Squier Classic Vibe '50s P Bass (Butterscotch)

[Davout]

I have now succumbed & bought the above Squier Classic Vibe 50s P. Bass. I guess I have a nostalgia thing about the music from that late 50s - early 60s period. It is the Butterscotch blonde with black scratchplate model, although it is also available in Lake placid Blue. It is equal in quality to the rest of it's excellent 'Classic Vibe' series brothers. When I first opened the cardboard box in which it arrived, I was a little concerned as there appeared to be a lot of fret-buzz, but soon realised that there had been no attempt by Squier to do anything like a basic set-up on it before it was shipped. After tuning it up from the extreme slackness of the strings when it arrived, & adjusting the saddle heights & intonation, the neck obviously adopted the correct concave bow & it was perfect. It has a Pine body, which shows through the partially transparent Butterscotch paint, revealing vertical striped woodgrain. The Black scratchplate is quite thick, which i quite like, as there will be no chance of warping. The Maple neck is excellent & the nut of good quality. The Headstock is in the Telecaster style, with a 50s style round string retainer for the D & G strings. The jack socket is on the side of the body & is similar in type to that of a Tele. The Tone & Volume pots are good & work really well, particularly the Tone pot. The Bridge is a very nice High Mass, solid chromed unit with four big brass saddles. There is no 'String-thru-body' set-up. The pickup is a single-coil unit with flat polepieces, very much like a bridge pickup in a Tele. The exposed coil windings have been wrapped in black insulating tape, so no problem there.
It comes with a set of basic round-wound bass strings, which, being new, are quite 'Twangy' at present, but I guess will mellow with time. I will install a set of flats in due course, to reduce fret wear if nothing else. The quality Tone control has quite a tonal range & can give tones ranging from the lower end of a piano to a nice mellow deep smooth thump.
The action is great & the feel of the vintage stained neck is really good. Unlike the original slab-bodied Fender '51 P. Bass that Leo actually invented, which it models, it actually has nice rounded body edges & body contours like the later P.Bass models that we are more familiar with. Let's put this instrument into perspective. It is made in China by Squier, & cost me £299 ! The equivalent US Fender Vintage Reissue would cost .... er £1,400 ?? Someone tell me. This is a perfectly servicable 50s P, Bass which looks great & plays well. It is definately in the 50s vibe & is quite lightweight too. See old photos of Gene Vincent's 'Blue Caps', the Treniers, Little Richard's band etc., etc. Gentlemen, I recommend it for your consideration.

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

pine? aren't the 50s CV Ps supposed to have basswood bodies?

[Ou7shined]

This is a scarily good 1st post by a noob (welcome btw) - very comprehensive and relevant points. It's like you've been here for years.
I'm not sure I go with the £1400 bit though as you've forgotten about the fantastic CIJ RI range which are now changing hands for a good grand less than that.

I'm surprised to hear it's made from pine though, which is traditionally too soft a material for a basses.

edit : haha beaten to it by JLP - damn typing into a tiny little phone.

Edited July 4, 2011 by Ou7shined

[Grand Wazoo]

Yes the body it's definately Pine, whereas the Lake Placid Blue, and the Jazz & Precision are all made out of basswood.

[bh2]

Many thanks for your review Dave (?)...

I tried out one of these at my lms (PMT Oxford), more out of curiosity. I was most impressed.

Playing through an Ashdown rig I found the tone rich and sparkly, rolling off the tone supplied some nice fat lows. I really was taken by the tonal range.

Neck was like butter... lovely vintage tint and I really like the gloss, very well built overall.

Vol/tone knobs have a nice feel to them, not loose or sloppy, jack was nicely fitted and secure.

Hardware overall was excellent, the machines were nice and tight.

Overall it felt like a much more expensive bass.

Gripes - didn't like the single ply scratchplate, it was poorly cut with some rough edges, easy enough to replace though - I'd go with w/b/w or white pearl.
I'd also swap out the machines for more retro style open gear big backs, just my own personal preference.

