personally i liked the thread were very few could pick the squier from the high end basses and this was on a bassplayers site,how many people in the crowd have a better ear?
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If Squier was Fender
- Thread starter WoodyG3
- Start date
Yesterday I received the shippment of my Highway 1 Jazz Bass (one of the last sunburst finish
, no longer available!) and guess what: It is made of 4 piece alder
, though it's a US-Fender!!!
According to the Squier website the VM Jazz has a soft maple body.
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On the other hand the fretless version of the VM Jazz DOES have an agathis body.
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So I don't know which is better, but the VM Jazz Fretted version I tried pleasantly suprised me. I had the usual "Squire = rubbish" mentality. I think the Mex and US Jazz Basses have alder bodies according to specs on the Fender site.
There are so many versions though I wouldn't know which to compare the squier too.
A bit off topic but I found a picture of a "Pete Wentz Signature Squire Bass", it doesn't look nice imo. lol.
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On the other hand the fretless version of the VM Jazz DOES have an agathis body.
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So I don't know which is better, but the VM Jazz Fretted version I tried pleasantly suprised me. I had the usual "Squire = rubbish" mentality. I think the Mex and US Jazz Basses have alder bodies according to specs on the Fender site.
There are so many versions though I wouldn't know which to compare the squier too.
A bit off topic but I found a picture of a "Pete Wentz Signature Squire Bass", it doesn't look nice imo. lol.
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My honey blonde Highway One Jazz is made of two pieces alder...
I dunno, For me, I play a pbass, a jag bass, and a rickenbacker. Going back to the new squiers they are doing a much better job on the finish but the guitar still feels cheap and sounds cheap. even with a good setup.
Squier Pbass uses Agathis wood.
"What is Agathis wood?
Agathis is sometimes referred to as "commercial grade mahogany". It is
indigenous to the Far East and South Pacific areas."
Aka professional plywood.
Squier precision bass.
The tuners are also low grade
have you ever used it in person. Awful.
Specifications:
BODY Agathis, Precision Bass Body
NECK Maple, Jazz Bass Neck, C-Shape, (Polyurethane Finish)
FINGERBOARD Rosewood, 9.5 Radius (241 mm)
NO. OF FRETS 20 Medium Jumbo
SCALE LENGTH 34 (864 mm)
WIDTH AT NUT 1.500 (38 mm)
HARDWARE Chrome
MACHINE HEADS Standard Open-Gear Tuners
BRIDGE Standard 4-Saddle
PICKGUARD Tortoise Shell
PICKUPS 1 Split Single-Coil Precision Bass Pickup (Mid), 1 Single-Coil Jazz Bass Pickup (Bridge)
PICKUP SWITCHING None
CONTROLS Volume 1. (Neck Pickup), Volume 2. (Bridge Pickup), Master Tone
STRINGS Fender® Super 7250ML, (.045, .065, .080, .100)
UNIQUE FEATURES Jazz Bass Neck with Precision Bass Body, Knurled Chrome Dome Control Knobs, Dot Position Inlays
scottbass
Bass lines like a big, funky giant
WOW! You don't understand what plywood is, do you?
Plywood is several - three to nine, perhaps - large, thin flat sheets of wood glued together to make a "sandwich". If it's done correctly, the grain of each layer is perpendicular to the grains of the adjacent layers.
How do you make the jump from "commercial grade mahogany" to plywood?
WOW! You don't understand what plywood is, do you?
Plywood is several - three to nine, perhaps - large, thin flat sheets of wood glued together to make a "sandwich". If it's done correctly, the grain of each layer is perpendicular to the grains of the adjacent layers.
How do you make the jump from "commercial grade mahogany" to plywood?
Oh i should also note. When i say plywood, i just mean cheap wood. probably should have mentioned that. dont mean to sound like one of those nerds.
It's not nerdy to know that plywood and cheap wood are not the same thing.
Furthermore just because wood isn't expensive doesn't mean it doesn't sound good.
Interesting thread! Squire could now easily become the MII (Made in Indonesia) Fender line.. why the heck not? 
Guess the price would go up by 300 USD, but then we all would get legal Fender headstock decals.. hehe.
Guess the price would go up by 300 USD, but then we all would get legal Fender headstock decals.. hehe.
There has been a lot of discussion regarding Fender's recent price increases. While I'm sure that there may be lots of economic reasons for the price increase, has anyone considered that the price increases may have little or nothing to do with the poor state of the economy? For the sake of this thread, disregard the current state of the economy.
The way I see it, Fender has essentially underpriced their instruments for the last few years. Companies like Lakland and MTD are building instruments overseas (Korea and Indonesia) and selling them successfully in the same price range as the US Fenders (the $1000 - $1500 range). Fender's comparable import lines (MIM and MIJ/CIJ) were selling for 30 - 50% less than these. More shocking, Fender's Korean and Indonesian instruments (Squiers) typically sell for 70 - 80% less!!! I would be willing to bet that, on the whole, materials and labor cost more in places like Mexico and Japan than they do in Korea and Indonesia. In the $1000 - $1500 price range, the ONLY real options for a new American-built bass are Fender and MusicMan (and possibly G&L).
