The difference is, Fender raised the price $74 but made an excellent line in the Players Series, which is superior to the previous MIM Standard in every way. It’s basically got most the same features as the American Stamdards from a few years back had but at a much lower price. Squier unfortunately went backwards. They lowered the price of the CV Series and made inferior instruments to the previous generation.
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Squier Classic Vibe 2019
- Thread starter LkS
- Start date
The difference is, Fender raised the price $74 but made an excellent line in the Players Series, which is superior to the previous MIM Standard in every way. It’s basically got most the same features as the American Stamdards from a few years back had but at a much lower price. Squier unfortunately went backwards. They lowered the price of the CV Series and made inferior instruments to the previous generation.
It's a matter of perspective. Being a southpaw none of the previous CV's were available at all so I rate it relative to my VM Jazz & the MIM's I've played and it's at least as good if not better than it (the VM that is).
At the end of the day I have to choose amongst what the manufacturer offers lefties which is often very limited. You righties have no idea how good you have it for getting instruments. Many of you would lose your minds over nothing but limited choice with even less colour options. Better get used to burst patterns and eff'ing black. Imagine if you are a maple board fan and for @30 years you couldn't get one from Fender or wanted a P bass that retailed for under $2K. That was exactly the case for us. Imagine not being able to go through 10+ basses at your local GC/Sweetwater/Sam Ash/L&M to find "the good one" and being at the mercy of chance cause few stores carry more than one token lefty model which is usually a Squier of some sort so then you order out of store/online which is a total crapshoot.
I sometimes chuckle on here at some of the asinine picky stuff that people turn their noses up about when it comes to basses. Usually when they're bitching about colour or tonal options that I'd damn near kill for lol. That's why I usually hang in the other subforums cause it gets really frustrating looking at nice gear that's basically unavailable.
The things I appreciate with the new players series are the increased colour choices (but still somewhat limited, black and that awful Tidepool for the P bass maple boarded models, sorry Tidepool fans but they should've offered it in the same colours as the Jazz, oly white or that red would've been sweet) as well as finally making an all maple neck available so kudos to Fender for that finally.
Now if they would only make a 5-string available, and a fretless, and a short scale, and a '52-'56 P bass... That being said, for guitarists, a lefty jazzmaster is available for the first time ever afaik. I've never even seen so much as a photo of a lefty Jazzmaster before. Good stuff Squier!
Now for next year if I could tell Squier to release another lefty version of something it would be the 70's P, 50's P, the Bronco, the fretless, or the 5-string 70's J. In that order. Are you listening there Squier?
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•responding to post#720, quotes wouldn't work for some reason
I'm sorry about that but that doesn't make it any less true. I can get the Squier right now for C$500 and they said they'd get me a Player series for C$800. A set of good pups if needed can easily run $100-$200 so if I felt that it needed much beyond that (ie many are bitching about the tuners) I'd go for the Fender with it's better resale/trade value if I could swing the bread to get it. As it is I'll likely get the CV cause in my world even $500 is more than my currently fixed income.
I'm sorry about that but that doesn't make it any less true. I can get the Squier right now for C$500 and they said they'd get me a Player series for C$800. A set of good pups if needed can easily run $100-$200 so if I felt that it needed much beyond that (ie many are bitching about the tuners) I'd go for the Fender with it's better resale/trade value if I could swing the bread to get it. As it is I'll likely get the CV cause in my world even $500 is more than my currently fixed income.
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Of course you won't see many mass produced lefties. Do you know how small of the market they make up? Its not worth it for most companies to make them for a minuscule number of players. If I were a lefty, I would be custom ordering basses. Why not? Plenty of places making great customs for great prices. Seems you are really limiting yourself, not the other way around.
Can you find any 70s maple neck Jazz Bass in the Fender MIM Player series? No you can't. So my options were either a MIM Geddy Lee (but I hate bold black bodies and sunbursts) and finding them in hard in my country... or one guy was selling a MIM 2018 FSR 70s Jazz Bass (with a 75/76 logo and bullet trussrod nut. I went for it and got it today.
