[Porsche-O-Phile]

I've owned a Squier Strat for years and it's been fine. Unless you're a professional musician or a collector, I don't see the difference. Bought mine about 15 years ago for about $250 brand new and transplanted in some humbucker pickups, etc. FWIW you can get so many variations in the sound and the tone as a result of pickup selection, amp and effects processor selection to a certain extent the guitar matters less than ever before. It certainly still matters, but let's face it - you can make a Strat practically sound like a Les Paul and vice-versa nowadays by simply running the signal through a processor that's set up properly.

I like the feel of the Squier and although it "isn't a real Strat" I really don't care. I bought it to play around on, not hang on a wall or to impress a bunch of guitar snobs with. The kinds of people that would give grief about it being "not a real Strat" are the same types that drive 911s and look down their noses at 944 owners like myself - it's immensely satisfying to whip their asses in my "gussied up VW". Usually that shuts them up. In the same manner, if you're a good player and practice a lot and have good chops, people will pay attention to that more than whether your instrument says "Squier" or "Fender" on it. At the end of the day, who cares?

FWIW I think that most of the Strats don't really have the build quality of the older vintage Fenders anyway, so why pay 4X the price just for the name when the build quality is going to be only marginally better, if at all?