Squier or Fender? Difference in sound?

S

StickmanP

New member
Hey guys,

I'm thinking of purchasing a guitar (first time buyer) and I think I've narrowed down my search to either a Squier or a Fender. I'm a beat maker/producer looking to play Soul/Neo-Soul/R&B with the guitar.

I read a few days ago that the Squier and Fender are made by the same company, with the Fender being the more "premium" option. Have any of you had experience playing any of these or both of them to know if there's a noticeable difference in sound? I read that the Squier is made out of cheaper materials, but would that affect the sound the electric guitar produces at all (seeing as it's not acoustic I'm thinking the body of the guitar would have less effect on the sound, so the quality of the pickups must be the main factor)?

Ultimately, I'm just looking to find out if many people say there's a noticeable difference in the sound between these two guitars to justify me spending nearly double on the Fender? Being an aspiring producer, the end sound is all I really care about, so stuff about how it looks and other factors unrelated to the final sound isn't a factor in my decision. I already feel that my beats sound professional, so if I was playing live guitar on my production I wouldn't want the sound of the guitar to bring that down.

Thanks in advance for any advice and shared experiences.
 
Got any links to the models you are looking at ?

Don't forget that materials and build quality will have massive impact on the instrument .
The true of the neck and truss rod over time , fretting easy all across the neck .
Then there are the machine heads and bridge which will impact holding tune and intonation .
As you said , the pick ups .
 
Have played both products from this company over many many many years.

differences are ones of build quality and materials. The Fender Squiers tend to be lighter than the straight out Fender versions, so lack of sustain may be a problem with the Squier versions. Squiers are built in many different parts of the world. The Fender stamped guitars are only made in the USA.

Ultimately, unless you a re gigging, you won't notice too much difference as once the effects go on and you eq and compress the sound the only one who will know whether it was a Fender or a Fender Squier.
 
At the end of the day if you arent good at guitar neither option will sound good and I would advise using a vst instead. However, if you are willing to put in the time to get good or are already solid at guitar then I would definitely recommend getting the fender strat. Professional grade products not only sound better, they also last longer. If your budget is tight though and you have no other choice than the squire isnt to bad cuz at the end of the day Authentic guitar > sampled vst guitar.
 
I think the real difference would be in the pick-ups.

A good option I heard though is to get a Mexican Strat, which is considerably cheaper than an American Strat, and then gut the pick-ups.

Of anything I will say PLAY THE INSTRUMENT BEFORE YOU BUY IT.

Do not buy instruments from catalogs and shit like that, use those to narrow down your choices, then go to local stores, look on craigslist and what have you.

If not don't be pissed when you get something with a bowed neck or wonky frets or some shit.
 
Depends on what your ultimate long term plan is. If your'e on a budget but want the best quality sound possible - get a squire, replace the nut the bridge and the pickups and you'll be very pleased. Biggest difference I see is that the cheap squire pickups create a lot of nasty feedback and respond poorly to articulate crisp picking.
 
fender all day...more original and classy sound...gibson les paul's are where its really at though....straight raw sound
 
Hi,

what affects the sound of a guitar is an orchestra of factors, wood, construction and materials to name a few. You would definitely here difference in sound between the two brands even if it has same wood and material because mode construction plays a big role.

I own a couple of fender namely starts and tele's and have managed to play some squires before and there is a big difference in sound not to mention playability. If youre looking for tonal superiority then might as well swing it to fenders. Though with minor upgrades and higher versions of squires it will do.
 
Long before I started producing I was a guitar addict. My producer side says you could probably fix any problems with tone from the Squire when mixing but my guitarist side says Fender is all around much better. Unless it's way out of your league I'd pony up a few extra dollars for the Fender. Stock Squire pickups just have a certain hollowness and hum that just kind of irk me.
 
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