The Best Squier Telecaster

The Best Squier Telecaster. Is this the best Squier Telecaster? I think it is. At least it's ont of the best Telecaster guitars I've ever tried and it's only £250. Squier Classic Vibe for £250!!! Squier 40th Anniversary Telecaster. These are the best Squiers I've ever played. The Squier 40th anniverary range is a Squier Classic Vibe base but has a satin finish, anodised pickguard, cool neck plate and binding or block inlays and bound neck.
This could be the best budget Tele I've tried and I've tried a lot of budget telecaster guitars.
The pickups are the Squier Classic Vibe Fender designed Alnico V set. The bridge sounds great but the neck doesn't.
Narrow-tall frets, Nyatoh body (or Nato body), maple neck with skunk stripe and walnut plug, Aged hardware including vintage style tuners.
Oddly the tuners feel great on the tele version but not as good on the strat I bought after trying this.
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[@user-of9lv1lt5d]

Got one. And stuck in new pots with 5-way switch for a Lawrence half-out of phase mod. then installed some Fender Tex-Mex pickups. Sounds pretty cool now.

[@simoncat06]

Bought one for $245. Best guitar next to my Johnny Marr. Never goes out of tune.

[@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 comfort, keeping in mind the 2 new humbuckers. That's a real surprise.

[@stevegiddings6546]

Nice video, common sense approach that focused on the important bits. I have one Ive modded a bit. Neck pickup just about usable in my view if you mod it to bypass tone control.. still not amazing but you can then leave the tone rolled off for the bridge and they balance up a bit better.

[@jasonswitzer1748]

I have a Tele in mocha (brown). Mine is 7.3 lbs. I swapped the pups for 51 Nocasters and add a push/pull series/parallel on the tone pot. It’s a sick guitar. I’m going to try out a new bridge that allows me to go string through or top loading next.

[@garycordwell9730]

I had a 40th anniversary Strat, massively regret trading it, it was fabulous.

[@greenfly1264]

The neck pick up on mine is fully rounded and true to vintage tele sound .

[@aman.n.s]

Bought mine off of Thomann b stock for about 220 ish delivered, I am pretty impressed with it. Used to own an early model Classic Vibe (early model with the better pickups) and it feels much the same, minus the fact that the CV has gloss neck. I agree with you guys the pickups might need to be changed, but for someone to just grab this guitar and play, if it's set up well, this is great. Also had a te62 Harley Benton, while that is was a bit cheaper in price, it felt a bit cheaper in quality.

[@lindamcguigan5989]

I've an early CV the pick up as reportedly Tone Rider

[@ryangunwitch-black]

I like the pups on these. I’ve had a Classic Vibe for a year or so and I tend to keep the tone rolled off a bit in the middle and bridge position. I just got one of these and I enjoy the tone full up on all positions. It’s not a bad thing. That’s why you have tone knobs on the guitar and amp. Not to mention pedals. And I’ve never really noticed much twang on any Tele neck pup.

[@dallastoto3189]

Nice guitar. Just got mine . Neck is awesome. Gonna run the pups through the paces ..a bit heavy , my weighs in a little over 9 lbs. Cheers Dallas

[@pete5184]

I've just received this guitar..I'm happy with it, but you guys do a good job of making it not look like a 9.5lbs guitar! It's a beast!

[@PherotoneStudios]

A couple of people have said theirs are really heavy. This one is fine luckily

[@pete5184]

@@PherotoneStudios it's easily the heaviest guitar I've owned, which I wasn't expecting.

[@dragan4658]

Nice guitar. My question is what does it weigh? I bought a used fender player and the neck is very nice, and it plays beautifully! My ideal tele would be o e lime this with at least a belly cut & the forearm cut would be a bonus like on my Dean Nash Vegas Select, a beautiful guitar!

[@mototakahe836]

Fazley does have rolled fret-board edges., well Outlaw Coyote plus.

[@rickylakemusic]

I got a red one for 277.00 USD. Great playing axe.

