Squier Classic Vibe '70s Stratocaster - Sapphire Blue - Sweetwater Exclusive Reviews

I was critical of this guitar because of where it came from but when I held it in my hands it came well setup I mean the whole Nine yards Sweetwater did thee 55 Inspection Method and Man Im I suprised on how Great this guitar really feels and soundsI guess I can say i will make certain upgrades fro my squire putting in 3 potentio Meters and and a Fender Original 5- way toggle switch and thee Tremolo Block as its thee weakest Link real fixer upper with Tremolo Bridge just go on amazon and purchase an american bridge tremolo block and walla it sounds like it should like a strat also its op tional if you wanna exchange thee Pickguard for some Linda frailin Pickups or Texas specials everything else besides thee input jack which also needs swapping and success your budget fender strat sounds just like a American

I bought this guitar because I had heard a lot of praise about the Classic Vibe series and wanted a relatively inexpensive but well-made strat in which to install a set of Fender Yosemite pickups I recently purchased from another vendor. I planned on giving this guitar to a tech right away to swap pickups, install locking tuners, CTS pots, and a big block steel trem. I also anticipated the need for a setup with some fret leveling. When I took this thing out of the box, I couldn't believe how great the fit and finish were as well as the fretwork, which were both flawless. No sharp fret ends of which to speak and other than adjusting the pickup heights this was ready to go out of the box. I didn't expect much from the pickups based on some reviews I read but I think they sound fantastic, very chimey and sparkly in the neck neck/middle, middle, and middle/bridge positions. The bridge pickup sounds like any other vintage-inspired strat bridge pickup...a bit trebly with a lack of bass, mids and overall warmth and output. This can easily be rectified with a single coil-sized humbucker, which will then void the quacky hum-canceling position two middle/bridge tone. The electronics appear to be solid as the volume and tone control have a clean taper with the five-position blade and input jack working as they should. The tuners also appear to be solid but, as with most strats, some locking tuners may be in order if you plan on floating the bridge and using the vibrato bar. The guitar comes with the bridge flat to the body and I believe I'll keep it this way for now as it works for this guitar and I have other strats with floating bridges I can use if I'm going for that sound. Major props to my sales engineer, Christian Baer, who made this happen for me and is always available with any questions or concerns; the man knows his stuff. If you're looking for a great strat at a very reasonable price point and don't feel like skipping a mortgage payment to fund either an American model or even a high-end Mexican model, this Squier Classic Vibe is unbeatable. I recommend buying a few before Squier doubles its price for these guitars )which, as sure as I'm sitting here, will happen in the next five years).

I'm new to guitar and I have an old Daisy Rock electric with hum buckers that has been fine, but I wanted a single coil electric. I saw this guitar on the Sweetwater site a few months ago and sat on getting one and then they all sold out! It looked like they wouldn't be getting any more of them so I was pretty bummed I missed my chance. When I was on the site last week, I saw that they had been restocked so I jumped on the chance to get my hands on one. Man I'm so glad I did. It sounds great, it feels great (no fret sprout or string buzz) and it looks even better in person than the photos. I seriously just stare at it sometimes it is so pretty. I find myself picking it up to just play a few scales or a couple chords just because it is sitting there so pretty basically calling to me to pick it up and play. I did extensive research on the Squire Classic Vibes and over and over I heard/read what a great product for the price and I have to say I agree. I'm so glad I didn't go and spend the big bucks just for the Fender name. If you are contemplating this guitar I say go for it. Also and extra star for the great customer service from Hayden Flack!

No complaints. Love the maple body. Nice touch Sweetwate Exclusive! Great neck, so so pickups and a decent bridge for this price range. Shipped in tune and has held tune well. A+! Don't want to pour a lot of money in a quality strat, this is it.

All I can say is I love this thing and haven't even plugged it in!!!

Customer service is 10/10 Joel Helton made to whole experience awesome. The guitar is epic, exactly what I wanted. A very small side note that's totally on me for not checking, but the guitar doesn't come with a gig bag or hard shell. Something to think about.

