Squier Classic Vibe '70s Precision Bass - Walnut Reviews

I'm not gonna parrot what others have said. I've owned many basses over the years—Gibson Thunderbird, Rickenbacker 4001, Fender Geddy Lee—and this bass stands up to any of them. Better buy one now before they're all gone.

Received my bass today. And I was blown away by the condition of the packaging and bass. Can't believe the quality of this squire p bass.sounds amazing and the playability is fantastic. Shot out to sweetwater staff they are true pro's outstanding!!

Bought mine 5/2020. Perfect first bass. Got a player and still this was my first. After 2 years I installed fenders pure vintage 63s and the Emerson kit offered by Sweetwater. Total game changer. Love it even more.

This bass holds it's own. Can't beat it for the money. Clocked in at the advertised weight. And it ain't bad lookin'.

I received my Squire Classic Vibe P Bass, having purchased it rather than the Player version or American made version- because of budget limitations-and was blown away by the instrument's fit and finish. The tolerances of fret leveling and crowning are as good as any of my high-dollar basses. Strung with La Bella flatwound strings, the action is low across the entire neck. This bass is the best playing and sounding P Bass I have ever owned. I have owned many P Basses in my 60 years of being a professional performer and a college music professor. This bass has a big sound, balanced and rich in harmonics in all registers. You must hear this bass to believe it. It is, simply put, fantastic! Get one before they are all gone. And proudly display the Squire badge. A great instrument does not require a high dollar insignia.

Received my new Squier Classic Vibe 70's bass, and - Wow! I've had many basses since I started in 1964 (Even had Geddy Lee), and none (yes - none) of them competed with this one. Arrived in perfect condition and setup. Can't find a single flaw! Intonation and action are perfect! Delivery is amazing: 1-3 days! Kudos to my rep - Gage Massey: he's gone above and beyond for me, and that's why I say Sweetwater is far and away ahead of any of the competition.

Original review January 22, 2022. Here's the update:

SO bought one of these and had some high frets. Went through a couple and they were all the same, high frets in the upper register of the neck. Took it back to the shop...I had the bass put on a PLEK machine (courtesy of Fender) and WOW! This Squier plays like a $1000+ Fender. I just can't say how comfortable and easy it is to play now, absolutely amazing! I would upgrade the pups, they sound OK but could be better. Maybe upgrade to CTS pots and a better output jack and that would be IT. The bridge seems fine for now. If you buy one of these and it has high frets, get it pleked! Its worth it and it is way more cost effective than spending over a grand on a nice bass.

Just for reference, I've been a working professional bassist for 45+ years. I play at a pretty high level and have solid skills all around. I've owned several instruments in my lifetime, including 70's Fenders. I currently have high end boutique basses and "entry-level" basses such as this Squier which I purchased in August of 2021. I have always felt it necessary to have a P-Bass in the arsenal, and right now this is the only one I have, and I absolutely love it! It is 100% a Fender Precision. Fit and finish is spot on. After a quick setup to where I like it, the neck feel is superb (FYI I sanded the gloss finish - I do prefer a more satin feel). This bass is strong across the board. Beautiful singing tone on the upper register; super tight in the low end (as it should be), and has that distinctive P-Bass 'bark" when you dig in. It is surprisingly exceptional for slap style as well. I am truly blown away by the quality and sound of this bass. I will not hesitate to use it in the studio and live. Highly recommended for someone looking for a useable instrument without spending top dollar. Will it have the value of a classic Fender down the road? Perhaps not, but as a solid playable axe, you can't go wrong.

If I had to give up all the other basses and keep one for fun, this could be the keeper. With Ernie Ball Group III strings (and having Sweetwater do the Plek process) it is sooo good. The Group III strings make the tone fairly uniform from string to string and fret to fret. Set up well, it is a breeze to play. THE important feature is the volume and tone controls. I don't know what pots are in there (audio? linear?) but the tone control has a sweep very like what I'd expect from a 1970's Pioneer Integrated Amp: very smooth, gradual transition from bass to treble, the best tone control I own! I keep encountering tone pots that make very little difference or don't seem to be making a rational change from bass tone to treble tone. This bass' tone pot is perfect.

Not a scratch on it straight out of the box. Lightweight and has a nice chunky tone to it. Really comfortable neck and smooth fretboard. This is a nice sounding, nice playing bass!
I am really impressed with the overall quality in the finish on this guitar. It is gorgeous.

