Classic Vibe '50s Telecaster

I grew up in the 80's and 90's. When I first started playing squier was a decent 1st guitar but nothing that a gigging musician would ever play on stage. In my music circle of friends in high school squier was a brand we kind of made fun of. If you still were playing on your $100 squier you weren't serious about music or good enough to play in a band setting. While this way of thinking is admittedly wrong, arrogant and ridiculous it was our way of thinking about this brand back then. Now in 2021 Squier has completely changed my attitude and feelings towards their guitars and particularly their Classiv Vibe line. I have the 50's butterscotch Tele, the red 50's strat, the red 60's strat and the white 70s strat. I've been wanting this 60s telecaster for some time now. Recently I saw this one sold on Amazon as a used guitar at a discounted price. First off let me say I'll eat my left shoe if this guitar wasn't brand new. I could find zero flaws, scratches, dents, marks of any sort. Still had plastic on pick guard and neck pickup. It's an absolutely beautiful guitar. Excellent neck. Seems to be the same neck profile as the 50s Tele but with a rosewood board. Binding on the body looks great. And i gotta say the pickups actually sound good. I'll still probably replace them with my own (I wind my own Tele pickups) but there's no need to replace them they sound decent. The neck pickup is a bit dark for my tastes and seems to have a bit less overall output than the neck but thats pretty normal. I replaced the nut, installed compensated brass saddles and a roller string tree. The neck needed a bit of relief but a small truss rod adjustment took care of that no problem. No sharp fret edges. Frets look to be finished properly. Could maybe use a polish but completely playable right put of the box. My only real complaint is (this applies to all the classic Vibe guitars I have) it is a very heavy guitar. Other than that I have no real complaints. For maybe $100 more dollars in upgraded parts this thing plays like a dream. I love it! I am totally a squier fan boy now. I would play this guitar on any stage with pride. I know some people will try to sand off the squier headstock logo but not me. Not only is that a fairly difficult job to actually get the logo off it ruins the look and finish of the headstock. I don't get hung up on brands anymore. Plug that baby in and play it like you own it! I can't recommend this instrument enough. If you're on the fence take the leap and buy this killer Tele, you won't regret it!

1- This guitar is heavy...8-10 lbs. Not really a deal breaker. Fit and finish seems fine, no high ftets (buzzes). sounds ok , not a tele guy so I'm not sure, (strat guy). The big thing that bug's me is the neck, a little thicker than my strat ( at least an eigth of an inch,) and just enough to be a little bothersome. Yeah I could get used to it but I have an older squire and the neck is like my strat, so no real adjustment between the two. Beautiful guitar, so I guess I'll keep it, I think...??? Continued, two weeks in and I really see and hear the difference in a telly as opposed to a strat. Never thought I would say that. Guys in the band are impressed with the sound, and so am I. In a country band as we are a tele rules, great guitar, very satisfied. One more thing, other than a fine set up (you need to do that on any guitar) don't worry about changing pickups, saddles, the nut or keys. All these are just fine. A little tweaking on your amp and all is well... No way I'll return it!! Enjoy a great price on a really good guitar...

These Indonesian and Chinese Squiers are so good these days. I have three and couldn't be happier. I did get a 70s Thinline that had bad fretwork, and the replacement had a bad tone pot so I kept the loaded pickguard from one and the neck from the other, put them both back together and sent one back. The risk is zero due to the return policy, and the chances of getting a bad one are low. However, if you don't know how to play with shimming the neck, adjusting the truss rod and saddle height, you might want to buy one from a store and make sure you get a good one. I have probably 15 guitars and one of them is a Squier Strat. It's such a great guitar that I bought a 70s Thinline Telecaster and that turned out to be really great too, so I figured I'd go for the trifecta and get a single coil Telecaster. These Squier guitars are so much better looking than Fender versions in my opinion. Yes, the pickups aren't as good, but the bodies, necks finishes and headstock logos are better. Plus, is fun to do upgrades...but they don't need them. Squier headstocks are so much nicer looking than Fender, the font is this gorgeous gold flake, the clear coat is so much better than the Fender satin finish, a thousand times better, plus they're half the price of Mexican and 1/3 the price of American Fenders. The fretwork on the Squier telecasters I've bought recently is beyond great, they're so clean that they'd pass Phil McKnight's stocking test. Plus, if you get a bad one, which is possible, you can return it for a different one. So good!!

First, I do like the guitar. I've wanted to round out my collection with a telecaster but couldn't afford the high price of a traditional Fender. For less than $500, I'm happy. But I do have a few issues with it. Packaging was minimal but arrived undamaged. I recently bought a used guitar through Goodwill that arrived with more serious packaging (double boxed and tons of bubble wrap). The Telecaster was single boxed with cardboard inserts. The neck looked pretty straight right out of the box. I don't have a luthier gauge so just eye-balled it. Frets need some dressing but I'm not cutting my hand or getting serious scratches. The fretboard was pretty dry so I used some fretboard conditioner I purchased locally. I don't actually rely upon the side fret markers to see where my hand is in relation to the fretboard. However, that's a good thing because these markers are the same color as the neck wood, making them harder to see. The pickup switch is, IMHO, mounted a bit too close to the volume control. With the bridge pickup selected, the switch almost touches the volume control. If you need to make a quick pickup selection while playing, it's a bit awkward. The input jack was mounted too low such that an angled cable head would not properly engage the jack. I had to remove the chrome electronics panel to access the jack. I then removed the second nut in order to allow more of the jack to protrude though the opening. The tuners are decent enough and keep the guitar in tune. It came with (I think) 9-42 strings which I haven't changed out. I get a great tone combined with the single coil pickups. The bridge saddles are steel. I've read that brass saddles give a better sound. Most of the chrome (pickups, bridge ash tray, control mount) needed some polishing. This model is made in Indonesia. I would recommend this guitar for beginners and more seasoned players. I only wish it had a whammy bar! UPDATE: I've found the volume pot to be scratchy in some areas and provides a poor volume adjustment. Not sure if the tone pot will have the same issues. I opened the mounting plate and applied some electronic cleaner which did not improve the pots performance. The installed pots are the small diameter ones which I think may be the cheapest. Will look to replace both pots with better components.

