Testing the Definition of Insanity - NGD Redux - Squier 40th AV Vntge. Edt. JM

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Embenny
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Re: NGD - Squier 40th Anniversary Vintage Edition Jazzmaster

Post by Embenny » Sun Aug 14, 2022 7:11 pm

Surfysonic wrote:
Sun Aug 14, 2022 9:04 am
Welp, all packed up and ready to be shipped out tomorrow. Thanks again for everyone's input - much appreciated! 8)
Parting is such sweet sorrow.

Take it from a guy who's kept similarly-defective instruments before - you'd just end up torturing yourself, thinking you'd find the time and energy to fix all its problems, while playing it less than your other, properly-made guitars.

That was me and my Eastwood Deerhoof model. It was just so cool looking that I kept wanting to sort it out. HUT the pickups were routed wrong, and the high E string missed the polepiece and was way too quiet, and the headstock angle left two of the strings digging into the wood behind the nut. I got a big discount from CME because of its issues, but I was never happy with it until the day I traded it away (in person, so the guy got to see it for all its flaws before walking away with it).
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Re: NGD - Squier 40th Anniversary Vintage Edition Jazzmaster

Post by Surfysonic » Mon Aug 15, 2022 7:23 am

mbene085 wrote:
Sun Aug 14, 2022 7:11 pm
Surfysonic wrote:
Sun Aug 14, 2022 9:04 am
Welp, all packed up and ready to be shipped out tomorrow. Thanks again for everyone's input - much appreciated! 8)
Parting is such sweet sorrow.

Take it from a guy who's kept similarly-defective instruments before - you'd just end up torturing yourself, thinking you'd find the time and energy to fix all its problems, while playing it less than your other, properly-made guitars.

That was me and my Eastwood Deerhoof model. It was just so cool looking that I kept wanting to sort it out. HUT the pickups were routed wrong, and the high E string missed the polepiece and was way too quiet, and the headstock angle left two of the strings digging into the wood behind the nut. I got a big discount from CME because of its issues, but I was never happy with it until the day I traded it away (in person, so the guy got to see it for all its flaws before walking away with it).
I hear ya! I went through the same thing with the Fender Vaporizer. Loved the kitchy look of it but the "Vaporizer" function never worked. All the mods I put into it (new speakers, cables, tubes) and it was still problematic. The onboard reverb only engaged when one of my pedals was engaged - this after testing the amp on its own and with the pedalboard. Was frustration incarnate. Ended up as part of my massive trade-ins of a bunch of amps to Atomic Music. I let them know the issues so hopefully, they fixed all the problems. Much happier with my current amps, all working great. :)
The doofus formerly known as Snorre...

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Re: NGD - Squier 40th Anniversary Vintage Edition Jazzmaster

Post by Embenny » Mon Aug 15, 2022 8:49 am

Surfysonic wrote:
Mon Aug 15, 2022 7:23 am
I hear ya! I went through the same thing with the Fender Vaporizer. Loved the kitchy look of it but the "Vaporizer" function never worked. All the mods I put into it (new speakers, cables, tubes) and it was still problematic. The onboard reverb only engaged when one of my pedals was engaged - this after testing the amp on its own and with the pedalboard. Was frustration incarnate. Ended up as part of my massive trade-ins of a bunch of amps to Atomic Music. I let them know the issues so hopefully, they fixed all the problems. Much happier with my current amps, all working great. :)
This guitar would totally have been the same thing. Sinking time and money into it until you realize it's just not worth it.

I can put up with crappy pickups or hardware, because those are easy (and fun!) To change, but I've gotten better at accepting when a guitar is just a plain lemon.

Like my beautiful, rare Pelham Blue Firebird T. They only made it for one year in that colour and with the correct headstock and Steinberger tuners.

But I had to order it online because there were none in Canada, and when it arrived, the neck had just way too much relief that couldn't be dialed out with the headstock. The previous owner claimed it was "set up for slide" but the reality was that it couldn't be set up for anything but slide.

I thought it would be my dream Gibson, but once again, it only made me truly happy when it walked away from me (in the hands of the same guy who took my Deerhoof im a 2-for-1 trade - weird, but I won't look at gift horse in the mouth).

I'm sure you'll end up with an even better Jazzmaster after this.
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Re: NGD - Squier 40th Anniversary Vintage Edition Jazzmaster

Post by Surfysonic » Mon Aug 15, 2022 12:01 pm

mbene085 wrote:
Mon Aug 15, 2022 8:49 am
...

