Squier 40th anniversary Jazzmaster (impressions on p. 8)

[Zork]

They are blowing out the LPB with gold hardware ones on thomann for 350€. The desert sand one is still 490€. If it was the other way round I would probably be intrigued.

[GilmourD]

Again, this is all anecdotal, but I have read a lot of complaints about the Classic Vibe (and 40th Anniversary) offsets in addition to mine, and the complaints have never been about trying to get them to work with 8 gauge Slinkies or shit like that.

Maybe it was true 20 years ago that the average offset buyer had no idea how to set one of these up and tried to treat them like a Les Paul or Strat. It's probably still true that Fender themselves (or Cor-Tek) don't really know how to set them up. But there's a whole internet out there, including innumerable tutorials on YouTube. Anybody who goes to the trouble of choosing a Classic Vibe instrument knows what they're getting into.

So when somebody says "hey, my Jazzmaster neck is so green I can bend up a whole tone just by tugging on it at the 7th fret," it's not productive to say "have you tried shimming it?" Right?

On the other hand, guitar players aren't exactly known for their literacy or critical thinking skills, so maybe the condescension is inadvertent.

That's the point I'm trying to make.

Your arguments against the CVs and Squiers are all anecdotal, based on one guitar that you had bad luck with and other people's posts on forms.

My arguments are based on guitars that have actually spent significant amounts of time in my own two hands.

For instance, I literally received this body in the mail today. I had a neck that I bought from MIRC ("USED" stamp and all). I screwed it on, shimmed it 0.5° (1.0° was too much), put some strings on it, and tweaked it to my liking. I've been playing it all night.



Here it is together with the CV70s Jag that I bought a couple months ago that I've been playing non-stop since then.



Here's the CV60s Strat that I have put HOURS upon HOURS of playing time on over the past three years.



Here's the CV70s neck that I put on an Eden body.



This is the CVC60s Baritone Tele body that I got for my brother to put a neck on that he has always loved but I never bonded with. This is literally something I spent time researching, to make sure that a 25.5" neck would fit on the body or if the body was different than the regular CVC. It's just a regular CVC body in a different color, but NOBODY had confirmed that. Like you, a lot of "Oh, somebody said they did it." or "I heard somewhere on some forum that it works." but absolutely nothing as far as hard confirmation. So, I took the chance and became that hard confirmation.



These are guitars I own or have spent significant time in my house. You've talked about one guitar repeatedly and other people's stories.

I've had enough hands-on experience to get to the point where I could buy a Classic Vibe in whole or in parts and I have a consistent expectation of what I'm getting and the fact that it most likely only needs a good setup, no more than any other guitar I've owned or played.

I haven't had to do anything to the Classic Vibes I've dealt with that I haven't had to do to any of the factory guitars in these pictures.






Sure, I know my way around things, but none of the Squier stuff I've had in the stable has needed anything but pedestrian setup stuff and they've been consistent and reliable.

So, I dunno what to tell you about your one guitar and forum rumors. ‍♂️

I've never said nor would I ever say "Have you tried shimming it?" for tuning instability issues coupled with neck action/relief instability issues. You've replied to me with that a couple times and I'm not sure why that's been your response to me. I've given incorrect answers based on faulty descriptions of the problem, but that's also something I deal with at work as an IT guy, but once I get the correct information I provide the correct solution. Getting people to describe a problem correctly is frustratingly uncommon.

Also, I find myself insulted in general on behalf of guitar players being considered lacking in literacy or critical thinking skills. The vast majority of this forum proves that wildly wrong.

I think you need to work on the general idea of forming an analysis around a significant sample size and the concept of statistical anomalies, because you've been arguing against the greater statistical norm with your sample size of one and faulty ancillary data.

[GilmourD]

They are blowing out the LPB with gold hardware ones on thomann for 350€. The desert sand one is still 490€. If it was the other way round I would probably be intrigued.

For those in the US, check out Pro Audio Star. The guys over at Squier-Talk.com have purchased a bunch of stuff from them and often say they receive "open box" items that are still factory sealed.

I've done a couple searches and here's the links to those results, if that helps.

Squier 40th Anniversary Guitars and Basses

Squier Classic Vibe Guitars and Basses

[ainm]

I don’t think anyone is saying the CV range is crap. What we are saying is that the CV JMs have been below the standard we have grown accustomed to from Squier. I don’t have any CVs because I’ve my share of Jags, Mustangs and probably don’t need another. I would buy a CV JM in a heartbeat if I could find one that wasn’t a wreck.

