Comparing Mustangs: Classic Vibe vs Vintera

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taylornutt
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Comparing Mustangs: Classic Vibe vs Vintera

Post by taylornutt »

I was at my favorite guitar store and they currently have 3 used Mustangs in stock. (and one Squier Bullet Mustang)

I have plugged all these instruments in before, so today I was just playing them acoustically to compare the features/quality of the guitars.

Two of the Mustangs were used Vintera Mustangs in Lake Placid Blue and the other Mustang was Olympic White with the red tort guard.

Both Vintera Mustangs were priced at $799 and the CV Mustang is priced at $299.

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The Vintera Mustangs were light weight, looked good and had a very comfortable neck. Everything you would expect for a guitar valued at $1200. I like the lower profile pickup switches, similar to the Squier CV models, and they were very positive when switching. The LPB and the ivory pickguard were a beautiful color combo. The neck on both guitars had a nice medium profile and the gloss finish was nice and not very tinted.

Both Vintera Mustangs had awful/no setups for the Vibrato. Since these are used, obviously no longer had the "factory" setup if they is a thing anymore. One of the Vinteras Mustangs had washers under the cigar tube and bridge posts wrapped to convert it to a Hard tail. The other one had the tube leaning so far forward (tilting forward 45 degrees) that is looked like it was about to come loose. Both Bridges were not flat on the plate, but were only slightly elevated. Both guitars would require a bit of work to return to an actual working vibrato.

The Classic Vibe Mustang was a little heavier than the Vintera Mustangs, but not enough to be a turnoff. The neck is tinted darker and has the metal Kluson style turners. The neck profile felt almost identical to the Vintera necks, though perhaps slightly thicker. All my guitars are 7.25" radius, but the 9.5" radius felt great. Two of the pickguard screws near the neck were crooked and needed to be fixed. That was the only QC issue I noticed. The CV Vibrato also needed a setup and the bridge was flat against the Vibrato plate.

Final Thoughts
I really liked the Vintera Mustangs.I think used for $799 is not bad and sorta reminds me of Japanese Mustangs. With a Proper setup, these guitars would be a great addition if you need another quality mustang. I am not sure I would pay retail price of $1200.

What really impressed me though was the Classic Vibe Mustang. Here is a guitar that is $500 cheaper used and less than half the price of the Vintera Mustang new. It totally blows me away the overall quality and I actually like it better than the Vintera Mustangs. This is not saying the Vintera Mustangs are bad, but for the money, it makes no sense to pass on the Classic Vibe Mustang. (Unless you need the word "Fender" on the headstock). The CV Mustang needs some upgrades(Vibrato,tuners,and maybe the bridge) to be on a level playing field with the Vintera Mustangs but all are fairly cheap upgrades.

These are both great traditional Mustang guitars and I think you should check them out if you can. I have a used CV Mustang I am trying to purchase but if that falls through I will go back and pick up this white CV Mustang.

What have your experiences been with Classic Vibe and Vintera Series Mustangs?
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Re: Comparing Mustangs: Classic Vibe vs Vintera

Post by plopswagon »

But how was that vintage Musicmaster?
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ekwatts wrote: Wed Dec 21, 2022 12:53 pm The word "moisty" has made me irrationally angry.
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Re: Comparing Mustangs: Classic Vibe vs Vintera

Post by taylornutt »

plopswagon wrote: Sat Jun 04, 2022 3:43 am But how was that vintage Musicmaster?
About $3000.....


It's actually pretty cool.
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Re: Comparing Mustangs: Classic Vibe vs Vintera

Post by Pacafeliz »

Squier got me with this one, too... *sigh*
Was a floor model for 350 even though I'd wanted an orange competition, it just isn't worth an extra 100 imho.

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Overall I'm very very impressed. The neck is wonderful (still hate the tall frets), feels narrower than the Jag one's.
The pickups were a real positive surprise! The Jag ones squeal like a motherfucker, but these don't. It's the real 'stang sound. Vibrato is decent.

And yeah I felt the urge to immediately change the pup covers.
I wanted a good Mustang to take out and throw around. And this one's a real good choice for that.
Will have the frets filed down, eventually. That's it.
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Re: Comparing Mustangs: Classic Vibe vs Vintera

Post by plopswagon »

Oh wait! I know that guitar. That’s the Tone Shop in Addison! I forgot you were in Dallas(ish) for some reason I thought you moved.

I know one of the owners.
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ekwatts wrote: Wed Dec 21, 2022 12:53 pm The word "moisty" has made me irrationally angry.
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Re: Comparing Mustangs: Classic Vibe vs Vintera

Post by taylornutt »

plopswagon wrote: Sat Jun 04, 2022 1:54 pm Oh wait! I know that guitar. That’s the Tone Shop in Addison! I forgot you were in Dallas(ish) for some reason I thought you moved.

I know one of the owners.
No, I am still here.

You are correct. I just discovered it recently.

They have another location in South Lake I have not been too.

They have a great used section and love their bargain bins. Grabbed this cable on clearance.
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Re: Comparing Mustangs: Classic Vibe vs Vintera

Post by taylornutt »

Pacafeliz wrote: Sat Jun 04, 2022 7:38 am Squier got me with this one, too... *sigh*
Was a floor model for 350 even though I'd wanted an orange competition, it just isn't worth an extra 100 imho.

