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Squier Precision CV 60's: what is it really worth?

I have tried a Crafted in China CV Precision and even a Telecaster, and have personally owned a Matt Freeman Precision. I currently have the Indonesian Classic Vibe 60s P on order, I’m excited to test that one out.
I pulled the trigger based on recommendations from English Youtubers Tyler Spicer and Jonny Dibble. Mr. Spicer seems to love the Indonesian CV60s P, which seems like a high compliment considering he owns a Sadowsky, a US MTD, and a Fender Custom Shop.

Outright I wouldn’t call the Indonesian ones “worthless” (@Yahboy just has very strong opinions against modern Squiers I assume). Heck, the modern Chinese-made Squier Paranormal ‘54 Jazz Bass (which I also owned) was right up there with my MIM Deluxe PJ bass.
As with anything import, quality can be a hit-and-miss.

I will report back.
 
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Just bought a 2010 CV fiesta red in excellent condition. Anyone swap out the pickup or wiring harness? Thinking about a CS62 or maybe EMG Gzr (with labella flats)
Congratulation on your CV enjoy! This build/assy is a CV body, new CTS pots, cloth pushback wiring, orange drop cap and Fender Original 62's and it's a beast! Wearing ghs flats. :thumbsup: Love it!
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Honestly, not sure you will gain much. Take sound clips before and after if you do
You know what this is good advice, I never felt it necessary to change out the guts OR pick-ups on my "Crafted in China" CV's nor have I. Apologies @yankeeblues

The CV in my above post is an Indonesian, Indo CV's are fairly good stock, having said that the Fender 62's were a really great improvement for the tone I was after from my Indo Squiers...:thumbsup:
 
Honestly, not sure you will gain much. Take sound clips before and after if you do

Its not in my hands yet but its got duncan SP3s in it currently. Don't think the originals are included. Not a pickup generally known for the vintage p bass with flats tone I'm looking for but I will see how it sounds. If I do swap I will probably go ahead and swap the whole harness so I can put some standard fender knobs on. Interested in trying a solderless system hence the EMGs.
 
Just bought a 2010 CV fiesta red in excellent condition. Anyone swap out the pickup or wiring harness? Thinking about a CS62 or maybe EMG Gzr (with labella flats)

Play around with Labella flat first before you wanna swap the pickup.
For serious old school Jameson like P vibe, fender original 62p pup great match with broken in tone Labella flat, sure you need a piece a mute foam and hook finger pluck close to neck side.
Hopehelp
 
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I have tried a Crafted in China CV Precision and even a Telecaster, and have personally owned a Matt Freeman Precision. I currently have the Indonesian Classic Vibe 60s P on order, I’m excited to test that one out.
I pulled the trigger based on recommendations from English Youtubers Tyler Spicer and Jonny Dibble. Mr. Spicer seems to love the Indonesian CV60s P, which seems like a high compliment considering he owns a Sadowsky, a US MTD, and a Fender Custom Shop.

Outright I wouldn’t call the Indonesian ones “worthless” (@Yahboy just has very strong opinions against modern Squiers I assume). Heck, the modern Chinese-made Squier Paranormal ‘54 Jazz Bass (which I also owned) was right up there with my MIM Deluxe PJ bass.
As with anything import, quality can be a hit-and-miss.

I will report back.
Didn’t you recently sell your Matt Freeman? IIRC , you received quite a big profit from that sale.
I hope you aren’t disappointed when you compare the 2. You might find the tone, feel, and build quality is not up to that of the Matt Freeman. The MD and the China Classic Vibe 60’s P basses are very well put together instruments with very good pickups .
 
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Didn’t you recently sell your Matt Freeman? IIRC , you received quite a big profit from that sale.
I hope you aren’t disappointed when you compare the 2. You might find the tone, feel, and build quality is not up to that of the Matt Freeman. The MD and the China Classic Vibe 60’s P basses are very well put together instruments with very good pickups .

+1 definitely on the feel department and I’m not sure if Cheen meant thess instruments from the Indonesian lines (mines 2020) cause I bought one about a month ago and enjoy the tone of the instrument. Not so much on the quality but after I slapped a recent set of GHS Boomers, decided to keep it as an inexpensive P bass beater!

