Review quickie: Squier Classic Vibe '60s Custom Esquier

Pic: Fender

In Fender's history of the solid body, single cutaway, bolt-on electric guitar, the Esquier precedes the Telecaster in service & was only equipped with a bridge pickup. The one appraised here is the Squier version, coming from the Classic Vibe series in the 60s Custom iteration. Classic Vibe means, this one is not an entry-level Squier, in fact, the CV Series pride themselves as a worthy rival to the Mexican Fenders in terms of build & tone. 60s means, the fretboard would be rosewood & has a shallower neck profile compared to the 50s version. For this model, Squier used laurel instead of rosewood, keeping costs down. Finally, Custom means, there's binding on the body (double bound).

Likes:

• very comfortable neck profile, neither too shallow nor too thick, just nice
• overall weight
• responsive tuners / electronics
• good fit & finish for the money

Dislike

• scratchy frets

If you think a one-pickup guitar is the epitome of cost-cutting, then be informed that Leo Fender intended it to be that way at the start. The 3-way selector was there to supplement this intention. This Squier version is simply an iteration of an Esquier, not a faithful re-issue, so please manage your expectations. 

I like everything about this guitar while trying it out, it's simply a good guitar. My only beef here is that some of the frets were not well-polished at the factory, these sound scratchy & will definitely affect the bend-inclined among us. I personally dislike small frets because the strings would touch the fretboard while fretting but these are the tall version so they are not far from a medium jumbo in terms of feel during play. 

The only factor that would prevent you from buying this guitar is the one-pickup feature. Fret not (no pun intended), the 3-way selector is there to keep tone variation in check. The tone control works only in Position 2. The Position 1 tone bypass means you get a very open twang & one of the best that I've come across. Position 3 runs the circuit through a fattening capacitor & it does just that; fatten the tone while keeping the treble down. Don't mind me saying this but that one pickup feature would make it a contender for a non-mover. I won't be surprised if it would be subjected to periodic discounts in the near future. All in all, this is a good guitar, don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

PS: Special thanks to Mr. Failzal (Swee Lee Star Vista) for letting me try this guitar.

Rating: 90%

Squier: Classic Vibe '60s Custom Esquire

Availability: Swee Lee Co. 

List: $649 (bag not included)

POST REVIEW

Pic: Guitar Q

Folks, the initial release of this guitar was way back in 2021. You know how it was back then, yes? The world was trying to crawl itself out of a pandemic. Some things don't make it here due to the frozen shipping activities. There were three colours offered, two did not make it here & the sunburst option just landed here a few weeks ago. So there.