Fender Squier Debut Series Stratocaster Electric Guitar, Beginner Guitar, with 2-Year Warranty, Includes Free Lessons, Dakota Red with Matte Finish

I bought this guitar during the PRIME Day sales. Paid $115.00. I bought it for my grandson who is finally showing some real interest in learning to play the guitar. It is a starter guitar made in China and it never will be or play like an American made Stratocaster. That being said, here is what I did to make it a nice playing guitar. I am not a professional luthier, I'm just trying to make the guitar playable. 1. Unpacked the guitar and let it sit on a guitar stand for 2 days to let it stabilize at room temperature. I noticed that it is much lighter than a American made Stratocaster 2. Removed the strings, original strings are not good strings at all. 3. Polished every fret with medium scotch-brite pad. ( you need to protect the finger board so you don't scratch it. I use the blue painter tape. I cut the scotch-brite into 1/2" strips. ) 4. Remove the the tape and use a soft dry cloth to wipe dust and residue from neck. If there is dust on the body, use caution so you don't scratch the paint. 5. The finger board appeared to be a very dry wood, not very pretty. So I used some dark Old English polish on it and it soaked the polish up and i let dry completely. I wiped the fingerboard until there wasn't any polish coming off onto the cloth. Don't put polish on the pearl dots. 6. Put the new strings on. I use the D'Addario EXL-115. They hold tune very well. 7. Tune the guitar to standard pitch 8. Adjust the next until it is straight. the hex wrench is provided. 9. Re-tune and checked every fret to make they were all ok and playable. Not one high fret was found. 10. Adjusted the string height on every string, (hex wrench provided). I use a dime to set height on the 12th fret of the small E string. Check every fret to make sure there isn't any string buzz, if there is you will need to raise the height of that string. 11. Checked the intonation at the 12th fret with a guitar tuner. It wasn't perfect, but close enough. ( It is adjustable if needed) 12. Checked tuning and plugged it up to the FBA-10 Guitar Amplifier. It sounds and plays great.

I paid like $159 for a Stratocaster. It sounds great to a new player of guitar. Been meaning to learn to play my whole life, I got this and a 5w spark mini amp, a music teacher and professional blues musician both recommended it. It looks beautiful, also it’s cool. 1. High build quality 2. Tuned and just learning 3. Size is a proper Stratocaster, any guitar, right for me though. 4. I got the spark mini as my amp which is perfect for my use. Any amp will work. 5. I got the bare guitar but it had good strings. 6. I’m a student so can’t rank playability. I have been meaning to learn guitar for 29 years, Stratocaster made the perfect setup for an apartment dweller, and I think this is a perfect guitar for a student. It fits in a case, I keep it on a stand in the corner, I tried a keyboard so it’s super portable by contrast. Normal sized guitar.

Great guitar, huge step up in quality from cheaper options. Holds a tune for a long time and looks fantastic. Frets are smooth at the end and positioned well on the neck. High quality materials and everything so far is very durable as it looks brand new.

Love my Fender. Good for a beginner or anybody that wants an affordable Fender guitar. Works great with the amp, a Frontman 20g. Bought the guitar first, then a very small amp, then the Frontman and now I have the perfect casual bundle.

I wanted to be 100% in love with this guitar and have it be playable right out of the box, and write a rave review. But unfortunately, that was not the case. This was not a guitar that had been returned to Amazon. You could tell it was brand new and never had been opened. When I first saw the color in person, I said WHOA. I love Squier Strats, especially red ones. I actually prefer them over the Fender Strats. I have way too many of them as it is, so when these first came out, I told myself I didn't need another one. But I kept seeing the reviews on YouTube. Not a single person did not rave about this guitar for the price. There may have been something here and there that was a little off, but they all couldn't believe the quality for the price point. I was also impressed by the matte finish. Alas, I am a sucker for a red Squier. I also figured maybe in time it would be one of those collector item guitars like some of the older Squiers are. So I said screw it, you only live once, Christmas present for myself, things are going to cost more from China very soon, and every other excuse I could think of, and ordered it. Going by the pictures, I wasn't impressed with that particular shade of red, but hey, it was red. I let it acclimate in the box indoors for 24 hours, like I usually do. When I finally pulled away the foam bag, I stood still and looked at it, and I really think my mouth was hanging open. I was blown away. None of the pictures do the color justice. It's a beautiful, deep matte burgundy red, like a wine red. It is gorgeous. They didn't cheap out on the pickguard like they did with the Sonic series, and just give it a plain white pickguard. This pickguard has the black stripe in it, which gives this guitar just such a beautiful accent. Some people here complained about the frets being sharp. I could see a couple here or there that I could pretty much even take down with a nail file if I wanted to. Nothing that would ever scratch me, or beginner, or a child with this guitar. Here's where things went south quickly. I tuned it up and plugged it in. Every string buzzed. It was not playable at all. Upon further inspection I saw that the truss rod had been left tightened all the way from the factory. A little loosening of the truss rod took care of most of the buzzing. I tuned it up again. The intonation was off on the low E and A and the low E still slightly buzzed. Some more tweaking and finally it was playing the way it was supposed to be. I can tell you that this guitar is light. It's thin. The pickups sound good. The fret ends are fine. The fretboard is really pretty and smooth. The tuners hold tune well. The knobs and switches work just fine. But if I was a beginner and this was my first guitar, and I didn't know anyone who knew anything about guitars, I would not have known what to do. I would have been even more disappointed than I was. Because of the rave reviews of this guitar, I am sure the one that I got was just a fluke. If anyone got it, I'm glad it was me because it was fixed in 5 minutes. But had I gotten this as a gift for a kid, I would have been really upset for the kid. Yes, I could have returned it, but I like working on guitars anyway. If you know your way around guitars and are getting this for a kid, grab one. It's a great guitar. I would definitely get it for someone, but also tell them if there's anything weird about it to let me know. Do I regret buying this? No way. I love the guitar. Just on the day that mine was made, someone in China was having a bad day.

