I used to subscribe to the theory that Fender guitars are just bolted together collections of hardware and wood. The theory suggests that you can, if you're lucky, find a cheaper series Fender that happened to go through the line on a day when they were out of the really lousy wood. Play a million cheap strats, the theory goes, and you can find a diamond in the rough.
I have an 80s Japanese Strat - which at the time was thought of as a 'lesser' model than its US contemporaries, but which is now acknowledged to be as good or better.
There are a bunch of web sites like this one devoted to Japanese Fenders:
Japanese Fender Site
Some of the first Squiers were made in Japan, and actually turned out to be amazingly well put together Strats.
Tribute site to early Squiers
I have a Squier Venus that is truly a wonderful instrument - despite being associated with Courtney Love.
Unfortunately, this theory doesn't hold true anymore, as the woods and hardware that separate the cheaper lines from the higher end guitars are now worlds apart. Today, "top tier" Strat production happens in the US, "second tier" in Japan and "third tier" in Mexico. Most Suqiers are built somewhere horrible in Indonesia.
About a year ago (while still subscribing to this theory), I was looking for an inexpensive guitar to keep in a hotel that I commonly frequent in Kansas City. I bought a Squier strat on sale at the local Guitar Center ($99) thinking "how bad can it be? surely i can sort it out.". It turned out to be worse than I could have imagined. The tuners wouldn't hold tune, the neck angle was skewed both back and sideways, the frets felt like electrical wire. No amount of work on my part could put it right..
So, back to the Guitar Center I went and "traded" it up for a "New Standard Strat".
New Standard Strat
These come with the "Fender" label, are MiM (made in mexico) and are sell at the Guitar Centers of the world for $399 or so. I found a slightly used one, and after the requisite amount of haggling ended up getting a case thrown in for $369. This was well worth the difference, and was (with some twiddling) able to be made playable.
Then GC sent me a "20% of of any item after you make your best deal" coupon for being such a good customer, and I used it to trade up to an American Deluxe V-neck strat:
Deluxe V-Neck Stratocaster
It's worth noting that even in this price range - over $1500 list - I still found defects in three examples before settling on the fourth. This is, by the way, a wonderful guitar. Unfortunately, I had traded my way up to a guitar that was much too nice to leave in the hotel - completely defeating the purpose of my original purchase. The Strat Deluxe went home to my studio, and on my next trip to Kansas City, I went back to the GC to find a guitar that would both be good enough to play, but inexpensive enough that I'd not cry if someone dropped or stole it from the hotel between visits.
Having had my fill of Fender fun, I started looking through the unloved used stuff at the end of the wall. I ended up finding an unloved Schcter C-1 Classic in "Trans Blue":
Schecter C-1 Classic in Blue
This guitar retailed at $999. GC commonly sold them for $699, but this particular example had probably been dropped from a tall peg in the store onto a hard corner somewhere. There was a ding in the bottom that looked like someone had sliced into the body about 2 inches with a reciprocating saw. Also, I'm not really in the Schecter demographic (mostly metal-heads, etc.) Still, this was on sale for $299, and for that money, was really well put together. For the last year or so, it's been in that hotel - I played it as recently as last week. I'm thrilled about the purchase. It stays in tune, feels solid, and makes a decent recording guitar for my portable rig.
As an aside, "Schecter" started out as a Texas-based manufacturer of high quality Fender replacement parts. In the late 80s, they manufactured a number of Strats and Teles put together with their parts that were better than any contemporary Fender. Unfortunately, I believe that company ended in bankruptcy and the current "Schecter" is really a new company that happened to buy the name. I'm always on the lookout for an 80s, Texas-made Schecter Strat.
The moral of this long story is that you can find a well-put-together guitar from a number of manufacturers, but the quality of anything modern will vary greatly from example to example. Your best bet is to go to the guitar store with a friend who knows something about guitar repair and setup, and have him play and examine multiple guitars before making a decision. NEVER be tempted to mail-order. Always look for used guitars first, and keep a special eye open for guitars with unpopular or dated colors and designs - these will sell for less.
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