New pickguard for the CV 50's Strat

[NWBasser]

Deeaa, I agree with you that the neck makes or breaks the guitar and so your points about the fret/neck quality of the imports seems very reasonable. I'd guess that the fret material is probably the same stuff on either MIA or import, but maybe the wood quality and/or finishing processes may have a significant effect on the stability of the frets.

FWIW - I recently played a CV jazz bass when I was auditioning amphs and was very, very impressed. This particular one had a nice flame pattern to the neck and very low action - even in a Guitar Center!

[deeaa*]

Deeaa, I agree with you that the neck makes or breaks the guitar and so your points about the fret/neck quality of the imports seems very reasonable. I'd guess that the fret material is probably the same stuff on either MIA or import, but maybe the wood quality and/or finishing processes may have a significant effect on the stability of the frets.

I don't think they are anywhere near US strat quality for instance...neither is the wood even close to MIM as far as I can tell. Again, this is NOT to say I don't like them - quite the contrary, I think they are very nice indeed (Mine is a Classic Vibe 2009 model) - BUT if you compare the frets on a MIA or MIM to these, you instantly see that not only the fret profiles are quite different, the metal is clearly quite a bit more brassy/yellowish and not nearly as shiny; obviously of much lesser quality metal.

The woods are looking fine but the lacquering is really thick in places, making it hard to see what it is really like, but I would guess the woods they use in the Americas is also quite different batch than what they use in China...they likely do not ship them accross the pond but each use more local wood varieties.

So I'd be amazed if they have ANYTHING more in common than the basic shape really. You get what you play for, and while it's a good deal for the money, it's starting to look like I could not recommend one for any player who really plays a lot and needs a really stable instrument. Better off getting some old guitar which has proven to be stable and has good quality frets.

But, I do like my CV neck...it's really too bad if it will require a fret job soon. I'd be leery of sanding off the thick lacquer too. The emerging woods might react quite adversely to the climate here when exposed. Maybe it'll work as a backup guitar for a good while still, but right now I'm already quite keeping it off the circulation. I have played one entire gig on it and it worked well, but now it looks like it's gonna need some neck adjustment again, which also indicates little less stable neck material.

[Eric***]

You get what you play for

I don't imagine you intended that as a pun, but I kind of like it anyway. Now if only I knew what it meant...

[duhvoodooman***]

....if you compare the frets on a MIA or MIM to these, you instantly see that not only the fret profiles are quite different, the metal is clearly quite a bit more brassy/yellowish and not nearly as shiny; obviously of much lesser quality metal.

As a chemist, I can tell you that inferring the quality of metal just from its physical appearance is not a valid approach. Physical properties and appearance are distinctly different parameters. While the fret metal in the CV guitars may indeed be different than what is used in the MIM and MIA guitars, the difference in appearance could also just reflect differences in the finishing & polishing processes. Just sayin'....

I've read a lot of very positive comments about the CV series guitars posted by musicians that gig with them routinely. Makes me wonder if your experience is the exception rather than the rule. As I said above, I'm not hard on my guitars, but haven't run into any of these issues with any of my own CV's. Nor have I come across fret quality or neck stability being mentioned as chronic quality issues with these guitars in the forum reading I've done. In fact, to the contrary, I've read multiple comments about the Squier CV quality being perceived as superior to the MIM and lower-end MIA Fenders. I guess it all comes down to personal experience in the end....

[Eric***]

I've read a lot of very positive comments about the CV series guitars posted by musicians that gig with them routinely. Makes me wonder if your experience is the exception rather than the rule. As I said above, I'm not hard on my guitars, but haven't run into any of these issues with any of my own CV's.

I guess that means that for guys like you and me, Squier CVs are a good deal and we should just enjoy them as that. I do want to bring mine out to play with some other folks one of these days...