Is a Squier Bass Really That Bad?

[Britbonic]

I don't think it's fair to compare Fender basses to Squier basses. Although both are made by Fender there is nothing about these basses that are the same, from the wood to the electronics.

Actually the Squiers are not made by Fender, as in made in one of their factories in US, Mexico or Japan. They are made in Indonesia or China these days, Korea and Japan in the past contracted out to 3rd party builders that are making SX and Cort and other brands. They are designed, sold, distributed and supported by Fender under the Squier brand. Design-wise, not exactly the same but pretty close in terms of shape, number of frets, length of neck, etc.

I have a Squier Affinity Jazz V bass. Maple neck, alder body. It's true the electronics are not the same. I spent about $25 on 3 CTS pots, Switchcraft 1/4 jack and nice Orange Drop cap to replace the stock setup. Not something that necessarily needs to be changed but I wanted to and it was cheap and easy. Pickups (the only other electronic components) are not bad at all. Are they as good as stock Fenders? Better comparison would be to a boutique pickup like Nordstrand or Fralin for a real difference. FWIW, I swapped the PU on my CV Pbass for a Fender original one. Does it sound better? Yeah, but I suspect most people would have a hard time telling the difference. There was nothing wrong with the stock pickup but it was a little more modern sounding and I wanted a more classic sound.

 

[fivestringgecko]

Worst case scenario, scrape the Squier name off the headstock so you don't need to listen to people gripe about it.

Or best case scenario, play the snot out of it and make people say "Holy ****, that's a Squier?!" a la Regi Wooten! Saw them on the Live In America tour twice, and was pretty stunned to see him playing a Squier Strat when his brother plays a $5k Fodera. lol

5sg.

 

[alexofc69]

Note: many people could say the same about real fenders.

every time I have bought a Fender I hve bought from a local store that keeps a lot in stock. I took trying about 10 different basses before I could find the right one. The rest were good for fire wood.

 

[alexofc69]

No, my main bass is a Squier Deluxe Jazz V and i prefer it to the MIA fenders i've played, it feels more comfortable to me.

Liam

I love mine!

 

[BassNoob1]

I don't mind the Squier logo on the headstock. I don't really care why people do. I don't give a crap what my basses look like, though. I'm all about the tone. I don't care how ugly it is if it sounds nice. The guys at the store asked me, "What color do you want?" and I told them I didn't care, so I just sat down with each one and picked based on what I liked, even though that was before I had ever played an electric before, just upright.

 

[April Ethereal]

I had a Fender MIM deluxe 1994 p-bass and while yes it sounded wonderful, the squier vintage modified jazz bass sounded almost identical and through my personal taste even looked more appealing [I know looks arent everything, but I love the vintage modified jazz bass look]

So from owning 1 and playing other real fenders, I think some squiers are are wonderful instruments that can be equal to certain fenders. Just play what you like!!! =)

 

[John D]

Not trying to be argumentative, but you state that you found something opposite of my statement then set about giving evidence that supports my statement. The Squier sets up "perfect" except for a warped neck and extreme fluctuations due to weather. Neither are problems that the Fender exhibits.

Nothing wrong with Squiers, not bagging on them. I would concur that OP should keep his instrument if he is happy with it. Worst case scenario, scrape the Squier name off the headstock so you don't need to listen to people gripe about it.

I'm not sure I understand the bolded section of your comment, although it doesn't really matter. I think we are pretty much on the same page. My only disagreement was with your comment that, "MIA Fenders, in general, can be set up to play better". Actually, the Squier played as well as my MIA Jazz after I initially completed the set up. The problem is that it hasn't proved to be stable, which is not a big deal. That's why I suggested the OP keep his Squier and save up for another better base sometime later. I'd have no problem gigging a Squier regardless of what is printed on the headstock.

 

[BassNoob1]

The way I look at it, it's not the gear, but the bassist. Do you need good gear? To some extent. But look at Jaco Pastorius, the greatest electric bassist of all time played on a torn up piece of crap. Granted, it did have very nice electronics, but it looks like he used it as an alternative to a hammer at least a few times...

