I'm just throwing a guess out there, but do you think it could be because this thread is:
"Is there really a big difference between Squire vs Fender"?
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Is there really a big difference between Squire vs Fender
- Thread starter aasti3000
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I'm just throwing a guess out there, but do you think it could be because this thread is:
"Is there really a big difference between Squire vs Fender"?
And it's just as obvious those who say that Fender has "better parts" don't know either.
And it is also irrelevant becasue Fender is not the only bass that has dead spots. (For the record, neither my Fender or my Squiers has a noticeable dead spot) Dead spots are a non-issue when comparing Fenders and Squiers.
i'll put either one of my 2012 MIM's up against a Squier, anytime --- either or...... Antigua or RW jazz!!
Really? Just Fenders?I can't believe that no one has mentioned the dreaded dead spot yet. We all know Fender and Fender style basses will have a dead note somewhere around the 5th to 7th fret on the G string. My '76 P has it on the 6th. Do yourself a favour and get something with a 2 + 2 tuner arrangement. I own 7 basses ( 2 Corts, 2 Epiphones, '76 Fender P, Headless Washburn and an ABG) and the only one with a noticeable dead spot is also the only one with 4 inline tuners...
With that said, my Fender rarely leaves the house. I usually take a Cort and an Epi to gigs. It's the most uncomfortable bass on long gigs ( fat neck and heavy on the shoulder ). Besides the other two just plain sound better at a fraction of the cost... about on par with the top of the line Squiers price wise.
At the end of the day the choice is up to you. Buy what you want and don't believe all the patriotic BS that goes on in this forum about American made being better, my 1 American made doesn't hold a candle to 2 Indonesian made, 2 Korean made and 1 Japan made (i'll leave the ABG out of this, I don't know where it was made). Country of manufacture has nothing to do with how well (or not) a bass is put together. You can get sh1t quality from all over the world, or you can get some real gems. You just gotta find what works for you.
End of rant!
What about both of my Ibanazezezrz?
Both the SR500 and the AEB10 have the same dull spots.
My point to the OP was why limit yourself to only Squier or Fender. There are other options out there. Don't be a sheep and base your decision on what others play. Play a lot of basses and pick something that will work for you, without having to spend a fortune on it. My Fender is my most expensive bass, it's also my least played, because my other basses play better. YMMV
I don't think that's the point of discussion. The reason the OP's question is valid is because Squier and Fender are the same company with Squier being more of a budget line, but in recent years their better stuff seems to be eclipsing the lower priced Fenders.
Agreed, bringing up other brands of basses is irrelevant to the topic of this thread. And nobody is being a sheep here, just because they like Fenders and Squiers.
My advice would be to buy a used MIM Fender Standard, you can go on guitar centers website and search their network of used basses and find one from anywhere and get it shipped to a closser store. Then you can even return it if you don't like it. Guitar Center lists these in the $249-$299 price range usually.
I would recommend upgrading the bridge right away, the common upgrade is a Leo Quan BA2, some people on here don't like them but it still seems to be the most common upgrade on these basses.
As you grow as a player you may decide to sell the bass and get something better, if that happens you wouldn't get much for your Squier but the used MIM will still be worth atleast what you paid for it used. Or maybe you will decide instead of selling it to contiue to upgrade other components as well, with the right upgrades and if you had a luthier do some fret work you can get a MIM Fender darn close to playability and reliability of an American or Japan made Fender. I can't say I would assume the same for all Squiers.
One last thing, the question you asked (Fender vs Squier) is a controversial one on here, but most people will agree that playing a bass in a music store dosen't give a true representation of what a bass will sound like when you get it home and start playing with a band. My point is that just because you thought the Fender and Squire sounded the same in the store dosen't mean one wouldn't sound better once you got it home.
I can only offer my personal experience. I own a Squier VM Precision (the amber finish), and it is an excellent bass. No complaints at all.
Last week I bought a new MIM Jazz, and it BLOWS the Squier away. Maybe I just got a good one, but everything about that MIM is just first rate. It's much closer to an MIA than I was expecting.
