Squier CV Jaguar, Your Experience?

srato

Hi,

I'm thinking of buying a Jaguar but Fender prices are ridiculously high (as with most music gear!).  So I turn to Squier and I see they offer a CV Jaguar.  What can I expect from it quality wise?  Thank you!

Cheers

Gerz6558

I've had a vintage modified jag (which these CV's have evolved into).  Maybe expect a bit of a lottery in terms of fit and finish if you're buying blind, as you would expect with most brands in this price range.

The one I got I was very pleased with, and set me off on a jaguar journey through all of the price points. I never felt like the vintage modified was a million miles away from the more expensive variants. It was very good and no real need to mod anything on it apart from maybe the bridge. These CV's have addressed the bridge mod though, so you should be good to dip your toe in.

simonhpieman

Same as Gerz, had a Vintage Modified in Surf Green. LOVELY neck. One of those guitars that makes you noodle all day. Trem was good, pickups sounded good. Pots etc. were cheap and had poor range of response but they work as expected.

I did change the bridge out for an AV65 one but I think mine had been fitted with a super cheap mustang style which was super crappy. Everyone hates regular Jag bridges for some reason and immediately swaps them out so I got it for a tenner. Boom!

The only other thing I noticed was that the chrome control plates were of a lower quality than Japanese or USA - almost like it was 3d printed or something... Kind of wobbly rather than smooth.

But overall, one hell of a lot of guitar for the £250 I ended up paying for mine used.

PeachGuitarsRyan

I've been really impressed with the Squier CV range, especially the offsets. Like the VM series before they seem to have paid a lot more attention to the finer details that maybe get overlooked in other Squier models, every one I have played has been great right from the box. A totally usable guitar that punches well above its price tag, and it's a great starting point if you fancied investing a little into modifying it! 

mark123

Owned one for a short while
looked cool as as owt ,played nice ..but....
sounded meh !

Both classic vibe tele custom and strat sounds blow it away 

sorry it may not be what you  want to hear ,but thats mhop.

JayGee

I have the CV/VM Jaguar’s cousin in the form of a VM Jazzmaster. It’s not perfect but the issues it has are characteristic of the design rather than specific to this instance, and as such you’ll find them in considerably more expensive versions of the Jag/JM.

So while it wasn’t strictly necessary I found shimming the neck a bit to increase the break angle over the bridge made it work rather better with modern string gauges and I find myself having to wind the bridge height adjustment screws up a bit now and again because the action has lowered itself sufficiently to make things a bit rattly and cause string bends above the 14th fret or so to “fret out”.

The good news is that it also has all the Good Points of its more expensive brethren - quirky charm, a distinctive voice of its own, a musically effective tremolo system which (IMHO) combines the best features of the Strat and Bigsby designs, interesting, flexible and surprisingly usable electrics, and effortlessly cool looks.

Not necessarily for everyone, not necessarily a great first or only guitar, but bloody brilliant fun things to have around, and an insanely good value way of getting a bit of offset action into your guitar paying life. I wouldn’t be without mine, and I really must get around to ordering up that Staytrem bridge some day...

srato

Thank you all! 

I'm ready to have it modded by my luthier if some problems are too annoying (the bridge comes to mind or shimming the neck to increase downward pressure on the bridge).  I'd like to still use a 10 gauge but maybe 11s are more appropriate?  I'll see after this crisis.

What I like in this guitar is its specific sound.  I already have a Tele but the Jaguar sound could be better for some songs.

Gerz6558

Although the shorter scale can take 11 gauges well, you can still use 10's fine if you wanted. 

The bridge on the CV is a step ahead of the previous vintage modified, much like a cheaper mustang/staytrem variant. You might find you wont need to change it at all.   Pickups on these are supposed to be decent too, with the bridge being hotter than the neck. 

I'll be looking to get one of these sooner or later, patiently waiting for the shell pink fsr from Andertons. 

simonhpieman

srato said:

Thank you all! 

I'm ready to have it modded by my luthier if some problems are too annoying (the bridge comes to mind or shimming the neck to increase downward pressure on the bridge).  I'd like to still use a 10 gauge but maybe 11s are more appropriate?  I'll see after this crisis.

What I like in this guitar is its specific sound.  I already have a Tele but the Jaguar sound could be better for some songs.

I'd try 11s before discounting them as the shorter scale really does lend itself to them well. If you like the 60s sound and want some real thick twangy tone, try flatwound 11s, too. A match made in heaven, though not so good for bends due to the wound G. 11s can help you avoid needing to shim, though if I remember rightly my Squier Jag came with a factory shim anyway... It was a long time ago, I might be wrong. Shimming is easy peasy anyway, no need for luthiers. Just cut up a business card into a little strip and stick it in the neck pocket nearest the neck pickup.

Re the sinking bridge issue @JayGee had, that can be solved by setting the bridge height then applying some threadlocker (a kind of removable glue) to the bridge posts to stop it slipping. One of the cheap bridges I've had have suffered from this. The AV65 replacement didn't. Ymmv.

Mike and Mike's Guitar Bar have some great articles to help you understand the unique "issues" of Offsets and how to easily set them up.