The one-year-on update. I like this guitar.
It's weird, functional, tidy, and simply works. Trem works great, sustains like mad and love to take a beating. Granted, a irksome buzz stop on the 9th fret of the 3rd string slowly moved to the 10th fret and now is hard to get a clean tone out of (need a good dressing/planing job) after the 3rd month or so, but it's something that can be worked out. It's also the heaviest solid body I own but I'm not playing out with it, and the only other quirk is how
thick but fragile the finish on this generation of Squiers are, as areas surrounding screw holes and strap pin spots have bypassed simply cracking, and instead all-out crumbled off with little effort...revealing a glossy undercoat covering the body wood. Not bothered that much by it, but it seems to be certainly a different formula of paint from other Squiers of the past.
The GFS tort pickguard I had matched has been getting uglier by the day, so after several months of having the pasty white one facing South on our veranda window, it's yellowed into a nicely creamy parchment almost identical to the stock guard, as shots of the GFS white guard show from both sides:
Tint is not that noticeable under fluorescent lighting, but subtle with natural lighting
Now for the juicy bits: The addition of a jangley TV Jones Magnatron and a Varitone rotary 5-way in place of kill switch (relocated a bit more relative to the lower horn) have turned this thing into a wonderful utility tool for me. Cleans and crunchies are so much more useful than ever in the bridge, and the sheer range of wacky timbres I can get with the some of the brighter shades of the varitone while the pickups are out of phase ensures that there's ne'er a dull moment. This thing is good fun.
Sound Director & Composer at Sangwha / General Manager at Moollon Guitars. https://soundcloud.com/andi-roselund