2019 Squier Classic Vibe Stratocaster acquired

I bought one.

If you read my stuff regularly, you probably guessed I was going to get one of these. And if you did, you guessed right.

Does this mean the Schecter is gone? Yes. Traded out. As much as I wanted to connect with that guitar, it just wasn't happening. Great axe, great sound, great everything, but it just didn't have what I was looking for.

Does this mean I now own nothing but Strats again? Yes.

My main reason for getting the new CV '50s is that it is for all intents and purposes a new version of my original 1989 Squier II Stratocaster (my first guitar which I still own). And it just so happens that the new one has every upgrade I would have done to it otherwise.

My '89 has a gloss Dakota Red finish with no metallic, plywood body, one piece maple neck with 12" fretboard radius, single-ply pick guard, is urethane finished, the electronics have been changed so I get tone control on the bridge-alone 5-way selector, has ceramic magnet pickups, and the tuners changed to vintage slotted style.

The CV '50s has a black finish with no metallic, pine body, one piece maple neck with 9.5" fretboard radius, single-ply pick guard, is urethane finished, the electronics are stock but it does have tone control for bridge-alone setting on the 5-way switch, has alnico magnet pickups, and the tuners are already vintage slotted style.

In other words, the CV '50s as-is has all the stuff I wanted in a Strat.

Why black?

The four colors offered are Vintage Blonde, Sunburst, Fiesta Red and Black.

Originally, I was going to get the Blonde, but then upon seeing various photos of it... no. I was hoping it would have more yellow in it but it doesn't.

Sunburst on a Strat to me looks best with a dark wood fretboard, and the '50s has the all-maple neck. Squier does in fact make a dark fretboard sunburst as a '60s CV model, but it doesn't have that cool circle string tree on the headstock.

Fiesta Red is a gamble I wasn't willing to take because I was buying the guitar sight-unseen. This color, depending on how it's mixed, can either lean towards being pink-ish, purple-ish or orange-ish. If you do a Google Image Search for "stratocaster fiesta red", you will see exactly what I'm talking about. Lots of variations. Had to skip this option.

And this leaves black, which is what I went with.

Sight unseen?

You'll notice at the time I write this in December 2019, nobody else has this guitar. Not yet, anyway. This is because I preordered it from Guitar Center back in late November.

Again, at the time I write this, this guitar can't be bought from Guitar Center until January 2020. If you plan on buying this, that might be a good thing because by that time you'll be able to see the other colors in person.

I wasn't willing to wait. I wanted it now. :)

Full review?

I'll do that for my next article. Watch for it.

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Published 2019 Dec 12