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  #46  
Old 11-02-2019, 02:39 PM
DukeX DukeX is offline
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Congrats and enjoy. Thain't nothin' like a Tele!

Last edited by Kerbie; 11-03-2019 at 05:21 AM.
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  #47  
Old 11-02-2019, 03:10 PM
Bunny64 Bunny64 is offline
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Ha many thanks for the heads up but really could it do any harm? Many thanks for your good wishes.
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Last edited by Bunny64; 11-02-2019 at 03:20 PM.
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  #48  
Old 11-02-2019, 08:58 PM
FrankHudson FrankHudson is offline
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Well there you go. That it has good setup is a real plus and from what I hear the Classic Vibes really do a nice job with the Tele recipe.

Now all you got to do is shop for an amp, right?
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  #49  
Old 11-02-2019, 09:16 PM
DukeX DukeX is offline
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Originally Posted by FrankHudson View Post

Now all you got to do is shop for an amp, right?
Did you mean amps?

Nah, we shouldn't go there...yet.
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  #50  
Old 11-03-2019, 05:18 AM
Bunny64 Bunny64 is offline
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Originally Posted by DukeX View Post
Did you mean amps?

Nah, we shouldn't go there...yet.


Ha thanks both just getting by on a bedroom amp til I cut my teeth. Line 6 AMPLIFi great fun
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  #51  
Old 11-03-2019, 09:59 AM
ChrisN ChrisN is offline
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Either I'm getting too old, or Fender has too many models (and/or too many names for the same color).

I see the discussion here about the Squire Classic Vibe 50's Telecaster, and how it's got a pine body, but the pickups are different depending on which color you get - fine - sounds interesting. I'll check it out and I go to https://www.guitarcenter.com/Squier/...#productDetail

That guitar's name is "Squier Classic Vibe Telecaster '50s Electric Guitar Vintage Blonde." $399. Says it's "outfitted with a custom set of Alnico 5 single-coil pickups on the Butterscotch Blonde model and Alnico III on the Vintage Blonde." Fine - that comports with what I read in this thread. The link shows the Blonde. What's that Butterscotch look like? There's no Style selection button on that page, so I open another tab for Guitar Center and search the exact same name, but I change the "Vintage Blonde" to "Butterscotch Blonde" and get this page - https://www.guitarcenter.com/Squier/...scotch&index=1

The name on this guitar is: "Squier Classic Vibe '50s Telecaster Maple Fingerboard Electric Guitar Butterscotch Blonde." Hmmm. Instead of Classic Vibe TELECASTER '50s, this one's got a different name - Classic Vibe '50s TELECASTER. You see what they did there - they switched the "'50s" and the "TELECASTER" between the 2 very different (but similarly shaped/colored) models.

Wait, the price on this one ("50's TELECASTER) is $349, not $399 ("TELECASTER 50's"). And there's a button you can click for the alternate "White Blonde" Style (the guitar above [TELECASTER 50's] had a color called "Vintage Blonde").

Let's check the specs - The cheaper one's got an alder body, not pine, and there's no pickup difference/option between the two Styles. The rest of the specs are the same between the $399 "Squier Classic Vibe Telecaster '50s Electric Guitar Vintage Blonde" and the $349 "Squier Classic Vibe '50s Telecaster Maple Fingerboard Electric Guitar Butterscotch Blonde (or "White Blonde").

What am I missing here? Fender is simultaneously selling identically shaped guitars in apparently identical colors that are priced within $50 of each other and which bear almost identical names, but which have different body and pickup specs, making them very different guitars.

If someone suggested I get a Squier Classic Vibe 50s with the Alnico 3 pickups, and I hadn't done my homework, I might well have ended up with the lower priced model because I didn't know any better.

What is Fender's strategy here? Alternatively, what am I missing?

This comes up today because a CL ad near me lists one of these guitars - https://seattle.craigslist.org/kit/m...998437828.html but I have absolutely no idea if it's the pine or alder body model, and I suspect the seller would have no clue if I had the energy to ask.

