Thoughts on Squier basses? Im skeptical.

[Greg Waldon]

I guess I am one of the lucky ones that got an outstanding Affinity PJ. I have a grand total of $45 in it. It was a pawn shop find. All it needed was a thorough cleaning and a set of strings. Fit and finish is great. Intonation is spot on. Neck is straight as an arrow. Pickups are quiet and sound fantastic. Action is low without any fret buzz. Definitely one that I will not get rid of,

 

[jdh3000]

I like mine. I have way more expensive basses but wind up taking it to gigs because it plays well and sounds good. Mine has some pretty hot pickups for passive.

 

[MoeTown1986]

I setup guitars and basses as a side gig. I've worked on a ton of Squiers. Most are dogs from the factory. But, with a proper setup, they're nice players. I can only recall one that was actually a bad bass. It was a new 5 string Jazz. The truss rod did absolutely nothing no matter which way you turned it. One of the tuning keys was super loose and wonky. The bridge pickup volume pot spun freely. And, the bridge saddles had a mixture of metric and standard allen screws for saddle height adjustment. That was mind boggeling. The customer bought it brand new from Sweetwater and brought it to me for a setup. It was the oddest thing. He sent it back for an exchange.

 

[MoeTown1986]

The truth of Squires is that they’re really inconsistent. I’ve had three - two were marginal even after a pro setup. The other was brilliant and I regret selling it. The only real option is to play lots of them until you find the good ones.

This is what I have found as well. I believe the lower cost is achieved by having much broader tolerances than higher end instruments. So, you may find one that fell right in the middle of the tolerances and it will be quite nice. But, if you get one on the high side of tolerances and those tolerances start to stack up.....

 

[Silky Johnson]

I know, its just alot of measurement and risk of turning the truss rod too far, but i should probably learn. I guess i can practice on this crappy bass haha.

Ya definitely watch a couple how to's, but I've done it for years without any measurement tools, ya just learn what works for your playing. But ya do be careful with that truss rod! Can't hurt it unless you force it to turn

 

[g-dude]

Why are you putting Rotosounds on it? I've never been happy with the ones I've tried.

 

[baileyboy]

...45 to fully adjust, and after checking just now, its 60 for a 5 string. Im usually hands on and fix literally everything myself but i cant pass that up.

You say you are hands-on and fix things yourself, but won't set up your bass? IMHO, $45-60 is money wasted here... if you are a naturally handy person, there doesn't seem to be a much of a reason to not maintain your basses and save yourself unnecessary spending.

 

[nabilhuakbar]

I'm gonna go against the grain here:

If you get a newer-production Affinity, you're a lot more likely to get a really solid, affordable instrument. The CV's and VM's have always been excellent, and honestly in a lot of cases I've felt that the fit, finish, and factory setup on a lot of Squier CVs and VMs and yes, even Affinities, has been on par with or better than the regular Fender Standards/Players. A off the rack new-production Affinity was assembled and set up well enough to impress one of Fender's Master Builders , so that's gotta count for something. Granted, it was a Strat, but still -- same factories, same product line.

Chinese-made Squiers may have been crap 20-30 years ago, but anything made in China in the last 10 years or so is going to be really decent assuming it was decently QC'd at the factory. Probably the best run of CV basses were the 2010-2018 Chinese-made run. The thing with any factory production instrument -- and it's certainly not just overseas-made Squiers, you run into the same basic problem no matter who's made it -- is that lemons can and do and will and always will sneak through QC. Squiers get a bad rap but if you look at literally any other production company that makes instruments on an assembly line in a factory, QC mishaps happen. People have bad days, the new guy is still in training, stuff just gets missed. It happens.

For the most part the pickups aren't really anything to write home about, but they're also perfectly serviceable. If anything, newer-production Affinities make great modding platforms, but also try out the bass for yourself first and make sure you're okay with how it sounds stock before you decide you need to throw a new set of pickups in there. The truth is, for instruments made in the last 10 years or so, stock OEM pickups have really, really really improved.

