Squier Classic Vibe '70s Stratocaster HSS - Black with Maple Fingerboard Reviews

Very nice guitar for the money. Sounded great and well built. I couldn't get on with the gloss neck so returned for a second choice. As alway Sweetwatet made the transaction very easy. My gear advisor Brandon is a true professional and the reason I get my gear from Sweetwater.

I picked up this guitar on a whim to be a second guitar alongside my Epiphone Les Pa on some music I'm working on. Though this was a higher-end Squier, I still expected to receive a guitar on par with the beginner Squiers I remember seeing when I was starting out playing. I'm very happy that I was dead wrong. This guitar plays and feels like a higher-e d guitar. For context, I owned a Fender Telecaster for many years and own a Gibson J-15 and Martin D-15M, so I've had my hands on expensive guitars. Playing this guitar feels just as satisfying as my Tele was. The alnico pickups sound great and the hum bucket can let out some sweet heavy tones, though it's not as beefy sounding as a Les Paul. And once I got it set up, it plays smoothly and even better than my Les Paul.

Overall, Squier has really raised the bar and has made a completely perfect guitar for any player!

It has been about 10 years since I have owned an electric guitar. Back when I played it was with a TV yellow Epiphone SG and I loved it but it just didn't give me the tones I heard from other guitars. This Squier Strat is just versatile and checks a lot of boxes. The Maple neck and Fretboard have great playability…the gloss on the back didn't bother me at all (and it looks great!). Kept tune for the 2 hours I played it yesterday and that was with some yanking on the whammy bar. Highly recommend!

This is the 2nd Classic Vibe I've bought that I am going to mod with my Grandsons. Actually, it's an amazing guitar straight out of the box and mods really aren't necessary, but it is a lot of fun! I also have an American Professional Strat and the Classic Vibe can hang with it all day long. Granted, fit and finish and fret work is better on the Pro, but not *that* much better.
My sales rep, Adam Vaughn, was awesome as usual and always treats me right. Thanks Adam and Sweetwater for another great guitar experience. I'm loving these Classic Vibe Squier guitars!

Love it that is all extremely happy

To all you great guitar players,this is equal to u.s.a. strats.Don't listen to anybody that gives it 4 stars.Its 5 all the way.Intonation was spot on.Everything is quality.I own many high end guitars and this is high end,just low price.I bought a 50's vintera mod strat and immediately had trouble with the volume cutting out.Very dissapointed.But not with this.Sounds like a u.s.a. strat.BUY THIS!

Never owned a Stratocaster so didn't want too much invested in a guitar I might not like at all. I bought on line so it could have been a risk. When delivered the feel in my hands was great. Workmanship was flawless to my eye anyway. The action was medium low and intonation was already set perfectly. The tone was good but didn't like the strings. Vintage tuners make changing strings simple and fast. The tuners and bone nut keep this guitar in tune longer than my Les Paul. Now having owned this Classic Vibe for several weeks it's already found a place in my practice work. Pretty sure I don't need another Stratocaster but with this one sounding and playing as good as it does I'm already eye balling an American HSS Stratocaster.

A very good guitar. Ordered Saturday and recieved Tuesday. Perfect neck fret edges pickups just everything. Sweetwater is tremendous. I will be a lifelong customer.

I dont usually write reviews. I heard great things about the Squire Classic Vibe series and was wanting a HSS configuration so took my chances with this one. I own several American made fender/Gibsons and a variety of overseas model guitars. This Squire is unreal quality and the most bang for the buck guitar I have ever owned. Its every bit as good as any mexican or American strat I own. Probably even better. Sorry guitar snobs. It sounds great, feels great and is great.

This is a great Strat for the price and very fun to play. The pickups sound good to me and the electronics roll off better than expected. The intonation was way out upon arrival and the strings were quite old and worn. No fret work needed. Tremolo is floored to the body which is how I like it. The tuners work well. I wanted a cheap Stratocaster that I could make a few changes to but I will take my time as everything sounds and works great. The Humbucker in the bridge has a nice bite to it without being harsh. Hard to beat the price point!

if I could give this more than 5 stars I would. Just a very fun guitar to play that sounds great. As usual, Sweetwater gives you VIP treatment even when you are not spending VIP type money. Really outstanding service and communication. Their prices are as low as anyone's, and the excellent service with the photographs and follow-up are really value added. I love to be pampered, and Sweetwater makes you feel important. Love the whole buying experience. if you haven't checked out Classic Vibe stuff yet, do yourself a favor and go play one. Looks vintage, but more comfortable to play.

I am predominantly a Gibson player who prefers hard tails with the tune-o-matic bridge and a tailpiece, but I have owned my share of Stratocasters through the years. I've always found a standard-configured Strat to have limited stage value for the types of bands I've played in. I respect Straocasters and the many players who have made them come to life in their hands, but I've always felt out of sorts playing them --- until I bought one of these.

I've always loved the giant 70s headstock, so when I saw a Classic Vibe series that not only featured the headstock I liked, but also came with a humbucker in the bridge position, I was all in. I currently have one of the top review videos on YouTube (I'm the guy playing in the garage with the pickup truck in the background).

This guitar is versatile enough that I can play at least two of the three sets that I play at my shows without changing guitars. I love the look of it, and it has all the attributes that I liked about a Strat, with just enough Gibson character due to the humbucker.

The neck feel fantastic and there was no fret sprout right out of the box. I was impressed that the humbucker had a lot of vintage-like character (tons of headroom on volume roll, and not harsh or metallic). It would, however, chug and spit out metal riffs if you gave it more preamp gain.

It may not be hot enough for everyone's tastes, and that has more to do with the electronics than the pickups. Unfortunately, it comes with the small, and cheap, dime-sized volume and tone pots. And another down side for the sake of the humbucker is that they're only 250k. That really chokes down the output of the humbucker and tames down the high frequencies. It's "darker" than some people would like, but it worked well for me even in that configuration.

HOWEVER, it came to life when I upgraded the entire wiring harness, which included full-size 500k pots, polypropylene capacitors, heavier wiring and a better switch. I ended up swapping the factory humbucker out for a Duncan Blues Saraceno PAF, but it wasn't because the factory humbucker was awful.

All being said, I find this guitar to be nicer quality than most Fender Mexico Stratocasters I've owned, but not quite as good as a lot of USA models. These are comparable to the Japanese Squiers of the 1980s that the Classic Vibe series sought to pay homage to. At the very worst, you have a killer platform from which to perform some cheap mods and have a really great guitar.

I pretty much love everything about this guitar. It's fairly versatile and is comfortable to play even for someone with small hands. The playability and overall feel are much better than guitars made in China.

If there was one thing I would change about it (which I will manually do) is replace the Humbucking Bridge Pickup to a Seymour Duncan JB for now.

Overall 4/5 Stars.

So far the selector switch and humbucker have been replaced and now the volume POT is bad. I've had the guitar for less than 3 months and it has spent more time in the shop than with me. I'd look elsewhere for quality, it seems they have issues with this one.