I think it is. A VM neck won't fit in a CV bass body, I tried it. I think the VMs have slightly wider necks than standard.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
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 Squire a bad thing ?
- Thread starter Maszkman
- Start date
I think it is. A VM neck won't fit in a CV bass body, I tried it. I think the VMs have slightly wider necks than standard.
Maybe if you're Sancho Panza and have to deal with that nutty Quixote fellah.
Squire is great, but he plays Rics. Squier basses are fine. I have a VM V J I really like a lote. My vocalist didn't know it was a Squier the first time I took it to rehearsal and was surprised when I told him. I also have an Affinity I am try to find time to finish modding. It is in parts in my shop with one coat of primer sanded ready for the next. We had so much rain and the humidity has been in th 80% + range, so the project is on hold.
For those who know, Squier has a good rep. For those that don't know - why bother with them? They don't know.
For those who know, Squier has a good rep. For those that don't know - why bother with them? They don't know.
I just now this past week put a CV neck (from a Matt freeman P bass) on a VM P and it fit perfectly. If that is true then the opposite should also be true, that a VM neck would fit on a CV.
It may be dependent on how old the different parts are. Older necks may not fit on newer bodies, and vice versa. I can tell you the Matt Freeman CV neck I put on my VM P bass was from 2011, and my VM P is from 2010, only a year's difference, so that my be why they were compatible. also, more recent models may be more compatible with each other due to improvements in the CNC machines in recent years.
Last edited:
Some say they are better than an American standard. I can't speak to that but I do own a MIM Fender and many Squiers and they definitely are equal in my eyes
SirMjac28
Patiently Waiting For The Next British Invasion
Your last statement clarifies it perfectly. I'll take youradvise. Oh one more thing, would replacing the VM's pots with 250K CTS pots make any real difference ? I use mostly .047 caps. Any reason to change that?
Of course they want you to buy the more expensive bass--that's how they make money. American Fenders are better, but the question is are they worth 900-1000 dollars more to you?
For any product there is some price range where you hit the point of diminishing returns (it actually starts right at 0 dollars but the effect isn't really noticeable until the mid-range price brackets). To get a mid-range bass it might cost you 400 bucks. If you want one that is 10% better it might cost you 500 bucks. To get one that is 10% better than the 500 dollar bass it might cost you 700 instead. Prices increase exponentially as quality and features improve.
To me the point where I can say quality, features and price are optimized is about at the Mexican Standard line of Fender basses. They have pretty much every nice feature you need, they are constructed about as well as the American Standards, and the price is still very reasonable. The VM and CV lines I'd consider great budget instruments for students, as a workhorse for gigging, or just for fun! Sometimes people have their American Stds. then they still buy a couple VMs and/or CVs just to enjoy. Maybe they don't play fretless typically but want a fretless for experimenting with, that sort of thing.
To others, the optimized balance of price, features and quality will be different. If I had a larger income, and/or no family to support I might shift my "optimization point" there to the American Standard line because I could afford to.
I do have an American Fender bass and I can objectively say the construction quality is about the same as my MIM bass. Tight neck pocket, and I can't tell the difference in the wood. They weigh about the same and the grain patterns are similar. I thought the fretwork would be worse on the MIM but it isn't, that may have been me getting lucky though. The MIM P bass takes a set up just as well as my American Std.--same low action without buzz. The major difference is that the American Std has better hardware, pickups and electronic components (also string through but whatever).
CVs are similar, but your sacrificing a little quality over the MIMs. The MIM necks are about 10% better for only an extra 200 bucks!
Last edited:
Maszkman - welcome to Talkbass!
If you haven't already gathered from some of the posts in this thread - you misspelled Squier. Its a fairly common mistake but always results in some ribbing. So unless you're referring to a Knights Squire or Billy Squire you might want to go back and edit your title and posts to the correct spelling for the Fender bass product made by Squier. Oh, and yes, they are great basses and can usually hold their own when compared to their more expensive Fender brethren.
If you haven't already gathered from some of the posts in this thread - you misspelled Squier. Its a fairly common mistake but always results in some ribbing. So unless you're referring to a Knights Squire or Billy Squire you might want to go back and edit your title and posts to the correct spelling for the Fender bass product made by Squier. Oh, and yes, they are great basses and can usually hold their own when compared to their more expensive Fender brethren.
Maybe each model is a bit different.
For me I had a very recently constructed 60s CV Jazz bass body, and a VM Fretless neck that I have no idea what time frame it came from. The VM fretless neck would not fit properly. The cavity was so tight that I had to really torque the neck in there, then the strings wouldn't align properly. The VM fretless neck was from that Jaco-inspired fretless model.
I love Squier basses. For the money, theyre a steal. I have three of them, one of them being the VM jazz you have too. Now I do usually mod them quite a bit, but the VM will most likely stay the way it is other than a pup swap out. Yes, American made Fenders (MIA) are very nice as well. But I cant afford the MIA ones. It really depends though too. I can play my Squier P that is heavily modded and think it plays and sounds way better than a MIA P I pick up at my local GC. Its crazy, cool and sometimes a drag, that every bass you pick up is different. I really like that but at the same it sucks because you can play a P at a GC and love it. Go back a month later and pick up the same P, just a different one (if that makes sense) and it could play and feel totally different.
But no, there is nothing wrong with Squier basses.
But no, there is nothing wrong with Squier basses.
The Squier is not a bad bass, but to expect that a $300 bass will consistently be as good or better than a bass that costs three or four times more is unrealistic. Having said that, there are a lot of people that are happy with their Squier basses either stock or with mods. If you like your bass, don't worry about what other people think.
Squier is certainly not a bad thing. They are an affordable line of instruments and I think they play half-decent. I think that's a great thing for many reasons. For example, I have been thinking a lot about learning how to play a fretless, but I don't want to spend much because I don't know if I will enjoy it or even be good at it. The answer: Vintage Modified Fretless Jazz Bass. But there seems to be many on this who believe that there's no point to spending more than what you do on a Squier, which is just not true. The point of Squier is to be affordable, and to get there you have to cut corners. You can't deny that Squiers fall short when compared to any Fender. But so they should because they are cheaper! And that is certainly not grounds to be labelled as "bad."
