Customer Reviews

Squier by Fender Classic Vibe Stratocaster 60s, 3 Tone Sunburst

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I already love the Classic Vibe Series from Squier. I already have the Custom Tele and love the quality, feel and sound of the guitar. This is a great guitar with a unique sound... here's why...

The Build
This guitar is a quality built guitar. 2 Pieces of Alder with amazing quality to the Sunburst finish. It is a gorgeous guitar body. The neck is a thin C-shape with a unique design. It is glossy and thinner than the C-Shaped Mexican Strat Necks or the US Strat Necks. The medium-jumbo frets on the rosewood neck have no sharp edges and seem perfectly installed. The guitar came in the box, perfectly set up, although I needed to set the pickup heights a little differently and change the intonation a little with the bridge saddles. (This should be expected on almost any guitar.) There were a few dinks on the fretboard from the factory, but nothing that affects play at all.

The Hardware
The Tuners are vintage tuners that I have seen on some Us Strats and even the Kenny Wayne Signature Mexican Strat. They stay in tune perfectly well and seem like a great quality. The Bridge and saddles seem to be a good quality. The trem has a zinc trem block that seems less than the quality that I would want. I'm not sure why they don't have a higher quality stainless block.

The Electronics
The Pickups are Alnico and sound great. (remember that the stock Fender Bullet Strings are garbage and need to be changed.) Throw some decent strings on it and you will find that the pickups are fantastic. Tons of character from the notch settings. You get great Strat Spank and quack with a great sound. What surprises me in a huge way is the sustain. This guitar sustains way better than ANY Strat US or MExican that I have ever tried. (I assume that this is a combination of the quality build, the Hardware and the Electronics.)

The Sound
This guitar has a fantastic unique sound. Playing through several amps, this guitar sounded high quality through all of them. You will not find any Squier that has this kind of quality sound and sustain. Not even the Mexican Made Strats have this great sound. The older MIM strats all have ceramic pickups that are no good. This strat has high quality ALNICO pickups.

The Feel
The neck is thin, and if you like a thin neck this guitar feels amazing. I love the feel of this guitar. If you blindfolded me, I might pick the feel of this guitar over any strat that I have ever played.

Overall
You won't find a Strat with such a high quality and interesting sound as good for this price anywhere. If you like the sound and feel, you should feel lucky to find a guitar for this price. I could play this onstage or with any amp and be happy with the sound and sustain.

My guess about this guitar is that they had the China Squier factory use top quality parts and has developed a better quality control system to make these guitars more consistently good.

I love these guitars. Mine is easily becoming my favorite strat to hear, feel and play.

For the money, this is a great product. The setup was pretty much flawless when I pulled it from the box. It had been in a box for roughly 6 months when I received it (I checked the inspection date), and the intonation, the string action, and the guitar was actually very close to in tune! I checked the finish carefully, but could not find anything at all significant to point out. The guitar resonates well and the slightly higher output Alnico's make be prefer this guitar over the 50's CV version (which I owned.)

While very solid, this does not compare to higher end Stratocasters, but competes VERY well with a Standard American Strat, and frankly does a better job than the Mexican strats that I've played...all at a lower price point.

Shipping was not much more for 2 day shipping, so it showed quickly.

Clearly Fender knows they did this one right, as when I first looked at all of these, they were JUST over $300. Now they're going for close to $400. Still an excellent value for a casual user, and even a professional who wants a stage guitar for those places you don't want to leave your $2000+ Strat sitting out and about.

I scored this one as a used item at a big box store, so the price was even cheaper than the very reasonable $350 new street price. China has really upped their game with regards to quality guitar construction. These and the Jagmaster and vintage modified line are great guitars. At this price point, Squier had to make some compromises, but they wisely decided to spend a bit more where it counts- The pickups, tuners, and neck. These pickups do not require upgrade- they sparkle, jangle and roar. All of the stratty sounds you expect can be had with these pickups. The tuners are kluson styled and do a decent enough job. I would have liked a higher ratio but you can tune just fine with a little patience. The nut is synthetic bone (plastic) and was cut perfectly. The neck is a really comfortable profile- c shaped and ever so slightly thinner than a Strat Standard. NOT the kind of thin you would find on say and Ibanez RG. The aged poly looks and plays great. Fretwork was nicely done as was the rosewood board. The body is 2 piece Alder- which is less pieces than my made in Mexico Strat- and the finish is really lovely. I have zero complaints about this guitar. It feels solid. The trem works fine with just occasional use, but I may block it like I tend to do with all my trems. I would do the same with an American Standard. You can't dive bomb on any non locking trem and stay in tune. I don't really use them much these days! Cork sniffers love to hate on Squier but another reviewer summed it up perfectly: Unless you are signing autographs for a living, the Squier is at least as much guitar as you are a player. I would gig this guitar in an instant.

There was a time when people looked down their noses at guitars made in the far east. Japanese guitars were thought to be what you got when you couldn't afford a real guitar. As it turns out, Stevie Ray Vaughn was known to play a Japanese Tokai Springy Sound occasionally. I would say his tone was pretty satisfactory, wouldn't you? Well China is the new Japan. And now that computers cut all the wood, it's cheaper and easier to get a great guitar for next to nothing. Tone is really in your fingers !