 

[Gizmot]

I believe that you can tell a difference between a Squier and a US-built model -- but I wholeheartedly agree that if you're okay with how it sounds and feels, then it's okay with me.
I appreciate the difference and gladly pay for it. If it isn't worth it for you, that's your choice.

 

[Daede]

Stock: $300 from AMS. Arrived in 2 days with a horrible setup, roundwound strings, and the fret line markers protruding from the fingerboard in several places. The bridge was garbage and I don't care for the tuners (I think I'm losing a good deal of sustain there).

THAT BEING SAID

The pickups are amazing, the electronics are smooth and noise-free, and the finish is pretty nice for $300. After a proper setup, I was able to dial in an amazing spectrum of sound.

So,

I sanded the fingerboard so the celluloid inlays were no longer sticking up in places (also gave the fingerboard a more traditional ebony look and somewhat warmer sound), threw on a set of Fender Lights flatwound strings and added a BadAss Bass II bridge.

At this point, the guitar sounded GREAT. I wouldn't necessarily put it on par with my Geddy (still losing some sustain through those tuners, I just know it, and you can't mess with those '62 RI pups in the Geddy), but I'd definitely a/b it with any MIM Fender I've ever played.

But, I wasn't done...

The next phase was to order a set of roman numeral inlays from eBay, attach them to the fingerboard, apply several coats of poly over them (poly as opposed to epoxy because poly dries a little 'softer' than epoxy, and the poly adds warmth and mwah to a sound that was kind of cold and sterile (the Ebonol fingerboard) before (though fine sanding the naked fingerboard helped with this, considerably)). I also bought a set of AllParts jazz knobs. Those chrome things were FUGLY.

That last phase was pretty tricky, and required a lot of time and attention to detail, but the end result looks amazing, and the guitar sounds great!

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The next phase will be to craft a figured maple single-piece pickguard and control panel with a wenge bass clef inlaid into it. Somewhere further down the road, I'll make some maple and wenge pickup casings and maybe rebuild and radius the pickups. Might put a real bone nut on, too, but I don't have any problems with the one on the bass, now. One day, I'll upgrade the tuning machines on my Geddy, and put it's tuners on the Squier, but I'm not sure when I'll get around to that.

So far, I've got about $475 invested in this Squier, and I have to tell you it's an absolute blast to play and looks amazing, too!

 

[BassNoob1]

Stock: $300 from AMS. Arrived in 2 days with a horrible setup, roundwound strings, and the fret line markers protruding from the fingerboard in several places. The bridge was garbage and I don't care for the tuners (I think I'm losing a good deal of sustain there).

THAT BEING SAID

The pickups are amazing, the electronics are smooth and noise-free, and the finish is pretty nice for $300. After a proper setup, I was able to dial in an amazing spectrum of sound.

So,

I sanded the fingerboard so the celluloid inlays were no longer sticking up in places (also gave the fingerboard a more traditional ebony look and somewhat warmer sound), threw on a set of Fender Lights flatwound strings and added a BadAss Bass II bridge.

At this point, the guitar sounded GREAT. I wouldn't necessarily put it on par with my Geddy (still losing some sustain through those tuners, I just know it, and you can't mess with those '62 RI pups in the Geddy), but I'd definitely a/b it with any MIM Fender I've ever played.

But, I wasn't done...

The next phase was to order a set of roman numeral inlays from eBay, attach them to the fingerboard, apply several coats of poly over them (poly as opposed to epoxy because poly dries a little 'softer' than epoxy, and the poly adds warmth and mwah to a sound that was kind of cold and sterile (the Ebonol fingerboard) before (though fine sanding the naked fingerboard helped with this, considerably)). I also bought a set of AllParts jazz knobs. Those chrome things were FUGLY.

That last phase was pretty tricky, and required a lot of time and attention to detail, but the end result looks amazing, and the guitar sounds great!

The next phase will be to craft a figured maple single-piece pickguard and control panel with a wenge bass clef inlaid into it. Somewhere further down the road, I'll make some maple and wenge pickup casings and maybe rebuild and radius the pickups. Might put a real bone nut on, too, but I don't have any problems with the one on the bass, now. One day, I'll upgrade the tuning machines on my Geddy, and put it's tuners on the Squier, but I'm not sure when I'll get around to that.

