experiment idea.

[FightingPlankton]

So they've done all kinds of experiments like putting cheap wine in an expensive bottle and test subjects said it tasted better than the same wine in its original bottle.
Here's what I want to try.
We all know someone who has refinished a squier strat and put a Fender waterslide decal on. I want to know how unknowing players would feel if they put a squier logo on a Fender custom shop model.
I mean I'd like to think I would say "wow this plays really nice for a squier." But I'm willing to bet others would go, "yeh, its OK, but nowhere near as good as MY american fender."...

[FightingPlankton]

I mean, they'd only have to do it once and not tell anyone the truth and the "squier stigma" would go away.
But fender wouldn't do that because then no one would buy the higher priced models.

[andy_tchp]

I mean, they'd only have to do it once and not tell anyone the truth and the "squier stigma" would go away.

No, it wouldn't. Some of the output from Squier is absolute garbage.

But fender wouldn't do that because then no one would buy the higher priced models.

I would.

Aside from the quality issues, I don't want to support Cort/Cor-Tek's (who make the cheapest bottom of the barrel crap for Squier) business practices.

[empyrean]

There's those Anderton's videos where they get blindfolded and try to pick out the custom shop fenders, USA's and squiers from each other. I think for the teles they peg a squier classic vibe for a custom shop, or vice versa.

[mekhem]

I suspect that might be easy for a player to figure out. The feel of an average FCS model compared to other Fender or Squire models would be obvious. Neck finish, fretwork, and body cuts would be the obvious tells.

Where it would get difficult would be a comparo of the FCS models to a higher end AV line or the ThinSkin series. In many cases that might be a push...

[soggy mittens]

so many variables, I've picked up fenders and thought wow this is so much nicer than my squier version, then other times been like, is this really a fender? Much more the look and feel over the sound, with upgraded pickups/pots it can be impossible to hear a difference. Tis why I love squier, I'd rather have several modified squiers instead of one fender.

[PixMix]

so many variables, I've picked up fenders and thought wow this is so much nicer than my squier version, then other times been like, is this really a fender? Much more the look and feel over the sound, with upgraded pickups/pots it can be impossible to hear a difference. Tis why I love squier, I'd rather have several modified squiers instead of one fender.

This has been my experience too. I have owned or played high end Fenders that were absolutely wonderful and inspiring to just handle, and ones that just don't do it. Same with Squier, some low end models just feel really cheap, thought they do sound very typical for their model, but some of the classic vibe or other top of the line models can feel and sound surprisingly high quality.

But yes, there are probably lots of people that go strictly by what's written on the headstock and perceive a quality based on that and price.

[Danley]

Affinity - The guitar I've thought felt sort of disgusting from almost day one; nasty, toilet-paper toned 2x4 feeling necks with poor fretwork that give satin finishes a bad name. It's hard not to know what you're dealing with at first touch/strum, the pickups aren't bad but lack much Strat character at the same time, would fail the blindfold test with ease

Squier Standard/Deluxe/CP/VM - Actually very good guitars, equal or beat most MIM Fenders as far as build-quality and sound. Would be difficult to distinguish from the real deal, in some cases could pass the blindfold test for something better

Fender MiM Standard - Pretty tough to distinguish from the upper-range Squiers, except that the pickups are basically Affinity-quality again; just not a sound anyone really acquaints with a classic Strat. Still some build quality issues that might not pass the blindfold test if you had careful fingers, but in general feel very "right" aside from the stock sound

Fender MiM Deluxe/Classic/etc. - Actually really good guitars, the best of which would be difficult to distinguish from a US guitar

Fender MiJ - ...Eh. Screwed together better than an MIM, but the "tells" to me are always the thick, plasticky/nasty finish, poor quality/open grained rosewood, inferior rough fretwire, thin/flimsy hardware, minimal contours and the general feeling that while they're quality instruments they're not as direct "copies" of the US instruments as much as they are some weird sort of knock-off, betraying that they are/originally were their "own thing." Mediocre pickups/electronics. I'd rather have an MiM in most cases, and feel like they'd be pretty easy to pick out of the blindfold line-up, especially if it was a chipped one with a cm-deep hole missing from the finish

Fender American Standard/Deluxe/AVRI - I've been treating these like the yardstick; so I'll admit that I've always been impressed by US Fenders, of multiple eras. The better MiMs get close though, and the better Squiers are a great bargain... I'd almost say only buy an upper-range Squier, or a US guitar (but I also happen to own MiJ and MiM guitars I'm quite happy with)

[vale]

i often wonder if (woodwork-wise) squiers are built using cnc machinery & tooling that were once used to make fenders.

it's balancing one cost against another & i don't really know much about tech or engineering, but simple business sense would prevail if it were cheaper to ship slightly outdated machinery from mexico etc to the far east, rather than destroy servicable machinery & construct new on location to build to the same specs.
ultimately money decides these things, as much as brand fans may want to believe the company would always be super-principled & precious about not using one to make the other.

the latest labour saving tech is a big deal in the west as labour costs are so high, but less so in the far east where an extra few hours labour here & there would not trash margins.

just a random thought which runs through my pretty head when i come across threads like this.