Squier Classic Vibe '50s Telecaster

Features - See previous reviews. This is your basic straight forward style guitar. Nothing fancy here.

What a pleasant surprise. I've never bought a guitar without playing it first. I read the review for this in Guitar Player and thought..."for $349 how bad can it be." I bought this on line from Guitar Center. I think the tone is almost (95%) as good as a standard American made Telecaster. I took it out of the box, plugged it into my Line 6 Flextone XLIII and immediately had all the chicken picking tone I could use.

Fantastic fit and finish...as good as anything you might buy in the $1000 to $1500 range. And playable..I pulled it from the box, tuned it up and could have gone right on stage. No sharp edges on the frets or the bridge. Pots and selector switch turn very smoothly.

I just got this last night so I can't comment on durability, but if I were to venture a guess I would say this thing will be indestructible.

N\A

Guitar Player nailed right on the money in its review of this guitar. My main guitar is a MIA Fender American Deluxe Strat. I've wanted a Tele for years but was reluctant to drop $1500 to get a good one. Well...no worries no. I picked up a great one for $349. If it was lost or stolen I'd get another in a minute. Tone is great, it's very playable and it looks great. This is a sub $400 guitar? You could have fooled me. Nice job fender/Squier.

This guitar was made in 2008, I believe. It's the same as all the other Classic Vibe Teles, maybe one of the earlier ones. Nothing new to note about it that hasn't be mentioned in the other reviews. Typical tele features -- not too many, but just enough to do what you need.

This guitar is amazing, not only because it is so inexpensive. The neck, body, hardware, and electronics are all good quality. I was using it with a keeley compressor into a mod'd Blues driver, but have since switched to straight into my Classic 30 on the dist. channel. I think this gives great sound that is both clean and crisp, where you can hear each individual string with the volume knob down to 5-6, and then more bite and snarl when you open it up all the way. The sound is very full on the neck and middle position and extremely usable to jazz and rock rhythm guitar. The bridge pickup works very well as a lead pickup. The volume and tone pots are large sized, not tiny. I'm not planning on changing the pickups as they work extremely well in this guitar.

The guitar was used when I got and I needed to recrown the frets, file the nut just a tiny bit to keep the 10-46s from catching, but other than that it's fine. Everything seems to be fine, with lots of attention to detail that I'd expect on a much more expensive guitar.
The neck pocket is very tight and everything else is good.

Too soon to tell, but it looks like it will last.

No idea.

Overall, this guitar is probably one of the best investments I've made. It's currently my go to guitar when I've got 10-15 minutes to play. It's just dependable and from session to session doesn't go out of tune (the filing and lubing of the nut took care of all of those issues). I bought it used for $200 and it's easily as good as a MIJ 52 tele that I had before for $600.

Your basic Tele, the primordial solid body electric: you know it, you love it, you want it. Two alnico single-coil pickups, maple neck, 3-way switch, brass saddles. A couple of differences from most vintage-style Teles: the CV has a flatter fingerboard radius and larger rounded frets which improves playability for most of us. It also has a Pine body rather than Ash... much like the earliest prototype Teles. I'm sure pine is cheaper than ash, but it works very well in this guitar and is surprisingly toneful.

Classic tele sound; bright, chimey, twangy on the bridge pickup but capable of some real girth and snarl when needed. The neck pickup is warmer and rounder, but retains decent articulation. These are good quality pickups that really don't need to be replaced.

Here's the shocker: I've owned a number of Teles in the past and only found one other that sounded as good (a G&L ASAT Classic that, sadly, was a horrible color that I grew to loathe).

Very good. Surprisingly good. Shockingly good. Disturbingly good (esp. considering the low price).

Setup was good off the rack. I particularly like the neck shape and finish. Very fast and playable.

The one problem I noticed was slightly protruding/sharp fret-ends... fairly typical here in Colorado where the extreme dryness causes this on many guitars (PRS seems to be a notable exception... they apparently cure their wood better than most). The dealer applied a fret-file to the neck and eliminated most of the problem.

