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Fender produced a number of significant Squier models in the brand’s first 15 years, following its launch in 1982
The glowing reputation of the very first set of Fender Squier Series Strats, Teles, P-Basses, and Jazz Basses – with the big Fender/little Squier logos – has only increased over time.The big-Squier-logo versions that followed immediately are more or less the same instruments, and they, too, continue to enjoy top‑notch status for build and playability.
The big-head Strat that changed the US market for Fender (in the UK it was known as the Popular Stratocaster and in Japan the Current Stratocaster) is another model from the first years of Squier that qualifies today as a prime collectable, alongside accompanying Telecasters and basses.
Collectors today often refer to these early and highly praised Fender Japan guitars and basses – with the Fender or Squier brand, and wherever they may have been sold – as JV models.This relates to their serial numbers, which from 1982 to ’84 have a JV prefix (Japan Vintage). Also significant are SQ-prefix serials, which applied from 1983 to ’84.
Fender shifted general production of Squiers away from Japan, at first to Korea in the late 80s. While Fender Japan continued to produce and sell models at home in Japan (and these are still highly rated today), in 1992 there was a brief return to export Japanese production with the notable Silver Series guitars and basses, sold in the UK as well as Japan.
Squier’s Pro Tone series, introduced in 1996, marked a step up in quality for the brand’s Korean production, mixing premium visuals and finishes with assured playability. Fender dropped the Pro Tones two years later, concerned about the effect their relatively affordable quality had on sales of Fender-brand guitars and basses.
In 1997, Squier’s 15th year, the shortlived Japan-made Vista series appeared, with Fender comfortable to experiment away from the main brand with new and revised shapes and styles. The Venus, as a six- or 12-string, was based on a Mercury guitar used by Courtney Love, the Super-Sonic was inspired by a photo of Hendrix with an upside‑down Jaguar, and the Jagmaster was based on a humbucker’d Jazzmaster played by Gavin Rossdale.