I’m glad others have found a good stock. On the flip side, I’ve been in music shops all over the North of England and Southern Scotland looking for a half-decent example and every one I’ve found has been, in my experience, shocking. With that experience, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with warning people to beware of buying these guitars blind, and I don’t think anyone’s experience is worth less than someone else’s just because they haven’t bought one. We all love our offsets here and I’m certain that those who’ve had terrible luck with these guitars know what they’re talking about. Many of us build guitars too so we’re not unseasoned amateurs who can’t take on a guitar that needs a little love. If anything, we may have a better filter against what’s not worth taking on in the first place.

I’d love one of these CV JMs, and despite having been critical of the earlier example in this thread, I was actually turned on to look for a good example because of the thread. So I’ve kept quiet since then and monitored the thread rather than jumping on to report my disappointment a dozen times over. I have my opinion and quietly moved on. No agenda and no snobbism against Squiers either - I’ve a shit ton. Sadly, I won’t going to be buying a CV JM without holding it and inspecting it in person.

I don’t expect anyone to consider my experience as the golden standard, but I’d hope others would heed the collective experience of people who love offsets when it comes to this particular JM run, which is not a good run. That doesn’t preclude some great examples being out there and I truly hope everyone who’s looking for one finds one, myself included.

Apologies if this is combative. I just hate people having the wool pulled over their eyes because of a few posts on the internet (it works that way too).

[distressed]

Regarding offset Squiers and Fenders (from my experience) - the latter have slightly better electronics and hardware in general. Both could need serious setup ootb, depending on the particular guitar. And both need at least bridge/trem upgrade ootb too, which is acceptable for a $500 and below guitar, but not for the $1500 one, imho.

[timiscott]

I've got an AV65 JM and there is absolutely nothing wrong with the bridge or vibrato. Just to stir the pot a bit...

[distressed]

Don't know, almost every Fender JM/Jag I had opportunity to play these years has some Staytrem/Mastery/Descendant hardware on it. Or Loctite hacks and stuff.

[GilmourD]

I don’t think anyone is saying the CV range is crap. What we are saying is that the CV JMs have been below the standard we have grown accustomed to from Squier. I don’t have any CVs because I’ve my share of Jags, Mustangs and probably don’t need another. I would buy a CV JM in a heartbeat if I could find one that wasn’t a wreck.

I’m glad others have found a good stock. On the flip side, I’ve been in music shops all over the North of England and Southern Scotland looking for a half-decent example and every one I’ve found has been, in my experience, shocking. With that experience, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with warning people to beware of buying these guitars blind, and I don’t think anyone’s experience is worth less than someone else’s just because they haven’t bought one. We all love our offsets here and I’m certain that those who’ve had terrible luck with these guitars know what they’re talking about. Many of us build guitars too so we’re not unseasoned amateurs who can’t take on a guitar that needs a little love. If anything, we may have a better filter against what’s not worth taking on in the first place.

I’d love one of these CV JMs, and despite having been critical of the earlier example in this thread, I was actually turned on to look for a good example because of the thread. So I’ve kept quiet since then and monitored the thread rather than jumping on to report my disappointment a dozen times over. I have my opinion and quietly moved on. No agenda and no snobbism against Squiers either - I’ve a shit ton. Sadly, I won’t going to be buying a CV JM without holding it and inspecting it in person.

I don’t expect anyone to consider my experience as the golden standard, but I’d hope others would heed the collective experience of people who love offsets when it comes to this particular JM run, which is not a good run. That doesn’t preclude some great examples being out there and I truly hope everyone who’s looking for one finds one, myself included.

Apologies if this is combative. I just hate people having the wool pulled over their eyes because of a few posts on the internet (it works that way too).

I think that's the difference. You know you don't know for sure. You're not applying a broad brush to a whole based on a single experience and hearsay.

Your experience may also be down to Fender's UK distribution while I'm here in the US.

I'll be honest, I usually expect the absolute worst out of Guitar Center. I spent a couple hours there with the wife (who's loving the Bullet Mustang I got her for Mother's Day) the other day and played a blue 40th JM that I really liked. There were a couple CVJMs that really just needed setups. They were also a ton more consistent than the Epiphone Les Pauls with a differently shaped neck on every example of the same model I played.

Same. I don't intend to be combative, either. I just hate when people spread misinformation.

