Squier CV 50s Strat MN 2-SB

Shipped to Romania, got it in 6 days, as specified. Packaging was intact, the guitar also. No rough edges on the frets, the neck is smooth as butter. I really enjoy the classic vibe look and sound. Setup was great out of the box, with intonation and action, however, I've changed the 09-42 strings it came with, to 10-42's and it took me about 2h to set up (not very experienced in luthiery - not sure if this is the correct word for it) for my own personal preference of action. I don't use the trem so I've locked it stiff to the body. Great overall guitar for the price, if you're looking for the classic Strat sound, but you do not want to break the bank. I mainly use it for home recordings/playing.

With all the great reviews the older Custom Vibe's had an no local shops to test this out I jumped in and purchased what looked like a great deal backed by some good reviews. I realise I have to balance this with the budget in mind but I still have to be fair and say at least my version was well below satisfactory. I'll start with the positives. Out of the box intonation was almost spot on and the new is a delight to play - nice radius for me and smooth as butter even when it gets a little warm. Action; the a personal thing, was good for me too. On the flip side though I have issues with the aesthetics and the actual use so far. The body of the guitar has the most obvious and frustrating line join in the top plank. I almost considered sending it back but based on others I have seen the same too. Pity as you do not see this in the product images above!
The set up - this is by far the worst of any guitar I have purchased, from fret buzz and also a horrendous whine on the high E string due to saddle set up. After checking fret heights I reset the saddles and adjusted the truss rod and most of this has gone away - but not wholly. Tuning stability has also been poor and giving this a month of playing and I am still seeing these issues. With light to moderate use of the tremolo I have to retune. I'm still trying to resolve all of this and I'm of the consideration that I will need to replace the whole bridge and trem with an upgrade as well as have a new nut popped in too. I'm willing to do this as the sound is quite nice. I may have just got an unloved one from the factory but really expected more even from the price. Additionally, a buddy of mine went with a Vintage V6 which was awesome out of the box plays equally well and not set up issues. In hindsight I wish I had gone with Vintage as it seems too many corners have been cut for this model - or again - maybe I just got a turkey!

I have it for a fews days.
It looks very nice but needs work.
Neck had a bow and action was too high.
I had to adjust those and intonated after i changed the strings.
Tremolo system was also hard to play with. I had to adjust it too.
Tuners are ok. Stays in tune relatively well. Im not sure if it really wears a bone nut. Picks are very nice. I played several genres with cleans, gain and high gain, both on tube and solid state amps

The guitar came in a safe wellpackaged box. However, the guitar wasnt' new. I think most probably was B-stock.

In general, after all fixings, this guitar is considered to be a keeper. It plays well, has beutyfull tones, its not heavy, and it fits in my hands better than other strats i own.