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So I just got a used one of these, made in China in 2013 with the brass saddles. It is heavier than I expected but what surprised me is just how better it both felt and sounded than my American made Vintage 50s tele. It is the original 50s vintage and not the new Vintage 2. The Squire Classic Vibe 50s plays better, has a much better finished neck, and sounds the same. I sold the Fender and kept the Squire. Great video and so easy to digest and follow and also fun to watch

Just got this exact t one on a trade. Wow it is amazing. Way to go fender!!!!

I liked set B all along. Sometimes it was quite close, but most of the time Bs were fuller and "sweeter" sounding to me...

I'm convinced the natural finish is made only to become a clone of Malcolm Young’s Beast. I know I'm gonna do that, at least.

Go to a music store play both you will see the difference, to me a $1000 is no big deal

I have the Epi and I have a Gibson LP standard 50s with P90s. Basically, the Epi is one of the best deals around at that price. It gets you 85-90% the way there in terms of tone and is an excellent choice for someone who maybe hasn’t tried P90s yet. That said, I think the Special is Gibson’s best value guitar. There is little to no difference in tone between a Special and an LP standard with P90s but it’s $1000 less. As always with these comparisons, if you have the extra money to spend, the Gibson is a great guitar at a relatively reasonable price while the Epiphone is a really good guitar at a great price. The biggest difference is in the way they feel to the player while there would be no difference to an audience in a gig situation.

In both cases, you are getting what you paid for. It's apparent right off the bat the the USA neck has had a lot more time put into it. On my last Squire Strat, the fingerboard looked great, whatever the wood was, but the first time I oiled it, the brown tint came off on my cleaning rag. What was left looked very pale, almost yellowish. Fortunately I was able to get a replacement from GC. I went with a maple neck American Standard that time. And I still have that one.

I have the Epiphone TV Yellow and it's an amazing guitar. It does everything I'd expect to. I also have a Gibson both great guitars but. In my opinion price wise Epiphone. Gibson just has more balls and more low end through a marshall amp. You can tell the difference. Gibson is a higher end guitar. Epiphones are a economical guitar for the masses and I'll stand by mine anytime. They are just that good.

I know I’m a lil bit later to this but I have to say: besides the spec differences, they do not reflects on the sound in the same way… CV caps are a lil more brighter, which is good to me… we can feel the slight differences while in clean and crunch. But when in high gain… never mind. The difference disappears… and I listened using headphones, think about listening to it live… CV is a very good guitar and owns nothing to a Fender in terms of the sound it delivers…I’m from Brazil and the prices differences here is much more huge than in US… we are talking about 4k for a CV and 18k for an AM Pro in Brazilian bucks… more than 4 times the price…

One trick pony

Great review!

In the end, just buy the Gibson.

I need that video with all the upgrades and modifications that you were talking about at the end. This video is really thorough as well, nice work.

Pine. It might be vintage or whatever, but it is REALLY tough to avoid accidentally denting pine. It’s one of the reasons I prefer ash or alder bodies. Sure, every wood can be dented, but it seems that with pine, if the body touches anything other than flesh, body parts or surfaces softer than pine, it seems like it will ding and dent. Check out Boca Brothers car reviews. I swear you two voiceovers are the same.

I’m gonna get this 3 colour sunburst with the rosewood board. Gonna go to a few guitar shops to find one that plays the best, and then put a mint green pickguard on it ❤

Call me crazy but I got a thin wipeable mohawk Laquer for one laurel fretboard the spray Laquered another , razor leveling until grain filled then left a thin film, it comes off frets with no issue like a a maple neck, no buzzing problems on that one. The only way to make laurel look pretty all the time without oiljng every day and i like that vintage looking Rick thing.

Is there anyone here who knows if there is a big difference between this guitar and the G6131 Malcolm edition guitar. The 6131 cost a hell of a lot more money..

Hi Guys, I have one of these guitars, bought recently and I absolutely LOVE it! Unfortunately when I was an apprentice in 1961 and was 16, I only earnt £4 per week and the guitar was around £150! There was no way I could possible afford one of these at that time. I think it is great and nostalgic that we can now buy one of these. There are some modern features like the rolled edge fingerboard which i love also. I am 81 and still play the Shadows and Spotnicks music in clubs, what a lovely way to live!!!!! Many thanks for a great and honest review! This is a great guitar!

I have CV 60’s Thinline. The fit & finish is amazing. And the neck has that roasted maple look. It’s a great guitar for $450.00. I’ve always been a Strat guy, this is my first Tele. I love it.

I have one (natural finish) arriving day after tomorrow.

How's the action and string tension ,,, rubbish

I watch guitar review videos all the time. My pet peeve; guys that use a "review" to show off their best licks. This is a FANTASTIC review!!!! You have set a higher bar man. Totally pro. Unfortunately I wanted you to say the epiphone was the best choice but hey! I can't have everything! Thanks!

