Squier 72 Thinline

**Skip Ellis** · 04-06-2023, 10:35 PM

Anyone have experience with these? Feeling the need for some humbuckers and have not had good luck with buying archtops - usually one every couple of years to remind me why I can't play them. I love my Teles but have always thought adding HB'ers was a sacrilege. But, if Fender does it with the Thinline, I'd
probably be OK with it. Real Fenders seem to be a little pricey but the Vibe series seems like a good place to start to build one up.....thoughts?

**palindrome** · 04-06-2023, 11:47 PM

I used to have a Mexican-made Fender 72 Thinline, which was a nice guitar that gave me a satisfying jazz sound, but YMMV. It was also a lightweght guitar, easy enough to pick up without thinking twice. Slightly neck-heavy, which was not an issue given the weight, but the neck profile was smallish, presumably for better balance. Even the tuners had a hollow feel to them, and the hardtail bridge was on the cheap side. All in all, a nice guitar I wouldn't mind getting back, but the hardware was not great. Pickups very sensitive to contact with pick (clicking sounds), plus they are, of course, wider than regular humbuckers (assuming that Squier uses the wide-range humbucker dimensions). Also, these wide-range humbuckers (unlike the original ones) were regular Alnico pickups in a different housing. To me, though, they sounded just fine.

**ruger9** · 04-07-2023, 07:53 AM

I had the Squire 72 Thinline. It was ok. Good, solid guitar. But not up to the level of the more expensive Fenders.

The body was actually slightly smaller than normal, especially in thickness. I found that odd. The high E string nut slot was cut too close to the edge of the Fingerboard (plus this model has a narrower nut to begin with I think), the frets needed polished at the very least, and probably could have used dressing. It weighed next to nothing! 2nd lightest guitar I've ever had, and I also own a MIM Thinline Cabronita, and it's heavier.

With a little work, a solid player. But I won't bother with the Squire line again. MIMs are great, 95% as good as MIAs.

All that being said, I'm not a fan of WRHB (Wide Range Humbuckers) for jazz tones... not saying they can't sound good, they are just not my first choice (probably my last choice). I tried a few after-market WRHBs in it, and was never happy. The stock Fender Squire WRHBs (which are not actual wide range humbuckers, they are just simple PAF style humbuckers under a larger cover) probably sounded the best to be honest.