What's a good way to tell these guitars apart?
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  #52  
Old 11-03-2019, 10:37 AM
paulp1960 paulp1960 is offline
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ChrisN,

I think the older classic vibe teles were made in China and are being phased out by the newer cheaper ones produced in Indonesia.

The ones with pine bodies and the Tonerider pickups are the older Chinese models.

Personally I think the Chinese built CVs are better than any Indonesian made Squier teles.

The Chinese factory is now producing the Fender Modern Player range instead of Squier CV guitars.
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  #53  
Old 11-03-2019, 10:51 AM
ChrisN ChrisN is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by paulp1960 View Post
ChrisN,

I think the older classic vibe teles were made in China and are being phased out by the newer cheaper ones produced in Indonesia.

The ones with pine bodies and the Tonerider pickups are the older Chinese models.

Personally I think the Chinese built CVs are better than any Indonesian made Squier teles.

The Chinese factory is now producing the Fender Modern Player range instead of Squier CV guitars.
That makes sense, as an explanation, but really, Fender? Driving a price downgrade via name/model confusion to limit impact on sales is not a positive, to me.

Can't speak to Squiers (and may never be able to!), but my Indonesian-built G&L Tribute (Cort factory) came to me pretty much perfectly finished and set up.

Thanks for the daylight on this one.
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  #54  
Old 11-03-2019, 11:01 AM
FrankHudson FrankHudson is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ChrisN View Post
Either I'm getting too old, or Fender has too many models (and/or too many names for the same color).

I see the discussion here about the Squire Classic Vibe 50's Telecaster, and how it's got a pine body, but the pickups are different depending on which color you get - fine - sounds interesting. I'll check it out and I go to https://www.guitarcenter.com/Squier/...#productDetail

That guitar's name is "Squier Classic Vibe Telecaster '50s Electric Guitar Vintage Blonde." $399. Says it's "outfitted with a custom set of Alnico 5 single-coil pickups on the Butterscotch Blonde model and Alnico III on the Vintage Blonde." Fine - that comports with what I read in this thread. The link shows the Blonde. What's that Butterscotch look like? There's no Style selection button on that page, so I open another tab for Guitar Center and search the exact same name, but I change the "Vintage Blonde" to "Butterscotch Blonde" and get this page - https://www.guitarcenter.com/Squier/...scotch&index=1

The name on this guitar is: "Squier Classic Vibe '50s Telecaster Maple Fingerboard Electric Guitar Butterscotch Blonde." Hmmm. Instead of Classic Vibe TELECASTER '50s, this one's got a different name - Classic Vibe '50s TELECASTER. You see what they did there - they switched the "'50s" and the "TELECASTER" between the 2 very different (but similarly shaped/colored) models.

Wait, the price on this one ("50's TELECASTER) is $349, not $399 ("TELECASTER 50's"). And there's a button you can click for the alternate "White Blonde" Style (the guitar above [TELECASTER 50's] had a color called "Vintage Blonde").

Let's check the specs - The cheaper one's got an alder body, not pine, and there's no pickup difference/option between the two Styles. The rest of the specs are the same between the $399 "Squier Classic Vibe Telecaster '50s Electric Guitar Vintage Blonde" and the $349 "Squier Classic Vibe '50s Telecaster Maple Fingerboard Electric Guitar Butterscotch Blonde (or "White Blonde").

What am I missing here? Fender is simultaneously selling identically shaped guitars in apparently identical colors that are priced within $50 of each other and which bear almost identical names, but which have different body and pickup specs, making them very different guitars.

If someone suggested I get a Squier Classic Vibe 50s with the Alnico 3 pickups, and I hadn't done my homework, I might well have ended up with the lower priced model because I didn't know any better.

What is Fender's strategy here? Alternatively, what am I missing?

This comes up today because a CL ad near me lists one of these guitars - https://seattle.craigslist.org/kit/m...998437828.html but I have absolutely no idea if it's the pine or alder body model, and I suspect the seller would have no clue if I had the energy to ask.

