Squier Classic Vibe Starcaster Semi-hollowbody Electric Guitar - 3-tone Sunburst Reviews

I play acoustics and hollow body's never bought one at this price point. I was interested in the history so I bought it.Did my own set up on it and can't not find a flaw in fit and finish.did put pure nickel strings on it same as I have on my other guitars and up against ibanez ,dean.epiphone ,and Gibson this thing sounds amazing .can't get over how great this neck feels .a real keeper at more than half the price…will dial it in with pedal board and tube amp will gig with it soon .if your on the fence with this make the move you won't be disappointed

... and the finest casework of any guitar for less than $750 that I've seen. It is absolutely flawless and the only reason I didn't send it back because of the reasons below. The hardware, eh, not in the same league as the woodwork and finish, but they had to scrimp somewhere to get this guitar affordable for us ordinary mortals.
Mine was not set up out of the box, but that is not the fault of the guitar. Whomsoever tried initially, failed miserably. I almost sent it back. However, after 3 separate people tinkered with it, myself included, the adjustments were made and a buzzy bridge replaced. It is my most playable guitar now, the one I am most likely to grab and spend a few minutes with, and when I put it back on the stand, it is easiest to look at. I am satisfied.

Every "name brand" guitar I own still has to be fitted to me. That said, I've been saving tons buying great Epiphone, Squire guitars… knowing how to set up makes all the difference. This Squire Starcaster is a GREAT deal on a GREAT GUITAR!

I've been learning on this guitar for about 6 months. Its great fun and convenient, as it can be used for practice with or without an amp.

When Im feeling lazy, I can take it off the wall and practice, no need to drag out an amp and cables. The unamplified sound quality and volume is "good enough" for practice. At the same time, when using a softer pick, the un-amplified volume is quite enough to not wake up the whole house.

When connected to an amp, the sound quality sounds great (to my untrained ear). I plug it into a spark amp and wake up the neighbors a couple times a week. Great fun

The fit and finish seem good to my untrained eye. The frets feel nice to the touch, no burrs or rough spots. While the "setup" was good enough for me, no need for any major adjustments.

The finish in lovely, it looks great up on the wall.

No complaints. Sweetwater has delivered again. Lowered action just a little, my preference but was still good out of box. 335 sounds with a Fender neck. I really think Squire and Epiphone are delivering high quality products at a reasonable price. I've been playing for 50 years, so I've been around for a while (I remember when Les Pauls were $700), if you're on the fence and can't locally try one, Sweetwater has you covered. Don't be a cork sniffer, give one a shot. My most expensive (PRS) is my least played.

I just bought the best guitar in the world. You could pay a million bucks for another guitar but I assure you it will not be "better". This guitar is flawless. I will not change a thing. No upgrade needed. I play it through a fender frontman 25r and the combo is absolutely magnificent. This exquisite piece of craftsmanship was perfectly in tune straight out of the box. 3 hours of jamming and still in perfect pitch.Squire classic vibe guitars are the bomb.The starcaster is the new king in guitar land. Eff what your mama told you. This guitar is the best. Build quality is top shelf. Sounds like nothing that can be described with words. Get yours today at sweetwater, before they realize they are selling a million dollar guitar

I wanted the sound of a hollow body and this appeared in my search. Natural, Brown, or Sunburst. I was drawn to the Sunburst and was able to chose from 4 or 5. The one I chose has an interesting wide grain pattern and sort of a spooky, ghostly face on the back. Yep. That'll be mine. To keep this guitar safe I ordered the recommended Hard Case and selected the option 'deliver in case'. It arrived safely packaged and again, with these Squires it plays very nice. I really like the Maple fretboard which is clean and smooth. No high or sharp frets.
It passed the inspection.

I have had and still have a bunch of semi hollows. Carvin, Heritage (2), Godin (2), Ibanez, all of which cost a minimum of for times the price of the Starcaster.

We play a couple times a month out if my open garage to the 'adoring' public in a high pedestrian traffic area.

The Starcaster ranks right up there my favorite up to now, the Godin Montreal.

I liked the Classic Vibe so much, I came up with a pretty lame excuse to buy a candy apple red Affinity Starcaster. Candy apple RED!

In both cases, the fit and finish were perfect. Perfect Fender necks, pretty straight grain. All adjustments perfect.

I couldn't help myself on the Affinity when I found a set of Alnico 2 humbuckers. I probably wouldn't have noticed the Affinity PUPs if I didn't have the Classic Vibe version for comparison.