I'm sure you'll end up with an even better Jazzmaster after this.
Very much looking forward to presenting my Musikraft/MJT build when the body arrives (approx. 4 weeks). There's even a bit of your legacy included in the build! :whistle:
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Re: NGD - Squier 40th Anniversary Vintage Edition Jazzmaster

Post by Embenny » Mon Aug 15, 2022 12:35 pm

Surfysonic wrote:
Mon Aug 15, 2022 12:01 pm
Very much looking forward to presenting my Musikraft/MJT build when the body arrives (approx. 4 weeks). There's even a bit of your legacy included in the build! :whistle:
Ooh, is it the JBEs or the Mastery?
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Re: NGD - Squier 40th Anniversary Vintage Edition Jazzmaster

Post by Surfysonic » Mon Aug 15, 2022 12:54 pm

mbene085 wrote:
Mon Aug 15, 2022 12:35 pm
Surfysonic wrote:
Mon Aug 15, 2022 12:01 pm
Very much looking forward to presenting my Musikraft/MJT build when the body arrives (approx. 4 weeks). There's even a bit of your legacy included in the build! :whistle:
Ooh, is it the JBEs or the Mastery?
Maaaaaybeeee (one of them). ;)

Nice to see ya posting again - you've been missed! :)
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Re: NGD - Squier 40th Anniversary Vintage Edition Jazzmaster

Post by Embenny » Mon Aug 15, 2022 2:25 pm

Surfysonic wrote:
Mon Aug 15, 2022 12:54 pm
Maaaaaybeeee (one of them). ;)

Nice to see ya posting again - you've been missed! :)
Thanks!

I look forward to seeing which one it is, and how the build turns out.
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Re: Returned Due to QC Flaws - Squier 40th AV Vntge. Edt. JM

Post by Larsongs » Thu Aug 18, 2022 6:19 am

In my experience the QC on these Indonesian Squier JM’s has been pretty bad for a long time.. A few years ago I went thru 3 or 4 VMJM’s & all of them had similar issues to the OP’s… I wasn’t very popular around here for airing my issues & concerns about these Guitars.. I’m under the impression the CV JM’s are the same Guitars just a different name & in this case the relic look & different color.. Why they would go this length for a redesign & name change but not address QC is a mystery?

I ended buying an Oly White AV65 JM & a CAR AV65 Jag.. No problems with either of them.. Great Guitars!

Good luck to the OP….

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Re: Returned Due to QC Flaws - Squier 40th AV Vntge. Edt. JM

Post by Powdered Toast Man » Thu Aug 18, 2022 6:36 am

Looks like a piece of crap (no offence).

This is like how Mike Adams (Puisheen) reviewed the Squier Classic Vibe and then recommended it as a "great guitar", except you have to change the bridge, and vibrato, and do a bunch of creative setup work, and so on. So no, it's not a great guitar if you have to immediately dump a bunch of time and money into "fixing" it.

I know there's guys who will argue their Classic Vibe is as good as any Custom Shop. However my experience in any of Fender's USA instruments is all I've ever had to do to them out of the box was tweak the setup to my own personal taste and away you go. I've never had to completely disassemble the guitar to try and correct fundamental manufacturing flaws.

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Re: Returned Due to QC Flaws - Squier 40th AV Vntge. Edt. JM

Post by Surfysonic » Thu Aug 18, 2022 7:25 am

FWIW, I've been very lucky up to this point in having decent quality Squier guitars. This is the first production-flawed lemon that needed to be returned in over 10 years of owning Squier guitars.

I've been very happy for the Squiers I have and have previously owned. They have been excellent, affordable modding platforms for me. Lately, I'm finding myself having to do less modding unless it's for an aesthetic purpose or preferred pickup swap out. IMHO, Squier guitars continue to improve. I just got unlucky on this one.

Shame, too - I really liked the neck feel, the aesthetics, and surprisingly for me, the stock pickups. :(
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Re: Returned Due to QC Flaws - Squier 40th AV Vntge. Edt. JM

Post by Lost In Autumn » Thu Aug 18, 2022 7:27 am

Powdered Toast Man wrote:
Thu Aug 18, 2022 6:36 am
Looks like a piece of crap (no offence).

This is like how Mike Adams (Puisheen) reviewed the Squier Classic Vibe and then recommended it as a "great guitar", except you have to change the bridge, and vibrato, and do a bunch of creative setup work, and so on. So no, it's not a great guitar if you have to immediately dump a bunch of time and money into "fixing" it.

I know there's guys who will argue their Classic Vibe is as good as any Custom Shop. However my experience in any of Fender's USA instruments is all I've ever had to do to them out of the box was tweak the setup to my own personal taste and away you go. I've never had to completely disassemble the guitar to try and correct fundamental manufacturing flaws.
There's a reason that American Fender guitars play well out of the box, but cost +$2k and Squiers need work to play well, but cost -$500. For people with the skills, a $450 Squier is a great value, even if you swap all the hardware, level and dress the frets. For people who have to pay to have the work done, it's not such a great deal.

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Re: Returned Due to QC Flaws - Squier 40th AV Vntge. Edt. JM

Post by Powdered Toast Man » Thu Aug 18, 2022 7:56 am

Lost In Autumn wrote:
Thu Aug 18, 2022 7:27 am
Powdered Toast Man wrote:
Thu Aug 18, 2022 6:36 am
Looks like a piece of crap (no offence).

This is like how Mike Adams (Puisheen) reviewed the Squier Classic Vibe and then recommended it as a "great guitar", except you have to change the bridge, and vibrato, and do a bunch of creative setup work, and so on. So no, it's not a great guitar if you have to immediately dump a bunch of time and money into "fixing" it.

