One of my favorite sub-$500 guitars just dropped to an even sweeter price with $136 off – here’s why I think it's the ultimate affordable workhorse

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I didn’t think this Squier Tele could get any better for the price, then Guitar Center knocked 27% off for Prime Day

A Squier Classic Vibe '70s Telecaster Thinline electric guitar on a blue background
(Image credit: Squier)

I review a lot of gear in my job, and the number of objectively great guitars available under the $500 mark is consistently growing. The Squier Classic Vibe '70s Telecaster Thinline is amongst the best I’ve tried over the years, and with a nice $136 reduction over at Guitar Center, it's once of the best Prime Day guitar deals of the day so far.

It’s a surprisingly versatile guitar when it comes to tone, with incredibly robust hardware for the price, and of course, stunning good looks with its vintage-correct appointments. It’s the perfect guitar for those who don’t want yet another Strat or Tele, offering a similar level of versatility with its own unique voice.

Originally designed as an antidote to the ultra-heavy ash-bodied Telecasters of the era, the Telecaster Thinline takes most of the body content out, giving you a lightweight, resonant guitar body that gives it a very unique voice.

It’s a very vintage-inspired guitar, so you’re getting a period-correct headstock with all the right markings, vintage-style hardware, and a glossy neck with a tint. Glossy necks aren’t for everyone, but I didn’t find the one on the Tele Thinline to inhibit my playing in any way, thanks to the Fender ‘C’ profile, which is super comfortable, and a 9.5-inch radius fingerboard.

Squier Classic Vibe ‘70s Telecaster Thinline
Save 22%
Squier Classic Vibe ‘70s Telecaster Thinline: was $459.99 now $359.99 at Guitar Center

This is a cracking deal on the Squier Classic Vibe '70s Telecaster Thinline, giving you a lot of guitar for under $360. Two wide-range humbuckers deliver some serious versatility, while the light body weight makes it a comfortable guitar for gigging. The vintage appointments add some serious cool factor, and it’s a stunning-looking instrument more than likely to turn a few heads at your next show.

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You get two wide-range humbuckers which deliver a surprisingly bright tonality, much more like the single coils you’d expect to find on a Telecaster. Despite this brightness, there’s still plenty of oomph, although they won’t please any metalheads out there. You can dig in and get some grit, which is great for harder styles like punk rock.

The neck pickup was another surprise, being far more mellow than I expected. It gave a warm tone to my playing, reined in, and with the resonance of the semi-hollow body, a nice overall roundness to it. It’s a guitar that definitely surprised me with its sound, but overall, I still found it to be super versatile for a variety of styles.

Another plus point was the build quality, which far exceeded my expectations considering the price point. The hardware is robustly affixed, and the finishing is superb. Despite a deep inspection of every nook and cranny, I could find no bad points to report on, further adding to this guitar’s superb value for money, even without that nice discount for Prime Day.

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Matt McCracken
Matt McCracken
Junior Deals Writer

Matt is a Junior Deals Writer here at Guitar Player. He regularly tests and reviews music gear with a focus on guitars, amps, pedals, modelers, and pretty much anything else guitar-related. Matt worked in music retail for 5 years at Dawsons Music and Northwest Guitars and has written for many music sites including MusicRadar, Guitar World, Guitar.com, Ultimate Guitar, and Thomann’s t.blog. A regularly gigging guitarist with over 20 years of experience playing live, writing, and recording in bands, he's performed everything from jazz to djent, gigging all over the UK in more dingy venues than you can shake a drop-tuned guitar at.