Squier 40th Anniversary Vintage Telecaster - Not what I expected

I look at the Squier 40th Anniversay Vintage Tele. There is a story and a few issues behind this one.

[@rickylakemusic]

After modding the neck pup by taking it out of the tone circuit, the muddiness is gone. Much brighter and louder. Has glassy, harmonic tone now in the neck pup. This is a sweet axe.

[@Wilco1972]

I have two, mocha and red. Both came in great shape. There is a small finish check in the red one, but as far as setup, they were ready to go from the start. Love love love the neck, the rolled edges are fantastic!

[@milosskundric]

I think of buying one myself. A mocha. How heavy are they?

[@KillerKev1961]

Buttery smooth, just feels perfect yeah?

[@cedricsanto4281]

I ordered the same model. I've had it about 2 weeks. neck and body were fantastic out of the box. It needed a bit of a set up, but nothing abnormal. I did wind up changing out the pick ups for a set of Bare Knuckle Brown Sugars, shielded the cavities, and wired in a 4 way switch. Also put hipshot locking tuners and gotoh compensated brass saddles. This thing is a real beast now.

[@Ronno4691]

Props on really going to town on your upgrades :-) Did you put in new Potentiometers, like CTS ones?

[@cedricsanto4281]

@@Ronno4691 BKP / CTS Custom spec 280k volume and tone pots BKP / Jupiter paper in oil tone capacitor. Oak Grigsby 4 way switch

[@johnog8358]

Was the cavities shielded already? I'd love a comparison to the 50s vibe Squier tele.

[@cedricsanto4281]

@@johnog8358 No, the cavities were not shielded out of the box. I used copper shielding tape to do everything including the backside of the pick guard.

[@johnog8358]

That is poor that it wasn't from factory, I think the 50s vibe are with paint and void on the p.g. in fairness to squire they are making better stuff that's fairly suited to all levels of players.

[@francoislepage8227]

I bought one. Pickups were average, tunners too. I changed the pickups for 2 vintage hot rails Seymour Duncan, changed the electronics with 500K pots and put Gotoh cheap locking tunners. Neck is incredible. Now this compete without doubt with my 2 CS Telecaster & Esquire fender in terms of comfort, keeping in mind the 2 new humbuckers. That's a real surprise.

[@BRADLEY_108]

I got a squire classic vibe tele in butterscotch, Indonesian built. The neck wasn't quite 12 o'clock, ( but a real easy fix to centre the neck without having to redrill holes in the neck) Also frets not so great, rough edges and 5th fret lifting. Got 5th fret glued back in and fret level and crown. Also nut slots lowered from factory. Have since replaced saddles (gotoh-brass), tuners (gotoh lock in), new pots as the old ones wouldn't clean up with the spray. and finally new pickups (fender vintage 64's)....Jesus, that about it 🙆‍♂Sounds awesome and feels Waaay better but a lot of effort to get it 'right'

[@rickylakemusic]

I have the red model. Mine came from the SAMICK factory. IS on the back of headstock. If it reads IC then it's from the CORT factory. I installed compensated brass barrel saddles and three roller string trees. I am going to keep the stock pups but take the neck pup out of the tone circuit. This will brighten and un-muddy the neck pup. Last but not least, a fret level and dress. I wish to have two of these very nice axes.

[@jeffbridges6687]

I bought it in mocha, changed the pickups to the LA Brea's and it's a beast!

[@devinl9464]

Yo this is the same set up I want to do! Got any sound clips? How was the install of the new pups?

[@danpritchett5617]

Just got mine in ebony and gold. I'm thrilled.

[@paulgordon6949]

Got one of these. Love it. Its like a classic vibe but feels nicer without the heavy gloss neck. Perfect!

[@dnews9519]

These are actually really good teles I was shocked. I got the satin mocha and love the thing.

[@Ronno4691]

The amount of lacquer Squier put on the Classic Vibe bodies really puts me off them. It must be gallons of the stuff on CV necks.

