Fender Player II vs. Squier Classic Vibe - Which Should I Buy?

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In depth demo of the tone differences, specs & pricing of the Fender Player II Telecaster, Squier Classic Vibe & Squier Bullet / Sonic to help decide which to buy!

0:00 - Win a Fender Player II Telecaster in Birch Green
0:36 - Intro
1:20 - Fender Player II or Squier Classic Vibe: Which Should I Buy?
1:37 - Surprise Contender: Squier Bullet
2:34 - Fender Player II Specs
3:17 - Spec Comparison
3:45 - Bridge Pickup Comparison Demo
5:03 - Middle Position Comparison Demo
6:13 - Neck Pickup Comparison Demo
7:37 - Reviewing Tone & Pickups
10:47 - Neck Comparison
11:19 - Comparing Factory Set Up
12:12 - Comparing Hardware - Bridges
13:01 - Comparing Hardware - Tuners
13:41 - Electronics
14:33 - Price Comparison
16:20 - Resale Value
16:46 - Which Should I Buy? Final Thoughts

🎉Official Fender Player II Jazzmaster & Telecaster giveaway🎉
Drawing from the same pool of entrants will be done for the Fender Player II Jazzmaster when I hit 5000 subscribeds and for the Player II telecaster when I hit 10K.
Note: this giveaway is not sponsored, endorsed or related to YouTube or its affiliates in any way.

[Alex-kdjt]

Good video! I actually just got a Squier Classic Vibe 60's Tele Custom last week and I'm blown away by it. To me, it feels like it doesn't NEED any upgrades. That's not to say parts of it can't be better, but you could say the same about a more expensive guitar. (I've upgraded to locking tuners on my American Strat.) I can leave the Classic Vibe stock and it'll remain a great guitar.

The reason I got it is because I have a more expensive Made In Japan Fender Tele Custom and the vintage spec has it with the neck heel truss rod. I'm too lazy to have to take the neck off to adjust the relief but didn't feel like spending another $1200+ getting a different Tele so I figured I'd check out all the hype on these Classic Vibes. I'm totally converted. For a whopping $360, I got a quality built guitar that reverberates better than some of my other American guitars. (Which I think is a strong testament to the simplicity of the Telecaster design).

Plus, for anyone that's new to guitars, the money saved on getting a Classic Vibe vs a Player II can be used to getting the simple setup kit from Music Nomad. The Tele is such a good intro to learning how to actually set up a guitar so that you don't have to pay $150 for someone else to do it. It's money well spent. The Classic Vibe Tele, especially if you can get it used in good condition, is an absolute steal!

[robertsguitarsandgear]

This confirms my experience with many different players and CVs. The main difference is the Player will have better hardware. Tones are so close that really it is a matter of taste and look/ feel.

[Lomoholga]

There is nothing more dangerous for a guitar company to do than to make an expensive telecaster model— the company runs the serious risk of the consumers realizing the emperor is not wearing any clothes

[mattwilliams]

I’ve been consistently impressed with the classic vibe guitars. It’s a lot of guitar for the money. I also don’t mind the gloss finished neck and am typically someone who prefers a more worn in satin type finish. I’ve never once played a gloss neck classic vibe and thought about the finish. They play so nice. With that being said I just bought the green player ii tele because the green and that dark fretboard is such a cool looking combo. As someone who owns two hand made Eastman guitars with their hand applied varnish finish I can’t stress enough to not sleep on the classic vibe guitars. They’re so good.

[someplb]

Best of luck on your channel, thanks for the tips

[shaespotts]

I got a Squier 60s CV in mocha burst from Reverb, it'd been sitting brand new in the box in their warehouse for 2 years. Crazy that nobody had picked it up before then, especially at Fenders asking price of $450. I think it was waiting for me. I've never played a Player 2, but I haven't had any issues with my Squier CV. Great guitar for the price!

[thess]

I have a 50's Classic Vibe Tele with Fender Tex-Mex bridge and it feels and plays better than a lot of American telecasters I've been able to try at our local used shop. I play pop and skate Punk through a marshall jcm 900 with a Warm Audio Centavo and that thing sounds really nice through my rig

[SuddenSoundStudios]

Great demo, and breakdown/analysis. Thank you!

[madsenamplification]

The Monty’s pickups sounded really good.

Love that you discussed the feel! The fit and finish as well. If someone finds a great feeling guitar that sounds good acoustically that fits their budget, they can upgrade pickups, hardware if needed and get it set up!

[madsenamplification]

Upgrading a squier is fun, but you’re right you won’t recoup the costs of the mods.

One of my favorite guitars right now is a squier short scale strat with a hard tail bridge. I upgraded some of the hardware, all of the electronics and pickups and I love it! But I don’t plan to ever sell it!

