i wished I could try stuff out before I buy because there’s never anything left handed in stock
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Squier Classic Vibe 2019
- Thread starter LkS
- Start date
i wished I could try stuff out before I buy because there’s never anything left handed in stock
Yep, you and I both. Unless you want an black or 3-burst Affinity of course. That's how it is for the most part around here.
Trying to find a decent 5/6-string, fretless, or short scale around here is pretty much mission impossible unless you buy it first.
I hadn't thought of this, thanks! Going to try a couple of Fender guards today and hopefully will end up with a nice fit to cover the hole
Yep, you and I both. Unless you want an black or 3-burst Affinity of course. That's how it is for the most part around here.
Trying to find a decent 5/6-string, fretless, or short scale around here is pretty much mission impossible unless you buy it first.
Yep! Ain’t that the truth
phaze1todd
Since when did we start getting paid by the note?
Just bought a ramp for my '70s CV V only to discover it not '70s spacing... more like a '70s+! Neck pu is close to the bridge (I have a Kick Ass on it now) but I pulled out thr calipers and measured 6.44" between pickups.
I received a Daphne Blue CV 60's Jazz Bass yesterday and thought I'd give my thoughts on it.
First off, it was my intention to lay hands on all the 60's and 70's CV J's that I could and buy whichever felt the best. My local music store is a Fender dealer and in the past they were absolutely flush with Fender and Squier. I've been out of the gear buying market for probably a decade at this point, so I was a little bummed to find that the store clearly does not receive much bass business, and therefore doesn't cater to it. They had a total of 6 (SIX!) bass guitars in the entire store. I'm over an hour away from the nearest "big box" music store, so I decided I'd take a chance on ordering one and just return it if it was bad.
My thoughts are going to be mostly about the physical condition and fit & finish, as I didn't get the chance to properly amp it up yesterday. I spent a couple hours playing it through my AudioBox and AmpliTube only.
First impressions - Straight out of the box, my first impression was very positive. The Daphne Blue is gorgeous. The tort pickgaurd was surprisingly nice looking as well. I generally find cheap tort to be a little funky looking, but this one is totally acceptable. The marketing pictures of the 60's CV basses make the Indian Laurel look truly awful. I didn't have high hopes for it and had a bottle of BLO at the ready. I was pleasantly surprised by it, though. Based on the pictures, I was expecting a fretboard the color of wet cardboard. In reality it was quite a bit darker. Certainly not as nice looking as rosewood and definitely a bit dry looking, but not nearly as bad as I expected (at least in interior lighting). The supposedly nickel plated hardware left something to be desired. If you were to show me the bridge from this thing and ask what I thought the plating was, I'd promise on my life it was chrome. The finish isn't bad, but it definitely lacks the sort of softness that the coppery tinge of nickel plating normally has.
Fit and finish - The actual finish on the body is pretty good. Very close inspection revealed a couple small imperfections in the underlying paint, but only when held in the light just right. There were no cracks, scratches, scuffs, or fingerprints I could find. The finish on the neck is a bit of a different story. The vintage tint looks really nice, but doesn't feel very good when playing to me. Compared to my late-00's American P, which also has a pretty glossy neck, it feels way stickier (which is to be expected I guess). Aside from the overall feel, there is also a very noticeable seam in the finish right where the skunk stripe meets the maple. It's about 6" long. it doesn't really affect playability, but you can definitely feel it. Closer inspection of the body and neck turned up a couple other minor issues that are probably to be expected from a bass at this price point. The route for the bridge pickup is a little sloppy. There are some spots of glue on the fretboard. The fretwork itself is about halfway there, I'd say. They seem to be fairly level, but the ends could use some dressing. It isn't uncomfortable to play, but you can feel some rough edges all the way up and down the neck. Overall, I'd say fit and finish is only acceptable out of the box, but could be pretty good with a little bit of elbow grease.
Setup and playability - Perhaps unsurprisingly, the setup out of the box was awful. The neck had a readily apparent bow that was easy to see without even looking down the neck, and certainly didn't require any fretting and measuring to see. The saddle height looks like the screws were put in at full engagement and left at that. The intonation actually wasn't bad. This particular unit would be a terrible example for a beginner or someone who had no knowledge of setups and just took this out of the box and started playing. Despite the other shortcomings, the nut was actually in pretty good shape. Not too high, not too low. For my own tastes, I could cut it a little lower and be happy, but it's in a pretty good neutral spot as-is. A quick at-home setup got this thing to a really good place, in my opinion. It required nearly a full turn of the truss rod get the neck relief under control, as well as 3-4 full turns to lower each saddle to a point where the action is right around where I like it at 5/64" - 6/64". After a little setup work, I have zero complaints about the playability.