I was knocked out by it to be honest.

Pine is one of the best tone woods available actually.

Edited July 4, 2011 by bh2

[Davout]

[quote name='bh2' post='1291803' date='Jul 4 2011, 08:09 AM']Many thanks for your review Dave (?)...

I tried out one of these at my lms (PMT Oxford), more out of curiosity. I was most impressed.

Playing through an Ashdown rig I found the tone rich and sparkly, rolling off the tone supplied some nice fat lows. I really was taken by the tonal range.

Neck was like butter... lovely vintage tint and I really like the gloss, very well built overall.

Vol/tone knobs have a nice feel to them, not loose or sloppy, jack was nicely fitted and secure.

Hardware overall was excellent, the machines were nice and tight.

Overall it felt like a much more expensive bass.

Gripes - didn't like the single ply scratchplate, it was poorly cut with some rough edges, easy enough to replace though - I'd go with w/b/w or white pearl.
I'd also swap out the machines for more retro style open gear big backs, just my own personal preference.

I was knocked out by it to be honest.

Pine is one of the best tone woods available actually.[/quote]

[b]Jean-Luc[/b] : Yes, it is definately a Pine body. The idea apparently goes back to the original Fender Broadcaster (Tele) guitars, which I am informed, were originally made from Pine. They shortly afterwards changed to Ash. I think it was more to do with availibility of supplies, rather than which was a good Tonewood.
[b]bh2[/b] : My nom de plume is Davout, but I am actually Tony. Thanks for the welcome to the forum from you guys (& gals ?). I should explain that I am actually relatively new to Bass playing, as my main instrument is guitar, which I play in a '60s covers band in the West Mids (UK). I love the look of these retro looking instruments & have already bought a Classic Vibe series '50s Tele & '60s Strat, so I new what the quality of the series was like already. These are great gigging instruments & need very little messing about with before taking them out. And at these prices, it doesn't matter if you accidently 'Relic' them a little while on the road. All I have changed on the Strat is the typical weedy, thin alloy Tremolo block for a nice thick steel one which will not loosen the trem arm with wear after a few weeks use. I got my '50s P Bass from Soundslive online for £299 as a special deal because I was prepared to wait with them for a month until new supplies arrived, but I believe their price is only around £320, anyway.

Tony.

[fender73]

Great review - one of these is definately on my list when funds allow.

Cheers

Graeme

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

The pine thing is interesting - I s'pose it has to be a different type of pine to the soft knotty stuff used to make argos bunk beds.

Isn't agathis classified as a type of pine? that's fine for instruments, so maybe this is something similar.

[Doddy]

I bought one of these last week from Pete Academy and it's a really good instrument.When you factor in the price,it becomes a great instrument. The thing that surprised me the most was the fret work. It's a lot better than on any of the other (new) Squiers that I've played. I'm going to be using it on Sunday at Silverstone.
Squier/Fender have really got their arse in gear lately and they are putting out some really good instruments.

[Davout]

I don't know whether I'll get to play my new Bass in anger at a live gig. My brother is the bass player in my band & he has a bit more experience & skill in that direction at the moment. I get to play it at home thru' a little Roland Cube30 bass combo, which I have to say is a superb little amp with all the variations of tone & modelling that I could need, & it certainly belts it out when needed (when the neighbours are out). I don't think I've played it above 50% volume yet, but it still shakes the room. When I first bought the Squier Bass, I didn't expect too much, tonewise from its simple set-up. A single-coil pickup & a tone & volume, but I was pleasantly surprised by the breadth on offer from that simple tone pot. It was a lot broader than many more expensive instruments I've tried. I like my guitars simple, so that I don't have to turn too many knobs & switches while performing live. This budget-priced bass will take you from Rock to Jazz to Funk to Pop with just a twist of that knob.

Tony.

