Fender Player II Jazzmaster vs Squier Classic Vibe | Which is a Better Value?

[@nenadbozic4816]

I ordered the birch green JM, but I have to wait 8-10 weeks for them to arrive in Thomann. Great review and comparison; thanks for reassuring me I made no mistake by choosing this model!

[@dadtimejamtime]

@@nenadbozic4816 happy I could be some positive reinforcement on any new gear day 😉 Bummer about the wait, but from the ones I’ve played it’s worth it. And the birch green color is 👨‍🍳👌 Hope it arrives with as good of quality as I’ve been seeing! Let me know if it’s anything otherwise! Cheers and thanks for watching 🙏

[@nenadbozic4816]

@@dadtimejamtime Oh yes, it will be my first offset, can't wait ☺️

[@nenadbozic4816]

Subbed!

[@dadtimejamtime]

@@nenadbozic4816 🙌🙌🙌

[@dudeincredible5459]

I had a very different experience with these two series. My friend's fender player jaguar can't stay in tune at all. Whereas my squier classic vibe jazzmaster has no tuning problems whatsoever even when inuse the term bar. my friend bought his straight from a dealer without any setup while i got mine from a store where they had set it up before they put it up for sale. Apart from quality of the parts, you still can make a squier play as well as a fender if you set it up right.

[@dadtimejamtime]

@@dudeincredible5459 setups go a long way for sure. Tuning stability on an instrument with a vibrato tailpiece is a function of the string quality, vibrato quality/stability, bridge quality, how the nut is cut, lubrication through the nut and bridge, tuners, and how its strung. So a set up can account for 75% of that stuff. But if you get tuners that slip or don’t have good gear ratio, or a vibrato that doesn’t reset well after use, that’s a hardware thing, not a setup thing. With squier and made in Mexico fenders (and even made in USA fenders) it’s always sort of luck of the draw. Guitars coming out of factories are “hand built” for the most part - just by a lot of different hands. So it all comes down to who did each part, how much time they get to spend on it, and how well did quality checks do before it got released into the wild. It makes it tough to say one series is “better” than another because you’d have to look at a lot of guitars randomly sampled across the globe to get a real scientific assessment - so it totally makes sense that people have the opposite experience than what I’ve had. It’s hard to be scientific at my scale - I will say I’ve played > 10 of each of these models at this point - CVs, PS 1s and PS 2s. And the generalities I boil down to “feel like” they hold up in the averages. If anything I’d say that to me classic vibe quality feels like it’s trending down as I play more and more of them off the wall in whatever guitar store I happen to be visiting. It’ll be interesting to see how player 2 holds up over time. But at the end of the day a good setup will make any guitar feel and play so much better that it’s worth it to budget into any purchase. The thing you can’t cheaply get with a setup is new tuners/hardware/rosewood neck - so in terms of cost of raw materials that’s where I think the player II actually starts to be worth the money compared to if you ever going to upgrade a CV to that. Best thing you can do is play guitars before you buy them, really test things like tuning, and then get them set up. Looking forward to continuing to play these different series over time and try to keep sense of how they’re trending. Thanks for sharing what you and your friend have noticed too!

[@McRocking]

I have a Player Jaguar that my wife took a shine to, so I said I'd get her one. Well I couldn't find a Fender on sale so I bought her a Limited Edition CV Gold Sparkle Jaguar. I was blown away by how much you get for the price, it even has metal thumb wheels, and the button switches feel solid too. It's a bit lighter and a little cheaper feeling than the Fender, but no complaints at almost half the price. It's harder to justify a CV when Fender surplus stock or ex-display models are available though.

[@dadtimejamtime]

@@McRocking no doubt. Classic vibes for the money are a fantastic option. And I always recommended them over entry fenders as a base for modding too. Things are a little different now, but if you’re good with how the CVs come stock, you can’t beat them at that price.

[@JasonTMays]

Love this review! I agree the Player II Jazzmaster is a win in my book!

[@dadtimejamtime]

@@JasonTMays thanks so much for the kind words! I’m pretty impressed! Of course it’s all sort of luck of the draw based on what you get out of the factory but this line seems pretty consistent so far

[@McRocking]

I like the look of that Mustang shorty. I could do with a short bass for kicking around the house as a grab 'n' plaything. Do you like it?

