Fender Squier Classic Vibe 60's Stratocaster Review

n Fender's long history of great instruments, few have stood out more than the 60's style Stratocaster. Back then, they were played by legends in the music industry like Jimi Hendrix. Today, new artists like John Mayer are picking up the torch of the 60's Strat for old greats. One model that brings back their vintage look and feel is the Fender Squier Classic Vibe 60's Stratocaster. Let's take a closer look at it to see how it measures up.

Features: The body of the Classic Vibe 60's Strat is made of alder wood, a common choice for Squier's Strats, as the material can deliver great tone and sustain for a relatively inexpensive price. There is one finish available, which is a polyester vintage three toned sunburst with a red tortoise shell pickguard. This combined with the white colored single coils and knobs make it an exact look-alike of one of Stevie Ray Vaughan's more popular and recognizable guitars. The neck is bolted onto the body, and is made of maple wood. One noticeable difference from a few other cheaper guitars is that the joint is very solid and stable. The fretboard is made of maple and has twenty one medium jumbo frets with pearloid dot inlays. The hardware, including tuning heads, input jack, and tremolo bridge, is chrome. Electronically, the 60's Vibe Stratocaster has all the classic Strat controls, including volume and tone knobs and a five way selector switch. The pickups are Alnico V Custom Stratocaster single coils. This is a pure bred Stratocaster, through and through.

Playability: The Squier Classic Vibe Strat has all the features that make playing it nice and easy. The first noticeable thing is that the strings are easy to bend. Also, the tremolo bridge can be played with to excess, and the guitar still stays in tune. The Strat body style allows for great high fret access, and the action is low right out of the factory. All is well with the Vibe Stratocaster in the playability department.

Sound: The sound of this Strat can be described as, well, the sound of a Strat. You can pump out a versatile and wide range of tones, ranging from Hendrix to Clapton to Vaughan, and even heavier stuff.

Overall: If you're looking for the real deal, the Fender Squier Classsic Vibe 60's Stratocaster could be the guitar for you. It is thoroughbred Strat all the way, and oozes the funky feel and tone that have made Strats popular for so long. You can find the Vibe 60's Strat in music stores for around $300.