Now I've got two great (but slightly different) sounding semihollows for under $800, or about half of what ONE of those other guitars cost, with no sound or performance tradeoff.

My theory is Fender put the pedal to the metal on the classic vibe model because they didn't have any other semi hollows to dumb it down from. They put all the goodies in. It's top notch as it is. Then they dumbed it down a little for the Affinity, but kept that fabulous all maple body and neck. Perfect for guys like me that can't let well enough alone.

I am really happy with my new Classic Vibe Starcaster.
It's a great fit, the neck is awesome, the fretwork is really terrific and it's beautiful!
The 3 tone burst ( the darkest version of the 4 to choose from) looks fantastic on this guitar and the woodgrain is amazing!
Michael Grebe, thank you. You are a great sales engineer and you've always been a great help.
I couldn't be more pleased with how Sweetwater has treated me.
You have earned my appreciation and loyalty.

Sincerely,

James R.

This guitar is great. The neck, finish, humbuckers and tone are all amazing. Especially for the price. The main downside is the volume and tone pots. Volume pots give a 50 percent decrease from 10-9 on the knobs. When used in conjunction with the tone knobs, they are basically on/off switches. I'm planning on upgrading eventually, but right now, not a bother to me.

The main reason I wrote this review is to provide a case option!

I had an Ibanez as100c case because I had pre-ordered an artcore(as series).

While the case isn't an EXACT fit, it's totally close enough for me. This guitar is a little smaller than an artcore (as series) and the neck and width of the body fit really snug in the case. It is thinner, so there's a slight gap from the body to the case at the neck joint. In my mind, totally worth it for the money. I think an Ibanez as100c is $ new. Check it out.

The fender Squire Starcaster is an amazing guitar made in Indonesia and the craftsmanship is impeccable Iove this guitar def would get one if you want that semi hollow body sounds and it's not 1000 to 4000 dollars wouldn't even buy a Gibson es335just overpriced at this point the only thing I could see would be to replace the pickups for a hotter sound and the tuning heads are sub par but usually are unless they are American or aftermarket this guitar is a steal it beautiful and sounds way better than a squire should I hated squire before i got this guitar but that's mostly because of the Chinese thing but this guitar is a 4.9 it's also actually serialized as well if squire are going to be made in Indonesia they just gained a new fan

I bought my squire classic vibe starcaster tobacco burst, about a year ago, from Sweetwater. I love this guitar, I play it everyday 3-4 hours. I have 14 other guitars. Since I got this one, I barely play any of others. Great for anything from Jazz,country, classical,metal,or classic rock.

VERY SATISFIED:
I give the Starcaster 5 Stars because what you get for your money and because of the quality you get for this price !!
If I had to guess, I would say I have owned approx. 35 guitars since the first one in 1947....Yes I am an old timer. D.O.B. 11/11/1932....(YOU do the math) A lot of guitars! Especially since I have been a DRUMMER most of my professional career.
Had my own seven piece Western Swing Band (The Stringdusters) 1962-1966. My Home Base was HUNTERS LODGE in Fairfax, VA. O was owner of the Business and also the Drummer. At a point 3 members, including myself, were invited and went to work on the GRAND OLD OPRY in Nashville, Tennessee....While on the OPRY I was sponsored by the LUDWIG DRUM COMPANY. The history is too long to write here but will tell you I picked up Guitars again approx. 30 yrs. ago and continue to enjoy working gigs with Guitar and Drums. ... Before closing I must tell you how much I appreciate your and my sales engineer "JACOB TERHUNE". He has been such a great help to me. (Feel free to edit this or contact me if you wish) Bob Taylor now located in Colonial Beach, Virginia...

Just went through a comparison of my semi hollows:
Ibanez AM153, babinga wood
Heritage Blues Deluxe (similar to Small body version of Gibson 335.)
Godin Montreal
Carvin semi hollow with one piece mahogony back, one piece carved koa top.
Squire Starcaster Classic Vibe

Starcaster was 1/3 to 1/5 the original price of the others.

The Montreal is more woody and much lighter. Has channels in center block. Still my favorite of the bunch.

The Carvin has the richest sound of all. Only single cutaway. Really sweet. Best built guitar by far. Also the most expensive. This one seems to have lost the brittleness it's had from the beginning. I probably should be playing this one more.

The Heritage sounds like a small box 335. Nice woody flavor. Midrangy. Not a lot of complexity or richness. Very nice sound.

The Ibanez just feels very muscley. Very strong, solid. Not much woodiness. Smooth. Sounds like a relative of those other Ibanez semi hollow jazz boxes.

