Fender

Long sustain for a resonator guitar – I acquired my FR48 resonator guitar used from a shop in Boise, Idaho. I'd call it a very good purchase. I've used it in a blues band for at least… Read more

three years, playing mostly in standard tuning. The original action for plying slide guitar in an open tuning was great, but the strings were a little high for standard tuning. So, I made a second saddle from Brazilian cherry that brings the action down a tad. That improved it greatly for playing in standard tuning. Resonator guitars are notoriously difficult to amplify in my view. I have three -- the FR48, a Fender FR50 and a Dobro Hula Blues round out my collection. Those two instruments did not take a passive Fishman pickup well at all. I added a passive Fishman pickup to the FR50 and it works great -- accurate reproduction of the acoustic sound in my view. I did that work myself. Anybody can do it. The FR50 is heavy and if you are sitting it wants to fall off your lap to the side (my right) away from the finger board. A strap is a good remedy for that, but not absolutely necessary. I also play some harp. The strap can interfere with the harmonica brace some.

Overall -- I'd recommend the FR48. I still have mine and do not plan to sell it. long sustain for a resonator guitar High original action

Great sound, very reasonable price – Well built steel string guitar with very good resonance, sustain and sound. Sturdy pegs, fairly low action, good quality frets. Body varnish isn’t… Read more

the best but far from the worst. Definitely a great guitar for the intermediate to experienced player. Comes with a few cheap picks (nothing amazing), spare strings and a clip on stock tuner. Great price for the quality. Would’ve been nice to have a cheap strap thrown in but not a deal breaker by any means.

Real P-Bass thump without the price tag – I purchased my p-bass to fix a problem....I was using an old Ibanez black eagle which has a Mahogany body and weighs a ton,causing shoulder problems.… Read more

My plan was to buy a lighter bass but not to sacrifice sustain or bite and I wanted the p-bass thump from those passive single coils. After doing quite a bit of research I settled on the 50s Classic and picked one up very cheaply from a friend who said it had some problems....noisy pots, worn nut and was badly in need of setting up. All normal 'problems'.

It got 2 weeks of dedicated fixing and it is like new.

First up, this bass is beautifully made and looks retro-great. The sunburst Alder body gives great sustain and it has a maple neck, which has a softer response and more subtle tone IMHO. Gold anodised pickguard topped it off for me.

The classic comes with the vintage look hardware and standard split coil. I also play a Stingray with active p/ups so the difference in output and tone is very obvious and requires some amp tweaking between guitars. The standard p neck is wider and fatter than a Jazz but you get used to it fast. My only quibble would be the nut which is either plastic or fake bone, so it will be replaced before it breaks down.

Fender basses are almost always well-balanced and don't tend to be head-heavy so it sits nicely on your hip and the deep cutout adds to that. It also has the usual nitrocellulose exterior which cracks and ages beautifully as the guitar does, unlike my Stingray which seems to break down in small pieces and flake off at will (it is 24 years old though).

I run the Classic tuned to low C and push it hard through an old SVT...it LOVES IT. It is the vintage sound I always wanted and you can't replicate it with cheap guitars and rubbish amps.

The Classic 50s gives you everything you would expect from a vintage precision but without the hefty price tag. I can't fault it and would buy another without thinking...or telling the wife. Everything. Solid. Mid-weight, Beautiful tone. Sweet neck. Great price (even if I had bought it new)

Super Guitar In Its Own Right, BUT there are other options (SEE EDIT) – First of all the usual question ask if this guitar is as good as one with the Fender name on the front of the headstock. My answer is unequivocal,… Read more

no it is not.

Nonetheless, it is an excellent guitar to have around and I think would easily stand up for even light local gigging duties. If you are an absolute beginner then maybe something below this model would be a better place to learn the ropes. If going on tour then save up and get the beef of something more (Player series if like strats would do that I think).

The guitar weighed in at a very similar weight to my higher end strats. Its metal hardware however is obviously of less mass than the higher-end ones, and thus upgrading that would just make it heavier. The wight must therefore come from the wood even though the actual guitar seems ever so slightly reduced in size under close inspection versus the higher end ones. I could just upgrade the pickups but I would be doing so with less metal mass to push the energy back into the strings, and it's thus not a rabbit hole I will likely go down. I have no clue how easy or not it is to get an upgraded trem system that would just drop into this one anyway, and I never looked as I don't care.