Fine so far... I've had the guitar about 8 months with no problems yet. Feels rugged like a Tele should...

I've played for over 40 years and have owned and traded many guitars. This is a great one. I've owned 5 other Teles in the past (2-MIM and 3-MIA) and this one (the cheapest) is my favorite so far. After reading glowing reviews about the CV Tele I found one at a local dealer and gave it try, figuring it might be OK and would make a good inexpensive "beater" or travel guitar. Shock... it's *much* better than that.

Anyone who owns more than three guitars should probably own a Tele and this is a cheap, low-risk way to enter the Telecaster world. At the very least, a CV Tele makes sense as a) a good 2nd/backup guitar for gigs b) a rugged low-cost travel guitar c) a good alternate guitar to keep set up for alternate tunings or slide guitar d) a "beater" guitar to leave out around the house with no worries if little Junior decides to run his Tonka truck over it. If you buy it for one of these reasons you just might find that it becomes a real favorite.

Basic telecaster, made from pine. Alnico III pickups. It has a flimsy pickup switch and a jack socket that comes loose. About 10lb in weight so very heavy.

The bridge pickup sounds pretty good, although on the one I bought the top E and B strings were quite dead, lacking resonance. I tried to recut the nut and looked at the saddles, but couldn't get it right. The neck pickup is on the dull side, as far as tele neck pickups go. An OK sound, but nothing special. I put very expensive P90 emulator pickups in, and it still doesn't sound great.

Quite well set up, although as I mentioned above, there is something wrong with the top E and B strings. The hardware is quite cheap. The jack socket comes loose on nearly all of them. The finish is OK, but it dents really easily because the body is pine.

Seems quite reliable, although if you pulled a bit on the pickup selector it would bend or snap.

No opinion.

I have been playing for 21 years. This purchase was a bit of a mistake - I didn't notice the problems in the shop and wanted to get a tele I could modify. I would be wary of all the hype surrounding this guitar. It is OK, but not great... although I wonder whether all the rubbish gets sent to Europe by Fender, since Americans seem to think it is wonderful and go on about how light and resonant it is. I haven't held one under about 10lb and I looked at around 10 different ones round and about.

I'm not going to repeat these features. If you're looking for lots of features on a guitar, a telecaster isn't really for you anyway. Let's just say that everything that's on it works really really well. I love this guitar.

I'm giving the sound an eight because the pickups have a fairly low output. My main guitar is a '92 Strat Ultra, played through a Fender Hot Rod Deville. Switching from the strat to the tele required a bit of adjustment to the amp. Soundwise; these pickups are great but, because I use it live, I put a couple of higher output Seymour Duncans into it and it now sounds better than an American standard Tele. This is simply an awesome guitar. I hate to say that it's a great guitar for the price you pay because, whilst it certainly is, it is actually simply a great guitar. I've been gigging for over 20 years and I've owned plenty of guitars. Currently using the aforementioned strat, a Schecter Exotic Star and a mongrel strat that I put together from bits of others. Previously owned and American Standard Tele, two Paul Reed Smiths - one a custom, a Gibson SG and many others. When I parted with the the guitars I no longer have, I never felt the urge to go back and repurchase. With the Classic Vibe Tele, I definitely would.

This looks like a 2 grand guitar. The finish is nothing short of excellent - in this case I will say "for the money". A friend of mine once asked me, "Do you want to look at it or play it". With this guitar, I love looking at it but I adore playing it. I prefer a maple neck and this one plays brilliantly. This has impressed me so much that it has already been promoted to 2nd guitar.

It seems to be pretty robust.

Unbelievable value. If you are starting out or if you're playing stadia, there's no better value out there. I have changed the pick ups to a SD 50's reissue neck and a Jerry Donahue special bridge but nothing else has been changed. I've been taking this guitar through its paces and it stays in tune remarkably well for the punishment I've given it.