The Starcaster sounds about like the Heritage, good, solid semi hollow. Not much richness or complexity. String volume balance seems very good.

The ergonomics are great! Something about the offset body. Everything seems to be in a better place. Plus, it's got a Fender strat style bolt on neck. I've always preferred that neck. And again, something about a solid maple neck. The grain on the neck was about as straight asI've seen.

Manufacturing execution is flawless. Paint is perfect.

This one came with a narrow string spacing (34mm vs normal 35.5mm). I redid the nut to 37mm anyway, so no problem. All the above had the same 37 mm mod plus I put 11s on all of them.

I like the frets a lot. High, narrow, well shouldered.

I've screwed around with all the other guitars making minor improvements to my ear, so to have the Starcaster come out of the box and hold it's own with much more expensive guitars was great.

I like the ergonomics of the Starcaster the best. Sound, string balance, all good. I'm going to be playing this a lot.

I've been playing acoustic guitar for a long time and decided to expand my horizons. I still have a lot to learn but am finding this purchase a great decision for that expansion. Very enthused.

This is my second guitar, my first being a Fender Player Series Stratocaster, and let me tell you: the fit and finish on this Starcaster is just as good in some places, and better in others. The fret work on this guitar is better than that of my strat (no sharp fret edges at all) and really feels like it costs 4x as much as it does. There is only one very very small imperfection in the finish but you can't see it unless you're looking for it.

The tone of the pickups is superb, and can handle any kind of pedals or amps without getting washed out or too noisy. From blues, rock, jazz, and I even like to play along to modern R&B with the right tone set up on the amp. Turn down the gain or switch on a clean channel and you have a guitar that absolutely sings with an incredible amount of sustain. Turn up the gain or switch to a dirty channel and you don't lose any of that sustain (it's an extremely capable rocker). There's nothing it can't do, sonically speaking.

Now, the guitar is an awkward shape, and you may have difficultly finding bags and cases to fit it just right, I ended up just buying a bass bag.

This is my number 2 guitar, only because Stratocasters are my first love and I will be buried with mine one day. If I hadn't bought the strat first, I wouldn't be missing out. This is a phenomenal instrument that not a lot of people have, I have yet to encounter another guitarist with a Starcaster and anywhere I go this thing catches all the eyes.

This is my first electric guitar. I'm not a professional musician, just a hobbyist, and wanted an electric guitar that wasn't junk but also didn't cost a fortune. This Squier Classic Vibe Starcaster is perfect for my purposes. It is truly a beautiful instrument and has tremendous tone. The Sweetwater preship inspection insured it played well right out of the box. It was only barely out of tune. I find I can play barre chords far easier with this guitar than I can with any of my acoustic or classical guitars. I paired this guitar with a Fender Mustang LT25 amplifier, and they sound great together.

My only criticism is Fender puts a sticker in the middle of the pick guard. When you peel the sticker off it leaves a visible residue that is really difficult to remove without scratching or otherwise damaging the pick guard. Why Fender does this, I will never understand.

Overall, this guitar is a real gem. It makes a great starter electric guitar, but I bet well seasoned musicians would be impressed with it, too. For the money, it's a great value.

The fit and finish on my squier Starcaster is as good or better than my Fender Stratocaster or Telecasters at less than a third of the price. It sounds good, too.

I have 60 plus years with all types of guitars, mostly American, Fender and Gibson, and owned more than I can remember. I bought this on a whim, and to my surprise the quality was great, fit and finish is great , and with minimal set-up was taken aback at how wonderful it played and sounded. It has become one of my favorites. I have spent a whole lot more money, and never got one as good as this one. I call it a "Blues Machine". Paired with a Fender Princeton Reverb, it has a great voice for the Blues or Rock

This is a beautiful guitar and the fit,finish,and quality is superb.The gloss fretboard is super slick for bends and effortless for playing chords.I've owned and played Gibson Les paul,and fender top of the line Telecaster.This Squier beats them all.For any amount of money this is a great guitar.The humbucker pickups are a nice touch.I am astonished that for $... I was able to get this quality of guitar.Totally blown away!

I can't believe the quality of craftsmanship on this instrument. Every fret edge is well polished, and evenly seated. Every note plays easily with no buzz, even the very highest ones. The head bridge is perfectly notched to match the curve of the neck. The piping around the edge is just about flawless. The fading of the starburst color is perfect. The neck fits so well into the body that you could not possibly improve it. Everything is straight and true.