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Overall I'm very very impressed. The neck is wonderful (still hate the tall frets), feels narrower than the Jag one's.
The pickups were a real positive surprise! The Jag ones squeal like a motherfucker, but these don't. It's the real 'stang sound. Vibrato is decent.

And yeah I felt the urge to immediately change the pup covers.
I wanted a good Mustang to take out and throw around. And this one's a real good choice for that.
Will have the frets filed down, eventually. That's it.
I had been looking at the ones at CME that had the competition stripes. The pup covers make a big visual difference. I am not sure why Squier feels the need to put the wrong colored covers on some of these guitars.

How are the tuners on your Squier Mustang?
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Re: Comparing Mustangs: Classic Vibe vs Vintera

Post by rahbro »

the marketing part of my brain here is screaming bloody murder for this guitar shop to print a huge logo and URL on the back of its red hang tags.


fuckin noobs

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plopswagon wrote: Wed May 18, 2022 11:55 am
I laid a pallet of sod yesterday
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Re: Comparing Mustangs: Classic Vibe vs Vintera

Post by NickD »

plopswagon wrote: Sat Jun 04, 2022 1:54 pmThat’s the Tone Shop in Addison!
Will they fill my fingers up with tone? I appear to have run out.
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Re: Comparing Mustangs: Classic Vibe vs Vintera

Post by plopswagon »

Their finger foods sound amazing!
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ekwatts wrote: Wed Dec 21, 2022 12:53 pm The word "moisty" has made me irrationally angry.
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Re: Comparing Mustangs: Classic Vibe vs Vintera

Post by dots »

how's the quality of the pickguards on the CVs? as long as that's okay, the other upgrades to make it more fender-like don't confront me.
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Re: Comparing Mustangs: Classic Vibe vs Vintera

Post by Pacafeliz »

taylornutt wrote: Sat Jun 04, 2022 3:16 pm [
How are the tuners on your Squier Mustang?
They're fine, no complaints at all.
Same with the pickguard, btw.

These are very nicely built.
Only yeah, the fret ends, they're pretty sharp on mine.
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Re: Comparing Mustangs: Classic Vibe vs Vintera

Post by Fakir Mustache »

dots wrote: Tue Jun 07, 2022 4:59 pm how's the quality of the pickguards on the CVs? as long as that's okay, the other upgrades to make it more fender-like don't confront me.
The one on mine looks good. That's all I can say about it, I'm not going to drop chemicals on it and do plastics research.
NickD wrote: Fri Mar 25, 2022 11:44 pm
plopswagon wrote: Fri Mar 25, 2022 7:05 pm Fuck! My car runs on Tubes!
When you press the accelerator past halfway it doesn’t actually go any faster, but the engine noise distorts
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Re: Comparing Mustangs: Classic Vibe vs Vintera

Post by sunshiner »

You have both VM and CV, Fakir? Which do you like best?
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Re: Comparing Mustangs: Classic Vibe vs Vintera

Post by Fakir Mustache »

sunshiner wrote: Wed Jun 08, 2022 5:18 pm You have both VM and CV, Fakir? Which do you like best?
Probably the CV. But I didn't like the CV pickups. The VM pickups are pretty good, but high output.

I like that the VM has a thicker neck, although the fretwork is not as good.
NickD wrote: Fri Mar 25, 2022 11:44 pm
plopswagon wrote: Fri Mar 25, 2022 7:05 pm Fuck! My car runs on Tubes!
When you press the accelerator past halfway it doesn’t actually go any faster, but the engine noise distorts
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Re: Comparing Mustangs: Classic Vibe vs Vintera

Post by Thomas »

I had the Vintera for a while that I got as part of a trade. It was great. Definitely better than the Squiers and the Japanese 69ri. Maybe even a wee bit nicer than the 65. The only negative was the Pau Ferro fretboard (tho it was at least dark on the one I had).

The Vintera models I’ve had have been great guitars. Sucky setup out of the box as per usual tho.
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Re: Comparing Mustangs: Classic Vibe vs Vintera

Post by taylornutt »

Thomas wrote: Sat Jun 11, 2022 1:18 pm I had the Vintera for a while that I got as part of a trade. It was great. Definitely better than the Squiers and the Japanese 69ri. Maybe even a wee bit nicer than the 65. The only negative was the Pau Ferro fretboard (tho it was at least dark on the one I had).

The Vintera models I’ve had have been great guitars. Sucky setup out of the box as per usual tho.
Which color did you get?
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Re: Comparing Mustangs: Classic Vibe vs Vintera

Post by Thomas »

Same colour
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Re: Comparing Mustangs: Classic Vibe vs Vintera

Post by taylornutt »

Thomas wrote: Sun Jun 12, 2022 1:26 pmSame colour
I love the Lake Placid Blue but if I saw the Sea Foam Green one it would be hard to say no.
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Re: Comparing Mustangs: Classic Vibe vs Vintera

Post by sunshiner »

I like Lake Placid Blue better. Sea Foam guitars have become somewhat tacky to me. 12-15 years ago it seemed hard to come by an affordable sea foam or surf green guitar, now it seems that everyone has them
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