Verdict - Overall, I would call this a very good buy for a person who has the knowledge and tools to do a bit of minor setup work. However, if you're looking to take it off the rack/out of the box and go, my unit would not be a very good example. This isn't new info, but it seems extra important to repeat it in this case... I would not recommend buying one of these instruments sight unseen; at least not without a good return policy to fall back on. Especially if you don't intend to put any work into setting it up and possibly cleaning up some minor finish issues. But if you can do a little setup work or can find a nice example in a store somewhere, I wouldn't hesitate to buy one of these.
First off, it was my intention to lay hands on all the 60's and 70's CV J's that I could and buy whichever felt the best. My local music store is a Fender dealer and in the past they were absolutely flush with Fender and Squier. I've been out of the gear buying market for probably a decade at this point, so I was a little bummed to find that the store clearly does not receive much bass business, and therefore doesn't cater to it. They had a total of 6 (SIX!) bass guitars in the entire store. I'm over an hour away from the nearest "big box" music store, so I decided I'd take a chance on ordering one and just return it if it was bad.
My thoughts are going to be mostly about the physical condition and fit & finish, as I didn't get the chance to properly amp it up yesterday. I spent a couple hours playing it through my AudioBox and AmpliTube only.
First impressions - Straight out of the box, my first impression was very positive. The Daphne Blue is gorgeous. The tort pickgaurd was surprisingly nice looking as well. I generally find cheap tort to be a little funky looking, but this one is totally acceptable. The marketing pictures of the 60's CV basses make the Indian Laurel look truly awful. I didn't have high hopes for it and had a bottle of BLO at the ready. I was pleasantly surprised by it, though. Based on the pictures, I was expecting a fretboard the color of wet cardboard. In reality it was quite a bit darker. Certainly not as nice looking as rosewood and definitely a bit dry looking, but not nearly as bad as I expected (at least in interior lighting). The supposedly nickel plated hardware left something to be desired. If you were to show me the bridge from this thing and ask what I thought the plating was, I'd promise on my life it was chrome. The finish isn't bad, but it definitely lacks the sort of softness that the coppery tinge of nickel plating normally has.
Fit and finish - The actual finish on the body is pretty good. Very close inspection revealed a couple small imperfections in the underlying paint, but only when held in the light just right. There were no cracks, scratches, scuffs, or fingerprints I could find. The finish on the neck is a bit of a different story. The vintage tint looks really nice, but doesn't feel very good when playing to me. Compared to my late-00's American P, which also has a pretty glossy neck, it feels way stickier (which is to be expected I guess). Aside from the overall feel, there is also a very noticeable seam in the finish right where the skunk stripe meets the maple. It's about 6" long. it doesn't really affect playability, but you can definitely feel it. Closer inspection of the body and neck turned up a couple other minor issues that are probably to be expected from a bass at this price point. The route for the bridge pickup is a little sloppy. There are some spots of glue on the fretboard. The fretwork itself is about halfway there, I'd say. They seem to be fairly level, but the ends could use some dressing. It isn't uncomfortable to play, but you can feel some rough edges all the way up and down the neck. Overall, I'd say fit and finish is only acceptable out of the box, but could be pretty good with a little bit of elbow grease.
Setup and playability - Perhaps unsurprisingly, the setup out of the box was awful. The neck had a readily apparent bow that was easy to see without even looking down the neck, and certainly didn't require any fretting and measuring to see. The saddle height looks like the screws were put in at full engagement and left at that. The intonation actually wasn't bad. This particular unit would be a terrible example for a beginner or someone who had no knowledge of setups and just took this out of the box and started playing. Despite the other shortcomings, the nut was actually in pretty good shape. Not too high, not too low. For my own tastes, I could cut it a little lower and be happy, but it's in a pretty good neutral spot as-is. A quick at-home setup got this thing to a really good place, in my opinion. It required nearly a full turn of the truss rod get the neck relief under control, as well as 3-4 full turns to lower each saddle to a point where the action is right around where I like it at 5/64" - 6/64". After a little setup work, I have zero complaints about the playability.
Verdict - Overall, I would call this a very good buy for a person who has the knowledge and tools to do a bit of minor setup work. However, if you're looking to take it off the rack/out of the box and go, my unit would not be a very good example. This isn't new info, but it seems extra important to repeat it in this case... I would not recommend buying one of these instruments sight unseen; at least not without a good return policy to fall back on. Especially if you don't intend to put any work into setting it up and possibly cleaning up some minor finish issues. But if you can do a little setup work or can find a nice example in a store somewhere, I wouldn't hesitate to buy one of these.
WOW, now that a very complete review!! But you know what you could do to complete it? Right?
I'm going to order a 70s later this month. Next chance...
Thought I would share this for those who haven’t already seen this on YT:
For the price... it sounds fantastic! It’s a shame... definitely didn’t sound this clear when I tried one in store myself!
