Squier Making The Cyclone Again .

Pens · Post by **Pens** » Wed Dec 07, 2011 4:38 am

HOLD UP

I was wrong. The frets are just fine. The neck is also really, really playable. I just had to get used to it as it's a bit thicker than my other guitars.

Once it's tuned up and you start playing it, and it "settles", the neck is really, really nice and playable. I was basing what I said previously on it not at tension and after playing my other guitars.

The frets are good, the neck is nice, just a bit wider and flatter than my other guitars.

Feels good man.

I still cannot stand the sound of an unwound G string, but I'm enjoying it so far.

The pickups are really, really bright sounding. I had to turn back the highs on the amp and even drop the tone somewhat to make it less ice-pick sounding. However, the bucker is really nice. I'd play this guitar as is out of the box.

Still don't like the lack of tint, but still.

The factory in Indonesia is starting to crank out some good shit.

Lucamo · Post by **Lucamo** » Wed Dec 07, 2011 4:53 am

This news is not helping my thirst for a LPB one...

Fuck...

Pens · Post by **Pens** » Wed Dec 07, 2011 5:25 am

The low E was a slight touch out in intonation. The G might as well, didn't spend the time checking that one since it's hard for me to tell with the plain steel G, they always sound sharp to me anyway. I am probably just fretting it too hard and making it go sharp.

This guitar could use my standard 11 wound G D'Addario strings and a fine tuning, and it would be great.

Like most Squiers, the shielding is non-existent and it hums more than it ought to. Every Squier or MIM Fender I've ever seen is wired funny and hums like a bitch out of box.

Pickups sound better once I flat lined the EQ, not quite as shrill now, but that just means the pickups are a sight bit brighter than my standard setups. Obviously, could stand some upgraded pups, like any Squier.

Anyway, that is my review, from playing one upside down. The damn switch was completely in my way, but I'm sure it wouldn't be an issue for a right handed person. Its a rather comfy guitar to play.

I cannot get over how goddamn pretty the finish on the body is. LPB is so goddamn sexy. This guitar does not look cheap.

serfx · Post by **serfx** » Wed Dec 07, 2011 9:15 am

Great review pens,
thanks for the insight
if they are still making these in 2013 i may have to get one..

crumpler · Post by **crumpler** » Wed Dec 07, 2011 2:56 pm

Pens wrote:HOLD UP

I was wrong. The frets are just fine. The neck is also really, really playable. I just had to get used to it as it's a bit thicker than my other guitars.

Once it's tuned up and you start playing it, and it "settles", the neck is really, really nice and playable. I was basing what I said previously on it not at tension and after playing my other guitars.

The frets are good, the neck is nice, just a bit wider and flatter than my other guitars.

Feels good man.

I still cannot stand the sound of an unwound G string, but I'm enjoying it so far.

The pickups are really, really bright sounding. I had to turn back the highs on the amp and even drop the tone somewhat to make it less ice-pick sounding. However, the bucker is really nice. I'd play this guitar as is out of the box.

Still don't like the lack of tint, but still.

The factory in Indonesia is starting to crank out some good shit.

well now i'm going to have to order one...

brainfur · Post by **brainfur** » Wed Dec 07, 2011 3:07 pm

ugh I have to buy one after xmas now...

If the indonesia factory is the same one that makes the set-neck FMT tele for Fender then they are capable of doing some really good work at slave labour prices

honeyiscool · Post by **honeyiscool** » Wed Dec 07, 2011 5:25 pm

Pens wrote:Like most Squiers, the shielding is non-existent and it hums more than it ought to. Every Squier or MIM Fender I've ever seen is wired funny and hums like a bitch out of box.

Really? That's surprising. One of the things I've noticed about most recent Squiers, and I've taken apart like 5-6 of them, is that other than Strats, which have no shielding, the rest of the Squiers have been generally better shielded than the Fenders I've taken apart, with shielding paint in all the control cavities.

