The only negative I can think of is the VM necks. Not sure what they are like now but like 15 years ago when they first came out, All the ones I tried all seemed to have the ski jump. Not talking a shim situation either, more of a fret level and I had experience planning the raise out two fret less necks as well.
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quality difference in Squier Necks
- Thread starter Mr Ralph
- Start date
And to clarify, it’s not really a criticism, just an observation. It’s actually really mind boggling the level of bass they can put out for $229. Personally I like a satin finish; so the high gloss they put on the VMs and new CVs would need some attention too. Nothing a little sandpaper can’t fix!
The thing about new"budget' basses isn't that they are automatically worse in quality. BUT, quality standards will be lower to meet a price point. So there is a wider range of "quality" to these instruments. That said, I used a Squier Bronco neck on a project. While the tuners were indeed junk, the neck itself was absolutely flawless, with fretwork as good as I have seen straight from a factory. I was very pleasantly surprised
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Chinese CV vs Indonesian CV/VM: Huge difference, Chinese CVs much better, they have some of the best Fender necks I've ever played.
Indonesian VM vs Indonesian CV: About the same in my experience. Good rather than great but I've played some bad ones too. Especially older VMs which seem to vary a lot.
(I'm talking about objective build quality here btw, like fretwork, stability, general craftsmanship. Not things like nut width, radius and neck profile which will depend on personal preference and always be a "try before you buy" scenario).
Indonesian VM vs Indonesian CV: About the same in my experience. Good rather than great but I've played some bad ones too. Especially older VMs which seem to vary a lot.
(I'm talking about objective build quality here btw, like fretwork, stability, general craftsmanship. Not things like nut width, radius and neck profile which will depend on personal preference and always be a "try before you buy" scenario).
I bought a classic vibe 60s jazz bass last year. The neck was OK. Not bad, not great. A couple of frets were high, a few fret ends were sharp and I didn't like the gloss paint on the back. All of these were easy enough to fix and it plays really well, but I decided I wanted to go fretless and replaced it with a defretted MIM maple fingerboard neck I had just finished.
I have a '14 Affinity PJ. Pawn shop find. $40 out the door. Just needed a good cleaning and a new set of strings. Fit and finish is fantastic. Sound is fantastic. Straight neck, low action, great hardware, quiet electronics and spot on intonation. Maybe I got lucky on this one, but it plays and sounds as good as anything else I have played. Definitely a keeper at a fantastic price point.
The Japanese Squier necks (JV,SQ series and later E-series) are among the best Fender necks. On par or better than US Fender instruments. I own 5 US Fender basses and 4 Japanese Fender instruments. Owned a Squier JV that I sold.