It really helps that Sweetwater shows you the pictures and weight of the specific guitar you are buying, because these Squiers can vary in their body and neck finish and number of pieces of wood that make up the bodies. I am really happy with the tone, feel, and quality of the instrument. The pots feel great and have a full range of tone and volume. Mine came setup really well out of the box, not requiring any action or pickup adjustment. I think the pickup sounds great. I am really happy with the tones I can get by switching between fingerstyle and pick, moving my picking position and using the tone knob. I think Squier builds a better bass than their guitars. The neck and frets on the one I received feel great. I find the Classic Vibe series to have a higher end feel than the more expensive Player series and a major upgrade over the Affinity. It is a great bass for an experienced musician looking for P Bass tones or for a beginner who wants a decent instrument where they won't have to go replace tuners, have intonation problems or get fretwork done. I can get great blues, rock, metal, reggae and funk tones out of this instrument.

I'd first direct readers to the other assessments on this, the walnut body bass and on the other, black body bass. They cover the very many positives. What I wish to add: I asked that Sweetwater do the Plek process on mine. The action is just wonderful. Despite the Sweetwater checks, I did have to set the string-to-string heights, via the understring radius, with a Stew-Mac simple guide. This is done by first setting heights of the E and G, which were properly done by the staff, then using the understring guide to set the A and D. My D was too low and the A a bit high. That done the string-to-string balance was improved. I wasn't happy with the change in tone from the D to the G, feeling the G sound too bright for a non-slapper. Andy Rice gently suggested I consider using flat wounds. I had a set of LaBella and put them on but the G was dead flat. Did lots of reading of customer reviews of flatwounds, then bought Ernie Ball Group III Flatwounds. They are terrific. Now, there is a lot of tone color loss when leaving roundwounds behind, but the Ernie Ball Group III with this bass is a perfect combination. The D to G change of tone is minimized and there is growl on lower frets and the A and E. I think with the Ernie Ball Group III's the E to A tonal difference is closer than some basses where the E will be thick and muffly above the 5th fret and the A quite different in tonality. Very satisfying sound overall. The new strings were a little draggy but Finger Ease fixed that. Great bass now with great strings. Oh, the tuning key action is very smooth. I just got a new Fender American Professional II Precision. Those tuners feel like they're grinding small objects inside!

I'd never before bought anything "Squire", as the instruments I've tried in various music stores have been very hit and miss. But - I decided to roll the dice and try ordering this beautiful bass from Sweetwater. I was beyond pleased. The intonation is fantastic, the finish is superb, the playability is great (LOVE the neck) but most importantly - the sound is amazing. Every bit as good as some much more expensive basses I've played. I plugged it into a variety of cabs and was consistently pleased at the sound. Sweetwater did a great job on the setup - and just as importantly they followed up twice to make sure I was happy with it. I have no hesitation whatsoever in buying another Squire from them, I'm sold. It's nice to have a couple budget instruments on the rack to fill things out. This bass is great.

What can I say? I love this bass! This is a thing of beauty to behold. I love the vintage look of the P-bass! I've played the Fender Player series P-bass in stores an honestly, I like the CV Squire bass better. I feels like a thousand dollar bass when you hold and play it. I like the simple controls. Fit and finish are amazing! The set up was perfect right out of the box! I changed nothing. I don't understand why anyone would want to change anything on this bass. They hit the ball out of the park with this one!!!!

This is a great bass. Light too. I was prepared to mod this but am fighting it. Great tone. Really no issues.

It's the bomb.
Oh yeah...change the strings and then stand back! Kaboom!

I'll start by saying, I normally don't spend a lot of time writing reviews but this time I HAD to.

I was a professional bass player in a touring group in 1976 - 1979. I played a 74 P-Bass. Ever since I sold the P in the early 80's (I know, mistake #3), I have been missing that tone and feel. This Squier Classic Vibe 70s - Walnut sounds more like that bass than anything I've played in decades! DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT be afraid of this bass. The action, neck feel and the tone are more P-Bass than the P's I've purchased over the years while trying to get that sound back. I have a total of 9 basses. Some are custom, I have a 4 and 5 Fender Elite, Marcus Miller Jazz, and more. What happens now is the first bass I reach for is my Squier. I don't care what it says on the headstock, it's my fav.

P.S. Could have saved $1,000s on Fender American Pro P's if I had this thing.

