Confused b/w Squier CV Strat and Fender Standard Strat MIM

Hey Guys,

I have been playing acoustic for quite some time now and want to switch over to electric finally, After a lot of research and playing at the stores, I have nailed down my choices to these two models based on the guitar shape I prefer and my type of music (Classic Rock n Blues)

1. Squier CV 60's Strat (28k)
2. Fender Standard Strat MIM (36.5k)

Moreover even for the Amplifier there are two choices as below:

1. Fender Mustang 2
2. Vox VT20+

Can't decide if I should go with a Squier CV which is cheaper than MIM standard and also bang for buck, with better pickups (Alnico5's) than the standard, other plastic stuff life pots, switches nd Tuners can be upgraded for the price of the MIM strat.

Or go with the other option of getting a Fender on the Headstock?

Please Suggest !! n yes also for the Amp, between Fender giving a 12" speaker and Vox giving the sound of a Tube Amp; which one should I pick?

 

The CV is a very nice guitar... and also better or at par with the MIM fender... Chuck the headstock is you want bang for buck guitar...

 

First off, Fender guitars sold in India are really B Grade, Honestly.....I recently played a fender when I was trying out the amp i bought, and must say that the ones available here are crap shit......and the price is too high to be worthy.....

Fender Logo today is just a name really, other than their custom guitars, the other guitars are really not worth it, atleast in India.
Priced too high to be true and worthy......

However the Squier guitars are good, especially the CV, I agree with Ricky on his point.....Don't care about the MIM, just get a Squier CV, Those are really nice guitars, I would also suggest trying out Ehsaan Noorani's Squier too, it is based on the Squier CV, so you get HB pickups in the Bridge position, though those pickups are weak but i think you already have thought of swapping the stock pickups.....

Here is a review that i wrote about the Ehsaan Noorani Start a while back
https://indianguitartabs.com/f18/*****-ehsaan-noorani-signature-strat-review-******-51504.html

May i also suggest trying out the Vintage V6 guitar? It will cost much less and you get a really nice guitar too, Check youtube and google for the reviews, these are really decent guitars for the price.

Guitar Store India. ***Vintage V6 (Selector)

For the last suggestion, please do try and check out for G&L guitars, they make awesome Strats too for a really low price, and a bit of Trivia, G&L stands for George Fullerton & Leo Fender (The man behind fender) after he sold Fender he started G&L Guitars....The designs and the quality of their guitars are really nice.....Check the reviews, Go for the G&L Legacy Tribute Series.....I think costs about 26k or so...

Now for the amps, What kind of music do you play? I had a VOX AD15VT, but unsure if thats how the VT20+ sounds too.

I am not a fan of Modelling amps, however i would rather say if you still have to go for a modelling amp, go for the Peavey Vypyr....I think it is much better than the Vox, Not sure about the Mustang though...

Hope this helps....

 

Cool..Definitely got to check out the G&L then. Seriously i am kind of tired of these big names and costs...American made Fenders and all that crap....

Just sold my American strat out of this frustration. Bloody MIM strats are equally good and highly underrated. U just got to find a right guitar from it....

 

So finally back huh. Anything new?

 

Nope no dude...Didnt get anything. American Fender was for around 980Euros at paris and even more at Amsterdam..And local European brands were just not worth for the price...There were good deals in Acoustics but i didnt want one...So came home empty handed but with lot of good memories of the place

 

This weekend may be the D day for my first Axe.!!

 

Where to get G&L's at South India?, and Kishore what you choose?

 

Will let you all know by this or next weekend surely..

 

Can Anyone tell me if someone had bought a MIM strat recently, what's the best price they have paid for it?

Just wanted to know what should be a decent price for an MIM and a CV60's?

 

I haven't bought one, but i think it retails for about 39k+, however i feel the MIM's available in India are really crap, at least i can say for the ones i have tried at furtados (An year back or so) and at OnStage, the hardware felt flimsy, knobs, switches etc felt like total junk, A Sincere suggestion, Please DO NOT buy an MIM or a Squier without trying and checking everything thoroughly, check for the frets, smoothness, neck, hardware, switches, tuners etc etc, some are real crap and you may not want to regret after buying one, a Strat in general requires good amount of upgrade and right out of the box setup by a guitar tech to get going......

Pickups etc may be upgraded later but the setup that some strats have is awful.......

Even the CV strat must be looked at real thoroughly before you go for it, there is nothing in the fender name, atleast in India, as people will come down and low ball you when you plan on selling one, so it holds no value, atleast in my opinion.....

But if you want one to keep for life, then you may be better off waiting and getting a Highway One or a Classic Strat, those are much better than the MIM's and definitely better than Squier'.....Give it a good thought.....I am not trying to dampen your guitar excitement, but be careful is what i mean....

Also try to get your hands on a Vintage V6 that i had mentioned earlier too, who knows you may like it more than the Fender.....

 

No Budget for the American Standard or highway one..!! aren't the highway one discontinued?

 

QUOTE=saurabh.kishore;452418]No Budget for the American Standard or highway one..!! aren't the highway one discontinued?[/QUOTE]

Highway one's are still available in India, But priced pretty high, if American Fenders, are out of Budget, the best bet is to check out the squier, MIM, G&L or the Vintage V6's......thats all i can say

 

I played my friend's for sometime... he got it from US.. used for 300$.. :

 

MIM strats are great. I had bought one USED recently for 25K..It was a Delux series strat which is going on for around 45K in India. Its worth only if u buy a used one.

Go for a CV60 if you are tight on budget. Its best for the price. Definitely the parts used on the CV are of lower quality as compared to MIM but not bad and all those can be REPLACED..So dont worry..Either go for a used MIM or else a new CV60...

CV's neck is slimmer than MIMs. So choose accordingly....

 

EVL Z6 huh, nice choice(and radical one)

 

The part in bold is incorrect, the ones on the MIM strats happen to be the good ones, but neither are worth keeping. The part underlined is well, they come with alpha pots, no need to change them out unless you are going for a different value pot or the stock one is inherently scratchy. Locking tuners will be an upgrade.

Be sure to take someone along with you that can check for important stuff beyond just looking for a scratch in the guitar finish. The quality control on either of those two is shaky at best.

Those amps are fine, pick the one that sounds good to you. Neither of those deliver a tube amp tone but they are good sounding none the less.

 

I have made my choice as the Fender MIM Strat.

For the AMP also I am going for the Mustang instead of VOX because of the FUSE software and also it sounded much better to my ears at-least.

Will be buying it soon and posting pictures.

 

Great, I am sure you would like it, but a sincere suggestion, pls DO NOT buy one until you try it out to your satisfaction....Try as many as you want.....I know color and the finish of a guitar is important to many, but the most important factor should be to ensure that the guitar plays and feels well...

 

Saurabh - This should be your ultimate guide and for others too, in deciding which Fender/Squier to go for and the differences....A really detailed and well explained demo of the Strat type guitars

Stratocaster -- Squier vs Fender vs Custom Shop - YouTube