New pickguard for the CV 50's Strat

[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...