What makes the Classic Vibe Tele so great?

rossi

It doesnt need to be thick .I have a cheap and fairly nasty paulowonia tele body that I liove .Its  burst poly coat is really thin and relics very naturally.If they can do it on real cheapie why not a Fender .It also got a belly cut but no identification.The routing is dubious  to say the least but it all works and sounds good and super light .

jonnyburgo

Fender dont do thin laquer coats on their cheapies because the Mojo is held back for those that can afford it.

monquixote

I had a CV 50s. It was a decent guitar but it was definitely built to a price.

chris78

Rigid_Digits said:

Had a Baja. Still have CV50s. Miles better.

It’d be interesting if you explained why in your view.
The baja was designed by Chris Fleming- a man who knows more about telecasters and vintage fenders in general than most people alive. It features pickups normally only available through the custom shop (and the combination that the custom shop put on some of their best teles in my view), an ash body vs a pine body on the cv and one of Fender’s most comfortable neck shapes (my preference but an early 50s tele without a decent sized neck isn’t an early 50s tele).

For balance many bajas are too heavy for my liking the poly is way too thick, but given the choice between that and a pine bodied Chinese guitar with an even thicker poly finish, I know where my money would go.

mikeyrob73

Also had a Baja and sold it and kept the CV

just preferred the weight and balance of the CV and also the neck shape.

Nikc

Sparky said:

Thanks chaps, really useful info. If I go for a CV I'd want the 3 colour burst, which are a little hard to come by used and are more expensive than the other colours new, if you can even get one. Good to know that there are used Fenders out there that are a step up - will start looking at used Bajas and MIM's. Not really bothered about the name on the headstock either so Vintage or G&L are well worth exploring. £400-£500 is probably my max budget though.

Don't forget Tokai they are pretty awesome guitars - I know of a Japanese one in sunburst hanging in my local guitar shop that is awesome. I'd have it but I already have two tele's that do everything I need

YellowLedBetterMan

Scratch the (very thick) lacquer off the back of the neck and they're fine instruments.

Still prefer my Mexican one, but it's close.

Sparky

Nikc said:

Sparky said:

Thanks chaps, really useful info. If I go for a CV I'd want the 3 colour burst, which are a little hard to come by used and are more expensive than the other colours new, if you can even get one. Good to know that there are used Fenders out there that are a step up - will start looking at used Bajas and MIM's. Not really bothered about the name on the headstock either so Vintage or G&L are well worth exploring. £400-£500 is probably my max budget though.

Don't forget Tokai they are pretty awesome guitars - I know of a Japanese one in sunburst hanging in my local guitar shop that is awesome. I'd have it but I already have two tele's that do everything I need

Ooo Tokai, completely forgot about them. Good call.

Creed_Clicks

jonnyburgo said:

Ive got a Vintage Icon V52. The " relic " one. Not the best relic outvthere but was improved with a bit of home dinging. What is nice is that the finish is one very thin coat with a very thin clear matt laquer over the top. The neck is smooth and unfinished and is also one piece so no seperate maple fretboard. Not sure what that means but the whole thing vibrates and resonates in the hand quite nicely.

Very nice guitars too, and I think people get turned off by the name on the headstock. I´ll admit that I have, for whatever stupid reason.

Adam_MD

The other good feature of cv teles is that they use standard fender dimensions so US sized parts are just drop in upgrades

thegummy

Adam_MD said:

The other good feature of cv teles is that they use standard fender dimensions so US sized parts are just drop in upgrades

Why would you want to downgrade it to Fender

TeleMaster

mikeyrob73 said:

thegummy said:

Rigid_Digits said:

thegummy said:

One word - hype

One word -  Wrong

Maybe you don't understand what hype means or are very defensive about your guitar but if you don't think the Classic Vibe Tele is hyped then you must have barely read anything about guitars on the internet.

Regardless of how good anyone thinks the guitar is or isn't, or how cheap it is, it's quite possibly the most hyped guitar the internet has ever known.

With good reason imho 

It’s a decent guitar. But it’s overhyped. Lots of guitars are. 

Adam_MD

thegummy said:

Adam_MD said:

The other good feature of cv teles is that they use standard fender dimensions so US sized parts are just drop in upgrades

Why would you want to downgrade it to Fender

Why are you being so negative? The OP asked what makes them so good and I'm giving him one of the benefits vs other far eastern teles.  Yes they've been hyped but that doesn't stop them being good guitars.  

thegummy

Adam_MD said:

thegummy said:

Adam_MD said:

The other good feature of cv teles is that they use standard fender dimensions so US sized parts are just drop in upgrades

Why would you want to downgrade it to Fender

Why are you being so negative? The OP asked what makes them so good and I'm giving him one of the benefits vs other far eastern teles.  Yes they've been hyped but that doesn't stop them being good guitars.  

Well it's a joke hence the winking face.

