Yes.

i would’ve got the players fender strat if i hadn’t seen the schector NJ HSS first but i’d take the players strat over the squire just because you get a 22 fret neck and better hardware and electronics,having said that the schector is way better and more versatile than any fender i’ve ever owned,from blues to fusion to 80’s metal and back

other than the neck pickup, i didn't hear a ton of difference. However i like a fatter fret wire and that orange is rockin. Thank you Shane for doing a southpaw shoot out, i really appreciate it. Cheers!!

One thing to note is the Classic Vibe comes with a real bone nut which is cut much better than the cheap ass plastic "synthetic bone" on the Mexican Fenders. I paid a premium £1,1100 GBP for one of the Ed O'Brien Sustainer strats and it's an amazing guitar but I had to change the nut for a TUSQ graphtec nut within days as it just would not stay in tune. I contacted Fender and they suggested I use nut lubricant (thanks Fender) which is simply not acceptable in 2022. Such a pity as it's a great guitar and in talking to others I've heard similar quality control issues with some Mexican strats. My two classic vibes - tele and strat - have been no trouble at all straight out of the box. Guess the Chinese are making better guitars these days.

@@martin-1965 You paid £11K? MUST have been Custom Shop!

100% agree! My frets on my player tele have done the same but its still a great guitar.

I'm probably going to get custom shop pickups to put in my CV, much cheaper

Have owned 5 of the CV teles both 50& 60 models and absolutely loved all of them. I preferred the 50s version better. I don’t have them anymore because I always gave them to some of my guitar playing patients.

I have a Squier Standard Strat, reckon they are under-rated. I cannot get excited to buy the more expensive CV (with its old school 6 screw tremolo), or the Fender Player (twice the price of the Squier Standard).

I agree. I think there is a very noticeable difference with sound and feel. The player series are great. That being said I really liked my CV strat. There is a big difference in price. In my opinion it is well worth it

Do you mean this in terms of gigging too? I really want something with extremely strong tuning stability and reliability for gigging.

I also was underwhelmed by the American Pro 2 BUT, the neck on those are the best feeling neck I’ve ever felt. They feel better than a custom shop IMO.

@@mikepj1025 100%, that's the best neck in the industry for me. I've just put one on a Strat build because I'm intending to sell the Tele and can't go without the neck haha.

well said!

Do you think either are good options for a gigging guitarist? I'm thinking tuning stability, electronics reliability, etc.

I’ve bought new CV70 a month ago and was surprised that it has bridge tone control

I love the Squier! Got an old 2005 Standard that IMO is just as good than my Fenders and you can’t beat the old MIJ 80s!!! I’ll take my Squiers anyway over the $$$$ models🤪🤪🤪 but with that said it does have the Seymour Duncan Little 59s

@@kirkscobey3031 Yes those 80s MIJ/MIK Stratocasters are awesome!!! I had a MIK Strat years ago and I wish I still had it!!!! You don’t have to spend a ton of money to get a really good playing Strat (even though I have😆😆😆)!

yeah I have a bunch of "cheaper" guitars and I keep wanting to buy a more expensive one, but after I finally soldered in a new 5-way switch and fixed the shielding, I just can't justify buying an expensive Strat over my CV one. (my CV strat the 5 way switch felt nice but there was always issue when switching to the neck pickup half the time it would be silent, the switch was just bent weird inside so replaced it)

$500 for the CV? Keep going as they are getting up around the $800 mark now and prices are insane...makes me turn off Fender sometimes....I remember getting a CV for about $400 years ago and at that price, they're great...

I agree. I bought many entry level guitars over the years for fun. And the Chinese ones never had anything wrong with them. The indonesian factories on the other hand ship them barely playable. From bridge problems to massive finish flaws to wiring problems, ground issues or no grounding at all etc.

@@kevinstarofficial o usually had electronic problems with them

Final Cut Pro on a 27" iMac.

Just replace the block of the cv with a big steel/brass block worth 15 usd.

Yep. I've got an '03 Am Std and three CV strats - 2 50s and 1 60s (the better, MIC, first generation). The An Std is great but the CVs have more "character" and are more appealing to me.

I have an old VM body that I customised with a new neck and electronics. I kept the bridge but replaced the saddles with something brass. My only criticism is that it sounds a bit lacking in body compared to my Japanese and US Strats. It's not something that would stop me using it live but I usually leave it hanging on the wall as a guitar to grab when I want to practise.

You sure about that?

Yes, check out the problem on KZfaq. Think of it like this: imagine that the guitar is lying on a sponge mat (the weighing machine). The mat will be compressed a little. Now imagine adding a second sponge mat underneath the first (the carpet). Both sponge mats will be compressed, but the compression of the first (the weighing machine) will be reduced. Hence the reading on the scale will be lowered. Malcolm MSc,BA.

Modern fenders are mostly made by Mexican workers in either the US or Mexico factories. The only reason the USA models are better is because Fender makes them better to differentiate them from MiM guitars. The Ensanda factory is capable of making any guitar the Corona factory is.

Gretsch do lefty Orange guitars.

@@craigthomson3621 True

I love all 3 of my American Professional II Strats SSS and HSS, and am not trying to be confrontational in the least when I make this comment...Do you think part of the problems you've experienced are because you are a lefty and, as you stated, they just wired them like for the right-hand version?? If the Dark Night had been wired correctly?? Do you think you would you have been happy with it? I did take note that you also had to mod the Player to conform to Lefty standards (Which I think SUCKS!!! One of the reasons I do most of what I do right-handed is because the world is made for Righty's. The other is, in my father's last years he finally admitted that every time I tried to do anything left-handed, which was natural for me, he and my mother both immediately took the pencil, crayon, fork, you get the idea, out of my left hand and made me use my right hand. I'm in my mid-70's, so it was definitely a different era, logic, and thought process than the way most here have been raised.). I'm just wondering what your opinion would have been if the Dark Night had been wired correctly.