[bessieboporbach]

Regarding offset Squiers and Fenders (from my experience) - the latter have slightly better electronics and hardware in general. Both could need serious setup ootb, depending on the particular guitar. And both need at least bridge/trem upgrade ootb too, which is acceptable for a $500 and below guitar, but not for the $1500 one, imho.

To be honest I think the vibrato on the CVJM is pretty good. I miss the lock, but otherwise it works well with a variety of different string types and has smooth action.

The bridge, on the other hand, is a sore point for me. I don't like the lack of fine height/tilt adjustment on the saddles, and they don't really have enough intonation travel. But I will say that the strings don't seem to get hung up on the bridge and it does rock as it's designed to.

The CVJM also has what I think are very nice-sounding pickups. So I may have lots of complaints about the electronics, wood, and workmanship overall but the vibrato has never disappointed me.

I don't own any USA Fenders but my Vintera Jag has what feels like a perfectly solid and responsive bridge and tailpiece pairing.

[GilmourD]

Regarding offset Squiers and Fenders (from my experience) - the latter have slightly better electronics and hardware in general. Both could need serious setup ootb, depending on the particular guitar. And both need at least bridge/trem upgrade ootb too, which is acceptable for a $500 and below guitar, but not for the $1500 one, imho.

To be honest I think the vibrato on the CVJM is pretty good. I miss the lock, but otherwise it works well with a variety of different string types and has smooth action.

The bridge, on the other hand, is a sore point for me. I don't like the lack of fine height/tilt adjustment on the saddles, and they don't really have enough intonation travel. But I will say that the strings don't seem to get hung up on the bridge and it does rock as it's designed to.

The CVJM also has what I think are very nice-sounding pickups. So I may have lots of complaints about the electronics, wood, and workmanship overall but the vibrato has never disappointed me.

I don't own any USA Fenders but my Vintera Jag has what feels like a perfectly solid and responsive bridge and tailpiece pairing.

Out of curiosity, is your Vintera a regular '60s or the '60s Modified? I ask because the regular '60s has the standard JM/Jag bridge with threaded saddles that most people prefer replacing with the Mustang bridge, like what comes on the CVs. The Modified has an Adjust-O-Matic that doesn't rock, but it sounds like you have the regular one.

My experience with the Mustang bridge is more a matter of how well maintained it has been before it got to me. I've played a couple where something very clearly knocked into the bridge and caused a divot in the bottom of the thimble that the bridge post sits in instead of the normal central spot. I have a CV Mustang body that somebody clearly abused and one of the thimbles is like that (and also cracked from jamming something large into it as well as large chunks of finish missing). I'm replacing the thimbles (the correctly sized ones are out for delivery as I type this). The guy claims this all happened when the body was shipped to him but I'm thinking him or somebody else smacking the crap out of it worked to my benefit price-wise since I'm just going to refinish it anyway.

I think my major complaint with the Squier offsets is that most of them have no angle at all to the neck pocket (although some of the more recent ones and the 40th models apparently do). It's something that the different Asian factories that make Squiers only seem to have figured out recently, probably just assuming that offsets require a more delicate playing style. ‍♂️

[bessieboporbach]

Out of curiosity, is your Vintera a regular '60s or the '60s Modified? I ask because the regular '60s has the standard JM/Jag bridge with threaded saddles that most people prefer replacing with the Mustang bridge, like what comes on the CVs. The Modified has an Adjust-O-Matic that doesn't rock, but it sounds like you have the regular one.

My Vintera Jag is the normal one, not the modified (I don't like humbuckers).

I like the threaded bridge. If you know what you like and have some patience, the extreme degree of adjustability it offers has real value. In a funny way, I think of it as similar to a Floyd Rose -- there's a learning curve, and it lacks the "grab and go" qualities of a Strat bridge or TOM, but once you get it the way you like it, it just sort of disappears and you're one with the instrument. (The fine tuning of string spacing is something that I can't believe never caught on in guitar design more broadly.) And with a good rough setup, it's good for years with only the minutest of adjustments.

I understand the value of the Mustang bridge for those who play a lot of hard power chords on lighter strings and low action, but to me they're too much of a sacrifice. The bridge on the Player JM/Jag, which is essentially a Mustang bridge with individual height/tilt adjustment, seems to me a decent compromise between the two designs.

I've never tried a Mastery or Staytrem but I get the feeling I wouldn't like them based on their designs. But I have a lot of idiosyncratic opinions on this stuff -- I like the threaded bridge on a JM/Jag, I love Bigsbys, I prefer Floyds to normal Strat trems, etc.

