The good and bad of the Squier 2019 Classic Vibe '50s Stratocaster
This is my full review on the guitar.
Now that I've had the guitar for almost a week, I can now give a proper review of this thing. (If you would like to hear me playing it, I made a video.)
"Classic Vibe" is the top-of-the-line series for Squier electric guitars, and this concentrates on '50s model. There are also the '60s and '70s models.
What makes a '50s Classic Vibe Stratocaster a '50s?
The '50s is the only model with a pine body, single piece all-maple neck and circle string retainer on the headstock. It is also the only one that has a single ply pick guard that is 100% white with no black "sandwich" stripe in the middle.
The best feature of the electronics...
...is that there is tone control wired to the bridge side pickup.
Traditional Fender Stratocaster wiring has tone control wired to only the middle and neck side pickups. Leo Fender, inventor of the Stratocaster, designed it that way. Ordinarily, Squier Strats will always have this wiring setup - but thankfully this one does not.
I say thankfully because the #1 electronics modification Strat owners do is wire in tone control to the bridge side pickup. With the new '50s CV you don't have to. Actually having tone control there when on the bridge-pickup-only pickup selector setting is so nice to have.
The weight...
...is light. My guess is that the guitar weighs somewhere between 7 to 7.5 pounds, which usually is the just-right weight for a Strat for most people, myself included.
Strats don't exhibit any neck dive when playing the guitar standing, but when you have one that's the right weight, playing comfort when standing gets even better.
With the previous generation of Classic Vibe Strats, some were very heavy. I once tried one, and when I picked it up, that thing must have weighed close to or over 9 pounds. This new CV is nowhere near that weight and it's a very welcome thing.
The sound...
...is probably the most "true" Strat tone CV has ever had. The pickups used all have alnico magnets (it is unknown if they are alnico 3 or 5), and they have an interesting stagger. High-E and B are flat to the pickup cover, G and D are raised, and A and low-E are flat to the pickup cover.
While true this isn't the vintage-correct Fender pickup pole stagger, the fact the CV even has one that isn't the usual follows-the-fingerboard-radius arc is definitely different. And I mean different in a good way.
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.
The 5 different series of Squier electric guitars
This is at least easier to figure out compared to Fender.
Before getting into this, when I say this is easier to figure out compared to Fender, I'm not kidding. The total number of series Fender has for their electrics is ridiculous.
It's 13. Technically 14 if you count the American Acoustasonic models which do have electrified stuff in them. Too many? Yes. And you can't even list them in any lowest-to-highest grade because it depends on the generation type and manufacturing country of origin. You'd literally have to create the pecking order separating by origin first, generation type next, then price point last.
Where Squier is concerned, there are 5 different series. This is the pecking order from lowest to highest grade:
- Bullet
- Affinity
- Contemporary
- Classic Vibe
- Artist
I'll explain why I list Artist as the highest grade first.
At the time I write this, Squier has 3 Artist a.k.a. "signature" guitars. J Mascis Jazzmaster, J5 Telecaster, Jim Root Telecaster.
While true there were some crappy Squier Artist models in the past, these 3 are all very well built with proper hardware and upgraded electronics. All of them are nonstandard builds and have things in them specific to the Artist they represent, but even so, you're getting something genuinely good with any one of the three.
Now I'll talk about the other series, from lowest to highest grade.
Bullet
I've owned several Squier Bullet guitars. These guitars are built cheap but sound great.
The weakest point of any Bullet guitar is undoubtedly the tuners. It's the thing on the guitar that says "CHEAP" more than anything else.
The second weakest point is that the pickups are typically noisy. Again, they sound great, but since the cheapest wire and only the bare minimum of shielding is used, noise gets through.
Where the pickups themselves are concerned, yes they are generic parts-bin ceramic magnet pickups. This isn't to say ceramic magnet pickups are bad because they're not. But the ones put in Bullet guitars were obviously slapped together very, very quickly. That's just the way it is - but it does give them a very specific Squier cheap-guitar tone character that actually sounds good.
Affinity
The first thing you notice about this series is that the tuners are far better compared to what's used on Bullet guitars. While the tuners do not have Grover or Gotoh level smoothness, most players including myself would be fine just using them as-is.
The second thing is something only noticed by those who have been playing guitar for some time. Nut width on the Affinity electrics is 1.60-inch/40.64mm. To the best of my knowledge, all the other series use a 1.65-inch/42mm but width. This does affect how the guitar plays because string spacing is different. You either really like this or really don't.
