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Review and Aftermarket Report: Classic Vibe 70s Telecaster Thinline.
The Classic Vibe '70s Telecaster line is a close recreation of the '70s version with some modern upgrades. There’s a C neck with a 9.5-inch radius, narrow tall frets, and a vintage-style bridge with a string-through body design and individual steel saddles, plus a 1970s-inspired headstock. I should add that my original ‘71 Tele had what is now called vintage style frets and so that’s a plus here; I’m fine with jumbo but enjoy the feel of the thinner frets.
The thing about reviewing a familiar instrument, as this model has been out for a while, is that I don't want to duplicate what people have already said about it. When introducing an instrument to the public, there’s a certain approach but to those familiar with this model, it’s better to talk about experience rather than hardware.
So, this is a review plus an aftermarket report. I've lived with this particular tele for approximately six months and my impressions for it did change over time. That will be the basis of this review.mIn terms of the specs, it goes without saying, you can just look it up on the internet. I'll try to stick to my actual player experience.
The Thinline is often called a hollow body tele, but it's more of a semi-solid. For me, the primary reason I got it was the pickups. I was hoping the thinline would be a lot lighter, but it's not. I've already got a tele that has the classic '50s pickups in them but I've always admired the wide range humbuckers in recordings that featured them, like with the later-day Pirates (AKA, the backup band for Johnny Kidd in the '60s).
As far as the “vintage” bridge, I kind of wish they had upgraded the steel pieces as opposed to staying vintage correct. I got this used from Guitar Center, and the previous owner did one main modification: he changed out the 10 millimeter screws to shorter ones (because of the old complaint that people's palms were getting scratched on the old screws that came up the top of the pieces).
The problem is I live in an area where the neck moves a lot. So after a few adjustments because of the climate, humidity, etc. I found that over a six-month period that I did need the flexibility the stock 10 millimeter screws provided. Once I got to the top of the 5 millimeter type screws, I found I had to shim the neck. I'll replace those screws fairly soon, it’s one of those things I hadn't gotten around to until recently.
Other than that, it's a workable bridge. It's fairly easy to intonate the guitar, etc. The main problem is that it doesn't go high enough because of the screws but that’s not Squier’s fault. Other than that, it works.
One other thing that I came to like: I got it for the pickups, but ended up loving the neck. In the pictures, the neck looked kind of cool with the square fret markers. After playing it, I really enjoyed how easy it was to play on that neck. It feels a hair bit wider so I've noticed it's really easy to play chords, finger style, or anything on it. That has become one of my favorite features of this guitar.
The old-fashioned tuners; I don't feel about them one way or the other but I love the white finish with the black pickguard.
As far as the Seth Lover designed wide range humbuckers, the Squier version has alnico magnets, not the stock Fender type. To be honest, I'm not expert enough to know the difference, so I'm happy with how it sounds in the context of this guitar.
Wide range humbuckers are not like the Gibson version but I think Seth Lover created a masterpiece. His original design, as this is a Squier copy of it, was to create a humbucker to eliminate the noise but also to retain the basic characteristics of a telecaster sound.
So, the wide ranges sound fuller, with less twang and have a crystal-clear, clean sound. Add a cool chime even with gain and you have a Tele with a lot of the same qualities of a Gibson SG.
One thing that hasn't gotten worse in six months is the lightness. Like I said earlier, it wasn’t a big change but it’s enough to make the Tele feel really comfortable. If it gained another pound or two, it’d be noticeable.
So, it's a guitar that I got for the pickups, as I've said, and ended up liking a lot more of it. The one thing that I didn't like was an aftermarket change and not Squier's fault. That'll be changed in a week or so when the screws arrive.
The wide range humbucker sound is a great variation of the traditional fender sound. It won’t make me give up my traditional CV50, but it’s now the electric guitar that gets played the most.
Al Handa
July 16, 2026
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