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Fender 50's P vs Squire Classic Vibe 50's

Sparkdog

Sparkdog

Sep 18, 2006
1,572
971
Burbank, CA
#1
I'm thinking of treating myself to a new P-bass for my birthday.

I have an MIA in Butterscotch Blonde with rosewood board, and I keep it strung with Chromes...this is my go-to bass and she sounds and feels like heaven!

But I want a P with a maple board and roundwounds for different tones. I don't really think it will get stage time at this point because I play for a blues/soul band and my current P and 5-string Jazz cover that gig perfectly.

I just want it! I need to be practical though and not spend any more on it than necessary. I've narrowed down my choices to the Fender 50's P and Squire's Classic Vibe Precision 50's.

http://bass-guitars.musiciansfriend...IC-VIBE-Precision-50s-Bass-Guitar-?sku=519743

http://bass-guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Fender-50s-Precision-Bass?sku=511318

I love the look of both these basses. I've played them both briefly, but never side by side. I think either one would do the job for me.

The Fender goes for about $700 with a gig bag, the Squire for $300 and I would have to get a bag for it. So my question is, has anyone done a serious comparison of these 2 instruments and is there a clear winner in terms of tone and playability?

Is the Fender worth twice as much as the Squire?

The Squire seems like the obvious choice, but if the Fender was really a much better instrument I would pop for the difference.

Thanks.
 
#2
The pickup design alone will give them completely different tone. Also, the neck on the Fender is 1.75" at the nut - 1.65" on the Squier. So, if your MIA has the modern P neck, which I believe is 1.625", the 50s Fender would be about the same as going from a Jazz to a modern Precision, which could be tough. It would definitely be worthwhile to try to get your hands on both of them.

Having said all of that, the Squier is gorgeous, but that 50s Fender in Honey Blonde with the gold anodized pg and maple board is one of the sexiest old school basses on the planet. It's like Marilyn Monroe with four strings.
 
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#3
I liked the CV Squire 50s enough to buy one, but compared to my MIA Fenders, the neck lacks rigidity (I've had to adjust truss more than once) and the frets are pretty rough, with at least one high fret that causes plinkage. Luckily it's around the 11th fret on the G side, and I rarely venture into that area. ;) I could have the frets leveled, but the neck issue isn't going anywhere.

Upshot - It affordably satisfied my GAS for a 50s style P, but with better basses in my arsenal, it will not become a go-to instrument
 
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#4
I like the nut-width and 7.25" radius on my US Vintage '57 RI and Sting bass so I'd opt for the 50's Fender.
It seems strange (to me) that Squire has made that tele-style neck on the 50's CV with the narrower nut and 9.5" radius board.
The quality of the Squires is a non-starter for me. I have a couple (Standard Jazz and Vintage TB) and they are very nice. No problems.
 
#8
Hi,

I own both ones and I must say these two are totally different!
The SC P-bass is super value for money but lacks the quality of the tuners and the pickup, I replaced it with a Harry Hausel Single coil pickup with two magnets per string which is giving a more balanced output.(Still a very authentic soud)
No complaints for this issue; it's the pricetag!!!
The MIM 50's P-bass is far better in weight and sound.
The neck is so very good I put it on my 62RI for more bite.
The rosewood neck that came of the 62 I put on my 50's MIM P-Bass. The tort pickguard I also swopped with the 50's P so now i've finally my Pino backup It's a sort of NOS Pino bass.
Some SC P's are less heavey then others.
My came from Thomann in Germany for about 379 Euros which is quiet a lot more then in the US, still.....

When you are looking for a player buy the MIM 50's.
When you want a nice on the side bass buy the Squire.
I must say I never met such built-quality for so little money.

If someone is interested in pics of the Pino NOS P-bass I will take some and put it on TB.

