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

My particular guitar did not have any sharp fret ends and the fret tops looked to be polished, or at the very least did not feel rough at all. It was very playable right out of the box. Action was 1.5mm on low E at the 12th fret and even lower on the high E with no buzzing on any fret when played without a heavy hand. Intonation was spot on, on all but one string which wasn't off by much. The bridge was decked when I got it, floating it was the only change I needed to make. Truss rod did not need to be adjusted at all, there was a very slight bit of relief in the neck already. I didn't check the gap between string and first fret or closely examine the nut but there was no indication that the nut was causing any problems. The back of the neck, as YT reviewers have noted is pretty rough feeling. The satin finish looks and feels great and doesn't show finger grease like a glossy finish would. It weighed in at just under 7 pounds.Guitar seems to hold tune when lightly using the tremolo but the tuners are the real weak point of the guitar. They do work, and the guitar stays in tune, but the tuners are not very smooth feeling at all. Sometimes they'll feel very difficult to turn but then loosen up, sometimes it feels like the knob turns without doing much before having an effect. Sometime a slight twist of the knob makes too much of a change, so it is a bit difficult to make minor adjustments. They're not good but they are serviceable. They are the first thing I'd consider replacing. The tremolo block is also very thin so that's something else to consider swapping. I didn't play it a whole lot through an amp yet but initial impression is that it sounds decent. Bridge pickup seems a little shrill but dialing back the tone control makes it acceptable.For the beginner that this guitar is aimed at, I don't think you'd need to change anything right away. It is perfectly playable out of the box, all a new player needs to do is tune it up and start playing. That's the way it was with my guitar but of course this could vary. However, since some reviewers had the same experience it's clear Fender must be making some effort to setup the guitars before shipping them. The initial out of the box experience, in my opinion, is better than any Indio or Firefly I've had and better than or equal to most IYV or Harley Bentons that I got. Considering you get a very competitively priced guitar, from a major brand, that may not need any work at all (unlike most budget instruments) and the free 3 months of Fender Play I think this is a real winner for a beginning guitarist. I have no problem recommending it to any beginner or even experienced guitarist.

Beautifully made neck, smooth frets, nicely set low action from factory. Intonation only needed slight adjustment. Nice satin/matt finish. Not a new beginner, but can tell this is a great guitar that one can learn with for a long time. Absolutely pleased and stoked to own a real Fender Strat at a price I could finally afford.

I cannot get over this guitar! It plays just as well as my MIM Fender strat which cost 4x more. The setup is nearly perfect right out of the box with nice action, I just tuned it up and started playing. The fretwork is solid, decently polished frets with reasonably clean ends, no buzzing frets and the neck feels great in the hand. The electronics are where you notice the low price, generic non-staggered ceramic pickups that sound OK but just are not as clean or balanced as properly staggered Strat pickups and don't have the same depth of tone as alnico magnets. Overall these are great guitars for beginners or experienced players that want something light and easy to play

This is for those like me who are thinking about picking this up because the price is too good to pass up, but looking for some confirmation on what the YouTube reviews say (hard to tell when they are legit vs. sponsored these days).Net net, I'm pretty satisfied for the price tag. I'm going to use this as my first mod platform. But even without modding I'd say the guitar sounds good (enough) and feels good (mostly - see the one bad below).I'll start with the one key bad -I've had/played a number of Squire and other lower-mid end electrics and acoustics - this has the worst fret sprout of any one I've ever got my hands on. Not cut your hand bad, but definitely feel it and has to be addressed.Since I am going to tear it apart and mod it over time, I'm ready to file down the fret ends. However, it would be annoying if somebody was getting this as their first guitar or their only Stratocaster and wasn't down for DIY. One reviewer said buy two and pick the better. I maybe should have tried that. Not sure how consistent the fret sprout is. However, its not bad enough for me to return.Just surprises me based on how well the rest of the guitar is put together...-Neck is awesome otherwise. Feels like a much higher priced guitar.-Tuners seem fine. Hold tune well enough. I'll probably upgrade eventually but these are fine.-Sounds like a strat. Electronics are in good shape, no issues-Everything feels solid, like the switches/trem-Love the body size / weight after lugging around my heavy ass pine telecaster. That's why I wanted this for modding. Feels really good to old.-Finish looks good. Matte looks great and unique.If you can get one without the fret sprout, I think its a great deal and a good starter guitar or modding platform.