GC Today, Squier basses were all terrible

Unplayable action should not be on the list of objections, IMO. Action is easily adjustable, and in fact is expected to be adjusted by the end user anyway- so don't blame that on the manufacturers.

 

Why not just go for the Sterling SUB 4 and then get this for more tonal options?
For $30 you can't go wrong.
You might hear bad things about some Behringer products, but they got it right with this...just check out what people on Amazon have to say about it. Seldom do you ever see anything with so many positive reviews.

 

I've never been impressed with any Squier I've put my hands on, despite the adulation for them you see on this forum.

 

Here's my .02 ever heard somebody talk about how all the good ones are taken ? Guess what just happened to you ? Think about where you were. Do not use this as a benchmark, trust me.

 

I bought one of these about a month ago and saw another for sale a few weeks later at the Guitar Center in Plymouth Meeting, Pa...still there according to their web page. New, they were $499, I think.
Smooth satin finish neck, Jazz Hot pickups, and a slightly modern take on a traditional body shape.

Some people don't like Deans, but I liked this better than the Squiers I tried out the day I bought it.
Of course, the following week I bought a Squier CV Jazz bass in Inca Silver that was better than a Fender MIM that I'd had my eye on.

 

Never judge any product by the examples you find in GC.

 

I'll say this, GC's have techs which setup all basses (or are supposed to) before hanging them on the wall. Your GC may just have a poor tech or maybe they don't do the setup at all. My local Sam Ash is even worse. They have onsite guitar repair and they even have the initials of the tech on the basses/guitars hang tags. I picked up an unplayable Steve Harris P.....I mean literally unplayable. High action and fret buzz in the same bass. Indeed the hang tag was signed off by some totally incompetent tech. I'm disappointed every time I go in that place. Bottom line, don't base your evaluation of Squiers on a crappy dealer that doesn't know how to properly prep its products.

 

Because Squier saves all its premium-grade $300 basses for select, elite dealers? ;P

 

Yeah, that's it.

 

The Guitar Center a few miles away from me must play by their own rules.
Their tech is the consumate pro...which is nice to see in any shop.
They tell you what's wrong with the merchandise...I was looking at a Fender Jazz bass a few weeks ago and was told it had a truss rod problem...that's why the price was so low.
A few weeks ago an old man and his wife who had no idea what to buy their grandson for Christmas asked me about a Squier Jaguar bass. I told them a few things about it and when the salesman came over and they told him they wanted it, he told them it needed the fret ends filed and took it right to the tech who stopped what he was doing and did the job then and there.

 

No, of course not...the thing with the V-tone is it makes some "cheap" basses sound better.
It didn't sound that good with my friend's Rickenbacker but it sounded great with my $300 stuff. Big improvement with my old Dean acoustic bass, which had less than desirable electronics.
I bought my niece a used Epiphone Thunderbird and it worked wonders with that.

 

THANK YOU. Thank you for saying it before I did. Cheap is cheap. Period.

 

Wow was it just the Squiers? Wonder what the big buck basses looked like?

 

Ahhhh dang! There goes all my faith in my cheapie Squiers.

 

cheap is still cheap. however, at a couple of the GC's I've been too....EVERY bass played like total garbage. stingrays, SUB's, fender jazz, ibanez 4 and 6 string. absolutely terrible. several amps were crackling with issues, a few basses being sold as new didn't even have pickups WORKING in them.

however, at the GC south of me the instruments were set up much better. the cheap ones played better and pickups appeared to be set-up with correct height greatly improving tone. all amps performed as they should.

guitar center is a sketchy place. no telling what you'll find unless you know one well and know those that run it.

 

Yeah, I get tired of the TalkBass crowd's constant "Squiers are equal to basses five times the price!"

No they're not.

 

The location I visit on occasion suffers the same ills, I'm afraid. Usually it's the Fender/Squier instruments, but being aware how easily a Fender-style instrument can be adjusted, I can't understand why they don't service them before they go on the wall. Not judging a bass by it's setup is one thing, but when a bass is so terribly setup as to be unplayable, how can I test it out to see if I like it? There's no chance I'll buy that bass, so it hangs on the wall. Meanwhile, the local shop I frequent has a VM Jazz that plays like silk, has proper bridge placement, no wiring noise and the frets are great. Can't say the same about the $1200 Stringray I grabbed off the wall at GC during my last visit. I could slip my middle finger under the strings at the 12th fret.