Squier CV 50s Tele MN BB

To preface this, I knew this is a "lower" budget guitar and I just fell in love with how it looks and it's a telly, c'mon now.

Pros:
- Beautiful finish, even with some minor issues, the wood grain or poor finish at places gives the guitar an "honest" look
- The neck is just wonderful to hold, it truly is - some do not like this type of neck, but frankly, I do
- Controls (volume, pickup selector and tone) are nice and feel sturdy
- Pickups are your standard telly, plenty of youtube videos on these

Cons:
- In total, QC failed on this one, let's start it off:
- Buzzing on 9th, 10th, 13th fret (known issue with a guitar with no compound radius) - went for a quick setup (not pro-level), adjusted the neck, adjusted the action, dead notes on many many bends
- Not so much QC fault, but getting intonation "just right" on this guitar is really a painful job due to the 50's vibe and the 50's bridge
- Tuners are... gorgeous, but they honestly should be replaced, they can hold a tuning, but turning them is a chore and are not precise
- Small weird "burn" markings on 12th fret, as if though someone re-fretted the 12th fret, it's a really strange mark
- Guitar needs a complete fret dressing and potentially new frets

In conclusion:
- As any online purchase (especially in this price range), you are taking a risk here. Is this an amazing guitar for a beginner or a 2nd or 3rd guitar? Yes - but ONLY if lady luck smiles on you and you get a good one or you are ready to dish out additional money for a luthier setup
- Do I regret purchasing this beaut? No, however, I do wish it did not come with such glaring issues that I need to shell out a couple of hundred additional euros for the guitar to be in proper playing condition (might as well get a Fender at that point)
- All in all, beautiful guitar, amazing feel, poor QC

I wanted to try a tele for a change and this one surprised me. Previously I played some older Squiers from the Affinity serie. They were not even near as good as this one. Squier has definitely improved their quality over years.
This one is a good resonating instrument. Extremely playable. Stays in tune. It has the lowest action among all my guitars. The fretwire is much harder than on MIM. After months of extreme use it almost has no traces on the fretwire. Fretwire is also well polished and has no sharp edges.
I love it's neck pickup, however it is a bit microphonic. I need to be careful and not knock on it. The bridge pickup is a bit ice-picky. But it was too easy to put them both in balance. I don't adjust it anymore it stays perfect.
I also love it's gloss finish. It stays clean an feels warmer, doesn't get wet or collect fat. It is beautiful and shiny. This is a perfect instrument for someone's first guitar. It will endure all the learning. It is super responsive and playable even unplugged. Later on you can think of a guitar with some better electronics because it does have some noise levels compared to MIM or Am. I grab this one more often than my LP or MIM strat if I want to practice. This means something.

Now that I've played it for a few months, I can rate it more objectively. All in all very well made guitar, soundwise it's all you need a tele to be sounding like. The stock pickups are great really, I was planning on changing them prior to actually playing the guitar. But yeah, they sound perfectly fine. Now, the setup was indeed balanced out of the box and the guitar played nicely, that's why I gave it full stars. And of course, the action was just a bit high for my taste, but again - that's really up to personal prefference. Tuners - great. The fret work is smooth.
The only possible downsides, and that really is nitpicking here, are the too glossy neck and the old school type bridge - again, they work perfectly fine, and honestly have a practical quality to being like that. The thick gloss seals the wood and reduces the possibillity of moist- or heat caused cracks and dents. 3 saddle bridge is what they used on the vintage models, and it stays in tune so yeah - you're really getting a workhorse of a guitar. It's meant to be played a lot... you can totally gig with it as it is.

It is sturdy, has a good sound and is perfect for beginners/intermediate guitar player. I've used it quite a bit in the studio and it does hold up. It did however need some proper setting up, intonation and fret buz was a thing. Also there was quite some humming noise, but after fixing the grounding it was no more an issue. I think this a very solid guitar for the price. Especially if you can't afford it's more expensive brothers, this is a great guitar to start with! Also the coloring and paint job is amazing!!