Made this year, view features on fenders site. squier version of a classic 50's tele

This thing sounds awesome! I cant play any country tunes, but i fiddled around on a few scales and its really... twangy for lack of a better term. the bridge pickup has a sharpness in its twang and when the gain is turned up can really bite.

The neck pickup gives a real nice round les paul-esque tone, but with added twang. it sounds awesome clean or distorted and makes me really want to get a tube amp( someday, when i live in a house and not an apartment i guess). I dont think i will ever upgrade the pickups in this guitar. they really give a nice contrast to those in my strat. different sound for different styles. Im favouring the neck pickup with a medium gain for nice round warm blues tones, and the bridge with tons of gain for a sharp bite and attack when playing lead. It really sounds every bit as good ( better mabie??) than any of the MIM i played over the last few weeks.

Finish:
The finish is nice, not one id pick but its nice. its kind of an opaque cream color with the grain barely visible through it. its very difficult to photo this finish as it just looks fully opaque. In small spots( around the neck joint) you can see where this was not lovingly hand painted but done on a conveyor by machine. its a little rough on the very edges, but nothing unbearable. also there is a tiny spot that looks as if it was scratched and touched up with a small paint brush by a worker. its barely noticeable, took me ages to notice it and doesnt bother me at all( if the guitar was a little dearer though this could be cause to send it back), but i like my gear perfect, especially if its expensive.

Setup:
This thing is perfect out of the box. a quick tune and its ready to roll. perfectly intonated, not just for a tele with old style saddles, but for any guitar!! no fret buzz, neck feels very straight, action is almost too low! way lower than i can get my Am Deluxe Strat! Think i might actually highten the strings a little.

Neck:
This is my first maple neck so I dont have a lot of basis for comparison.
It certainly looks beautiful. Very shiny fretboard. The layer of laquer ( or is it polyurethane ??) on the back of the neck is a little thicker than i would like, but still thiner than the finish on some necks like on the epiphone's. I would rather the satin smooth finish on my deluxe, but eh, its a 275 euro guitar! I find my hand doesnt slide as nicely on this as it does on the matt/satin finish.

The neck is a little thicker than my deluxe strat 9.25 C shaped neck, but barely. Different, but not necessarily in a bad way. It gives the guitar a bigger, fatter feel, like it is built for solid rhythm playing.

Frets are medium jumbo, the exact ones i like. I hate the tiny vintage frets, or the jumbo ones on the highway 1 series. i just cant play those guitars right at all. The fret job is better than that on most American standard and deluxe's. better, or at the very least, on parr. Frets are beautifully finished, all level as far as i can determine, no edges sticking out, nicely rounded and polished.There is even some sort of filler ( tiny slivers of veneer i think) at either end of each fret to prevent the metal showing on the side of the neck. very tidy.

Headstock is beautiful and only for it says squier, could happily belong to an Am std. The whole neck could for that matter, apart from the finish which, as stated earlier, is not bad, but not my preference.

Hardware:
The bridge is an old style, 3 brass saddle type. This was a con for me initially, but as mentioned before it is intonated almost perfectly! Holes in the body line up perfectly with holes in the bridge, which is not often the case with cheap guitars.

Volume and tone knobs are chunky, almost too big. might replace them for slimmer versions down the road, but they are fine, and im just nitpicking there really. they feel really chunky and solid.
The pots are not too stiff, not too loose. just right. Even my Am Deluxe Strat had an overly tight tone control when i got it first.

String tree is like a screw with an enlarged head. Does the job fine, looks ok. I dont hate it or love it.

strap buttons are std strap buttons. nothing fancy. some folks say they wont put a strap on this guitar as pine is too soft and the buttons will rip out of the guitar with the first bit of rocking out. i find this hard to believe, and would like to hear some of your more expirienced opinions on that.

Pickguard is very thick. too thick. well, it looks too thick the way its bevelled. This is one thing i really want to change on this. Ive saw a matt gold pickguard that would look awesome on this and when i get around to it it will be my 2nd mod on this guitar after...

