Fender Squier Debut Series Stratocaster Electric Guitar, Beginner Guitar, with 2-Year Warranty, Includes Free Lessons, Black with Matte Finish

Looked like such a deal I got 2 in different colors, both are great. I had to set up the bridge to proper floating position as these ship with the bridge decked flat against the body. Didn't change the strings or make any other adjustments and the guitars play great both plugged in and unplugged which is how I mostly play them to stay low in volume. Neck is flat radiused and feels very fast like a shredder guitar. The body feels more comfortable than a Fender Strat because it's thinner and lighter and overall feels easy to manage physically, so it's perfect for young children just starting to learn guitar. I even recorded a song using this guitar with no modifications and if I told you it was some other guitar costing 10 times more you'd believe me.No issues or problems with frets, no choke out on bends, action is nice and low to play comfortably, and somehow it's fun to play the way it feels, causing me to play it longer than I intend when I pick it up. Using the floating trem the guiatr stays in tune and doesn't have any problem zeroing back to the correct position whether pulling up or doing dive bombs.This guitar didn't exist when I was starting out on the instrument but I wish I had one because even now that I play daily I still want to keep these guitars instead of giving them away to eager new students if they wanted.

Here is a quick rundown. I received this on 11/29/2024. It was set to spec as far as the neck relief and string height. The tuners worked smoothly and held the tuning. The strings as fine. No sharp fret ends and the frets were highly polished. Confortable neck shape. The pickup switch felt and worked well and the tone and volumes were smooth. The output jack was properly tightened and works well. The pickups sounded just fine and the pieces aligned under the strings just as vintage ones do. It sounds very good unplugged. The trem arm screws in properly but the trem took a lot of pressure to work. This is really no issues and I am sure they did this to keep it in tune. If you are new to Strats, the vintage trem rarely ever stood in tune, don't use the trem as it is really for show in most Strats. In the real world it takes a lot of skill and know-how to get a Strat trem to work properly and costs more than the guitar to setup, which I am telling you will be impossible anyway. These are set with the rear decked on the body so it returns to tune meaning you can only go down. If you are learning you should learn to play for real and not be a poser playing with the trem. Leave the trem arm in the bag. There is nothing needed to be done or replaced to have a good guitar to learn on. It appears the price is so low as to be get you started and updating the phone app and taking lessons online and later buying a more expensive guitar, that is where they plan to profit. The guitar is like an when you buy a low cost inkjet printer for very little money and have to buy their ink forever. Is the guitar worth it ? Absolutely. Also buy a $30 or so case to keep it in might be a good idea. Realize if you are buying this for a gift for someone to learn on, most new players quit as they rather stare at their phone or play a video game so buying a low cost guitar is a good idea. The 2-year warranty is worth more than the guitar alone. Be careful removing the plastic on the pickguard and pickups, the pickguard plastic is very soft and scratches easily. After a few days I decided that the nut needed to be filed slightly for each string so I took care of that. I also lowered the action lower than Fender specs to 4mm with no buzzing. None of these things were out of the ordinary for a new Strat guitar. I am very happy with this guitar. After a few months after being too dry in my house the fretboard did shrink somewhat making for fret sprout (sharp frets past the edge of the fretboard. Fret sprout is not uncommmon even in much more expensive guitars. So I filed the edges and polished the frets when I was at it and put a set of Ernie Ball Super Slinky 9-43 (2223). Guitars are made of wood and wood is affected by moisture. That's life. I am still happy with the guitar. If you are just learning it is unlikely you will be running you hand up and down the neck so it may not matter at all if there is some fret sprout. It was not really that bad when it happened.

A legitimate Fender guitar for the price of a cheap clone, that is legitimately amazing! I own a couple cheap guitars that cost as much as this Fender Squire, but the difference in build quality is amazing. This thing feels and plays like butter, and aside from tuning the strings, the setup as near as I can measure it is spot on. The string height, neck adjustment, and intonation were perfect. The attention to detail is evident in everything from the way the strings are wound on the tuners, to the design and manufacture of something like the string tree, which all the cheap guitars get horribly wrong. Plays great, sounds great, looks great, and it's a real Fender for the price of a clone. What's not to love.

If your in the market for a great cheap guitar this is it. No remorse and regrets on this purchase but it does have some cons and has a few things that almost make it seem like a refurbished guitar. I have not played it plugged in yet.ProsThe action on this guitar is fantastic straight out of the box. The neck is not as thick as my last strat and allows for easier reach and cording. Feels great in my hands. Great price. Comes with Fendor running app, metronome and guitar tutorials.Cons - these are all minor and mostly insignificantThe biggest problem is that the frets stick out just a little past the fret board and they are sharp and could cutt but it's very slight. The intonation is off. I haven't tried to adjust it yet. The pick guard has several small dent and gashes. Some of the edges on the plastic are cut a little jagged. There are a couple stains on the back of the neck under the clear coat. The manufacturing on the metal plate for the Jack is ruff and looks a little beat up. The color in the picture is is a bright red but the one I received looks like dried ketchup... It's definitely a matte finish and not a gloss had I been able to discern that from the picture I would have bought a black one.All in all the positives out way the negatives and I would recommend it anyone.