squier sonic stratocaster acquired, i'm home again

Out with the Squier Affinity Telecaster, in with the Squier Sonic Stratocaster. Yep. You can see me play and talk about it if you like.

This is one of those "why didn't I do this sooner" maneuvers, or so I thought.

The reality is that right now was the right time to get this guitar. It was time to go home again, so to speak.

There's the saying you can never go home again, but that's not always true. In some cases, time needs to pass before you can make your return home and truly enjoy it for what it is.

Such is the case with the Sonic Strat.

As I just said recently, I'm really jaded when it comes to guitars these days, and screw it, I'm fine with what I have.

But then the Sonic Strat went on sale with a rather sizable discount. Ah.

A voice in my head said, "It's time for that Tele to go. Trade it out and get that Strat. Trust me."

I didn't argue with myself on this one. While the Affinity Tele I had was perfectly fine and had nothing wrong with it, it was time to part ways with that guitar. I packed it in a spare gig bag I had, and off to the guitar store I went.

Tried out the Sonic Strat at the store. It felt good, sounded right, felt right. Bought it.

Before de-stickering it, I made a video first, posted that, then proceeded with the setup. For me, this was stupidly easy. I had everything done in about a half-hour. Neck adjusted, bridge saddles adjusted, a few other little odds and ends, new strings installed, done.

The price of a Sonic was also real nice, especially with the discount.

It's all about the formula

This Sonic is that very specific Squier formula for a Strat that I am intimately familiar with. Slim profile Strat body, 6-screw bridge with short/skinny block and block string saddles, bright ceramic magnet pickups, 21-fret neck. This guitar is home to me. I know this.

Squier has had this style of guitar in their lineup for almost 40 years. The first true "value" Squier Strats were made when Fender moved Squier production out of Japan and to Korea and Indonesia in 1987.

It just happened to be that my very first electric guitar (which I still own) is a 1989 Squier II Stratocaster, manufactured by Samick out of Korea. A "first generation value Strat", if you will.

When guitar snobs talk about "good" Squier Strats, what they're referring to is the Japanese made stuff prior to 1987. That's not home for me. Home is what came after '87. Before Classic Vibe series, before Vintage Modified series, and even before Affinity series.

In '89, for Strats there was Squier Standard and Squier II Standard. That's it. There were two because two separate manufacturers were being used at the time. The H.M. ("Heavy Metal") I and II and Contemporary were also made that year, but do not count because neither follow that bog standard Squier Strat formula. It's the Standards that matter.

Over the years, this bog standard Squier Strat has changed model names, manufacturers, body woods, fretboard woods and so on, but the formula has stayed the same.

Right now, this formula is applied to the Sonic model. Mine is an Indonesia build. Prior to this, I had one when it was called a Bullet Strat, made from 2007-2012. Mine was a 2010, and that was a China build.

I'm not a Fender guy because I can't be

Fender makes no Stratocaster guitar right now that has the Strat formula I'm looking for. I've gone through their entire catalog, which includes the Artist models, and not a single one suits. If it's not those crappy bent steel saddles, it's the pickups or some other wacky electronics. If it's not the pickups or wacky electronics, it's the 22-fret neck. If it's not the 22-fret neck, the neck has some weirdo shape. If not the weird neck shape, it's the tuners used. If it's not the tuners, it's that crappy 2-point bridge. It's always something. I can't even use their "Mod Shop" to craft the custom build I want. Not possible.

What would work is what Fender used to make from 1998-2005, the Fender Standard Stratocaster, as in the Mexico build. In fact, I'm genuinely surprised Fender does not offer a a Strat in that spec, silver "transition" logo and all. Nostalgia sells, and it's weird they don't jump on that.

The only thing I ever remember people complaining about with that MIM Fender Strat is that it was The Most Boringest Fender. True? Yes, but that's what made it great. Just a bog standard Strat with ceramic magnet pickups. Absolutely nothing special about it, but wow, did it work well. Fender made a million of those Brown Sunburst MIM Strats. Probably literally. That is the ultimate comfort food Strat if there ever was one, and it was good. After a string saddle change from bent steel to block, that is.

Well, Fender doesn't make a Strat in that '90s design, and won't. Even if I wanted to be a Fender guy, Fender simply doesn't do anything '90s. Oh, they have every other decade covered, true enough. But '90s? Nope. They ignore that one and ignore it hard.

Then there's Squier that had exactly the Strat I wanted, in that same formula from the late '80s/early '90s, in a great color as I got mine in Surf Green. And it just happened to be the Sonic, one of their lowest priced models.

Again, this guitar is home to me.

However...

The entire reason I said right now was the right time to get this guitar (other than the fact it was on sale) is that Sonic models from a year or so ago truly sucked. I had tried one prior. The tuners were total garbage, everything felt wrong, and it sounded terrible.

Fortunately, that's now changed. What's being made now gets the low tier Squier Strat formula right.

I'm not saying the Sonic uses top tier stuff, because it certainly doesn't. But at the same time, there's nothing about it that screams cheap-and-bad. Now it's cheap-and-good, like it's supposed to be.

Will I ever go Tele again? Or Jazzmaster? Or something else?

Certainly not right now.

I'm genuinely surprised that I don't miss the Tele at all. Again, what I had was good with nothing wrong going on. Heck, even the sales guy who took in the trade said, "Wow, this Tele is set up real nice." Yeah, I've become good at setups over the years. Even so, that wasn't enough to keep me in Tele-land.

It's too early to say for sure, but at this point I might be totally okay sticking with the Strats in my preferred formula that Squier does best. I might even get one of those MIM Fenders later like I mentioned a minute ago, as it only takes a swap of string saddles to give it that Squier formula I like. I'd also wire in tone control to the bridge-only pickup setting. The Sonic thankfully already has that wired in, but I'd do the same on the MIM Fender Standard just because I like having it.

I'm also not opposed to trying a Jazzmaster again in the future, but that might be a chase after a dead unicorn. My first Jazzmaster, a Squier Vintage Modified, was amazing. I wore out the neck from playing it so much. I had 4 other Jazzmasters after that, with one being a Fender, and none had the magic the first one did. Trying to get another that has the magic of that first one might be a fool's errand.

For now, I'm happily at home with the bog standard Squier Strat in Sonic flavor. I didn't expect to get this guitar at all, but I'm very glad to have it.

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