Squier Classic Vibe vs American Professional Stratocaster! - Guitar Tone Comparison!

How close is a Classic Vibe Strat to a Fender? Well, closer than you may think!!
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[DarrellBraunGuitar]

What do you guys think?
Did you like the tone of the CV or the American Professional better?
Enjoy :)

[KeganVanSickle]

I think the Strat sounded great compared to the Strat. But then again the Strat sounds great too.

[Stratocus]

It's worth mentioning that the Squier is a third of the price of the American Professional.

[BenjaminRoethig]

There's one other advantage to the CV: the lack of resale value makes it attractive as a mod platform. My 70s has lockers, a Obsidianwire harness, custom planet tone pickups, and a huge brass block. It's exactly my guitar. I wouldn't dream of doing that to an American strat.

[tylercole]

Classic vibes are the absolute best bang for the buck when it comes to just guitars in general to me

[carlor.s.]

Gotta say, I definitely preferred the Squire. I loved that bright, punchy sound a lot. Darrell, I'd love for you to do a comparison of the Squire CVs 50s, 60s & 70s because I can't decide which one I want to buy.

[ronniboi]

Bought my Squier Strat (made in Japan) over 30 years ago... it's still the one I play the most of all the guitars I own and I've got Gibson L/P, PRS and a Fender USA Tele hanging on the wall in my studio.
If (god forbid) I had a fire, it's the one I'd grab because It's irreplaceable.
TBH it's been modded over the years... Evans pups, new pots and switch, shielding, so it's quieter for recording, but I just love this guitar for how it plays and feels... and that's what matters.
Think I preferred the tonality of the American professional over the CV, but that's just personal taste.

[drumheadbob]

I've had many Squiers over the years and still do. I've lowered the pickups to balance between them and round out the sound. It's standard practice to lower the pickups on a guitar with hotter pickups, as you have shown us in previous videos.

[mmccartney]

I don't know if there was a true "winner", but there definitely wasn't a "loser, " so, for me, considering the cost, I'd go with the Squier, because that's the way my wallet rolls. lol :)

[rtimestwo]

Great video Darrell. I have a vintage modified 70s Squier and love it. A well respected luthier in my area said “just leave it as it is”. No need to upgrade if you’re not a professional musician. Duncan Designed pickups sound great. Love the guitar.

[earhornjones]

That's nuts. I play Stratocasters in position 5 about 95% of the time. That Squier sounded better to me than the American Pro.

I own a USA Strat, and a couple of Mexicans, and they're beautifully made instruments, but my Squier Jaguar is awfully nice, too.

[vaibanez]

I own a 2021 60s Squier Classic Vibe Strat the new way they make them and I absolutely love everything about it. Even the color (Lake Placid Blue) looks awesome. I dont need a more costly Strat, this Squier Strat kills.

[sgtmac]

Darrell, this is one of the best, most honest, comparison I've encountered on the internet- period. Thank you very, very much.

[janeobrien]

The classic vibe has a bone nut per Sweetwater specs. Good video!

[natethompson]

Man, that Classic Vibe Strat really holds it own against the American Professional model. I think if I was blindfolded, I honestly wouldn't have been able to tell a difference tone wise! Great demo as always Darrell! Keep up the fantastic work.

[tonyjones]

If you are on a budget, a Classic Vibe plus a Fender Deluxe Reverb for about the same money as an American Professional is very tempting.

[jameslewis]

Well, that was unexpected. I had thought that the Fender would win out in terms of sound quality but in most of the positions I found the Classic Vibe was brighter and had a livelier tone with the exception of the position 1 sound which is where I really preferred the Fender. There are areas where I think the Fender wins such as the trem design, the tuner quality and the quality of woods (visually speaking) along with having the rosewood fingerboard and a neck finish that looks like it is less likely to create extra finish when you want to slide your hand up the neck. Do I think that those features are worth the price difference? No way. There are some Squire models I think that are more competitive with the Fender (matching most of the features) but this one is doing a pretty good job as it is.

[gahangore]

I picked up a 50's classic vibe new for about $420 CDN. Unbelievable value, great guitar.

[candrabalimirage]

For my ear... squier cv is more "original strat-tone" that we're all familiar with. It's all about Sound not the price :)

[davidburns]

I have a CV 60. It plays like a dream. I changed the tuners for locking ones, just for quickness of string changes, and plan changing trem for a modern 2 screw one. Apart from that, its all good.