Current slide {CURRENT_SLIDE} of {TOTAL_SLIDES}- Best-selling in Electric Guitars
I bought my first Fender Stratocaster in 1975 and have had numerous Stratocasters since, some very valuable ones as well. The Fender Squier Classic Vibe line is outstanding. I have five of them and they're all great. Fit, finish, playability, look, feel, all that stuff is superb, especially for the price. The vintage amber maple neck and fretboard are gorgeous. The aged knobs and pickups look great too. Very vintage looking. The pickups produce that classic Strat twang. My Custom Shop Strats sound a bit "fuller" (louder?) but they also cost a lot more. The online reviews on these are plentiful and pretty much all of them rave about these guitars. The only reason I bought a "lefty" is because I'm right-handed and wanted to have a guitar that played like a Hendrix Strat, e.g., upside down. By the way, for me this guitar, except for the '50s headstock design which I prefer, is much more accurate than the actual Fender commemorative Hendrix Strat that sells for much more.Read full review
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Biggest complaint: The pick guard is thick and cheap. Wow. Easy to replace, and while doing that upgrade the pots and switch and you still are under $500 for a really good sounding easy to play axe. The body is heavy and some players complain about the trem. Seems OK to me but I don't use it that much. The neck is especially good and the fit and finish overall is top notch. You can spend $1,000 MORE for a Fender strat if you can afford it but you can get this Squire Classic Vibe for far less and you won't be sorry. Like me, you'll be surprised at the quality, tone and playability.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
Simply put, the entire Squier Classic Vibe series is probably the best value of any line of guitars on the market. The pickups rival almost any modern American Fender I've ever heard (and certainly sound more vintage), the neck is extremely comfortable and not too thin but thin enough to play at speed, the fretwork is superb, and the guitars are aesthetically gorgeous. I purchased a Classic Vibe 60th Anniversary Strat in the Aztec Gold finish and so far it has been one of my favorite guitars I've ever owned. If you're into Stratocasters and don't want to break the bank, I'd highly recommend checking out a Squier Classic Vibe. For the price, I am absolutely convinced that you won't find a better guitar. Anywhere.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
The body on this guitar is very close to the JV (Japan, not Jimmy Vaughan) shape from the very early 1982 Made in Japan. I worked on one of those, lovely guitar, and can confirm this one is very close. The pickup routing is different, just looking at the general arm and tummy contours it is close to a JV. Nice neck, a little thinner than an MIM C shape, but also very nice. Fretwork is all good, level, smooth fret ends. The Alnico III pickups have a nice vintage sound, some more midrange than the Fender Original 57/62 set used in a MIM Strat. Less modern sounding than the 60s pickups that are Alnico V. I recommend this guitar for anyone who would be a beginner to pro. String spacing is import and the same as narrow MIM. Change the bridge to a Wilkinson 2-1/8" only if you need to keep consistency.Read full review
I have been playing guitar since 1987, at the ripe old age of 13. Over the years, I've had the pleasure and privelage of owning over 200 different guitars. I have spent countless dollars trying to find the perfect guitar for me. I usually buy one, keep it for a while, then sell it to try another one. I figured out pretty early on that the "Strat" is my guitar of choice. I've owned one or more from nearly every major brand of guitar manufacturer you can think of. Many that you've probably never even heard of. I used to think that Squires were cheaply made beginner level guitars. My approach to electric guitars had been, "you get what you pay for". Often thinking, if it is inexpensive, it's probably junk. In a lot of cases, that has proven to be true. I have bought cheap guitars with the intention of modding them out with high end after market parts and pick ups, only to be dissatisfied with them in the end. It has not been easy finding the rare "Diamond in the rough" inexpensive guitar. However, this model has changed my view point on these beautifully crafted Strats. I purchased a Classic vibe 50's model Squire, with an olympic white finish, gold annodized pick guard and vintage tinted, maple neck with maple fret board. I was suspiciously skeptical upon ordering this guitar on-line. But, here is my take on the guitar I got: Fit and Finish: One word, flawless. I meticulously went over this guitar, looking for something, anything to make me have the "I told you so" moment. I could find nothing wrong with it. The body and neck are finished perfectly, with zero flaws. The neck joint is nice and tight, with no gaps between the body and neck. The vintage style tuners are all nice and tight in the headstock. The nut is slotted perfectly. The frets are dressed perfectly with not a single sharp fret edge. I noticed also that this particular neck is quarter sawn! I would easily pay $300 for a neck of equal quality from a custom builder. The bridge is even set-up with a fret board matching 9.5" radius. For a sub $400 guitar, this level of quality absolutely astonishes me. The sound: Again, I was very surprised. The pickups are very "Straty" sounding. Of course after all, it's a strat. But, I mean that it sounds exactly how you want a strat to sound. I plugged this into my Fender, Hot Rod Deluxe combo amp and put it to the test. These are not noiseless pickups, so you will get the typical 60 cycle hum in positions 1, 3 and 5. The middle pickup is reverse wound, reverse polarity from the bridge and neck pickups, so in positions 2 and 4 you have the wonderful, silent strat quack sound. In both clean and dirty amp settings, this guitars sings. Very pleasing tones in all positions. I will say that they don't fair well with high gain sounds though, the 60 cycle hum is too great for my taste. But in clean and low gain SRV type of tones, these pickup sound excellent. I played this guitar for several hours in one sitting upon taking it out of the box and only had to tune it up twice. Once, before I started playing and once more about 20 minutes later. After that, the guitar stayed in tune very well. I've had it about a week now, and it has become my "go to" guitar. The verdict: The Squire Classic Vibe 50's Stratocaster is by far, the best "bang for the buck" strat that you can get today. I would easily put this up against guitars that cost twice, maybe even triple what this cost and it would be comparable. This one is up there with my best. Get one.Read full review