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Squier Classic Vibe Club

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#861
Bitterdale said:
I would expect visible wear to show within a few months. Rounds tend to groove the frets quickly. While this may not require immediate attention, it is noticeable.
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I've only had one bass, a 62 AV Jazz, that has required any attention to the frets as a result of using roundwounds. The bass is an 83 Fullerton and about 3 years ago I had fret work done, mostly because it had the dreaded rise on the upper part of fretboard and I couldn't get the action where I wanted it. TBH, the frets were actually in pretty good shape and I wouldn't have touched them if not for the fretboard rise. Some slight grooving/flattening but nothing that impacted playability or setting proper intonation and that was after 25 years of regular use. Its true that flats are kinder to the frets but I have no issues with doing some fretwork after 25 years of use. Of course it's possible that the fretwire in Squiers is not as good as in regular Fenders so may wear faster but then these are all under $400 instruments.
 
#862
Britbonic said:
<snip> Of course it's possible that the fretwire in Squiers is not as good as in regular Fenders so may wear faster but then these are all under $400 instruments.
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I did some metallurgical research on this very thought about a year ago, and I've had a harddrive failure since and lost all the information.

What I can remember is that through the years there may have been slight metallurgical differences in fret wires the whole world over, but the Squiers and Fenders source the same vendors for the same wire in whatever the size specs are that either Squier or Fender wants at the moment.

Fender appears to be the master-buyer on this bulk fret wire material and possibly disburses it to their assembly plants around the world.

This outsourced material may vary slightly from vendor to vendor, but in the long run there appears to be no segregation in one side of the factory to the other. They share and share alike.
 
#863
Britbonic said:
I have a nice tele and had same experience even with compensated saddles. Can't get the B string to behave with the E. You end up making compromises and finding a location that makes both strings close but not quite right. I can understand on a vintage instrument but - I wouldn't change the bridge out - but don't see the point in cases where you can use a bridge that works.
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I was having a hell of a time with the E and A saddle actually. Ones a little sharp ones a little flat and that's the best I can do without obsessing over it for an entire day. And I like the action where it's at so it'll stay unless I swap out the bridge for something different.
 
#864
Britbonic said:
I have a nice tele and had same experience even with compensated saddles. Can't get the B string to behave with the E. You end up making compromises and finding a location that makes both strings close but not quite right. I can understand on a vintage instrument but - I wouldn't change the bridge out - but don't see the point in cases where you can use a bridge that works.
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Being a guitarist for 20 years and having bought both telecaster MIM and MIA (which I still own the MIA), the difference between individual saddles (which is usually on the MIMs) and a 3 saddles bridge in brass (I don't even think they do them in something else) is the sound. A tele without the 3 saddles isn't sounding like a tele to me, at least it never did, even though my MIM had the same woods, strings and even pickups (Texas Specials). Of course the brass has alot to do with it, but I don't think they do a Tele bridge with 6 bridge saddles. If they do, then that would probably solve both sound and intonation problems.
 
#865
solarplexus said:
Being a guitarist for 20 years and having bought both telecaster MIM and MIA (which I still own the MIA), the difference between individual saddles (which is usually on the MIMs) and a 3 saddles bridge in brass (I don't even think they do them in something else) is the sound. A tele without the 3 saddles isn't sounding like a tele to me, at least it never did, even though my MIM had the same woods, strings and even pickups (Texas Specials). Of course the brass has alot to do with it, but I don't think they do a Tele bridge with 6 bridge saddles. If they do, then that would probably solve both sound and intonation problems.
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Agree with you on the sound. I have after market (Callaham) brass saddles that are compensated slightly for better intonation and sound great. There are tele bridges with 6 saddles but they look like a standard strat bridge.
 
#866
Britbonic said:
Agree with you on the sound. I have after market (Callaham) brass saddles that are compensated slightly for better intonation and sound great. There are tele bridges with 6 saddles but they look like a standard strat bridge.
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Sorry I made a typo. I meant: I don't think they do a 6 BRASS saddles bridge. They do the 6 saddles bridges for MIM like my previous MIM Tele, but they are in nickel. This makes a Tele sound like a hybrid Strat-Tele, which is NOT the real Tele sound. ;)
 
#867
Getting back on topic, I have tried a CV Jazz this weekend at the local music store and it had been there for a while because it was dusty... Then I tried it... The setup was so awful I can understand why it was still there. I didn't buy it, I just wanted to try it to see if it was as good as my CV P. Apart from the bad setup everything was solid. I told the guy working there that the bass needed a setup, otherwise they would never sell it. I think any instrument in a music store should at least get a quick in-shop setup prior to sale.
 
