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$500 Squier?!

DeivoxCarnal

DeivoxCarnal

Jul 21, 2010
237
4
41
Austin, Texas
#1
Ok, In dropped into a local guitar shop b/c they usually have really interesting basses, overpriced like most brick & mortar stores, but they have stuff you wouldn't find in your local GC.

I don't know enough about older model basses to know what the going rate for most of their stuff should be, but I've looked at quite a few fenders etc, and I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw a Sonic blue Squire Precision bass (Classic Vibe) with the ashtray and thumbrest, it even still have the "Classic Vibe" sticker on it for the low low cost of...

$500!!!!

I know these guys can't compete with craigslist, but 500 big ones?!?! You gotta be kidding me!

I walked out after I saw that, and when I got home I had to check to see if that may have been even close to a fair price, and GC, MF and just about everywhere had this bass for like 350-380.

:rollno::(:rollno::o:rollno::(:spit:

that place deserves to go out of business.
 
#3
Have you ever purchased anything there? I'm just wondering if they label everything at MSRP, then knock something off to entice a buy. 20% off would be $400, and 25% off would be $375....

I shop somewhere that kinda does that. But they always smoke GC, by the time you're ready to buy. I'm not defending the place, or the system. I'm just wondering how firm the price on the tag is?
 
#4
In canadian markets a vintage Squier, from around 1982-3 with a serial starting "JV"(experts, help me out here!) is considered a real find, as they were the first ones made in Japan & sold for relative cheap, around $125.00 at the time. I've owned 2 of them, they are usually a find, the quality is noticeably upscale. Good condition sells from $600.00 to $1,000.00.
Is this what we're looking at here? Might be worth checking out
 
#5
cirrusb2002 said:
In canadian markets a vintage Squier, from around 1982-3 with a serial starting "JV"(experts, help me out here!) is considered a real find, as they were the first ones made in Japan & sold for relative cheap, around $125.00 at the time. I've owned 2 of them, they are usually a find, the quality is noticeably upscale. Good condition sells from $600.00 to $1,000.00.
Is this what we're looking at here? Might be worth checking out
Click to expand...

I had one of those, very good Strat. The Squire brand I first saw in Germany in 1983 or so. They were all reissues of 50's and 60's Fenders and very well built instruments. Price was mid range not entry level. I bought the Elite Strat instead, what a mistake! I traded that when I got stateside and got a Japanese Squire, one of the first to use the brand in the US.
 
#6
Sometimes the small places put up the suggested retail price so that you can see the "deal" your getting.

For example I just put a down payment on an Ibanez Ashula 6 string from my local mom and pop shop. Sticker price $999.99.... $860 out the door with tax and hard case. I can't wait to pick this thing up in a couple of weeks. Fretted & fretless, Active for the fretted strings, and passive for the fretless strings. CRAZY!

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#7
Yeah, I forget that there are still places in America where you can haggle.
I just can't imagine haggling on a Squier when there are tons of them out there to be had at rock bottom prices already.

What I really do like about the place is the used gear there is pretty interesting, they had a lot of really odd and different gear, some stuff I had read about but never seen.

More Peaveys than anything, but most of it was really neglected and set up poorly. ( Big surprise :rolleyes:)

My favorite though was a Peavey Midi Bass

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like that one, but it looked as if it had seen one too many fret dressings.
 
#9
Doesn't sound that out to lunch, I paid about that for a Squire j bass last Christmas. It was a great deal.

Of coures it came with an amp, cord, tuner, gig bag, strap and an instructional DVD.

Now, I remember clearly they had both the sealed box sets, as well as just the guitar alone on the wall with the other basses. The price on both was the full package price.

Was it possiable that the guitar you saw really represented a starter package?

-eSmith.
 
#11
There is NO WAY that this was a starter pack deal, 80% of their stuff was made in the 90's or earlier, maybe with some cajoling I could get them to throw in one of the crappy practice amps from their amp room (which looks like it should be for employees only since it's so disorganized and messy)

I would have naturally assumed that the bass was used, but it still have the Classic Vibe sticker on the pickguard and didn't have a scratch on it.
So I'm thinking it was "factory new" I just can't find the logic behind someone putting a 500 dollar price tag on something that goes for 350 everywhere else.

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that's it exactly, except for it had the bridge and pickup covers. And yes, I noticed that the List Price is 550, but I've NEVER EVER EVER seen anyone pay list price... EVER!

People like me will assume that everything else in there is overpriced, and since so much of the gear is 10+ years old it's hard to do research on a fair used price for a lot of that stuff.

Another thing that baffles me: If you own a guitar shop and you're familiar with how they work and how to set them up, would you have a shop where >%50 of the axes are poorly set up, and about %10 had rust on the strings?

I usually see these guys hanging out and shooting the breeze with people, I personally would be checking the action, intonation etc. on everything there when I had downtime, or at the very LEAST do it when you're buying the guitar/bass from joe shmo who's had the thing leaning against the wall of his garage for a few years.

ok, I'm through ranting for now... I think
 
#13
DeivoxCarnal said:
Yeah, I forget that there are still places in America where you can haggle...
Click to expand...
CAN haggle?! :hmm:
You mean HAVE TO haggle to get a fair deal. I HATE haggling. It's like some silly head game where you have to figure out who's lying to you and how badly they're lying. YUK! I understand haggling at a pawn shop because they're notorious snakes. Car salemen are notorious snakes too. A local guitar shop? I wouldn't waste my time. I hate haggling! I just want a fair, honest deal. I don't have time to stand around trying to play head games with someone. :scowl:
 
#14
totallyfrozen said:
CAN haggle?! :hmm:
You mean HAVE TO haggle to get a fair deal. I HATE haggling. It's like some silly head game where you have to figure out who's lying to you and how badly they're lying. YUK! I understand haggling at a pawn shop because they're notorious snakes. Car salemen are notorious snakes too. A local guitar shop? I wouldn't waste my time. I hate haggling! I just want a fair, honest deal. I don't have time to stand around trying to play head games with someone. :scowl:
Click to expand...

I'm with you. I'm a notorious "cut the BS" kind of guy, and haggling is just a dance I don't do.
 

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