Pens · Post by **Pens** » Wed Dec 07, 2011 5:35 pm

honeyiscool wrote:
Pens wrote:Like most Squiers, the shielding is non-existent and it hums more than it ought to. Every Squier or MIM Fender I've ever seen is wired funny and hums like a bitch out of box.
Really? That's surprising. One of the things I've noticed about most recent Squiers, and I've taken apart like 5-6 of them, is that other than Strats, which have no shielding, the rest of the Squiers have been generally better shielded than the Fenders I've taken apart, with shielding paint in all the control cavities.

I haven't seen many new Squiers, I admit, but I've worked on several of them that were older, and they pretty much never have shielding.

honeyiscool · Post by **honeyiscool** » Wed Dec 07, 2011 5:58 pm

Well, come to think of it, it's like this:

Jagmaster - Unshielded (foil on pickguard)
Standard Strat - Unshielded (foil on pickguard)
Deluxe Strat - Shielding paint
Badtz Maru Bronco Bass - Shielding paint
Hello Kitty Strat - Shielding paint
Jaguar Bass - Shielding paint
Jaguar Bass SS - Shielding paint
Avril Lavigne Telecaster - Shielding paint (I think)

So that's 6 of 8 for me.

hotrodperlmutter · Post by **hotrodperlmutter** » Wed Dec 07, 2011 6:25 pm

but the ones with foil on the pickguard are just over the controls, right?

Pens · Post by **Pens** » Wed Dec 07, 2011 6:31 pm

hotrodperlmutter wrote:but the ones with foil on the pickguard are just over the controls, right?

Yeah. That's not actually shielding. That's a ground plane. That isn't shielded.

Post by **dots** » Wed Dec 07, 2011 6:41 pm

great review! i wish i had a couple extra bills in the budget, but maybe next year. . . that's such a cheap price for building pretty much anything cool.

honeyiscool · Post by **honeyiscool** » Wed Dec 07, 2011 7:38 pm

hotrodperlmutter wrote:but the ones with foil on the pickguard are just over the controls, right?

Yeah, and in the case of a Jagmaster, it covers the mother of all swimming pool routes.

Honestly, I don't think shielding matters that much, if pickup leads are properly shielded, as they are almost always in a humbucker, and if you use a shielded wire for any long runs. I guess I don't often use true single coils often, so I'm used to shielded wire on pickups. Regardless, I hate humbuckers and true single coils on the same guitar.

I've had only one guitar/bass that really truly benefited from shielding and that's my Musicmaster Bass w/ a Lace Sensor. Laces have a ground wire connected to their metal base but don't use shielded wire, so covering the pickguard with copper foil made a big difference in terms of noise. My Mustang Bass also benefited ever so slightly from shielding, since it is a humbucker, but it uses two cloth wires instead of the shielded two-conductor or one-conductor that most humbuckers use.

Stuart · Post by **Stuart** » Wed Dec 07, 2011 9:52 pm

do they have plenty of these in stock places? I'm seriously considering getting my aunt and uncle to bring one over from Wisconsin, when the come for christmas.

Stuart · Post by **Stuart** » Wed Dec 07, 2011 11:37 pm

actually they have started showing up on the inter nets here.

http://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Ba ... lackNL/1AY http://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/Squier-Cyclone-Electric-Guitar-BlackNL/1AY

If they are really going to sell them at Â£155, I'd be all over it, with out the need to trouble my relatives.

Pens · Post by **Pens** » Thu Dec 08, 2011 12:15 am

I'm basing my unshielded comment on the fact that this bitch makes noise that my other shielded guitars do not. I haven't opened the pickguard yet. The single coil is noisy as hell. The bucker is better but still makes some noise. A shielded guitar should not do this.

I really would like to have someone else do a review of one of these, as mine is going to be a sight bit off considering a) I'm left handed and playing it backwards b) I'm used to and play many cheap shitty guitars and thus my ability to be a guitar snob is pretty hampered by that fact.

