• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Squier Classic Vibe 2019

#1,282
I picked up an excellent condition stock 2014 CIC Squier CV 60s Jazz in Inca Silver a few weeks back. Installed some DR Fat Beams and I was off to the races - phenomenal bass guitar.

I recently played one of the 2019 CII Squier CVs and was still impressed. Not enough to make me think the 2019 version was a better bass but it is still very good value for money.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Richard IV and tindrum
#1,286
Stan_da_man said:
I picked up an excellent condition stock 2014 CIC Squier CV 60s Jazz in Inca Silver a few weeks back. Installed some DR Fat Beams and I was off to the races - phenomenal bass guitar.

I recently played one of the 2019 CII Squier CVs and was still impressed. Not enough to make me think the 2019 version was a better bass but it is still very good value for money.
Click to expand...

I don't have that much experience with different instruments but my 2019 CII Daphne Blue CV 60's Jazz is the best instrument I've ever played. Beats the hell out of my old 1980's Jazz. YMMV
 
  • Like
Reactions: tindrum, ruju, scottm and 1 other person
#1,287
Like I said, I'm not knocking these Indonesian Squiers, far from it in fact. My Chinese CV is definitely not the best instrument I've ever played but I think you would be surprised in the fit and finish of the same instrument made in a different location.
 
#1,288
Stan_da_man said:
Like I said, I'm not knocking these Indonesian Squiers, far from it in fact. My Chinese CV is definitely not the best instrument I've ever played but I think you would be surprised in the fit and finish of the same instrument made in a different location.
Click to expand...

I agree with you 100% about the 1st Gen CV instrument being the best Squier produced after the JV series. As far as I am concerned... my '11 CIC 60s Jazz is the best instrument I played so far.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Stan_da_man
#1,289
New here and just wanted to post a photo of my 2019 Squire sunburst Classic Vibe Precision bass. When I first got it one of the tuning keys would only go around about halfway before it jammed up against the worm gear and metal shavings were coming off. Not wanting to deal with any more tuning issues I replaced all the tuning keys with Hipshot HB7 tuners. Since it was not a drop in fit I had to fill the old holes and drill new ones, a bit of a pain but well worth it. I then replaced the stock bridge with an Omega high mass. Loved it on my Ibanez so got one for the Squire. The stock pickups sounded really boomy to me with not a lot of definition so I replaced the pickups with Lindy Fralins with cream pickup covers. This made a huge difference, they sound rich and lush! While I was at it I took out the poorly soldered electronics and put in a prewired harness for P bass from 902D Custom Shop.They do great soldering work, all the parts are of high quality and the new pots sound awesome! I thought the Indian Laurel fret board looked alright but wanted it to look more like rosewood so I applied some walnut stain to it and wiped off the excess, looks really nice. For some reason when they applied the darker coating to back of the maple neck they went right over the sides of the nut making it darker. I lightly sanded both sides of the nut and brought it back to the original color. The nut wasn't even glued in properly, fell right off when I changed the strings ( I put on Roto Sounds) so I put a small drop of super glue on it for a good bond. I had to file down the sides of all the frets since they were a bit sharp and of course I gave the bass a good set up. I'm really happy with how this bass plays now and it sounds phenomenal! I'm playing it through a GK mb112 and had intended to add an mbp112 powered cabinet but apparantly they are not making them anymore but that's another story. I did end up spending more than I planned on the Squire and practically gutted the thing but an American made Precision would have cost a lot more and I saved quite a bit doing all the work myself.




squire 4.jpg
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: eccles77, Laurie Bass, reddog and 4 others
#1,291
Another shot of the Squire without all the reflections sitting in its Gator hard shell case. I forgot to mention the 920D Custom Shop wiring harness even came with a set of all metal knobs with actual set screws. The stock Squire knobs were lighter with plastic inserts and were the pain in the butt pull off type. The new pots turn smooth as butter and have a wider tone spread with improved clarity over the stock pots. I only had to solder in a few wires to install. I had a 66' Precision back in the day and a 72' frettless and neither played as well or sounded as good as this Squire.

squire 1.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: Dara O CARROLL, Five String, scottm and 1 other person
#1,292
Glenster4164 said:
Another shot of the Squire without all the reflections sitting in its Gator hard shell case. I forgot to mention the 920D Custom Shop wiring harness even came with a set of all metal knobs with actual set screws. The stock Squire knobs were lighter with plastic inserts and were the pain in the butt pull off type. The new pots turn smooth as butter and have a wider tone spread with improved clarity over the stock pots. I only had to solder in a few wires to install. I had a 66' Precision back in the day and a 72' frettless and neither played as well or sounded as good as this Squire.

