Cheap Squier Bullet Strats! Really

Strat-Talk · June 27th, 2008, 12:50 PM

With all the changes going on at Squier it seems the Bullet series Strats are being blown out as "outlet" guitars now. Prices from $86.99 to $99.99.

Some folks love these as they are... others love to mod 'em and use them as a base for all sorts of projects.

Here's a link to one outlet that's blowing them out:

Squier by Fender Bullet Electric Guitar with Tremolo Brown Sunburst

PS. In full disclosure, if you click on this link and buy a Strat Bullet then this website will earn a couple of dollars in "commission." Buy one, don't buy one it makes no difference to me. However, if you are going to buy one, why not support Strat-Talk.com it won't cost you a cent!

jmasin · June 27th, 2008, 01:51 PM

Wow, that's cheap!!

I've been wanting to string up one of my guitars upside down (high E on top) ala Doyle Bramhall II... one of these seems like a great candidate to do so!

I think Strat-Talk may get a few $$ from me ;)

Thanks for posting. And thanks for the disclosure. Not like it's a big deal, but nice to know you're up front. And like you said, if I'm going to buy one why not do it in such a way to help out.

Cheers!
Jon

EDIT: I have an Arctic white on the way. What the heck, for $99 I can play a while then set it on fire

j/k.

bobmac · June 28th, 2008, 11:51 PM

This seems so cheap for such a nice looking guitar, I had a look at the pics and they all look so good, I especially like the sunburst with a rosewood fretboard. I noticed in the advert it said these are excellent guitars for the beginner. I agree, a beginner can easily afford one of these and have a famous model guitar for very little outlay. But just out of interest what is it about these guitars that makes them so cheap, why would somebody buy one of these but later on want to move up to a more expensive Strat.
In other words what are the shortcomings & failings of these guits?

bobthecanadian · June 29th, 2008, 08:15 AM

Hi bobmac,

why? that's a good question.

i have a highway one strat, another strat copy and a light blue squier bullet. guess which one gets played the most? You guessed it, the bullet. It sounds like a strat should sound.the only think i have done to it so far is tune it up and play. it really is a great value for the money.

the tuners are poor. there have also been some issues with the truss rod nut. but other than that, no biggies as far as i can see.

i may just need to buy a couple more in different colors to make my stable a little more colorful!

StratDen · June 29th, 2008, 11:25 AM

I got my my Black Squier Bullet that was listed as a scratch and dent for $75 from MF. The guitar was perfect, no cosmetic of functional flaws.

This and an Alvarez Strat-copy is going to Rob @ fret tech for some upgrades, hopefully as early as this coming week.

Boris Bubbanov · June 29th, 2008, 11:34 PM

Rob DiStefano does great work.

I sure wish these Bullets were not Mainland China.

Ah, it is just as well, I have more than enough Strats here to play with, especially this Highway One with a Glendale Chimemaster (brass version). Still can't recall why I did not grab a second at the special price ($149, too late).

Bubban0v

thaus · June 30th, 2008, 10:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boris Bubbanov

Rob DiStefano does great work.

I sure wish these Bullets were not Mainland China.

Ah, it is just as well, I have more than enough Strats here to play with, especially this Highway One with a Glendale Chimemaster (brass version). Still can't recall why I did not grab a second at the special price ($149, too late).

Bubban0v

Wow Boris......$149 for a Highway One!!! That is a great deal......I too would have picked up a couple. And agreed about Rob; if I lived as close as Dennis (Stratden), I would get Rob to set up my whole collection. I love the Bullet he did for me. It is a player and Rob's neck treatment and set-up is the best.

brazil66 · June 30th, 2008, 05:44 PM

I'd be a fool not to get one of these.

jmasin · July 2nd, 2008, 10:31 AM

Well I received mine. It was $99 so I'm not complaining, but I did kind of chuckle - bubbles in the finish on the back of the neck & headstock, tuners are all crooked (it's actually kind of funny) and the high E actually overhangs the headstock (i.e. you can see a small bit of the tuner body from the front), chipout in the neck pocket - before it was painted so not a big deal...and it looks like someone missed with the drill for the tuner screw holes, there's a small perfectly formed indentation on the back of the headstock.

Other than that it plays ok and will be a good platform for what I was looking for. I'll start on the new nut tonight so it knows it now has a loving home

Cheers.

Strat-Talk · July 2nd, 2008, 10:41 AM

Send it back and get another... there are good ones and bad ones. What the heck. Why not?

jmasin · July 2nd, 2008, 11:22 AM

Eh, it's no biggie. It'll eventually have a different neck anyway. Now that I've been playing a 1" thick neck I can't stand the pencil thin necks these days. I've got some old Am Std p/u that I pulled out of my '95 that will probably go in there. It'll be much different in a few weeks

I actually wasn't complaining... I honestly didn't expect any more for $99, heck why would anyone pay $1200 for something if there was no difference

Cheers!

Zman · July 8th, 2008, 11:33 AM

The only bad thing I have heard about these is the truss rods are stripped on some. A lot of have been returned for that reason. When you see them in the stores they look surprisingly good. I bought a pair of the Deluxes from Indonesia the Pearl and the Daphne blue and they are amazing guitars.
It just makes me laugh when I see the quality of a 99 dollar guitar. I just wish they had them when I started out. The kids today are really spoiled. But I guess I did pay 250 dollars for my first SG, but that was in 1968. LOL.

bobmac · July 8th, 2008, 08:03 PM

Agree Zman, I would have liked one of these when I started out in the 60s. I paid $650 for a goldtop Les Paul Gibson in 1968, but I was only earning $50pw at that time, so I paid the LP off over a couple of years. There were cheap guitars available, like Harmony, and I'd love to get hold of one of them today.

Zman · July 9th, 2008, 11:17 AM

Yes mine was and SG Special with the dot neck and the Vibrolo. It had the P90 pickups. It is exactly the same as the guitar Pete of the Groupe the WHO used. I still have it. It is the wine red and is untouched original condition.

Cip IESAN · July 11th, 2008, 05:24 PM

We use to say in Romania "I'm too poor to buy something cheap!". It's not always true: I have bought in January a sunburst one, as my 3-rd guitar (got a Tele and a Les Paul copy), and after two month of playing daily and daily I felt in love with it, so I picked another one, the Fiesta Red. The sunburst (Dean Markley, .10) became my favourite for jazz and blues; the Fiesta Red (D'Addario, .09) is my rocking favourite instrument. Had no problems with the tuners, with the truss rod (I fixed myself the action on the sunburst, because it had a bit of fret-buzz; now it's OK), with the tremolo, with nothing. But, it's true, I'm talking about the new Squier Bullet Strat, the resurrected one, not about the old laminated crappy Bullet models. A nice guitar!