What's a good way to tell these guitars apart?
The kind of Internet forum we're discussing this on is a large part of this (though print media/specialist magazines and before that word of mouth started it off). Every tiny detail that might impact sound is now known, discussed, and strong opinions are exchanged.

As a result we care, often a whole lot, about each of those differences you outline. In the classic days what Alnico blend was used varied from pickup to pickup on the same model. Body woods too were subject to variation with no specification. What was once random or purely logistical convivence can now be a different model.

Next topic: why does this work? Because folks nowadays buy multiple guitars more often. "You know, I really need to try a pine body Tele..." and so on motivates sales.

Is it confusing. You bet! I'm just a puzzled as you are. It was also sort of confusing when these things weren't specified (and in vintage buying/collecting, this esoteric knowledge retrospectively makes the "in the good old days, it was just a Telecaster" complicated).

When new buyers enter the market we sometimes overwhelm them with the differences when the "Telecaster recipe" works even when loosely and fuzzily defined.
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Guitars: 20th Century Seagull S6-12, S6 Folk, Seagull M6; '00 Guild JF30-12, '01 Martin 00-15, '16 Martin 000-17, '07 Parkwood PW510, Epiphone Biscuit resonator, Merlin Dulcimer, and various electric guitars, basses....
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  #55  
Old 11-03-2019, 11:11 AM
Jaden Jaden is offline
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As above, manufacture of these has moved to Indonesia, so depending on the factory, the quality could be good or otherwise. If alder is now being employed instead of pine, I would consider that a downgrade. The Chinese made were generally excellent.

* New classic vibe tele: switch from medium jumbo to tall narrow frets, tonerider-built alnico pickups to Fender-designed single coil, from pine to alder body.

Last edited by Jaden; 11-06-2019 at 10:41 PM.
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  #56  
Old 11-03-2019, 11:12 AM
ChrisN ChrisN is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FrankHudson View Post
The kind of Internet forum we're discussing this on is a large part of this (though print media/specialist magazines and before that word of mouth started it off). Every tiny detail that might impact sound is now known, discussed, and strong opinions are exchanged.

As a result we care, often a whole lot, about each of those differences you outline. In the classic days what Alnico blend was used varied from pickup to pickup on the same model. Body woods too were subject to variation with no specification. What was once random or purely logistical convivence can now be a different model.

Next topic: why does this work? Because folks nowadays buy multiple guitars more often. "You know, I really need to try a pine body Tele..." and so on motivates sales.

Is it confusing. You bet! I'm just a puzzled as you are. It was also sort of confusing when these things weren't specified (and in vintage buying/collecting, this esoteric knowledge retrospectively makes the "in the good old days, it was just a Telecaster" complicated).

When new buyers enter the market we sometimes overwhelm them with the differences when the "Telecaster recipe" works even when loosely and fuzzily defined.
I agree with everything you said. The bottom line for this potential customer, however, is that I won't get either the new one (too much $$ for a guitar I don't need), or the used one (too close in price to the cheap one, and no reasonable way to tell which model it is, mean too much trouble for too little reward). Fender/Squier's strategy is saving me $$, which is a good thing.
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  #57  
Old 11-03-2019, 11:25 AM
ChrisN ChrisN is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jaden View Post
When I checked that guitar centre listing, there seems to be some confusion with the specs listed as both the vintage blonde and butterscotch versions were described with three ply white pickguards - the rest of the information may be questionable, so the problem may be with the retailer’s website.

As above, manufacture of these has moved to Indonesia, so depending on the factory, the quality could be good or otherwise. If alder is now being employed instead of pine, I would consider that a downgrade. The Chinese made were generally excellent.
Just added "incompetent large national retailers who can't provide accurate info" to my list of reasons to skip this product. Other than the big national chains that move the most product, I'm not sure what my accurate info source would be, as no official Fender/Squire page shows up in the first 2 Google pages for "Squire Telecaster Classic Vibe 50's" to provide any info for either version.

