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Who’s playing a squire?

#41
matante said:
These are the kinds of questions/threads that turn me off from Talkbass. A member since 2013 asking "how are squires?" feels like a paid commercial.
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I get this and then there's me.
I've never owned a squire and thought I would never even pick one up to try. But i keep my 3 MIA Fender basses in my firearm safe and thought I needed one I could get to easily...also they're all set up to play a half step down. Anywho, those are the reasons ( I tell myself) I was looking for a 90s MIM Fender P-bass. But kept seeing post like these talking about squire Basses. So when I saw one hanging behind the counter at a pawn shop I thought I'd try it. I think It's a 2008 china 60s classic vibe jazz bass. It is fairly light (a plus) and extremely well built. I was totally blown away. The fit, the finish. Kinda made me rethink my attitude on squire.
Now I'm stuck between it and s 90s bass on CL, both for 400 bucks. IDK, I don't need a bass I just want a beater, but that squire is too good of shape to be a beater and I want a P-bass really. here's a pic of the pawn shop one.
IMG_20210823_153001_5~2.jpg
 
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#43
I most recently bought a Squier Classic 60s Vibe fretless and really like it. Played my last gig with it. I through on a hi-mass bridge and am thinking about other mods because, as @skygzr mentions, they don't mind the abuse and given the price point it's not like you're toying with a $2K instrument.

This is my first fretless and it's been a lot of fun to play.
 
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#44
andare said:
My recent experience with Squier Affinity (own a Bronco and a Mini P), Classic Vibes (did tech work of friends guitars and bass, cjihese5 and Indonesians) and Fender Player (own a P): the Player is a bit better but the QC is horrible especially for the price. Sharp fret ends, fret sprout, misaligned nut and bridge.
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Not any of the 10 or so that I've played. That's what the Squiers feel like.
 
#45
daveyo said:
Thinking of buying a Squire bass for a second bass back up
The price is certainly right
Is it really just a beginner bass?
Or should I just spend the extra bucks and buy a made in Mexico bass?
Opinions?
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It's Squier, which will help in searches.

Also, there are many different Squiers - old JV and SQ from the 1980s, Standard from the 00s, CV, VM, Affinity from various periods. They are not all the same.
 
#48
Texaspandj said:
It's a 2008 china 60s classic vibe jazz bass. It is fairly light (a plus) and extremely well built. I was totally blown away. The fit, the finish. Kinda made me rethink my attitude on squire.
Now I'm stuck between it and s 90s bass on CL, both for 400 bucks. IDK, I don't need a bass I just want a beater, but that squire is too good of shape to be a beater and I want a P-bass really. here's a pic of the pawn shop one.View attachment 4392902
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That's a winner right there, it'd be an easy decision for me I've always wanted a Chinese olympic white/tort 60's Jazz :drool: mnnn but I did end up with a black one with tort....It's one helluva a player'
image.jpeg
 
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#51
-Asdfgh- said:
It's Squier, which will help in searches.

Also, there are many different Squiers - old JV and SQ from the 1980s, Standard from the 00s, CV, VM, Affinity from various periods. They are not all the same.
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My experiences with Squiers include:
  • JV Precision from circa 1984. Wonderful bass I had for years on long-term loan. Should have bought it. Slightly better than the 1984 Fender MIJ I had (the only real issue on that was an outsized neck pocket - everything else was pretty much the same as the Sqiuer), although not as good as another 1984 Fender MIJ I tried to buy (perfect neck pocket). But all pretty close. This was before I knew how to check fret level, but I had the action set very low on the Squier and it worked (1.8mm E string 12th fret).
  • Squier Affinity Precision I tried in a shop in the 00s. Really, really horrible. Sharp fret ends, horrible sound, mile-high action. I didn't touch another one after that.
  • Squier CV Precisions around 2010-2 ish: very nice, wish I'd bought one. Sounded and played pretty similarly to a 2010-ish Fender MIA, if not quite as warm, and slightly less neat cosmetically.
  • Squier VM Telebass: which I had kept it. Great neck, perfect fretwork. The pickup had been replaced with a Model One which didn't work for me, and I couldn't find an original one at the time. Neck needed no levelling work.
  • Fretless VM Jazz: pickups are a bit meh (the older Duncan Designed ones). I had to sand the neck somewhat to really get it playing like butter due to fret marker sprout, so out of the box (it was second hand) it would have been maybe adequate at best. I tried others in shops, but they don't like you taking allen keys to them, so it is hard to compare those. They all sounded pretty meh in the DD era. In some ways the rosewood board Harley Benton I got as a backup for my main fretless (rosewood board) is better than the Squier before doing work on it. The pickups are a little bit barky, maybe, and the bridge had a stuck screw, but the neck was better out-of-the-box. And it was cheaper.
  • Two 2005 Squier Standard Precisions I still own - they are not at all bad, but both have the same issue that the fretwork from fret 18 and above is indifferent and not totally flush with the fretboard. At some point I will have to get that fixed. They took some levelling too, although they didn't require a lot.
I owned two MIM Fender Cowpokes from the same year. They were special order so I owned the first one about a week before asking for it to be replaced as it had the deadest dead spot known to man and the fretwork was so bad there was a lot of wood filler used to fill in gaps at the fret ends. Worst Precision I've played apart from the Affinity. The second was fine.
 