The output jack. This is the single bad feature of this guitar. It was loose straight out of the box. Had to remove the controls, hold the jack and tighten the nut

feels solid and reliable. time will tell. at this moment, I only have the guitar 2 days.

unknown. never dealt with'em

This is a smashing guitar, not just because its 275 euros, but simply because its a smashing guitar, period. it stands up there with guitars 2-3 times its price. It feels like a tele, sounds like a tele, but costs 1/3 the cost of a decent tele!

If your looking for a good 2nd guitar, without having to make any mods i heartily recommend this. also if your looking for an esquire, i also recomment this as its the perfect base to start an esquire project from.

Weights vary from one guitar to the next so check, mine is quite heavy, il guesstimate 8lbs but they can be as light as 7lbs and as heavy as 9lbs, going from other reviews.

Forget the money, this is an awesome guitar, and everyone should at least play one to see how much quality you can get in the low rage of the market. I look forward to many years of learning on this beauty.

I'm not going to repeat the features as they've already all been mentioned. Telecasters do tend to lack in features, but I knew that before I went looking for one. The only thing I'd consider adding is a concentric pot to give me separate volumes for each pickup as the bridge pickup is slightly short on output.

My band plays Indie. The guitar is played through a Harley Benton GA5H amp and Hayden Peacemaker 412 cab, with a Digitech Screamin Blues pedal. I prefer this guitar for rhythm playing, but lead still sounds good. Cleans on the neck pickup sound beautiful, and adding distortion gives a little bit of extra bite, but it's never too much. The only reason it's not a 10 is that IMO the bridge pickup isn't quite hot enough, the outputs of the two pickups are too similiar, meaning switching between the two the bridge doesn't cut through as well as it could, although the sound is still very nice.

Without a doubt the nicest, and most easy to play neck I have ever seen. It's the reason I chose this guitar over the MIA fender I went into the shop to buy. I don't know if I got lucky but a guitar this cheap has no right to a neck this good. Frets were all perfectly level, gloss finish was even right down the length of it and extremely easy to slide up and down making it almost effortless to play. When I first showed it to my brother i put a post-it over the squier badge and asked him to guess the price. His guesses were pushing a grand. Something good is happening at Squier.

I've had it a good 3 months, and it has been played heavily in that time. The finish is still perfect and I haven't needed to adjust anything save for tuning it. I can see it lasting a long time, but I do take good care of my instruments. The only thing that doesn't feel particularly robust is the tuning pegs, but i wouldn't consider replacing them unless one breaks.

Haven't had to deal with them yet.

I am NOT a guitarist, I am a bassist, I bought the guitar to help me with songwriting, and my brother plays it for gigs. However the guitar is so easy to play it sounds fantastic whoever plays it. I hadn't considered a Squier until I played this, and I chose it over an MIA Fender Tele and used the money I saved to buy a Squier bass as well. For the money I payed I couldn't have asked for anything more.

I bought this new in early 2009. It's a pine solid body Telecaster in a blonde finish (a bit transluscent so you can see the grain) and a tick single ply black pickguard. The 21 medium jumbo fret maple neck has an easy-to-play 9.5" radius and a subtle but nice flame on it and is finished in a vintage tint. At first it felt like a very thin profile, but I'd say it's a medium profile. Three-barrel saddle Tele ashtray bridge. Alnico 3 standard Tele pickups in the neck and bridge and standard switching and controls. It came without a case. It has all the features a Tele SHOULD have, but that's not a lot in the way of features.

I play mostly blues and classic rock from the 60's through 80's and some alt country and pop. I've played this through my custom built 5F1 Tweed Champ and a US-made (vintage) Blues Jr. I will be running this through my other amps as time allows. The Classic Vibe is very quiet for a single coil guitar. Tones are what a good Tele should be: clear highs without being harsh, round and firm lows and a controlled mid presence. This guitar has lots of sparkle. The volume and tone knobs have excellent range and lets me tailor the tones using them on the fly. The neck pickup in particular is excellent. Full and clear, excellent for rhythm. I give this an 8 because I've heard better, but the Classic Vibe need make no apologies. It is an excellent sounding Tele.

