Squier Classic Vibe 60s Jazzmaster vs Mexican Fender Classic Player Jazzmaster

[mushjoon]

Son, you need a Telecaster. With a Bigsby. MIJ.

I hate how teles look

[mushjoon]

Fuck, JMJM is sold out in Korea as a whole!!! Lol
I guess I have no other choice but to wait or just buy other model.

[Larsongs]

Except the classic vibe and JMJM reputations disprove your blanket statement about squiers.

If so, why are there hundreds, maybe thousands, of Posts about all the things People have had to do to these Guitars to make them good Players?

The reputations for being good are usually the result of a laborious Set up, Shim, new Bridge, Fret work & possibly a new Nut... Many go beyond that with new Pickups, Trems & Electronics. Then they're quite good!

In the USA most of the Sales of these Guitars are through GC & online Sellers like Musiciansfriend. They don't do much in regard to doing Setups. And, in my experience, don't check for broken Parts or twisted Necks. They leave it for the Buyer to deal with...

That said, you can go to any GC & play a $499 Epiphone & a $499 Squier Offset. 99% of the time the Squier is unplayable while the Epiphones play pretty nice..

99% of how many Squiers and Epiphones which are out there have you played?

I bought a 2018 Gibson Les Paul Classic new a few years ago. The high E was hanging off the side, sent it back to Gibson and it turned out that it had all sorts of alignment problems and binned it. Last year I bought a new Squier Bullet telecaster that needed nothing doing to it.

It's a lottery, no matter the price point. Maybe a few exceptions at much higher prices such as Gretsch (Japan), PRS, Suhr.

Over the part several years in my travels I've been to many Stores around the Country & have played a couple hundred Fenders, Squeirs, Epiphones & Gibsons... I have bought a few dozen... I think I have a pretty clear perception of the good, bad & the ugly of them all... By far, in my experience, the Offshore Squeir Offsets have the poorest QC.. Which truly is a shame.. It wouldn't take much to make them equal to or maybe even better than Epiphones... Seems really strange considering the Offsets are pretty simple built Solid Body Guitars with bolt on Necks?

[chgiles]

Durability.

I live in Korea where it gets as hot and steamy as Florida in the summer and as cold as Minnesota in the winter. I intend to keep this guitar for as long as I can so I need something that will stay functional. What's the better one for the long term investment?

There’s one thing I would add that hasn’t been mentioned. This could just be me but having lived in a place with similarly variable temperature and humidity I would personally always go for the guitar that has the truss rod adjustment at the headstock. When I lived in a place with this sort of climate I would find myself having to make adjustments quite often and it’s just so much easier if you don’t have to remove parts to do this. Again for some this might not be an issue but for me it’s a key consideration.

[Nevets]

99% of Squier offsets are "unplayable"? Yeah, okay.

[jakeisjake]

99% of Squier offsets are "unplayable"? Yeah, okay.

man...I must be pretty lucky. I have 2 and I've had two more and they were all great guitars!

[manwithtitties]

we love doing very accurate statistics here.

ive played on about 4 epiphones that i can remember in my life: 2 of them played like dogshit, other 2 were okay. 3 of them had terrible humbuckers, 1 of them had some pretty good ones. so according to my expert analysis, 50% of epiphones are unusable, 25% are playable but sound like ass, and 25% are pretty good.

squier wise: played more than 10 of them, nothing (from bullet to classic vibe) was quite as unpleasant as the epiphones. so according to my super scientific analysis: 100% of the squiers were at least playable, 100% were less muffled than the old epiphone humbuckers.

so, op get the classic vibe. the fretwork on every squier i've played has varied from fine to excellent. they need better strings and sometimes a shim. thats it. i happen to think that they look better with witch hat knobs too, but thats an aesthetic opinion. i also dont think you need a case unless youre constantly touring.

[Nevets]

Yes, get the Classic Vibe and join the world of offsets. They are fine guitars. This idea that seems to be going around here, that buying a new guitar is a "lottery" in terms of getting a good one is insane. We are living in the golden age of quality cheap guitars.

