The ‘ 70s was a notoriously tough decade for Fender guitars . Leo himself had long ago departed from his namesake company , quality had slowly but surely gone down the tubes under CBS ’ s stingy , cost-cutting approach to management , and the preferred instrument of the decade ’ s new breed of hard rockers was a dual humbuckerequipped Gibson Les Paul . Adding insult to these many injuries was the fact that several savvy Japanese manufacturers were building copies of Fender ’ s most iconic vintage instruments at a level of quality that handily rivaled the originals , and were quite a bit cheaper as well . It was a dark time indeed for this once incredibly innovative and successful American company , now relegated to the role of an industry has-been that couldn ’ t even manage to manufacture its own instruments competently .
By the turn of the next decade , it had become abundantly clear that something had to be done or Fender would be finished for good . The company was no longer a profitable enterprise and its reputation was at an all-time low among musicians and industry insiders alike , so in 1981 a new management team came on board to turn things around . This team , comprised of ex-Yamaha managers , decided to combat the degrading quality issue by refocusing efforts on quality control and the complete renovation of the company ’ s Fullerton facility , and they boldly went after the Japanese copycats by taking the fight straight to them . Fender ’ s strategy to win the war on Asian copycats was to begin manufacturing its own lowercost “ copies ” in the very same Japanese factories , aimed at both the American and Japanese guitar markets . It was in this time that the Squier brand was born .
Squier was originally a well-known and successful string company , began in 1890 in Battle Creek Michigan by V . C . Squier , son of violin maker J . B . Squier , a man often referred to as the “ American Stradivarius .” Fender purchased the brand in 1965 , but it went dormant in the early ‘ 70s , finally being revived in 1982 as the name of Fender ’ s new Japanese manufacturing venture . Choosing a different name for Japanese-made Fender models allowed the company to mitigate the damage to its reputation should things not turn out as planned . This conservative approach would prove to be unnecessary however , as the original Japanese Squier guitars were of very high quality and quite successful in the marketplace as well . Most guitarists today think of Squier guitars as merely less expensive , lower quality , Asian-built Fenders , but in the beginning especially , Squier guitars were impeccably constructed instruments . As time went on , Squier even began releasing a number of bold , original designs of its own . Some of these guitars that originated overseas are still beloved today , and remain part of the Fender product line . Here are a few of the coolest Squier guitars to come out of the Japanese factories .
The ‘ 70s was a notoriously tough decade for Fender guitars . Leo himself had long ago departed from his namesake company , quality had slowly but surely gone down the tubes under CBS ’ s stingy , cost-cutting approach to management , and the preferred instrument of the decade ’ s new breed of hard rockers was a dual humbuckerequipped Gibson Les Paul . Adding insult to these many injuries was the fact that several savvy Japanese manufacturers were building copies of Fender ’ s most iconic vintage instruments at a level of quality that handily rivaled the originals , and were quite a bit cheaper as well . It was a dark time indeed for this once incredibly innovative and successful American company , now relegated to the role of an industry has-been that couldn ’ t even manage to manufacture its own instruments competently .
By the turn of the next decade , it had become abundantly clear that something had to be done or Fender would be finished for good . The company was no longer a profitable enterprise and its reputation was at an all-time low among musicians and industry insiders alike , so in 1981 a new management team came on board to turn things around . This team , comprised of ex-Yamaha managers , decided to combat the degrading quality issue by refocusing efforts on quality control and the complete renovation of the company ’ s Fullerton facility , and they boldly went after the Japanese copycats by taking the fight straight to them . Fender ’ s strategy to win the war on Asian copycats was to begin manufacturing its own lowercost “ copies ” in the very same Japanese factories , aimed at both the American and Japanese guitar markets . It was in this time that the Squier brand was born .
Squier was originally a well-known and successful string company , began in 1890 in Battle Creek Michigan by V . C . Squier , son of violin maker J . B . Squier , a man often referred to as the “ American Stradivarius .” Fender purchased the brand in 1965 , but it went dormant in the early ‘ 70s , finally being revived in 1982 as the name of Fender ’ s new Japanese manufacturing venture . Choosing a different name for Japanese-made Fender models allowed the company to mitigate the damage to its reputation should things not turn out as planned . This conservative approach would prove to be unnecessary however , as the original Japanese Squier guitars were of very high quality and quite successful in the marketplace as well . Most guitarists today think of Squier guitars as merely less expensive , lower quality , Asian-built Fenders , but in the beginning especially , Squier guitars were impeccably constructed instruments . As time went on , Squier even began releasing a number of bold , original designs of its own . Some of these guitars that originated overseas are still beloved today , and remain part of the Fender product line . Here are a few of the coolest Squier guitars to come out of the Japanese factories .