Squier Classic Vibe Jaguar Bass - 3-Color Sunburst Review

Jaguar Playability

I've been playing bass as a gigging musician for over 40 years. I've gone through a lot of different brands but always come back to Fender. I've been playing a good US Jazz or P Bass for most of this century. Being a little older I'm am getting some arthritis in my left hand and the neck of the P is starting to feel a little difficult for me. i've been eying the Classic Vibe Jaguar… read more for over a year. the 32" neck caught my attention. I got a Classic Vibe Telecaster about a year ago and was blown away by its quality. So much so I sold my American Deluxe! Anyhow, i finally pulled the string and ordered the CVJaguar. Collin Blue was my reference point at Sweetwater. The bass arrived in great condition. Its quality and workmanship are amazing for a bass in this price range. it is a beautiful instrument and feels and plays like an expensive guitar. The neck, which is the most important part selling point of this bass, is to die for. It is so easy to play and so well crafted. And this feels like a real bass, not a small guitar like my Mustang Bass. Where they did scrimp on, however, are the pickups. They are very uneven and anemic. I called Collin and ordered a set of Fender Yosemites and my tech guy put them in and did a little set up and this bass sounds and plays like the real deal. But, yeah, if you are a serious player like me, and really care about your touch and tone, replace the pickups. I don't think I would play it out with the stock ones that come on it. The Yosemites sound great on it. My tech guy is amazed at the quality of the build. It took hardly any set up at all and I put on my usual Ernie Ball strings with 50s on the top and 105s on the bottom. This bass came with a $45 Sweet Bucks which I put toward the pickups. So I have an extremely nice bass that is different From my Jazz or P and cost about $600 with the new pickups. Well worth it. Would I recommend this bass....yes. If you just want to play around the house you will be happy with it as is. But if you want to gig with it I certainly recommend putting the Fender Yosemites in it. Take care.

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CV Jaguar Bass is all that and more!

I picked up a demo version of the CV Jag Bass at a reduced price. SW documented all the "wear and tear" on the bass before purchase. Upon inspection, you would need a microscope to see any of it, it's so minute. Fast, secure shipping! My SSE, Bart Amburn is the best! Everything about this bass is spot on! It plays and sounds amazing! I gigged it 2 nights in a row (6 hours) right… read more out of the box and it was a workhorse. Great setup by SW techs - Best of all is the neck on this guitar - great craftsmanship and fret work - plays like a dream. Someone wrote the name on the headstock might as well say "Fender" and I agree!

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OMG! Sounds amazing.

This bass is so easy to play. The stacked volume and tone knobs makes adjusting you sound a snap. It has Fender strings on it, no need to change right away. It has that great P bass sound I wanted. The Jazz pickup gives the high that I expected. All around great sound. I will put flats on it when it needs new strings. Looking forward to see how it sounds then, but no hurry it has… read more very good strings on it now.

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Great bass! Easy to play.

My first perches from Sweewater. Excellent service, and a big thanks to Calvin for your help. I ordered it on Monday it arrived on Wednesday. The 32 inch scale is easy on my arthritic hands. You can dial in many different tones easily. I have a Peavey T-40 that has many tones also. Getting the tones out of the T-40 is a nightmare.

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Very nice bass, at ANY price point

The Squier Jaguar bass was set up pretty well by the sweetwater 55 point inspection tech, but I played with it a bit more and dialed it in the way I like it with the strings that came on it. I inspected the thing end to end and there wasn't a significant flaw that I could detect. Even the fret ends were very nicely polished, much more so than the made in china Squier offset Tele/Jaguar… read more that I recently got. The one I got weighed 8 lbs 10oz and had nice figuring in the grain. The Nyatoh wood Squier is using for these is a really nice choice with excellent tonal properties. My friend has a really nice $2500 Fender Custom shop P-J bass (P bass with same P-J pickup config as the Jaguar), and the Squier held it's own just fine. The pickups are quite nice, I see no reason to change them. The tuners are unremarkable but perfectly functional. The bridge is comparable to the vintage bridge on his custom shop, but I'm not really impressed with either. It's Leo's design, simple and functional, but there is room for improvement. I have a gotoh vintage style bridge on the way to replace it. I'm not expecting night and day differences, but folks report that they've gotten better sustain. Probably just placebo, but either way, the function changes (thicker brass plate, grooves for adjustment screws, and two added front hold down screws that make a lot of sense) can only help. It will be a nice companion to my Steinberger bass. A quick shout out to my Sales Rep Caleb Lowrey. He makes it very easy to get the things I want from Sweetwater.

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