Hi@@lostreb thanks for chipping in. I don't consider you comments in anyway confrontational I'm 100% sure it's because I'm a lefty. I just don't think that they get the same QC at the factory or the dealers. I mean they probably get tested but not handled as much and actually play tested if that makes sense. I would have kept the Dark Night, the fault was not the pots as one of the attractions of the Pro 2 is fender are using reverse taper pots in the lefties. The issue was the extra pick up configs with the push/push pot in the up position didn't match the spec at all, I had no neck and bridge, no all 3 on. This was the last of the 3 guitars so it was at that point I reached the end of my tether with the range. The other 2 were Jazzmasters. The 1st was the sunburst and a right reject, that arrived with the fretboard so dry it looked like mouldy chocolate and there were actual cracks along the edge of the board. The volume and tone knob screw holes were all chewed up like someone had used an oversized driver (or a spoon) to install them. Plus the action of the push/push switch was in in reverse, when up it was doing what it should have been when down and vise versa. Next I get another JM, beautiful looking Miami Blue, which had faulty wiring in the rhythm circuit. The sound would cut out unless I applied pressure to the pickguard. I was happy for the dealer to repair it but it was s faulty part they said it needed to go back to Fender. That's when I went for the Dark Night Strat. So after 3 guitars from 2 separate dealers I was done. (For now at least) I did write a reasoned account to Fender, who apologised but effectively blamed the dealers. So the compound effect of multiple failures and the lack of contrition or ownership of the problem from Fender, I'm left not wanting to invest to heavily in the brand. Had I bought the Dark Night 1st would I have sent it back for the dealer to rewire or even done it myself?, quite probably yes. It's an odd thing with pots in lefty guitars. There are generally 3 ways different manufacturers do it. 1st and most common they use standard logarithmic pots, wire them so the direction of the rotation is correct (roll up for louder/down for quieter) this unfortunate puts the more aggressive part of the taper between 1-2 and the pot feels like an on off switch. 2nd some use standard logarithmic pots, wired so the taper is correct but the rotation is then backwards (roll down to turn up, roll up to turn down) Gibson, Eastman, Gordon Smith, wire lefties like this. 3rd some use reverse or antilog pots which are correct for lefties. Taper and rotation. Suhr, Fender pro2/ultra/custom shop. It is frustrating being a lefty in a righty world sometimes. Can openers, scissors, ergonomic mouse and PC gaming keyboards Lol. I bought a new car last year I thought the fuel tank fill point was broken as I couldn't get the pump nozzle in fully, it's just angled to accept the nozzle from the right hand side. I don't mind being a lefty in general, in fact when it comes to guitars I would probably be bankrupt if I had the choices right handed players have. Plus I'm pretty good at soldering/modifying now and I have never had any issue with the concept of buying blind, due to the general lack of availability in stores. I'm mid 50s now so didn't get pushed to be right handed. Has your experience resulted in you being able to use both left a right equally.

@@jeffroq First, thank you for the detailed information in your reply to my comment. I did not expect it. And, I do appreciate you detailing the major disappointments from Fender with their QC for Lefty's. I'm really disappointed the Push-Push was not working properly for your Dark Night Start. However, and I do not say this in a...well...I hope this does not come out in an extremely negative way...I find it extremely disappointing that there is not the same attention paid to the Lefty Strats that were paid to the (as far as Fender is concerned anyway) normal Strats. I guess I'm just so old (in my mid-70's so I'm old and set in my ways) that I just "expect" the same QC on Lefty's as they give to all their other guitars. Obviously, I'm one of the few that actually "expect" them to do that. But I had to voice that "expectation." The information you provided has been more than enlightening. I'm so old that, while I knew that being a Lefty comes with...I'm gonna go with "Challenges"...for the sake of being polite. To be a bit more blunt...I find it offensive you've had so many disappointments. The first Fender I played in 1962 was a Jaguar. While I appreciated the quality, I instinctively knew that was not the Fender for me. I also tried a Jazzmaster. (In all fairness, I also tried a Telecaster, but I was like "Oh Hell No!!!!" No offense intended to all the Tele faithful.) That's when I learned that the Fender for me was a Stratocaster. In answer to your question if I can play either Right or Left!?!?!? No way. I can only play Right. Please keep in mind it was drilled into me from for longer than I can actually remember (while I do have glimpses of I'll go with flashbacks, of when I would try to do something and I would be..."Corrected"...and it was not always in a gentle manner) to "NOT" do things the way (Lefty) that came naturally for me. So...I have to say this. I honestly feel that playing "Right-Handed" was actually a benefit for me, simply because, my Left Hand has more dexterity than my right hand!!!! I hope that makes sense. My fingers just fell into place on the fretboard naturally. (Now when it comes to things like chopping wood or, in my younger self, hitting a baseball, or lifting things??? Anything that "really" counts??? I'm all LEFT!!!!) I honestly think when it comes to guitar??? Being Left-Oriented has been a benefit. That's just for me personally.

Shoddy

@@marcsullivan7987 thank you

@@flyguyty33 sorry. English teacher (and guitarist)

I'm thinkn it's more about the difference in weight, than how accurately you can weigh them? The difference will be approx. the same, regardless of some almost unmeasurable constant.