice tip Dr Groovy!
I actually like the volume drop in the 2 and 4 positions because I usually like to use those positions for cleans
Check the pickup heights. Position 2 and 4 are mixing "normal" pickups (bridge or neck) in parallel with the middle reverse (magnetic) polarity, reverse wound (RPRW) pickup so there is some cancellation (and Strat Quack) but the volume should be okay.
Also, some people set the middle pickup lower, to avoid hitting it, so a slightly hotter middle pickup makes sense, for those applications.
A1 comments, y'all are appreciated.
Hi Darrell, it would have been good to hear the Squire PRIOR to you changing the pickups, and then after.
But what if we just realized that even THAT change didn't matter?
It sounded like a stock Squire maybe? You DO know what one sounds like right?
@@aiden_macleod ......
Agree, for all you know it may not even need a replacement after all and save yourself the time and 17 buck.
what for ? they sound like cr@p , you've never heard them ?
Great video Darrell, would have liked to hear the difference between the guitars using the Squier with original pick-ups just to hear how much improvement there was to the sound.
Precisely. How noticeably worse was the Squire prior to the pickup upgrade??
Agree
I think those no cover pickups are kind of steampunk - I like them.
My ancient Tele has all three (yes, three) pickups uncovered, cos someone thought it was a good idea way back then. Sounds great, but sometimes a string catches under a bobbin.
thought thr same thing myself
Lol. "Steampunk" is exactly what came to mind the second I saw it! It does make the guitar look a little cooler!
Ndlanding I hadn’t thought about the string catching. Good to know, I won’t attempt “mod” my pickups.
Yeah, I’m liking those.
I hate it when people hate on squier guitars I had one for 3 years and I love it alot
I'v had fenders usa Japanese and Chinese and the squires are almost as good sometimes even better once pick ups nut and tunning keys are changed over ... I'v got a Mexican usa and Chinese squire affinity strat with cheap £21 scratchplate alnico5 already in it ..from e bay ... and my Affinity actually plays and sounds better than the USA ... .. as long as your squire is set up nicely and has the mods mentioned it's an amazing guitar.
I knoww man are so awsomeew
Hell my Chinese Fender with a bit of raised action sounded better than my Mexican strat. Like day and night difference. I think the only difference is body/paint quality.
Squier standard strats have been coming with alnico5's for years.
I got one for ten bucks, after a set up it’s comparable to a much more expensive guitar with out the heart break that comes when anything happens to an heirloom guitar.
Would be nice to add a "before" demo of the Squire for comparison.
So true . I’ve got too many guitars and love Them all ‘ can never have enough
Been playing for 45 years and have collected lots of guitars. In this vid, I prefer the sound of the squier. Sounds fuller and more lively. Any tone difference I hear can just as easily be attributed to string brand, string height, pot differences, or microscopic changes on the tone pot. With that said, I would have liked to have heard each guitar played with a more Hendrix or Vaughan tone and with some different amps.
I found a 99 inffinity made in taiwan squire in the garbage. Put some locking tuners on it, and set it up. Plays great. Squires have an inherent problem with backround noise. It can't be near any mobile phone or it hisses savagely.
In a professional setting without shielding the squire is totally unacceptable. Use a noise gate and cleans up but loses lots of it's bang. Mine is strictly a practice guitar. The action on it is insane. It stays in tune because I completely blocked the tremelo by jamming a cork between the block and the body. Other than that it's too unstable noise wise to use at a gig with high wattage. My corona strat however is another ball game. It's as quiet as my carvin. Thought I'd put in my two cents. Cheers.
Though wood night influence it a tad tonewood is mostly a scam. It's important for acoustic instruments but mostly irrelevant for electrics. I have done Harley Bentons that really sound outstanding.
So many variables come into play with tones as someone here said, from the actual players touch and picking to the materials the guitar is made from ect ect ect
Just think about the late great Jeff Healey Oh he did was changed the pickups Is in probably change the block Is 2A way better one
@@russelltrabakino1314 What?
I own Fenders and Squiers, a Squier is no joke.
Droog II I actually prefer the Squier!! Too much money for a Fender just to modify!
Buy an old Japanese one and I'll agree. They can be found.
I have an early 90's Squire standard strat. If it didn't say Squire, you wouldn't know the difference between it and an American standard.
