Who’s playing a squire?

[Gravedigger Dav]

I have 3, a CV 60s P, a VM 70s J, and a fretless J. They are all good basses.

I don't have a picture of the fretless. Frrito thinks he may be related to the J.
All are good basses. I particularly like the P. It has a J neck.
The J has Seymour Duncan Antiquity II pickups and a Stewmack wiring harness.
The P has Quarter Pounder pickups and a Stewmack wiring harness.
Both of these live in my band's practice space so I don't have to schlep anything to and from.

 

[mrcbass]

I use a Squier P as my backup. Blindfolded, I honestly wouldn't know it's not my Fender American Pro.

I previously had a a Fretless Squier J that I sold because it was a 4 banger (I play 5ers exclusively) and am not a fan of the jazz controls. The instrument was great.

I also picked up a Squier to test a defret concept. It also plays fine.

Obviously, there will be good and bad in anything and you might expect that cheaper instruments to be more prone to bad. I've experienced nothing but good in my small sample.

 

[groovaholic]

Dunno about the new Squiers, but I have a Japanese 1983 Precision that’s gone toe to toe with plenty of US Precision basses…and it cost me $89 used.

A bit beat up, but the tone is ALL there - perfect for rock & roll!

 

[JW56789]

I own three Squiers:

James Johnston Signature Jazz (Indonesian production)
Contemporary Active Jazz Bass HH V (indonesian production)
Precision Bass Five (Indonesian production)

You'll forgive me if I can't remember if these are VM or CV . . . .

First, these are built to a price. You can see the plating might be a bit less lustrous, you can bet they probably aren't CTS or Bourns bits under the hood, the bodies may be a bit thinner, maybe not as much time in the paint booth, etc.

However, there's two other things at work. FMIC rightly figures to scan some primo models, and EMail them to whoever's building them. And from what I can see, their Indonesian subcontractors have learned their role quite well. They are remarkably good basses for the price.

All three of mine were well built. No fret sprout, wonky lifted frets, nothing. Tone is subjective, but the 'cheap' pickups are fine. The Active Jazz V is loaded up with a modern bass tone, with the ceramic pickups and active tone, and a PERFECT 'piano black' paint job. The PB Five simply sounds like a regular P Bass that goes lower. The JJ JB is a very nice, light Jazz, and I love the LPB paint job. No buzzy, noisy wiring. Get in tune and stay in tune. Not one thing that would tell me to NOT gig with any of them.

I'm in all three for around $1200, a little more with the Fender gig bags I bought for them, which is a LOT of bang for the buck. I think somehow I enjoy them more as they were so relatively cheap. Who knew ? ?

I have no illusions that they're as well-built, aged wood, and hand-fitted as their MIA cousins, or that they're going to put Sadowsky, Lull, et al, out of business. But I can absolutely tell you that my three are solid, gig-ready instruments that so far have not required any work for anything Squier left unfinished or so poorly built that it required immediate attention right out of the box. I only modified the JJ JB for looks, which is what I had in mind when I bought it.

And as hot-rod or resto-mod candidates, there's a world full of Fender OEM and aftermarket Fender parts that often (though not always) are drop-in installation. The JJ mods were drop-in Fender Yosemite pickups, off the shelf white covers and pickguard, and the Aerodyne knobs.

Now, I could go crazy, change out all the keys and bridges, pickups, pots, wiring, etc. But there's no real point in it, as these basses are sufficient for what they are, I'd lose the price advantage, and honestly, if I need all that, I'd have bought a 'better' bass. But I don't know why I would: For what they are, they're more than good enough.

 

[MarMar]

Back when I first started playing in bands, no one took you seriously if you played a Squier. Now they say on TalkBass the new Squiers are awesome instruments. I wonder if the stigma has disappeared.

 

[leonard]

I've had good luck with basses from all price points on the Fender line. Even some of the Affinity basses are nice. Affinity frets wear out really fast if you play a lot. You gotta be really careful with adjusting the truss rod too. From Affinity to MIM the more you pay the more durable hardware you get. Buy the one that speaks to you and enjoy!

 

[Dragan]

There is no Squire brand

 

[Fitz]

I'm gigging an Affinity Jaguar bass 32" scale, along with a '74 Precision. The Affinity has the best feeling neck, the Precision is actually lighter. Squier is legit these days

 

[BOOG]

I just gigged my VM 70’s Jazz last night in a six piece band and that’s not the first time it’s proved to be worthy.

 

[Afc70]

I bought a Squire (I like spelling it that way) back around 1990. Was a surprisingly well made & nice sounding bass. Seems like I sold it for $100, but the guy only paid me $95 & stiffed me the other $5. Was a cool bass tho !

 

[JRA]

never owned a squier/squire/square, but who would have a hard time rockin' an instrument that felt good to play?

too many great players don't care about the logo/badge. serious players want results. "bragging rights" is about note choices --- not brand choices.