[@KillerKev1961]

Always been a Gibson guy. Having said that, the Teles and Strats that are iconic in regard to song I love, its a no brainer to have one of each in my collection. I scored a Squier Tele 50s, and with two simple mods-brass bridge parts and tuners and the thing is a tone monster hotrod! The neck is fantastic, I mean its like the best neck profile and it blew me away. A $400 KILLER DEAL of a guitar that was almost perfect out of the box. A Strat is next.....

[@Geoff.Snow56]

I bought the satin moka version. I tried it in a guitar store and also a Fender player. And I prefer the anniversary neck. So I bought it and I'm very happy 😊

[@christopherfidler3019]

the aluminum pickguard shouldn't have any affect on tone but it does offer extra shielding for the electronics cavity.

[@jonathanoakley88]

I seem to be the only one that enjoys the stock pickups. Nice range of tones in each position, can roll the tone knob on the bridge to take off some chime. More about the amp really. They are very vintage sounding for sure. I play a lot of punk rock they lack a little chunk but not too bad.

[@GraemeCampbellMusic]

I've had it a couple of months now and the neck pickup is growing on me. I've fiddled with the height which has improved it and If I dial the amp in right it sounds nice and soulful.

[@jonathanoakley88]

@@GraemeCampbellMusic yeah i angled the neck pickup closer to the high strings and away from the low strings and sounds good. I find the three positions just like bass midd and treble. The Bridge pickup is a little too twangy but you can roll the tone and volume down. Im gonna keep playing them for a bit before i decide if i want to swap em out. I play punk rock so they are a little thin sounding for the chunky stuff but i have other guitars for that!

[@rickylakemusic]

I am going to take the neck pup out of the tone circuit. Should clear up any muddiness and make it more bright.

[@timespacewarpngayondin2043]

Just bought this today. It felt great. Build and materials are great too. I left it in the shop to do a full set up as it wasn’t intonated. You were right, the neck should be replaced. I’ll do it next year :)

[@Mike_S_Swift]

A couple years ago I ordered a classic vibe Jazzmaster. More things wrong than right with it. I got it from Musicians Friend and called customer support to send it back and asked if they had the J Mascis and what was the upcharge to that. The guy gave me a discount on the JMJMand it’s a great guitar. I put half rounds on it and sound really good.

[@robertvarner8195]

Good video! I have one just like that. I bought it from Guitar Center and it was still in the box and was set up great right out of the box. I just wanted a telecaster because I have strat, lp, and v models but didn't have a tele. One thing I've learned is every guitar is different and you can get a great one or a bad one but with the good companies the bad ones a few and far between and shipping can really effect them sometimes.

[@MS-sy8ls]

I had exactly the same experience with GAK this week, buying a Classic Vibe Tele. Was gutted when I got my lovely new guitar only find it was shocking. How it ever passed a QA I will never know

[@sexypekk]

I just picked one up in mocha. Very impressed with the satin feel of the neck and fingerboard (I usually hate maple fingerboards for the glossiness). Rounded fingerboard was a nice touch. My stock setup was actually pretty decent. I eyeballed the relief and it seemed ok enough so I just lowered the action a bit and tweaked the intonation slightly. The intonation is still not great so I may bring it to someone to double check it for me to make sure everything is ok. It's my first tele and I don't know what they're supposed to sound like but I found the neck pickup to be very muddy and mumbly sounding like it was hard to hear what was going on. I raised the neck pickups from 3.5mm → 2mm on the bass string and 2.5mm to 1mm on the treble string and raised the bridge pickups slightly to try to maintain a little bit of balance. That seemed to help a lot but I'm currently looking for a new set to swap out. As for the aging I'm not super crazy about the aesthetic because I'd prefer to keep my guitars looking sparkly and new even if they are old so I may change out my control plate and bridge at some point but right now just trying to get it to sound a little nicer. Overall I think this was a great investment. In store this played better than the Mexican and US models (although it didn't sound as good)

[@jayrobb9]

I have a Mocha on the way right now. Nothing is perfect. I wish the pickguard was beveled, and the pots might need to be swapped out - a lot of people report sudden drops rather than smooth taper. Neck pickup also seems a touch muddy, so might need a new engine. We wait and see, she should arrive next week!

