So, today I went into Fairdeal Music in Birmingham to kill some time before work. I've recently talked myself into saving for a vintage Jazzmaster (or at least a CIJ). Anyway, I noticed they had one of the new VM Tele Deluxe's in, so I gave it a whirl. And I was really, really impressed. It was set up perfectly, and the neck felt amazing. Anyway, I played it for a few minutes, and then spent the next 45 minutes comparing it to various other Mexican and Japan Fenders, as well as a couple of other VM Squiers (the Mustang and Jazzmaster). In particular I put it up against a couple of '72 Deluxe's. Whilst the Fenders had a bit more weight to them (probably due to the Alder), there was nothing else that they had over the Squier. The neck on the Squier was much nicer, and one thing I noticed was that the Squier's tuning heads were much, much smoother than all of the Mexican Tele's I tried as well as the CP Jazzmaster.
Soundwise, the difference between the Fenders and the Squier was so minimal that I couldn't distinguish any real difference. We all know that the reissue WRH's aren't 100% accurate anyway, so I figured that they'd be something not worth worrying about. But they sounded great. I only got to play clean, but they sounded nice and full. Not bright (possibly not enough, we'll see), but not at all muddy. Either way, the Squier pups sounded almost, to me, identical to the Fender's.
So, I bought it on the spot. Now, I didn't go in that shop planning to buy anything. And, to be honest, I've never been sucked into this whole "Buy a Squier over a Fender" thing. But, setting all the hype etc. aside, the fact was that the Squier Tele just felt brilliant. Now, the other VM Squiers I tried didn't- but that seemed to be setup issues (although I thought the VM Mustang just kinda sucked). Maybe I got lucky, but if the rest of the VM Tele Deluxe/Customs are up to this standard, then we're all quids in. I'm not a low-budget player- my main guitar is a '72 SG- but this doesn't at all feel like a low budget guitar.
Not to diverge, but this got me thinking- I'm probably never going to buy a mid-range guitar. The way that I see it- if the high end Squier stuff is so comparable to the mid-range Fender stuff, then why bother taking that extra monetary leap? I figure that from now on I'm probably going to aim at acquiring either vintage stuff, or budget. It seems like there's a rule of diminishing returns between the £300 to £700 range- there's so little difference between them that I can't justify it. I love the feel of my '72 SG, but it has a feel that I can only imagine getting from a vintage instrument. Unless that can be captured for under £1000, I see no reason for me to but anything mid-range. Meh, just my opinion.
Shit pics:
I'll post an update once I put it through my setup tomorrow morning!