But while some of us can just laugh at the delusion, other people who are just looking in to it are being misinformed so it's definitely worth pointing out the reality.

Sparky

thegummy said:

Adam_MD said:

thegummy said:

Adam_MD said:

The other good feature of cv teles is that they use standard fender dimensions so US sized parts are just drop in upgrades

Why would you want to downgrade it to Fender

Why are you being so negative? The OP asked what makes them so good and I'm giving him one of the benefits vs other far eastern teles.  Yes they've been hyped but that doesn't stop them being good guitars.  

Well it's a joke hence the winking face.

But while some of us can just laugh at the delusion, other people who are just looking in to it are being misinformed so it's definitely worth pointing out the reality.

Chill dudes, it's all good. I'd never even considered that replacement parts could come from Fender, but of course why wouldn't they? And I got the joke too

Adam_MD

thegummy said:

Adam_MD said:

thegummy said:

Adam_MD said:

The other good feature of cv teles is that they use standard fender dimensions so US sized parts are just drop in upgrades

Why would you want to downgrade it to Fender

Why are you being so negative? The OP asked what makes them so good and I'm giving him one of the benefits vs other far eastern teles.  Yes they've been hyped but that doesn't stop them being good guitars.  

Well it's a joke hence the winking face.

But while some of us can just laugh at the delusion, other people who are just looking in to it are being misinformed so it's definitely worth pointing out the reality.

What delusion?  I think the thread has been really balanced and echoes my experience.  In the main I see posters saying good guitars which play well with decent pickups but also have a pretty thick finish and skinny necks.  The skinny neck is the reason I changed mine.  A big bonus for me was the US dimensions so I could drop on a bridge I happened to have from a 52 reissue hence my first post on this thread for the OP. 

rossi

I think the skinny necks are part of the design to service smaller people like many Asians can be .There is a big market out there that may not be pointed at us ...shock horror  I think tey are fine guitars as they actually put a good level of finish and  some good pickups and  tuners into a Squier .The Classic Vibe tuners were the same as on my  two Bajas I had ,and a  high end Fender Japan Tele.A great guitar would be a CVC loaded body with a Fender replacement neck like the one I have ,fairly chunky and 22 fret rosewood .

thegummy

Adam_MD said:

thegummy said:

Adam_MD said:

thegummy said:

Adam_MD said:

The other good feature of cv teles is that they use standard fender dimensions so US sized parts are just drop in upgrades

Why would you want to downgrade it to Fender

Why are you being so negative? The OP asked what makes them so good and I'm giving him one of the benefits vs other far eastern teles.  Yes they've been hyped but that doesn't stop them being good guitars.  

Well it's a joke hence the winking face.

But while some of us can just laugh at the delusion, other people who are just looking in to it are being misinformed so it's definitely worth pointing out the reality.

What delusion?  I think the thread has been really balanced and echoes my experience.  In the main I see posters saying good guitars which play well with decent pickups but also have a pretty thick finish and skinny necks.  The skinny neck is the reason I changed mine.  A big bonus for me was the US dimensions so I could drop on a bridge I happened to have from a 52 reissue hence my first post on this thread for the OP. 

The delusion I refer to is the idea that Squier Classic Vibe Teles are better than Fender branded Teles. (i.e. a company's guitar that's built to a budget price point is better than the ones the same company build to much higher price points).

Doesn't seem to be one particularly held by many of the posters in this thread.

I suppose it's on the same wavelength as the "Harley Benton -> R9" thing. Where the price differences in guitars makes it seem common sense that they will be lightyears apart in quality. Playing the cheap one reveals they're much closer than anyone would suspect but then that getting exaggerated through the Chinese whispers of the internet to the point where it isn't even that there's no quality difference - the cheaper one becomes even better than the more expensive one.

Nikc

Sparky said:

Nikc said:

Sparky said:

Thanks chaps, really useful info. If I go for a CV I'd want the 3 colour burst, which are a little hard to come by used and are more expensive than the other colours new, if you can even get one. Good to know that there are used Fenders out there that are a step up - will start looking at used Bajas and MIM's. Not really bothered about the name on the headstock either so Vintage or G&L are well worth exploring. £400-£500 is probably my max budget though.

Don't forget Tokai they are pretty awesome guitars - I know of a Japanese one in sunburst hanging in my local guitar shop that is awesome. I'd have it but I already have two tele's that do everything I need

Ooo Tokai, completely forgot about them. Good call.

I know right (as my 11 says loads) - being serious the one local to me is really nice (except I'm not a fan of sunburst) 

mikeyrob73

I’m not Sure anyone has said they are better than a Fender branded Tele in this thread, what has been said, by myself and another posters, is that we have preferred them to a Baja. It’s all opinion init. Fact remains the CV is a very good guitar for not a lot of money. Do I think mine is better than a CS Fender Tele? Nope but I would never spend that amount of £££ on a Telecaster so I am never likely to find out. I really like mine, hype or no hype it’s a very very good guitar.