I'm picking one up Saturday, just played one today at the GC by me and I was blown away that it was a squire. The frets are incredible and the roasted maple fingerboard is so tasty, damn shame that they blackened the headstock on both models but hey, for a sub $400 guitar you're getting a lot of really decent features and a really nice neck profile.
I just got mine from Sweetwater and my Frets are sharp too. And the bridge was not balanced for string tension, Would not maintain a tune. Had to loosen the Trem Spring adjustment about a 1/2 a turn to level the bridge. Now I'm getting ready to replace the bridge saddles, blocks and all screws with FR Original and FU - TONE Titanium blocks and bolts in Gold 😎 Along with a brass claw and a brass big block.. Got more money in trem parts than I paid for the whole guitar🎸 And throwing on a set of Ratio locking tuners
@@justinbishopmusic I hope so, When I'm done with my part swap I'm taking it to my local guitar shop and having them do all of the fret and neck adjustment, Set the intonation , Polish, level and grind the Fret sprouts. Should play like a $3000 strat For about 1K total investment.
Lots of QC issues in guitars last 2 years with Covid. Most of the stuff can be fixed except for major things like the neck being warped. Nice video Rock on 🤘
Mine was almost ok out of the box but ....they setup it with only 2 springs on with bridge (1 was loose) and I had to learn how to setup this floyd very quickly ;)
Will a 3000 grit sandpaper really smooth out the metal frets ? I thought sandpaper only worked on wood ? I have to try now to brush metal with sandpaper haha, I did not think that would work. I went with the Jackson SDX Adrian Smith signature guitar instead of this Squier, I was choosing between the two a couple of months back. I think the Jackson is worth 70-100$ more since you get a reinforced neck, compound radius fretboard, a bit more versatile with HSS instead of HH pickups and the overall quality felt a bit better on the Jackson strat. Otherwise they are similar, both designed by Fender. The Jackson in my opinion also looks better especially in the white colour with the black pickguard and also the headstock is the smaller one that came before the 70s strats which looks a bit more fitting to the guitars body than this oversized one they use on this Contemporary Squier, the Classic Vibe 70s and Fender Strat 70s also have the bigger headstock. Everything was setup nice out of the package on my Jackson and the first thing I did was swapping out the Jackson humbucker in the bridge for a Dimarzio Super Distortion, I have not decided yet which single coils to swap the Jackson singles for in the middle and neck position, I would love some suggestions. I love playing Maiden on this guitar.
The sand paper worked for me! I wouldn’t do it if you have a bound fretboard or if the fret sprout is so bad it’s visible. But, yeah…enough passes and it will feel smoother. With a metal file, you can smooth faster, but also it’s easier to put a big gash in the neck if you slip. I got a sanding block in a guitar kit from Amazon that works too.
I have the older Contemporary in white and still love it. The frets on that one were great, I just changed the pickups. Is that an oversized headstock on that one, I am not a big fan of them.
What pickups did you choose ? Yeah it is an oversized headstock , Fender started with the bigger headstock in the 70s, so Squier Classic Vibe 70s and this "new" Contemporary has the bigger headstock. I chose the Jackson SDX Adrian Smith signature guitar instead of this Squier. I felt the Jackson had better quality and a nicer reinforced neck with a compound radius fretboard so the fretboard feels better to play chords closer to the nut and then feels faster due to the radius changing closer to the bridge where you are soloing. The Jackson SDX strat also came with a HSS setup so it felt a bit more versatile, otherwise both guitars are pretty similar. Both designed by Fender. I swapped out the Jackson bridge pickup for a Dimarzio Super Distortion, I have not decided yet what pickups I will go for in the two single coil positions. Any suggestions ? Adrian Smith from Iron Maiden has also got a Dimarzio Super Distortion in the bridge, he then has Fender Noiseless "single" coils in the middle and at the neck, basically stacked single coils so they are closer to humbuckers than single coils. Im not sure if I want Fender singles but I really like Iron Maidens guitar sound.
