A Tale of Three Tele's

Comparing a real 1963 Fender Telecaster Custom with two "knock-offs"...one of which is a heavily modified Squier 60's "Classic Vibe", and the other is a mostly-stock Squier '60's "Classic Vibe". After all, the 60's Classic Vibe Tele's were inspired by the double-bound Fender Telecaster Custom from the 60's. How will they match-up???!!

[@user-up4vf4iy4n]

That 63 Fender sounds amazing and the heavily mod Squire ( to my ear) sounds just about as good. Great playing by you too! I'm not a stickler for brand name or top of the line to me it only matters if the guitar works for you and helps you accomplish what your saying musically. The Squire line of guitar's has improved on the quality alot in the last 5-10 yrs and still affordable for average person.

[@9999plato]

I have had a Pine CV tele and suspected that the neck was under size. I bought a Warmoth thinline tele with a thick 1"v neck. Sweet. The Squire is definitely undersized in their necks and I find the thick V neck to be very comfortable in my hands.Squires are OK but I'd recommend buying a used Fender tele to start. Don't invest in China. Warmoth's (American made Fender licensed custom necks and bodies ) can be had at good prices sometimes too.

[@craigstraubinger8240]

Best one of these videos I've seen yet. Great break down and contrast, and great playing. I have a Chinese 50s Vibe Squire Tele modded with Lollar pick-ups and pots, and I'm quite fond of it.

[@toddnash1322]

Great video and comparison! Definitely did a Moore player friendly video the most I’ve watched lately. I just picked up Squier Classic Vibe 60s Thinline and love it. Compliments my Fender Nashville Deluxe. Thanks for the video!

[@mmypainting]

I bought a secondhand Classic Vibe, just put on a 6 saddle set up, love the guitar.

[@theflatulentfreddy1]

All 3 are great guitars. But I love the modified classic vibe with bigsby. So versatile.

[@deanlockamy2087]

All my Fenders are made in the USA except one, its a Squier Stratocaster made in Korea I've had for about 20 years, sound and quality wise its far away from the others, but still sounds good, its comfortable and plays well. Really enjoyable video you created here.

[@roncollins6259]

Sweet jesus... That 1st Tele through the fender amp is classic perfection. They really did get it as good as it could ever be in the 1st years of production! Appreciate the effort you put into this. The Squires sound really good. I had a real 73 cutom Tele that I would kill to have back. Sold it in the early 90s for $500!! Lol. I recently played a squire telecaster custome. While not the same, it blew me away in looks and playability. A new authentic wide range from fender would make it quite possibly hard to tell the difference. They had a Fender "squire series" black lable that was so good I baught it instead. The neck is amazing, but the body is poplar instead of the standard woods fender used. I upgraded the tuners and bridge and it's ultra cool in its own right. Pickups are great with overdrive, but almost indistinguishable from one pickup to the next. Installing new pots and some fender fat 50s should keep the guitar under 600 and totally a keeper. Interesting how you mentioned headstock thickness. It plays a MAJOR roll in the sound and sustain of a guitar in my opinion. I can hear the tonal difference between pickups in a guitar without plugging it in also. Mostly because of magnetic pull I guess. I've had (and sold) probably more then 50 gibson, fender etc over the years. Yeah, I would rather have the U.S. guitars, but even those can be hit or miss. Especially the 70s models. But the squire, and lots of guitars made in China etc have uped the game BIG TIME. I have an Alvarez Masterworks OM that is my desert Island guitar. I own high end Martin's and a Taylor 810 that are awsome, but the "made in china" $900 dollar guitar is over the top in terms of playability and most importantly in my opinion for a acoustic guitar... SOUND!

[@mrkentleong]

Very nice explanation 👍🏻

[@ThiagoBragaMusic]

Amazing guitar player! Great sound guitar!

[@robphillips8351]

Nice playing..

[@simoningate2056]

Great ending playing - Fender sounded great.

[@chrisbeall5702]

Thanks!

[@dustinscott5628]

I love the squiers but that original is something special obviously. It just sings and snaps and does all the things a tele should. The squiers are solid too, I love my CV 50s tele

[@LucasHaneman]

Great great playing!

[@chrisbeall5702]

Thank you, Lucas!

[@christoguichard4311]

Just to clarify... The earlier CV's, which were made in the Grand Reward factory in China, have... Alder bodies, Tonerider alnico 3 pick-ups, Full size Alpha pots. The later, Indonesian ones, are made at the Cor-Tek factory, and dont have any of the above.

[@chrisbeall5702]

Yes--those are important specs. The later ones do have a nicer finish in my opinion though. But if someone is looking for a low-cost Alder body (the wood that the old ‘60’s Tele’s were made of), then find an older Classic Vibe Squier. I haven’t played one of the newer ones yet. Has anybody out there had a chance to compare the older Classic Vibe with the newer one?

[@christoguichard4311]

@@chrisbeall5702 Theres a few videos on KZbin comparing them... The consensus seems to be there actually ISN'T much difference, despite all the differences in materials etc. Which makes me wonder...if its all in our minds! 😨😂

[@dustinscott5628]

Did the spec change in China at all or only when it went to Indonesia? They really blew it and cheaped them up on the newer ones

[@chrisbeall5702]

@@dustinscott5628 I don’t really know. I only know that the later ones are different

[@slimturnpike]

I hate alder with teles. What's the Indo body made from?

[@carlrudd1858]

Nice video. You really get to the point. You're a slick player too. My observation is that almost all things wood on Squiers are scaled down slightly. Actually that's why I prefer them as I don't have large hands. THANKS! btw... you sure that's really rosewood on that Squier fingerboard?

[@chrisbeall5702]

It looks like Rosewood, and the specs back then (on the 2010ish models) called for it. I know they changed that later on the more recent versions--I think the later ones have some other dark-wood derivative but not actually Rosewood. Thanks for watching

[@TeleCaster66]

F those Classic Vibes didn't have tiny necks I would have like them but the neck is too small.

[@ronwhitfield8356]

the Bigsby's mass is what gives that one the extra sustain. good demo. the dried '63 sounded semi-hollow and anemic compared to the others to my tastes.

[@chrishammonds72]

The classic vibes are the real thing and definitely not knock offs as they’re designed by Fenders

[@DanJanTube]

original has an articulation the squiers just can't match

[@Kushalien51_nv]

He said that 1963 wasn't clear so I'm thinking some vintage were made great and others not so much they sounded cheapy again some of them not all of them not surprised because I actually compare my Japanese tele 1990 and oh boy she's a keeper never selling never Tradimg doesn't matter what guitar or drums sets

[@unclespunky8849]

With all due respect, 3 Tele’s what? Sound? Finish? Feel?

[@chrisbeall5702]

I love it when someone starts a conversation with, “with all due respect”.

[@drewlawrence696]

Knock-offs......I'm out...see yer...boomer.