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Classic Vibe worth the $$?


Dinosaur Sr.

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I own a VM Tele and love it. It's been upgraded with boutique PUs and is a killer guitar now. I've been wanting to try out some of the CVs for a while and finally got a chance to play a couple this afternoon (Custom Tele and Classic 50's Tele). I was pretty impressed. The CVs are outstanding guitars for the money as well. The double bound custom I picked up was flawless. The only thing I didn't like about it was that it didn't have brass saddles like the 50's did. I will say that I am not as much a fan of the high gloss neck on either, but that could be worn down though. I much prefer the feel of the neck on my Vintage Modified even though its only a 24-3/4 scale length.

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Yes, they are very good. That's what everyone says they are. Very good. Your definition of "overrated" must be "rated correctly"


The reason people sing their praises is because they're affordable and excellent relative to the amount of money you're paying. On their own, they are quality instruments. Relative to the price, they are outstanding.

 

 

Actually, they're more expensive than a decent, used Fender MIM which are equally good or better but don't get the over-praise. CV just aren't that special. There are dozens of inexpensive, good instruments out there.

 

My objection to the CV tele was that the pickups were very vanilla -- far worse than a MIM ash tele I used to own. The neck felt decent, but was coated in plastic of some sort. Not sure if there was even wood in there. My CV strat has some sort of finish-flaw so that the sunburst faded very quickly and now looks pretty bad.

 

So what I'm saying is: they aren't terrible, but they aren't as amazing as the overhype on this forum suggests.

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Actually, they're more expensive than a decent, used Fender MIM which are equally good or better but don't get the over-praise. CV just aren't that special. There are dozens of inexpensive, good instruments out there.


My objection to the CV tele was that the pickups were very vanilla -- far worse than a MIM ash tele I used to own. The neck felt decent, but was coated in plastic of some sort. Not sure if there was even wood in there. My CV strat has some sort of finish-flaw so that the sunburst faded very quickly and now looks pretty bad.


So what I'm saying is: they aren't terrible, but they aren't as amazing as the overhype on this forum suggests.

 

 

I much prefer the neck on the CVs to MIM standards. The pups on both are not really that great but not horrible either. I'm sure eventually many would end up upgrading either of them.

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Actually, they're more expensive than a decent, used Fender MIM which are equally good or better but don't get the over-praise. CV just aren't that special. There are dozens of inexpensive, good instruments out there.


My objection to the CV tele was that the pickups were very vanilla -- far worse than a MIM ash tele I used to own. The neck felt decent, but was coated in plastic of some sort. Not sure if there was even wood in there. My CV strat has some sort of finish-flaw so that the sunburst faded very quickly and now looks pretty bad.


So what I'm saying is: they aren't terrible, but they aren't as amazing as the overhype on this forum suggests.

 

Different strokes I suppose... :)

 

Every MIM I played next to the CV Teles felt like cheap junk in comparison. The pickups in these are excellent. I did change mine to a set of Nocasters but it was out of personal preference not necessity.

 

There may be some hype in this forum but you find basically the same opinion on these all over, including TDPRI.

 

Oh, and I paid $300 for my CVC. ;)

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I like my Fiesta red CV Strat,the Biffy Clyro model with its mixed magnet pickups a lot .I have had a Squier JV ,a Highway one, and I prefer the CV .The JV had a 7.5 radius which is probably why it didnt appeal so much but it sounded great .Not sure why butthe CV hits the spot more than the others .Its very well finished and a very slick neck and rosewood board .Its slim but it doesnt seem to bother me .my other guitar is a Baja so I know a thick neck when I play one but I can switch about without thinking "oh this neck is too thin'.If the shiny neck is a problem than just get some fine wire wool and take the shine off a bit .Easy.I do note in the UK the price has rocketed up .In the summer my CV strat was 259 UKP with a free Kinsman hard foam case (40 quid) ,making the CV a bargain but now just the CV is

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If you're going to compare to a used MIM, you might as well get a used CV. My used CV 50's strat cost me $215. And personally I find the pickups FAR superior to the MIM strats. The bodies are typically lighter too. Mine is a 2-piece for all I can tell. I don't think they've been overhyped at all. They're not the best out there of course, but I find them far superior to similar price range strats. Haven't gotten to try the teles yet.

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All the CV Strats that I tried were very nice! I particularly remember one - an Olympic White '50s Strat - that was exceptional. I'll always remember it. (I wish I would have bought it...) The '50s CV Tele I tried was not very well balanced, though. The body was too heavy for the neck but I can't say if it was just that one. The thinline was nice, I haven't tried the Custom CV Tele yet.

 

I just got a new guitar that I love, two days ago: a Godin Session. I tried several and like them a lot a few months ago. I tried another one thursday that didn't speak to me. Them I tried the one that became "mine". I instantly fell in love with it! It sounds really good. I love the 12'' radius neck. It was perfectly set up from the factory, nice low action! The pickups are very low and that might contribute to what I love about its tone: it sounds "woody".

 

I highly recommend that you try these guitars too. Here is a link: http://www.godinguitars.com/godinsessionp.htm

I like it as much - if not better - than my Classic Player '60s Strat!!

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Classic Vibes and Vintage Modified are the guitars that made Squiers
desirable
and not just the guitar you were stuck with if you were on a budget. I have a CV 50's Tele and I could scarcely ask for a better guitar for the price. They are building a reputation among players, critics and generally everybody with 300 bucks burning a hole in their pocket. I vote "Hell yes and then some"

 

 

Nice way of putting it. I've had an American Standard Tele for maybe 13-14 years now and it's always been my go-to. For lack of anything other than wanting a new guitar, I picked up the CV '50s last week and am blown away. The only thing that I'm going to change is the nut (gonna put .11s on it and I want a bone nut) - the pups are not as hot as the AmSt, but other than that, it's a fantastic guitar. Not a fantastic cheap guitar - A fantastic guitar.

 

It won't replace my AmSt Tele, but it's gonna be played a lot. Hard to get my head around how cool it is - Sweet thing...

 

Yeah.

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Amazing guitars. Don't let the Squier headstock scare you off. I owned both of the solid-body Telecaster models they've put out, and I use them as back-up while I'm on tour in case my '52 Hot Rod breaks a string or something. Amazing quality, in fact, the later model (the 60's with the binding) may even be of better quality than the original 50's(?) model.

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