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Squier Classic Vibe Jazz vs Squier Vintage Modified Jazz

BassDaddy77

BassDaddy77

Feb 12, 2010
1,266
2,600
NE Ohio
#1
Does anybody have both and can compare/contrast them for me? I'm very intrigued with both of these Squiers, but I'd like to hear from those of you who have (or have had) them both. Is the CV worth the extra $50 over the VM? The YouTube vids I've watched for both basses seem to have me at a draw so far. What do you think?
 
#3
The Classic Vibe is a killer bass - I have put in a pair of Lindy Fralin jazz pickups in mine and it is a great sounding jazz bass with a great neck. I have tried many of the Squier Vintage Jazz basses and like them but still prefer the Classic Vibe.
 
#4
seungkoo said:
I had both and I prefer the classic vibe over the vintage mod. Both great basses for the price but the classic vibe felt more solid and well built
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Jay78 said:
The Classic Vibe is a killer bass - I have put in a pair of Lindy Fralin jazz pickups in mine and it is a great sounding jazz bass with a great neck. I have tried many of the Squier Vintage Jazz basses and like them but still prefer the Classic Vibe.
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So, 2 votes for the Classic Vibe and 0 for the Vintage Modified thus far...
Something else I should've asked in my first post was, which is better "box stock" w/o any mods?
Can anyone comment on the differences in sound?
 
#6
I have owned a VM fretless Jazz and a CV 60's P. Both are excellent instruments for the money. In the end I got rid of the P. Construction and sound quality were both very nice on the CV but I did not care for the finish on the neck. The VM has a satin finish neck which to me is a much nicer, smoother feel. I feel that the VM also has good construction and sound quality but something about the feel of it is just right. You really can't wrong with either. Maybe you could find a music store around you that carries both and give them a try as to me they seem like two different beasts (although, again, both are very good instruments).
 
#7
tapp01 said:
Maybe you could find a music store around you that carries both and give them a try as to me they seem like two different beasts (although, again, both are very good instruments).
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I'll probably do just that tomorrow, but I wanted to get a feel for what the actual owners had to say about them. My local GC has both, so I'll be able to check them out in person. It's still nice to hear others' opinions/experiences though. I'm looking to add a J bass to my arsenal, and these two seem like an affordable, but decent venture. It's mind-boggling what the options are nowadays. 4,5,6, or more strings, active or passive, scale length, woods, neck radius, string choice, P/U configuration, appearance/finish, the list goes on and on. Sheesh, I think I just want a simple good ol' Fender J, but Squier will have to suffice for price reasons. I'm not good enough to exploit the sonic differences in a $200 vs $5000 bass anyway.
 
#10
I have the CV 60s P bass (check out the review section) and although I can't compare it to the other Squier, I play my CV just as much or even more then my American Standard Fender Jazz...just sayin.
 
#12
A-Step-Towards said:
I really perfer a mixture of both , i'd rather have the CV neck , bridge and guard on the VM body and pickups.

There both great basses, i perfer gloss necks tho so i would get the CV
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If you get a VM jazz, id gladly trade necks for my CV neck. Seriously. Thats how I want to do my bass. CV body, VM neck. Dont know why, I just love the bound and blocked neck on a white body.

Anyway, I own a Classic Vibe 60's jazz, and absolutely love it. I sold my MIM Fender jazz to get this one. The bridge is good and solid, and is very comparable in attack/sustain to the badass II I had on my other jazz. The neck is butter, and the over quality is better than some MIM jazzes ive owned.

Ive played a VM quite a few times, and its very comparable quality to the CV. The body is awesome, the neck is well built, and the overall build quality is awesome. The pickups are amazing too. Very much a little brother to the quarter pounder.

So theres give and take on both. If you like swapping bridges out, and dont really care about pickups, get the VM. If you like the bridge on the CV and want to do other mods, the CV is awesome. Thats the only downside to the CV i can really think of, is the non standard bridge hole pattern.
 
#16
same here on the satin neck for me, also like the pickups on the VM better. Looks better to me (at least with a Tort pickguard)

the Bridge on the CV seems to be of better quality though, I put a Bad AssII bridge on the VM and it made a huge difference.

and I can swear the body is a little thicker but I could be wrong on that. looks like it though.

you are NOT going too wrong either way though.
 
#17
Lublin said:
VM for me. I dig the satin neck.
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I also prefer satin necks and discovered that if you have a gloss neck you can take some 0000 steel wool to it to give it that satin feel. With the steel wool if you do that, over time your hand will polish it back up, but this is a pretty safe bet if you're nervous about doing things like this to your bass. The more long term solution would be to take some 1000 grit sandpaper to the neck to rough up the gloss finish.

I've also heard that some people like to just sand the finish completely off their necks and go bare wood. This is a little extreme for me, and would make me worry about moisture getting in the neck, but if you just rough up the finish a little bit, it will remain protected.
 
#19
OK, well I played both at GC and here's my opinion:
The CV has a bit fuller sound & nicer bridge, but I REALLY prefer the satin neck on the VM. The difference in sound is lesser than the difference in comfort of the neck, at least for me. The VM had a bit more weight also, which I preferred. Cosmetically, it's a draw, both look great and have surprisingly good fit & finish. I honestly didn't see a problem with the stock bridge on the VM, but the CV clearly had the better bridge. All in all, they are very close, with my nod going to the Vintage Modified for the neck feel. A better bridge (ala Badass) is a cheaper upgrade than a different neck. Nice job Squier on making 2 really decent basses affordable for the masses. :)
 
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#20
I have a CV 60's P and a VM 70's J. I'd never liked the sound of a P bass (aside from an Epiphone Accu-Bass) until I played that CV 60's, and I have to say the fit and finish is better on it than my VM 70's J. However, I did cannibalize another VM J neck off of eBay and merged it with my CV 60's P to create my ultimate bass (called "Garlic Bass" because it 'goes with everything' according to my wife).

So, if you want to keep the bass stock, go with Classic Vibe all the way, though I really like the VM jazz neck because it's satin and my hand just knows its way around on it.
 

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