I have got a squire fender strat, and it has the best strat sound of all the guitars that i have owned. It has Fender strings, and I paid £50 with an amp, secondhand, and it sounds superb. I think you need to retune your guitar, go to " Youtube" and type in" guitar tuning" as there are some videos of the correct sounds at concert pitch, which is the correct sound that all orchestra's and groups use. you can tune string by string. I have had proper Fender strats, and although the build quality was better, none sounded like this squire, just like hank marvin in the shadows, so nice it makes you weep.
be proud of the guitar, they are superb,
percy