Precisely this , going slow only helps attackers and since the winrates favored attackers they changed the time limit <| sep |> Probably going to be downvoted to hell and back , but . There ' s no answer here , because the question is impossibly broad . There are over 20 Squier Strats at any given time , and many more Fender models . The only person below to even broach that is Antmax his info is correct but tbh an accurate response would run several hundred words . Naturally , you can assume that you will get additional quality in parts , wood , etc . , that roughly parallels general pricing , but in reality most FMIC Fender Music Instrument Company products are a crapshoot you go to the store , and leave with the one that you bond with , and hope that relationship develops . You can get a very unimpressive US Standard , and then wind up with a VM or CV Squier that has tons of life in it . With Strats being so plentiful , you ' re best served by going to the nearest Guitar Centeretc . and playing the ones in your price range . Last but not least , a couple of thoughts Fender guitars are made to be tweaked . You MUST learn to set up your Strat in order to know at all whether it ' s decent . Thankfully , Fender ' s website has a great set up guide . Here it i s u s a r t i c l e s r r n H o w d o I s e t u p m y S t r a t o c a s t e r g uitarproperlyAdditionally , many Strat parts are easy to swap . Got a Squier VM but hate the tuners ? You can easily change them out . As for Phil McKnight , he means well but lacks subtlety and depth . His videos are hardly authoritative . Again , sorry , but am a former music biz pro and by far the biggest mistake I see is beginning to intermediate guitarists failing to realize that they must work with their instrument as a machine as well as a tool for creative expression . With a platform as flexible as a Strat , that is doubly true .