Binding is way better than on the Squier... having quality electronics (pickups are unoriginal) and lacquer is a plus. Overall quality is great, apart some weak points: the neck heel on the body isn't perfect shaped but that doesn't have affect much my playing. The other weak point: biding is going above the fret ends... and that's a bummer cause it's kind of a rough angle instead of a rounded end... I guess I'll get used to it?
Now I got a 70s tone... like Lee and Miller. Sadly I need strings cause the DR Hi Beam that came on it are truly bad. They resonnate. Tried other strings from another bass I have, no issue. But when I put the DR back, boom. Never gonna buy that again.
Here's a pic of my 60s Squier and 70s Fender:
Binding is way better than on the Squier... having quality electronics (pickups are unoriginal) and lacquer is a plus. Overall quality is great, apart some weak points: the neck heel on the body isn't perfect shaped but that doesn't have affect much my playing. The other weak point: biding is going above the fret ends... and that's a bummer cause it's kind of a rough angle instead of a rounded end... I guess I'll get used to it?
Now I got a 70s tone... like Lee and Miller. Sadly I need strings cause the DR Hi Beam that came on it are truly bad. They resonnate. Tried other strings from another bass I have, no issue. But when I put the DR back, boom. Never gonna buy that again.
Here's a pic of my 60s Squier and 70s Fender:
Does anyone know, is the CV 50s p-bass now manufactured in Indonesia? Or are the current inventory the last of the Chinese-made CVs?
What's really limiting me right now is my budget lol. Not working atm due to recovering from health issues. Hopefully that'll change by summer.
As for the percent of market it would be far better if an army of ignorant salesmen, teachers, and parents would stop trying to make lefties play right. It's counterproductive, frustrating, and insulting. I bet for every lefty that was able to play right there's 10 or 20 that couldn't. The salesmen at many stores seem to crack the same old jokes/wisecracks over and over again and it gets old very quickly. That's a lot of lost sales. The answer is simple. Play the way that's natural to you and never mind the nonsense from the control freaks. In my home area we stopped forcing kids to write with their left hand almost 50 years ago so why does this attitude/mentality exist so strongly amongst supposedly open-minded musicians. I've taken some flak over this over the years so yeah, it's something I feel VERY strongly about.
I tried playing righty as a teen and the only thing that accomplished was to delay my musical journey a couple of decades when I started again at 37. It's not as easy as many seem to think ask Tony Iommi. He tried playing righty after the loss of his fingertips and it was fruitless so he went back to left and invented prosthetics for his injured fingers which apparently was an easier task than trying to play righty lol.
Any righty players who disagree can feel free to post their video playing left to show us how it's done lol. Actually, I have one righty guitar playing friend who can play my git gear. He says that it makes him use a different part of his creative brain but I figure that he's a pretty rare bird.
Went to GC for shots and giggles to see these new basses. The place was busy being Saturday so I didn’t try any but that fretboard is yuck. Looks like rosewood that was left out in the sun for a while. The bodies looked ok. Usual high gloss stuff. Will go back during the week.
BUT...they did have the previous CV made in China and.....the price was $485!!!! I think GC is raising the price on these because they are so good. Buy them up folks!!!
BUT...they did have the previous CV made in China and.....the price was $485!!!! I think GC is raising the price on these because they are so good. Buy them up folks!!!
Get a player jazz. Punches above it's price point, for sure! You won't be disapointed it's much better than a standard mex aswell, much!
Thanks man but it's a Precision that I'm GASing over. I'm content with my VM Jazz for now. The player series is very nice and I do love white and red which are two colours I usually can't get. Who knows, maybe there's a players P or J for me down the road...
One of the problems I face when getting new to me basses is that while my local indy store is awesome and they're really good to me, they won't take lefty gear on trade and I'm a pretty lousy salesman lol. I could go to L&M in Regina where I can trade in but I really want to give this sale to my store here plus I have issues with one of the staff at Regina L&M. I'd rather go to Saskatoon north L&M instead. Much better bass department and overall service.