@@j_freed The newer Classic Vibes match the old Nippon Squiers. That is, if you can handle the super skinny neck. Also worth mentioning is the Squiers that were made in Corona, CA around 1989-90. I had one of those for my first guitar, and sold it. I've been chasing that neck for 25 years. I'm about to break down and Reverb one, but they're so pricey.
- how to buy a Squier - > avoid "Strat" + "Tele" Decals - buy the "Stratocaster" + "Telecaster" decal models - - it's that simple and that easy to spot -
- when it comes to Mustang, Jaguar + Jazzmaster just avoid Affinity + buy Standard
- that rules out ALL the junk bodies... and google Squier Master Series Telecaster
Was surprised I could tell the Fender each time, even on my MacBook speakers (one is busted/rattling even). That said, I think the squier sounded fine. An A/B of the stock vs new pickups in the squier would be good.
This is the most accurate commentin the entire thread. You could 100% tell the difference, every single time. If you can't tell the difference, then you need to listen harder. That being said, what sound are you looking for? Are you looking for a start sound or a tele sound? I mean seriuosly, check out Brian Mays guitar, it's literally it's a matle piece him and his dad tur
ned into a guitar....
I heard wrong only one time, I think I got distracted, I can definitly tell when I hear the Fender. It became extremely easy with positiin 2 and 4. The only thing I wonder is how much of the difference is coming from the bigger block tremolo on the fender?
Idem
@@deanlindholm8663mantelpiece 👍
@@WesleyWattley-xy4fg Yup, typo, whiskey fingers.
I think the squiier is a little brighter, the fender has a little more warmth almost a little richer tone but for $17pups its phenomenal similarity and I actually like the squier more when he added overdrive and gain
The reality is, more and more professionals are steering away from the big brand, big budget offerings. We have reached a point where a $500 guitar can play as well and sound as good as guitars that previously cost $1000 and over. Competition has exploded and the big names have fallen behind, both in terms of value and quality. The best strat will always be a fender and the best Les Paul will always be a Gibson but the problem is, neither would be a new instrument. Now we pay through the nose for dated tech, poor QC (Gibson, I don't have any experience with new Fenders). Don't get me wrong, I loved my Fender Strat, it was a '68 and beat to hell but damn she played nice. I sold it for $100 before "reliced" was a thing. I picked it up for $50 and spent about anther $50 on it for a used Trem block and 2 knobs that were missing. This was in the 90's and it was worth nothing then, now I could have gotten 10 times my investment back, or more. It isn't more valuable, people just got dumber.
Squires are great, cheap, playable and, with a few upgrades, every bit as good as a Fender. The same can be said of many ST and T type clones. Epiphone I am not a fan of, just personal preference though, not because they are flawed in some particular way. For Gibson style instruments I look at either the copyright era vintage clones or, for a cheap project base, something like a Harley Benton SC 450 or DC XXX.
The vast majority of pros I know (earn their living in the industry) use Ibanez, Jackson, ESP etc. In fact, the only pro I know that regularly actually plays Fender or Gibson is a blues guy who has a killer 90's Les Paul Studio and 70's Tele (also a gem). He is also the oldest of the guys I know in the industry and has had both his axes from new. My brother would play the heck out of a Gibson Les Paul or a Fender USA Strat if he had them but as an expense, he would never pay the money they are asking for something that isn't actually any better than many guitars coming in at as little as a quarter of the price and vintage demands and even higher premium.
I love how Darrell always advocates buying what feels good to you. Go to a store, pick up everything in your budget and have a good noodle then pick what made you smile the most. Don't let past stigma and nonsense snobbery decide for you.
wow you spent a lot of time typing that comment out but your speakin facts
RIGHT ON!! Well said 😀👍
" It isn't more valuable, people just got dumber." _
Technology advances sometimes work in our favor. Most of todays starter guitars are better than jimi Hendrix could of dreamed
Spot on mate!
“I did the same test with a charvel so cal and a fender Stratocaster of similar model and my friends couldn’t tell the difference. So I though huh let’s try testing the so cal (£1400) and the strat (£999) and the squire (£159) and the difficulty my professional musician / producer friends had telling them apart made me realise we really have gone nuts in the gear snobbery department over the last 50 years.
