The Squier Classic Vibe 60s SH. Better than the G&L Tribute Bluesboy?

Taking a close look at the Squier Classic Vibe 60s Ltd. Tele. I talk about the guitar's strengths and weaknesses, and compare it to the similarly equipped G&L Tribute ASAT Classic Bluesboy I featured a week ago. The Bluesboy costs more, so is it worth the extra money, or is the Squier a better buy. Money notwithstanding, which would be my choice?
Of course I demo the Squier's sounds, both isolated and in a mix, playing through the Fender Tone Master Deluxe Reverb with no pedals.
www.patreon.com/leonardgriffieblues
#squier #telecaster #classicvibe #guitar #bluesguitar

[@JEDiTV]

Sharp lookin’ Tele. I’ve been eyeing that Sherwood Green myself so I hunted up reviews on KZbin (as we do, right?). Thanks for taking the time to make this one.

[@leonardgriffieblues5845]

And thank you for watching. I hope you found it useful.

[@GraemeCampbellMusic]

That looks and sounds fantastic. Great playing too Leonard

[@leonardgriffieblues5845]

Thanks so much.

[@kokehri]

I have the same guitar. The bridge pickup sounds thin and weak as you said. I have a Axesrus P90 style single coil pickup on the way. Not sure about the neck pickup replacement, yet. Also putting in a 500k volume pot to liven up the humbucker, and a 500k parallel resistor for the bridge pickup to make it see a 250k volume resistance. By the way, raising the bridge pickup made it sound markedly fatter, but still going to replace it.

[@leonardgriffieblues5845]

Yes, I raised the bridge pickup a fair amount from where it was set by the factory. Still a bit thin but I’m sure it’s a very inexpensive unit. Best of luck with the mods and thanks for watching.

[@kokehri]

@@leonardgriffieblues5845 i just ordered a Gretsch Filtertron to replace the neck humbucker. And a conversion bezel to make a clean install. Supercharging the Squier.

[@leonardgriffieblues5845]

Nice. That sounds like a good choice. Hope you love it.

[@subaquagene608]

Nice guitar, the Fender Squire Classic Vibe series are excellent guitars, I don't have any Tele's but I do have a number of the Strat's and are just superb, better than entry level Fender MIM for sure. Great playing and review as always. Thanks much and God Bless

[@leonardgriffieblues5845]

Thank you so much. 😊

[@philnewton2011]

Cool color, too. Great playing!

[@leonardgriffieblues5845]

Thanks so much.

[@tbone2451]

You make them all sound good Leonard !

[@leonardgriffieblues5845]

Thanks so much.

[@JCM467]

Nothing more to say. Great playing test Leonard 👍

[@leonardgriffieblues5845]

Thank you my friend.

[@sixbladeknife44]

Sure is nice looking, tonally decent on a budget. I have a Paranormal offset Tele that I’ve preferred to the Classic Vibes both tonally and playability wise. I’ve had more than a few USA Teles (still have a MIJ offset Tele and Mascis Sig. Tele), the paranormal holds its own pretty well. Great playing as usual, thanks for the vid ✌️

[@leonardgriffieblues5845]

Thanks so much. Yes, I featured the Paranormal Offset Tele about a year ago. I liked it.

[@sixbladeknife44]

@@leonardgriffieblues5845 I’ll have to check that one out :)

[@8153max]

Great view of both guitars

[@leonardgriffieblues5845]

Thanks. Very happy you enjoyed it.

[@guitarzan0515]

Very Cool! I agree that the humbucker is not to great, but the rest of the Tele is just Duckie! I like the matching headstock! Smooth licks as always!

[@leonardgriffieblues5845]

Thank you my friend.

[@johnwalsh3919]

Nice playing, guitar and review Leonard ✌️🧷🎸

[@leonardgriffieblues5845]

Thanks so much.

[@ew6629]

Excellent demo and review as usual. It's a personal taste thing but I can't stand headstocks being painted; I prefer natural wood in most cases on strat or tele style guitars. I know it's just aesthetics and has no impact on playability. I would still go with the Bluesboy and pay more for it!

[@iamanovercomer3253]

I agree

[@leonardgriffieblues5845]

As I mentioned, I also have never been a fan of the matching color headstocks. It does work better with the Sherwood green and rosewood board than most, but still not my favorite look. Thanks so much for watching.

[@sanduendo]

great video as walways

[@leonardgriffieblues5845]

Thanks so much.

[@wantaprs]

I much prefer the G&L for the neck shape and the bridge. After a few T style guitars with the 3 barrel bridge and not being able to intonate the way I want, I’m done with that bridge. Even though I usually swap them for locking tuners the stock tuners on the G&L are better quality. Sometimes you can pick up one of the Tribute series ASAT classic Blues Boys or Classics for under $300. That cost makes it a win, win!

[@leonardgriffieblues5845]

The G&L is a solid choice. Thanks so much for watching, and catch my standalone video on the G&L if you haven’t yet.

[@8hammer2189]

I have the exact same guitar and like it so far. I probably will upgrade the pick ups and saddles at some point and maybe add locking tuners

[@leonardgriffieblues5845]

Yes, a few key upgrades would take it to a different level. Thanks for watching.

[@nellayema2455]

Perhaps different value pots and capacitors could improve the sound w/o replacing the pups. Now I have to look around and see if anyone has made mods to that model. Great playing as always!

