This Squier Stagemaster is quite an unusual guitar, for it is both a strat and a superstrat: it has a classic Fender Stratocaster body (just a little but thiner though), but all the attributes of the superstrat - no pickguard, H/S/H pickups configuration, Floyd Rose tremelo, reduced electronics, 24-fret neck, contoured heel, neck-through-body construction, and even a reversed headstock...
The Stagemaster was shortly released in the early 2000s and is based on the mid-1980s Fender HM Strat (HM stands for Heavy Metal), a previous attempt at the shredding market of the post-CBS era, poorly received at the time. But it is different enough from the HM to be considered as an original Squier model. And the colour is unique!
Edit: a comment allows me to precise that this model is actually the Stagemaster HSH Deluxe - the regular Stagemaster had a bolt-on neck a just 2 humbuckers. A 7-string version of this guitar was also available.
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This is the Stagemaster HSH deluxe. It has the set neck as opposed to the standard stagemaster which has a bolt on. I had one of the HH versions in cobalt blue pass through the workshop recently. Mine had enclosed humbuckers of squier origin in them but I don't think they where original. I can confirm it's a very nice guitar. solid as a rock. Bomb proof finish. nice neck perhaps a bit on the chunky side considering it's intended market. Floyd works well and the tuning is stable. I have seen these go for very little money on Ebay UK. and they are uncommon. I'm not a green guitar fan but that is a lovely colour.
ReplyDeleteIndeed. I owned a Stagemaster 7-string and it wasn't like the above guitar at all. It had a bolt-on neck (albeit with an upsidedown head) and the body was very slab-like, not nicely contoured like the deluxe. It had two humbuckers, and tone-wise was very muddy. I expect the pickups were designed for those into shredding and low riffage, but for me the sound was quite vile. I soon realised that the 7th string was nothing more than a gimmick and didn't really inspire me to make new and interesting compositions and sold it on to another curious person on eBay.
DeleteI just had the pleasure of picking up one of thees HSH deluxe neck through model v4 recently and I'm dumbfounded how good this guitar really is. I'm real picky when I go in to a Guitar Center or used guitar shop, I have played hundreds of guitars and just not impressed, not this time I'm blown away, this guitar is special, simply one of the best guitars I have ever played. I like to shred Steve Vai, Vh, Paul Gilbert,Vito Bratta,Jimmy Page, I do lots of Warren de Martini and this guitar screams the 80's with huge stain this guitar dose it all really.
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