[Larsongs]

99% of Squier offsets are "unplayable"? Yeah, okay.

Off the Rack & straight out of the Box.. In my experience Yes.

In the past few years I've travelled from the West Coast to the East & up into the Northern States.. I've stopped into Nusic Stores just about everywhere I go.. I'm always looking for Guitars... I've bought quite a few.. I've played many many times more than I've bought searching for the right Guitars..

Yes, Squier Offsets have the worst Setups off the Rack & out of the Box of all the Guitars I've played.. Even the 3-4 New ones I bought...

I did keep a JMJM but man it needed a lot of work to make it play good! It's a pretty good Guitar..

[timiscott]

A decent shop will set it up correctly before selling it. My Squier JM needed absolutely nothing done to it. I changed the pups to PV65s but that was through choice, not necessity.

[Larsongs]

A decent shop will set it up correctly before selling it. My Squier JM needed absolutely nothing done to it. I changed the pups to PV65s but that was through choice, not necessity.

Can't speak for London. But, the Mom Pop Guitar Shops in the USA for the most part are a memory...

So you're saying Guitar Center, Musicianfriend & Sam Ash, the Retailers who sell the majority of all Guitars in the USA aren't decent Shops.

[timiscott]

I wouldn't call the places on Denmark Street 'Mum n'Dad' shops. But, then again, stuff I've bought from larger retailers (GAK, PMT etc.) over here has been well set up too, and that includes several Fender offsets and a Gretsch.

Apart from Hanks flogging me a mess of a VM Jaguar, I've only had to mess about with a used MIJ Jazzmaster that I bought from Gas Station Guitars. I've been in a couple of Sam Ash places in New York, but I don't know enough to give an opinion on them as a retailer.

[BoringPostcards]

I've owned two Squier offsets. A VM Mustang and a CV Jaguar. Both needed a good bit of work and initially felt like junk in store, but having plenty of offset and Fender/Squier experience, I picked them up anyway.
I knew it would only take me a day or two to get them right.

Got them both at L&M, who usually set guitars up well. I guess they're lazy with cheap guitars, for no logical reason.

Off the rack, the Mexican models are usually solid and in general feel better put together than the Squiers. They are a higher tier in the first place in both quality and price.
There is a very obvious jump in quality going from a CV to a Vintera or CP model.

I do love my Squiers, however if there was a Vintera model of either available, I would have 100% chosen them.
The upgrades and work to get a Squier CV up to par with even a MIM makes the cheap price of the CV negligible.

I live in Newfoundland now, where offsets are still somewhat obscure and rarely seen on stage.
The guitar stores do stock them, but in super low numbers.
L&M here gets literally one of each model CV, one or two MIM models, usually in boring colours and often not the specific model I'm interested in and ONE US offset at a time.
In the past five years, they've had two AV65 JMs, both in Oly white, an Am Original JM in Oly white and one Am Pro in transparent Oly white.
I find Oly boring, so yea...

They have never had a US Jaguar of any kind and the only MIM they ever stocked was a blacktop Jag. If you want a jaguar higher than Squier, you got to order it.

I've had to shop online and purchase from forums to get any of the higher tier offsets in colours and configs I've wanted.

I miss living in a city that isn't in the middle of nowhere. When I was in Winnipeg and Toronto, I was spoiled for choice.

Sorry, I went off track there, but yea... Offset hunting is difficult for some of us.

[LVC]

Son, you need a Telecaster. With a Bigsby. MIJ.

I hate how teles look

The Squier Paranormal Offset Teles are expected to come out in a few months. As the name suggests, they're basically a Tele with a Jazzmaster body. Best of both worlds... I don't know whether you'll like their look, but they might be another option to consider if they are available in your country.

[Maggieo]

Son, you need a Telecaster. With a Bigsby. MIJ.

I hate how teles look

The Squier Paranormal Offset Teles are expected to come out in a few months. As the name suggests, they're basically a Tele with a Jazzmaster body. Best of both worlds... I don't know whether you'll like their look, but they might be another option to consider if they are available in your country.

Put a Bigsby on one and goddamn, that's hot!!!