Squier Bullet Mustang HH IMPBL

I ordered this guitar to use it mainly for Punk Rock and it seemed to be a good option that is very cheap. I was reluctant to buy a Squier, since my first electric guitar I bought 20 years ago is a Squier affinity Strat that I never liked...but I have to say Squier made huge improvement on their guitars. Intonation was perfect, neck was set up, holds tune very well (too my big surprise) even with the factory strings (9's) after playing a little. However some features feel really cheap, you know you only paid 122 euros when you wanna switch pickups...that switch is a joke I'm afraid to break it everytime I use it. Same for the tuners, when I changed the strings 3 of them were loose as hell. But I really love the sound of that guitar, it feels so easy to play (coming from a Tele) and it's SO LIGHT ! some fret ends are a little bit too sharp for my likings but for that price what could I expect. At least they don't hurt or cut, it's just not the perfect confort, but the neck feels OK in the end. I replaced the strings with Earnie Ball cobalts 10-52 and wow It's a rock machine (what were they thinking putting 9's on a shortscale?) I fell in love with the sound of those humbuckers which are absolutely perfect for Punk, Grunge and Alternative Rock.

I absolutely loved this guitar. I already have a 94 strat which I bought at that time to make sure I couldn't blame the guitar if I couldnt play properly. FF 30 years and it has mostly been neglected. Cut to the chase, after struggling to improve with my short fingers, I did some reading about best guitars for small hands and settled on this. It arrived and I found it a little toy like but there was no doubt that the neck was way smaller at the nut and I could stretch far easier on the shorter scale but I wondered if it was another buying mistake. 2 days later I plugged it in and it was a revelation, it sounds awesome, I couldnt stop playing it ( badly). Ive completely bonded with it and havent stopped picking it up to play for the last 7 days. It just sounds like what I always wanted to hear, and my hands feel so much more in control. Its not a total solution for small hands, but I feel I can put the effort in for the uncomfortable stretches. Quality seems fine, no its not my strat quality and you can tell somehow but it feels fab,looks fab, it sounds fab and when I pick it up it makes me smile. I had expected to be wishing I'd paid more but Im totally happy with it and would only change something on it if it broke.

Edited: 1 week after writing this I noticed that I was having trouble with chords in on the 1st Fret and realised the setup it came with was really bad, the action was really high, the intonation all wrong and the saddle was all loose and buzzy. Every fingered chord in position 1 was out of tune so I spent some time fixing this and its much better but it shouldnt have arrived like that. I also noticed that one of the mother of pearl dots was faulty, sunk in about 1mm but decided to be pragmatic and not complain. Unfortunately it fell off its stand a few days later and though the fall was really gentle, the strings cut into the frets and rendered it useless without a repair. 2 frets have deep grooves cut into them on 2 strings so its unplayable now. Ive never seen that happen before so I wonder of the quality of the fret material. I will buy a replacement but its a bit upsetting and disappointing.

I haven't bought an electric guitar in about 20 years.

While I don't gig anymore, my acoustic just wasn't scratching that electric itch. With a number of other financial commitments, I don't have a lot of cash to splash on fancy gear.

When I saw I could pick up a Fender at this price, I impulsed bought. Sure, the pickups might not deliver the clearest sound, doesn't hold its tuning too long and maybe the neck might feel like fake wood.

At this price, who cares? It plays well, has lovely action, compact frets force the player to focus on accuracy and it actually does have a decent ring and sustain. Selecting neck humbucker gives decent crunch for fans of Kurt Cobain / Jay Mascis sound and both humbuckers active does give a nice John Frusciante feel.

If like me, you just wanted an electric guitar to goof around on, I highly recommend. It is a fun guitar to play.