By selling their instruments at a lower price point than many competitors, surely Fender sold many more instruments. But as a result, they have tarnished their brand image in the process. For example the logic goes (whether true or not) is that a US made Fender is only as good as a Korean Lakland because they cost the same. This statement may not necessarily be true, but I'm sure it is thought by many potential buyers in this price range.
With a few improvements (real or perceived) to the MIM and MIA lines, Fender should successfully be able to increase prices, sell more basses, and improve their image simultaneously.
The way I see it, Fender has essentially underpriced their instruments for the last few years. Companies like Lakland and MTD are building instruments overseas (Korea and Indonesia) and selling them successfully in the same price range as the US Fenders (the $1000 - $1500 range). Fender's comparable import lines (MIM and MIJ/CIJ) were selling for 30 - 50% less than these. More shocking, Fender's Korean and Indonesian instruments (Squiers) typically sell for 70 - 80% less!!! I would be willing to bet that, on the whole, materials and labor cost more in places like Mexico and Japan than they do in Korea and Indonesia. In the $1000 - $1500 price range, the ONLY real options for a new American-built bass are Fender and MusicMan (and possibly G&L).
By selling their instruments at a lower price point than many competitors, surely Fender sold many more instruments. But as a result, they have tarnished their brand image in the process. For example the logic goes (whether true or not) is that a US made Fender is only as good as a Korean Lakland because they cost the same. This statement may not necessarily be true, but I'm sure it is thought by many potential buyers in this price range.
With a few improvements (real or perceived) to the MIM and MIA lines, Fender should successfully be able to increase prices, sell more basses, and improve their image simultaneously.
I read all this and remember that story about the head of manufacturing at the Fender factory in California, paying a visit to the Japanese factory and bursting into tears because he knew he'd never be able to achieve such high build standards back home.
Whether true or not, the story does hint that there's always been controversy about the varying levels of quality between Fender "nationalities".
I've never met anyone who has played a lot of both Fender and Squier and who won't swear that they've tried $200 Squiers that stood up to $1000 US Fenders.
What that does mean, realistically, is that there are some people who will buy Fender no matter what, ideally US, out of loyalty or snobbery or gear fetishism or whatever, and also some people who will buy Squier because they're better value for money and arguably not always inferior.
The Fender price increase does make sense on that level, regardless of increases in quality, because if we're talking around 20%, someone who was going to lay out a grand on a Fender US model just because it's a Fender US model will I believe not hesitate to spend the extra $200 to make it happen, and for the guys who are buying Squiers, I also don't think that adding the price of four packs of smokes is going to put them off pulling the trigger on a new axe.
I think Fender is squeezing the market in a realistic way, firstly to balance out the sales losses they will inevitably be making from the downturn in the economy, but also secondly to capitalise on brand loyality and their increasing good reputation for making affordable quality instruments.
Whether true or not, the story does hint that there's always been controversy about the varying levels of quality between Fender "nationalities".
I've never met anyone who has played a lot of both Fender and Squier and who won't swear that they've tried $200 Squiers that stood up to $1000 US Fenders.
What that does mean, realistically, is that there are some people who will buy Fender no matter what, ideally US, out of loyalty or snobbery or gear fetishism or whatever, and also some people who will buy Squier because they're better value for money and arguably not always inferior.
The Fender price increase does make sense on that level, regardless of increases in quality, because if we're talking around 20%, someone who was going to lay out a grand on a Fender US model just because it's a Fender US model will I believe not hesitate to spend the extra $200 to make it happen, and for the guys who are buying Squiers, I also don't think that adding the price of four packs of smokes is going to put them off pulling the trigger on a new axe.
I think Fender is squeezing the market in a realistic way, firstly to balance out the sales losses they will inevitably be making from the downturn in the economy, but also secondly to capitalise on brand loyality and their increasing good reputation for making affordable quality instruments.
I have always said that if they changed the name to something else people wouldn't have a problem.
I remember back in the day Squier was a joke, literally.
As in, "Bob just got a new guitar, a Squier. HAHAHAHA"
At this point why even have the Squier branding? Just slap the name Fender on it at this point.
Although then they would probably bump the price up because of the designer label.
I remember back in the day Squier was a joke, literally.
As in, "Bob just got a new guitar, a Squier. HAHAHAHA"
At this point why even have the Squier branding? Just slap the name Fender on it at this point.
Although then they would probably bump the price up because of the designer label.
That's exactly it.
It's the reason why people still buy Gibson guitars all over the place. A guy I know who works in a music shop told me that they don't even make a good profit margin on Gibson guitars, but they have to carry them or guitarists won't take them seriously. Arguably you can get a perfectly decent mahogany/rosewood singlecut with good 'buckers in it for five hundred dollars as long as you don't care what's written on the headstock, and yet people will still shell out two grand on a Gibbo, even if it's a total dud (and I've been seeing more and more dud Gibsons in the UK recently).
For god sake that already happened years ago.
My MIM 50's P Bass is one of the finest instruments I've ever played.
There is a quality difference between Squier and Fender. Sure, I could buy the Squier version of the 51 reissue (if there is one?) but it won't have the quality of my Fender 51 re-issue; which is MIJ by the way.
