Poll: Squier Bullet Mustang worth its price?

Discussion of newer designs, copies and reissue offset-waist instruments.

Is the Squier Bullet Mustang worth its price?

Yes
48
72%
No
7
10%
Teh Kurdtz
12
18%
 
Total votes: 67

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Pacafeliz
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Poll: Squier Bullet Mustang worth its price?

Post by Pacafeliz » Tue Nov 19, 2019 12:12 pm

I'm terribly gassin' for one of those sonic gray Squier Mustangs. €129 new. Not a lot. They seem decent.

For those here who've had one for a while... still playing/keeping it? Worth it?

Tell me moar! :w00t:
Last edited by Pacafeliz on Tue Nov 26, 2019 7:22 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Squier Affinity Mustang worth its price?

Post by aliendawg » Tue Nov 19, 2019 12:30 pm

That's funny. They are probably hit and miss because of QC

BUT I have an Affinity Series Tele which love. It stays at my parents' so I don't play it as often as I'd like. It can go weeks without me playing it and it stays in tune just fine. I don't keep it in case btw. I think the pickups are weak, though but that's expected

It's got a satin neck and it feels great. Of course the overall build is not GREAT, edges are not rounded and some frets are sharp but still... I like that Tele so much... It just needs a pickups upgrade

I've played one of the Mustangs too and it felt the same way, really. Very light and resonant body. I don't know how they sound because it was unplugged. I think the routings are huge as well so thhose are a good modding platform

Lastly, there's a video of Fender CS masterbuilder rating some Squier guitars and he picked an Affinity Strat as his favorite so that could mean something good
"With the resurgence of offsets it seems like we're also seeing a resurgence of people who don't know what to do with them" - 601210

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Re: Squier Affinity Mustang worth its price?

Post by Danley » Tue Nov 19, 2019 1:36 pm

I enjoy the super-skinny neck vs. the gigantic VM necks; they're almost as cheap as a guitar gets, so why not.
King Buzzo: I love when people come up to me and say “Your guitar sound was better on Stoner Witch, when you used a Les Paul. “...I used a Fender Mustang reissue on that, dumbass!

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Re: Squier Affinity Mustang worth its price?

Post by Embenny » Tue Nov 19, 2019 1:47 pm

Isn't the Mustang still called a Bullet rather than an Affinity? Or did that change to match the JM?

I have one of the blue sparkly bullet Mustangs and couldn't possibly be happier with a guitar for the money. It had a swimming pool rout which enabled me to put three G&L z-coils in it, which are just about as good as a pickup can get and were being cleared out at $99/set from G&Ls web site (and still were, last I checked).

The frets absolutely NEED a quick polish, the nut is hot garbage (don't let others tell you it's the tuners - it's 100% binding at the terribly cut soft plastic nut that causes the tuning issues) but everything else is fine (fantastic finish work on the body, ok tuners and bridge, surprisingly high quality electronics. Pickups sounded way better than I expected but I bought it expressly for the Z coils so out they went.

Very flat and wide neck which doesn't match anything else I've played in the Fender/Squier lineup. Something like a 12" or maybe even 14" radius on it.

It absolutely needs a fret polish and at minimum a reslotting of the nut, ideally a replacement with a material that should be used for nuts in the first place, but it's a damn fine guitar for the money once you do that, and the swimming pools are just so tempting for modders like me.

Image

If I was an off-the-rack guitar player I'd never have given it the time of day, it absolutely could not stay in tune because it was binding so badly at the nut. If you tuned up from a flat note and then bent the string, you'd fall back down more than a quarter tone. But I'm high on it overall because the issues it did have were incredibly easy to deal with, and overall it's a fantastic deal.
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Re: Squier Bullet Mustang worth its price?

Post by Pacafeliz » Tue Nov 19, 2019 2:02 pm

Yes Bullet of course, sorry.

And can someone move this to the offset part, too...? Please? :fp: :blush:
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Re: Squier Bullet Mustang worth its price?

Post by s_mcsleazy » Wed Nov 20, 2019 11:09 am

as someone who currently owns 3. i've got to say yes*

*the pickups aint great and ive noticed a few small QC issues but nothing you cant fix.

here are 2 with my VM
Image
the blue one now has different pickups (i found a vintage music master pickup and a low output humbucker with a black cover)
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Re: Squier Bullet Mustang worth its price?

Post by Pacafeliz » Fri Nov 22, 2019 12:23 am

s_mcsleazy wrote:
Wed Nov 20, 2019 11:09 am
as someone who currently owns 3. i've got to say yes*

*the pickups aint great and ive noticed a few small QC issues but nothing you cant fix.

here are 2 with my VM
Image
the blue one now has different pickups (i found a vintage music master pickup and a low output humbucker with a black cover)
Kewl.
Where'd you get the pickguard? I'd also prefer the cheap humbuckers out... :blush:
i love delay SO much ...that i procrastinate all the time.

