My Arctic White Squier Strat -- I think I'll keep her!

Saturday, May 9, 2015 -- OK, I'll admit that once I had the wiring corrected on my latest guitar acquisition, I figured there would be damn little left to write about.

This guitar is the only Fender (well, Squier by Fender) stratocaster I own, and I've wanted a true SSS strat simply because I've not owned one over the years. Yes, my Peavey Raptor is a strat copy, but it is a fat strat, with a humbucker in the bridge position. None of the guitars I own (save for the Jazzmaster) have a single coil in the bridge position. I've wanted a true SSS strat, name brand or not. (Technically, I DO own an SSS strat copy -- the Spectrum strat project that's still awaiting me in its case).

So after re-assembly (and finding all the damn pickguard screws after I accidently scattered them all over hell, west and crooked) it was time to play the thing.

Following a tip from Scott Grove, I took the strings out of the string tees on the headstock, as they aren't always needed and are mostly a source of friction leading to tuning problems. Plugged her in, tuned it up and -- WOW!

It sounded like a million bucks! Just for kicks, I checked the intonation to see how bad it was, and boy howdy was I fooled -- it was SPOT ON. In fact, none of my other guitars have their intonation set as precisely as this one. And the action -- its low and easy. It plays like a damn dream.

Obviously, this guitar was professionally set up at some point prior to its wiring problems. It looks like the nut was filed, the strings set well in the slots, and the action is nice and low without buzz near the nut. This thing set a new standard for what I'm going to need to do with my other guitars ... I want them all to play this well!

There's only one blemish on the guitar body, a small chip on the inside of the top horn. The pickguard also has a small scuff on the edge near the middle pickup. Nothing big.

I really, really enjoy the strat's tonal qualities, which I think are far and above the Peavey SSH Raptor. Of course, I think I'm going to have pay attention to the setup on the nut and truss rod and see if I can duplicate the Squier's ease of play.

Rock on!