Was it worth it?

I've recently purchased a new Fender Squire Strat w/ a Birdseye Maple Neck. I haven't had an instrument since the teen years and I'm aproaching 30, so I don't know much anymore, except that I miss it. It's a great looking and sounding guitar. It was marked down from $350 to $200 for the years end sale. It also has the raised pick-ups, but no humbucker. Now, I've recently read a post here telling someone that it wasn't worth upgrading his strat. How much difference would a humbucker make?
Also, Mine says Indonesia on it not Japan or Korea(unless I'm mistaken and Indonesia is in either), does that mean it's particle board? I'm perfectly happy with my guitar, just having it!! But when I bought it, I didn't want the cheapest thing on the market, but just a little nicer. The response to the other strat owner made me feel like I bought a piece of junk. I hope not!! Someone tell me what's really up. I thought Fender made nice guitars, even they're generics. Did I get my Money's Worth, or did I just get What I Payed For??????????

probably got the answer yourself when you say

"It's a great looking and sounding guitar." - it's what it's worth to you. For the record in the UK a "Standard" Squier goes for about £165-200 -say 250 - 300 dollars. If you got yours for $200 you should be pleased. Dont stress over what it says on the headstock - hell all my guitar are *cough* budget makes (others may say cheap and nasty),but as you say it's if it sounds good to you...

I think Squiers are made out of fairly decent wood these days check Fender.com for this. I've played nasty and neat squiers and know of pros usng them and pros hating them . Guitars are very personal things, have fun and hang loose.

James.

you didnt buy piece of junk unless i did too...
i have the same guitar for over a year now and im happy with it
by the way one of the best guitar players over here play that one only made of Rosewood

Now I feel sort of bad because I was the one who put up the semi-negative post about Fender Squiers. Let me clarify what I meant. I didn't mean to say that all Fender Squiers were bad guitars. I do know some people who had them and were not happy with them because there were flaws in their guitars or in the hardware on their guitars. But I'm sure that doesn't apply to all Fender Squiers. I didn't mean to imply that anyone's guitar was a piece of crap. If the guitar sounds good and stays in tune, it's a good guitar. But as a consumer, if I hear bad things about a guitar, I do take those things into account when I go shopping and I pass them on to other musicians. Because I have heard varying things about the Fender Squier, I would advise a beginner to avoid buying one unless they knew what kind of flaws to look out for.

As for whether to upgrade the pickups in a Fender Squier, if the guitar is made out of a solid piece of wood, then I would say upgrade because the guitar will get some of its sound from the wood it is made from as well as the upgraded pickups. Upgrading the electronics in a guitar made of laminate board will enhance the sound to some degree. But if you are at the point where you want "something more" in terms of sound from your guitar, you may not get that extra sound out of a guitar made of laminate. Guitars made of laminate board generally don't get a large part of their sound or sustain from the wood they are made of.

I don't make that recommendation in an effort to put down anyone's guitar. I make that recommendation because I have gone through the trouble and expense of upgrading several guitars made of laminate, only to find that the upgrade didn't achieve the outcome that I was hoping for. It turned out that I was trying to get better sound and sustain out of guitars that were never going to give me the extra sound or sustain I was looking for.

I've heard bad things about some high end guitars as well that would make me wary when shopping for a guitar. I know musicians who were really dissatisfied with the craftsmenship in their brand new Gibson Les Pauls. That doesn't mean that they are all bad guitars (I happen to like them myself), but as a consumer, I would take into what I heard from other consumers and give that guitar extra scrutiny if I was looking to purchase it. For what it's worth, I have never had any trouble with any Fender product that I have purchased.

Somewhere in the world right now, some guy is sitting ther looking at his brand new Dickie Betts $3,300+ Les Paul, and asking himself, Was it worth it? well Birdseye, in my book you got the better deal!

I bought a used Gibson SG 1967 8 years ago. It's still my only electric guitar and I've playing it almost daily for all those years. At first nobody wanted to buy the thing cause it had been broken before and wasn't in great shape.

The guy was asking 250 cnd$ for it. I tried it and loved the sound so I bought it. Even thought it's not the best looking guitar the sound is better than a lot of 1000$+ guitar I tried. I bet you could say the same thing about your guitar. I think the price of some guitar is well over what they're worth.

If it sounds good and you feel confortable, you made a good deal.

If it sounds good it is good whether it's bought at a yard sale or a Fender Auction.

Judge it by what it sounds like in your hands. It will sound different in someone elses.

If the neck feels like a lady....play it like one.
If it doesn't then there is no mod that you can do to it that will make it sound any better.

Sounds like a nice piece of wood. Doesn't matter where it comes from or who built it.

Enjoy it!

Truely, its not the price of the guitar, its the sound and if it fits you personal style of playing, right now I'm jamming on a classical guitar i bought for 22$ at a garage sale, was made in russia(of all places) probably by someone getting paid very little for it, but its a great guitar...sounds decent and fits my style of speed(I play extremely fast due to my flamenco uprising in guitar) I have a decent classial that set me back 1.2k(us) but it just doesn't play as fun as the new one...I wouldn't worry about any negative comments made about fenders =) as long as it fits you its the perfect guitar.