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Re: Squier Bullet Mustang worth its price?

Post by higgsblossom » Fri Nov 22, 2019 12:40 am

Just one thing that bothered me: the body is incredibly thin.
"500€? That's the price of a J Mascis Jazzmaster!"

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Re: Squier Bullet Mustang worth its price?

Post by Steadyriot. » Fri Nov 22, 2019 3:43 am

I really like mine, but it has to be said that everything you could do to a guitar to make it playable has been done this mine so it's not really a fair assessment anymore.

They're fun guitars but they need some work to get to a level of playability that is actually enjoyable.
The pickups are OK but not great, pretty hot and grindy so ideal for the Nirvana kid but not much outside of that. I swapped in a Alnico magnet into the bridge pickup and used it like that for a while.
The bridge has a few of its own issues. The saddle height screws are pretty loose and they would lower themselves regularly. Thicker strings and a few wraps of thread around them helped a lot and made it a 100% more stable.
The tuners are fine, the frets could use a polish but are functional out of the box. The nut needs some work for tuning stability.
My only gripe with the neck is that it's pretty thin so if you are inclined to pull on it a bit; it'll go sharp pretty easily.
It's also REALLY light because of the thinner body. I hardly notice it even being on me when playing standing with a strap.

Here it is in the middle:
Image

Changes:
-Pepto pink refinish
-A layer of self adhesive pickguard material over the stock guard to make it single PU
-A layer of "vintage lacquer" from Molotow. Not recommended.
-Vintage goldfoil in the bridge position
-Toronado Bridge with string trough body.
-A set of 11-50 strings (might go up to 12's if I feel like it but who knows)
-A set of grover tuners that I had laying around for years

Conclusion:
Worth it's price; even more fun to sink more money into.
"If someone duetted with a Bald Eagle, they could rule the Country charts from here to eternity." ~shadowplay

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Re: Squier Bullet Mustang worth its price?

Post by Pacafeliz » Fri Nov 22, 2019 4:26 am

Lovely!!!
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Re: Squier Bullet Mustang worth its price?

Post by s_mcsleazy » Fri Nov 22, 2019 7:18 am

Pacafeliz wrote:
Fri Nov 22, 2019 12:23 am
s_mcsleazy wrote:
Wed Nov 20, 2019 11:09 am
as someone who currently owns 3. i've got to say yes*

*the pickups aint great and ive noticed a few small QC issues but nothing you cant fix.

here are 2 with my VM
Image
the blue one now has different pickups (i found a vintage music master pickup and a low output humbucker with a black cover)
Kewl.
Where'd you get the pickguard? I'd also prefer the cheap humbuckers out... :blush:
ebay job. but ive seen the material so if you know anyone who can cut a pickguard, you can kinda have anything you want.
offset guitars resident bass player.
'Are you trying to seduce me Mrs Robinson? Or do you just want me to solder a couple of resistors into your Muff?'

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Re: Squier Bullet Mustang worth its price?

Post by Danley » Fri Nov 22, 2019 8:10 am

I get disliking the potato chip body, but it’s endearing to me (+ fret access.)

The electric blue tone looks sort of cheap though, in the ‘retro’ way Squier aesthetics were in the ‘90s.
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Re: Poll: Squier Bullet Mustang worth its price?

Post by hexes » Tue Mar 31, 2020 5:05 pm

chiming in. i totally slept on these guitars. just got one and it's great. will either polish the frets or just bend every note 600 times and see what happens.

honestly though. i hate how much i like this thing. i wonder why they went with a 12" radius, but i'm actually fond of it.

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Re: Squier Bullet Mustang worth its price?

Post by Embenny » Tue Mar 31, 2020 5:30 pm

Danley wrote:
Fri Nov 22, 2019 8:10 am
I get disliking the potato chip body, but it’s endearing to me (+ fret access.)

The electric blue tone looks sort of cheap though, in the ‘retro’ way Squier aesthetics were in the ‘90s.
I missed this comment at the time - you are absolutely right. It is 100% a 90's Squier colour! Maybe that's why I like it.

Remember the Showmaster? Never had one, but these were out there at a formative stage in my guitar playing. 7-strings were becoming all the rage and were blowing my mind.

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Re: Poll: Squier Bullet Mustang worth its price?

Post by Acidhouse » Tue Mar 31, 2020 6:53 pm

I’ve been intrigued by them. They scream fun with mods to me.

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