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Review<br />
Fender Squier Strat with USB<br />
and iOS connectivity £159.95/$199.95<br />
Plug in and play in a whole new way<br />
Key features<br />
<br />
<br />
Learn more…<br />
www.fender.com<br />
Available from…<br />
www.store.apple.com<br />
If you like this…<br />
You might also like…<br />
Epiphone Les Paul<br />
Ultra-III<br />
£499/$699<br />
If you can’t bear to<br />
be seen with a Strat,<br />
then why not check<br />
out Gibson’s off ering,<br />
which includes its<br />
own version of iTunes<br />
to use.<br />
120<br />
Pickups<br />
The Strat has a humbucker<br />
pickup in the bridge<br />
position, giving you some<br />
serious beef for when you<br />
want to blow people away<br />
Headphone socket<br />
The headphone socket is situated next to<br />
the micro USB and jack, so be aware that<br />
you don’t get into any tangles<br />
In the guitar world, Fender and<br />
Gibson users occupy the same<br />
divide as iOS and Android. There<br />
are the devotees and the fanatics,<br />
and those who wouldn’t be caught<br />
dead with the other manufacturer’s<br />
work slung around their necks.<br />
Continuing this analogy, the<br />
two guitar giants compete in<br />
terms of creating the hottest new<br />
functionality for six-string slingers<br />
everywhere. Namely, adding<br />
technology to their axes.<br />
The Fender Squier Strat with USB<br />
and iOS connectivity pops straight<br />
out of the box ready to use. It is<br />
designed to work with iOS devices<br />
that use GarageBand, but has the<br />
potential to be used elsewhere. Its<br />
micro USB and 3.5mm connections<br />
are all in the familiar area of the<br />
guitar’s heel, where you would find<br />
the ¼-inch jack input.<br />
We ran it through our amp first to<br />
see if it could do the business live,<br />
and were sufficiently impressed.<br />
That familiar twang was present,<br />
and with a touch of reverb it was<br />
Jack<br />
The USB guitar has a<br />
¼-inch jack input, so you<br />
can use the guitar live<br />
through an amplifier<br />
easy to evoke that sun-bleached<br />
California vibe that the model is<br />
intrinsically linked to. It’s clear that<br />
this is a Fender Stratocaster with a<br />
few added gizmos, and not a piece<br />
of technology with a guitar stuck<br />
carelessly on to it.<br />
Playability-wise, the Strat<br />
came well set up. The action and<br />
intonation were both well adjusted,<br />
and there were no rattles or pings<br />
from the body parts. We had<br />
standard gauge strings on ours,<br />
which made it a joy to skip up and<br />
down the frets, with the small necksize<br />
fitting right into our palm. The<br />
shape of the Strat makes it ideal<br />
for beginners – the two cutaways<br />
allowing your fingers easy access to<br />
the upper reaches of the fretboard.<br />
It’s light, unlike bedrock Les Pauls,<br />
and that aforementioned neck is<br />
great for any hands to fit round.<br />
Connecting the Strat was fairly<br />
straightforward. Once you are<br />
connected, and your headphones<br />
are plugged into the guitar, you’re<br />
away. What isn’t noticeable is how<br />
Headphone pot<br />
As well as a pot to control<br />
the guitar’s volume,<br />
there is a separate pot<br />
to control the output to<br />
headphones<br />
much effect the pickups have on<br />
the sounds produced in-app, as the<br />
GarageBand amp simulations are<br />
so overpowering. However, they<br />
sounded pretty good to our ears<br />
when matched up to the tones<br />
we were getting out of our 1x12<br />
valve amp – so they should keep<br />
everyone but the uber-purists<br />
rather happy.<br />
If you need to play and keep it<br />
quiet, or maybe can’t be away from<br />
your guitar for too long but also<br />
can’t carry an amp around with you,<br />
this could be an ideal solution. A<br />
great guitar, that just happens to be<br />
compatible with your iPad. We can’t<br />
find any faults at all.<br />
Buy now?<br />
Pros Well made, a dream to play – a<br />
very solid Strat<br />
Cons Can’t guarantee a decent tone<br />
when using amp simulations
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