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Buy Fender Stratocaster Guitar Top Tips Advice Buying Guide and Strat Prices Online

By Mark P Andrews

Are you looking to purchase a bargain bucket stratocaster guitar without breaking the bank?

Or how about buying your kid brother, or sister for that matter these days their very first guitar - think how proud they would be if you bought them one of the great names from guitar history, their very own Fender Stratocaster guitar! What a great gift idea!

How can I afford a Fender Stratocaster guitar? The Fender Stratocaster guitar that likely you need to be thinking about buying are the one's name Squier Stratocasters. The hierachy of Fender Stratocasters guitars is first the American Standard, followed by the Fender mexican Standard, after which there is the Squier Standard Stratocaster, then the Squier Affinity Strat and last but not least, the Squier Bullet. The newer ones will say 'Crafted in Indonesia' or 'Crafted in China' on the back of the headstock but the older ones will normally have 'Made in Korea' or 'Made in China' on the front of the headstock. To make things more confusing, the Squier line of Stratocasters come in 3 sub-models. It's amazing what some people will try to sell these for on Ebay but you should be able to find a very nice used Squier Standard on Ebay for between $120-$160 shipped.

The American models will have a 22 fret neck with a width of around 1.68" at the nut and most Mexicans will have a 21 fret neck with a 1.65" width at the nut. You can upgrade the pickups to American Series quality or better and end up with a really great guitar. The general rule is to buy as good of a guitar as you can afford. The American models and some of the Mexican made special models can hold their values very well.