Odd little story: I was in my friendly
local guitar shop, playing all of the Strats he had in inventory (he's the #1 Fender seller in AZ that isn't Guitar Center). I was having a hard time deciding which I liked enough to plunk down the $500-1500 as I was trying everything from MIMs to Deluxes. I finally asked the owner what HE thought was the best-playing Strat in the shop was.
He pointed at an ignored Squier Bullet Strat (one of several) sitting in the corner with a $129 price tag and said "If you don't believe me, play it and see". He was 100% right. The pickups were meh and I didn't like the HSS layout but it played like butter. The other Squiers didn't play nearly as nice...someone must've had an "off" day when that one was assembled. It played better than my Parker MaxxFly that cost 15x the price. I plunked down the money and ran. Don't pass up the opportunity to try out a Squier...they may be inconsistent but every one is a potential gem.
So far I have replaced the crappy tuners with Sperzels, the bridge with a Wilkinson 2-post trem, and have been through 3 different loaded pickguards in search of "my" tone. My latest pickguard is one I built up from scratch, so I'm getting that experience as well. Even after all of this I still have less money in it than a MIM and it
still plays better than any other Strat I've laid hands on.
AR-15s and Strats are like Barbie dolls for grown men.
