the one thing that bugs me about squires is that generaly the people who play squiers are the people who want to play to say they play, and never actualy get that good. I'd have to agree, a starard yamaha pacifica will come with 2 single coil pickups and a humbucker for a thicker sound. while not a great guitar it will lend itself to alot of good things. and then there is always sammick, people make fun of sammick because it's a low end made in china guitar. but they are a solid breed, htey actualy make, I think, over 50% of all guitars on the market, generaly if a company has a model that is made in south east asia, like squire, it is made in a sammick factory. so they make fenders gibsons PRS's ibanez, just about everything on the market.