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Is there really a big difference between Squire vs Fender

Comparing actual on-line prices:

If a new American Standard 4 string Precision is @ $1,149 and a new 4 string Squier Precision is @ $179 then the main difference between the two is @ $970.

Functional differences are minimal other than difficulty spelling Squier..LOL...

Again, "Pawn Shop value" and assumed collector values will be drastically different.

How the hell come you can have a new American Standard at $. 1,149.00?

In Italy I payed (I traded my former Ibanez SR4500E Prestige) €. 1.446,00!

I think I really hate all of you

Cheers,
Wallace
 
Every Fender is not better than every Squier, but on average, Fender basses are better than Squier basses. If you are happy with a Squier, go ahead an buy it. If you buy used you will probably be able to sell it for what you paid, if you decide later that you want a Fender.


Agreed - and I've owned, played, and gigged ALOT of Squiers, and MIM, MIJ, and MIA Fender basses...


- georgestrings
 
Actually, my impression from that Ed Friedland video was that The Squiers sounded pretty much spot on to the Fenders, except for the Squier CV 60's Jazz vs. the Fender Custom Shop 60's Jazz. I could readily discern a difference in the tone between those two. The thing is, I preferred the tone of the Squier. It sounded like a more authentic 60's tone (fuller, with a good bottom end), the Fender had a much more modern sound (more top end) . In that case, if I was looking for a good 60's type sound, I would have went with the 350 dollar Squier over the 3000 dolar Fender.

It's irrelevant anyway. Tone is subjective and 99% of the time no one else cares except you, the player.
 
Comparing actual on-line prices:

If a new American Standard 4 string Precision is @ $1,149 and a new 4 string Squier Precision is @ $179 then the main difference between the two is @ $970.

Functional differences are minimal other than difficulty spelling Squier..LOL...

Again, "Pawn Shop value" and assumed collector values will be drastically different.

Uhhh yea and the difference between a BMW and a Ford is only $40,000, because they're both cars which you an drive to the store. Besides the cost, they are practically the same.
 
How the hell come you can have a new American Standard at $. 1,149.00?

In Italy I payed (I traded my former Ibanez SR4500E Prestige) €. 1.446,00!

I think I really hate all of you

Cheers,
Wallace


Hahahaha!!! - yeah, as an American bassist, I feel we're pretty fortunate for the most part... A couple of years ago, I bought a used '08 American Standard Jazz in excellent condition for $630 - it's been an outstanding instrument in every regard since the day I got it:

IMAG0177.jpg


Here it is with a different PG, S1 switch, and Hipshot drop tuner - the only mods I've ever felt the need to do on it:

IMAG0218.jpg



- georgestrings
 
I think a lot of people commenting on here are not familiar with the newer CV or VM Squiers. That's not a diss to anyone in particular. They're right if you're judging a base Squier, not one from those series...they're not that great. However, I would put my CV Jazz at probably around the level of the American Specials. The pickups are amazing, the stock bridge, IMO, is better than the stock Fender bent plate, and I haven't had any problems with tuners. You asked for opinions, so I'm going to give you mine: Buy the Squier. If you're looking for a P, I recommend the butterscotch finished VM P. The money that you save that would be the difference, I would invest in a better quality amp. I think that's going to make more of a difference for you right off the bat in your sound. Again, all just IMHO.
 
Uhhh yea and the difference between a BMW and a Ford is only $40,000, because they're both cars which you an drive to the store. Besides the cost, they are practically the same.
The difference between a BMW and Ford matters to girls; the difference between a Fender and Squier matters to guitarists. So, there's quite a difference between the differences.
 
Well, I love my Hwy 1 Jazz, and I love my Squier '51 P and my Squier 'Jaco Jr' fretless. The '51 P came to me already modded with a better neck, and the fretless needs some major neck adjustment. I will probably get a replacement Warmoth neck for it at some point, and a different pick up for the '51. My Hwy 1 is bone stock and while I may upgrade the pick ups at some point it has sounded good enough over the past five or six years that I've never gotten around to it. So... my own experience is that yes, there is a difference, and while wholly unscientific, the feel of the Hwy 1 is more solid and substantial than that of either of my Squiers.

That said, I dig them all for various reasons and what it comes down to for me is bang-for-buck. Given what I paid for these three basses they are absolutely equal in that regard. After mods the two Squiers will be on par with the Hwy 1 and I will probably have less in them, per bass, than I paid for the Hwy 1. YMMV, yada yada yada.

