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Thoughts on Squire Basses for Professional Musicians?

#161
A few weeks ago, I finally got to play the new American Jazz Bass Deluxe V, and I really liked it. For comparison, I played a Squier
VM V in comparison to the Deluxe in passive mode. The two basses sound very close with a slight nod to the true single coil tone of the Squier. The Deluxe is a beautifully made bass that certainly is made from superior components, but it's not like Squier is on the verge of falling apart. Of course, the VM has none of the great tone shaping options that the Deluxe has either, but the passive tone of the VM offers a great deal for $329 new (mine was $150 used!) I know my VM V works great in church. Frankly it is easier to eq than my Rebop.
 
#162
I think most would agree that Squires are simply hit or miss.
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I would definitely agree, and I have never bought one I didn't handle and play in person. If any of mine had been total pieces, I would have passed. I'd be more hesitant to buy one online, only being able to judge by pictures. It can turn out okay, or it can go very bad, but that applies to almost anything you can buy online.

Some of us are on budgets, so high end is out. Even a regular Fender is beyond me right now.

But if I get a Squier that is solid, in good shape, and feels good, I'll buy it. A little time and money spent can really shape up even a cheap Affinity, as long as the base instrument is "good enough". On the other hand, trying to save one that happens to be a total POS right off the wall is probably not worth it.
 
#163
FWIW..... I would put a professionally modified Squier up against a MIA Fender P or J bass any day. It would sound and play as good, if not better, and cost hundreds less. (been there, done that, read the book and have the T-shirt)

But, of course this is just my opinion. :ninja:(and the opinion of many customers that now own hot-rod Squiers):hyper:

Rob C
Arizona Bass Company.
 
#164
Thoughts on Squire Basses for Professional Musicians?
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Here is your answer..
From left: Anthony Wellington, Regi Wooten - Squier, Victor Wooten - Fodera.
Notice the big Squier plate on the Strat body :)

9teukz.jpg
 
#165
I can't believe I read the whole thing!

OK, here's my take, guaranteed to be worth a virtual $0.02:

I'm an old guy and I can afford what I want, and I like Leo Fender's designs. So I have a Fender '51 Precision RI, a Classic '50s Precision, and an AVRI '57 Precision, and I also have a Music Man StingRay 5, and in the past I've owned both a G&L Tribute L2K, which I traded for a Fender Standard Jazz Fretless. All excellent basses, and those I no longer have were not sold or traded away because they were not good basses, but because they didn't fit me as well as those I kept.

Squier's strength is that they are manufactured to Leo's robust and iconic designs. Of course, when any product is being built to a price point, some features may suffer (I once had an Indonesian Squier II P with a plywood body) but Fender has a pretty good track record for maintaining quality even while moving production from country to country. The adage that you should try before you buy applies just as much to Fenders and Gibsons as it does to Squiers. The design is the key, and the execution is the stumbling block.

A long-time band mate and good friend (32 years this coming December) and I used to trade off on lead guitar and bass. We each had our own guitar (style, setup preferences and tunings were all different) but we rocked his Squier Jazz Bass for many years. He still has it, and still uses it.

If you have a good Squier and like it, good on yer. If you don't, good on yer too.:D
 
#166
Every instrument is unique. When I was looking to get a Jazz the nicest one I could afford at the time was a Hwy One. I must have played five different sunburst/rosewood Hwy One Jazzes but there was only on that felt and sounded right. Squiers are no different. Some are phenomenal instruments, especially for the money, some are atrocious.

I recently thought about selling my Squier VM fretless Jazz and actually had a guy come over to check it out. I decided not to sell it for several reasons. The first of which was that the buyer low-balled big time. The second was that he stated he'd have to sand the Squier logo off of the headstock because he wouldn't be 'caught dead' being seen on stage playing a Squier (it may be silly, but douchey money is no good at my house). The third is that I'd had it professionally set up with my preferred strings on it and it's a blast to play and has a great passive fretless tone. It's the perfect 'old school' alternative to my Pentabuzz.