Let’s be fair, the most expensive strats nowadays emulate the first strats ever made. Back in those days they were made with cheap parts due to being new / mostly still experimental in its infancy. So we’re paying premium for parts that sound like cheap parts.
Get the guitar you enjoy the feel of. Plug it in. Play it. “
- Andrej Tchaikovsky 2018
This is nuts. The Squier sounded better to me
Me too!
It's not really nuts. You can get cheapo guitars which sound great, like shown, rather easily. The other thing is the finish work. You *might* find a totally diamond piece finish-wise from a cheap instrument, but most probably the finish is off, in one place or the other, or several. Take it to a service guy, and you're good to go - but already spent anohter $300-$500.
And then the other question is, how well will the cheaper instrument run against the test of time? If you need an instrument as a daily driver, 40hrs a week for five years, you're probably better off with a more expensive instrument. If you make 40hrs a year as an occasional home player, then the cheapo will be just good.
@@lassivaatamoinen5468 how so is an expensive guitar going to be more durable? Okay if we are not talking about 90-120 euro guitars that have bridges made out of molten beer cans, but affordable guitars as in 250-500 euro Squiers, Epiphones and Ibanezes. How are they less durable than Gibsons or Fenders? I don't see any reasoning behind that.
I own a Fender strat as well as a couple of strat copies. In every case, the copies sound better than the Fender, which has retired to my closet. Modern name-brand guitars are mostly crap nowadays. You can buy really nice guitars for under 1K and you'll probably be happier.
Affinity ? lololol
Do "make your fender sound like a squier" next!
Have a line 6
just hand it to me
@@Sammy_Jar haha
The new squier pickups actually seemed to have better separation and clarity, maybe due to those staggered pole pieces. In some cases, the fender sounded more "cohesive" and "vintage", but I liked the squier better for most tests
“i’ll be back in a snap”
*snaps*
*half of the guitars disappear*
Thanos Braun Guitar
This coment has not had the love it deserves
Mr. Fender, I don't feel in tune...
I see what he did there lol
Martin Hroch :()
TheDooo, a popular guitar TH-camr, played a regular red Squire Stratocaster for basically half of his life until he decided be wanted to buy a new guitar. Listen to his song Ascend. It didn't matter if he had a low-end guitar. It sounded amazing.
Wow, haven’t heard of that name in years. That doood inspired me to play the guitar.
I'm an old dude but I can remember a time when everyone called a squire a fender. You want to know why? Because it is a fender. If fender cant make a good sounding squire by now they should quit making guitars.
Back in the day- Fender was 🇺🇸 made only
Agreed. Squier is a Fender product, says so right on the box....
Yep! I just bought an upper end Squire for that exact reason!! Sorry but Fender guitars are made cheaply now AND Squire has been putting out better guitars for a while now!!!
As the owner of a few Squires myself, this is definitely the kind of video I'll need! Always appreciate the gear and tech lessons and content man! Great work!
Thanks so much RC!
@@DarrellBraunGuitar Ahhh it is always my pleasure man! You are welcome!
If u own several Squiers u should know how to spell Squier.
@Kaptain Kid Hey I didn't mean to tic you off Kap. I get your point. Rock on!
I love Squires, you can mod them, make them to your liking without feeling nervous by maybe ruining your thousand dollar or whatever priced expensive Fender. I've owned 6, have one now that I play more than my Wolfgang. I picked it up at a Yard sale for, ready... $5 bucks!. Did some work to it, making it to my liking, and it plays awesome. Strats are more comfortable to me. Once again,
Thanks for the video Darrell 😉
I purchased a set of these pickups and installed them on a Strat I built last year. With CTS pots, a CRL switch, vintage waxed cloth wiring and .33 NOS Bumblebee caps, I preferred them to the set of early 2000’s Fender Noiseless, and the new set of Fender Tex Mex pickups, I compared them to. They were surprisingly really, really, good. Only issue was finding staggered covers for the odd 48/50/52 widths. You also must take into account that the pickguard will need modifying, as the holes for the pickups aren’t going to be staggered either. Not a huge deal, but it’s something to consider.
Darrell, I bought the same color Affinity Strat from a pawn shop last year for $60. It was mint with the plastic cover on the pickguard. I installed Tusq string trees, a steel tremolo block and a GFS prewired pickguard. The trees were $ 8 , block and pickguard $ 48 . Less than $120 and I have a great guitar I can take anywhere with a Blackstar Fly. Thanks.