#55
I played an Affinity Stratocaster guitar many years ago, and it was a terrible instrument. As a result of that experience I refused to even consider trying any other Affinity, guitar or bass. I was convinced the the Affinity line was an absolute waste.

Fast forward to about a year ago; in my favorite pawn shop a Affinity P bass had been displayed for about a year. Following my decision to ignore anything Affinity, I refused to even consider trying it. To make matters worse, it was covered with stickers; a sure sign that the previous owner had thought it to be unworthy. At the time I was looking for a straight "P" bass (not a "P/J") to add to my stable. There sat that Affinity, and it was ugly with stickers but it was a straight "P" bass, so I tried it. I was definitely amazed at the feel and sound, so I took a chance hoping the stickers could be removed. Much to my amazement, the stickers all came off easily revealing a nearly pristine black finish.

I came to learn that this particular Affinity is from 1989 or 1990, and was one of the few Squier instruments that was made in Taiwan. Apparently this was a stop-gap effort by Fender while the factories in Mainland China were getting tooled up for production. So, is it actually a Fender that's branded as a Squier Affinity; I have no idea. What I do know is that the build quality is good, it sounds good, and feels good in my hands.

So I come back to my long-standing belief, that every instrument is an individual regardless of price, and should be evaluated as such. My need for a real "P" bass made by the company that invented it has been satisfied. BTW, this one joins a stable that includes models from Fender, Gibson, G&L, Peavey, Yamaha, Epiphone, and a few others.

Thump on,

One_Dude
 
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#56
Since FMIC increase their price stupidly, the current Squier price tag has no more value of money thing which been happened on 2008 china made Classic Vibe ~ usd 299.

Affinity price you can get Bacchus universal bass and roasted maple neck include. Truss rod adjust at neck heel , just like Fender Am Pro.

Classic vibe price you can look at Cort GB64, 74/75jj/jh bass which has better QC and provide better hardware (hipshot tuner and omega bridge on 74/75, roasted maple neck on 64j )and active/passive onboard preamp . Erniball type truss rod adjustment wheel on 74/75 model. Yes, they are Poor man Sadowsky , VTB j pup are humcancelling and NO noisy active preamp which you can found on Metro express.

The only reason I wanna get Squier , if I need 70s jazz bass pickups placement , liking with Paranormal 54 J, seriously love neck diving 32 scale Jaguar H and I can't afford Fender Custom shop 51 pbass or Jaco Sig fretless J.
(I actually own 2 Indo cv50P but I sold both.....)
 
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#57
I have a SQUIER 2021 CV 70's Precision (MII). I own 5 other electric basses. Making comparisons or ranking lists is somewhat silly since each bass is very different than the others, but in the end they are all just basses. Not sure what all the China vs Mexico vs Indonesia comments are all about. Unless you have sold a lot or owned a lot I don't think there is any basis for such comparisons and the rest is just arbitrary speculation.

The CV 70 P is a great bass. I play it often and it was perfect right out of the store. I am not a beginner, so I would not call it a beginner bass. I will say that I wish this was my first bass (1988).
 
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#59
I think it was said but this could be a long thread. For all the people on TB who love their Squier there is another who will slag on it and insist you need a Sadowsky or something else big $$.

I have a pretty standard Squier Musicmaster and a Fender Musicmaster with a Squier neck that I gig with all the time, no issues. And currently working a project of a Squier CV Mustang body with Bronco neck that I'll also gig with when done.

Nothing wrong with Squier, your audience won't care about that name on the headstock as long as you rock it.
 
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