landlocked
Joined: May 01, 2014
Posts: 18
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Posted on Jun 17 2014 02:39 PM
I've been lusting for an Ac30, so much that I'm considering trading my fender strat for one. To replace my strat I've been looking into a squire. I found a Korean made, serial # S 100 9636, I tried doing some research and got overwhelmed, so I'm asking you all for advice. What is your opinion on Korean made strats? What are the chances that the body is plywood? If your advice is to steer clear of Korean squires, then what should I be looking for? I would like to spend less than $150, and want a solid wood body strat, either alder or ash.
and yes, Mikko Lankinen has the best tone ever imo
Last edited: Jun 17, 2014 14:46:38
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derekirving
Joined: Nov 03, 2011
Posts: 660
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Posted on Jun 17 2014 02:53 PM
I purchased my daughter an early 90's Fender Squire (Korean) strat for $150. It plays quite nice and has those ceramic pickups that sound pretty good. Some of the Korean guitars come out of pretty good guitar factories over there. What I noticed on the Squire we have is that the body is a tad bit thinner then a normal strat, the cut is a bit different, the paint is thick, the parts (hardware, pots, etc) can be a bit cheap and as far as wood I don't think they are alder or ash. That being said for $150 or less they are decent and can play, feel and sound quite nice.
Here's a link: http://www.guitarrepairbench.com/guitar-dating/korean-fender-serial-number.html
Last edited: Jun 17, 2014 14:55:25
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horax
Joined: Mar 23, 2011
Posts: 518
colorado springs
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Posted on Jun 17 2014 03:02 PM
For 150 you should get the vintage modified surf strat by squier. VERY good for the money! solid wood, lipstick pickups, etc.
the korean strats are very, very good.
GC's website has a bunch of VM Strats for 150-199.
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BJB
Joined: Jul 28, 2008
Posts: 413
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Posted on Jun 17 2014 03:21 PM
I have one of those plywood Korean Stratocasters and it's pretty good. I already had two US-made Stratocasters and I bought the Squier so I could learn how to set up the action, tremolo, truss rod, etc. I also installed Seymour Duncan pickups and it sounds pretty darn good, even with the plywood body.
If it matters to you, remove the backplate and look inside to see if the body is plywood.
— If it ain't broke, fix it until it is.
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landlocked
Joined: May 01, 2014
Posts: 18
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Posted on Jun 17 2014 03:24 PM
the only thing deterring me from the surf-strat is the basswood body. I suppose its better than ply wood. I really liked the Korean made strat that I got to play, It had the thinner body and neck (which had a wonderful figured grain to it) and smaller lower horn, My MIJ has the fat neck and body. The best part was how evenly worn-in it was, so I don't need a new guitar I've realized, heck I don't even need a fender if I could just identify the body wood of the earlier squires...is refinishing the only way to determine if the body is plywood? when did squire start using ply?
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caddady
Joined: Feb 14, 2010
Posts: 802
N.E. Ohio
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Posted on Jun 17 2014 03:29 PM
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landlocked
Joined: May 01, 2014
Posts: 18
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Posted on Jun 17 2014 03:34 PM
Can you tell if the body is ply just by removing the backplate?? I read somewhere that the plywood bodies were heavily sealed and finished so as to disguise the plywood. Anybody who owns a Korean Squire care to validate this for me?
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derekirving
Joined: Nov 03, 2011
Posts: 660
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Posted on Jun 17 2014 03:58 PM
I'm pretty sure the squire we have is plywood (or multi pieces of wood put together to form the body) and yes it's heavily painted sealed (almost looks like plastic). Don't worry it can surf.
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landlocked
Joined: May 01, 2014
Posts: 18
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Posted on Jun 17 2014 05:44 PM
derekirving wrote:
I'm pretty sure the squire we have is plywood (or multi pieces of wood put together to form the body) and yes it's heavily painted sealed (almost looks like plastic). Don't worry it can surf.
any chance you could remove the backplate and describe what you see? also, whats you serial number?
