Squiers suck? Randy Hansen doesn't think so.
James W. Anable, Jr.
original plexi Marshall, the narrow angled Marshall ten's cabinet
(miked), two 4x12 Musiclords, lots of pedals and effects (sometimes too
many, IMHO) and a SQUIER strat (white, maple neck, whammy bar, appeared
total stock).
I've read so many questions about "how to you make a Squier sound good",
"Squiers suck"... Randy made this guitar SING. (It looked like he was
using fairly light gauge strings, also.) It just goes to show you that
most of the sound is in the FINGERS and that a good player can make a
"POS" sound better than you would think. I will say that the guitar
seemed noisy and some of the feedback was particularly NASTY sounding,
nothing like my vintage strat gives.
I didn't get a chance to talk with him, but if he didn't like it, he'd
be using something else. I don't think that it's a sponsorship thing,
because he also played some unknown (to me, at least) copy with a script
name starting with an "M". It had a strange grain pattern that didn't
look like alder to me (not oak or ash, maybe poplar?).
His tone was killer (vintage Marshall), but I'm still wondering why the
Squier, and would he sound better on a 60's Strat like Jimi used, even a
left hand model upside down to get the pickup position right.
Randy really seemed to enjoy his performance. Lots of teeth playing,
using a beer bottle for slide while drinking beer out of it, playing
behind the back and neck, standing on tables... His first couple of
songs were okay, once he settled in he was amazing. It would be hard to
fool a real Hendrix fan (he sometimes overdoes the Hendrix antics and
tosses to many tricks and effects into each song, and as good as Randy
is, there is a certain feeling missing), but he was DAMN GOOD and I
didn't hear many limitations from the Squier.
Jonny Durango
yes, squiers do suck, but you can make them sound good. The reason they suck is
not because they sound bad...they sound very good, mostly for the fact that
it's hard to make a strat sound bad. this is because IMHO the body does not
matter, type of wood, grain of wood, how many piece of wood, resonance...none
of that matters because the pickups never come in direct contact with the body
on vintage style strats (and most of us will agree, vintage strats sound the
best)...the neck is another story, but still doens't make a huge difference in
sound unless yer a purist...so for this reason, squiers sound pretty good
(ESPECIALLY through a plexi!!)
here is why they suck: because of the reason that they can get away with using
cheap bodies and cheap necks and cheap electronics and cheap construction, the
guitar itself is not built with the quality most fender guitars demand. sure it
will sound fine, except for a lil extra feedback due to cheap electronics, but
it's made very cheaply and for that reason it will not play as well, the action
will be slower, the electronics will fail in short time, the bridge will fall
apart, the nut will break, the tuners will go out of tune and malfunction, the
tremolo will knock the guitar out of tune, the knobs will come loose and
probably fall off and start making scratchy noises, the switch will get
loose...and many of these things will in time contribute to the overall sound
of the guitar, it will get more static and feedback and start cutting out...and
that's my big rambling essay on why squiers suck! =)
Jonny D
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Jonny Durango
i think i should also mention that randy hansen is a badass.
i once had to do a gig that i was not prepared for at all, we were asked to
play sum jimi hendrix covers and i could not for the life of me remember all
the lyrics or solos and missed sum of the choruses...so, just my luck, randy
hansen shows up and i completely slaughter wind cries mary...i repeated the
first verse through the whole song, screwed up on the damn chrous, had to
re-learn it halfway through the song, did a shitty solo off key...ugh, it was
terrible, i didn't even have the guts to talk to randy after that
"performance", haha =)
Daniel S. Baker
companies over the years. In the early '80s, the Matsu(something) company,
which was also making Ibanezes, was tooled up (using some original Fender
equipment, as I understand), to make Fenders. If you can't beat 'em, join
'em, I guess. These early Squiers are fantastic guitars, and for all the
world feel and sound like an old Strat should. I have old ones, American
reissues, and two Custom Shopsl, but my old Squier Strat, I must admit, is
my desert island axe. I think another company took over production in Japan,
and later production moved to Korea. These are the ones you will see in
stores now, and they kinda suck.
James W. Anable, Jr. <ana...@halcyon.com> wrote in message
news:385483B5...@halcyon.com...
jeff
<ana...@halcyon.com> wrote:
>I saw Randy Hansen play last night.
What's he doing these days? He stopped coming around after that
`live' album.
>I've read so many questions about "how to you make a Squier sound good",
>"Squiers suck"...