Edited July 6, 2011 by Davout

[Lozz196]

I had one of the MIJ versions of these basses, and whilst ultimately the sound wasn`t for me, it was possible to get a surprising amount of variety in the sounds, with use of the volume/tone controls.

And looks-wise, they are the coolest bass there is!

[mart]

[quote name='bh2' post='1291803' date='Jul 4 2011, 09:09 AM']....
Neck was like butter...
...[/quote]
That's gonna play havoc with the intonation on a sunny day.

Ok, I'll get my coat.

[mcnach]

I put D'Addario Chromes on mine and... yum!

[Linus27]

I played one of these in Andertons today and oh my, it sounded awsome through the MarkBass rig set flat. The tone control worked really well giving deep thumpy bass up to bright twangy top end. It also felt and played really nice. I was very tempted. I also tried one of the Squire Jaguar specials, the one with the 4 dials and man was that utterly horrible. Sounded awful and felt horrid. Not for me.

[Davout]

[quote name='Linus27' post='1314310' date='Jul 23 2011, 10:55 PM']I played one of these in Andertons today and oh my, it sounded awsome through the MarkBass rig set flat. The tone control worked really well giving deep thumpy bass up to bright twangy top end. It also felt and played really nice. I was very tempted. I also tried one of the Squire Jaguar specials, the one with the 4 dials and man was that utterly horrible. Sounded awful and felt horrid. Not for me.[/quote]

Hi Linus,
I've not tried the Jaguar Special Bass or any of the VM models. I've only stuck to the 'Classic Vibe' range. I have a Strat & Tele in the CV range , so I new the good quality already. This '50s P.Bass is certainly a quality gigging instrument, & I can't put it down at the moment, although my instrument in the band is Guitar. I use it through a little Roland Bass Cube 30 combo at home & it tiickles me Pink everytime I play it. I am very tempted by the Squier CV '60s P.Bass in Fiesta Red with Torty scratchplate too, which reminds me of the late great Jet Harris, who was the first bass player of the 'Shadows' way back in the early '60s. He also was the first bass player to use a Fender P. Bass in the UK.

Tony.

Edited July 24, 2011 by Davout

[mcnach]

It is a cracking bass.
I always thought that a tiny whimsy pickup alone in the middle of the bass just looked too unlikely to work well... but it does, and the Squier is really well made.
Since I put Chromes on mine it's one of the basses I pick the most at home. I prefer the sound to a split coil P-bass too.

AND today it gets the thumb-rest on!

I was dragging my feet because I love the way it looks as it is, but I need that little maple thumbrest at the stingray pickup (or 'pup' if ficelles is reading ) to feel entirely comfortable.

[Davout]

[quote name='mcnach' post='1314748' date='Jul 24 2011, 01:55 PM']It is a cracking bass.
I always thought that a tiny whimsy pickup alone in the middle of the bass just looked too unlikely to work well... but it does, and the Squier is really well made.
Since I put Chromes on mine it's one of the basses I pick the most at home. I prefer the sound to a split coil P-bass too.

AND today it gets the thumb-rest on!

I was dragging my feet because I love the way it looks as it is, but I need that little maple thumbrest at the stingray pickup (or 'pup' if ficelles is reading ) to feel entirely comfortable.[/quote]

I too thought that maybe that small single coil would be a bit wimpy, but was so surprised how it actually performed. I haven't had the chance to try it at gig volumes yet, but I assume it only gets better. If it's anything like how guitar pickups perform, you get the best tones from the lower-powered ones, as the weaker magnets exert less pull on the strings & so the strings vibrate more freely & give you better tone, harmonics & sustain. It has always confused me as to why people seem to want more & more powerful pickups these days. If you want more Gain, get it from the pre-amp, or pedals in your amplification.

Tony.

[grenadilla]

The first time I heard ZZ Top Dusty played one with a left-handed neck. Talk about "cool" ! I will not complain about a small,skinny pickup again ! The old ones had a WIDE 1.75" nut and small frets.