I had been eyeing this model of P-bass for some time when the Sweetwater Labor Day sale made the deal too good to resist. I'm very glad that I purchased through Sweetwater, as their 55-Point Inspection and actual item photographs gave me the confidence I needed to make sure I was getting an instrument worth its price tag.

The bass was shipped with ample protection in the box and came out of its package with near-perfect intonation and tuning! Keith and the customer service team at Sweetwater are responsive and show genuine care to ensure that the customer gets the info and products they need!

The feels of this bass is fantastic, it's a bit on the heavier side and doesn't neck dive as much. Overall great bass the action isn't too high so it's great for playing not so much for tapping if you're into that, but I definitely reccomend this vass regardless.

The feels of this bass is fantastic, it's a bit on the heavier side and doesn't neck dive as much. Overall great bass the action isn't too high so it's great for playing not so much for tapping if you're into that, but I definitely reccomend this vass regardless.

I'd put this right up there with the costlier Mexican Fenders. I picked the lightest of the four being offered and it arrived on time and was set up well. I don't care for the round wound strings but still I could have taken this to rehearsal right out of the box and been fine with it. I consider this bass to be a bargain. I bought it because the walnut reminds me of an old P-Bass I once had and I wanted a light body for a platform to do mods on but again, it really is quite capable right out of the box. I love the shape they came up with for the neck, it should please both P bass and Jazz people. My only gripe is the walnut color looks a little darker in person, to the point where it looks black sometimes. The nice thing is Sweetwater takes pics of their offerings so I probably could have waited out a lighter shade and the lightest weight. These seem to sell out fast and go on backorder a lot though. Kudos to Sweetwater for their ingenious system of showing the actual basses they have for sale, and for a superb set up and seamless delivery.

Bass is my second instrument but I needed a new one for an upcoming project. Not wanting to break the bank, I settled on this and cannot be more pleased (and surprised) with the quality. From the feel to the tone and performance of the guitar, it is a phenomenal instrument for the price. I don't love the color/finish so much once I saw it in person but that sort of thing always comes last for me anyway in choosing an instrument. It's easy to overlook with how well the thing plays!

So, I purchased this bass in January and was pleased with it right out the box. Good feel and tone were really nice. But soon after the return period expired I began experiencing issues with the pickups. They kept fading in and out. And I found that if I manually depressed them they would activate but then they would die if released the pressure. Needles to say I was disappointed. So I put the bass aside for a few months until recently when I decided to replace the pickups , wiring , and the pots. Which is why I'm here to purchase those items.
In closing I'd like to say out of all the items I've purchased from Sweetwater this is the only time I've had an issue.
And I will continue to use Sweetwater for my future needs.

Thank You

The bass is really nice for the price. Classic P-Bass sound. SUPER COMFY neck, the walnut finish is really nice. You can see the woodgrain through the finish. It's hard to put down! After a few days home I discovered a dead fret at the 11th on the A & D strings. Took it back, swapped it for another one straight out of the box. Played it in the store for 20 mins, all up and down the neck. Everything seemed good. Now after several hours of playing at home, the 19th fret on the A string has gone dead. The store said if it happens again (which it did) to bring it back at they will put it on a PLEK machine at no cost to me. So it looks like a pleking is the next step. Overall this is a really comfortable to play bass that looks really nice and sounds like a classic P.

In the interest of full disclosure, I only bought this bass because it was really pretty. And on that score, it surpassed by my expectations. It's gorgeous, and it looks really great on my wall. Basically, I bought some $... guitar art.
There are a lot of stellar reviews out there, so there was that glimmer of hope that it was also going to be a good instrument as well--but it's only okay. It's really light, and the pickups are loud and treble-heavy. The neck shape is meh--not sleek like jazz nor a meaty handful like a real
P. It's a notch or two over the usual cheap guitar and it does stay in tune, so it's a good starter bass, but don't expect a hidden gem.
But speaking of it being a starter bass, mine arrived with action so high you could have slipped a deck of playing cards under the strings around the ninth fret with ease. I've been playing for 35 years, so it only took me about 30 minutes to adjust the neck and the bridge, but a kid getting a guitar In that shape could easily get turned off playing forever. If Squier and Sweetwater want kids to play guitars and not computer keyboards in the future, they might want to take a little more care with what they ship out. Sigh...and now I sound like an old crank.
So great for a beginner, but if you've been playing more than three years, save up for the real deal.