I know there's guys who will argue their Classic Vibe is as good as any Custom Shop. However my experience in any of Fender's USA instruments is all I've ever had to do to them out of the box was tweak the setup to my own personal taste and away you go. I've never had to completely disassemble the guitar to try and correct fundamental manufacturing flaws.
There's a reason that American Fender guitars play well out of the box, but cost +$2k and Squiers need work to play well, but cost -$500. For people with the skills, a $450 Squier is a great value, even if you swap all the hardware, level and dress the frets. For people who have to pay to have the work done, it's not such a great deal.
But if you have to take your $500 Squier and put $450-500 of work/parts into it, you might as well step into an MIM Fender then. The quality on the MIMs these days is fantastic.

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Re: Returned Due to QC Flaws - Squier 40th AV Vntge. Edt. JM

Post by Lost In Autumn » Thu Aug 18, 2022 9:25 am

Powdered Toast Man wrote:
Thu Aug 18, 2022 7:56 am
Lost In Autumn wrote:
Thu Aug 18, 2022 7:27 am
Powdered Toast Man wrote:
Thu Aug 18, 2022 6:36 am
Looks like a piece of crap (no offence).

This is like how Mike Adams (Puisheen) reviewed the Squier Classic Vibe and then recommended it as a "great guitar", except you have to change the bridge, and vibrato, and do a bunch of creative setup work, and so on. So no, it's not a great guitar if you have to immediately dump a bunch of time and money into "fixing" it.

I know there's guys who will argue their Classic Vibe is as good as any Custom Shop. However my experience in any of Fender's USA instruments is all I've ever had to do to them out of the box was tweak the setup to my own personal taste and away you go. I've never had to completely disassemble the guitar to try and correct fundamental manufacturing flaws.
There's a reason that American Fender guitars play well out of the box, but cost +$2k and Squiers need work to play well, but cost -$500. For people with the skills, a $450 Squier is a great value, even if you swap all the hardware, level and dress the frets. For people who have to pay to have the work done, it's not such a great deal.
But if you have to take your $500 Squier and put $450-500 of work/parts into it, you might as well step into an MIM Fender then. The quality on the MIMs these days is fantastic.
I've done that to several Squiers in the past, installing premium parts, including Lindy Fralin or Novak pickups, new bridges and tailpieces, new tuners and electronics, as well as fretwork. It was way beyond what an MIM Fender is stock. Don't get me wrong, Mexican fenders are great, but the pickups aren't anywhere near boutique quality, nor is the hardware comparable to an AVRI or AM Pro Fender, let alone Mastery and/or Staytrem. That MIM Fender is still going to benefit from fret leveling and dressing- perhaps not to the level that a Squier may need, but it will still improve it just the same. Where the MIM has a slight edge, is in finish work, but that's close to splitting hairs. The main problem is even if you've massaged a squier to the point that it plays and sounds on par with a custom shop fender, which is truly possible, it's still a Squier and as such, you have a hard time demanding more than $500 for it, no matter how expensive the parts you put on it and how well it plays. The shop where i work routinely sells Squier CV Jazzmasters for $500-$600, but that's largely based on the reputation of our owner, Chris DiPinto, who has an established reputation for making import guitars play extremely well.
For me, I've moved on to building my own guitars, but I wouldn't be where I am if I hadn't started out tarting up Squiers.

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Re: Returned Due to QC Flaws - Squier 40th AV Vntge. Edt. JM

Post by sugarandopium » Thu Aug 18, 2022 10:51 am

MiM also has an edge in fretboard woods.
Pau ferro has really grown on me and I’ve come to really dislike laurel.

I can see both sides of that debate. For me it’s a joy to build and or mod guitars.
I used to be more inclined to side with squire as a project base when you could get a VM with a rosewood neck for 350-400.

I think we can all agree that it’s great to have so many options and choices these days. 20years ago it was MUCH different.

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Re: Returned Due to QC Flaws - Squier 40th AV Vntge. Edt. JM

Post by redchapterjubilee » Thu Aug 18, 2022 4:20 pm

The biggest problem is that not many of us can play these guitars ahead of time to be able to tell immediately if a guitar is good or bad or somewhere in between. We mostly buy them online. The story I always heard from other bandmates when I was “just a drummer” was that with Squier and MIM Fender you had to play a bunch of them to find the one that was good, and that there were indeed good ones, but there were also a bunch that weren’t.

I’ve bought two Squier VM/CVJM’s new. Both had issues. Both were bought sight unseen online. One I moved on and let be someone else’s problem, the other I spent another $100 or so to fix a bad nut and fret sprout. Now it’s a fine guitar. What else was changed was to taste. Paying a 25% surcharge atop the guitar to make it playable shouldn’t be acceptable. But who is ultimately responsible? The shop that sells it? Fender? The consumer, since so much of what constitutes “playability” is subjective? I dunno. I resent buying something new and not being to actually use it right away. But because it’s a Squier and it’s a cheap guitar we have been programmed to accept these issues as part of the experience. Of course you had to do work to it, it’s a cheap guitar. Well, $500+ isn’t cheap to me and I’m guessing I’m not alone.

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