[@andymanley4854]

I've just ordered one, £259 now! I already own the P Bass and figured I'd be mad not to add the Tele before they've all gone.

[@i-a-i]

Hi, folks! I’ve been very lucky to find b-stock Fishman Fluence Greg Koch Gristle-Tone Signature Tele Set for half the price and also just ordered this tele from guitar Center for $299. How do you think will this tele be good enough platform for these pups?

[@ruiseartalcorn]

Nice guitar. I have a 50s Classic Vibe Tele and it's great. Having said that, the neck is a wee bit thin for me and so I don't play it so much. My main guitar is an American Original 50s Tele, which has a nice, thick U shape neck (which is a better fit for me). I also have an American Special, plus a couple of Harley Benton Teles. I'm certainly not a gear snob - I think there are some great guitars at all price points and I really like Squiers. Nothing beats my American stuff though ;)

[@dannygoode2255]

Apart from being made in Japan.

[@BryanClark-gk6ie]

What about a Baja telecasters or a American pro'1'st edition telecaster' which one is the best for me? They both have b benders in them' installed by the same person' same brand' so which one should I pick because this is gonna be my 1'st telecaster electric guitar and they are the same price used but I have to choose before my birthday.

[@canyonproductions7683]

Played one a few weeks ago. Very impressed

[@aperezdeal]

I’ve gone through one of each of the colors, a bit like a serial killer I’ve been collecting the necks.

[@uzieleliud]

Cual es mejor , Harley Benton te 52 ó squier tele 40 aniversario??? Quiero tu opinión

[@lpjbird]

I just received one today the mocha from Sweetwater & I think it’s pretty okay for $299.00. A bit on the heavy side, which I wasn’t expecting & the tuners are just so so, the G is really loosey goosey …it feels & looks very well put together though. I’m not a Squire guy but figured I’d try one for shit & giggles & have to say Sweetwater did a good job setting it up…I’ll probably change the tuners, pups, & controls, maybe even the bridge for some high quality stuff cuz I enjoy spending money on cheap guitars & tinkering. It’s a bad habit I have developed in my old age. But as far as a beginner guitar yes it’s great. Did I mention it’s heavy. For some reason I thought it would be more translucent & maybe some grain showing…

[@GraemeCampbellMusic]

I can relate. I can't help tinkering. In fact I've got some brass saddles on the way :)

[@RaymondLandis]

Thanks Sir, I'm going to buy one!

[@modernguitardiary]

Great instrument, purchase one some day ago, maybe i change pickup with original Fender

[@montewalsh5038]

Nice review. Bought one like this in Vintage Blonde, MF was letting them go for three Benjamins. Fret work and neck were just excellent, nice color. Pickup tone is that of a Classic Vibe, quite decent. Setup well enough to gig out of the box. However, unlike the one in the video here, the finish on it had excessive dark wood grain and dark knots showing through the finish all over the body. Literally a dozen or more knots front and back. It was just poorly done, distracting. The Samick factory shouldn't have let it pass. Disappointing, so decided to return it. MF was very understanding and gave a full refund, return shipping and all. Not sure if I'll try another sight unseen. Cool guitars, but apparently quality control may vary.

[@GraemeCampbellMusic]

I think you're right. This one was ex-demo so the shop had pictures of that actual guitar online, which was really useful.

[@miniaturefun-guy]

Do you know how the body is routed? I know some of these squiers are routed for humbucker making them great mid platforms.

[@lem432]

I had to check out your channel and l loved it, so i had to sub. I brought the same guitar from thomann, recently which i loved apart from a few high frets which I had to sort out. Brilliant review 👏 👍

[@GraemeCampbellMusic]

Thankyou for subbing, and for the encouragement that’s very kind of you.

[@clemdewitt4522]

Greetings from Arizona. Nice review my friend. I do have one question? Could a pigeon carry that and deliver it? Anyway, thanks.