Everyone here is an expert. Didn't you know that? :)
I have a Pro-Tone Squier. I bought it because it felt better than any
other model I could have gotten (lefty). It's light as hell, feels
comfortable to play, stays in tune, has no major flaws, and after
replacing the pickups, sounds good. Not as good as my 70's Strats,
(not as heavy either) but good.
>Randy made this guitar SING. (It looked like he was
>using fairly light gauge strings, also.) It just goes to show you that
>most of the sound is in the FINGERS and that a good player can make a
>"POS" sound better than you would think.
Playing aside, a good amp and other toys can also help :)
A tiesco will probably sound good through a plexi too :)
LJ
Strat. But, guitars can be good or bad no matter what brand. I played a
Korean Strat that was as good as a good Japanese one. Most likely there is
one or two, out of every hundred that is pretty good, and I just happened to
play one of them.
The difference in prices seems to reflect the level of the quality
control and adherance to closer manufacturing tolerances. A "factory"
employs many workers, some good, some not so good. The better factories
have higher standards, therefore less variation amongst their products. On
some days, all the guitars may come out as crappy guitars, and on others
maybe not, in a factory with low standards for it's employee qualifications.
Jonny Durango <skro...@aol.comMiT-mEE> wrote in message
news:19991213075830...@ng-cg1.aol.com...
> >I saw Randy Hansen play last night.
>
James W. Anable, Jr.
> On Sun, 12 Dec 1999 21:27:18 -0800, "James W. Anable, Jr."
> <ana...@halcyon.com> wrote:
>
> >I saw Randy Hansen play last night.
>
> What's he doing these days? He stopped coming around after that
> `live' album.
Check out http://www.randyhansen.com . He's been playing Europe.
Richard Dickerson
on his first couple of albums. He had replaced the pickups but the brand
slips my mind. (I remember them being Canadian made, and they were red)
He also used Marshalls and stompboxes, so maybe that's the ticket!
James Leung
US or made in Japan Squiers. However since the production moved to Korea,
China and recently even Indonesia, the quality of Squier plunged!
Shadrahk
zo...@cusave.com
>>"Squiers suck"... Randy made this guitar SING.
>
>yes, squiers do suck, but you can make them sound good. The reason they suck is
>not because they sound bad...they sound very good, mostly for the fact that
>it's hard to make a strat sound bad. this is because IMHO the body does not
>matter, type of wood, grain of wood, how many piece of wood, resonance...none
>of that matters because the pickups never come in direct contact with the body
>on vintage style strats (and most of us will agree, vintage strats sound the
>best)...the neck is another story, but still doens't make a huge difference in
>sound unless yer a purist...so for this reason, squiers sound pretty good
>(ESPECIALLY through a plexi!!)
>
>here is why they suck: because of the reason that they can get away with using
>cheap bodies and cheap necks and cheap electronics and cheap construction, the
>guitar itself is not built with the quality most fender guitars demand. sure it
>will sound fine, except for a lil extra feedback due to cheap electronics, but
>it's made very cheaply and for that reason it will not play as well, the action
>will be slower, the electronics will fail in short time, the bridge will fall
>apart, the nut will break, the tuners will go out of tune and malfunction, the
>tremolo will knock the guitar out of tune, the knobs will come loose and
>probably fall off and start making scratchy noises, the switch will get
>loose...and many of these things will in time contribute to the overall sound
>of the guitar, it will get more static and feedback and start cutting out...and
>that's my big rambling essay on why squiers suck! =)
>
>Jonny D
>- Vigilante Superhero
>- Leave.A...@thebeep.8m.com
>- Visit AHM @ Irc.Asylumnet.Org in #Hackers_Malicious
>- Jack be nimble, Jack be quick, Fuck Yo0 JacK, i bEE a LuNatic<a
>href=Why.AOL?.Cuz.the.feds.never.suspect.an.innocent.AOL'er>!</a>
I've had my Squier for about a year now. The more I play it, set it
up, adjust, and use it, without having had any problems at all, the
more I like it.
MstrCREED
>
Thanks for the link, I'm going to have to check that out.
Did a search at www.cdnow.com the other day...of course, you know what you get
when you do a search on "Randy Hansen" dontcha. :(
A question for any Hansen fans out there. Is Randy Hansen the same guy from the
band "Hansen's Magic Dragon" (remember them?)
BRY
Namewas1
color) with maple fingerboard and actually prefferred it over the Fender
Standard Strat. They both "felt" the same, so I didnt see a reason to fork
over and extra $200.00. I am in the process of changing pickups in it anyways
so not much difference other than electronics.