View attachment 3581956
Click to expand...

Thats a nice looking bass - and more importantly, it's yours, exactly how you want it to look, sound & play. Cant ask for more than that!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Laurie Bass and Glenster4164
#1,293
With the amount of work and money people throw into these new Indonesian CVs to make them ok it could perhaps make sense to get something even cheaper instead? At least if the idea is to do some repairs/mods yourself and save money. You can get a Harley Benton P for 80 Euro. Sure it's rubbish, needs more setup than any bass I've encountered and pretty much everything that isn't wood needs to be replaced. But if you're replacing everything on these CVs anyway... It could make sense to go cheaper (at least if the idea is to save money).

Squier is facing some serious competition in the lower price range from all the ultra cheap in-house brands of various stores. However, the CVs are Squier's top series and the price is comparable to some really good quality instuments like the lower end of the Yamaha BB series or the Ibanez SR series. I would expect a $350 CV to be a pretty good instrument out of the box without throwing more money into it. If not there could be better options out there. $350 for a mod platform is not a very good deal these days IMO.

It's sad to see so many poor reviews of the Indonesian CVs after the oustanding quality of the Chinese CVs. But I predicted the end of the Chinese CVs years ago: They were TOO good and didn't make sense from a business perspective. Why buy a Fender MIM or even a MIA when the Chinese CVs were better than MIM and very close to MIA (really just a matter of personal taste IMO)?
 
  • Like
Reactions: AlexanderB and Haroldo
#1,295
Iristone said:
Food for thought, I've a CII VM Jazz V that is maple body and maple fretboard. Bright, growly tone, but slightly lacking in low end and man, a heavy bass it is. :ninja:
Click to expand...

If it has a maple body I assume it's the "70s" VM Jazz V? I've got one of those too. It had very poor fretwork and like you said EXTREMELY heavy! But I kinda like it. I absolutely love the sound. I don't know if it's the maple body or the pickups but it's brighter and a LOT more aggressive sounding than the "regular" (non-70) VM Jazz. I've never found it lacking in the lows but now that you mention it, yeah maybe just a tad. But I like to think of it as aggressive and forward sounding rather than lacking in any way. It certainly has a very unique sound compared to my other Js (but I'm really more of a P-bass person and certainly no expert on Js). It doesn't sit as nicely in a tight mix as a fat sounding P-bass but when given some space it SNARLS!

But mine is a couple of years old so they may have changed the specs now for all I know.
 
  • Like
Reactions: AlexanderB
#1,296
Glenster4164 said:
Another shot of the Squire without all the reflections sitting in its Gator hard shell case. I forgot to mention the 920D Custom Shop wiring harness even came with a set of all metal knobs with actual set screws. The stock Squire knobs were lighter with plastic inserts and were the pain in the butt pull off type. The new pots turn smooth as butter and have a wider tone spread with improved clarity over the stock pots. I only had to solder in a few wires to install. I had a 66' Precision back in the day and a 72' frettless and neither played as well or sounded as good as this Squire.

View attachment 3581956
Click to expand...

That is a real gem.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Glenster4164
#1,298
Deleted member 271037 said:
With the amount of work and money people throw into these new Indonesian CVs to make them ok it could perhaps make sense to get something even cheaper instead? At least if the idea is to do some repairs/mods yourself and save money. End Quote.




I probably could have done that with a Squire Affinity and saved myself $150 but it didn't come in sunburst which is what I really wanted just like my old 66' Precision was, and I didn't want it in a PJ set up like I saw was available in the Affinity. One thing I'd like to mention is that since I made all the mods to the Squire it turns out my preferred 4 band EQ setting on my GK 112 ii combo amp is the flat 12 o'clock position across the board with tone setting on the Squire at about 85%. Before with the stock bass the EQ on the amp was all over the place with tone control on my Squire cranked at 100%.
Click to expand...
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back