 

[salmon256]

My used modified 60s vibe J-bass from Squire is great. Holding up well, love the sound, after getting some cheaper basses makes me realize how good it is for the price. I only wish it was burst and not the blonde wood color but it's really growing on me! So yes I would say they are great with well research of models and giving them a try, they are very awesome!

 

[tvbop]

Playing a Squire is no big deal anymore. My CV has taken the place of a couple of vintage Fender P's....and I have VM P which I'm stripping and repainting cause its a keeper bar the colour. Two years ago I played another VM which I should have bought on the spot it was that good and if all I could grab was an Affinity P, then Id do it without a thght.

 

[mrjim123]

<snip>if I'd have had more room in the car I'd have bought it.

(Translation, my wife was in the passenger seat.)

View attachment 4392670

What, she doesn't know how to hitchhike?

 

[HardNHeavy]

sure why not... i've used a cpl of squire bodies for parts builds.

 

[mrjim123]

Searches will be more productive if correct spelling is used. Squier is often misspelled as "Squire".

 

[jd56hawk]

I own three Squiers:

James Johnston Signature Jazz (Indonesian production)
Contemporary Active Jazz Bass HH V (indonesian production)
Precision Bass Five (Indonesian production)

You'll forgive me if I can't remember if these are VM or CV . . . .

First, these are built to a price. You can see the plating might be a bit less lustrous, you can bet they probably aren't CTS or Bourns bits under the hood, the bodies may be a bit thinner, maybe not as much time in the paint booth, etc.

However, there's two other things at work. FMIC rightly figures to scan some primo models, and EMail them to whoever's building them. And from what I can see, their Indonesian subcontractors have learned their role quite well. They are remarkably good basses for the price.

All three of mine were well built. No fret sprout, wonky lifted frets, nothing. Tone is subjective, but the 'cheap' pickups are fine. The Active Jazz V is loaded up with a modern bass tone, with the ceramic pickups and active tone, and a PERFECT 'piano black' paint job. The PB Five simply sounds like a regular P Bass that goes lower. The JJ JB is a very nice, light Jazz, and I love the LPB paint job. No buzzy, noisy wiring. Get in tune and stay in tune. Not one thing that would tell me to NOT gig with any of them.

I'm in all three for around $1200, a little more with the Fender gig bags I bought for them, which is a LOT of bang for the buck. I think somehow I enjoy them more as they were so relatively cheap. Who knew ? ?

I have no illusions that they're as well-built, aged wood, and hand-fitted as their MIA cousins, or that they're going to put Sadowsky, Lull, et al, out of business. But I can absolutely tell you that my three are solid, gig-ready instruments that so far have not required any work for anything Squier left unfinished or so poorly built that it required immediate attention right out of the box. I only modified the JJ JB for looks, which is what I had in mind when I bought it.

And as hot-rod or resto-mod candidates, there's a world full of Fender OEM and aftermarket Fender parts that often (though not always) are drop-in installation. The JJ mods were drop-in Fender Yosemite pickups, off the shelf white covers and pickguard, and the Aerodyne knobs.

View attachment 4393046

Now, I could go crazy, change out all the keys and bridges, pickups, pots, wiring, etc. But there's no real point in it, as these basses are sufficient for what they are, I'd lose the price advantage, and honestly, if I need all that, I'd have bought a 'better' bass. But I don't know why I would: For what they are, they're more than good enough.

Looks even better with white pickups.
Other than that, I've always thought they were Crafted In China and the exact same bass as the Inca Silver CVS, other than the finish.

 

[Pilgrim]

Never seen a Squire bass.

I have a nice Squier Bronco. It has a Gretsch 2202 pickup and is one of my best basses.

 

[EdO.]

Now, I could go crazy, change out all the keys and bridges, pickups, pots, wiring, etc. But there's no real point in it, as these basses are sufficient for what they are, I'd lose the price advantage, and honestly, if I need all that, I'd have bought a 'better' bass. But I don't know why I would: For what they are, they're more than good enough.

Exactly. Working mans instruments. If I were a touring pro making a living gigging I'd probably have more expensive basses just because. And I do actually own a few more expensive basses. For someone like myself playing 30 - 40 dates a year or less they're perfectly fine for what/where I play. Maybe not a perfect analogy but I tend to think of them as being Craftmans tools as opposed to say Snap on' s. If I were making a living as a mechanic I'd have Snap On tools. Doing my own repairs in the driveway the Craftmans work just fine and hold up well.

 

[mert98]

I use a Squier CV 70s P Bass most of the time and I love that bass! I replaced the pickups with an EMG Geezer Butler, replaced the bridge with a fender high mass bridge and set the strings real low. The bass sounds awesome and also plays like butter.