Squier Vintage Modified Tele SH and Strat HSS Review

Many guitarists use inexpensive Squier models as the basis for their own custom instruments, swapping out the hardware, pickups, and other parts. With Squier’s Vintage Modified Series guitars, the mods have already been done, so you won’t have to shell out extra money after your initial purchase. Today we are going to look at the Vintage Modified Tele SH and Strat HSS…

Squier Vintage Modified Tele SH

The Squier Tele SH has a variety of custom keys, including a Duncan-Designed HB102 Alnico 5 neck humbucker, a Duncan-Designed TE-103B Stack bridge pickup, a six-saddle bridge, black chrome knurled knobs, and a custom plate. reverse setting control (the three-position pickup selector is located near the bottom of the bottom bout instead of near the bridge pickup). However, the guitar also retains the classic features you’d like to have on a Tele, like the 21-fret neck with maple fingerboard, 25 ½-inch scale, and 9 ½-inch radius.

Aside from some really weird Givson models, yeah Givson, which Billy Gibbons showed me about 10 years ago, I’ve never seen a guitar made in India before. Another first: the body is made from Indian red cedar (apparently, the wood doesn’t have to travel too far to the factory). This resonant, lightweight wood is also used to make dhol drums in India, so its transition to guitar material makes musical sense. The neck is carved from a beautiful tight grain maple and all wood parts are coated with a durable polyurethane finish.

Many of the Squier guitars I’ve tried over the years have comparable playability to more expensive Fender guitars, and the Vintage Modified Tele SH is no exception. The neck offers a conservative C-shaped profile, and the medium jumbo frets provide that “just right” balance of weight for bent notes and low resistance for shredding.

Performance

The weakest link in this model is its hardware. The tuners feel flimsy and brittle, and the bridge sucked sustain and body from the notes. As a result, the pickups never seemed to receive enough signal to hit their sweet spot and the tone seemed somewhat weak. Throw in a few extra bucks to upgrade the tuners and bridge, and you’ve got a killer ax that performs just as well as many models costing twice as much.

Squier Vintage Modified Stratocaster HSS

Like the Tele HS, the Squier Strat HSS is based on the body and neck of a classical guitar, but features a modified pickup configuration. Squier dropped a Duncan-Designed HB-112 humbucker in the bridge position, while stacked Duncan-Designed SC-102 pickups replace the standard neck and middle single-coils.

Beyond that, the Vintage Modified Strat HSS is a classic Strat through and through, with a vintage-style tremolo, five-way pickup switching, 21 frets with a rosewood fingerboard, and that timeless Strat look and feel. The controls remain the same: Master Volume, Neck Tone, and Middle Tone. There is no tone control for the bridge humbucker, which is aligned with the master volume for maximum treble and gain. Like its companion Tele, the Stratocaster has an Indian Red Cedar body, which provides a snappy attack and a resonant voice even when played unplugged. It felt a little heavier than the Tele, perhaps because of the tremolo bridge and slightly larger body size of the Stratocaster. Like the Vintage Modified Tele, the neck has a 9.5-inch radius, C-shaped profile, and medium jumbo frets. The neck plays almost identically to the Tele I reviewed, although the rosewood fingerboard gave the neck a slightly more streamlined, sexier feel.

Performance

Plugged in, the Strat HSS delivered great classic rock tone from the Duncan bridge humbucker. It maintained clarity even through high-gain masters, with an emphasis on bass and treble. I had to boost the midrange a bit more than other humbucker-equipped Strats, but this is probably because Indian Red Cedar produces a brighter sound than Ash and Alder woods. The single coils produced bits and barks that will please most blues and Hendrix fans.

Unfortunately, like the Vintage Modified Telecaster, the tuners were a disappointment. I recommend upgrading them with a good set of locking tuners, which will improve the tone of the guitar and also allow you to abuse the tremolo as much as you like, without going out of tune.

Squier Vintage Modified Tele SH and Strat HSS Verdict

With its mix of classic features and custom upgrades, the Squier Vintage Modified Tele SH has what modern players want. Best of all, it plays like a good Tele should, and purists will no doubt approve. And if you love the tone and vibe of a vintage Stratocaster but need a high-octane bridge pickup, the Vintage Modified Stratocaster HSS offers spectacular performance at a budget-car price.