There's something so relaxing about coming home from work and sitting down with my dinner to watch your latest video. They're always just very well put together and informative.
bruh the final test between those two guitars really sold me, I've played guitar and various other instruments for 10 years to build up the trained ear I have now and the amazon pick ups under that gain setting has the perfect amount of crunchy bits in the harmonic values as well as just being such a cleaner sound in the first place. Buying a few sets of them RIGHT NOW
This was close. They both sounded really good to me. Today it's really about preference, and "ego" because as a mix engineer, I can tell you, if you can play well, in the context of a song/mix no one will even care what guitar you used. How many of you remember the guitars we used to get out of the Bluechip Stamp booklet back in the day? LOL ...yeah .. I know .. Im old..er LOL
We had S&H Green Stamps.
And yeah, you're old. Old guys rule!
@@mv235 s&h had a store right next to Piggly wigglys in the town I grew up in
I actually liked the squire more
PD: You should try Tele Bridge pickup in Strat
I agree!
Oscar Corpas Reverend has one like that !
Why not? I have added a Tele neck pickup to my Les Paul junior and it plays well with the P90. A whole new way to get what I need from a guitar I love playing.
I mean take your fav Strat and put a tele bridge pickup not pick a guitar with that setup.
I don't think they are the same size though. The tele pickup is slightly smaller in the space between the screws. But if you got a custom pickguard maybe... That would be epic.
My Squier affinity has always been the most comfortable, best sounding guitar Ive ever played. All 24 years I've had it.
My 2007 Affinity sounds and plays better than my '68 rosewood and '74 maple neck Strats and stays in tune better! Of course, I sold those and am glad and don't worry about the Squier getting stolen.
I have a fender mim strat but want another to leave tuned down a half step w/heavier gauge strings for some blues rock stuff. Tempted by the affinities. Do y'all know if the ones they make now live up to the older ones y'all have?
@@cmcapps1963 I don’t think so. The older ones have alder bodies and real rosewood.
@@cmcapps1963 better off getting a classic vibe, really. Affinities are a bit.. mmmm
I liked the Squier better. Still had the Strat chime and just a hint fatter.
I had the same thoughts. I'm not too familiar with the Fender original pickups' DC resistance, but it sounds like they have a lower DC resistance than the cheap (inexpensive) Chinese pickups. The Chinese ones being between 8-9.5K on the DC resistance would account for the tone difference. Not bad China! I'm becoming more and more impressed with certain Chinese products, but they still have a long way to go to pull their entire reputation out of the dumpster.
It was round and nice. Especially better for solo performances.
And the clean sound was cleaner.
I put some headphones in and didn’t look at the screen on the blind test. I didn’t even know you changed guitars.
i was looking at myself in the mirror while hearing the video and afterwards he was like
“so those are the two guitars”
i was like whAT ? *rewinds*
@ Nice
I’m a bass player who has jumped to the Squire line. Went to GC, $1200 budget, looking for a 4 string bass. Played every Fender/Squire bass in the store, ended up buying a new surf green Squire 70’s vintage bass, w/discount cost me $399, added a Seymour Duncan quarter pounder pickup, $90 installed, so for about $500 I bought a great sounding bass that played better than other Fender bass guitars for hundreds less. Have played it professionally for over a year now, still love it. Squires Rock!
what kind of discount is that!? did you steal it LOL
Really love this channel. The way Darrell describes the tones is the most accurate I've heard and makes sense to me. Thank you Darrell!! Makes me want to get a copy and start swapping!!
**puts bad 20$ pickups in american strat** "Now they sound exactly the same!"
just kidding lol.. i actually preferred the modified squier.
@Kaptain Kid i am fully aware; it was a joke. thanks for the insight, though :)
lol
Exactly all your paying for is good propaganda buy a good wood guitar buy excellent electronic and have a Luther set it up and bang 3-500.00 guitar is as good as any pro guitar excluding fantastic paint job if you're in to vanity nothing wrong with that I'm in to the sound and playability but paying 2000.00 for a fender or a Gibson is fools Gold! As far as I am concerned.The only good thing is some fool will give you back close too what you paid for it maybe more and I'd be lucky too get my 300 bucks back for modded guitar but who cares I am only 300 bucks in if it's robbed catches on fire playing Hendrix who cares!!!!!!