This guitar is the cheapest Fender Stratocaster that you could buy. Looking at other brands that have a similar guitar that's cheaper or at the same price. I think Fender has managed to make something that is decent and playable right out of the box, whereas other brands make guitars that require massive setup right out of the box with high action issues with staying in tune. If you're going to get a entry-level beginner guitar then you should definitely get this one instead of anything cheaper or other brands. Fender definitely knows what they're doing. I didn't have any issues with the guitar. When it arrived, the action was set properly. The intonation seems to be good and the guitar definitely stayed in tune even though the strings were new. Haven't really replaced the strings because I didn't feel that it was necessary and a couple months I'll probably swap them out for some D'Addarios. Overall, I plan to slowly upgrade and mod this guitar because even though it does play and sound great, there's a lot of cheap hardware that could be easily upgraded for not too much more. Overall, this is a great instrument for a beginner. A cheap guitar is not the only thing that a beginner needs. They also need a guitar that doesn't require setup out of the box unless they're willing to learn that sort of thing, which is a little bit intimidating for some new players. And if you're willing to mod your guitar to save a little bit of money, it is a great modding platform. The only slight issue I have with it is that I ordered the black color and even though the pickguard is supposed to be white, it seems to have a slight tinge of a red Hue that's extremely subtle. It's just weird looking. It seems like they were trying to make it fully white and then some kind of dye or powder from another guitar got on it or something. I honestly cannot tell you why but it just looks a little bit reddish and I don't know why. Hopefully I in the future can replace it with like a more white looking pickguard.

I think I paid $120 or so on a deal and for that, I thought what the heck, never owned a Strat and the reviews say it's a decent little knockoff. I've got 50's era Les Paul, an SG and others so I do know a good guitar though I'm no expert or luthier. Only mild negatives, the dull matte finish is a bit disappointing, I guess I just didn't look closely enough at the photo and it looks, well, cheap. And it is cheap $$$ so I can't complain really. The tuners have some slop in them but again, for the $, it tunes up and stays tuned. And it arrived set up very nicely, no buzz, nothing. I will file down the fret ends a bit, they're little daggers. Plays great, sounds very good. Honestly playing it with my eyes closed I'm not sure I could tell this isn't one of my 'good' guitars. Helluva a deal for twice this price, nice job, Fender!

The Fender Squier Debut Series Stratocaster Electric Guitar is an excellent choice for beginners, especially those just starting their musical journey. The quality is impressive for the price—well-built, comfortable to hold, and easy to play, which makes learning more enjoyable and less intimidating for new players. My daughter purchased this guitar using her Christmas money, and it has been such a joy to see her so happy and motivated. Instead of spending her time on screens, she’s choosing to practice and explore her passion for music, and that alone makes this guitar worth every penny. The sound is great for a starter guitar, and it truly captures that classic Stratocaster feel Fender is known for. The setup is beginner-friendly, and it feels like a guitar she can grow with as her skills improve. My only wish is that cases and straps were more easily available or offered alongside the guitar, as those are essentials for beginners—but that’s a small detail compared to the overall value.

Ottima chitarra per chi inizia a suonare. La qualità è davvero buona per essere un modello entry level Fender: ben costruita, comoda da suonare e con un suono più che soddisfacente per lo studio e la pratica quotidiana. Il manico è scorrevole e facilita l’apprendimento, mentre l’estetica è quella classica Fender che non delude mai. Rapporto qualità-prezzo eccellente. Consigliatissima a chi vuole avvicinarsi alla chitarra con uno strumento affidabile. 🎸

Item description did not mention if this is new or refurbished. It came in bubble wrappers with no original packaging. And the item was not in perfect order

Me fascinó la guitarra, estéticamente, buen sonido y está bien ajustada para los trastes

Auspacken, Sichtkontrolle, keine Mängel, nicht so schwer wie die originale Strat aber überraschend gut zu spielen . Ein Mal Stimmen und loslegen die erste Gitarre bei der ich Nichts korrigieren musste. Die originale Strat klingt ja schon etwas fetter, braucht aber auch mehr Feintuning. So muss die ideale Gitarre zum Proben und für Neueinsteiger sein.

Muy chula tal y como se ve