Squier Classic Vibe '70s Precision Bass - Black Reviews

I have several more expensive basses, Hofner, Fender, Gibson, Rickenbacker, Gretsch, Carvin. This is NOT a beginners instrument! It reeks of quality. It sounds great, plays great, looks great, and I just can't keep my hands off it! O.K. It has Squier instead of Fender on the headstock but this one is one to be proud of. The Fender and Squire folks really outdid themselves this time. Should be, at the very least, the new Fender 'Standard' series. Actually, It's better than that!

I currently own a Fender MIM Geddy Lee Jazz and a Fender MIM 70s Vintera Jazz. I am partial to the slimmer J necks because of my stubby fingers. Last time I owned a P bass was late 70s and I kinda missed that P bass punch. This Squier was recommended to me by a fellow bassist in another band and told me I wouldn't regret the purchase. I bit the bullet and ordered one from Sweetwater (black on black). Delivery time was 2 days! Sweetwater packaging cannot be beat - there's no way this bass would have been damaged from delivery. It was as safe as a baby in mom's belly! On opening, it's flawless.
Don't let the Squier nameplate fool you .. this bass is amazing (and this coming from a loyal Fender name buyer). Fit and finish are superb and the Sweetwater set-up was perfect! The roasted maple neck and headstock are impeccable. I'm very partial to block inlays, and that sets it off. This neck width is between a P bass and a J bass which is great for me at 1.68" at the nut. The split coil Alenco pickups are fine for my purposes. The sound is just as I thought it would be .. classic P bass punch! I've missed that! It's also very lightweight (I ordered mine at 7lbs, 14oz).
My only changes I will make is a custom pickguard (I'm partial to 40s-50s pin-up girls) and re-string it with my favorite strings, Elixir Coated Nickel Plated light/medium gauge.
I'm telling you, don't be reluctant due to the Squier name ... you WILL NOT regret buying this bass. Get yours today!!

This P Bass is a great addition to any collection of instruments. Its supposed to be a beginner instrument, but the quality and craftsmanship of the instrument surpasses that category in so many ways. The gloss finish is exquisite. The hardware is great too. The fact that this little beauty comes with a bone nut is a welcome addition to the already amazing amount of features of this bass for the price point! The only thing I can honestly say I don't like is that it comes with round-wound strings and for a precision bass I prefer the sound of flat-wounds. However, after having the bass for about a week the strings have gotten a little darker in sound. I will eventually change them out but for now the tone is great. The weight of the instrument is great too. Its not too heavy and not so light that it feels like a toy. Its perfect in that department. A definite pleasure to play and to own. I love this bass.

A lot of instrument for the money. Looks and feels like it should cost more than it does, sounds really good also. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a quality, affordable bass.

I've been playing guitar for 15 years and this is my first bass guitar. I was leery about buying a squier because they used to be so bad. Anyways after a minor setup adjustment this thing just plays excellent, the quality of something I would expect to pay two to three times as much for. It looks cool too.

I went to the store looking for a Precision bass that would give me the perfect thick/warm tone I was looking for. After picking up this bass I instantly knew it was the one. I played the same bass line, on the same amp, with multiple different guitars in the store and this one was noticeably different than the rest, without a doubt. It’s the most straight forward, simple, and easy to use basses I’ve ever played. It feels like it should be a $2000 guitar...
No complaints here.

bought this for home studio work and it's been great so far. The neck finish looks and feels amazing, and even though I don't like glossy as much, this one feels pretty comfortable. It definitely did take a bit of setup work out of the box, but now that I took care of that and threw on some flatwounds, this thing sounds awesome in the mix and gives that classic round P-bass sound I love.

I am surprised how much I like this bass. Just got it last week. It was incredibly well set up for my style and felt right in my hands. Plays like a dream and has a full deep tone. It is much lighter than my '92 Fender Jazz and is a new favorite. I was not really even considering buying a Squire until I tried the CV 70's in a music store. It blew all the other P-basses away regardless of price or name on the headstock. Go figure.

Wonderful instrument! I previously owned one of the Squier CV Jazz basses as well, and that one was also a winner. It just depends which style you prefer, but honestly they're affordable enough to just get both. Everything on this P-Bass is solid. Tuners are solid, nut seems properly cut, no sharp frets. The strings it comes with are rubbish, but that's to be expected. I replaced them with 50-105 Chrome flats. The stock pickups are actually really good! I replaced them with Fender Vintage '63, but the difference was minimal. I love to tinker/upgrade, so I couldn't resist, but honestly it only improved/changed the tone by 5-10% at most as the stock Squier pickup seems to be voiced very similarly. I also replaced the stock pots and output jack just for fun while I was in there, but there was nothing wrong with the stock electronics. Stock pots are mini 250k audio taper, stock tone cap is poly film .047 and stock output jack was decent. I did have to adjust the truss rod for less neck relief once I swapped the stock strings for flats, but that's normal. Unless you're a pro player, and even if you are, you'd be hard-pressed to find reason not to like this bass.

Don't let the lowly "Squier" name fool you, this bass looks, feels and plays just as well as Fender's name brand stuff. I am VERY impressed with this bass guitar.

Pros:
1) Fit and finish are great for a bass at this price point. Nothing looks or feels cheap in the least.
2) Solid, substantial feel. This bass has some weight but is not heavy to wear for extended periods of time.
3) Frets are smooth and consistent with no sharp edges. There are no buzzy or dead frets anywhere on the fretboard.
4) Tone is bright and clean (without being harsh or shrill) on all strings - both unamplified and amplified. The solid maple neck really makes the strings ring clearly and with excellent sustain.
5) Black neck binding and block markers are a nice touch and adds to the monochromatic black-on-black look of this bass. Add a few black accessories and this bass would look completely "murdered-out".
6) No flaws whatsoever to the glossy finish on either the body or the neck.

Cons:
1) Glossy neck. I prefer a satin/unfinished neck as it feels more "slippery" while playing (I may take some steel wool to the back of the neck and carefully remove some of the gloss).
2) The thin plastic skin that covers the pickguard is a PITA to remove. I had to loosen all of the nuts under the control knobs and cable output to get the skin out from underneath them. How about having Sweetwater's techs remove the skin as a final setup step before shipping? Please? :)

It's hard to complain about a bass guitar that costs so little. I bought a floor model. It worked fine for a couple months then suddenly lost signal. Pulled the electronics out and discovered one of the pickup wires had come unsoldered. I could have easily re-soldered the wire but was so unimpressed with the electronics that I settled on replacing them. I ended up ordering a "920d Custom" pick guard that was preloaded with much more high quality pickups, pots, and Jack. I had to do a small bit of dremmeling to get the new stuff to fit, but once that was done all I had to do was solder the ground wire on and WOWSER. It made this bass sing. I can't stress how much better it sounds and how much better the pots feel. I worry about the light weight nato body, but only time will tell on that one. The only downside was I had to go with a mint pickguard because that was all that was available.

To start, I do love this bass. Plays amazing, looks even better. However, it took a SPB-2 pickup to really open it up. The stock pickup is very "vintage" sounding. Mellow with smooth mids and subdued highs. Lows were pretty soft as well. When I installed the pickup, I found some wires not soldered. I was able to pull (lightly) some right out of their joints. Internal components are bottom dollar. Mini pots and a cheap looking jack. I was hoping for the price I could have gotten a bit more of a solid package. It really does handle well. It's like they made a better bass then an MIM, so they went back put a weak pickup in, and wired it terrible.