Is the Classic Vibe Jaguar still the best affordable option?

Today I went in and traded a pedal and a few dollars to @guitarcenter in exchange for a new Squire Classic Vibe Jaguar. In all of my years of doing YouTube I've never reviewed one of these in its stock form, so I thought before I dissemble it and build my new parts caster Jag I should do so. Let me know what you think!

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0:00 A long overdue review
1:07 On the bench
4:43 Sound demonstrations
9:50 Two Major Positives
10:59 How is the playability?
12:06 The bridge and the vibrato
13:56 Is it still the best affordable option for a Jaguar?

[danapplebee]

I picked up the same guitar at GC yesterday and I’m very happy with it. I actually really like my neck pickup and I’m a little underwhelmed with the bridge PU, but still playing around with the height. Until now I’ve been hesitant to buy a Chinese or Indonesian guitar, but this Indo Squire has changed my mind. Very good workmanship. Enjoyed your video, thanks.

[naokisonoda-hq]

I bought this guitar from Reverb last year for $375--local pickup.

Since then, I've replaced the vibrato with a Fender AVRI, installed a Staytrem bridge, replaced the tuners, and also ordered some Big Spotted Cat pickups from Bootstrap.

I also had to fill the low E slot on the nut to raise it slightly.

One could argue that I spent more money on this guitar than it's worth, but as you always say, "what is the guitar worth to you?"

And for me, I can say that the upgrades were worth it because I now know for certain that I love Jaguars, and I was able to find this out at a fairly reasonable cost.

I was pretty lucky because my fretboard is fairly dark--many of these Jags seem to suffer from very dry and light-colored fretboards.

I play with 9-42s on my Jag, and I find that it's incredibly stable and stays in tune--even when I abuse the vibrato.

The Staytrem is a definite improvement, but the stock bridge with blue Loctite was definitely workable.

All in all, I'm glad I purchased this guitar, because it's given me the opportunity to get to know Jaguars.

Working on it has given me the confidence to one day to build a custom Jaguar from Warmoth.

[FuzzyForties]

I got one at Guitar Center Atlanta few days ago. I was just looking for a backup guitar and did not want to spend much. This turned out to be a love story 😍. I really love this guitar. As you said, It has their things, it's not perfect... but dam! For 350$, it's insane guitar. Great video man! Thanks.

[creepingnet]

Just picked one up yesterday for $379 at GC. It was poorly set up, and the fretboard was very dry, so I set it up like my 98 CIJ and it's a wild one. I play rock and metal and use that bar like a maniac. No mods, stable tuning once I did a setup on it. Winner in my style all the way as/is.

[guitareveryone]

Great demo Jim and a beautiful looking axe. Very cool that is was set up so well. My last couple of Squier purchases a 40th Anniversary Squier Strat and 40th Anniversary Jazzmaster didn’t go so well.

I had terrible nut filing issues and even a neck that doesn’t sit flat in the neck pocket of my CV Jazzmaster. However I kept both and did some nut filing, neck adjustments, etc. the Jazzmaster neck still has a small gap and doesn’t sit flat in the neck pocket although the screws are tight so I may have to totally remove the neck and check that out. However the pickups on both sound good.

Keep up the great work!

[shredric]

Some real cool chord progressions in here

[segas]

6:33 love that type of sounds, that era of music made me dream .You nailed it perfectly.Great video and I really appreciate the way you review and play 👏🎼👏

[scottcrowell]

I'm a classic vibe fan. I have the CV 50's telecaster, pine body, plays like butter. I play it more than any other guitar including my american strat and custom tele.

[DaleSimko]

Dude, I love your reviews, most YouTubers usually play a bunch of fast metal leads and you really can’t hear what the guitar sounds like. I like that you play rhythm, and change the settings to get really good idea of the tones. I just picked one of these up when they were on sale, totally playable right out the box. I don’t normally play vibrato equipped guitars but as long as you don’t dive bomb it’s fine. You just got a new subscriber!

[JoshKristLifts]

I'm thinking of getting this guitar, its $130 off new right now so I'm so tempted to go try it out, thanks for the great review.

[SolidMoses]

I've purchased the FSR charchoal metallic version of this a few years back and im so happy i did. The only mod so far has been the steytrem bridge which immediately felt like a huge upgrade. Might also replace the vibrato in the future, because the stock one is really noisy. Other than that, i can't even descibe what an amazing sound this thing produces. My favourite is the bridge + neck combo and also, the mid cut switch is so impactful! First time i played cissy strut on this, i fell in love. Only thing that disappoints me in most modern budget guitars, is the dry and dead looking fretboards (laurel or any other similar rosewood substitute). It looks bad, its super dry even after multiple oiling sessions through the years and it doesnt feel too good on the fingers. But that is my personal experience. Overall, i cant stop playing this thing. ❤

[moskva-kassiopeya]

Thank you for mentioning the weight of the guitar! It’s so rare someone talks about it yet it’s so important for some players.

[cosmopoly]

I love my 70's vibe squire jaguar, it is since day one my go to guitar, I love it, it needs some tlc out of the box but nothing serious

[uhoh]

I just found one NIB for 399. It took the same setup love as all my cheap guitars. I put on 12-52 chrome flats. I'm in love. It was worth every penny for the short scale and range of tone. I hear the bridge is better with thick strings...I'll report.

[ak]

great demo/review. kept me interested through the talking and the playing was ace. good job dude.

[kappanastemme]

I went into to buy a Tele and happened to try out this cv jag and just fell in love instantly. It needed both an initial set up and several finetuning set ups to get it playing right but it's beautiful now. Ditched the 9s for 11s, slight nut adjustment and it's playing nicely.

[sub-jec-tiv]

Nice video. So glad you're not playing blues scale noodling, or crushing metal distortion with this one. This guitar is great for chimey clean or clean-breakup tones. Got one of these as a platform for modding a couple of years back, it's been really fun. I put a different bridge in, it helped the tuning stability. I also changed out the tuners not because they're bad, but just because I find the old-skool tuners on the original a little touchy.

[leeasbury]

Great demo! I've been wanting to try a CV Jag. Never have.

[alexsargeson]

I rarely comment, but you gave a really well thought out video. Very informative and excellent playing samples. Lovely guitar. I have one arriving soon in sunburst

[phillramirez]

Oh yeah you know its summertime when the Jag comes out got mine 60 CV squier white (Carl Wilson) clone Jag right beside me. Ready to rock out to some Beach boys. Awesome video Jim. You keep rocking man!😎🎸