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Is Squire a bad thing ?
- Thread starter Maszkman
- Start date
For perspective, and for the record, Gorn Captain is not anti-Squier if you are wondering. It's just an honest statement. You need to decide if the differences you find are worth the price difference to YOU.
I understand. In my post earlier I said I haven't found an MIA that was better than my Squiers, but that's because the ones I've tried have been on the store wall drying out thanks to brutally dry Canadian winters and had fret-sprout and high action etc... Not Fender's fault though (see my previous post). So far the price difference hasn't justified a purchase for ME, but make no mistake, the plan is to end up with at least one MIA if I can find the right one.
No, you are supposed to try them yourself and make up your own mind.
I think they are better myself - better hardware, better pickups, better finish, they feel better, sound better and look better. I've never found any Squier that I think is better than any MIA I've tried, but that's just my experience.
That's still not to say they are BAD. I just think its unrealistic to expect a $300 bass to be better than a $1200+ bass.
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I have heard this a lot as well, but to be fair, I have also heard and seen threads here and on other musician's forums that amount to "I just rescued an old Squier Affinity P bass from a dumpster behind my apartment building. It will slay any MIA Fender, for realz!"
The fact is, what qualities make one instrument "better" to another are based on numerous variables, will be different to each player and even the term "better" is completely subjective.
People want different things from an instrument...different feel, different sound. That doesn't necessarily make one measurably "better" in any kind of quantifiable sense that will translate to all players.
Some players like fretless 5 strings with active electronics and don't care at all for fretted passive 4 stringers. Some players have no interest whatsoever in ANYTHING but a passive fretted 4 stringer.
Neither of these players is "right or wrong" but when presented with a dozen different instruments to try out, they will consider different ones to be "better" for different reasons.
A lot of people do seemingly try to justify or rationalize a huge expenditure or float the idea that bass XXX is better than bass YYY because bass XXX was more expensive. So, it must be higher quality and therefore "better."
This is pure nonsense.
On the other hand, I have seen "reverse gear snobbery" as well, where people tout their Squiers and other less expensive basses as perfectly functional, satisfactory and fine (which they very often are) and act snidely towards people who own a fleet of $4000 custom-built boutique/luthier basses.
The main thing I've taken away from these sorts of things in 35+ years of playing, owning, buying, selling, trading and playing every bass I could get my hands on is that price, country of origin, year of origin and the name on the headstock have very little to do with quality, and this becomes more and more true all the time.
I've played plenty of $1500-$3000 instruments that I wouldn't give you $25 for, and I've played plenty of sub-$300 basses that were astonishingly good. The converse is also true.
Well said.
Squire is not a bad thing, but what they say is 100% true. It doesn't begin to compare to an american made fender. That said, a better player on a squire is still going to sound better.
Thanks. I think they're great and not just for the money. Inexpensive instruments used to be crap, but that's not the case anymore. Cheap labor and advanced technology make for great instruments that don't cost a lot.
I agree and again I love my inexpensive Squiers... but in terms of quantifying the quality of a MIA over others, I have heard that Fender tests the wood with a spectrograph (I think?) and slabs that work well with the bass frequency ranges, called "tone wood", goes in the MIA pile, and all others go to the MIM or Squier pile. No clue if that's true, and haven't heard the difference for myself personally.
Actually I would disagree with this, in my humble experience. Not necessary to put in CTS pots, but I would put in full size ones. The tapers on them are far more precise than the mini Alphas that are stock. Full sized Alphas will do fine. If he's going for a balanced sound, then 250 k pots are best. The capacitor isn't as critical, but the orange drops do have a nice mid range bump when the tone is rolled off.
I really dislike arguments about basses being worse than or compared to one another because so much of what we like about instruments is subjective or very hard to measure. To me, it makes much more sense to ask simply if you like an instrument and if it works for you or not.
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It varies wildly, since Squier basses have been made for many years and have very low-end instruments and some that are decent that cost more. The lowest end basses have bodies that are made out of "mystery wood" - that is, what seems to be random cheap wood product - but that's only the lowest end ones (the "Affinity" basses). All are made overseas - China / Indo / ect.
Yes. Warning. 'Water is wet' statement coming up. For the sales rep, the store, the company/manufacturer it's about selling units--shifting that product out the door. Whether that product is a blender, a toaster or a musical instrument, it doesn't really matter. I find that if you can keep this in mind, it helps you to make more clear-headed decisions around the purchase of musical instruments because it takes away the clutter of mojo, coolness, vibe, myth and hype that can obstruct your path.
Agree. In general, the vast majority of Squiers are not as good as an American Fender. Before last year, I would never have even said a Squier could compete with a Fender. I've played U.S. made for 35 years. I bought my first VM, and I was blown away by the sound and feel. I may have lucked out. But I also know how to set up a bass.
i put together a p bass for about $175 that has a squire affinity p body, and a squire standard j neck. supposedly it has an alder body, but honestly i don't care. it feels very good, sounds and looks like a p, and is pretty solid. it's my beat-up bass that i take with me everywhere. i also own a couple of usa std p, and a couple of usa std. j basses. Although i'm very happy with my squire, i agree with SanDiegoHarry that the quality difference varies more with squire than with the a usa std. series.
I agree. I've said many times that every single MIA is not better than every single Squier.
I read an article about Steve Vai once and he apparently was looking for a Strat so he went to a music store and tried out a lot of Squier, MIM, MIA Strats. The article said that he wound up walking out with a MIM Strat. People should have the confidence to play what sounds best to them. Some people spend way to much time worrying about what other people are thinking.
In case you're still not convinced, I love my VM Jazz. I still can't believe what I got for $300.
As has been said before, it's about how you feel about the instrument. That's the bottom line.
As has been said before, it's about how you feel about the instrument. That's the bottom line.
I wish i had a Squire jazz left hand 5 string!!!
I love Jazz basses...the look and the sound. (even Squires!)
In lefty - to die for...!
I love Jazz basses...the look and the sound. (even Squires!)
In lefty - to die for...!
This will prove to be the most valid, pertinent and eloquent post in this thread.
It will, therefore, be completely ignored.