[rcsutter]

Although I already owned a lot of different Tele's in various configurations, I didn't have the "classic" butterscotch 50's with a maple fingerboard so I bought the Squier classic vibe 50's model. Looks great, sounds great, plays great right out of the box from Sweetwater. I watched them for several months, waiting for something really special to pop up in the "choose your favorite" list and one did. It's beautiful. Frets were perfectly finished, level and nicely polished. Body wood looks like one piece, but it's actually two, just very well matched at the joint. It has that signature vintage Tele sound, for a very good price. Stays in tune really well, I see no need to upgrade anything.

But I play differently than you did in this video, I'm all over the neck, playing fast, bending strings, and I love the feel of the neck as-is. It's not "sticky" at all, it's actually quite fast. I see people say that and I just don't get it. I have a lot of glossy maple fingerboards, I like the glassy sound and super smooth action. I thought maybe it's the climate I live in - very dry, high altitude in Colorado. But I'm down in Oklahoma visiting family, brought it along, it's hot and muggy like a steam bath, and it still feels great. So maybe it's just we're all different in how we play, the sound we're after, and personal preferences. That's why they make a plethora of different guitars, there's one out there for everyone. Anyway, I enjoyed your video, it just popped up in my recs so I gave it a view. I'm sure I'll be back for more, I've been playing since 1964 and I'm a gear head.

[lazvt]

Both (Player II and CV50) are GREAT buys in their own way. Buy BOTH (from a guy with 10 Teles...all different/special). I"m a lefty. I recently owned a Fender Pro II and still own a CV50 Purple Pete from Andertons (decent pups, low first fret, one bad tuner). Upgraded (and fixed fret) my Purple Pete with Lollars Special Ts (and hardware and electronics)...and SOLD my Pro II (pups were OK, not great). The PP CV50 is noticeably lighter than your typical beastly butterscotch pine CV50 (mine has Fralins, great!!). My 2014 TeleMex is excellent, especially with McNelly pups. In all cases, disconnect neck pup from tone pot to get more clarity, output....even in the middle position. Budget Tele's are mostly great (AIO, HB, CV, MIM, G&L, etc) ...but only if you get quality pups (high end, get USED), and set them up correctly. I learned to solder last year....and do my own setup...and typically can find used CS/boutique pups for my Teles on Reverb. Heck, buy your guitar used too...why go new??? Great vid.

[chinchillax]

Thanks Han Brolo, this was a good idea for a video! Really good production, too! I like this focus on value you always have.

[steepykc]

Thanks for the good review. You mentioned about J Mascis Jazzmaster, do you think J Mascis might be better choice over player jazzmaster?

[killingbickett]

I’m a big fan of Squier, but when it comes to resale, people tend to be more interested in buying a Fender over a Squier.
While it’s possible to resell a Fender for close to the price you paid (ore more) a few years later, I don’t think that’s feasible with a Squier.
For me, this is an important factor to consider as well.

[williamcondra]

Great job. Like the color of the player. Love my Classic Vibe.

[JonGaull]

This review is really well done, thank you for sharing!

[Packethackscom]

Thanks for a great video. I am new guitar player, playing 3 months now, considering a Tele Player 2. I bought a Jackson JS Series Dinky JS22 as my first guitar, but just don't like the tone I get from it. Maybe it's just because of my inexperience, but I'm hoping the Tele will give me more the sound I'm looking for. Anyway I learned a lot from the video

[jimm]

So I bought a lowly Squire Offset Tele. Out of the box it sounded and played great. ( I have a bunch of "good guitars" ) of course I cant leave well enough alone soooo....I bought a American Pro 2 Tele loaded pick guard from Stratosphere (ebay they don't have their own website any longer btw) and had it installed. Wow it is all I play now. Every tone i was trying to find with my strats is easy to dial in on the telly with just a twist of a knob. How it sits in the mix is ideal. Dont fear the bridge pick up :) as a recovering Strat player I found myself avoiding the bridge pick up thinking I would hurt cats... but after forcing myself to use if exclusively for an extended time (and using the tone knob :) I am amazed how I can hear the guitar in the mix so much better now. It is making me a better player. I do like the push push option it works for HB kind of applications ..kind of. If i could only have 2 guitars ...(hope wifey never reads this :) it would be this telly and my Yamaha RSS20 for Les Paul stuff, its just plays great, so well made, sounds very good kinda like a twin hb telly in a way. I adjusted teh string height and that was it on that guitar. So the moral of the story...to folks starting out ...Get a telly dont practice, learn learn learn....never sell the telly! big mistake on my part.

[SatelliteSounds]

My very first guitar was similar green. Subscribed and hope the best for your channel. Cool to be here early.