That "$279 brand new great deal sale price" would most likely be the reason the frets were all sharp. Cheap because it was 'B' grade stock, and the vendor should have communicated that to you.
I guess I had in mind a Rhett Shull video where one of his Novo guitars developed some fret sprout after he moved into a new house and didn’t have a humidifier in his guitar room during winter.
I wish they offered it in Olympic White.
❤
Me as well.
I'm picking one up Saturday, just played one today at the GC by me and I was blown away that it was a squire. The frets are incredible and the roasted maple fingerboard is so tasty, damn shame that they blackened the headstock on both models but hey, for a sub $400 guitar you're getting a lot of really decent features and a really nice neck profile.
"I'm not a shredder." Proceeds to melt faces.
I just got mine from Sweetwater and my Frets are sharp too. And the bridge was not balanced for string tension, Would not maintain a tune. Had to loosen the Trem Spring adjustment about a 1/2 a turn to level the bridge.
Now I'm getting ready to replace the bridge saddles, blocks and all screws with FR Original and FU - TONE Titanium blocks and bolts in Gold 😎
Along with a brass claw and a brass big block.. Got more money in trem parts than I paid for the whole guitar🎸 And throwing on a set of Ratio locking tuners
It’ll be great when you get finished!
@@justinbishopmusic I hope so, When I'm done with my part swap I'm taking it to my local guitar shop and having them do all of the fret and neck adjustment, Set the intonation , Polish, level and grind the Fret sprouts. Should play like a $3000 strat For about 1K total investment.
I saw this guitar online for $249 new and I managed to get the shop selling these to get me a better offer at $215. Great deal for a great guitar
Let us know if the frets are ok.
@@justinbishopmusic sure! I’m receiving it on Friday. So I’ll let you know how it goes 👍
@@ThrashMetalAJM how is it
@@ThrashMetalAJM hello??? How is it? Are you not going to let us know how the frets are??? Did you die?
@@ThrashMetalAJMI second how did it come out lol? I’m thinking of getting one
Great review! Great Playing! Thanx Justin
I’ve never been to active pick ups either. Those new fishman like they use on the prophecy guitars are something to check out though.
Lots of QC issues in guitars last 2 years with Covid. Most of the stuff can be fixed except for major things like the neck being warped.
Nice video Rock on 🤘
UA-cam has saved me a ton of money over the years by teaching me how to fix guitar stuff!
@@justinbishopmusic that’s great to hear!
Same here, some amazing techs and builders on here.
I’m on my 2nd guitar build now
Yeah I got one of those Fender limited edition Strats in Ferrari red, and the middle strings buzzed like crazy at the bridge when played open!
These seem like the more "cost effective" Charvel options. Not a bad idea or option to have.
Yeah I think that’s what they were going for. It’s solid.
Mine was almost ok out of the box but ....they setup it with only 2 springs on with bridge (1 was loose) and I had to learn how to setup this floyd very quickly ;)
Will a 3000 grit sandpaper really smooth out the metal frets ? I thought sandpaper only worked on wood ? I have to try now to brush metal with sandpaper haha, I did not think that would work.
I went with the Jackson SDX Adrian Smith signature guitar instead of this Squier, I was choosing between the two a couple of months back. I think the Jackson is worth 70-100$ more since you get a reinforced neck, compound radius fretboard, a bit more versatile with HSS instead of HH pickups and the overall quality felt a bit better on the Jackson strat. Otherwise they are similar, both designed by Fender.
The Jackson in my opinion also looks better especially in the white colour with the black pickguard and also the headstock is the smaller one that came before the 70s strats which looks a bit more fitting to the guitars body than this oversized one they use on this Contemporary Squier, the Classic Vibe 70s and Fender Strat 70s also have the bigger headstock.
Everything was setup nice out of the package on my Jackson and the first thing I did was swapping out the Jackson humbucker in the bridge for a Dimarzio Super Distortion, I have not decided yet which single coils to swap the Jackson singles for in the middle and neck position, I would love some suggestions. I love playing Maiden on this guitar.