So far, I've got about $475 invested in this Squier, and I have to tell you it's an absolute blast to play and looks amazing, too!

Is that a fretless bass? If so, I didn't know Squier made a fretless model. Or did you put a new neck on?

 

[Batmensch]

If I may butt in here - Yes, Squier makes a fretless jazz bass. It's the Vintage Modified fretless Jazz Bass, and it gets a LOT of praise. It's one of their most popular basses. It is styled after Jaco Pastorious' famous "Bass Of Doom".

 

[ProfGumby]

I have a Squier Affinity Series Precision Bass. I don't think it sounds too horrible, but I hear a lot of people telling me that I need to upgrade to a Fender Standard. I don't have much of a reason to do this, seeing as (1) I don't gig that often with my electric and (2) most of my performances that I play on the electric are outdoors in rather unreasonable conditions for an instrument (marching band) and I don't want to bring an expensive bass outside.

So do Squier instruments really sound that bad compared to the Standard models? What about the American Standard?

There is nothing wrong with a Squier if you are happy with it. And if someone wants you to upgrade, ask them to pony up the cash! I recently thinned out my herd and all that is left is my 2 Squiers.

I am very pleased with my VM jazz and my CV/MIM frankenjazz bass. I would stack them up against ANY MIA Fender anyday, let alone a Fender Standard (Hecho en Mehico!)

And before anyone says anything I have absolutely no issue with Fender whatsoever! But my 2 Squiers are just fine for me now and maybe for the rest of my life!

Play what you like, play what feels and sounds good, play what gets the job done. Let the other guy stress out over the name on the headstock....

 

[klejst]

I play a Fender Precision as my main bass, however my backup is a Squier P-Bass and I am actually proud to have it as my second bass. Squier's these days have been said to have a sound just as good if not better than MIM and MIJ precisions and do I dare say some USA made precisions. They are generally cheaper in price too. Great beginner guitars for sure, however worth holding on to and using even past beginner stages IMO.

 

[lsabina]

squiers are for secure people...

I have two ...

and no other basses ...


they serve the purpose just fine ...

I'm very secure--all I have are three MIJ Squier Bullets (SQ series).

 

[lsabina]

I just bought a vintage early '80's Squier Bullet Bass made in Japan. I defy someone to show me that this is an inferior bass in terms of build quality, fit and finish. If I decide I want to upgade the electronics, no biggie. Plus, it has a way-kool Tele style neck and a great sunburst that screams "retro". I plan to play it proudly! I paid $150 for it, so there!

Grab 'em before they become "collectable." My first was $100. Two years later I paid $200 and 3 months after that, $300.

 

[Spaldo]

I'm the owner of an Affinity Series Jazz Bass and I'm d*** proud to be. It plays and sounds great.

i second this, you should be proud!

i don't own a Squier, but i'm never unimpressed when i play one...

 

[dabbler]

I love mine!

I love my Squier Deluxe Jazz V too! And while I do not own a Squier Affinity bass, I do own a Squier Affinity tele that I will never sell, I like it that much.

To the OP, the next time somebody tells you you need to upgrade ask them why. You might be surprised at the answers you get. Then tell them, "Let's do a double blind test with my Affinity and <insert whatever they are telling you you need>". They will likely shut up, but if they take you up on it, you will have some real world data on which to make a decision. You may actually like the <whatever they suggest> better but until you do a blind test, you really don't know.

 

[Arranger]

I have a kick a** Squier VM P that I wouldn't trade for any Fender model without a serious sit down comparison. I'd ask those that feel otherwise to tell me which is better by just listening to each without actually seeing them.

 

[mouthmw]

I have never been more happy and excited as the day I got my Squier CV 60s Jazz. Never have I loved the way a bass looked, sounded and felt like this before. It just screamed retro and vintage to me.

So be proud of your Squier if you love it. My guitarist plays an 80s MIJ Squier Strat and it sounds and looks fantastic, and he always gets a kick out of it when people commend his tone, and he replies: "oh yea, it's a cheap Squier you can get it at any store under $300".