Overall build quality of the Affinity is better than Bullet. The guitar does feel more solidly built all around.
Contemporary
All of these are nonstandard builds. You can consider "contemporary" to be the same as "modernized".
Contemporary series concerning build quality is basically the same as Affinity, except you're getting more fancy pants features. For example, the Contemporary Active Stratocaster HH has a reverse headstock, matching headcap, Floyd-Rose R3 locking tremolo system and a pair of active humbucker pickups. The fretboard radius is also a flatter 12-inch.
Extra cash was spent to put the fancier stuff in these, hence the higher price tag.
Classic Vibe
We're now on the second generation of these guitars. They've been a big hit for Squier ever since they were introduced because they are honest-to-goodness decently built electrics.
Even though the Artist models have more fancy stuff in them, Classic Vibe is the top-of-the-line electric they offer that doesn't have some famous guitarist's signature on it. For some, that means the CV series is top-of-the-line Squier since they won't buy Artist models.
Is a CV worth getting?
Again this is the top tier Squier electric guitar for most people, so this is what they'll be going for.
Is it worth it?
Yes. Or to be more specific, it is now.
With the last generation, there were three things working against it. Weight, color choices and logo design.
The first generation CV Strats and Teles were total boat anchors. Very well built alder and pine bodies depending on model, but very heavy. The 2nd gen has lightened up quite a bit. There are already some listings of '50s model CV Strats weighing in at under 7 pounds. Very nice. The new '50s models have pine for the body wood, '60s are nato and '70s are poplar.
Color choices for the first generation were good but not great. On the Strat in particular, the design had an off white pick guard a.k.a. "parchment" and pickup covers that were basically very light brown. This was Squier's attempt at vintage-style color and it didn't quite work. And where the body colors were concerned, the Butterscotch Blonde on the Tele was a total winner but there were no standout winners for the Strat. This has since been rectified with the second generation. Both the plastics and body finishes for all the CV guitars now look proper.
Squier has bounced around back and forth with their logo treatment over the years. What Squier did with the first gen CVs was "fat gold". The logo was thickened up slightly, made gold and had a black outline. It worked but didn't totally work. The 2019 logo refresh is without question the best design Squier has ever had. It's sized proper for each '50s, '60's and '70s model. And FINALLY, after all these years, the stylized Fender logo has been removed from the front of the headstock and replaced with simple and small "BY FENDER" understated text. The stylized Fender logo is now on the BACK of the headstock where it belongs. Squier finally has its branding put 100% (okay, 98%) front-and-center. Yes, this matters.
Strictly speaking of the Stratocaster model, these new CVs may be the greatest Strats Squier has had since the JV series from the 1980s. Yeah, I know that's some big talk being the Squier JVs are the most collectible Squiers that exist (they routinely command over $1,000 on eBay). But it really looks like we may have finally made something that lives up to that JV standard.
No, the new ones are not made in Japan, but with the exception the dark fretboard models are indian laurel instead of rosewood and the fretboard radius is 9.5" instead of 7.25", new CVs are basically everything the old JVs were - and are in fact better styled than the JVs.
Seems to me the smart money is to put $350 on a new CV instead of $1,000+ on an old JV. You get everything you wanted with the new guitar that you'd buy the old one for in the first place.
State of the watch collection for end of 2019
This has been a year of going all-in with F-91W type Casio watches.
I only bought two new watches this year, and also made a return to F-91W style timepieces.
When I say "F-91W style", even though one of the watches I bought is in fact an F-91W, I'm talking about the display and how the watches operate. And that is to say they all work the same way, with the only real difference being appearance and night light.
First was the F-84W. Not sold in the US. Had to order it from Japan. Fortunately it didn't cost any more than it would here, and it was worth the wait. It's the most '80s thing Casio has released in a very long time.
Second was the F-91WM-1BCF. I had sold off my two regular F-91W watches earlier this year, but saw this one with its monochrome style color scheme and bought it. Looks great and has the same fantastic legibility the original does. No complaints.
The other three I've been favoring lately have all been F-91W type. The A168, the A158 and the F105W. The 105 and 168 have the "ElectroLuminescent" a.k.a. EL nightlight while the A158 has the older style incandescent green bulb like the F-91W does. But again, they all operate exactly the same.
Things I still know to be true
I will never get along with an analog dial
Several times I have tried to get along with an analog watch, and I just can't do it. Digital is my preference.