@@cazimircouble I prefered the modded Squier too!
The "Vintage" sound is when the magnets on the pickups start getting a little weaker over time. That is what the fellow who designed the Stratocaster stated when interviewed a few years ago. I bought a Squier a few years intending to mod the pickups & put a Graphtec Hexaphonic kit in it, was I ever surprised when I got home & discovered the body was too thin for what I wanted to do to it.
The moral of the story is, Fender is ripping you off
You get what you pay for!
@@davemanone3661 no you don't stupid people get what they pay for
Certainly not, the price for the expensive guitar is to compensate for the higher quality materials, finishes, hardware, etc. which all do affect sound, but most importantly affects the way it plays
You can get a really good sound out of a 200 dollar guitar easily with the right amp and cab, but it just won't play like a 500-1500 dollar guitar. They certainly sound different, and I generally think the higher quality material guitars have more interesting character to the sound, but that is all opinion based anyways, but for someone who just wants to play music and have fun they can certainly use a cheaper guitar and still get a great sound
Blind test, I picked squire each time... would have liked to hear the squire original sound added in too.
Yes good idea
You realy displayed the full capabilities of the strats in the vid . 😂😂
Wish i coulda heard it before pickup change
50
I don’t even play guitar... but I love how customized squires look and sound, over the American made ones
Then you're all set up to start playing! Just need a used Squier, maybe some help to set it up properly and you're ready to shred!
@@toto_shreddito5196 don't patronize him
Man that Squier looked cool with the clear bobbins. REALLY liked that look.
And sounded so close to the Fender, the average listener would never notice.
The only guitar that I’ve owned that got a spontaneous ovation when I simply took it off the rack on stage, was an Indonesian Squier Strat that had the Ritchie Blackmore colour-way.
It had a nice neck and decent pickups, and felt really solid all the way around.
A surprisingly close match! The Squier sounded a just little bit less brilliant (or ever so slightly darker) with those inbetween positions but I could hardly hear any obvious difference with the single pickup comparisons. I'd really like to watch and hear such a comparison with a "mid to high endish" Fender Tele and a Squier Tele as I'm really not sure if replacing the pickups in my 50s Vintage Vibe Series Tele will actually make an audibly discernible improvement...
For $7 I upgraded the nut on my affinity to a bone but and that helped it noticeably. Great comparison video!
Just how did it help? Playing cowboy chords or lots of open strings? Or maybe with the trem not going out of tune? I'd honestly like to know.
Ndlanding it helped in keeping tune, and it helped in a brighter crisper tone too. It was a very easy swap and made for a noticeable improvement for low cost. I highly recommend, I just ordered off of amazon, a two pack for like $7, for was perfect and the slots were cut accurately.
The Squire looks great without the covers. Kinda "Strat meets Mad Max" industrial looking. Great video. Keep up the great content. Good to see a review of a low-cost upgrade.
Swapping from ceramic to alnico was a positive move for a cleaner, classic stat sound. I'll only add that any good guitar player can make virtually any guitar sound at least decent.
Actually the Squier sounded better that the Fender to me in this test with those pickups. Brighter, clearer, and nicer!!!
8:09 opportunity missed. "If you're broke, can you sound pro without spending a lot of dough?" x
pro - dough? bleugh
it's called "restraint"
maybe give it a shot yourself? :D
A little bit more would be, "Can you sound like a pro, without a lot of dough? Yes, you can, and I'll show you how to make that pretender sound like a Fender!"
Yes!!! I fully expected that pun.
If you go with Flo the pro, then your dough buys a flow down below, y'know.
I like the look of the pick-ups without covers.
I loved the Squier better every time with headphones and multiple listens.
honestly i think the bulk of the difference is in the feel and how far you can push it. different pickups would react differently to your amp and effects setup. the end sound might not be that different to a listener, but as the player, you should be able to feel the difference. how much force you use to pick the string to get a certain tone will definitely vary depending on the pickup.
yeah, nah. Pickups are some magnets with some wire around them. There's NO reason why they should cost more than 20$ a set. If you slapped a 300$ price tag on the chinese set and called it a 'special series', you'd like the chinese set more.
