In the ten odd years of my playing guitar on and off, I've spent a lot of time at music stores and played A LOT of guitars. During a lot of my visits to such stores, I regularly noodled around on guitars that had double-locking tremolo bridges, but never bought one.
It was either I didn't like the neck, didn't like the pickups, didn't like the aesthetics and feel of the body, or a combination of all those.
This Squier immediately caught my eye. Double locking trem, active pickups, a C-shape neck that isn't wafer thin (not dissing on thin necks, I simply don't personally like them), and classy straightforward looks. I watched a video of it being demo'd, and for ONCE, the gentleman demoing the guitar used a CLEAN amp tone (sorry for the rant but I am disgusted by the number of "guitar demos" that feature someone mindlessly shredding away trying to look cool). It sounded good so I took a chance and bought one here on Amazon.
Thanks to FedEx, the guitar came late AND was damaged. The potentiometer for the Tone control was literally smashed in, leaving a gaping hole in the pickguard. Before I put the guitar back in the box for a return I noticed the frets were protruding beyond the neck slightly. That's normal in some cases but I noticed that some frets protruded further than others.
Amazon got the replacement to me on time and thankfully it wasn't damaged. The fretwork is much cleaner on this one as well, no sharp fret ends protruding from the neck. I did have to re-set the bridge but the intonation was close enough and the action is fine for me.
Since I've not owned a guitar of this type, I can't rate it with the amount of confidence and experience I could with other guitar types that I've owned and currently own. Be as it may, I am happy with this guitar. It sustains very well given it's bridge set up, and while it's inherently bright given it's hotter pickups and again, the bridge set up, I can still get a smooth overdriven tone or a nice, glassy clean tone with this guitar. I do notice that the pickups get muddy with carelessly set distorted tones though. I might, MIGHT replace the pickups with something different once I get more exposure to active pups, but I am in no hurry to do so; These pickups are fine for the price of this guitar.
So I finally got a guitar that has the hardware and looks I wanted, at a price I find reasonable. Is it perfect? Nope. Will it compete against a higher end Jackson? (which I think is a better comparison that a standard Strat) Eh, it'll keep up, but the more expensive Jackson will be nicer. Is it worth the price tag? I think so. Could it be improved? Sure, anything can.
Bottom line, if your wants and tastes are similar to mine, in that you want a guitar that isn't all dark and goth-y, has a more substantial neck, but still features active pickups and a double locking tremolo bridge, this is an excellent choice.
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Review for Squier Contemporary Active HH Stratocaster in Olympic White
I bought the Olympic White version of the Contemporary Active HH Stratocaster, which apparently isn't available anymore. I've been playing guitar - poorly - since 1978. This is not my first Stratocaster, but it is my first guitar with active pickups, my first guitar with a Floyd Rose, and also my first Squier. FWIW, I paid $245 for it new, in-box, shipped to my house.I have been brandwashed against "cheapo squires" for years, but I have noticed the quality of some of these guitars making great strides lately. When I saw these in 2018, I wanted one. I love the body-colored matching headstocks, and I especially love the reverse headstock on the Actives. I don't have a lot of experience with active pickups, but I LOVE these Squier branded actives. They sound sooooo good. I also love the black-chrome hardware. The overall aesthetics of this guitar is dead-sexy. I am replacing the black pickguard with a 3-ply mint-green to give it a more authentic, vintage vibe. I'm also moving the master volume down about an inch and a half, and putting a killswitch in the existing volume hole. Otherwise the hardware and electronics are so good that they are all staying as-is.If you're looking for a high-quality guitar with active humbuckers, or a floyd-rose platform to build your dream guitar on, I cannot recommend this guitar highly enough. Fender owned Chravel makes one much like this, but it starts at around $850. You just cannot beat these Squier Contemporaries!!!
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- A W.Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 12, 2019
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宇佐見 知哉Reviewed in Japan on April 28, 2020
値段相応のよいギター
ステイホーム用に購入しました。ハムバッカーを積んだテレキャスターがよいと思い、その中で値段が手頃なのでこれに決定。良い点は注文から届くまで早かったのと、塗装がきれいで傷もなく、外見はまったく問題ないところです。そして、フロントのピックアップはなかなかリッチな音がします。トーンを絞るとジャズなんかに使えそうです。良くなかった点はネックの角の仕上げが甘かったところです。少し弾きづらいと感じる方もいるかもしれません(自分はヤスリで少し削りました)。ナットも角が少しとがってました(これも削りました)。音程に影響があるかもしれません。あと、リアピックアップの音質が物足りない(歪ませてギリギリ使えるか、という程度。クリーントーンは実用には厳しめ。交換を推奨します)かな、という3点です。いずれもこの価格帯なら仕方がないかもしれません。値段相応のよいギター宇佐見 知哉
Reviewed in Japan on April 28, 2020
全体的に見れば値段相応のよいギターだと思います。塗装の仕上がりはきれいですし、スイッチやノブの接触不良などはありません。初心者から、中上級者の2本目や改造のベースまで幅広くおすすめできるギターだと思います。
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