The cheaper wood (versus high end) means a more basic grain effect and whilst I gravitate there anyway, it's obviously subjective. The actual finish looks very well done. It continues to punch well above its weight. Lastly an unexpected almost flame on the rear of the body is a nice bit of bling as you pick it up, but the front is understated as I alluded to.

The very good news though is that there is really no need to change anything as it's a superb guitar in its own right. It is full size even if perhaps a mm here or there less under the really close scrutiny you only do when you first get it. I am not even totally sure on that point but the rear assembly did seem that tiny bit closer to the surface when I took the backplate off. Inconsequential stuff.

The fretboard is Indian Laurel and with a squirt of lemon oil looks like rosewood to any real-world casual look. Nice touch, IMO, as I am not a fan of the light looking fretboards unless they are maple. More importantly, it feels and plays as good as rosewood (the traditional wood choice).

Plastic knobs are cheapish if go tapping around, but feel and work fine if you don't go looking for it.

The nut is bone. Very nice robust touch for sound and strength.

Scratchplate feels and looks as good as any.

The back plate is off per the pic. I usually leave it that way.

Frets are very nice as they should be after a PLEK set-up. Any of these guitars have touched are pretty good anyway but the PLEK ensures perfect. I will leave others to argue how necessary a PLEK set-up is. As part of the package, I bought, I thought silly not to with my buying goals (nothing to do at all) in mind.

My buying decision was based on the above and wanting something that was set up to work perfectly off the bat with proven parts that last. I nearly went with another option elsewhere that would have been less than half the price. Above a now low price point, you really can pay a good a chunk for small upgrades. E.G. the full-on American Pro Fenderis more than X4 the price. Yes, it's "better" but not X4 better most would agree.

To this end, I went with Port Mac Guitars and took advantage of their full set up incl PLEK. YMMV but all guitars I have ever had needed some set-up on arrival, at least short of a custom shop one where it may be done as part of the price. I considered their set-up (GEniuS they call it) a good value proposition. There was a small issue but likely it would never have affected playability, and very importantly certainly nothing that would have hindered a beginner. What did stand out was the service getting it sorted. It was swift and nothing too much even at this price point - all done over the phone and an easy enough adjustment. Were it not for the service after I would have wanted to deduct a half star though. The guitar also came in the original manufacturer's box which is known to be excellent for transporting. In my experience, this is way above what usually happens - a safe place to buy from an all-around way. I did move one rear spring as it was working loose when playing (easy enough).

The necessary material changes from higher-end guitars to hit the price point are well thought out I think.

A highly recommended package to put on the list is my vote.

EDIT: Upon playing for a while now the shine has been knocked off a bit. The middle spring in the back needing to move to accommodate a still very standard term system height (or work loose) was OK. It took a while for tuning stability to appear and I am not used to that - I am still watching that as never thought about it before on any guitar. The tuning machines are now part of a warranty claim as they are so very stiff they are inclined to lurch if tuning on the fly. A different purchase but still a Classic Vibe was a Tele. The neck pocket seems to work fine but looks just not as well cut as I am used to. Maybe al a COVID period rush thing? Nonetheless in the budget end of town competition is fierce and at the price, these go for Squier needs to watch out some more because versus what I have / seen there are options. The CV bone nut is a nice touch and well-cut on the two I have (especially the plek one as would expect) but the hardware is short of outstanding in the budget end............... Explore a few options I would say......It's 2022 and machining has got real good across many makes.......

EDIT 2: In full fairness to Fender Squier the warranty issue was finalised in record time with the tuners simply being sent directly to me. I am pretty sure I could arrange to have a dealer fit them but plenty easy enough to just do here. Were I super picky they are not the very best but they seem to turn fine enough and no complaints at the price point here. I do still feel the trem system mass could be improved on at the price point and so it's a solid 4 stars that I can't quite stretch to 5 stars still (my review). Very very good guitar.