I have a confession: I’m a bit of a headstock snob, mainly because I’ve always equated quality with the name on the headstock. Additionally, I’ve had mixed experiences with Squier guitars before. As a result, I haven’t paid much attention to Squier guitars over the past few years. However, over the past year after joining The Gear Page forums and The Telecaster forums, I started hearing a lot of very good reviews about the Squier Classic Vibe ’50s Telecaster. The first few times I heard rave reviews, I didn’t pay much attention to them. However, over time after hearing more and more rave reviews, I decided to take a closer look at the Squier Classic Vibe ’50s Telecaster.
The Classic Vibe Telecaster is not meant to be an exact replica of a ’50s Telecaster; it’s meant to evoke the vibe of those guitars, and I think it does a good job of that. This Telecaster features a white polyester finish, a maple neck, a one-ply black pickguard, Alnico III neck and bridge pickups, and one volume and one tone control with a three-way switch. The most intriguing part of this guitar to me is the pine body. I’ve never played a guitar with a pine body, so I was curious to see how the guitar played and sounded.
From what I can tell, the pine body takes a little bit of the “spank” away from what I normally think of when I think of Telecasters. The guitar sounds a little bit darker and maybe a little edgier than some of the other Telecasters I’ve played. I was thinking that I might need to swap out the pickups due to the fact that this is such an inexpensive guitar and I didn’t think they’d sound very good. I may still swap them out at some point in the future, but I actually like the way the pickups sound. Many people think they sound just as good as the pickups in the Made in Mexico Telecasters, and I’d have to agree.
One of the few complaints some people have about this guitar is that the neck is a little too small. I have to disagree, though. I’m used to playing thicker necks, but I find the thin neck of the Classic Vibe ’50s Telecaster to feel great. In fact, after playing my Jimmie Vaughan Strat for a while, my fretting hand often hurts. Not so with the Telecaster. I can play for a long time and experience no pain.
For a relatively inexpensive guitar, the fit and finish of the Classic Vibe ’50s Telecaster exceeds my expectations. The frets are well fitted, and I couldn’t find any flaws in the finish. The guitar feels solid and well-made. I wouldn’t say that the Classic Vibe ’50s Telecaster is as good as USA-made Telecasters (although they can hold their own pretty well), I would say that the Classic Vibe ’50s Telecaster is as good as any Made In Mexico Telecaster I’ve ever played.
If you’re in the market for a well-made, yet inexpensive Telecaster, I highly recommend checking out the Squier Classic Vibe ’50s Telecaster. The street price for the guitar is $350. If you want the same value in a slightly different package, Fender has recently announced two more Classic Vibe Telecasters, the Classic Vibe Custom and the Classic Vibe Thinline.
It’s pine? Really? Interesting… I’ve always heard that pine wasn’t a viable “musical” wood. Now I’m just curious.
Yep, it’s pine. I wasn’t sure about pine either before hearing about a lot of niche Telecaster makers using it in their guitars. It sounds great!
I gotta say that if I didn’t know this was a pine body I’d think it ash or something. I’m totally impressed with this guitar. Had other Squire Telecasters before and needed to fix/upgrade them etc – with the CV 50’s I don’t feel (or hear) the need. I highly recommend this guitar and firmly believe that in years to come they will be a much sought after guitar.
You never know what you are going to get until you play it. I relearn this lesson (so did I ever really “learn” it?) when I snob out on a guitar based on the headstock. Recently played a Squier Thinline that was comparable to a MIM in sound, yet the feel of the MIM felt smoother and more comfortable. However, I have noticed a wide variation in neck quality across the Fender lines, American or MIM or Squier. Sometimes it’s as if a box of baseball bats fell of a truck and the factory said, “Hey, let’s use these!”
I have owned a couple of American standard tele’s [1974,1995] and recently got a cv-50. I truely believe this axe plays and responds as well or better than the more expensive models; a pleasure to play and looks awsome!
I just got one of these and I am very HAPPY! I swapped out the pots for some cts and the right caps but kept the alnico’s.I did have to dip them no big deal. This guitar is as good as any Tele or clone I have had my hands on the pine has its own voice.I am surprised that the one I have has a 1/4 sawn maple neck.Amazing at twice the price!
I believe the earliest broadcasters were actually made of pine. I can’t remember where I read that, but I did read that somewhere.
I’ve been impressed with what I’ve heard of it on Youtube clips and there doesn’t seem to be a bad review of them anywhere, so I think I’ll have to get one!
I borrowed the lead guitarists 1994 Tele a standard sunburst job with the view of getting one myself. I own a number of guitars, Rick 4003 bass, Fender P 51 RI bass, Epiphone Dot 335 and a couple of acoustics. I played my mates Tele for a week or two and was impressed. I then saw a very cheap Squire Afinity so bought it. Changed the bridge and PU’s to MIM stuff and put the strings throught the back. I was well impressed. I then saw a Squire 50’s Vibe so partxed the afinity for it. Hey it’s great ! looks cool, sounds good too for an inexpensive guitar. The neck is a bit sticky so I may knock back the gloss with wet n dry paper. So, should I fork out on a Tele 51 RI as I planned to do?? or just stick with this great little guitar??
A possible explanation for the “darker” sound this Tele has compared to other models may be due to the Alnico 3 pickups. Most single coil pickups like the ones on Teles and Strats, use Alnico 5 pickups, and most humbuckers use Alnico 2s. The Alnico 3s would produce a “darker” sound, closer to a humbucker, compared to the standard Telecaster sound. The wood itself would not affect the tone that much; in fact, the first Telecaster prototypes were made with pine bodies and Alnico 3 pickups.
The classic vibe tele is as good or better than any mexican one and as good as any USA tele I’ve ever played.
Not convinced? You need to check out the blind shoot out between teles on youtube by the guys at Anderton’s in England.
http://youtu.be/QCEdT2d43jU
Both long time players and experts in all things guitar, neither of them could tell the diff between the Squier Vide tele and the USA Custom Shop tele when blindfolded!
That’s how good these are.
The only thing you might want higher end pups, pots – other than that this is a phenomenal deal for a high end tele at squier prices
Gary, I would definitely recommend better electronics, but I agree that it’s a great deal. I ended up selling mine due to the fact that it was quite heavy, which is somewhat common with pine guitars from what I can tell. Some people like heavy, but I ultimately decided that I don’t.