[@GraemeCampbellMusic]

Thankyou, and it would need to be a very strong pigeon, potentially an eagle :D

[@lazvt8469]

got a 50's and a 60's baritone...both needed keys replaced...so bad. BUT...guitars are fabulous as is. I upgraded tuners, saddles, and pups on 50's. Keeper for life.

[@frettingitforward]

Killer sound dude 🤟

[@McFeedback1968]

Does this have the horrible buried truss rod access where the neck has to be removed while intonating?? And it's maddening that you had to recut the nut and fix the frets, that is terrible.

[@GraemeCampbellMusic]

No the truss rod is at the headstock end so easy to access. Yes some of the frets weren't great, but they were corrected fairly easily.

[@seconduser1809]

I recently bought one- Question aboutthe pickups- You never mentioned the reason you said you would change the front pickup. Another youtuber named david niles said on his demo and review video the back pickup was causing microphonic problems that he noticed while jamming live but not while just playing into a computer. Are these pickups somehow different than the classic vibes?

[@GraemeCampbellMusic]

The neck pickup is a wee bit woolly sounding to me (although I can live with it for now). I haven't tried it a full volume in a jam or gig situation yet, so haven't experinced what Dave did. My pln is to replace the pots and switch first and then go from there.

[@stevecassidyguitar]

Nice Video - Bro! Just found your channel - a fellow Scottish Guitar-er-ist KZbinr! 😀👍 I'm in Dundee - Where you at in Scotland mate? 😀

[@GraemeCampbellMusic]

Thanks Steve, really appreciate you watching. I'm in down in Falkirk. We had a day trip with the family up to Dundee a couple of weeks ago, really enjoyed it.

[@stevecassidyguitar]

@@GraemeCampbellMusic Awesome - we're practically neighbours 😜 1 day is more than enough time in Dundee - good on ya! 😀👍

[@Might_8333]

I have this exact guitar, ive been wanting to switch the neck PU to a p90 variant (a90 by porter pickups) because of the size of the pickup id assume id need to carve a bigger pocket so i think ill send it to a luthier, maybe new pots too, any advice?

[@GraemeCampbellMusic]

You probably will need to get it routed, although if I remember rightly there is space for a humbucker there. Dylan Talks Tone did a deep dive video where he went under the hood which is worth a watch

[@whiskeytangofoxtrot9403]

Probably a million videos out there teaching how to fit a P90 that aren't supporting a perpetual victim like Dylan and his stolen land nonsense.

[@derekclacton]

Not good it had those issues, especially as it was an ex-demo guitar! GAK shouldn’t have sold it like that. Great playing, it must be said! 👍

[@GraemeCampbellMusic]

Thanks Derek. I'd had a (boxed and unopened) Classic Vibe 50s before this one but that had loads of issues. They took that straight back with no bother and offered to do the same with this one when I aid about the nut. To be fair to them they got back to me straight away throughout, but yes it woud be good for them to check them over first.

[@Ronno4691]

....your Scottish! Thought you were a Yank at first with your 'plaid' shirt and Trucker cap :-)

[@farber2]

Reviews very consistent, great guitar, terrible neck pickup and guitar cable jack is loose.

[@trinityflow]

Great deal at 299$ US

[@trinityflow]

Well $328 with CA taxes. 😬

[@jerryfurr8116]

Awsome Looking Teke but sounds like crap it's to Woody Sounding I would change the Pickups and all the wiring I think the wood is the problem it's nato not a good tonewood

[@TheHesseJames]

Lol, as if the wood mattered. Always cracks me up.

[@ryangunwitch-black]

People are so funny when it comes to tuners. They think if it doesn’t stay in tune well or isn’t intonated it must be the tuners. Noobs. It’s always the nut. Unless it’s a $50 guitar.

[@deandee8082]

meh. classic vibe, if it had a heel adjust then maybe you could call it a vintage rep but its laghable as is, vintageish body . . . tinting a neck doesn't make one a vintage replica

[@GraemeCampbellMusic]

Its meant to be a "vibe" not a repilca, its a homage. And adjusting the truss rod at the heel is a pain in the backside.