[@daviddalziel884]

I got a 50s Squier Tele for £258 on a Black Friday deal from Fender . It’s great , maple neck and white -ish finish . Like here the neck pickup is a bit deep sounding for me , a Strat neck pickup always sounds great to me . I’ve heard of people swapping out a set of Tonerider pickups but I’ve also heard the Chinese Squier CV Teles had Toneriders as stock !! I tried adjusting the neck pickup height on the Squier but only succeeded in chewing up the nasty transit screws . I’ve got my Tele in for a set up at a guitar shop near me so I’ll give it a few weeks be for doing anything with the pickups . Maybe should have gone the Squier Tele Custom , neck is a wide range HB but they were sold out ( didn’t pull the trigger quick enough )

[@lazvt8469]

disconnect neck pup from tone pot...it'll improve clarity and improve output in a nice way....

[@snwbrdr65]

Bamboo/banana color with black binding. (strange color way) Mine's 6.8 pounds. Good neck (required set up, nut and frets filed and polished). Good body (satin is starting to gloss up with lots of play time). Swapped pickups for Tonerider A3 Hot Classics..4 way switch. Wilkinson half bridge with non-comp'd brass saddles. Both pickups screwed/mounted to body. Swapped knobs for lighter aluminum. Swapped pick guard for lighter 5 hole single ply black from MojoTone. Swapped tuners. Did I say 6.8 pounds? EB 10s.

[@antoonhermans8953]

i have put copper shielding tape in my 40 th anni strat ( also sonic blue one ) and it made the pu's sound clearer in my strat , they did not sound bad but i do like the fact they sound somewhat clearer now , i really like the looks of the tele and for this price its a bargain , its a shame though the neck pu is so dark , the necks on these guitars are killer , i have not done any upgrades on my strat besides putting in the sh

[@antoonhermans8953]

ielding tape, no need to , it's sounds and plays great as is .

[@ryangunwitch-black]

4:30 DTT also said Leo Fender didn’t care about tone. He was just cheap. 😂😂😂 That statement colored how I received all info from him after that.

[@ashwilliams11]

The amount of guitar you get with these series of guitar is unbelievable. I have the blue strat. Are you planning on a video with that guitar?? I’m tempted to put a set of tone riders in after watching your reviews of their pickups

[@PherotoneStudios]

Mate, if you have the sonic blue one, we have the same guitar 😂 will be putting a set of Tonerider Pure Vintage strat pickups in it very soon. Video has been shot but may be a little while as we have so much content shot

[@Brykk]

This sucks. Just tried to order one but they wont ship to me. And btw, thank you very much for the tone rider pickup videos. Ive ordered a few sets and the value to dollar is amazing.

[@andybushell4423]

How does the Squier compare to the Jet JT350 you tried a few months ago?

[@PherotoneStudios]

This pisses all over it

[@volvot5boy]

Does the classic vibe 60’s also have a rolled edge and a satin finish on the neck?

[@patrickhernandez9529]

Rolled edges yes, satin neck no.

[@atlejohnnyrygg7124]

Which Tonerider set do you recomend?

[@PherotoneStudios]

Alnico ii Blues set. The neck is almost the same spec as a Bareknuckle we tried on a nitro Vintage Pro Shop recently and that sounded amazing. (Spoiler alert)

[@atlejohnnyrygg7124]

​@@PherotoneStudiosthanks for quick reply. Where I live TR pickups have jumped a bit in price the last year. Was quite happy with a set of Fleor pickups I put in a Affinity, ordered similar set for my 40th but didn't sound as good as the first set I got...

[@benrabauke700]

​@@PherotoneStudios What do you think about the TR vintage plus set vs. alnico ii blues set? This would be an awesome comparison in that guitar. Secondly you mentioned the brass cover could be a source of dullness. I'm curious if a cover replacement will change the neck sound. Anyhow, I'm super stoked on this model. Cheers mate!

