Wise move; you obviously listened to that Inner Voice!
Those early Squiers like the JV and Silver Series do the biz certainly in terms of build, though many of them may well need a refret by now as the wire seemed to me a bit soft.
I think I'm close in saying that for about £100 more(or even a bit less on a good day) you could hold out for a real s/h MIJ strat. At one time I had a US Star Plus Deluxe, now subsumed by my MIJ '68 Reissue and I kid you not that the latter is more responsive and a better player. Certainly many folks rate them above the present US strats.