I used to be really intense about modding my instruments, but of my collection of guitars (4) and basses (3), I've tried to mod exactly one of them. It's an ESP LTD EC-256. I put a Seymour Duncan JB Humbucker in the bridge. And honestly, I took it out and sent it back because the stock OEM pickup sounded better.

There's definitely a point of diminishing returns past around $400-800 depending on the instrument and the manufacturer...and Headstock Pride/Inspiration is definitely a real thing, albeit a super weird psychological thing. You get what you pay for to a point, and then after that you're mostly paying for prestige.

Basically, you're not going to go wrong with a Squier -- and yes, that includes the Affinity series. Try to play one in a store first to get an idea with how they feel. If you don't love how it sounds you can always mod it later, or save up for something nicer.

 

[Gorn]

I don’t think you should get one. I think you’ll always look for a problems and you’ll find them. If you want something more expensive and you can afford it, go for it.

 

[dkelley]

So ive been looking for a second bass for awhile and the Squier CV 70's Jazz bass V5 has shown up basically everywhere. The reason im skeptical is because I own a Squier guitar (Not bass), which was 120$ used and, is garbage. It worked when i was a beginner, but its definetly not great. Moving over to my bass, again, a piece of garbage, but this time it makes more sense. Its a yamaha TRBX174 which I got used for 80$. After learning basic technique i started to realize its faults, mainly the quality overall, tone (or lack thereof) and the action. The action makes sense, because I got it used, but its really bad, like at the 12th fret, its about 3/8 inch off the fretboard... yeah. Also, im getting a 5 string, no matter what. The yamaha is a 4 string and ive learned all the basics, after being told that I would be an idiot for starting on a 5 string, which i learned is bogus advice. I plan to get it adjusted when I get it, and put rotosounds on it. Any advice? Also im new to this forum so let me know if i need to clarify anything, thanks!

If you've read up on them then you know "Squier" makes all kinds of qualities of instruments, and many of them are entry level junk.

CV is great - truly great. So is VM.

 

[Flipowitz]

So ive been looking for a second bass for awhile and the Squier CV 70's Jazz bass V5 has shown up basically everywhere. The reason im skeptical is because I own a Squier guitar (Not bass), which was 120$ used and, is garbage. It worked when i was a beginner, but its definetly not great. Moving over to my bass, again, a piece of garbage, but this time it makes more sense. Its a yamaha TRBX174 which I got used for 80$. After learning basic technique i started to realize its faults, mainly the quality overall, tone (or lack thereof) and the action. The action makes sense, because I got it used, but its really bad, like at the 12th fret, its about 3/8 inch off the fretboard... yeah. Also, im getting a 5 string, no matter what. The yamaha is a 4 string and ive learned all the basics, after being told that I would be an idiot for starting on a 5 string, which i learned is bogus advice. I plan to get it adjusted when I get it, and put rotosounds on it. Any advice? Also im new to this forum so let me know if i need to clarify anything, thanks!

I'm probably one of the only people who can say with conviction, that I absolutely hate Squiers with a burning passion, I've tried out quite a few, and have never been impressed, my first bass was a squire affinity p bass that my dad owned, simply horrible. They play and feel horrible to me, and I've always hated the lack of variety in most models. If you're on a budget, they make a workable starter bass, but that is the only thing those basses are good for.

 

[squarepeg]

Your Yamaha TRBX is actually a pretty fine bass if set up properly.

I've had several Yamaha guitars and basses, and I think they're well-made and of good quality. It sounds to me like it needs a setup.

 

[dkelley]

I'm gonna go against the grain here:

If you get a newer-production Affinity, you're a lot more likely to get a really solid, affordable instrument. The CV's and VM's have always been excellent, and honestly in a lot of cases I've felt that the fit, finish, and factory setup on a lot of Squier CVs and VMs and yes, even Affinities, has been on par with or better than the regular Fender Standards/Players. A off the rack new-production Affinity was assembled and set up well enough to impress one of Fender's Master Builders , so that's gotta count for something. Granted, it was a Strat, but still -- same factories, same product line.

