Background: I got myself an ibanez mikro bass, which I ejoyed a lot after 15 years without playing any string instrument, so decided that I wanted a guitar, and that would be a short scale one. As I am a casual player, no band, no anything, wanted something cheap enough that would be justifiable to use a few times every month. Looked around and found three candidates: the ibanez mikro (with excellent reviews, the squier strato mini (mixed reviews) and the squier mustang bullet HH, which was kind of a new thing at the time. Price-wise they were more or less the same and was inclined for the ibanez, as they make pretty good quality instruments for the entry-level price, but found an offer in GuitarCenter for the mustang and took the change.
So, I got the Surf Green one at $129 exactly as
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Squier/Bul ... 0224340.gc
The price was difficult to beat, and it looked gorgeous. If you play your instrument only here and there, make it pretty, and you may play more often.
So, 6 months later, here is what I think:
1) $129 was really a good price. $179 as marked now, looks too much, the ibanez may be my option, hands down. Even more, the full scale ibanez gio GRX70QA has amazing reviews, and seems like the tremolo is decent. for $200 vs $179, I take the ibanez.
2) Looks gorgeous. I still look at it and like it. Ibanez sucks on that, unless you are 13 and want to look "Rock".
3) The mics and all the electronics work perfect. Never had high-end anything, but everything works as expected, rock solid. Potentiometers have no noise. Jack has no noise. Is great on that side.
4) Sound is good. Output is on the high gain, but amazingly good. The mics switch does really work like magic. You can get all the tones you need from this. I use an MXR M108S EQ and you get any sound you want.
5) The guitar gave me a lot of harmonics. More even with the Behringer TO800 I have (A clone of the Ibanez Tube Screamer). Using the D'Addario EXL115BT sounded like ZZ Top. I really like that a lot.
6) You need to know how to tune, change string, tuss rod adjustment, set the saddle. I had to do all of those things. The guitar is $129, so spending $90 on a shop to do it makes no sense, would get the $200 ibanez if can't do it myself. Thankfully internet is full of tutorials. You need to change the strings it comes with. I'll talk more about strings shortly after
7) The tuning pegs are wobbly. They would not hold tuning on the default strings that came with the guitar for 5 seconds.
The strings it came with suck. Too thin, which is a problem because the short scale already has low tension. Thing went out of tune after playing 10 minutes. More, you can tune it, and you make and open chord and sounds out of tune because the simple act of pressing the string will bend id. Moved to some D'Addarios 11-50, and improved but still too flimsy. Changed for some Dunlop 12-54. Perfect tune, but sounds like playing a mouth harp. At the end, tried some D'Addario EJ21, 12-52. Lost a little bit of the magic harmonics of the 11-50's but stays in tune, and open chords sound good. Also tuning pegs seem to like it better.
So, If you get one, and don't know where to start, this is my checklist:
a) Make sure the price competes with the ibanez mikro
b) Change the strings to compensate the tension. D'Addario EJ21 worked the best for me.
c) Get ready to adjust saddle, and maybe tuss rod.
After all that, you'll have a perfectly functional, amazingly good looking guitar
Best luck!
