Which Squier Strat would a Fender Master Builder buy?
A Squier Affinity, Contemporary, and Classic Vibe get the Fender Master Builder review
Which Squier Strat would a Fender Master Builder buy? Bet you’ve asked yourself that question before! YouTuber Philip McKnight has just posed this question to Fender Master Builder Ron Thorn. The two try out three current Squier Strat models during a visit to Thomann.
Which Squier would a Fender Master Builder buy?
The YouTube video below holds a wealth of really useful, practical information on what to look out for when buying a guitar. What I like here is that Ron Thorn just cuts to the chase and hones in on exactly what he looks for when trying out guitars.
The try out an Affinity, a Contemporary and a Classic Vibe. I’ll let you watch the video and discover which one Ron prefers.
What had me glued was Philip McKnight and Ron discussing the basics of what makes a good guitar. I was intrigued to find out that Ron liked thin guitar necks and isn’t the biggest user of bridge pickups. In fact, he states at one point during the conversation that he actually has a Strat in the ’80s with no bridge pickup at all, just a neck and middle pickup instead!
Ron Thorn gets hands on with Squier Strats · Source: YouTube/Philip McKnight
T.R.A.I.N
I loved his acronym for guitar setups: T.R.A.I.N (Tune It Up, set the Relief, adjust the Action, set the Intonation and then Noodle)
Makes perfect sense and if you follow that guideline, it will help you from going around in circles and getting lost when you setup your guitar. They go on to discuss neck widths, fret sprout and traditional neck radius versus modern radius.
Ron also shares a few simple tricks for making a neck feel smoother to play including using carnauba wax or removing some of the gloss from the back of the guitar’s neck. Playing feel, after all, is a large part of what makes an instrument feel right to you.
’85 Squier
He also reveals near the end of the video that his number one personal guitar is a basswood body, maple neck 1985 Squier Stratocaster that he purchased in 1987, which he describes as his favourite go-to instrument.
The video is a great overview on what to look out for when buying any guitar and covers a lot of useful information for purchasing a new instrument. Well worth a watch in my opinion.
More Information
- Squier Classic Vibe Stratocaster
- Squier Affinity Series Stratocaster
- Squier Contemporary Stratocaster HSS
- Phillip McKnight YouTube channel
Video
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