Chinese-made Squiers may have been crap 20-30 years ago, but anything made in China in the last 10 years or so is going to be really decent assuming it was decently QC'd at the factory. Probably the best run of CV basses were the 2010-2018 Chinese-made run. The thing with any factory production instrument -- and it's certainly not just overseas-made Squiers, you run into the same basic problem no matter who's made it -- is that lemons can and do and will and always will sneak through QC. Squiers get a bad rap but if you look at literally any other production company that makes instruments on an assembly line in a factory, QC mishaps happen. People have bad days, the new guy is still in training, stuff just gets missed. It happens.

For the most part the pickups aren't really anything to write home about, but they're also perfectly serviceable. If anything, newer-production Affinities make great modding platforms, but also try out the bass for yourself first and make sure you're okay with how it sounds stock before you decide you need to throw a new set of pickups in there. The truth is, for instruments made in the last 10 years or so, stock OEM pickups have really, really really improved.

I used to be really intense about modding my instruments, but of my collection of guitars (4) and basses (3), I've tried to mod exactly one of them. It's an ESP LTD EC-256. I put a Seymour Duncan JB Humbucker in the bridge. And honestly, I took it out and sent it back because the stock OEM pickup sounded better.

There's definitely a point of diminishing returns past around $400-800 depending on the instrument and the manufacturer...and Headstock Pride/Inspiration is definitely a real thing, albeit a super weird psychological thing. You get what you pay for to a point, and then after that you're mostly paying for prestige.

Basically, you're not going to go wrong with a Squier -- and yes, that includes the Affinity series. Try to play one in a store first to get an idea with how they feel. If you don't love how it sounds you can always mod it later, or save up for something nicer.

You can go against the grain if you like, but there are facts that back the "china versions are preferable" when it comes to Squier instruments.

In the electric guitar world, on the very cheap squier affinity strats, China was making the back of the neck heel at first fret position properly (where your thumb lies), where Indonesia, for YEARS AND YEARS, did the shape totally wrong in a really bad way (just a really thick round neck that had no heel at all). China necks were, at least in the first years, also finished more nicely and had more correct fit and finish at the neck to body joint. Also the CV instruments, if I recall correctly?, were originally made in China way back when and were absolutely stunningly well made.

I agree that china has made crap and made great axes over the years. And in general what you said about timeline of Chinese built electric basses and guitars is true. BUT, there are a lot of brand/model/series-wide exceptions to that rule, and from a lot of personal experience with cheap Squiers over the past roughly 20 years, I'd say I generally prefer the chinese ones over the indonesian ones. AND this is coming from a guy who loves Cort Indonesian products, overall. Just that somehow the Squier affinity models from there (assuming it's the same factory at all in Indonesia, it may not be), are not even using the same neck designs/measurements, let alone have half way decent fretwork on the affinity axes.

The CV and VM instruments are nearly always really good no matter where they come from, and they at least care more about consistency between designs and QA regardless of it being China or elsewhere, with these nicer lines of instruments.

 

[AboutSweetSue]

For the price, they are good instruments. That’s about all there is to it.

 

[Volker Kirstein]

I have 2 Squiers: a Badtz Maru Bronco and a Mini P. Both sound, feel, and play killer for me. I love 'em.

I picked up a Squier P (not Affinity, not sure which model) once at a jam session that literally made me wince. It sounded OK, but was painful to play.

 

[ACRock]

My only suggestion is stay away from made in China basses. QC is bad in general. Indonesian and Korean made squiers are usually fine.

Actually the made in China cv models are regarded as the best of the line.

 

[beggar98]

I'm generally a fan of Squiers, but never played a Squier 5 I liked. Never played a Fender 5 I liked either, for some reason it just never feels right to me.