I’m curious to see if I try another CV70’s if it’ll be any better... I’ll probably go for the natural maple body next time though. The one I tried was basswood.
It was very good, don’t get me wrong, but lacked clarity, as compared to my player series j. That being said, slap in some nice pickups and BOOM... you can sound killer and still afford food for the week!
For the price... it sounds fantastic! It’s a shame... definitely didn’t sound this clear when I tried one in store myself!
I’m curious to see if I try another CV70’s if it’ll be any better... I’ll probably go for the natural maple body next time though. The one I tried was basswood.
It was very good, don’t get me wrong, but lacked clarity, as compared to my player series j. That being said, slap in some nice pickups and BOOM... you can sound killer and still afford food for the week!
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The one you tried wasn't basswood but rather poplar
(which is worse in my own opinion)Also: the sound is pretty natural in the video, maybe the amplifier in your store wasn't your taste
The one you tried wasn't basswood but rather poplar
Also: the sound is pretty natural in the video, maybe the amplifier in your store wasn't your taste
Yes, poplar! Thanks for correcting me!
Na, it was a really good amp, one of my faves... the mighty Fender Rumble V3!
Rumbles have a really nice, balanced tone that works really well for any bass.
It’s possible I just got a bass that was a bit worse than some of the others out there. Perhaps in this video, the bass is played DI as well?
But I definitely want to give it another go. I might compare with a sire v7 in passive mode, like a Battle of the affordable jazz basses!
The Classic vibe in the video definitely has to be setup, though. The strings sound too even... regarding the saddle height. The strings are low enough we’re it just gets that nice crunchy sound off the frets without getting buzzy notes.
I doubt the one I tried in the store was setup aswell.
But a good setup can make most basses sound good, or at least sound and feel much much better.
I doubt the one I tried in the store was setup aswell.
But a good setup can make most basses sound good, or at least sound and feel much much better.
First thing I spotted in the video, it looks like it's had the strings changed. Looks to me like D'Addario, as the colours don't match Fender's coloured ball-ends.
The factory fitted Fender strings are... crap. Even the ones on my Player are woeful. The ones on my RW Jazz are better, I haven't had to change them yet.
What I'm saying is, that poor tone in store could be down to the strings being fresh out the box, or just plain crap. You may need to take a leap of faith if you buy one, but know that if you slap a good set of strings on, it'll transform it.
To give you an idea how much strings can change a bass. I bought an Artist Guitars Mini P (you're an Aussie, so you probably have heard of Artist Guitars), and the stock strings were TERRIBLE. Threw on a set of D'Addario Chromes and the bass was transformed, and is now up there as one of my favourite tones of the basses I own. Real chubby short scale fatness. I was amazed, but it just goes to show, strings can make a big difference.
Buy the CV 70s you've played, if the action feels right. The tone can be fixed with new strings and a good amp.
I don't really have much experience with the factory Fender strings, so I don't have much of an opinion myself. I've just heard/read that they're bad. That said, my new CV that is still wearing the factory strings is the only bass I've ever owned that I've had significant afterlength resonance issues with. Could the strings be causing, or at least exacerbating, that issue?
A bit of an addendum to my above review and also a question.
I know there's been some back and forth about the tuning machines on these things. My experience is that they are bad. Very bad. This afternoon I removed the factory strings, oiled the fretboard, and started installing new strings. While winding the new strings, there were clear sticky spots and I could see metal shavings coming off the gears. I got to G without any major issue, but about 1.5 turns into it, the gear completely stripped. That machine is totally shot now. That's one more strike against the 2019 CV as a viable "off the rack" bass.
That said, I'm trying to decide whether to attempt a return or to replace the tuners (my preference). I know the CIC CV's would take Hipshot HB1's as a drop in replacement. I'm not sure if that still holds true, but I don't really want to go that direction anyway. I really don't want to put $100 worth of tuning machines on a $350 bass. So, does anyone have any recommendations for decent quality machines that will drop in and not break the bank?
I know there's been some back and forth about the tuning machines on these things. My experience is that they are bad. Very bad. This afternoon I removed the factory strings, oiled the fretboard, and started installing new strings. While winding the new strings, there were clear sticky spots and I could see metal shavings coming off the gears. I got to G without any major issue, but about 1.5 turns into it, the gear completely stripped. That machine is totally shot now. That's one more strike against the 2019 CV as a viable "off the rack" bass.
That said, I'm trying to decide whether to attempt a return or to replace the tuners (my preference). I know the CIC CV's would take Hipshot HB1's as a drop in replacement. I'm not sure if that still holds true, but I don't really want to go that direction anyway. I really don't want to put $100 worth of tuning machines on a $350 bass. So, does anyone have any recommendations for decent quality machines that will drop in and not break the bank?
There hasn’t been a confirmed direct drop in replacement as far as I know. I had a brand new one come through my local store with a stripped tuning machine as well, by the way.