I don't wanna mislead anyone here. I've noted the weak points, it has a decent amount of electrical noise, the pickups are bright (some might say shrill). The neck is also chunkier than I prefer, very much like a current production Jagmaster. Tuners seem pretty solid, though, which is a common weak point on cheap guitars.

Pens · Post by **Pens** » Thu Dec 08, 2011 2:44 am

I had the guitarist in one of my bands do a test run on this, his review is that the neck feels really, really nice. He used to work at Guitar Center and has played expensive Custom shop shit that didn't feel as nice and slick as this thing (his words). He did comment that the neck was chunky, though. He agrees that the frets are just fine.

There y'all go. I'd put this as a buy. I just wasn't sure how balanced it felt right side up.

Post by **dots** » Thu Dec 08, 2011 3:06 am

it's such an insanely cheap win that there simply has to be some place where they cut a corner or two. the pickups probably aren't potted, and the routes probably aren't shielded, but for a little over a hundred and half, it's what you'd pay for a new neck and feel lucky!

bubbastain · Post by **bubbastain** » Thu Dec 08, 2011 7:23 am

Okay, here is another review. I just got mine this morning. Sunburst color. I'm going to be comparing it to a 1998 Fender Cyclone. I agree with first review in several areas. I think a slight softening up of the edges of the frets would help. Not bad, but if you do any fast sliding it can be felt a lot more than my Fender Cyclone. The thin satin finish is fine for me. Not really sure which I prefer. The Squier is lighter than the Fender. The weight feels "right" where as the Fender Cyclone seems a bit too heavy. The tuning keys are actually better than the originals. Fit and finish seem really good. I tuned it up to standard tuning and let it sit for a few hours. Adjusted the truss rod slightly after that. Plays nicely. Feels like it's loaded with 9s and I plays 10s at the lightest.

Now for the sounds. The stock pickups sound very good. I'm relieved. I thought they might sound like ass. Humbucker sounds very similar to the Atomic in the Fender. The Atomic sounds a slight bit bigger but that could also be from the 10's that are on the Fender. Still very similar. Quiet also. The neck pickup is cool. I like the TexMex a little better. Has a little more color or roundness that the Squier single coil is missing. Still, a decent pickup that I have no need to change. From clean to slightly overdriven clean(SRVish) to full on high gain, it pretty cool. Just like the original.

The bad....

Well, there isn't much. But here is the number one thing for me anyways. The guitar doesn't clean up with the volume knob like my Fender Cyclone does(or my Supersonic). When I roll back the volume knob to clean it up, it gets dull. Like I rolled back the tone knob all the way also. When I do this on my Fender Cyclone, it cleans up but also stays bright and punchy. I'm trying to figure this part out. The wiring on the Squier looks nice and clean. The wires are a bit thinner than those in the Fender though. Another factor might be the pots. The Squier has Alpha 250k pots. The Fender has CTS pots but it doesn't have a ohm rating on it anywhere. It only has the number 037407 9824. So I don't know if this is a 250k or 500K. Maybe that's the difference. I don't know. I need my guitar to clean up and stay bright and punchy with the volume knob. I have a single channel amp.

The tremolo seems nice and is an actual Fender unit. Has the Fender logo on all the saddles. The bad part is that the trem block is the skinny unit i've seen on an older Squier trem and not the big beefy trem block that is on my Fender Cyclone and Squier SuperSonic. It's not major, but little things can add up.

All in all for $200 it's a really nice guitar. For the $165 I paid, it's damn nice. I just need to figure out the volume pot issue. Maybe I'll take a couple of photos tomorrow. Maybe even a video showing the "cleaning up" issue.

SKC Willie · Post by **SKC Willie** » Thu Dec 08, 2011 4:27 pm

if the volume pot thing really bothers you, first replace them w/ 500k pots. It will make both pups SUPER bright, though. also, look into the grease bucket wiring. that is designed so you can roll of the volume and not lose any highs. also, throw an orange cap in their and you'll be happy w/ the results.