Ok first I changed out all the electronics, that's what I was planning to do when I bought it. All good pots etc, and put in a Tone rider classic blues pickup set. That being said There's nothing wrong with the electronics that came with it, I'll probably use the pickups in a MIM strat. I was looking for a certain sound and this seemed like the most affordable way to get there. Ok the build is great, make sure you get the guitar you want, they sell them by them by serial numbers, so look at the pictures, I was looking for a certain neck, and I got it, I've seen maybe one other that would have worked. Ok so here's the main thing about this gutiar, if your sloppy on the high E string on the bottom frets, you'll go nuts, the neck is a little skinny and you'll find yourself sliding the high E string off the fret lower frets, I fiddled with the neck alignment, and I didn't like the way the gutiar played so I moved the neck back to almost where it was, I learned on a 79 strat, this is a much better instrument, the neck is close, but not as thick, otherwise it's really close, I don't know If this is the best beginner gutiar of the CVs but it's hot! If you're just starting out maybe a CV 60 is easier to learn on, I have an older CV 50 and I'll never change anything on it (well maybe the pots, and switch if they get noisey) It's one of the best strats I've played, The CV 70 I my still deciding, but it's good, I do like the soft maple body or whatever it is, it's bright but not Sharp sounding

I'm no stranger to boutique or entry level guitars. I have had more than my share for sure. Ask my sales engineer Bob Furlong, he is the BEST!!! Whenever a unique or special piece of equipment comes in that I may have been browsing he gives me a ring to see if it's something I don't want to miss. Bob goes out of his way to make sure I'm satisfied. Not every purchase is a keeper but most of them are.

My Squier Classic Vibe '70s Stratocaster is one fine guitar for sure. I've owned the '50s and '60s models and this one blows the others away. I'm keeping this one! Bone nut, Alnico pickups, and a maple neck with a nice flame. This Sweetwater Exclusive is a fine guitar. If you are on the fence about buying this guitar for a first guitar or as a backup you should go ahead and get it before the price goes up. It's 'THAT' good! I adjusted the bridge to float (my preference) and put a push/pull in one of the tone knobs. Now I have (7) unique sounds to inspire my creativity. The re-wiring wasn't necessary because the guitar sounded excellent before I changed anything. I just wanted to make it my own.

It's funny how things go around. When I bought my first guitar I happened to come across Sweetwater and bought it sight unseen. I believe my last guitar will be coming from Sweetwater. The entire staff is helpful, knowledgeable, and truly care about the customer. They put the Service in customer service.

God Bless!

I am a beginner and this guitar has made it easier to play than the old one that it replaced. Love the Fender Strat look with the less expensive Squier price. I paired this with a Fender Champion 50XL and it sounds amazing!

This was a gift for my granddaughter's birthday. The one she picked out was out of stock. Luke called me and told me all about this guitar. It was better than the one she picked out and the smile on her face was incredible!! Also got a savings on the price!! Thanks Luke. You're a #1 salesman!!!

Very sharp. Bone nut, Alnico V pups and vintage style tuners. And that Sapphire Blue is a killer color. The Maple body is different. Nice, maybe just a touch bright and chimey, a little bit like a Gretsch twang. But nothing you can't beef up or soften with a good EQ peddle. Great value for the money.

So lemme start by saying that I'm not a beginner guitar player, so I'm coming into this very biased as an Ibanez player.

First off, it's not bad at all. For $ I could've certainly done worse. The action was low, the guitar was in tune and everything is decently ok. Intonation was off on the low E, but all the other strings were fine.

Now the cons. It's a cheap squier. The neck buzzes all over the fret board on multiple strings; which isn't necessarily terrible. It's got a decent vibe to it when playing twangy style funk and blues progressions. But no way in hell can I play any high gain stuff on this.

The pickups are just garbage. They're absolutely terrible. The neck position can't even pick up 5th fret harmonics. Every position sounds dull. But again, it's a cheap Squier.

The body is surprisingly amazing. It's not as thin as an RG or a nicer Fender, but it's pretty **** good. The finish is perfect. It feels great. It's just a great body. The bridge and saddles are pretty bad though. I mean, it's not the worst thing on the body, but I will be replacing it.

So to conclude, I got this as a project guitar and I'm rating it as a project guitar. It's a 4/5 in that it's good enough to mod. I will be replacing the neck, the bridge, and all the electronics. I basically paid $ for the body, and it's not terrible for that price. If it was $, I would've given it a 5/5.

I'm going to be putting a Fender Classic Vibes 70s neck on this, and maybe some Fishman single coils. As for the bridge, I'm a Floyd Rose fan, but I might save myself the routing trouble and just go with a standard Fender bridge. I think when I'm done, this $ modded guitar will be a solid 4/5 and maybe even a 5/5. We'll see. I'll leave another review after I finish modding this.

When I got this guitar it didn't seem like it was set up to Sweetwater's normal standards. The pickguard doesn't sit flush on the body, I get tons of fret buzz. FYI this guitar is MUCH darker in person I thought I'd see the wood grain but you really have to get it at the right light to notice the color, otherwise it looks black which honestly doesn't bother me so much but it should be noted. Honestly the guitar is 5 stars, I'm just bummed this guitar was set up poorly and still got shipped out. Love the people at Sweetwater! Definitely consider this guitar while strat hunting!