[@leonardgriffieblues5845]

Thanks my friend. I tend to doubt pots and caps would have anywhere near enough impact.

[@braddietzmusic2429]

I agree with Leonard on this, and from personal experience. I changed the 250K pots on an MIM Tele to 500K. I really like/liked the sound of the stock pickups. Warm without being biting. They remain my favorite-sounding traditional Tele pickups, BUT… I wanted just a touch more top end presence out of them. I opted to change the pots on the premise that I couldn’t reliably find aftermarket pickups that sounded almost identical to my stock ones, but with a little more clarity/top end presence, and also pots and changing them on Teles is pretty uncomplicated, relative to a Strat. With the change to 500K pots it did make a LITTLE bit of difference, and it was perhaps JUST effective enough to achieve the desired effect, but if I had wanted any more that a very slight difference, pot changes wouldn’t have fixed the problem. Regarding this guitar in the video, which has a humbucker, I believe that hypothetically changing the pots would NOT make a significant enough difference to avoid replacing the humbucker. While I’m not in this room demoing the guitar itself, from my listening, this humbucker has neither great clarity, nor character of a good PAF-style humbucker. I replaced two humbuckers in a Les Paul, on the premise that changing the pots from 500K to something higher would not “fix” these pickups enough to keep them in the guitar. And one more thing- whatever the guitar, put new strings on it. Tune it up and strum it WITHOUT the amp. Whatever pickups you have, do they capture that sound? New pickups can really bring an instrument to life, and there are some good ones that aren’t all that expensive.

[@drumtarist08]

Just tried one at GC. not a fan of the neck pickup at all. But great guitar overall. The color is growing on me

[@leonardgriffieblues5845]

Yes, you’re spot on. Nice guitar a little let down by the pickups. Thanks for watching.

[@iamanovercomer3253]

Sweet jamming 🎸🎶🎵‼️ Nice green, don't like color headstock and the Squire. Just checked out an 🇺🇲 G&L ASAT ( single coil , neck and bridge) today at the " candy " store. WOW ‼️ I thought the same thing with the Fender professional 2 telecaster, BUT if I have to choose, G&L , it's definitely better made 🎸 and the tones are thick ‼️ I bought a G&L tribute ASAT blues boy , red with a maple fretboard on ebay for $350....so it's going to be interesting with the humbucker, maybe I'll put a Seymour Ducun lil 59 in it I appreciate no pedals, gives the soul of the guitar

[@leonardgriffieblues5845]

Thanks so much. I agree the G&Ls are very nice.

[@charlesharper7292]

I have two Telecasters with humbuckers. One is from Harley Benton, the other one is from Fender. A limited edition custom telecaster FMT HH. A fantastic guitar if you get a chance to play one.

[@leonardgriffieblues5845]

I may have to do that at some point. Thanks for watching.

[@garypannone7755]

Like yourself, I do not like matching headstocks but I think it looks great on that guitar.

[@leonardgriffieblues5845]

It definitely works better with that combination than most. Thanks so much for watching.

[@jaunianise4172]

A color that's sure to match any English living room!

[@leonardgriffieblues5845]

🤣

[@laurentblond6760]

Like my Chesterfied....👍👍

[@mrnorbotron3308]

What is the weight? The last squiers I've tested were heavy like anvils.

[@leonardgriffieblues5845]

I gave the weight in the video. A reasonable 7 lbs., 14 oz.

[@mrnorbotron3308]

@@leonardgriffieblues5845 3,6 kg

[@abrigospardos]

With a few upgrades, which one would be the most Iceman-worthy of the two?

[@leonardgriffieblues5845]

I’d say the G&L has the edge with its larger frets. Remember, Albert refretted his Tele with the biggest Gibson frets he could find at the time. Of course ultimately either can get the sound with quality pickups and the right phrasing.

[@abrigospardos]

@@leonardgriffieblues5845 Thanks! 👍

[@pedraw]

I find the same issue with Squier in that their pickups are lacking. Otherwise the build quality is good enough to be a serviceable instrument for years.

[@leonardgriffieblues5845]

Yes, it’s well made and finished and really deserves better electronics. Thanks so much for watching.

[@wizrom3046]

I had my Strat out, and started jamming along with you blues in C 😎 Interesting point my Chinese strat also has a Laurel fretboard but its really dark. I dont like it much it is mega dry and too grippy on the fingertips. I've put fretboard oil on it 3 times and it just soaks it up and it's still too grippy. Mynfingers will actually squeak on the wood it's like fingernails on a blackboard 😬

[@leonardgriffieblues5845]

I’ve not had that problem, but I have reviewed some that were very light and dry looking. When that’s the case, I can recommend Monty’s Montypresso relic wax. Check out my video on upgrading the Epiphone ES335 I put out awhile back. It might even help with the issue you’re having. Thanks for watching.

[@wizrom3046]

@@leonardgriffieblues5845 Thank you for the tip! 👍

[@twoshedsjackson6478]

Surely, putting a humbucker on any "Fender" style guitar defeats the very thing that makes them special and different.

[@leonardgriffieblues5845]

I’ve played Fenders since 1963 and I’d say it’s more about the feel. Fender themselves have been putting humbuckers on Teles since the 70s and they’ve always remained uniquely Fender. Thanks for watching.

[@TAM-gz5tc]

NOT GOOD TONE

[@leonardgriffieblues5845]

I discussed the shortcomings of the Squier pickups.