Re: The alder issue - I understand Fender did the original Esquires in pine, but they moved away to, first, Swamp Ash, then alder. Don't know the reason. Fenders USAs are available in either wood, depending on model. I've read that pine bodies are soft, and screws strip out too easily as a result. I have a USA G&L Asat Special in alder. For these reasons, it seem to me that, apart from getting the "vintage vibe" box checked, alder would be an UPgrade over pine. I have no idea, anymore.
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  #58  
Old 11-03-2019, 11:49 AM
Jaden Jaden is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ChrisN View Post
Just added "incompetent large national retailers who can't provide accurate info" to my list of reasons to skip this product. Other than the big national chains that move the most product, I'm not sure what my accurate info source would be, as no official Fender/Squire page shows up in the first 2 Google pages for "Squire Telecaster Classic Vibe 50's" to provide any info for either version.

Re: The alder issue - I understand Fender did the original Esquires in pine, but they moved away to, first, Swamp Ash, then alder. Don't know the reason. Fenders USAs are available in either wood, depending on model. I've read that pine bodies are soft, and screws strip out too easily as a result. I have a USA G&L Asat Special in alder. For these reasons, it seem to me that, apart from getting the "vintage vibe" box checked, alder would be an UPgrade over pine. I have no idea, anymore.
There are some problems with the Squier product for sure, beginning with the common spelling ‘Squire’.

Here in British Columbia, it’s been known for a long time our best wood in raw log exports has gone to large buyers across the Pacific Ocean, so if that pine has come from the Pacific Northwest, to me it looks like domestic large grain old growth on the Chinese Classic Vibes.
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  #59  
Old 11-03-2019, 11:49 AM
Bunny64 Bunny64 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ChrisN View Post
Just added "incompetent large national retailers who can't provide accurate info" to my list of reasons to skip this product. Other than the big national chains that move the most product, I'm not sure what my accurate info source would be, as no official Fender/Squire page shows up in the first 2 Google pages for "Squire Telecaster Classic Vibe 50's" to provide any info for either version.

Re: The alder issue - I understand Fender did the original Esquires in pine, but they moved away to, first, Swamp Ash, then alder. Don't know the reason. Fenders USAs are available in either wood, depending on model. I've read that pine bodies are soft, and screws strip out too easily as a result. I have a USA G&L Asat Special in alder. For these reasons, it seem to me that, apart from getting the "vintage vibe" box checked, alder would be an UPgrade over pine. I have no idea, anymore.
I feel your pain. Pine I suppose is a softwood so the screw theory could well hold some water. On the plus side it is meant to be more resonant. Not good when folks are shopping to meet such confusion. This side of the pond i went out armed with the knowledge that the Butterscotch was alnico 5s and the Vintage Blond 3s. To me as a novice electric player it kind of made no difference. They both sounded good. The guy in the shop explained the Chinese v Indonesian situation and told me my guitar had the Tonerite pickups and was made in China which all matches information from the serial number. I wanted a Tele and I liked the Butterscotch Classic Vibe and it fitted my budget having recently bought two acoustics also. I suppose i got lucky in the end with a beautiful guitar with good pickups and quality build. Who knows maybe the Chinese models will become sought after. All guitar buying is fraught with uncertainty especially if you buy unseen. In the end experience and research which includes forums will help you along the way.
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Last edited by Bunny64; 11-03-2019 at 11:51 AM. Reason: spelling
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  #60  
Old 11-03-2019, 12:12 PM
ChrisN ChrisN is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jaden View Post
There are some problems with the Squier product for sure, beginning with the common spelling ‘Squire’.

Here in British Columbia, it’s been known for a long time our best wood in raw log exports has gone to large buyers across the Pacific Ocean, so if that pine has come from the Pacific Northwest, to me it looks like domestic large grain old growth on the Chinese Classic Vibes.
Ahh, that squire v. squier spelling issue is on me. I'll see if it makes a difference.
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