[GilmourD]

Out of curiosity, is your Vintera a regular '60s or the '60s Modified? I ask because the regular '60s has the standard JM/Jag bridge with threaded saddles that most people prefer replacing with the Mustang bridge, like what comes on the CVs. The Modified has an Adjust-O-Matic that doesn't rock, but it sounds like you have the regular one.

My Vintera Jag is the normal one, not the modified (I don't like humbuckers).

I like the threaded bridge. If you know what you like and have some patience, the extreme degree of adjustability it offers has real value. In a funny way, I think of it as similar to a Floyd Rose -- there's a learning curve, and it lacks the "grab and go" qualities of a Strat bridge or TOM, but once you get it the way you like it, it just sort of disappears and you're one with the instrument. (The fine tuning of string spacing is something that I can't believe never caught on in guitar design more broadly.) And with a good rough setup, it's good for years with only the minutest of adjustments.

I understand the value of the Mustang bridge for those who play a lot of hard power chords on lighter strings and low action, but to me they're too much of a sacrifice. The bridge on the Player JM/Jag, which is essentially a Mustang bridge with individual height/tilt adjustment, seems to me a decent compromise between the two designs.

I've never tried a Mastery or Staytrem but I get the feeling I wouldn't like them based on their designs. But I have a lot of idiosyncratic opinions on this stuff -- I like the threaded bridge on a JM/Jag, I love Bigsbys, I prefer Floyds to normal Strat trems, etc.

That's like my feelings on three-saddle Tele bridges. I'm a rocker and a lot of people wonder why I prefer the ashtray, but I know how to make it work for me (rubber tubing on the bridge pickup, short saddle height screws, D'Addario 10s intonate almost perfectly on Fender's '52RI saddles). Or, like with the Floyd Rose, all my Floyds are sitting on the body (EVH style) but very touch sensitive.

I'm actually running 11s on my Jag with a shim to get the bridge up with the non-adjustable saddles and it feels great. The CV bridge matches really well with the 9.5" radius of the CV necks and I've got the action pretty low. I could probably go lower if I didn't pick so hard, but sometimes I just get excited.

If this is the bridge you're talking about, I feel like it kinda loses one of the things I think feels nice about the Mustang bridge (the round, soft radius of the larger saddles). I haven't liked them as much. But these may work nicely since they seem to be a larger radius. Or these would definitely work for me.

[Wucan]

Dropped by one of my local guitar dealers, noticed a Seafoam Green version of this model on sale. Pretty sweet instrument actually, really liked how well it sustained even tho it wasn't particular heavy, looks awesome and the neck, as some say, played like butter. Not a JM person so I passed but if I had a guitar dungeon to stash hoarded gear I would've been tempted.

[GilmourD]

Dropped by one of my local guitar dealers, noticed a Seafoam Green version of this model on sale. Pretty sweet instrument actually, really liked how well it sustained even tho it wasn't particular heavy, looks awesome and the neck, as some say, played like butter. Not a JM person so I passed but if I had a guitar dungeon to stash hoarded gear I would've been tempted.

Ya know... I wasn't an offset person until my buddy Josh brought a couple of his over for me to do setups for him. The first one was his Jaguar and I became interested. He also brought over his Gold Foil Jazzmaster and I caught the bug. He still hasn't brought his TVL JM over, but I told him if he ever sells it I have dibs. 🤪

Since then I got my CV Jag, bought a Tonebomb JM body to put a FAT 40th JM neck on, then got a loaded CVJM body and CVJM neck, and Tonebomb had a sale for Memorial Day Weekend so I ended up getting a Jag body that I'm waiting for a VM Jag neck to arrive for.

Writing this reply makes me feel like a drug dealer that got into his own supply and is a terrible enabler...

[Fozzie Guillen]

They are blowing out the LPB with gold hardware ones on thomann for 350€. The desert sand one is still 490€. If it was the other way round I would probably be intrigued.

For those in the US, check out Pro Audio Star. The guys over at Squier-Talk.com have purchased a bunch of stuff from them and often say they receive "open box" items that are still factory sealed.

I've done a couple searches and here's the links to those results, if that helps.

Squier 40th Anniversary Guitars and Basses

Squier Classic Vibe Guitars and Basses

I bought a new CV Starcaster from Pro Audio Star last fall for a steep discount. Was even able to bid down on their initially discounted Reverb listing. I still haven't gotten around to the fret leveling it needs, but other than that I'm quite happy with it. It's my only experience, but I'd buy from them again.