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landlocked
Joined: May 01, 2014
Posts: 18
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Posted on Jun 17 2014 06:12 PM
caddady wrote:
all things Squire.
PDF file,
http://www.woolbrightvideo.com/files/forums/SquierSpecs.pdf
Yes it is overwhelming.
says file is damaged and wont open
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derekirving
Joined: Nov 03, 2011
Posts: 660
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Posted on Jun 18 2014 12:16 AM
landlocked wrote:
any chance you could remove the backplate and describe what you see? also, whats you serial number?
So I took a few pictures of the neck cavity and the body is definatialy pressed / layered wood (plywood?). You'll see the layers in the pictures. Also my serial number is VN583807 (which is a 1995 made at the Sungham factory in Korea) . I also just did a quick demo of the guitar, went through all the 5 pickup options, etc the strings on the guitar were at least two years old so they are quite dull.
YouTube Guitar DEMO - Fender Squire Demo
image
Fender Squire Demo
Last edited: Jun 18, 2014 00:18:08
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Canopy
Joined: Apr 28, 2014
Posts: 41
South West Coast
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Posted on Jun 18 2014 07:51 AM
I have a Korean Strat. From what I've seen online the later ones.. particularly the CNxx ones from the Cort factory made in 94 onwards are not plywood. Its the earlier ones that fender/squier produced to compete with other korean plywood strat copies in the first place that gave them a bad name. In the UK the korean made Marlin Sidewinder was trouncing squier until the they started competing on their level.
in my experience you find a "blackie" style one or a sunburst a lot cheaper than a vintage white one.
here are some pictures of mine just for fun
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horax
Joined: Mar 23, 2011
Posts: 518
colorado springs
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Posted on Jun 18 2014 10:39 AM
THE red one above is plywood.
Doesn't mean it's not a great player.
Also, the basswood should not deter you. It's softer than Alder, but a lot of high end guitars are made with basswood. The premiere series of Ibanez, the EVH guitars, and a lot of Petrucci's are made from basswood, too.
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landlocked
Joined: May 01, 2014
Posts: 18
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Posted on Jun 18 2014 02:45 PM
thanks for posting that picture, its good to know that it is possible to identify the body wood, even if I have to unbolt the neck..
Does anyone here actually prefer the sound of the laminated wood bodies? seems to me like they would have more density, and the layering effect would offset the grains in between layers, possibly adding to the density. Wouldn't this let the high frequencies ring off more. rather than being absorbed by the wood?
I think I'm going to purchase this guitar simply because it felt right when I played it, mainly because of the figured maple neck, and the smaller, heavier body. it was an s100 serial number, could anybody tell me what the body is made from?
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Canopy
Joined: Apr 28, 2014
Posts: 41
South West Coast
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Posted on Jun 19 2014 03:35 AM
I've seen online that some_ people do.. but whether that is because they're defending their beloved or not is another matter. Fact is.. some people can't play anything but a MIA because they feel inadequate.
You already hit the right criteria "because it felt right when I played it".. it'll be alder or ply.. you'll know by popping the rear trem access panel off.
unfortunately, even in the PDF posted above, there is less info out there on the korean squiers than any other model, including the tony bacon "squier guitars" book which barely mentions the korean stuff.
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normj
Joined: Apr 26, 2010
Posts: 882
central Indiana
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Posted on Jun 19 2014 04:37 AM
Hello,
I have had a some of the laminate bodies (aka: plywood). They weigh more. I think they have better sustain than a comparable solid wood Squier body. Those that I played all sounded fine. I suspect most folks could not hear any difference.
The MIK necks are usually very good. The pickups are ceramic magnets and tend to be slightly hotter than vintage Fender American pickups. I have seen some MIJ parts on very early MIK Squiers. For the most part, the MIK Squiers were very good.
Later,
Norm
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landlocked
Joined: May 01, 2014
Posts: 18
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Posted on Jun 21 2014 09:48 AM
right when I convince myself that I needed it, they sold it...
looks like it's time to start digging for one now.
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