A is fuller sounding, B is more jangling in sound

I had an epiphone in high school and it was trash tbh. Sounded bad, honky and felt horrible. Still played it. I eventually got a Gibson as an adult and tbh, it’s a night and day difference. It’s an absolute joy to play. I always hated the plastic feel of the epiphone

Nice in-depth video. Pickups aren't 'real' jazzmaster pickups sadly, but P90. Curious what the pickup upgrade will do with the sound!

Dude at 00:28 looks kinda like Tom Hardy. Lol

Did you use an AI voice generator to make this video? You never change your intonation like an AI generated voice

The price difference isn't justified if you are a player, the law of diminishing returns plays a huge part as you pay a premium for the Gibson logo on the headstock. Even if you spend another $400 dollars on upgrades the Epi still wins in value. Only thing is if you're going to sell it then only then buy the Gibson,

Thats the trouble going down the pickup rabbit hole, you dont know til you install them and live with them for awhile. Love the ts set in my tele though!

I have had both, comparable, as in they look the same, plug in the Squire….. then the MIA Pro II Save up for the Pro 2

throw a bigsby on there and i bet the head dive goes away

Nice review! I just ordered myself one of these. Do you know what value the pots are? Are they 1meg like regular Jazzmasters?

If it's a made in china squier here, might be worth mentioning that the new ones are made in indonesia with different pickups to the old chinese models since 2019 or so. Great video though, trying to decide whether to go for the squier classic vibe custom 60s or a performer model at the moment

i have one chance to buy a forever guitar. financial reasons, and I'm moving out of the states. I think I'm going to go with the Gibson. just because i will keep it for the rest of my life. I used to have the Epiphone version, ended up selling it cause I'm stupid. Now im just going to buy the Gibson and make it one and done. I play dreampop and shoegaze, not exactly the best guitar for that genre but the Epiphone worked pretty good for it. I don't ride a trem arm very much so that's not much of an issue for me. This is a very versatile guitar and I think It covers way more than an offset guitar. Love the sound of the epiphone, think I will love the Gibson sound more.

Got mine today. It's heavenly.

Killer review... Love it but I'm on the fence still thinking on lines of a Ric 1993 plus.

It's actually $2299 as of today. Oof.

Made in China 🇨🇳 😵‍💫👎💩🚽

I will buy the American Performer. Over the squier and the American Pro ll.

Give me the Squier

The original for $20 is pretty good

This was a great review I am glad that you played the guitar and its natural state, jangly and pristine I don't understand why everyone has to put distortion on everything all the time!!! the sound of the 12-string on the background music fantastic!!!👏👏👏👏

I haven't read the comments or got to the real section yet. Overall I prefer set A. In any case, if this wasn't a side by side comparison I wouldn't be able to hear a difference.

I am from Ottawa, Canada. My friends and I travelled to Miami in 87 for a competition. Looking for a place to hang out, came across a bar. They had The Breeze playing. We had met and got to be pretty good friends with band members. (they helped "rescue" me from being constantly hit on by a gay bar patron) Is this the same Breeze that had a "super religious" guitarist, that was amazing., but being religious, he never played on a sunday?? All I can say about that trip, is that Miami in 87 was wild! Amazing ppl at that particular bar, sure saved me from that guy that wouldnt leave me alone. I should add, my two friends, and myself, use wheelchairs to get around. The Breeze I saw, were an amazing band. \m/

The best review so far, thanks! How did you like the PV65 pickups?

From a few feet away you can't tell the difference????😅😆😜

2008 - 2018 Classic Vibe guitars were manufactured in China. In 2019 CV guitars manufacturing moved to Indonesia. In 2020-21 some CV's were also made in China. Pre 2019 had the neck pickup mounted to the body. 2019-current have the neck pickup mounted in the pickguard. 3:23 I have never seen a CV 50's Telecaster with an 8 hole pickguard from either Country. I had a 2015 and sold it just because I knew a guy looking for one. I missed having it around and recently bought a 2013. All versions are wonderful guitars.

What a beauty!!!

I Had a squier classic vibe strat 2023 I replaced the pickups with a 57/62 loaded fender pick guard ultimately I like the stock pickups just as well and in some ways better in this tele comparison I'd say the Texas specials sound compressed on the clean and more complex beyond crunch I now have the classic vibe tele I'll keep my stock pickups over the Texas special however there's also the saddle material choice and that as well as string size the Texas special got fresh strings I think if the stock pickups would of got the same string size and fresh strings the contrast would be more apparent stock pickups ni e and chimney great for cleans and a little past breakup Texas special not so treble but a lot more useful than the stock with alot if distortion the Texas specials may be best with steel saddles either way the classic vibe series are all I need and by the way if you go to get a fender player watch out for the neck not being in line with the body

Love that the American Original II is based on the 61' and not the 65' like the first gen. Much cooler version and more like the old AVRI models. Great review