Squier Classic Vibe '50s Duo-Sonic

Dirt simple. Short scale (took 5 minutes to fall in love with after stringing w/ 11's), stellar fretwork not a sharp end to be found, solid electronics and I LOVE the pickups! How often do you say that about a "budget" guitar. The only think I may mod in the future are the bridge saddles.

Haven't tried it with my cover band, but can't wait. I suspect I will be playing it all night (it's light as a feather) but it totally rocks with my indie original band. I play a SCXD, Crate V18, vintage DOD compressor, various dirt pedals, delay. Quiet as a mouse. I think the aluminum pickguard helps, but I took apart my other Classic Vibe Strat and there's shielding paint in there too. Kind of on the bright side but sweet mids and lows. It sounds country with comp and a nice clean setting but almost brings the brootals if you need it to. No dislikes. Versatile as hell.

Lots of poly, but applied well. Pickups sound awesome! In between a strat and tele but with it's own thing going on too. No finish flaws, got it from GC and it was set up well at the factory (Lord knows they don't set up any). All knobs, etc. tight. Real winner.

Should be fine, only had it a week. Had my other Classic Vibe a year and no issues. Best thing to come out of China in a long time. I never gig without a backup, but that's a Classic Vibe too (ok, I have othe rguitars too, but the CV's are my road axes).

Never had to deal with.

I would buy another in a heartbeat if damaged or stolen. BEst 250-3 bills you will spend. Awesome tones and playability. FMIC really hit the nail on the head with the Classic Vibe series GET ONE!!

The pickups and the shape/body are great. Its a guitar with two single coil pickups and vingate tuners. Only comes in 1 color.

This is THE clarest most soulful set of old style single coil sounds
I have ever heard. They are absolutely dead quiet as far as hum goes, which is amazing. They have the twang or the glass when needed. I can not say enough about the sound coming out of this guitar. I own Fender American series stuff and Gibson stuff as well as lots more... and this guitar really has a place that hasn't been matched for its style of sound.
The short scale is something wonderful where "wobbly" bends and shakes of the guitar are concerned. I can do things on this guitar which don't sound as good on any other I own.
Regardless of price, this is a blast to play and sound superb.

Perfect fit and finish as far as body and neck go. Love the neck - it is a glossy finish but my fingers slide around on it well. Paint, fit of neck joint, bridge, etc. are perfect. Yes, perfect. Someone in China knows how to do it right...
Set up was pretty good, but I don't rate on that because all guitars need some set up, unless you go to the really high end of things AND get lucky.

Body finish/Fit - 10+

I have changed the bridge saddles to brass compensated ones. I particularly noticed that lack of good intonation on the low E string. This is after setup - an acceptable complomise iwth the barrel saddles could not be found. The brass compensated saddles only cost me $10 from RS Guitarworks and work wonderfully. I don't dock for points here because this is a common element of the old barrel saddles. It may show up more on a short scale guitar????
Anyway, this is a super easy fix [just unscrew old one and screw in the new] that allows for good intonation.

Staying in tune was a challenge when if first arrived [after a string change]. I worked the nut just a bit to make sure things were working smoothly and that helped quite a bit. I will probably just replace the nut with a bone one.

Tuners are old style, but cheapish. It is not easy to make small adjustments. They look cool enough - vintage style - but are not high quality. They work OK but are not easy to adjust. These are the reason I give it a 9 overall.

Should be rock solid.

Without considering price at all - this guitar would be a 10+ for sound, a 10+ for fit and finish, a 6 for nut, tuners, saddles [my opinion] and a 10 for "vibe".

Considering the price it is just plain a 10.

I can't find a review on HC anywhere, so here is the first one!
2008 chinese First run, 21 fat frets, light desert sand finished basswood body, 24' scale. Simple Sweet 2 single coil Alnico pickups- 3 way switch. 1 tone, 1 volume, knobs are like tele knobs, very similar to an old 50s Fender Duo Sonic. 1 peice (?) maple neck with thin layer of gloss finish. Truncated top loading 3 barrel tele style bridge, anodized gold pickguard. Kluson style button tuners with white plastic knobs. I have a bag for it, but it is case worthy.

Very sweet yet full Fenderish sound. A definite mix of Strat and Tele. great for Spacey indie rock to bluesy raunch. Using a tweed fender blues Jr w/ celestion Greenback, 71 Twin Reverb, 68 Bandmaster, 62 epiphone pacemaker (basically like a tweed champ with tremelo). Use several delay/reverb effects and a TS-9 DX- great all around overdrive/ distortion. DEAD QUIET EVEN WITH GAIN- i think it is because of the awesome sheilding the pickguard gives it. Bright and warm at the same time. Pickups sound like tele and strat pickups combined, not huge power, but very very usable and shimmering, nothing a volume knob on a good old tube amp can't fix. Nothing not to love, can't put it down- this is a good thing. stock alnico Singles sound excellent!!!

I got it shipped to my house from McGuitarcenter's online. action was very very good out of the 5 layer box it came shiped in, and wow- D'Addario 9s!!! not crappy bullets! The fret edges needed a quick bit of filing down, but it really was not much of a big deal, It plays REALLY well, even for a short scale. Can't believe it is a squire. Feels better than a USA 62 strat RI that I briefly had- no kidding. Everything is solid and very clean. Plays very very well. Very usable and quite a looker!!! One point off for having to file the fret edges

cliche- "Fenders are built like tanks", indeed this is the case with this Duo-sonic. It seems like I may need to change the metal pickguard to a plastic one eventually- it feels like nails on a chalkboard if you hit it just the right way, but i may not b/c of shielding purposes. This is a secondary fender to the highway one strat that I also just got (my favorite though many hate it), so it may be used live only far a few songs. Undoubtably could be used for a whole gig with no backup with extra strings on hand.

finish is solid, strap buttons. hardware seems very solid. Just got the thing, we will see.

90% of FMIC products that I have played or owned have had a damning flaw. The corporation needs to invest more in guitars like the classic vibe series and more simplified American lines of guitars.

Don't care.

16 year player, 2 gibson SGs, 96 72 tele custom reissue, Fender highway 1 strat- later version with the big headstock and darker pups.
have owned many many other electrics including squires- vowed never to get a squire again, but this has definately changed my tune. did alot of reasearch on forums- not one negative comment. Not one damning comment here either. would buy again. Feels, tunes and sounds great- aren't these the most important things? Check one out if you can! Very nice... nicer than the brand name and price imply.