Squier CV 60s Strat LPB

I own three Fender guitars including this Squier, including an American made Telecaster (Performer series) and a Mexican made Strat (Roadhouse Deluxe), this classic vibe is the guitar that I keep on its stand, ready to pick up when I fancy playing, and its a wonderful guitar to play. It has a gloss neck, vintage style tuners, great sounding pickups, an amazing finish that is very similar to my lake placid blue Roadhouse strat. If you are a beginner this is a perfect starter guitar, if you are after a second guitar that doesn't need to be kept in a case this wont disappoint. Check out some videos for sound demos (especially the clean sounds). I use a Yamaha THR 10 and this sounds amazing through it. Great mix of vintage details for a very good value price if you don't mind missing the word Fender on the headstock!

As I am a fanatic Squier collector I had to buy one, certainly after reading al the unbelievable good reviews e.g. here on the Thomann website.

Playability out of the box:

There was a quality control label attached to the neck with action hight measurements on different frets along the neck and a radius and intonation check was performed on the guitar like on a custom shop model before you pick it up in person at your guitar luthier.
In one word: amazing!

Strings:

They put Fender strings on it but these Fender regular 9’s string set do not get this guitar alive and kicking in the way she deserves. My advice is to simply spend 6 euro extra on your order for a set of good old Voodoo Child 10’s or D’Addario EXL 10’s.

Neck:

Smooth as butter, this is a triple winner neck, the 60’s slim C grip and 9,5 inch radius is done perfectly, the Indian Laurel fingerboard has a nice mellow accent to it, perfect fretwork with not one sharp end.

Hardware:

Comparing it with mij 1995 AM Strat there was a little difference in warmth on the neck pickup. After lifting the pickup up it became a little less glassy and wishfully fuzzier and warmer. Very good sound even clean these new Fender designed Alnico pickups.
The bridge has a real big boy’s block in a real resonating body and good saddles.
The volume and tone pots feel confident and reduce halfway down in a honest Fender way. The guitar has a good balance, fast neck, bone nut was in need of a little smoothening and graphite for better playability but was done correctly, the strings have no dead spots anywhere and no buzzing.

Overall conclusion:

On a 10 points scale this here Squier 60’s Classic Vibe deserves a 10.
I have had several Classic Vibes, all given them away because they were missing the Magic Sparkle which makes you want to play it over and over again.

This one certainly has the Magic Sparkle.
Fantastic! Thomann thanks for another perfect delivery and Fender, keep up the good work! Obviously you have not lost your Magic Touch.....

I really love the sound, look, feel and playability of this guitar. It has that strat sound and does it really well. The frets take a little getting used to, but it’s very playable. It’s a no-brainer, just get this guitar.

However, it is not perfect, which is to be expected for a budget version. The tuners aren’t great and have dead spots, which is not a dealbreaker in itself except if you want to use the tremolo. The tremolo setup itself is its biggest flaw. It is setup so tightly that there is barely any movement, and the claw mounting screws are SO tight that it is VERY difficult to loosen them without stripping the heads - which I did despite taking care. They are a simple thing to replace but it is a pain in the butt to remove screws with stripped heads.

This frustration aside, I really like the guitar and enjoy playing it. Most people won’t use the tremolo so will keep it super tight or block it anyway.

I'm delighted with this guitar! Took it out of the box, removed the packaging, plugged it in, tuned it and away I go!!!

I'm very impressed with the quality of the guitar and the finish. The neck is simply gorgeous, its beautifully put together and effortless to play across. I'm still using the strings that it came with, some say these are not the best so when I replace them I can expect things to only get better.

Ive played Eppi LP until now and I think the build quality of the squire is a bit better than the Eppi LP - but that's just my humble opinion. Very different guitars tonally so I'm not comparing them in that regard. The finish to the strat is superb, and is sounds like.... well.... a strat!!

I don't gig, so I expect this guitar to last quite a while, if I did gig with it, I'm sure it would be absolutely perfect.