#868
That's unusual. Most of them are pretty solid and set up well right off the rack but if it's been around for awhile maybe the neck became slightly bowed. My experience is that better stores understand this and would provide the setup. Then again I'm always surprised when stores don't do anything the their instruments after they put them out. At GC, the instruments are always out of tune or tuned down - an attempt to make them easier to play? Another local store has had some instruments for 3 -4 years and never bothers to clean them or change the strings let alone tune them. Never understood this. It's not like the stores are busy all day long. Seems easy enough for employees to go thru the rack and change strings or at least tune them during slow times.

In general, I've found the setup and playability of the CVs far better off the rack then their MIM and MIA counterparts. I pointed this out to a guy in another local shop recently asking him why on earth the action was so high on a $1500 MIA jazz. He just shrugged his shoulders.
 
#869
EagleMoon said:
I think there's a P bass club for these beauties, but not a general CV club for everyone.

Here's mine:

ClassicVibeDuoPK-2.jpg

IMG_4163.jpg

Modded with '75 RI pickups but otherwise stock. I had the 60's P but took it back. Been regretting it ever since.
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nice!

just like the one i have, except i haven't modified mine at all besides removing the tug bar

really a surprisingly great instrument for $300, made me very happy
 
#874
The CVJ is amazing. If I weren't such a dyed-in-the-wool G&L JB2 enthusiast, I'd have one, but I wanted my "grab & go/gigs in unsavory places" bass to be a bit different, and went with the VM Jag; no regrets there.

Without question, the CVJ is a great starter instrument, or even a great step-up instrument, for those who may have started on something lesser, or truly wretched.

With the personal politics turning many Americans away from buying Chinese, I have my reasons for not having a CVJ, but if they were Indo-made, I'd probably have one. I think that the time has come to sell my CV 50'sP, which has been kept immaculate, and has had 3 gigs played on it.
 
#875
...and what's that gonna do for the VM-Jag? Are you gonna keep it or not?

I played mine for four hours today and really - even though it still has the stock MiI strings on it - I can't find any faults with it any place I go.

On the really oddball side: I just found a four-pack of Fender 7250 NPS strings still in the original packages from about 1996 or so.

Hmmm. Collector's items or not? They were hiding in a pocket of the Affinity Squier P-Bass gig bag. Imagine that!

I never use that soft gig bag any more as a bass can still get bent in one - not like a hard case. So they've been hiding in there waiting to pop out and really surprise me. They did.

No - they are NOT for sale either!
 
#876
The VM Jag stays. I am curious about the new Jag Specials, and will doggedly pursue further info about them. If there is a quick-change battery compartment, then the black Jag neck will be mated to a basswood/sunburst Special. I've already done it in Photoshop, and it looks wicked cool. If there is no such battery compartment, then the black one shall stay as-is. I'm still playing the stock 7250's and am considering them for use on my other instruments as well. They have less tension to them than the XL's on my G&L's, making for less digging in, and easier note bending.
 
#878
plankspanker13 said:
The VM Jag stays. I am curious about the new Jag Specials, and will doggedly pursue further info about them. If there is a quick-change battery compartment, then the black Jag neck will be mated to a basswood/sunburst Special. I've already done it in Photoshop, and it looks wicked cool. If there is no such battery compartment, then the black one shall stay as-is. I'm still playing the stock 7250's and am considering them for use on my other instruments as well. They have less tension to them than the XL's on my G&L's, making for less digging in, and easier note bending.
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Good reasoning as far as I am concerned. The Jag stays with me too.

I wonder when/if Fender will get their collective heads out of their sanitary orifices and get some real 7250s out to the public in the stores and not just one MiI basses.

The current crop of phony 7250s are souring a lot of people to ever buying them again - and I don't care if Martin or D'A is making them - they suck.

NOW - the INDONESIAN 7250 versions are full-bodied, smooth and quite quiet in the zip-n-zing department.

I've got those aforementioned 7250s I found in that old gig bag, and three more pairs of them as take-offs from some of the gear I bought this past year - but they're the only two sets I'll likely keep.
 
#880
Well I will be joining this club at the end of this week :hyper:

Ordered a 60s P and a hardshell case yesterday. Played a MIM 50's classic and MIM standard against it. I loved the 50 classic but the wider nut width wasn't as comfortable in the first position as the CV, and the gloss fretboard, and the MIM standard wasn't worth the extra 200 bucks.
 
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