Anyhow, blah blah blah blah: finding a quality Squier will give you great bang for your buck, and logo snobs aren't worth your time.
 
#169
I have an old Hartke 3500 MOSFET 1155 that was left at my house 6years ago. I am a teacher and had 100 to spend at GC from a gift card the kids gave me.

I bought a VM Jaguar with P and J pickups This thing is awesome.

I have a 92 Strat plus. 79 Les Paul custom. 61 reissue sg from 2011 (main guitar right now).

THD flexi 50 and THD Univalve. 72 metal panel Marshall 50 watt. Reeves custom lead high gain And an original black 100 watt Jubilee.

All that to say I know good guitar tone (I think).

$30,000 worth of guitar stuff pedals etc over 20 years.

I know squat about bass guitars. But this one has good bass tone for me and with the Hartke it is making my summer a fu%{>|^. Blast.
 
#172
Marial said:
Every instrument is unique. When I was looking to get a Jazz the nicest one I could afford at the time was a Hwy One. I must have played five different sunburst/rosewood Hwy One Jazzes but there was only on that felt and sounded right. Squiers are no different. Some are phenomenal instruments, especially for the money, some are atrocious.
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Same here with the HWY1. I picked it over a Geddy Lee and MIA standard. The tone was just killer. I prefer my roadworn more, but for the aggressive stuff I was playing prior, the highway 1 was sick.

I remember some total elitist snob tried my bass and sounded like crap because he had bad hands and proclaimed the neck "felt cheap". Guys like that are annoying. That highway1 has been on multiple releases on Metal Blade RR and Century and everyone loves it.

I think they all think it's American..lol.
 
#173
I came across a good deal on a Squier Vintage Modified Precision TB a little over a year ago. I always wanted a Telecaster bass and never thought that I would ever be able to afford one. The Squier played well and was pretty well made. Two months later I stumbled upon a great deal on an actual 1972 Telecaster bass. The Squier became redundant at that point and I sold it.

The guy that ended up buying it loves that bass. I've seen him playing it all over town.


SquirePrecision.gif
 
#174
Well everybody, I just bought a VM Precision bass as a backup to my '51 Fender Precision. Overall I'm rather happy with it!
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Congrats. I think the VM and CV Squiers are great, overall. I ended up with a used Squier P from elsewhere, but I did sample several brand new ones in the local music store when I was first looking. The CV P I played was, to my hands and ears, every bit the equal of the MIM standard Fender I also played, and at almost half the price.
 
#175
I've been getting better tone and playability from my 83' Squire P-bass then from the various 'Fender' P-basses I've had over the years, of course your milage may vary
 

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#176
I actually enjoy my Squier CV Jazz over my MIA Fender Precision. It has tone to die for and it plays incredibly well. I'm a little skeptical how well the skinny frets will hold up over time, and it might need to have the tuners upgraded to something a little more robust, but it's a very solid bass that I will gladly play on any gig (and this is coming from a guy with the MIA Fender, a EBMM StingRay, and a Modulus Quantum 5). Believe me, a good bass is a good bass regardless of price point or what name is on the headstock!
 
#177
jmattbassplaya said:
a little skeptical how well the skinny frets will hold up over time
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This is actually one of my favorite features of my CV Pbass!
I had never played a bass with 'mandolin' style fretwire before (though I've read about some pros like Will Lee and Lee Sklar preferring to have their basses fitted with these style frets for their feel) but after owning one I now really want my other basses refretted with vintage style 'mandolin' size fretwire. I think it just lets the string ring so much more freely when I'm sliding, certainly not to the degree a fretless would but the jumbo frets on my Fender American custom shop J are paling in comparison to those on my Squier cv P.
 
#178
Personally, I do not like Squiers or MIM Fenders. However, I also believe that each of us should play whatever we like and not care what other people think. If you like it, that's all that really matters.
 

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