I am blown away by how well-made this crafted in China guitar is. The finish is flawless on both the body and the neck. The action out of the box was pretty much the way I like it (medium to medium high). It came strung with 9's and I usually play 10's. I may leave this one as is. The frets are smooth, including the fret ends and bends are easy with no bottoming out. The tuning machines hold very well. I would rate the build quality of this guitar much better than the MIM Tele's I've auditioned and at least as good as the recent crop of American Tele's. It is insanely well made for the price and very well made regardless of price. Top score here.

I've been very happy with the feel of this guitar. It feels substantial and solid. I did have to tighten up the output jack already and may replace this with one of those electrosocket jacks to keep it stable. Otherwise, some Locktite should do. I don't gig anymore, but always used to take at least one backup. It's no reflection on this guitar. I will deduct a point just for the output jack, but this is a standard issue with most Tele's.

I've been playing for 25 years and own lots of gear. I have the following: American Standard Strat, Jimmie Vaughn Strat, Epiphone Elitist Les Paul, Haywire Custom Guitars Jeff's Boogie Telecaster, Martin Smartwood acoustic, Guild D4 acoustic, Germino Classic 45 2x12 combo, Reeves Custom 6 and Custom 12 combos, Ceriatone Lightening 2x12, Ceriatone TMB 18-watt, Peavey Delta Blues 1x15 combo, Fender Blues Jr, Mojotone 5F1 Tweed Champ and a Mojotone VibroChamp. I'm a gear fiend.

This Classic Vibe Tele ranks as the single best value purchase I've made in gear. No regrets. The build quality is outstanding, tones are very happening and it feeds my Tele jones completely. If it came in other colors (butterscotch and natural ... hint hint Fender), I'd pickup them up as well. This is an insane value and an excellent Telecaster. I recommend it with absolutely no reservations.

Squier Classic Vibe Telecaster
Made in: China, sometime in 2008 I guess.
Neck: Maple (nicely figured it is too), 21 biggish frets with a 9.5" radius... which is nice.
Body: Pine (!?!), with a semi see-through 'vintage blonde' finish (a little 'whiter' than you'd think, but nice enough)
Controls: Volume, Tone, 3 way selector switch (usual Tele fare).
Pickups: 2 x Alnico 3 single coils (again, standard Tele configuration)
Hardware: 3 brass barrel saddles on a vintage style bridge, decent Kluson-alike tuners

All in all, it's a good looking guitar - its not a dead accurate '50's blackguard reproduction (thats why its called 'classic vibe', not 'custom shop relic', right?), but it looks the part from three rows back. The pine body was a surprise, but it actually looks quite a lot like ash under the translucent finish, and it keeps the weight right down (noticeably lighter than either of my MIA strats, for instance) - apparently early Esquires/Broadcasters had pine bodies, so its not just Fender 'doing an Ikea' to cut costs.The neck is a real peach, and was actually the deciding factor in my buying the thing - think MIJ in terms of feel.

I'd give it a 9 - not perfect (the finish is too white/thick), but as close to it as I've seen for this money! Its a Tele, and it does exactly what you'd expect from a good example of the breed.

The sound is surprisingly good - not at all shrill and irritating, as so many budget Teles are. The bridge pickup is fat (for a single coil) and loud, the middle position chimes and shimmers and the neck is warm and woody. I tried it against two MIM 50s classic Teles in the shop, and it blew them both out of the water, so I tried it against a highway one... and the humble squier held its own (less output, but more warmth than the h'way). So I bought it!

Again, not perfect (compared to the higher end of Fender's range it lacks a little depth), but a damn far closer than this kind of money should be able to get you. Fender may have shot 'emselves in the foot with this one - another 9!

