![Squier Classic Vibe Telecaster '50s [2008-2018]](https://img.audiofanzine.com/img/product/normal/1/2/122377.png?fm=pjpg&w=300&h=218&fit=max&s=47953d7eb0acf17e1409b01bf3042979)
View other reviews for this product:
King Loudness « Yet another winner »
Published on 08/10/11 at 22:16The Squier Classic Vibe 50s Tele is made in China as an affordable version of the much coveted 1950s blackguard model Fenders. It is an extremely good value for money, and is highly impressive overall. It features a pine body (noteworthy because that was actually the body wood used on some of the earliest Fender Teles), a maple neck with 21 frets, vintage style tuners and bridge and a standard Telecaster electronics setup with two single coils and a control layout comprising a volume control, a tone control and a 3 way selector switch. It all adds up to being a great instrument for sure. It's available in a white blonde finish and a butterscotch blonde as well, both of which are very 50s.
UTILIZATION
The design of this particular Tele is really stunning considering the price point that they build it to. It's not the lightest guitar in the world, but the body feels SOLID and well constructed. The neck has a thick gloss finish that is well applied. Some (including me) think that it's a bit too thick a finish that inhibits hand movement, but that's a minor issue as the neck is very playable as is. The out of the box setup is great and it's really a dream to play.
Getting a good tone out of this guitar is dead simple. Teles are some of my favourite guitars to play because of the variety of tones you get from not many options. The neck pickup offers some stellar jazz tones, the middle pickup gets fairly funky when you want it, and the bridge pickup is just what the doctor ordered for your country and rock prescriptions.
SOUNDS
I've tried this guiitar with various Fender, Marshall and Mesa Boogie amplifiers. I'd say the Tele excels at clean and lower gain tones. The pickups (disputed to be made by Tonerider Pickups) are EXCELLENT. They're very dynamic and response to pick attack and use of the volume and tone controls. You can really approach it with a light touch or you can dig in hard and it will respond very well. To me that's a mark of a great instrument. It does everything from jazz to country well on clean sounds, and to me it parallels the sound of the $1,000 American Teles with ease. As you add gain the guitar still sounds great too. Dialing in a great hot rod British rock tone gives room for some blues, some classic and hard rock as well as some scorching, paint peeling country/shred hybrid licks from beyond... so much fun!
This guitar is definitely a killer sounding Tele. Tele's are great and this one lives up to what a good one should be tone wise.
OVERALL OPINION
All in all I'm very impressed with these guitars overall. Every Classic Vibe I've tried has been top notch as far as the quality goes, and it's shocking that they can build them to feel and sound as good as they do for the $350 they sell for new. They're definitely worth checking out by all means. If you prefer the sound of a rosewood fretboard they also offer it in a 60s Tele Custom model, which is great as well. You can't go wrong with a guitar with such an awesome Classic Vibe to it!
UTILIZATION
The design of this particular Tele is really stunning considering the price point that they build it to. It's not the lightest guitar in the world, but the body feels SOLID and well constructed. The neck has a thick gloss finish that is well applied. Some (including me) think that it's a bit too thick a finish that inhibits hand movement, but that's a minor issue as the neck is very playable as is. The out of the box setup is great and it's really a dream to play.
Getting a good tone out of this guitar is dead simple. Teles are some of my favourite guitars to play because of the variety of tones you get from not many options. The neck pickup offers some stellar jazz tones, the middle pickup gets fairly funky when you want it, and the bridge pickup is just what the doctor ordered for your country and rock prescriptions.
SOUNDS
I've tried this guiitar with various Fender, Marshall and Mesa Boogie amplifiers. I'd say the Tele excels at clean and lower gain tones. The pickups (disputed to be made by Tonerider Pickups) are EXCELLENT. They're very dynamic and response to pick attack and use of the volume and tone controls. You can really approach it with a light touch or you can dig in hard and it will respond very well. To me that's a mark of a great instrument. It does everything from jazz to country well on clean sounds, and to me it parallels the sound of the $1,000 American Teles with ease. As you add gain the guitar still sounds great too. Dialing in a great hot rod British rock tone gives room for some blues, some classic and hard rock as well as some scorching, paint peeling country/shred hybrid licks from beyond... so much fun!
This guitar is definitely a killer sounding Tele. Tele's are great and this one lives up to what a good one should be tone wise.
OVERALL OPINION
All in all I'm very impressed with these guitars overall. Every Classic Vibe I've tried has been top notch as far as the quality goes, and it's shocking that they can build them to feel and sound as good as they do for the $350 they sell for new. They're definitely worth checking out by all means. If you prefer the sound of a rosewood fretboard they also offer it in a 60s Tele Custom model, which is great as well. You can't go wrong with a guitar with such an awesome Classic Vibe to it!