The sand paper worked for me! I wouldn’t do it if you have a bound fretboard or if the fret sprout is so bad it’s visible. But, yeah…enough passes and it will feel smoother. With a metal file, you can smooth faster, but also it’s easier to put a big gash in the neck if you slip. I got a sanding block in a guitar kit from Amazon that works too.
I will buy one of those in a few days. How stable is the Floyd??? for metal songs
So far, very good. Only very minor tweaks to fine tuners required after lots of play and bending, dive bombs, etc.
@@justinbishopmusic thanks for your answer!
Pretty stable when it's out of the box. But it will die in a year or less.
@@justinbishopmusic what Floyd does it have?
@@randytheracer3664 it's the cheaper "licensed" version. Mine is holding up well, though some people say the screws are easy to strip.
I wish they offered the Contemporary Strat in HH HT and the Contemporary Jazzmaster in HH HT. I would probably never use a FR. Im not a shredder
I have the older Contemporary in white and still love it. The frets on that one were great, I just changed the pickups. Is that an oversized headstock on that one, I am not a big fan of them.
What pickups did you choose ? Yeah it is an oversized headstock , Fender started with the bigger headstock in the 70s, so Squier Classic Vibe 70s and this "new" Contemporary has the bigger headstock. I chose the Jackson SDX Adrian Smith signature guitar instead of this Squier.
I felt the Jackson had better quality and a nicer reinforced neck with a compound radius fretboard so the fretboard feels better to play chords closer to the nut and then feels faster due to the radius changing closer to the bridge where you are soloing. The Jackson SDX strat also came with a HSS setup so it felt a bit more versatile, otherwise both guitars are pretty similar. Both designed by Fender.
I swapped out the Jackson bridge pickup for a Dimarzio Super Distortion, I have not decided yet what pickups I will go for in the two single coil positions. Any suggestions ? Adrian Smith from Iron Maiden has also got a Dimarzio Super Distortion in the bridge, he then has Fender Noiseless "single" coils in the middle and at the neck, basically stacked single coils so they are closer to humbuckers than single coils. Im not sure if I want Fender singles but I really like Iron Maidens guitar sound.
How do you get that sound? What gear do you use?
It’s a Neural DSP plug-in…John Petrucci neuraldsp.com/plugins/archetype-petrucci?g_acctid=332-563-6797&g_adgroupid=141794294843&g_adid=635389672940&g_adtype=search&g_campaign=%23GAds+-+Search+-+US+-+DSA+-+tROAS+-+2022-10&g_campaignid=18527578260&g_keyword=&g_keywordid=dsa-1456167871416&g_network=g&gclid=CjwKCAiAwc-dBhA7EiwAxPRylC_lTslNA9XofnWhHDgAu4yfyY-oJG0XExOiNhxFL6WGOUo7iJ_u_hoCQzcQAvD_BwE
Is it a original Floyd Rose?
No, it’s licensed. But it holds tuning well. I got rid of this one and got another one. Frets were perfect on it.
That "$279 brand new great deal sale price" would most likely be the reason the frets were all sharp. Cheap because it was 'B' grade stock, and the vendor should have communicated that to you.
You’re probably right
$150 off the regular price just to sand down some frets is not so bad
Reaction alip bata final countdown or carry...
Thanks I’ll check those out next.
I traded a guy an oz & gave him $40 for this guitar & I have no regrets 😂
Sir please... React alip new guitar takamine
Good idea! I’ll check it out.
👍🏼👍👍🏻👍🏼👍👍🏻👍🏼👍👍🏻😁❤❤
Guitars that are built in a climate controlled low humidity environment, will not experience fret sprout.
I guess I had in mind a Rhett Shull video where one of his Novo guitars developed some fret sprout after he moved into a new house and didn’t have a humidifier in his guitar room during winter.
Lmfao that intro
😂😂😂
It's called a set bro. Nice e guitar. But you complain to much.
You’re welcome! 😂
You are complaining too. Nice job.
@@socialdef3 I just want to complain about all this COMPLAINING...so there.