A lot of musicians get lost in 'instrument voodoo' when they don't understand the technicalities of instruments and go down a similar rabbit hole that audiophiles go down (hurr durr cable risers for accurate sound transmission!)
With active pickups, this is a bit of a different thing; EMGs use 'normal' pickups but have their circuit after them, Fishman fluences have the coil as an actual PCB. If you cloned the PCB and/or electronics after that; same sound, more or less.
Loved the video, thank you - can't tell the difference! Very often perceptions of what is better are psychological, because of preconceived notions and peer & market influences. Ultimately it's what you play and how well you play it.
you get a signal dip when you run 2 p-ups together so maybe thats why the middle is hotter
Yup
For me :
Test 1 : Fender
Test 2 : Fender
Test 3 : Squier
Test 4 : Squier
Test 5 : Fender
And there's not much difference in the 5 and 2 test between Fender amd Squier... love the Squier!
I wonder how the old pickups would have compared? Regardless, the Squire does sound pretty nice! Another helpful video, good job.
It would be nice, if the test were made with an amp, and no post editing! With some multi effects or emulators, all guitars tend to sound almost the same! Thanks for the demo!
I thought the Squier sounded a little better, all the way around.
Ok man, that is the FIRST demo I have seen, and I buy and sell so I look at a LOT of them, that was really helpful and possibly even worth more than the several minutes I spent watching. thanks and yes I did suscribe.
Wanted to hear the middle pkup
This comparison just goes to prove that all the talk about putting "better" pickups in a guitar means very little, especially if you play high-gain. Distortion tends to make all pickups equal, so there's little point in replacing pickups at all. Fifty feet from the stage, live, you can't tell the difference between the cheapest pickup and the most expensive. particularly if you're playing with distortion. That's the reason I never replace pickups.
Not always, some very cheapo pickups lack clarity and sound mushy or fuzzy. However if you use a Metal Zone, then the difference becomes insignificant
One video doesnt prove anything bud. There's obviously a difference between hot vintage, humbuckers, actives, noiseless, etc. You can get all of these in single coil form factor. This guy just swapped similarly specced pickups
Without having read any comments before typing this....
I'm going to say the affinity sounded better in almost every comparison....
During all the blind demos the guitar that I found most pleasant ended up being the affinity.
Position 4 however sounded best on the Fender however.
Great once more!!! This proves that we've always paid for the brand reputation more than for the intrinsic product quality
I can definitely tell the difference when testing in the 2 and 4 position. The Fender sounded janglier than the squier, like what a Fender is known for. I couldn't tell the difference in the first set of tests though.
On the in between 2 and 4 positions the Squier had clearer dynamics that to me are more classic.
Both were very nice tones.
One thing I did notice, was the playing was more relaxed when playing the Fender, showing there is far more going on than the Pickups. But may be simple enough to sort without spending any further money.
Surprised I preferred the squire in all the blind test great video I’m tempted to have a go at building a parts bin strat
"let's find oat"
oats are good for you
@@scottmantooth8785 💩
😂😂😂
*meal
"What's this all aboot Eh?"......I'll shut'up now.
Proves what a ripoff boutique pickups are, preferred the squire.
but some are "hand wound"......magnet and wire. Simple tech.
LOL
The fender had a more full and deeper sound, so I preferred that.
@@memeburgler187 People blow way too much money on boutique pickups. Ever hear about Planet Tone? Hand-wound Strat pickups for $34.95 each, and they sound fantastic. give them a listen.
It's all about what you can afford and what you are doing. I don't care what other people think, I love my Bullet it, sounds great.
bought the loaded pickguard last week for 23€ can't wait to mount it on my ratocaster
You would have loved to hear the original pickups too
I’m super surprised! The Squire actually sounded great. I liked how it sounded like the squire has a bit more low end. Nice!
I actually like the lookuncovered. Its unique
Pretty amazing how well the Squire holds up here. I bought a Squire Contemporary series HH, put a DiMarzio SD for the bridge and a GFS Crunchy Pat for the neck and it sounds amazing. Was totally blown away by the QC on it as well, not a single fret end needed to be sanded down or anything. Only thing was the skunk stripe on the back was a little raised compared to the rest of the neck, just needed some light sanding and that was it. Your money goes further than it ever has with guitars these days, now I just gotta stop myself from buying more of them
Change out your wiring harness, lose the low quality pots, and switch. Put a Pure Tone output jack, great mod for like $10 bucks. Graphtech bridge saddles would be great. Locking Fender tuners should fit with no drilling, and you'll be very pleasantly surprised.
