PricePaid: 70 GBP (S/H)
Purchased From: ebay
Model Year: 2009Features: [8]
I guess the name '51 comes from the hybrid nature of this guitar, pitched roughly halfway between the time of the first Telecaster and the first Stratocaster. The body is a strat shaped non-tremolo made of unidentified wood, possibly basswood but it lacks the string ferrules found on hardtail strats. Instead the strings are anchored in a slotted bridge and while purists will insist that this harms the tone of the guitar I'm yet to notice a difference with this system - my 1983 US Fender Strat loads the strings this way and that's working just fine after all these years.
A departure from the early Fender feel of the guitar is in the bridge humbucker, an obvious choice for a two-pickup guitar which is further enhanced by the 51's pickup selector circuit which allows for coil tapping to reproduce some of the classic Fender tones. Sounds: [7]
I tested this guitar through my stage rig, a Marshall JMP-1 preamp through Marshall dual 50 watt power amp into two 2x12 cabs. Yes, that's probably not the kind of amp the average Squier 51 player will be using, it's an amp I know very well so I was able to assess the 51 in comparison to my other strats and teles.
For a "cheap" guitar the '51 is surprisingly versatile! While the bridge unit can't compete with high-end designer pickups it does a convincing hard rock overdrive and the range of tones from the rotary knob pickup selector certainly exceeded my expectations. There are some pleasantly funky honky blues tones and the coil tapped humbucker can jangle when it needs to. Action, Fit & Finish: [7]
As with all Squiers, quality and finish are good by cheap guitar standards but fall some way short of the standards of their Mexican and American counterparts. The frets were nicely finished though, no rough spots although the rounding on the edge of the fretboard was a bit too squared off for my liking. The light gauge strings made for very easy playing. Reliability & Durability: [7]
My only concern with reliability would be the availability of spares - the rotary knob isn't a widely-used Fender part and if it needs replacing then you may need to visit your local electronics supplier instead of the music store. Overall Rating: [8]
For the money, the Squier 51 is unbeatable value. It ticks all the boxes, combining classic looks and tones with more than a nod to modern playing styles. And let's be honest, it looks great and it's a fun design. Regrettably Squier have discontinued this guitar now so watch for rocketing prices on ebay. There's also a healthy modding community of 51 enthusiasts who have taken this humble guitar and turned it into all manner of customised freakishness and I'm certainly tempted to go that route myself, this guitar with some hotter pickups would be a fantastic knockabout instrument for jam sessions.
I rated everything 7 but overall the 51 gets an 8 just for being a classy little guitar with enormous potential for modding. I'm betting this will get reissued fairly soon and I'm waiting to see which artist dares ask Fender Custom Shop to build one! | 
Squier '51