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Ended up swapping the pickguard for tort and did a poll on my Instagram page since most of my followers are non musicians/bass players :laugh:

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Didn’t you recently sell your Matt Freeman? IIRC , you received quite a big profit from that sale.
I hope you aren’t disappointed when you compare the 2. You might find the tone, feel, and build quality is not up to that of the Matt Freeman. The MD and the China Classic Vibe 60’s P basses are very well put together instruments with very good pickups .
Yes I did. Part of me didn’t want to let go of the Freeman P, but the neck was slowing down my playing as it was only a bit skinnier than the Road Worn 50s P I used to own. The pickups on the Matt Freeman were also too boomy for my liking, and with the basswood body is really akin to an MIJ bass in those aspects.

I’m genuinely excited for the Indo CV60 P I’m about to receive. As @sonojono states it should be a good inexpensive beater P. I don’t want to discount it just yet, just because its pedigree isn’t like the China CVs of a decade ago.
 
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I realize we've been discussing P Basses specifically here, but as a recent owner of a new Indo CV (70's Jazz), I can comment that when they get it right in the factory, it's on par with any CV I've played over the years. The wood grain is excellent, the body is light and resonant, the fret ends are well levelled off (until about the 15th fret, where they start to be felt a little bit), the pots feel alright and have solid taper. The nut was cut too high, and the jack is cheap (just grabbed a Switchcraft this aft), but I see those as pretty minor knocks. Even the pickups are better than I expected; the bridge is a "meh" when I thought I'd hate it, and the neck is pretty full of character. This bass crushed my friend's stock 2015 MIM Jazz in a blind tone shootout. Still have a set of Fralins coming, though! And I replaced the bridge with a Hipshot, since I now prefer a slightly narrower string spacing than Fender standard.

It's a Jazz, not a P, and 70s not 60s, but since the discussion was on comparing the Indo vs China basses, I felt like it's not entirely irrelevant to share my experience. Perhaps these new guys are more hit and miss than the MIC run (don't believe I ever played a MIC that was a lemon!), but after having it a few weeks now, I'm convinced this bass is a winner. With either run of these basses, the easily swappable bits are pretty much YMMV, but the neck, body, and overall construction need to be right. If finding a MIC was doable here (I looked for a while), I'd have moved for one, but I'm really happy with this Indo bass, and can vouch that it is absolutely possible for them to get it right over there!

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Thanks for your feedback man.

I get that the China made CV P-basses were great. But still how does it make the Indonesian model that bad or 'worth nothing'?

So if I understood well the biggest difference lies in quality control, right? Which to me means that not all Indonesia made Squier CV Precision basses are poopie. Some might still be close to the quality level of China made models and some don't, I guess?

I have a MIC CVP sonic blue, and an Indonesian VMJ both made around the same time. The CV is flawless. The VM is great but has some inconsistency in the neck shaping.

It was the perfect storm: a Chinese factory with good craftsmanship and QC. Very decent hardware. Attention to detail. Change one thing and quality can slip. Fast.

It also comes down to the Wood stock. Fender rolled into China set up production at a factory, and ordered the wood. They got some great maple. No two orders of maple are the same, because they don’t come from the same stands of maple, or the same mill or country for that matter. Same goes for the body wood, and the matching of body pieces.

Change any variable in the recipe and you get a different result.
 
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Had to come back after trying out the same bass at multiple Guitar Centers. I think the one I tried was really set up well while others needed a set up…

I’ll be picking it up tonight at my local GC and doing some videos with it soon. That bass really left an impression on me
I’m glad. The one I tried was heavy and I didn’t like the neck feel at all. Pickup didn’t have that special low mid sweetness either.
It played , felt , and sounded very different from the China version.
It did look great !!
 
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I’m glad. The one I tried was heavy and I didn’t like the neck feel at all. Pickup didn’t have that special low mid sweetness either.
It played , felt , and sounded very different from the China version.
It did look great !!

When I pick the bass up, I’ll take photos of how it’s setup. I think it has to do with the pickup height cause the other GCs that have that bass the pickups aren’t even angled properly!
 
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