Squier Master Series M-80 Special

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This is one of the most non-Squier-y Squiers ever made. It's a Squier Master Series M-80 Special. It's like a half Fender, half Gibson. It has a Gibson style electronic setup, with two humbuckers, two volume controls, two tone controls, 3 way switch on the upper horn. It uses a 24.75" scale, typical of a Gibson product, it has beveled edges like an SG and uses a Tune-O-Matic bridge and there are 3 tunes on each side of the headstock. It has several Fender-y features like the offset Mustang-like body and Strat-like belly cut, a basswood body with a bolt-on maple neck with an outstanding dry rosewood fretboard with no fret markers. It has a satin finish that is advertised as walnut, and while it looks red in some of these pictures, but it's a reddish brown stain.

It's really a gorgeous guitar. The finish is see through, so the woodgrain is clearly visible and is quite lovely, It plays beautifully and sounds great with the stock humbuckers. The Master Series was the top of the line Squier in 2005-06, and the quality of this guitar is second to none. The body and neck are satin, and the guitar feels great in my hands. I saw it on Marketplace for a good price late last year, and I had to have it, mostly because it's so unusual for a Squier. When I first saw the ad for the guitar, the first thing that I thought was "Series 24" which was a line of 24.75" scale guitars introduced in 2002, and I did some reading, and the Master Series actually replaced Series 24 in 2005.

The consensus was that the designer was trying to make a better Gibson SG that didn't have the neck dive or some of the other flaws of that guitar. His words can be seen in a graphic at the bottom of this post. It's an unusual guitar that is a lot of fun to play and looks fantastic. They only made them in 2005 and 2006, and since Fender doesn't publish production numbers, nobody knows how many were made, but it can't have been a ton. I had never seen one before I saw the ad for this guitar. The ad said "Cherry wood Fender Squier (2005ish)", and didn't have the model number. There were no closeups of the headstock, and I could only read the M and the 0 in the model name, and it wasn't until I got the guitar in my hands that I could see that it was an M-80. The guitar is in fabulous condition, and is a delight to play. I completely lucked out on getting this particular guitar. I was perusing Marketplace when I saw this ad and became curious about it. I wasn't planning on buying a guitar that day. Now I have two 24.75" scale Squiers.

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Mine is the M-80 Special with a bolt-on neck, but there was also a plain old M-80 that boasted a set neck, block fret markers, a mahogany neck and Duncan Designed pickups. They were at the absolute top of the Squier line, while my Special was a lower priced alternative that was still high in quality and playability. The M-80 Special is likely quite rare, and I bet the plain old M-80 is even rarer today, since the list price for the M-80 was was nearly twice what the M-80 Special listed for.