Squier Classic Vibe '60s Jazzmaster - Sonic Blue Reviews

Really pleased with the classic vibe line overall. The neck plays like a guitar costing 3 times as much. the fretwork is way above this pricerange and the tone is great either clean or overdriven. Only concern is I played 4 different ones and they all felt completely different. Not better or worse, just different. Definitely want to try before you buy but when you find the one that feels right you won't want to put it down.

First off, I gotta hype my man Rob Koch for helping me with all my musical wants (I don't think I can call them needs right now) but he is the man!! Second, the guitar, for what it is is great. Emphasis on "what it is"...you can't buy a $ foreign made guitar and expect the same quality of an American made $. So again - for what it is - it's fantastic!! It arrived in tune and stays in tune about as much as any guitar this quality will and it's solidly built (for home use at least). But if I were you I would go with the Sweetwater setup which for a budget guitar like this I think is the best thing to do to make sure it performs well. It may not stand up to heavy use or touring but for a learner at home this thing is great.

I have always loved the jazz master body style but did not love the price of a new fender one. I was a little hesitant buying this guitar because it was expensive for a squire but it did not disappoint. The guitar does not look or feel cheap at all. It has a good weight and even has the improved bridge to keep the strings from slipping out. The only I did not like about it was Sweetwater put on lighter strings which were too small for the bridge and caused the G and high E string to noticeably rattle and be annoying. I replaced them with standard .10-.46 in which the rattling stopped. I was a little disappointed that I had to replace the strings right as I bought the guitar BUT THIS SHOULD NOT STOP YOU. It was a wonderful guitar and I highly recommend it to everyone who wants an affordable jazz master.

I think this is an incredible value. Why not 5 stars? Some things need to be addressed before calling it a great guitar, freatboard comes dry as a bone and frets are rough. Easy to fix if you know what you are doing. I honestly think Squiers are perfect guitars for seasoned players rather than beginners. For an experienced player who knows how to do set ups and basic repairs these guitars are incredible. After doing a proper set up and conditioning the neck and frets this guitar is incredible, 5 stars. Wouldn't spend extra money to get a different logo on the headstock.. The neck is fantastic. Action and intonation came perfect right out of the box. I had to add a treble bleed because I didn't like the volume roll off but that's personal preference. Tuners are great. Bridge and tremolo perfect. No problem staying in tune with mild use. A winner!

Some cheaper guitars seem to magically arrive with a good setup - this wasn't one of them, and a Jazzmaster absolutely needs a good setup - yes, more than other styles of guitars, and setup it more complicated. I love this guitar but if you aren't comfortable doing work on your guitar or don't have the time and patience for learning as well as the tools to do it, plan to pay someone for a full setup that is familiar with offset guitars. It was playable from Sweetwater but to make it really shine I had

Oil the fretboard (it was bone dry)
Clean/polish the frets (they were tarnished and didn't feel smooth at all)
File the nut slots down (strings sat too high in it, which affected action and intonation, and I also wanted a .11 gauge strings but anything above .10 wouldn't fit. I had someone do this for me)
Shim the neck to increase the break angle and bridge height to where it should be for a Jazzmaster (I used a full-pocket 0.5 degree shim, but I could probably do as much as a full degree on mine if I wanted to)
Put Loktite Blue on the bridge height/pivot screws (the bridge height kept creeping down on me)
Install a 2nd string tree for the D and G strings (I couldn't get the G string to intonate properly without this! Better nut filing may help that, too, though)
Typical setup stuff (truss rod, bridge height, pickup height, intonation)

Yep, that's a lot, but thankfully I like to tinker and I was looking for a new hobby to get distracted by, so it was actually pretty fun. But be warned - this ain't an easy guitar to setup. Do a Google search and you'll find some great articles and YouTube videos on offset guitar setup. The pickup selector switch also stopped working after a few months. I could have replaced it but instead I took the switch apart and cleaned the contact points - so far it's been working fine for about 9 months after that.

Ok, so, now what? Well, firstly, this thing has cool bursting out the seems and if you are even remotely interested in surf rock, owning one of these will bust the door wide open to a new obsession. That being said, the sound is shockingly versatile - neck pickup can be both smooth and bright yet mellow, and the bridge pickup can have as much twang or bite as most people would ever need. And that's without even touching the rhythm circuit yet. Also, it almost seems like the middle position of the pickup selector switch is wired so the the pickups work together to cancel hum, kind of like a modded Tele with a 4th position, but not sure 100% sure if that's what is going on. Couldn't say if that's a normal Jazzmaster thing. Aesthetically, the only thing I don't love is the thick yellowish stain they put on the neck.

Anyway, if you're looking to learn what offset guitars are all about, this one is a great ticket in the door. If you really just want the cool offset shape, I might suggest one of the other offset models with a more standard-style bridge.

I was pleasantly surprised overall with the guitar. I wanted to add a Jazzmaster to my collection, but not up-spend or a Fender, because this is not going to be my primary guitar.

Pros: The guitar did not need a neck shim. There is a lot off talk about shims for Jazzmasters, but the 2022 Squiers do not seem to need them. Dylan Talks Tone had a recent video about this on YourTube.

Sweetwater lists the weights of all their guitars, making it easy for me to pick out the right guitar for me. I am super fussy about guitar weight, preferring lighter instruments.

Sweetwater and Fender were running a sale, and I got the guitar at a great price.

The guitar arrived in good playing condition, with a reasonable setup.

Cons: the fretboard was filthy. I polished the frets and cleaned and oiled the fretboard, and it made a world of difference. I was probably going to do this anyway, so not that big a deal.

I am sure the electronics are bare bones components, but you cannot expect top of the line for this price point.

Overall, cool Jazzmaster that meets what I was looking for. This is great mod platform. I would say this is not a great guitar for a total beginner that is not prepared to do some maintenance.

Love almost everything about it - well set up, no rough edges, stock pickups are great, stays in tune even with factory strings and deep whammy bar bends. Only issue is that color is described as Sonic Blue. In fact, the color is like white with a trace of faint blue color mixed in. I specifically wanted a Sonic Blue guitar so I guess I'll have to figure out how to repaint this one.

Looks pretty, plays well enough when it's working. Pickup selector broke first, then the input jack collapsed with this WONDERFUL crash of static from my 100 watt Marshall. People really loved that. Can't seem to get in touch with anyone regarding it. Maybe I'm too demanding a person but Sweetwater has *really* been phoning it in lately. Guitar is useless as it sits, and I don't know whether to fix it or not because I can't get anyone on the phone. Bad experience all around.

I'll revisit this review should anything change for the better. My current thoughts? Fender...