Great for the Money, but Overhyped
First, the good:cool tinted nitro gloss neck, beautiful body, lightweight, good bridge, more than adequate pickups, and it has many authentic details (like a five-hole pickguard) that you'll definitely appreciate if you're into vintage gear. And let's not forget: it's cheap. The average cost of one of these things, adjusted for inflation, would have been around $42 in 1953. That's amazing. For that price, you really can't complain.
...which is what I'm going to do. The thing about Squiers is they are hit-and-miss. If you can get a Classic Vibe that's a hit, it is around the quality of a MIM guitar--and if it's a Classic Vibe, it has upgraded hardware and cool features (like the nitro gloss neck and five-hole pickguard). If yours is a dud, then it's still pretty good--Fender subjects all these guitars to a quality check, after all.
This one I have is... so-so. The neck needs a little work. The frets aren't quite level (10th one is a little high) and the intonation is a little off. The tuners are serviceable, but telecasters are famous for their ability to stay in tune, and this one kind of has a tendency to go out of tune. The B tuner especially is kinda jumpy, and changing the strings and cleaning the nut hasn't really fixed this.
A fret polish, a good setup, and maybe a new set of tuners would address most of my issues. That's another $120 or so. I guess it's worth it. I'm tempted, though, to just spend another $100 or so and replace the whole neck.Kind of a shame, because these guys are famous for playing great right out of the box.
My advice is to buy guitars from a guitar store. They do QC, and they setup the guitars before you buy them. Importantly, you can get a feel for if you've got a good Classic Vibe or just a so-so one. Don't get me wrong, you can make a so-so one work, and I'm happy enough with my so-so one. Just need to set aside a little more money to get it to where it really feels good to play.
Verified purchase: YesCondition: Pre-owned