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Squier 51 Electric Guitar

 

Review of the Squier 51 by The Man in the Jar  

Anyone with a passing knowledge of Fender guitar history will recognise this as a mix-n-match design from the Fender vaults. The big surprise is how versatile this instrument is for its tiny price tag.

Features of the Squier 51 Electric Guitar

Tuners - Sealed mini-tuners that do a good job.

Headstock - The first victim of the Frankenstein-zombie-guitar-maker was obviously a Telecaster. The Telecaster's severed head and neck were carefully preserved for the 51 project...

Nut - Set-in-slot type made from white plastic and tidily finished. 

Neck - Good C-profile maple Telecaster-style neck complete with a rosewood skunk stripe on the back. The matte polyurethane finish gives the neck a nice dry feel under the hand. 

Fretboard - This is actually a glued on maple board, although it's very difficult to see the join. Black traditional dot markers complete the picture.

Frets - Medium rounded frets with a slightly high profile.

Action - Low and playable straight from the box, this guitar will pose no obstacle to a beginner's vital seminal progress.

Body - The Mad Doctor's next victim was a Stratocaster. The basswood body shares the shape and contours if not quite the thickness of a Strat. The two-tone sunburst suits the design very well. 

Bridge - Economical rectangular top-loader with six individual saddles. Each saddle has two screws for height and one for length. 

Pickups - One open-coil humbucker at the bridge which has a coil-tap and one Strat-type single coil close to the neck.

Controls - The controls have the look of a chopped Telecaster control panel so I naturally expected a volume and a tone control.  Not so!  The chrome panel actually holds a volume control and a three-way rotary pickup selector to give neck only, bridge only or both together. Pulling the volume control up taps the humbucker to make it a single coil.  

Pickguard - This is very reminiscent of the early Telecaster bass pickguard (Frankenstein strikes again!). The sparse vintage vibe is reinforced by the single-ply white plastic used for the guard.  

Strap-buttons - Medium size strap buttons, one on the upper horn and one on the bottom edge of the body.

Output Jack - On lower edge in oval plate.

Finish - I honestly could find nothing to complain about, which is remarkable on an Indonesian guitar of this price.

 

Sound of the Squier 51

On a guitar at this price point you'd be foolish to expect top-of-the-range pickups. What sets the 51 ahead of its competitors is the number of tone options presented with the one humbucker and one single coil format. The humbucker has a brash edge to its tone with enough output to overdrive nicely while retaining good high-end response. Tapping the humbucker mellows out the sound nicely.

The neck pickup delivers a hybrid middle tonality not dissimilar to the neck and middle pickups played together on a Strat-style guitar of this price range. The combination of the 51's pickups gives a surprisingly full tone which can be separated nicely by tapping the humbucker.  

 

Overall Impressions of the Squier 51

This is a great starting guitar, eminently playable with a wide tonal palette. The endearing vintage design sets it apart from the cheap Stratocaster wannabe models that starting to make their way onto every high street. I can even see someone starting with the 51 and then, in a year or two, upgrading the pickups instead of buying a second guitar. So, if your child wants a electric guitar for Christmas, the answer's simple, buy them one of these. 

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