Cheers,

Theo

My P's:
CS 59 2tsb
62 RI OLW
Pino Palladino
50's vibe P-Bass
50ties MIM P-bass (Fiesta red)
CS 55 SC P-bass white blonde
Sting
57 RI 2tsb
62RI Black
72 P-Bass

Jazzbass: (played it in august 2008 !!!)
1xAm Dlx Fretless
 
#9
I got my 50's MIM P-bass almost 2 years ago on a scratch and sent sale from Musician's friend. Paid less then $500 for it. When it showed up at my door, the box was beat to hell, the bass? Pristine. I have played that thing almost non-stop since. I love it so much I am always thinking about trading/selling other basses I have so I can get the blonde one... Mmmmm Honeyblonde... :bassist:
 
#10
I own a 50's classic a great bass and played the squier which is nice too. For a bass to keep forever with nothing needing done to it go with the 50's P hands down. The squier would be a great backup to your line up and cheaper but its no 50's classic.
 
#11
Apples and Oranges IMO

Squier: Single Coil P Bass, much like the Fender '51 Precision Bass (Invalid Link Removed) except there is a contoured body

Fender: Split Coil P Bass, much like the Fender AV '57 Precision Bass (Invalid Link Removed), very similar to the classic P bass tone but it has a maple neck so it will be brighter.
 
#14
go to youtube and type "classic vibe" there is a video that one guy plays all the cv's and the fender originals, so you can compare the tone...
i don't have access to youtube in the pc i'm now but justo do this...

(i preffer the squier)
 
#17
My 20+ year old Tokai '57 reissue ("APB-'57").

Link Removed

When I see the Honey Blonde I actually get GAS before I realize that I've already got something that does that very well. This is my main bass.

How is this helping? I love the look to the point where I still get GAS for it. I love playing it so much that my Skyline 55-01 doesn't get pulled out very often. I guess I'd have to recommend the Honey Blonde.

And I still get tripped up by the reverse tuners _EVERY TIME_.

KO
 
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#18
AqueousView11 said:
Apples and Oranges IMO

Squier: Single Coil P Bass, much like the Fender '51 Precision Bass (Invalid Link Removed) except there is a contoured body

Fender: Split Coil P Bass, much like the Fender AV '57 Precision Bass (Invalid Link Removed), very similar to the classic P bass tone but it has a maple neck so it will be brighter.
Click to expand...

Exactly - the Squier bass is based on the 51 reissue. The 50's P Bass is the MIM equivalent of a MIA 57 re-issue.

As pointed out the Squier (and the Fender 51) have the single coil pickup. The other two have the split coil. It is apples and oranges.

I have a Fender 51 strung with rounds and a 50's P Bass strung with flats. That MIM 50's is a very fine piece of work and my go to bass right now.

Also, and again, pointed out above: Squiers do not have the equivalent vintage necks of the Fender series.

I just pointed this out in another thread: I have no doubt Squier gives great bang for the buck (I have owned one). But, there is a reason the Fender's cost more, and it's not just the decal.
 
#19
I own them both and second (or third?) that they're different animals.

The 50's Classic gives the classic P bass thump and feel. I love the 1.75" neck and 7.5" radius fretboard. I compared mine head-to-head with a friend's original '66 P and they were amazingly close, especially when I rolled my tone control back a notch or so.

I was a bit concerned that the Squier (1.65" wide, 9.5" radius) might feel funny since I'm used to the neck on the Fender but I actually like it a lot. It's a bit chunkier than the Fender, which gives it a nice full feel. It's got a fuller spectrum sound vs the Fender's low end thump, but it still delivers on the low end. I'm not a huge fan of the bridge--it's got a funky ringing sound to it when played acoustically--but it sounds fine amped so I haven't done anything about it yet. I did replace the pots with CTS and dropped an SD QuarterPounder in mine. There was nothing wrong with the stock pickup--it sounded really nice, especially when pushed a bit--but I wanted to really push the sound of mine over the top for more of a 'rock' sound.

Hard to say which one I like better--they're my two main basses and I play them both about equally, depending on the sound I want. They're both winners as far as I'm concerned.

IMG_1749.jpg
 
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#20
Rugaar said:
There was nothing wrong with the stock pickup--it sounded really nice, especially when pushed a bit--

IMG_1749.jpg
Click to expand...

Excellent pic... They look like buddies!!

Any interest in offloading the Squier p'up? A few months back, I purchased a Squier TeleBass, which didn't fit into my band situation as well as I had hoped. I'm in the process of converting it to a psuedo '51 and am pondering p'ups... Hit me up if you're interested...

-robert
 

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