This guitar gives me a whole new range of ways to make cool sounds, with brushing and tapping strings, easier cleaner bends and releases. The pickups are good and they catch the sounds you are trying for. This is a guitar where you can listen to what it is doing and seek out nuances in how you want it to sound.

This is really such a fine value, more than you would expect. It's like a gift that I gave to myself, and I will cherish it. A very nice guitar, at any price. I'm very pleased.

I finally got my hands on this guitar and wow, the rumors were true! I am not a novice to guitars. I've tested over a hundred and own more than 60. This thing is fantastic. The neck is perfect, fret work is flawless, and action is very good. It doesn't buzz. The pickups are decent (and will not be replaced). The finish and workmanship are near perfect (only a bit of wood dust came out of the f-holes which could be a bit smoother on the inside). The tuners are decent and the guitar was almost perfectly in tune when unboxed. I have moved away from my ES335 in favor of this guitar. The cost of the guitar is an absolute mystery given its look and feel. The guys in Indonesia have nailed it.

Just recently got my Classic Vibe Starcaster and it is an absolutely stunning instrument!
My sales engineer Joe P. helped me with getting it setup to my requirements and the sound matches its looks. The Fender style neck is really slick. The binding on it really makes it a standout and the finish is beautiful!
I am totally pleased with the equipment and Sweetwater's service.

I have been wanting this guitar for a while now. I finally pulled the trigger and have been playing it for a few weeks now. For the price, it can't be beat. The neck plays like a high end fender, the frets were rounded, the finger board edges were rolled. Not what I was expecting from a squier. My only qualm with it is the neck pickup, I wish it had a little more clarity to it.

I came across this piece a few months ago at my local music store, and had no choice but to buy it on the spot (sorry Sweetwater). At that time, it had just been released and most major music retailers didn't have them yet, and there was very little information on them online. But holy sh*t, this guitar really is the best of both worlds. Basically a Gibson body with a Fender neck bolted on to it. I bought it expecting to use it mostly for jazzy stuff and anything with a clean tone, but I'm very much impressed with it's versatility. It handles gain and fuzz tones like a champ! For my first hollow body guitar, I am greatly satisfied, and it didn't even hurt my bank account! I never thought I'd rush out and buy a Squier guitar when it first comes out, but this one blew my mind, and as far as I can tell, it seems mostly on par with most modern Fenders in terms of quality. My only complaint is the frets are a bit sharp on the sides of the neck, but that's to be expected with anything in this price range, and an easy fix too!

Side note: good luck finding a case to fit it.

I have been playing guitar for over 60 years and I have been a serious guitar collector for over 30 years. While going through some reference material I saw the Fender Starcaster which was introduced in 1976 and discontinued in 1980. Fender reissued these in about 2015 as a Chinese made version. The originals have become very pricey and the second version are getting up there as well. I found that Squire was now marketing these in a couple of versions made in Indonesia. I thought the Classic Vibe Starcaster looked good and for $ how could you go wrong. I saw mostly positive reviews but a few showed some issues with the electronics. For this reason, I ordered mine from Sweetwater to take advantage of their 55 point inspection which would offer some assurance that the guitar would be functional when I received it. I received my guitar less than 48 hours after I ordered it, I live in Georgia. It arrived in perfect condition and was actually in tune when I unpacked it. The setup on mine was very good right out of the box and plugged in it sounded great. Apparently the wide-range humbuckers were newly designed for this guitar. Even with humbuckers, it still sounds like a Fender. Fit and finish on mine was very good but there were a few minor finish flaws, only noticeable if you look closely for them. I got the 3-tone sunburst and it doesn't look like an inexpensive guitar. The neck is a medium thickness and the frets are well finished. It is a very comfortable guitar to play. I received a call from my sales engineer Brian Campbell and told him I had never bought a Squire before. He assured me that Squire was making some good guitars. I have a lot of actual Fender guitars and this Squire holds it's own with them. I find myself grabbing my Squire more than my other guitars when I just want to enjoy playing guitar. I believe this guitar is reliable enough to use at gigs. I can't believe this guitar is so inexpensive. Try one and I think you will be happy with your purchase and I would definitely recommend purchasing from Sweetwater.

Really a beautiful guitar, seems like Squier is really stepping up their game, really nice line. To " Beautiful instrument with wonderful tone", and anyone else who's having sticker problem, try Goo Gone, or even better, put vinegar on the sticky part, let it sit a bit and rub it off with a paper towel. Should go away if not the first time try a few more times. Good luck!

