My $90 Strat

I'd been playing my acoustic guitar for less than two months before I bought my first electric. When I first got my acoustic I figured I'd play it for a few years and possibly get an electric "sometime down the road." It wasn't long before I was really enjoying learning to play but wanted to learn more about what made a good guitar. One of the ways I learn best is to just start fiddling with things and see what happens, but I wasn't about to start tweaking my nice acoustic. Besides, electrics have more parts that can be easily tinkered with without getting into major luthier-type work.

I'd always liked Stratocaster style guitars and after reading up on Fender's budget line of Squier guitars a used Squier Strat seemed like it would be a good starting point. I ended up finding one on eBay that looked promising and was able to get it for a good price. Here's what I ended up with:

• Left handed Squier Standard Stratocaster
• Antique Burst finish with Rosewood fretboard
• Made in Indonesia (2002)

Recent left handed Squier Standard Stratocasters come in two colors - mine is antique burst. The finish is surprisingly nice and though I'd love to try and tackle stripping and repainting it, I think I'll stick with this finish for a while. The grain of the wood shows through the transparent parts of the antique burst finish and it looks nice with relatively tight and straight grain. Removing the rear tremolo cover plate gives a view of the wood's cross section and confirms the body is made from hardwood (probably Agathis) and not plywood. Hooray.

The neck of the guitar feels good and plays easily. I'd read enough stories about the fretwork on Squiers to expect to have to do some work in this area, but fortunately the frets on mine look good. They are nice and smooth with no sharp spots felt when I run my hand down the neck.

The strings that came on the guitar show visible rust and corrosion so changing those out is priority one. I attempted to tune the guitar and found the bridge lifted off the body at an extreme angle so I took a look at the tremolo tension springs. Suprisingly there were only two. Not surprisingly they looked like they came from a junk yard - lousy metal and pretty weak. For now I was able to tighten the screws on the spring claw to get the bridge down to a less extreme angle but I will definitely be replacing those springs. With the bridge in a better position I tuned the guitar and strummed a few chords without plugging in. I was surprised at how full the sound was and could actually feel some resonance through the body.

I haven't mentioned the electronics yet and there are a few reasons for that. First I don't yet have an amp to test them with. But more importantly I'm planning on changing them all out anyway - pickups, pots, jack, wiring, everything.

Overall I'm happy with this guitar as a starting point for my custom strat project. My main goal with this endeavor is to put together the best sounding and playing guitar I can for about the cost of a new Squier Standard Stratocaster.