• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Is a Squier Bass Really That Bad?

#121
mdogs said:
I think you kind of missed my point, I have read the thread and I have played good Squiers, these were not among that group. Of course, this made me start to wonder. That is it...
Click to expand...

Perhaps I did, (wouldn't be the first time, won't be the last,LOL).
I just feel some people are missing out on a great bass by not giving them a chance just because of a couple of bad experiences. I understand how it might make you a little wary, but I think, like any other mass-produced instrument you will run into an occasional clunker. I find way too often, people are willing to forgive certain brands the occasional lemon, but not others. ("Hmmm, this Fender sucks, let's try another Fender, maybe it will be better." as opposed to
"Hmmm, this Squier sucks, let's try something else." I'm not saying that's what you are doing, of course. I guess I tend to get a little defensive where Squiers are concerned, being the big ol' fat Squier fanboy that I am.:D
 
#123
C.Linton said:
Perhaps I did, (wouldn't be the first time, won't be the last,LOL).
I just feel some people are missing out on a great bass by not giving them a chance just because of a couple of bad experiences. I understand how it might make you a little wary, but I think, like any other mass-produced instrument you will run into an occasional clunker. I find way too often, people are willing to forgive certain brands the occasional lemon, but not others. ("Hmmm, this Fender sucks, let's try another Fender, maybe it will be better." as opposed to
"Hmmm, this Squier sucks, let's try something else." I'm not saying that's what you are doing, of course. I guess I tend to get a little defensive where Squiers are concerned, being the big ol' fat Squier fanboy that I am.:D
Click to expand...

No bashing just trying to relate real world experience. Believe me, for the price I REALLY want to love the Squires! And, you are right about people just assuming that because one Squire sucks that they all suck. I like to think that I am pretty good at evaluating basses for what they are and being able to look past the minor little details that can easily be corrected either via setup or via upgrade. Bowed necks are easy to fix, unstable necks are not. Having said, there is nothing like other people's real world experience to override my short time playing them in a store...
 
#124
I still fail to see how a tuner impacts sound or sustain, since the string contact is not at a vibrating part of the string. Enough said about that.

As for Squier's reputation for quality, a good rule of thumb might be to look at their output of the last 3-4 years. It has gotten dramatically better. That said, the Affinity Series is the low end of the line, and where the most quality variance is likely to be found. The CV and VM series have generally been great values for the money.
 
#127
The only thing that I have come to not like about most Fender models is 20 frets. Gimme at least 21; high E is useful in solos. Still, I would take a CV Jazz, slap a 21-fret Warmoth neck on it (they make 'em with fingerboard overhang; they fit into the standard Fender 4-hole pattern), and have an absolutely killer instrument for about the same price as a MIM Standard Jazz, which would still need a hi-mass bridge to suit my tastes.
 
#128
I have a 2002 Affinity P bass and honestly it plays and sounds better then A lot of other basses out there.
Nice low action (flats of course) and she is my number one player. I have never had a single problem with my Squier, the damn thing nearly plays itself.
 
#129
My expirience with a Squier has always been good. They make good quality instruments for those that are on a budget. I used to have one before I gave it to another insprining bass player and upgraded to a Fender geddy lee jazz bass (my favorite bass out of all my other ones)> If you are looking to upgrade go with an American Deluxe. I had a Fender Jazz V American Deluxe that I traded for a musicman stingray. The Jazz V was a great bass imo.
 
#130
I just bought a new Squier Vintage Modified P bass today, after trying all the Fender and Squier P's in three different stores. The Squier looked and felt better to me, and sounded just as good to my ears as the Fenders. Pics will be coming in their own thread later. :)

This isn't my first time finding Squier to be better than Fender, either. After giving it some thought, I think the key is Squier's factory QA; it used to be crap, but has really improved in the last few years. Meanwhile, the only thing that has changed much at Fender is the prices going up. So Squier has improved while Fender has stood still, and the result is that Squier is now genuinely competing with or even beating Fender, at least at the lower end of Fender's price scale.
 
#131
I have a Squier Standard Series P Special from the late 1990s. This was from the era when you could get the P with the J pickup added on the bridge. I'm not sure if they still have that particular series/model (Vintage Modified seems the way now). It's actually a good, solid bass. I wouldn't hesitate to take it head-to-head with a Fender MIM series any day.

Electronics are one of the fall-downs with Squiers, especially the pickups. But I will also say that the MIM pickups never impressed me either. I swapped to Seymour Duncan pickups on both of my main basses (Hwy1 and CIJ). The Squier is a back up now, but it's still a great value player. I'm glad to have it and wouldn't consider selling it. It's all about the individual instrument, not the branding.
 
#132
That's the thing, though. Even the pickups are now teriffic these days, especially with the Duncan designed pickups on the VM series. These guys sound pretty damn good and don't need upgrading. A nice way to save even MORE money getting a Squier.
 
#133
To that point on the VM pickups, I recently played one of the 77's. Totally had that 70s bridge thing happening right from the get go. Having played enough Squiers recently, I knew some better strings and a decent set up would turn this into an awesome bass. If I didn't already have 2 jazz style 4s and a 5er I would have walked out with it, especially given the black and maple combo. Where the hell was this bass last year when I was looking for a black and maple MIA like this??
 
#134
Just to add some six-string fuel to the fire: my local GC has hundreds of guitars of every imaginable price. Yet one day when I was mucking about with six-strings, I kept coming back to a Squier Affinity Telecaster. Amid all the Fenders, Gibsons, and other expensive high end instruments, that little Squier was best damn guitar in the place, at least to my hands.
 
#136
This is a funky thread, I recall a Squire Jazz mock up that had some vintage pickups on it. Nothing else changed. In the hands of the right player this thing sounded absolute gold. Sure it may have been not as top notch as other but as an entry level bass it played really really good and sounded the real deal. The other Squire I recall was a strat that had the same deal only the pups were emg's. One of the best guitarists I've ever heard and he played a squire by choice.

Maybe consider this, Brian May from Queen, you know the one that played to crowds of 120,000 and had a huge successful career built his guitar out of scrap wood from an old fireplace, table top and motorbike parts. Yes, it's the same one he plays now and always did.

IMO, the whole "build quality" elitism is BS. Anything more than meat and potatoes is vanity and maybe subconsciously trying to make up for lack somewhere else. To the poster, as long as your bass sounds good and plays well, spend all your other time learning to play and don't torture yourself with worry about your gear. Get an experienced player to check over a bass for you and go from there. And yes, there is many awesome basses made outside the USA. Lakland Skyline for example, sweet bass.
 
#139
Hell, no

I am using a squier jazz bass right now, belive me you'll be suprised about the comfort of the keyboard and the tone but don't forget to chose don't buy it over internet or something.I had 430 € to buy a bass that time, only the squiers were nice, But if you have enough money, i think the american fenders will be nice
 
#140
BassNoob1 said:
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?
Click to expand...

the squier is a pretty good sounding bass & pretty well made.
But you get what you pay for - the standard style basses feels & sounds a little deeper (my opinion) and of course it depends what you using for a rig.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back