Squiers Classic Vibe Simon Neil Review

[Bille]

Hi! Iv'e read only good about this Squier CV serie,so i was very curious to take a testdrive.Well it didn't take long before i fell in love with it.
The smoth C neck suited my small hands like a glove.And i was very impressed how low action i could get without fretbuzz.The built quality
is up there with any MIM,even some USA built.BUT the cheap bridge,and small block isn't up to normal standard.The tremarm gets loose after some time.But with some thread tape it works better. And i will change the whole bridge later.The arm is to long and has wrong curve for my likeing.But it stays in tune even with hard wobling.The pickups sounds great,and they are from same factory as the Tonerider pickups.The Fiesta red color is a little to red compared to the old orginal USA 60's,but as you know even the new CS USA isn't right,so no big deal.I think you can't get a better strat for this money.I made a fast recording with it,using my new Digitech RP355 floorboard and Q2 as echo.No EQ or twaekings after recording,so you can get a fair form an opinion.
http://www.4shared.com/audio/OAE4vfZp/S ... caste.html

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[vloo88]

Hi Roland,
Amazing! This must be one of the best recordings I've ever heard! What a sound and what a guitar! Sounds many times better than the C.S. at a small fraction of the price. All the vintage sound (the barks) ingredients are there. Superb playing, can hardly distinguish it from the original with eyes closed. I surmise there is gonna be a surge in S.Neil's strat sale now! Jolly good show!
Victor

[aardvarkd]

An excellent cover! This has to be one of the best 'Savages' ever for tone, accuracy and energy. The guitar obviously helped too!

[RUSSET]

I got my 'Simon Neal' Strat about six months ago & will never regret the purchase. I did put a new Steel Trem block in it & a normal length Trem arm instead of the ridiculous long one they supplied. Everything you say is the truth, & for £260 this is one of the best value guitars out there, & not just for Shads players. My friend also bought one, having seen mine, & last week we both bought a Squier Classic Vibe '50s Tele each, as it was just as good in quality & set-up as the 'Simon Neal'. Roland, I think the great recording you made of the 'Savage' is probably more in your fingers than in the guitar, but it does show off the quality of the instrument too.
Best Regards, Tony.

[Bille]

thanks a lot! All of the Classic Vibe serie is well made.I played 6 of them in my local shop,and they felt nice and sounded good.I'm saving up for a 2 tone sunburst now.You don't see many top players using a Squier,maybe it's because the S logo? Yes it is nice guitar Tony,and i will also change the bridge as you later on.

Roland

[RUSSET]

Hi Roland,
I would have been tempted to the two-tone burst '50s Strat, but I already have the Mex Classic Player version of the same, so i can't justify another. The Mex one is also a great guitar that I am glad to have, but of course, is a bit more expensive.

Tony.

[aardvarkd]

Fender have allegedly ruled out any further HBM Strat models but if the situation ever changed it would be relatively easy for them to venture some short runs of the following, perhaps:
(1) A 61-62 Mex Classic Strat in Fiesta Red with rosewood board and preferably a flame maple neck and short trem arm like Hank's. Possibly this model could also be adapted to include e.g. Andy Summers and Gary Moore variants (roadworn, of course) if the price wasn't too high.

(2) A Mex Classic 1970-71 'CBS' Strat in black with maple neck (no bullet truss-rod adjustment) and gold hardware. Although this would be a new departure for the Classic range it could extend to a 68-style Woodstock Strat as these are ever-popular but harder to get from Fender Japan now. I guess we could live without the separate maple fingerboard of the Hendrix original for this version. As 70's Strats are increasingly fashionable possibly other 'names' from that era who played late-60s/early-70s models could be represented too. Obviously it is possible to do a 'partsocaster' like Hank's black model but it's quite expensive and the parts aren't that easy to acquire.

Just a thought.
PD

[dave robinson]

Great sound ! But before you all go and buy this guitar you need to know that Roland is an excellent player - it matters a lot . . . . .

[Stratpicker]

An excellent sound file - really very good indeed. You can hear Roland 'digging in' like HBM must have done in those good old days. You can't play The Sausage pretty - you HAVE to give it some to get the best out of it. Given that Roland is an expert player I still reckon that £260 is cheap to get that kind of 'start point' sound. All then you have to work on is Technique - and amp settings - and getting the right echo unit - and buying the right strings - etc
cheers
ian