[@dadtimejamtime]

@@McRocking I do really like it - used to be a bass player and always played p basses - still the GOAT - but the Mustang has some character to it - it’s great in a 3-piece setting cause you can get all the low end you need but it also has bit more mid punch so it’s great for filing out closer to where rhythm guitar or keys might sit too. Love it. That’s the Justin Meldal Johnsen roadworn and it’s becoming iconic now for its lollipop tuners and Daphne blue. Haven’t tried the CV version of the mustang - might be worth a shot too!

[@The..Butterfly..Effect]

Both are a good buy, depending on the size of your pocket - Regarding the color, I would go for the classic red

[@Lomoholga2]

Strange how the Fender Player model doesn’t come in such a cool colour/aluminum pickguard as the Squier (not that it looks bad!)

[@paulfield6815]

That coral red is so dang pretty. I'm suprised that Fender has dropped the rhythm circuit as that is such a defining part of the jazzmaster. That being said, it's aways funny seeing musicians (including J Mascis) literally tape over the rhythm circuit so they don't accidently bump it.

[@dadtimejamtime]

@@paulfield6815 yeah I’m feeling the new colors in this player II series big time. Re: rhythm circuit, I think they had to cut costs somewhere. With the vintera just a few hundred away, I guess that made sense but I agree - it feels a little strange not having it. I’m just glad they’re actually jazzmaster pickups and not humbuckers like in the first player series.

[@paulfield6815]

@@dadtimejamtime Yeah I've got the J mascis squier jazzmaster. I love that guitar, but the pickups are definitely not jazzmaster pickups. I'm still holding my breath for your channel to get to 5k subscribers so I can win this coral red one ha ha

[@dadtimejamtime]

@@paulfield6815 getting closer! My whole family has taken turns getting sick for what feels like most of October so I’m way behind on getting more videos done. Hoping a couple more videos launched in the next couple weeks will help get there faster!

[@somethingelsedoesmatter]

This is a good comparison video / review! The Player was pretty disappointing, even though I managed to snag one at Squier prices. I prefer the Classic Vibe over it, though I was considering changing it to baritone strings and using the humbucker mode only. We'll see. The Player II seems like a big upgrade - I never understood the point of not putting Jazzmaster pickups on the original Players, so that alone piques my interest. I heard the body isn't routed for the rhythm circuit, though, so that's disappointing. I suppose it is possible to carefully route it without destroying all of the finish, but that's a bit of a pain! I love the rhythm circuit on proper, normal Jazzmasters. The different pots leads to a different sound, and for some things it's just better suited than the regular position neck pickup.

[@dadtimejamtime]

@@somethingelsedoesmatter thanks for the kind words 🙏. I totally agree that not having the jazzmaster pickups on the original player was such a miss. Good point about the routing - probably to save time / money. The rhythm circuit is definitely a “nice to have” but for entry level players maybe not a “must have” so I can see why Fender left it off to save money and to not totally cannibalize the Vintera. But yeah, you’re right, rhythm circuit with some fuzz is something special. Thanks so much for sharing and watching ✌️

[@jamesprisciandaro3144]

How do the neck profiles on each compare?

[@dadtimejamtime]

@@jamesprisciandaro3144 neck profiles are pretty similar - both C shape - moderately full in the hand but not too chunky. The player ii doesn’t have gloss on it so that’s really nice compared to some of the classic vibes out there. The fit and finish on the player ii was noticeably better. Fret ends were smoother, and frets were more polished- weren’t as gritty in some places.

[@nebbynoo1127]

Is this over because the link keeps taking me to the telecaster draw?

[@dadtimejamtime]

Oh thanks for the heads up - let me check that! Haven’t hit 5k subscribers yet so the Jazzmaster giveaway is still open.

[@JeromeBrownell]

The Player 2

[@davisworth5114]

The Player ll shows Fenders' cheapskate nature, no locking tuners, no locking trem, no rhythm circuit? And they weigh a TON!, average weight is 8.6 pounds!!!

[@dadtimejamtime]

@@davisworth5114 what are you buying that has a rhythm circuit, locking tuners and locking Trem thats less than 8lbs on average at this or less price point? Sire j5 has locking tuners, and equally as heavy from what I’ve seen. Squier classic vibes don’t have rosewood fretboards and the locking trems often fail anyway. Really curious what’s better out there?

[@Jeremya74]

Guitars a little to loud for the mix..if i wanted an typical jazzmaster sound what is the best jazzmastee for the money..not talking about the guitars you reviewing here..i mean all jazzmasters.and i like to play alot of rythem so.thanks