[@PherotoneStudios]

I haven’t compared the two but the specs are the same as tele pickups that I love. I’ll try and get hold of a set soon and do a shootout, just making a quick-change thing for a guitar to allow for Tele pickups swaps. Regarding the cover. I’ve previously taken tele neck covers off and the pickup has fallen apart so I don’t like to risk it. Sometimes the bobbin is stuck in there with wax or glue (on cheaper pickups) and it all falls apart. So it’s easier to just buy a set. Give it a go though as removing that cover would be a game changer I’d do it myself but I want that pickup set as a reference set for future vides

[@atlejohnnyrygg7124]

​@@PherotoneStudios hello again. I put in a set of Fender Pure Vintage 64 that i got second hand and still found the neck pickup to be dark and muffled so today I put on a plastic pickguard to see if it made any difference as I have heard that might affect tone and I must say there is a big difference. I now need to source a single-ply black plastic PG because the metal one is not going back on.

[@atlejohnnyrygg7124]

I have one in brown and agree with your opinions. Mine is quite heavy though. Biggest problem with many Squiers is that it's not a Fender. Same problem with Epiphone, it's not a Gibson. Doesn't matter how good the guitar is, it's still not a Fender/Gibson...

[@PherotoneStudios]

Love it. You’re the second person that’s said Nyatoh (the body timber) can come out quite heavy. I thought the strat version too after this video and they’re both fine. Totally agree on the Fender thing. These Squires are better than a Fender Player but it doesn’t say Fender on it so…

[@lazvt8469]

@@PherotoneStudios ...mine do...both say Squier (by Fender). Gems with better pups and kinks worked out. I reclaimed my MIM from a buddy after selling it a few years ago....it's a 2013 and it's better made than my Squiers....not quite USA level but darn close.

[@jasonstacey8577]

Well done you've just stated the absolute obvious😂😂😂😂

[@philcal2000]

before wasting money on pickups , try replacing the pots with cts ones and the 3 way switch you maybe surprised.

[@atlejohnnyrygg7124]

Replace the metal pickguard with a plastic one is like rolling up the treble knob. Never thought it made such a difference. I replaced stock pickups and it was still muddy but the plastic pg brought back a lot of highs.

[@arturojc6974]

A properly tuned guitar also helps

[@CHlEFFIN]

Did that, it not help the tone. Those upgrades are meant to simply upgrade the longevity and quality of the electronics, not the tone. Here’s something I did that maybe will help you: I added a 4-way switch and disconnected the neck pickup from the tone pot - it “opens up” the neck pickup and allows for easy balancing between the bridge and neck pickup. In the series position, the tone pot almost serves as a blender, similar to a Les Paul in the middle position.

[@davekeating.]

Squier Classic Vibe telecasters have PINE bodies!

[@PherotoneStudios]

Not all of them. Some are Nyatoh and some are poplar

[@davekeating.]

@@PherotoneStudios From a quick perusal of Thomann’s website. All their Classic Vibe 50s telecasters have pine bodies. Their CV 60s teles have nato bodies. The earlier 50s CVs with stock “Tone Rider” pickups are the best. Had one straight out of the box, 2016, sounded, played better than a $2,000 Fender, and still does!

[@lazvt8469]

@@davekeating. I have one CV50 with pine body...my other is an Anderton's Purple Pete CV50 and it's NOT pine and much lighter....

[@FezzantPlucka]

What concerns me is that the body is made of Nyato - this is a mahogany like wood which can be quite heavy. I have a CV tele made of nyato and it weighs about 9 3/4 ibs.

[@lazvt8469]

ditto weight for my HB TE52. My pine CV50 is 9.0...my poplar one is about 8 or less.

[@philcal2000]

drill a hundred holes in it 😐

[@jamieashby8810]

I played one this weekend. It's quite substantial, but not so much that I'd shelve it for gigs.

[@davidcjupp]

Is it me or are a lot of these 40th Anniversary guitars butt ugly? That binding looks rank.

[@aperezdeal]

Dillan…ugh

[@Ben_Mdws]

Those pick ups sound puny

[@greenfly1264]

They sound great though a four by 12 "

[@greyguy69]

Quit changing pickups. They are fine guitar snobs.😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@EARN-750-DAILY_JOB_FOR_U]

"There is no traffic jam along the extra mile." --Roger Staubach