FYI, I just came through the door with a new CV Precision rented from said local store (for $10 till Monday, no CC, told you they were nice to me lol) so I'm gonna bow out of here and get to business checking it out before tomorrow's jam with the guys. I gotta say I'm actually really excited about it. Should I start a thread for that?
I disagree. If someone is already playing left handed, I wouldn't expect them to change, but since both hands have to perform a physical task that is equally difficult to learn -- unlike writing which is only done with one hand -- it shouldn't be any more difficult for a person to learn one way or the other. It really doesn't even make sense to categorize a guitar/bass as right handed or left handed, but that is how we designate the orientation so I'll stick with it for the sake of simplicity. Since right handed instruments are so ubiquitous, it just makes sense to learn right handed. And no one didn't learn to play because they couldn't play right handed -- they didn't learn to play because they didn't take learning seriously and put in the time.
Yes, and it's an nice improvement over the old MIM standards too.
OTOH, I went and took the new CV P and my trusty early '13 VM J(with the Duncan Designed pups) out and jammed the afternoon away with the guys playing classic rock and some Metallica. Hmmm...some observations irt the CV P.
First, the positives...
•It feels ergonomically good to my body. 8.5/10
•It's much much lighter than my maple bodied Jazz. On par with my '03 SR which I believe has a poplar body as well. 9.0/10
•Tuners/bridge are perfectly fine if not high end. Nice to have slots/threads on the saddles to center the string between the pickups. Earlier issue with the stiff D-string tuner will be explained a little further. 7.5/10
•To my eyes it's pretty in sunburst w/tb-approved tort pg. Laurel board is fine. A little conditioner will only make it look better. Yes, rosewood is nicer but the Laurel feels perfectly fine. 7.5/10
And now the flip side of things...
•The nut is miscut.
a)The A string slot is just a hair too low making a slight rattle when playing the open A.
b)The E string slot is too close to the edge of the neck. Sometimes I was going off the board when fretting the E string. I adjusted my technique somewhat to compensate and it improved but looking at the nut it's clearly off. Funny thing here is that I hear a lot of folks complaining about the same thing on MM SR's G strings but mine is perfect lol.
c)The D string slot was binding on the string causing the tuner to get quite stiff before it would get free. It's improving.
•There's a slight gap in the bottom(treble side) of the neck pocket. Enough that I'd shim it but I'm particular about that.
•Almost all fasteners were not nice & tight. Not loose but not nice & tight either. Fit and assembly quality 6.5/10
•Saved the worst for last. Imo, the pup sucks. It lacks...everything? I'll be be first to admit that I don't really know what a P pup is "supposed" to sound like other than Jamerson's flatwound sound but I'm pretty sure this isn't it. It lacks bottom end, mids, and overall output while sounding kind of trebly to my ears while being a little noisy as well. Even with the mids cranked I was almost not loud enough which really surprised me as we were in a small room and I was playing through a SF Mesa WA. Mind you it was the first time playing with fresh new rounds in 6 years so the strings were zingy as hell too. I was going to put my GHS Precision Flats on it after the jam but figured that it wouldn't do a damn thing to make it any louder so I scrapped the idea. The one good thing here is that it actually sounded better in D standard tuning. That being said, after a few songs I unplugged the P and hooked up the J using the neck pup only and all of a sudden I have bottom end, mids, clarity, output and all of a sudden I have balls in my tone again. No wonder I've never considered replacing them. I'd love to know what Duncan pup it's based on. All told this P pup blows goats. It leaves me wondering if it's faulty or something. 1.5/10
So all told it's a mixed bag. It's basically ok and plays good but the nut's a mess so it has to be replaced and seeing how it's bone, I'd expect the same for a replacement. The pup is crapola too. Nuff said!
So it's a comfy, pretty player built to a price point that if it weren't for the nut issue and the pup I'd really look at getting(I rented it for the weekend). The nut will be fixed but then I'll still need a pup so for the price of 2 pups or so over this one I can get a Player Series in white. I guess this is my first gear review lol. Overall 6.5/10
Gonna check out a Player series P for comparison whenever someone in the area brings one in. Could be awhile...
