The guitar is a Fender Squier Classic Vibe '50s Telecaster.
That's not a great picture but it is a great guitar. I can't afford to buy my dream guitar (a Gibson Custom Shop VOS 1959 Les Paul Reissue, which can be bought for < $6000) so I look for good guitars for a heck of a lot cheaper. Before I go on, I can understand if a non-musician says to me "why if you don't make money playing the guitar?" but a musician asked me that question when he knows the difference between a cheap instrument and an expensive one. I don't ever care if I make money playing the guitar, that guitar is my dream guitar. Back to the Fender.
I decided on this guitar based on word-of-mouth. I visit the TDPRI Telecaster Forum regularly and I listen to people at Guitar Center or wherever I go. This guitar was the most talked about because for the price, people were saving from buying the more expensive Made in America Fenders after playing these. I needed a guitar to perform with that would allow me to play standard tuning. Since I started playing guitar again I played with a tuning that reflects my banjo skills (Bb, F, C, G, B, D) and due to string gauges (.012 - .070) I couldn't just retune to standard tuning much less spend the time doing so at a gig. When it was time to look I decided to get the Squier CV50.
Back in 1993 I bought a Fender '52 Reissue Telecaster and owned it for twelve years. I didn't cherish it - I thought it didn't have great pickups and acoustically it didn't resonate well. I thought all telecasters were like this. I had it until 2005 when I totally stopped playing guitar. I actually sold it for more than I bought it but that is how guitars value. I don't see this Chinese-made lower end guitar doing the same but this guitar may be the exception. So my review of this guitar will be based on comparison to the '52 RI. Overall, it is the best out-of-the-box guitar I've bought since 2008 and possibly the best ever.
First, the plusses:
The fretwork on this guitar is better than any guitar I've ever owned. The frets are dressed perfectly and were leveled. Guitars made at this level will usually sacrifice this much quality in the manufacturing process.
The intonation and neck bow was perfect out-of-the-box. I just had to lower the strings at the bridge.
The acoustic resonance was remarkably well. There must be something to pine and maple as the choice woods for this guitar. The ash/maple on the '52 RI didn't sound this good.
The bridge pickup is hot and tone-wise good. I can't compare it to boutique pickups but my other electric pickups don't sound this good and the '52 RI didn't either. The magnets are Alnico IIIs.
The neck pickup is not as hot but also sounds good. I must say that the resonance of the guitar is probably adding to the pickups to make them sound good. I will not be replacing the pickups.
The volume and tone potentiometers are made by Alpha and have a great feel and quality.
The tuners are solid. I've had to buy tuners for Chinese made guitars before.
The nut is synthetic bone and was cut perfectly at the factory.
Now the minuses:
The pickguard looks cheap. Being wintertime I had a pickguard static issue. I fixed it by placing a drier sheet under the pickguard. I can't blame the pickguard for that but it did make me notice how much better my other guitars' pickguards looked and felt. The '52 RI had a bakelite pickguard, which I find superior to all plastic pickguards.
The saddles on the bridge are low quality. The screws to adjust the height are too tall and can grab one's hand. With the good intonation I won't bother to replace it.
The bridge pickup route is exposed slightly on the side of the bridge plate. This is me being nit picky but I never noticed it on the '52 RI.
These minuses are not major. I will replace the pickguard only because I want a white one.
Finally, where I have no opinion (yet):
The input jack and cup - People have had problems with flimsy jacks and cups. They are buying Switchcraft jacks and Electrosockets to replace them. I have not had a problem yet. I will consider this in the future if necessary.
The switch - I am replacing it with a four-way switch because I'm adding a mod (surprise). The switch is fine.
Knobs - they're fine.
The only other thing I will say is that these guitars only come in the cream color with black pickguard. The cream varies by guitar from white, to yellow, to slightly green. Mine is more yellow and I like it a lot.
Keep in mind that guitars vary in quality off the assembly line. In America flaws are caught more often than in Asian countries. One person complained that the frets were really bad. Others have had pickups fail. Don't judge this guitar by the words of a few because a vast majority rave over this guitar. Replace bad ones with another CV50.
The mod I mentioned will be posted in the future.
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