I've owned this guitar for about 3 months now and I still love picking it up every day. This is my fourth electric guitar, and my first Fender/Squier (9.5" radius neck). It came out of the box setup perfectly, with low action and good intonation. It was even mostly in tune.

THE NECK - If the neck had a bit more heft, and a bit less gloss, it would be a five star neck. The fretwork is fantastic, the eddges are smooth, there are no dead spots and there is zero fret buzz. It was setup perfectly out of the box and is a joy to play. The neck is also thinner than I'm used to (both thickness and width), but from what I understand, the width is standard for Fender, though thickness is on the thinner side of normal. It isn't uncomfortable to play, by any means, it's just a little different from my other guitars. It's a 9.5" radius, and I've never had a problem with bends fretting out.

It also has a thicker poly gloss than my other guitars, so much so that you can't feel the wood grain beneath. I've heard this is standard for Classic Vibe necks, however. The gloss hasn't affected my playing at all and my hand DOES NOT stick to the neck as I move up the fretboard. Aesthetically, it is a beautiful neck.

THE BODY - Beautiful finish and a true semi-hollow. I also own a semi-hollow Epiphone Les Paul, and it is routed through, keeping the sides quite thick. The Epiphone is less a semi-hollow and more of a weight-relieved LP. The Starcaster is a true semi-hollow with a kerfed lining. It is loud when unplugged, and can be prone to feedback at higher volumes, if you want that (easily tamed, if you don't). I get excellent sustain and this is also the lightest guitar I own.

THE HUMBUCKERS - Much brighter than my Probuckers and Alnico Classic Pros of my Epiphones. The Starcaster pickups are responsive, well defined, not muddy at all. I love how they sound.

THE KNOBS - The installed amp knobs are work well, as in they don't sound scratchy when turned, and they do their jobs. However, a small turn goes a long way. A turn from 10 to 9 is going to give you far more than a 10% reduction. Also, the knobs feel of light cheap plastic. They are easily the weakest part of the guitar. However, they aren't uncomfortable to use. They just feel cheap.

THE TUNERS - It keeps tune well. I fiddle with it every few days, never while (living room) playing.

OVERALL:

PROS - Beautiful guitar. Sounds great. Comfortable to play. Stays in tune.
CONS - Thin neck (subjective), glossy neck (subjective), cheap tone/volume knobs.

Other notes: This is the 2nd CV Starcaster I purchased. The first was from a different big box retailer, and was a much lesser guitar than the one I received from Sweetwater. The first guitar, which I returned, buzzed at the bridge, had loose components, a bridge pickup that didn't like to work all the time, and volume pots that went from 10 to 4 with a tiny roll of the knob. As I said, I returned it, but liked the guitar enough to try to buy it again. The guitar I got from here, is excellent and I'm glad I gave it another shot. I don't know if it was Sweetwater's inspection or if I just got lucky, but I can vouch for duds being out there.

The guitar arrived promptly, in great condition, and was well set up. No complaints there.

The guitar itself is very pretty (if you like offset guitars, I guess). It looks a bit like an ES-335 that someone left in the sun too long. It has a funky vibe I really like. The fit and finish appears very good -- neck is good, fretwork is good, action is good. I'm not crazy about how thick the finish is. The polyurethane is laid on pretty heavy, even on the neck and fretboard. It's something I can live with, but I'd prefer a lighter touch on the finish -- and a satin finished neck rather than gloss. Maybe offer a rosewood option for the fingerboard. (Yeah, it's a Classic Vibes model, I know.)

Well made, sounds great, looks great. I have nitpicks, but ultimately it's very nice, especially at this price. Very happy with my purchase, and with Sweetwater's customer support.

This guitar has a major flaw, the poll pieces under the neck pickup do not line up, on the 2- e strings, when you play the first string under the neck pickup there is a huge volume drop, i complained about this flaw with sweetwater and Fender, and nothing was ever done about it. I sold it, two bad because it is a nice guitar, but not as good as the affinity model, you can see this if you look at the pics on this site.I can not recommend this guitar.

I recently bought one of these. It was gorgeous fit and finish. It played well out of the box. That's where it ended. The elctronics are cheap. All 4 controls volume and tone just shut off when you rolled them back from 10 to right around 6. The 3-way switch did not work in the lead position. I returned the guitar which was such a shame because I wanted to love it and have had nothing but luck with the Classic Vibe series. Oh...one other downside to this guitar is they do not make a hardshell case for it. There is a Fender gig bag that barely fits this... Overall this guitar was almost good.