In that price range, I'd look at either Ibanez or Sterling by MM fivers. Fro what I've played, these consistently have pretty solid B-strings in that price range. And always always always play before you buy, or at least make sure there is a rock solid return policy. There can be a ton of variation between different instruments of the same model, especially with less expensive instruments.

 

[kmon]

It’s hard to make general statements about brands. As you move down in price point and reputation the variations in quality become more pronounced. The are some affinities out there that play great and there are lots of dogs. There are lots of solid CVs and some absolutely great ones. There are lots of great fender elites and a few average ones, maybe a dog here and there.

I think it’s good to remain open minded about brands and understand that it’s simply more of a roll of the dice at lower price points.

 

[JRT64]

I have a Squier CV 60's P Bass and it is quite a good bass. The neck on the newer ones feel great. I have gigged with mine many times with no problems. The only thing I have done to it was switch out the tuners for period correct ones, and add the covers. I also have an SX P Bass that cost less then the Squier, and it is also is quite nice. I had the stock pick up swapped out for a DiMarzio Model P, and it sounds and plays great too. I have played and owned, much more expensive basses, and these hold their own quite well. Also learning to do a set-up is well worth the time and effort.

 

[nabilhuakbar]

I'm probably one of the only people who can say with conviction, that I absolutely hate Squiers with a burning passion, I've tried out quite a few, and have never been impressed, my first bass was a squire affinity p bass that my dad owned, simply horrible. They play and feel horrible to me, and I've always hated the lack of variety in most models. If you're on a budget, they make a workable starter bass, but that is the only thing those basses are good for.

Sounds like your impressions were formed by bad experiences from decades ago. Have you seen what they've been doing recently?

Squier is basically Fender's test bench now. They're doing a lot of really cool and interesting things with their Paranormal series, and their quality has drastically improved. A lot of people would put the higher-tier Squiers against the lower-tier Fenders, and I'd agree with them for the most part.

You can go against the grain if you like, but there are facts that back the "china versions are preferable" when it comes to Squier instruments.

In the electric guitar world, on the very cheap squier affinity strats, China was making the back of the neck heel at first fret position properly (where your thumb lies), where Indonesia, for YEARS AND YEARS, did the shape totally wrong in a really bad way (just a really thick round neck that had no heel at all). China necks were, at least in the first years, also finished more nicely and had more correct fit and finish at the neck to body joint. Also the CV instruments, if I recall correctly?, were originally made in China way back when and were absolutely stunningly well made.

I agree that china has made crap and made great axes over the years. And in general what you said about timeline of Chinese built electric basses and guitars is true. BUT, there are a lot of brand/model/series-wide exceptions to that rule, and from a lot of personal experience with cheap Squiers over the past roughly 20 years, I'd say I generally prefer the chinese ones over the indonesian ones. AND this is coming from a guy who loves Cort Indonesian products, overall. Just that somehow the Squier affinity models from there (assuming it's the same factory at all in Indonesia, it may not be), are not even using the same neck designs/measurements, let alone have half way decent fretwork on the affinity axes.

The CV and VM instruments are nearly always really good no matter where they come from, and they at least care more about consistency between designs and QA regardless of it being China or elsewhere, with these nicer lines of instruments.

Ya learn something new every day...

And I was never trying to say that Chinese-made Squiers are crap (or instruments in general -- I love my Epiphones and their Chinese factory is putting out some very high-quality stuff), I was trying to say that maybe at the beginning some of the "crap" Squiers were Chinese-made and that's stained their reputation...even though they've long since demonstrated how undeserved that reputation is.

And I actually agree with you, the Chinese-made Affinities I've owned and played (both Guitar and Bass world) have honestly been better than the Indonesian-made ones. Same with the CV series...I had an Indonesian-made 1970s CV P-bass and it was beautiful and finished well, but the truss rod would just not stay set no matter what I did to it. It kept bowing forward. But I've never had a Chinese-made Squier that I didn't like.