The guitar is simply beautiful to look at - the dark red transparent lacquer revealing the texture of the wood and the black pickguard. It's a "real" Fender, not a Squire, but it's still made in China. I didn't find any major defects though, the workmanship is excellent considering the price. It came from Muziker set up and tuned, but you could tell it had been hanging in a shop somewhere and had been played.