I have had a Squier for about 20 years. It was my learner guitar when I first started out. Fell in love with it and up till now I have absolutely no desire whatsoever to own another Strat, be it an original American made Fender or whatever. No offense Fender purists, but I just love my Squier. I have modded it to have an SD Hot Rails in the neck and bridge, whilst maintaining the stock mid pup.

I have also added a 5 way super switch and a push push 500k pot. The tones that I am able to achieve are really good and covers most genres. No qualms there. I do however also own a 1965 Vox SuperAce guitar i inherited from my dad, that is basically a real vintage Strat copy for classic strat sounds. And recently made my first forray into semi hollows by purchasing an Ibanez ArtCore guitar. Really happy with my "clones".

All the best to you!