I like the look of the pick-ups without covers. Like a rebel flippin'-off the dress-code.😈
The savings from buying these inexpensive pups went to a new 5-way switch. I have now made 8 separate upgrades to my Bullet Strat. Next, the pots and saddles. Then a cool Logo. Definitely, my baby.🥰
Replying to myself. LOL
There is so much snobbery regarding what name is on the headstock, in my opinion put decent pickups in the Squire & you got a good guitar, most if not all USA guitars are over hyped & over priced.
Half is snobbery, half is over-cautious ignorance.
For first 3 comparisons I had picked the Squier consistently LOL... but for positions 2 and 4 I liked the Strat... For the cost, I think I would buy 3 Squiers in different colors as opposed to one strat.
Would have been interesting to hear the Squier before and after ... ceramic versus chinese alnico
Thanks, an interesting little experiment; they did sound similar. Would have been interested to hear the Squier with it's original pickups as well.
The pickups look fine DBG, leave the covers off...
very interesting indeed. Thanks for this Darrell.
I can make a Squier sound like a Fender for FREE by just playing it. 😀
True....it's all about the player
Your right, a Squier is still a Fender too.
Hmm, I can make a Fender sound like a Squier for FREE by just playing it. 😀
I can make a Fender sound like a watermelon just by playing it.
And I can make a tagima sound like a tagima
Those pickups made the Squier sound great.
i wish youhad played the squire with the original pickups
I just bought a Squire and love it
The squire sounds better to me...but how does it compare to itself with the original pickups..?
I picked the Squier 2/3 times and couldn’t decide on the 3rd. Cheap guitars have never been better in history than they are right now. Solid test.
wrong .. prime is 2001-2016 new $100 squire affinities and std , at Christmas...
I would have like to have heard the original squire pickups comparsion
The Fender has a very noticeable deep, richness to the tone that the squier lacks. I have 2 Squiers and just starting to learn how to modify one..... to make my own frankenstrat. They are so cheap I could buy 5 of them for the price of a cheap fender.
What about pole height? It seemed like the fender softened the top and bottom two strings.
It was quite easy to recognize the fenders in the blind test...I prefer the sound of the Chinese ones in the out of phase position...for 17dollars it's an amazing result.
It was so similar that I didn't even realize that you played both of them
Same here😊😎
Quick remedy for the clear bobbins on the Squier replacement pickups- instead of trying to find aftermarket covers, just paint the bobbins. Use nail polish that comes with a little applicator brush in the bottle cap. No problem finding a proper color. Be careful and you won't mess up the pole pieces. Worth a try!
Both guitars sound fine... the trouble or difference between a Cheap guitar 🎸 and a Fender USA Pro is the feel! You pay for what you get and it’s worth the money to buy the top of the line. At least for me... the neck and over all feel and the ease of play always better on a Fender American Pro!
After building guitars for years my opinion is 90% of a guitars tone comes from your fingers and your amp. The guitars for looking at...
catnapa which cheaper guitars do you recommend?
Agree, I own 6 electric guitars, ranging from my starter of $300 and more fancy ones around 1k/1.2k. They sounds the same.
And screwing around with the bridge makes them almost play identical.
To the guys asking which one to get?
What ever you think looks nice/plays nice. The only big difference is single coil or humbucker pick ups, so figure out which one you like.
Only bottom of the barrel guitars (read: ones you can get at wallmart etc) are not worth your time
edit: A amp on the other hand is a different story...
That's true to a point. Some of the cheaper stuff I see at Guitar Center has action problems, fret buzz, cheap hardware and the crappy tuners. Suprisingly, fit and finish (woodwork) is usually not an issue on the cheaper instruments.
I sanded the finish off a 335 Yamaha acoustic electric plugged into a pa I played three songs A guy who plays a Gibson an a guy who plays a Taylor asked what kind of guitar is that it sounds really good. I was strumming with my thumb an picking with fingers. LOL just my Yamaha they seemed dumb founded a cheap guitar could sound so good.
@@ckatheman nothing you can fix with a setup and upgraded parts, while still remaning over half of the price of "professional" guitars