So yeah. I like my Squier, but my MIM is the superior instrument in every way. I don't know if this is always the case, but my MIM is a definite keeper, and I won't be doing any modding of it at all.
Last week I bought a new MIM Jazz, and it BLOWS the Squier away. Maybe I just got a good one, but everything about that MIM is just first rate. It's much closer to an MIA than I was expecting.
So yeah. I like my Squier, but my MIM is the superior instrument in every way. I don't know if this is always the case, but my MIM is a definite keeper, and I won't be doing any modding of it at all.
Speaking as someone who owns neither Squires or Fenders (so I don't have a dog in this fight) I would say that yes Fenders are much better basses. Squiers are a great value for the money, but they aren't nearly as nice as a good Fender. Of course, if you are starting out you probably can't appreciate the difference. A lot of it is in the feel of the neck and the frets. Are their dismal fenders? Yes. Are there superb Squiers? Of course. But you shouldn't let the exception be the rule.
I think you also should take with a grain of salt some of the opinions on the TB message board. Quite a lot of us think "our" bass and "our" amp are the best possible combinations to produce all tones for all types of music.
I think you also should take with a grain of salt some of the opinions on the TB message board. Quite a lot of us think "our" bass and "our" amp are the best possible combinations to produce all tones for all types of music.
I guess I will jump into this as well.
I own a Geddy Lee Jazz bass and it has been my #1 guitar for the past three years. This past weekend I bought a Squier VM Jazz Bass '77. I picked it off the guitar shop wall because of the look (white pearloid blocks on maple fingerboard...very unique). I was amazed at how well it played and the sound. Granted, a lot of that has to do with the setup done by the shop luthier and the amp you play out of but I have to say that I am really impressed so far and plan on using the "77" on some gigs in the future.
I own a Geddy Lee Jazz bass and it has been my #1 guitar for the past three years. This past weekend I bought a Squier VM Jazz Bass '77. I picked it off the guitar shop wall because of the look (white pearloid blocks on maple fingerboard...very unique). I was amazed at how well it played and the sound. Granted, a lot of that has to do with the setup done by the shop luthier and the amp you play out of but I have to say that I am really impressed so far and plan on using the "77" on some gigs in the future.
I'm probably going to get tons of hatred on this forum for this, but I've owned two Squiers, but have played and know several people that own MIA Fenders.
Here's my verdict:
As far as the actual fit and finish goes, the Fender is totally superior to Squier. The paint quality is better, the parts interchange is much better (Fender parts do not fit Squiers without modification in same cases--specifically, pickguards.)
In terms of pickups, the Fender is definitely superior to the Squiers. The tonal quality is much better in even the "Duncan Designed" line of pickups compared to Squier Affinity pickups (One of my Squiers is a P/J with Duncan Designed pickups and the other is an Affinity with stock P-bass pickups. The Duncan P's have more of a vintage P-bass sound.)
However, I have found that as for the rest of the electronics (speaking from the perspective of passive instruments,) there is very little to NO difference between the Fender and Squier instruments. Also, the tuning machines on my Squier Affinity look exactly the same as the MIA Fender tuning machines and feel about the same.
In my honest opinion, the subtle differences to me do NOT warrant the $1000 difference between the two.
Either way, I have found Fender/Squier quality control disappointing--NO two sound alike, even if they are the same model, same pickup configuration, same woods, same everything. There is no real consistency, and it seems to be the same way with MusicMan as well.
I've played a few G&L L-series basses, and they all sound the same (at least to my ears) as the other, even between the 4-string and 5-string models.
I don't really expect them to sound EXACTLY the same as each other (That would be lunacy), but I would expect them to sound similar from one bass to the next, but they don't. Fender A may have a slightly warmer sound than Fender B, but Fender C may have slightly longer sustain than both A and B.
I would rather pay 100-200 for a Squier and pay 80 bucks or less for a nicer set of pickups and newer, better made pots, such as WD (even though that's kind of a ridiculous price, but they hold up well and aren't super easy to just turn on accident when using a pick), than pay several thousand dollars for an instrument that just looks a little better and is made in America instead of China or Mexico.