I do not care about labels on headstocks.
 
If you use the [flawed ] car analogy , half the players are playing poorly and causing accidents.

Trade in your used toyota for a fodera and just leave it at home with that "logic".

OP
Get the squier CV jazz if you're not sure.
You can always upgrade later, no one will notice.

Nobody said the better car will make you a better driver or the Fender will make you a better player. It's just a nicer car. To say that the only key difference between a Squier and American Std. Fender is "price" is simply wrong...just as it is regarding the BMW and the Ford. That was the original point which was being responded to.
 
Nothing wrong with Squiers. Leo Fender designed his instruments to be mass-produced by unskilled labor, and they translate well into the lower-priced models. A friend and I gigged with his Squier Jazz Bass that he bought new for $200, for many years. My first P was a Squier.

BUT many Squiers are marginal, and/or made of inferior materials (my Indonesian P was plywood and weighed a ton) and often use inferior hardware. Sure, you can upgrade the bits, but plan on never getting that expense back when you sell, because -- with Squier on the headstock -- it won't have much resale value. Plenty of people will make moralistic judgments about that, but it's a fact of life.

If you are in a position to play the instrument you are interested in, you can find an excellent Squier. If you buy off the internet, it's a crap shoot. In that situation you're safer buying a Fender, but quality is still not guaranteed. They are made of wood, after all, and each one is different.

I have three Fenders, a CIJ '51 reissue, a MIM Classic '50s, and a MIA AV '57, and I personally haven't ever seen any Squier of comparable quality, so I can't really address the central issue here. Just remember, if you find a good one, it doesn't matter what name is applied to it. It's all about having an instrument that speaks to you.
 
Borris.... I disagree with your auto analogy. First of all BMW does not make Ford..although Ford owned Jaguar at one time.... Squier IS a subsidiary of Fender. A clearer analogy would be Lincoln vs Ford; Cadillac vs Chevy.

I own a Rickenbacker also and I would never compare any Squier to any Rickenbacker, nor would I compare my ZON to Squier.

OK..So you drive a BMW..I used to own a VW Bus, which was pure GERMAN crap; "Hitlers revenge". Now that would be a more fair anaolgy than BMW to Ford. So what kind of bass[ es] do you own..Better be better than Zon, ACE.

Again.. BMW is more for the illusion of prestige when compared
with other autos of like heritage; FERARRI...or Corvette, from a driving perspective; check used prices or collectibility of either over BMW.

END OF DEBATE! [ And I thought I would never lower myself and enter a flame war..JEEZE...]
 
The Conventional Wisdom:

The top of the line Squiers are at least as good as the cheaper Fenders.
The top of the line Fenders are better than any Squier.

Having said that, the top of the line Squiers are excellent first bases - you could be happy with one for quite some time, and it would also be a good bass to learn to do mods on as you get better and desire better / different features.

If you liked the Squier P you tried out, I doubt you'd be sorry that you bought it.
 
kreider204 said:
The top of the line Fenders are better than any Squier.

I love when people state things like this as if they were fact. I owned an American made precision deluxe that I bought new and was a complete piece of crap on multiple levels. My active squier tuners tuned way better, the bass was more solidly assembled, it sounded better, had better buzz free action, and didn't have a handful of issues that my p bass came with.
 
In my experience, the high-end Squiers are as good as or better than MIM Fenders, the other Fender brands are generally better than Squier. You stand a much higher chance of getting a lemon Fender vs lemon Squier CV's though.
 
I think a lot of people commenting on here are not familiar with the newer CV or VM Squiers. That's not a diss to anyone in particular. They're right if you're judging a base Squier, not one from those series...they're not that great. However, I would put my CV Jazz at probably around the level of the American Specials. The pickups are amazing, the stock bridge, IMO, is better than the stock Fender bent plate, and I haven't had any problems with tuners. You asked for opinions, so I'm going to give you mine: Buy the Squier. If you're looking for a P, I recommend the butterscotch finished VM P. The money that you save that would be the difference, I would invest in a better quality amp. I think that's going to make more of a difference for you right off the bat in your sound. Again, all just IMHO.

A couple of things. First, agreed, it's a great bass, I love mine, I also highly recommend it. Second, the VM P finish is not butterscotch, it's transparent amber, thirdly, this model has been removied from the Squier line, it is now sadly OOP, if you want one, get it now, stores will only be able to sell you only what they have on hand, (Musician's Friend still has some at a sale price of about 255 bucks) they will not be getting any more of these in stock.