The only thing I've not tried yet is using an analog watch with contrasting hands. As in when the hour and minute hands are of differing colors. I need to see that kind of contrast. An example of this is the Casio G-SHOCK G100. The hour hand is yellow (or red if you like) and the minute hand white. That would work for me. On the cheap end there's the Casio HDA600 with contrasting hands, but I don't much care for the styling of that one.
I will never get along with thick watches
Thick watches don't bother me until I put on a coat or a long sleeve shirt. Then I hate them.
"Busy" dials are awful
Part of the reason I went back to F-91W type digitals is the display. Very clean, very uncluttered. I can read them faster.
Time zone features are worthless
I have a few watches that have a ridiculous amount of things you can do with time zones, such as the ability to have 5 different zones set that you can view at any time at the press of a button, quick-swap any one with another and have DST on or off for as many as you like.
None of this is worth using.
If I were a world traveler or a pilot that flew all over the country routinely, sure, then that would be useful. But I'm not a world traveler nor a pilot.
F-91W type watches don't have DST or other time zone features, and this is a good thing. Less crap to deal with. Just set the time and go. When DST happens or if I find myself in a different time zone, I just adjust the watch to the local time. Simple enough.
There are plenty of tough Casio watches that aren't G-SHOCK
Any one of these digitals can take a serious beating, and they're all under $50. Some are even under $30.
I prefer the smaller F-91W type, but do own two of the above (SGW100 and AE1000W) for whenever I need something tougher... which in all honesty is rare.
Am I done buying watches?
I could say that but I wouldn't mean it. What I can say that I am happy with what I have and don't really feel the need to buy another watch at the moment.
Why do we keep going back to the Stratocaster?
In my personal journey, I've tried out several different guitar shapes, but I always end up going back to the Stratocaster.
Strat. Over and over, again and again. But why? I'll attempt to explain my reasons why I keep going back to this guitar.
I've used several guitar shapes over the years in various forms aside from the traditional Strat. Jazzmaster, Jaguar, solid body Telecaster, semi-hollow body Telecaster, SG-like "short horn", Les Paul, "Super Strat", Rhoads style V, and so on. There was even a point a long time ago when I owned a Warlock shape guitar (it sucked).
I've also bounced around with various neck shapes, fret counts, fretboard radiuses, control layouts and pickup configurations.
Strat is what I always go back to, and it's for the following reasons:
Balance
Not balance of sound but the body itself when playing in standing position. The Strat on my body balances best compared to any other guitar shape.
When I play a Strat standing, it doesn't exhibit neck dive and I don't have to hike up the guitar high just to get a good playing position. In addition, if the guitar happens to be on the heavier side, it doesn't bother my shoulder whereas any other guitar shape would.
Anyone can get comfortable with a guitar in the seated position. But standing? That's a different story. With Strats, yes they are comfortable playing both ways.
Bridge position
The bridge is set far enough back on a Strat to where it doesn't get in my way. I can't say that about too many guitars. In fact, it's the reason I don't play a Jaguar. I did own one of those briefly, and it was the bridge position that made me return it. Looked great, played great, sounded great, but that bridge was always digging into my palm because of where its position was.
Inline tuners
I've always hated 3x3 tuners, and absolutely despise it when all the tuners are on the treble side, a.k.a. "reverse". The way the Strat does it with every tuner all in a row on the bass side makes perfect sense not only for tuning but also for installing strings lightning quick.
Clean monster
I don't think there is any arguing that the Strat is the best clean tone electric guitar. The sound is instantly recognizable and it sits in a mix very well because there isn't midrange barking all over the place.
Still the most usable
Versatile is a word used way too much to describe the capability of a guitar, but it definitely applies to the Strat because it can get almost any sound you want out of it.
The one sound Strats can't do well in SSS layout is metal, and that's fine because I don't play that stuff and the Strat sound fits everywhere else.
Still the most comfortable
This is why I along with many other players go with the Strat shape more than any other. You will always play the guitar that feels the best. It's so important that it actually matters more than how it sounds.
Comfort is a really big deal. If the guitar isn't comfortable, I won't play it. And it's not just about the neck. The body, neck, position of bridge, knobs, controls and overall balance has to feel right.
Thankfully, you can get great playing comfort whether playing a cheap or expensive Strat as long as the design is correct. And that more or less means Squier, Fender or G&L (see Legacy).
Am I saying other electric guitars suck?
No.
Someone emailed me recently saying that yes, it's the SG (as in Gibson SG) that agrees with him most. It took him years to figure that out after going through a similar guitar journey I did. He tried a bunch of different axes, and in the end, the SG was the one.
For me, I'm in the Strat camp. That's the one that agrees with me most.