I also found the pickups in my new CV ‘60s Jazz Bass to be very poor sounding as well. I may wind up swapping it for a Player JB. My CV ‘70s P was much more impressive out of the box.
My all bad looking new CV 70s Jazz Bass had one pro point: the pickups... what do you mean by poor sounding, can you describe, and more, send sound records?
If you can play it back to back with a Players Series Jazz, you’ll hear it yourself. As is typical with most Squier pickups, they lack definition and clarity. You may not notice it if you aren’t very perceptive or you can’t play it back to back with a Fender but it’s pretty noticeable.
I'm not sure why you insist on making these comparisons, are you surprised a bass that costs twice as much has nicer pickups? Perhaps you're not perceptive enough.
As stated above it’s a clarity issue. And they do seem a bit on the weaker end (output-wise). I actually found the pickup in the CV-P to be decent. I didn’t have great expectations going in. However, I’m not as impressed with the CV-J as I was with the CV-P.
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Because people keep making comments like the one I replied to asking why someone would want to replace the pickups or defending the build quality of the basses when it’s plainly obvious why someone would want to do these things.
If you are one who thinks stock Squiers are amazing than that’s great, most don’t. A lot of people buy them to mod them with upgraded pickups, electronics and hardware to match MIM or MIA Fenders at a cheaper price. I’ve done this several times myself.
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And unless you buy really different pickups, or that you also try to change the pots (it does a lot, yes), it's not possible to say that your original pickup(s) is/are bad. we are talking of one pair of pickup in one bass assembly. The only Squier bass I had that I didn't like the pickups was a Squier VM Precision PJ bass from 2016 with a rosewood fingerboard. I'm sure than the reason was the 250K pots, because I wanted more highs and these pots were preventing the tone to have these highs. Because then I got a Squier Affinity P Bass from 2006 with 500K pots and the tone was great, sold it to regrets. My 2011 Squier CV 60 Jazz Bass sounds amazing, this is my number one, stock pickups and electronics, and right now I don't feel like butchering it with an upgrade if I don't know where it's going to lead me. My 2016 Squier VM Precision V Bass sounded good, after changing the original - Fender/D'addario - bad strings. My 2002 Sheroline Gold Squier Standard PJ Bass sounded good. I had a friend with Squier VM 70 Jazz Bass with Fender designed pickup and it sounded amazing, the first I heard it, I was truly amazed. And my 2019 Squier CV 70s Jazz Bass sounded good even though I only played 30 minutes with it before I put it back in its back to go back to the seller. The only issue is build quality, not the pickups. If you feel like your Squier pickups sound dull/lack clarity, try 500K pots and good ones. If you went more output level, go for pickups that do it. Most Squier and Fender pickups have the same output level, even when Fender claim their pickups have a hotter output. For Jazz Basses, the ones from Fender that stand out are the Custom Shop 60s, even the $209 Pure Vintage 74 are often a great regret from buyers when upgrading. Also, and to finish this long paragraph, you can't compare a 2019 Squier CV 70s JB with any Fender Player Series Jazz Bass because they have 60s pickups spacing, not the 70s' one. You have to find a really equivalent to compare. And last: change the original strings and get your bass a setup before you can really state if you like your Squier pickups or not. Cheers
That sums it up right there. You are happy with Squiers pickups and electronics and thats great if it works for you. Most people are not though and thats why Squiers don't sell as well as Fenders and why most people end up upgrading their Squiers. I have had quite a few Squier guitars and basses over the years, the only one I kept 100% stock was the J. Mascis Jazzmaster, thats a rare exception IMO. Every other Squier I have owned was upgraded with better pickups, electronics, bridges and in most cases, I swapped the tuners as well. Still had to deal with inferior wood, frets and overall build quality though which is why I finally just started buying Fenders again. Be happy that you love stock Squiers, Id be thrilled to find a bass I loved for $349!