The guitar was set up very well - the shop assistant got it out of the box it was delivered in, tuned it up and handed it to me, and it felt great.. well, as great as a set of 009's can feel. Why do they insist on shipping guitars strung with elastic bands? Anyway, the frets were finished well, the intonation was as good as a three saddle bridge can do (ie a tad iffy once you venture up the dusty end)... about as good as you could expect for 250 smackers basically.

An 8, due to the wussy strings and less than perfect intonation...

I've had it six months, and it in that time it's taken over from my two MIA strats as my main stage electric. It has stood up to the abuse pretty well. The strap buttons would normally be replaced with schaller straplocks, but I don't trust pine to hold the screws in, so Grolsch bottle sealer rings have to do instead. Would I gig it without a back up? No, but I'd never gig without a back up regardless...

An 8, due to the softness of pine...

No idea, its not broken down yet, and shows no sign of doing so....

I have to admit that I've fitted a 4 way switch, to get both series and paralell in the mix positions, but other than that I'm gigging it stock. I would never have thought a chinese squier would become my main axe (after 15 yrs gigging!), and I'd definitely get another if it was 'half inched' by a 'tea leaf' after a gig!

As to other gear, I have a pair of Strats and a Dano (for slide), and I play them through a selection of nice british valve amps (Marshall, Laney, Vox) and a few choice pedals (Keeley, EHX and the odd Boss). The Tele more than holds it's own in this illustrious company, and draws admiring comments from punters all the time (I know several more have been sold from the same shop as a result). Overall, it gets a 9 - it'll do everything you'd expect a tele to do (ie not extreme metal or purist jazz tones, but rock, blues, funk, country etc are all well within it's scope), for silly money and with no maintenance beyond the usual string change and wipe down. If you've always wanted a Tele, but the other half won't let you spend two grand on a custom shop dream machine, try one of these for size!

"Crafted" in China in December 2008. It's a classic vibe series Tele, so it has a blonde (more like see-through classic white) pine body, string-through-body bridge with three brass saddles, alnico 3 pickups, one-piece maple neck (vintage tinted), 9.5" fretboard radius with medium frets, a standard plastic nut and typical Fender Ping tuners.

All in all a really cool looking Tele from Squier. Teles are basic guitars anyway and this one's got all the features you'd want: string-through bridge, decent pickups and a modern fretboard radius. Kewl!

It's the classic Telecaster sound! Really nice pickups on this one! Nice clean, honky, twangy & punchy sound: like a Tele.

Even with overdrive (boost channel on a Fulldrive II), she screams but still with good note separation. The sound doesn't turn to mush.

For country, early rock'n'roll, blues or even some jazz it sounds great.

The pickups (especially the one in the bridge) are a bit noisy through my tube amp, but they're classic single coils.

Like 'em? Yes I do. No need to replace them at all.

I don't know if I got lucky, or if QC has really gotten that good in China? Pulled it out of the box and all I needed to do was tune up. Neck was straight, action was perfect and even the intonation was spot on!

Gave her a once-over and all's well. Frets are nicely leveled & buffed (no sharp edges!) and even cosmetically I could only find a tiny spec in the finish on the inside of the cutaway. And it's a white spec on a white finish, so you can only spot it when you look up close.

Well put together guitar, this. Everything's bolted on tight and the volume/tone knobs have a nice "weighted" feel to them. Feels like decent quality. No scratchy jacks or switches either. Everything works properly and so far even the ping tuners work fine. No string slippage whatsoever.

This is the cheapest guitar I own. My other "Tele" is a Yamaha Mike Stern model that cost me 3 times as much as this Squier and I hate it with a passion.

If stolen I'd buy it again in an instant! In fact, I would buy this over a MIM Standard Tele by Fender. Those MIMs just don't have that "mojo factor" that this Classic Vibe has.

I'm still scratching my head over this one...

I just bought a 300$ SQUIER made in CHINA and I absolutely love it. No need to change anything. Bridge, tuners, pickups, electronics,... All good.

What's even more amazing... It was ALL good right OUT OF THE BOX!

Kudos to Squier! This Classic Vibe series is amazing!