Body had a crack below the ashtray bridge .... 2 weeks to return a get a credit ! Just so everyone knows THIS IS A GOOD GUITAR !!! I returned this one .... and picked up another 50's tele-vibe. They sound great and play great .... 1/2 the price of the Mex-Fender telecaster and its better than the Mex-Fender telecaster. If your thinking of UPGRADING your Squire telecaster .... and think you won't with the Fender player Telecaster .... think again... Why pay more for the lesser guitar... Just get the Squire ! put some Fender custom shop pickups in this Squire and its still cheaper than the Mex-Fender player telecaster. I'm keeping mine with the stock pickups but will add the 4 way switch for more sounds. I did a fret level and dress with a good setup. Mine now plays better than a 1600.00 to 1800.00 USA made Telecaster. Do a good setup on the Squire 50-vibe Telecaster and you will have a great playing experience !

This is one of the best looking squier teles out there, hands down. it's not without its flaws though. I'll start with the biggest one: the bridge. it's terrible. it's a 3-saddle NON COMPENSATED bridge. it's at best nigh impossible to intonate with this system, and at worst unplayable. the saddles were so far forward that fretting at the 12th was almost a full half-step sharp! here's the rub though...the saddle forward/back adjustment screw is such cheap pot metal that it will be completely stripped out by the time you turn it back the full 2" to where it WILL kind of intonate properly (hint: it won't, you'll still be a little out all the time). by the time i got it to where it could be playable, it was completely stripped out. no biggie for me, cuz i'm buying a 6 saddle bridge to replace this one. outside of that, the tuners seem good (not great), the nut is passable (also not even close to great), and you'll definitely have to adjust string height, as the big frets will throw your intonation at the 3rd/5th fret off big time. I put 10's on it and it intonated much better. overall it's a fantastic guitar for the price. sure, it could be better, but if you know where to get cheap replacement parts and have a little know-how you can make this into a beast!

I already owned other Squier Classic Vibe models and they're all great guitars for the money so I figured the same for this one, and it is. Fit and finish is excellent, setup was almost perfect (just lowered the action a bit), fretwork is fine, no sharp or uneven frets, nicely polished. The pickups sound like a Tele should, you could upgrade them to Texas specials or whatever, the guitar is worthy of it, but they sound fine as is. Be sure to put new strings on it, I do that with every new guitar. Old cheap import strings can cause problems and limit the tonal quality. I did put on brass compensated bridge saddles because 1. they intonate better, and 2. they look and sound good. But it was fine before I did. The one piece maple neck feels great, it's glossy with a nice vintage amber color but it doesn't feel sticky. If that bothers you it's easy enough to use some steel wool to take it to satin level. Highly recommend this guitar, whether you're a beginner or just adding to your collection without breaking the bank.

I really wish I could give this guitar five stars. I love the way the pickups sound, and once dialed in, it’s a very enjoyable guitar to play. Unfortunately, mine had several issues right out of the box that kept it from being playable without some work. Out of the Box Issues: The guitar struggled to hold tuning. The tuners felt like they were slipping, and the nut was one of the worst-cut nuts I’ve ever seen on a new guitar. The E, A, and D slots were cut at angles instead of straight. The fretwork was equally disappointing. Several fret ends were lifted, the frets felt scratchy during bends and vibrato, and multiple high frets caused buzzing across the neck. I expect minor issues from an affordable guitar, but the nut and fretwork on this one were beyond what I consider acceptable. Upgrades and Repairs: Despite the flaws, I saw the potential underneath. I enjoy working on guitars and decided to fix it rather than send it back. With a self-imposed $50 budget, I replaced the tuners with Gyker vintage locking tuners, installed a bone nut, and swapped in brass saddles. The tonal difference from the saddles is subtle, but they made intonation easier. The biggest job was the fretwork. I tapped down the lifted fret ends, leveled and crowned the frets, dressed the edges, and polished the frets. After several days of work, the frets were smooth, level, and felt genuinely premium. After restringing and a proper setup, the guitar transformed. The action is low with no buzzing, the frets feel fantastic, and it finally holds tuning reliably. At this point, it plays like a far more expensive instrument. Was It Worth It? For me, yes. I paid $350 for the guitar and about $50 in upgrades. For $400 total, I now have a guitar that plays as well as—or better than—many guitars costing significantly more. However, someone without the tools, time, or skills to do their own fret and hardware work might feel differently. Paying a tech to fix these issues could easily outweigh the guitar’s value. Final Thoughts Out of the box, I would give this Squier Classic Vibe ‘50s Telecaster 3 stars. The poor nut and fretwork simply can’t be ignored. The guitar looked great, had excellent-sounding pickups, solid electronics, and a comfortable neck, but it failed at the basics: staying in tune and producing clean notes across the fretboard. After the upgrades and fretwork, though, it’s a 5-star guitar. It’s beautiful, solid, and genuinely a joy to play. It just didn’t arrive that way. What I bought was a 3-star guitar with 5-star potential—and now it finally lives up to it.