The History of Squier Guitars

The Squier name was not always associated with guitars; it started out known for violins. These were not ordinary violins--they were some of the best instruments made in the States. In the early 1900s, Victor Squier started producing strings for violins, banjos and guitars. The quality of Squier hand-wound strings was a boon to business, and to meet demand Squier and his workers modified a sewing machine into a string winder that could produce 1,000 strings a day. In the 1960s, the Squier String Company started producing strings for Leo Fender. A few years later, Fender bought the Squier String Company.

Birth of a Brand

Fender assigned the Squier name to guitars in 1982. At that time, there were several guitar manufacturers in Japan making knock-off Stratocasters and Telecasters. The Squier brand was created to compete in this market. Squier produced remakes of the 1957 and 1962 Stratocaster and Precision Bass, the 1952 Telecaster and the 1962 Jazz Bass. Some modifications were made to reduce costs, but these guitars are still sought after by collectors because of their quality

Coming to America

In the mid-1980s, Fender imported the Japanese-made Squier guitars to the United States. Fender opted to modernize the Squier line, going for an updated look rather then continuing with the classic remakes. Stratocaster, Telecaster and the Precision Bass models all carried the Squier name. Fender marketed these Squier instruments as the only officially authorized brand to copy the Fender designs.

Evolution

Squier was the brand Fender used to introduce many low-cost, entry-level instruments into the marketplace. These were the "Bullet" series in the '80s and the Affinity series in the late '90s. These were no-frills replicas of the Stratocaster, Telecaster and Precision Bass. The late '90s also saw the advent of the Squier Pro Tone models. These instruments were designed to elevate the Squier name by adding upscale parts and finishes. The Vista Series was also introduced at this time, although these guitars had few or no ties to Fender guitars of the past.

Little Change

The early part of the new millennium saw little change for the Squier line. A seven-string model was introduced, but it was short-lived. In 2002, Squier celebrated its 20th anniversary by releasing a new line of guitars, the Series 24. This line offered a greater diversity of models, but they did not appeal to guitar buyers like Fender had hoped.

Breaking Out

In the mid-2000s Squier scored big with limited-edition Affinity models that featured special two-color sunburst and metallic finishes. In an attempt to keep up with the younger market, Squier teamed up with Sanrio to produce a "Hello Kitty" line of guitars in 2006. Squier maintains this marketing approach by producing Artist Model instruments that are associated with today's up-and-coming artists. This series is highlighted by three new basses paired with Mike Dirnt of Green Day, Frank Bello of Anthrax and Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy.