They are sure making nicer guitars on the Squier line these days.
Had a BAD jones for a Mary Kaye Strat, then saw these at CME. You cannot tell to well from the online photos, but it is a translucent finish indeed. The gold on the guard is a good mellow tone, not super yellow. Has a Mustang bridge and a pop-in collet, which I prefer to the threaded one on the MIM guitars.
The pickups sound right. Clear, punchy, Jazzmaster-y. Through a Hot Cake into a tweed amp, the bridge does a reasonable early Superdrag tone (should be 2 dimed-out Distortion+s, but anyhow).
The fret board needs oiling, and either the shaft is slightly bent on my main tone pot or the knob is on wonky. I'd have preferred black witch hats to knurled chrome, but that's it for negatives at first blush.
I'd love to own this guitar, but I'd rather change the pickup covers and make them match the bar tip.