EDIT: I don't know about the Fender models, because I have never owned one, but another weak link on the Squier is that the screw heads on the bridge are VERY easy to strip. I've already had to replace one, and now possibly a second one.
Here's my verdict:
As far as the actual fit and finish goes, the Fender is totally superior to Squier. The paint quality is better, the parts interchange is much better (Fender parts do not fit Squiers without modification in same cases--specifically, pickguards.)
In terms of pickups, the Fender is definitely superior to the Squiers. The tonal quality is much better in even the "Duncan Designed" line of pickups compared to Squier Affinity pickups (One of my Squiers is a P/J with Duncan Designed pickups and the other is an Affinity with stock P-bass pickups. The Duncan P's have more of a vintage P-bass sound.)
However, I have found that as for the rest of the electronics (speaking from the perspective of passive instruments,) there is very little to NO difference between the Fender and Squier instruments. Also, the tuning machines on my Squier Affinity look exactly the same as the MIA Fender tuning machines and feel about the same.
In my honest opinion, the subtle differences to me do NOT warrant the $1000 difference between the two.
Either way, I have found Fender/Squier quality control disappointing--NO two sound alike, even if they are the same model, same pickup configuration, same woods, same everything. There is no real consistency, and it seems to be the same way with MusicMan as well.
I've played a few G&L L-series basses, and they all sound the same (at least to my ears) as the other, even between the 4-string and 5-string models.
I don't really expect them to sound EXACTLY the same as each other (That would be lunacy), but I would expect them to sound similar from one bass to the next, but they don't. Fender A may have a slightly warmer sound than Fender B, but Fender C may have slightly longer sustain than both A and B.
I would rather pay 100-200 for a Squier and pay 80 bucks or less for a nicer set of pickups and newer, better made pots, such as WD (even though that's kind of a ridiculous price, but they hold up well and aren't super easy to just turn on accident when using a pick), than pay several thousand dollars for an instrument that just looks a little better and is made in America instead of China or Mexico.
EDIT: I don't know about the Fender models, because I have never owned one, but another weak link on the Squier is that the screw heads on the bridge are VERY easy to strip. I've already had to replace one, and now possibly a second one.
That's because they ARE NOT PHILLIPS.
They are JIS standards and an American Phillips will not fit it correctly.
I live in 'Murrica, I want 'Murrican stuff to fit, dammit!
Nah, anyway. Didn't know that. I've never really stopped to look, and the one that's stripped is on a bass that was handed to me from someone else that was already pretty roughed up.
If you really wanted American stuff (and I see no reason to think that way personally) then you should not have bought an Indonesian guitar: MII is kinda a give-away.
Indonesia is under the same engineering rules as Japan - that's the way it goes. Then there's the Germans with their system and then of course all those other countries that went Metric. Some of them even drive on the wrong side of the road.
Indonesia is under the same engineering rules as Japan - that's the way it goes. Then there's the Germans with their system and then of course all those other countries that went Metric. Some of them even drive on the wrong side of the road.
Without a giggling smiley-face, someone might not get the humor. I answered as I did in case a n00b reads your post and gets confused.
It's really sad that people don't LOOK first and see if a screwdriver or socket or hammer is Metric or SAE before they use it. (See? THAT's humor!)
And there's those weird SAE fittings that have an equivalent metric. But that's deviating from the topic.
But yeah, to me the whole Fender v.s. Squier argument is like the Gibson v.s. Epiphone thing all over again. If you REALLY want to see a difference between a Gibson, pick up a real Gibson Les Paul Junior and then the Epiphone model. The P90 pickup makes a huge difference.
Yeah I just got a 2012 MIA P-bass brand new for $850 so you probably despise me, lol.
Back on topic:
There is a major difference in fit and finish between the nice Squiers and the American Standards. I cant understand how anybody can say otherwise with a straight face.
Is your Squier nice? Yes of course.
Is my American Standard nicer? Yes of course.
