How is your Squier VM Jaguar/Jazzmaster/Mustang holding up?

[aliendawg]

Inspired by the Squier JMJM thread... How is your Vintage Modified guitar holding up?

I've had my Jaguar for a year and a half now (it's from 2014, apparently) and it basically looks mint. I'm very careful with my guitars so no dings really and obviously and sadly no yellowing

Anyone holding onto one of those to this day? How does it look?

[Danley]

‘12 ? A previous owner peppered it with dings and stripped screw-holes - I may refinish it in Seafoam as a result. The vibrato was also non-functional when it came to me, in the same way a lot of Squier/MIJ vibratos go out of tune from the factory; I had to file the pivot but eventually swapped for another MIJ vibrato (on which I had to file the pivot again,) for the lock button.

The neck held up with flying colors, perfect adjustability and relief etc. The stock bridge has no rattle issues, but about twice a year I need to tweak the post screws since it slowly sinks to the body; don’t have any other Jazzmaster bridges that do that. Had to replace the switch once.

[Ceylon]

Mine hasn't exactly had a hard life but I also haven't found anything about it I could expect to start failing with time. I see no reason why it couldn't still be a well-playing guitar in 30 years.

[jakeisjake]

I bought a Squier VM Jm in Sonic Blue a few months ago. It still has the stock strings on it...

But it plays great with minimal buzzing, so I didn't see a need to go bigger right off.

It's a great guitar that plays well and sounds good. The only (minor) complaint is that the SB is so pale, it almost looks white.

[manwithtitties]

i have all three.

the jazzmaster: bought it new when it came out in 2012. the stock setup was very bad and i thought about selling it. i liked the tone a lot though, so i ended up getting it set up by a luthier, which made it great. from what it seems he added a neck shim, stopped the saddle screws from falling, and put tape on the bridge posts which made it incredibly stable. very occasionally the low E would slide around on the saddle if i hit way too hard, but that was before i changed the saddles for some cheap chinese adjustable mustang ones, which gave it more sustain. ive had to change the pickup switch and volume pot because i broke mine, and my tone pot is malfunctioning a bit occasionally. i think it has slightly yellowed a bit, but its not super noticable. some dings as well, but ive never been super careful with it tbh. very glad with this one even though it has been annoying sometimes.

the mustang: bought it new at the start of 2015. took me a while to get the setup right, but ever after that it has mostly been solid. changed the bridge to the same cheap chinese ebay one, mostly because gluing the screws from the original got on my nerves. i recently noticed that my high e intonation is off, but i cant get to the screw without taking the strings and bridge off. might get a neck shim soon. it basically still looks new.

jaguar: bought this one second hand in 2016. previous owner had already put 11s on it so i didnt really notice any issues until tried playing on the higher frets. stock bridge was fine here too but i prefered the slight amount of added sustain of the other bridges more. eventually i shimmed the neck here, and it became perfect basically other than the fact that the nut on this one sucked. the low e buzzes against the first fret because the slot was too deep. not a huge issue since you cant hear it through the amp, but ill probably get someone to put a new nut on it. the saddles of the newer bridge also got a bit worn out by the strings, so i bought a regular mustang bridge to try to replace it. i somehow got quite a few scratches on the car finish but thats my own fault tbh. wish the red on this one was darker like on the mexican models, but still overal really happy with this one too.

[jagstang]

My jaguar was bought 2013 and is one of my most used guitars. Looks and feels nice - as the first day. I think, the car has got more brighter so it is going into some orange-kind-of-car...

[leokula]

What is so particular about these that they would hold up differently than any other guitar?

[Danley]

Valid question IMO for any basswood guitar, if you're under the hood a lot and banging it around you're going to strip screws and crack the paint like an eggshell. Really no worse than any other cheap-ish basswood guitar. I will say, I don't think the VM Jazzmasters feel as nice or quality as other guitars in the VM range - ex. my VM Jazz Bass, which really could pass for a Fender (some are even a two-piece body.)

To elaborate on the bridge - other than the posts sinking it is more solid than recent MIJ bridges, apart from the screw-sinking thing (no rattle, the saddles stay put pretty well, no need for locktite etc.) The geometry is good on the neck pocket etc. to the point you don't need a shim, I have no problem with the bridge staying centered/shifting (again - like some MIJs.) The stock cheap vibrato on the other hand was utter shit, and based on my experience with others I don't blame that on the PO's wear.

The Sonic is light for sure - see where I tried to touch it up in my pic above I think the CAR is ok, but I hate really dark CAR. The nut does seem to be made of Trident gum, yet it hasn't worn inordinately.

[aliendawg]

What is so particular about these that they would hold up differently than any other guitar?

The parts are cheaper and there's less quality control

[leokula]

The parts are cheaper and there's less quality control

As with any guitar made in the far east with very very little variance.

It's not like these guitars will start falling off after a certain period, they're not even the cheapest squiers you can find. I have a couple chinese epiphones that are now over 20 years old and with proper care, they'll last another twenty like most guitars really.

I bought my JMJM in the first month of its release and you would say it's brand new. That doesn't mean the guitar is anything special, it's just that I took care of it. If people take care of their chinese guitars as good as they do with their prized american or vintage, they should hold up just fine for 50 years with no problems.

My point is just that, even if the VM's are reportedly "holding up nicely", that really doesn't say anything about the guitars themselves... they're just cheap squiers that have been taken care of.

[s_mcsleazy]

well my first year mustang is holding up really well.

[aliendawg]

I also agree the Sonic Blue is too pale. The surf green seems nice though

I bought my JMJM in the first month of its release and you would say it's brand new. That doesn't mean the guitar is anything special, it's just that I took care of it. If people take care of their chinese guitars as good as they do with their prized american or vintage, they should hold up just fine for 50 years with no problems.

Cool! That's what I was interested in hearing

[mcbrandt]

I got my VMJM in the fall of '14, but I didn't play it, or any guitar, a whole lot until last year, though I started playing a lot more this year. I've swapped out the electronics, put in pure vintage '65 pickups, and a new nut. At this point I guess all that's left for me to do is the trem system and maybe the bridge? I figured at some point I'd buy a new top of the line American one, but at the same time, I don't know if I'd really need to or if it would be worth it once I'm done replacing all the lower quality parts of the Squier. The main gripes are the skunk stripe and the poly coat paint. I miss my MIJ for the thinner paint and neck.

[Dollywitch]

Mostly fine but it has tuning/intonation issues and the neck doesn't go 100% flat. I understand this is a common issue with Jags, though. Still sounds good otherwise. Some issues with the switch, the neck pickuip is often muted unless on the rhythm circuit, need to resolder something probably.

[Danley]

Mostly fine but it has tuning/intonation issues and the neck doesn't go 100% flat. I understand this is a common issue with Jags, though. Still sounds good otherwise. Some issues with the switch, the neck pickuip is often muted unless on the rhythm circuit, need to resolder something probably.

A truss rod not straightening the neck is enough for me to either kick a guitar out of bed permanently or rip it apart myself/take to a luthier. Just like child obesity, it being ‘common’ shouldn’t mean it’s an acceptable deviance. Have you checked if it’s possible to remove the adjuster and put a shim behind it to get more range? I don’t know the anatomy of a VM neck in specific ; but funny I asked a question about CV necks yesterday to see if this would be possible.