The $99 E.T.A. Squier Strat | Justin Bieber | Tom Strahle | Pro Guitar Secrets

Hey Tom, guitarist/composer here. Been following you since Paul David's video. Thanks a lot for this priceless knowledge!

Hi Tom, great follow up to Paul David’s video! The lighter fluid will dry the fretboard and remove some of the natural oil, so the oil was definitely necessary. I’ll put a notice up in your Discord channel for your subscribers.

I have one of these Squiers (maybe a year older) and it's the only guitar I have that I just grab for fun and don't really fret over each tonal component and yet from time to time, I do get some pretty good sounds out of it, that can be inspirational. You are right about that 80's sound being prevalent and something I go for. In addition to that, it is my experimental guitar. If I want to try some new pick ups, strings, or different tunings, this is the guitar I use. I'm even considering setting it up as a nine string (with the three lower octaves) and trying to surf on it. It's all good fun and no matter what happens to it, I won't regret the $105.00 I spent on mine. Keep it strange my friend.

Thanks for the video, Tom! You're great person, love your work! 💙

Amazing Tom. You are a Genius. Thanks for sharing your knowledge !!!

That s a nice instrument Tom, nice sound too . Thanks for this video

Great video Tom! agree about having a knock-around guitar to just pickup and start writing on. And a strat is a good one for that

Just a wonderful tone

Man, I'd be interested to hear you break down that Don't Go Far groove. That was sweet! Subscribed.

I love this, I’m still debating on what electric guitar to get for beginners. This video is packed with information. Thank you 😊 💕💕🌶

Grolsch Beer Washers! 😂 Loved the video Tom.

Great attitude to guitars.

You definitely didn't clean the mojo out of it. As you say, the mojo is really in the hands of the player. And unlike Austin Powers, you haven't lost your mojo!

Common Tom, let’s be real, it is a $99 guitar but a million dollar guitarist when you play it. A million dollar mojo!

Not really a Justin Bieber fan per se. I ended up stumbling upon a 2005 Bullet SSS HT Strat, that I had to repair. I bought it at a grocery store parking lot for $ 25, the deller wanted $ 60 back in summer 2019. Anyway, a neck pocket shim and some glue & toothpicks, she (ALDI is the name the guitar was christened with that day) does more than hold together now. Inevitably as the accidental tech/luthier this has become a 1st reach or a final play for around the house. It's a great traveling instrument for a session anywhere without being too concerned about another bump or scratch. Being the Bullet hardtail version, it has slightly different tone than a tremolo bridge, it actually looks like one of the Robert Cray MiM Player Series or even Fender Custom Shop Violet with gold hardware. Obviously the Bullet is a top loader, not a string thru Strat with the Chrome hardware. Mine actually had been upgraded to the Fender laser etched tuning pegs which retail fro $ 69.99. Which would mean tat the Tuners at one point between 2005-2019 cost nearly 3X what I paid for it. Research, the 2005 price catalog, the Bullet was $ 161 & changes for MSRP in the Bush era of USA. With the shim I figure I'm stick with it. Nobody is going to pay that much more than I did for it. Ot's probably worth a little more if it were to be parted out. So I shall play it until it's landfill pickup at the curb. Honestly, the glue & toothpicks are all hidden, it cleaned up well & with a major Truss Rod adjustment & set up with the shim as a 1/16 inch flat plastic part that I fabricated from scratch. As long as it plays it's going to stay intact. The shim was made from the hard plastic backing of a free Lowe's hardwood sample. The cheapest hardwood product they have really. A 15 year warranty flooring that is a veneer & plastic applied to the wood/faux wood. Those are the mods I did to it, more like repairs. After what I did to it, it's the same as the day I found it. Can't say it's all original electronics & hardware. But it does look to be completely original beyond the tuning pegs. The serial number & any stickers correlates & indicates the Baltic Blue body color of the 2005. What was wrong with the neck pocket, was actually the heel of the neck is too thin, it's exactly 1/16 inch thinner than a 2016 Affinity SSS Strat with a Tremolo bridge. Which actually approximates the ETA Bullet you have. OK enough about mine, it's a daily player & beater guitar that's quite special for $ 25 as a Luthier's Special of a repair & learning tool that plays better than I could've imagined once it was set up. For a little while I thought I had to live with a guitar that would have high string action. The shim corrected that, maintained the same neck angle & that's where ALDI is. Funny, the dude I bought it from spent that money at the ALDI grocery store, so I fed him buying his old beater of a guitar. It was filthy, abused & neglected, not a single screw was tight and would stay tight for more than a 3-4 weeks. It literally vibrated itself loose form being played. I couldn''t understand that, because the frets were neither dented, nor worn. Strummer & Jazz guitar I guess for cleans. Mine actually handles the OD & distortion pedal well. The OD it works best with is the Silver KLON circuit.

I think Amazon had a squire over the holidays that was $99 but I have no idea which one it was

Sir please do a review on the jcraft telecaster thinline vintage series guitar made in the philippines, only $250 have an vintage tuners, maple neck and fretboard poplar body and wilkinson bridge pickups but many said can compete a $600 squire classic vibe or under $600 guitars

I just bought new squier affinity telecaster (blonde with maple fretboard) and it's my cheapest and favourite guitar. It has an awesome neck and low action. The only problem is the neck pickup - it's too dark for me.

You know that the viewers are attentive when they comment on the condition of your fretboard 😂

Jimi Hendrix used lighter fluid too.