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Why does everyone hate Squire's????

#302
(but i showed up and here i am?),,BSing with the Squier by Fender service rep on the phone it appears the Vintage reissue's are well recieved(as it appears here on TB as well from what i've read),,every time i grab a Bronco of the rack at GC i love the neck,,no!,,doesn't matter WITCH one or WHEN,months can pass and it seems like every neck is great(whatup with that?),,,one guy on a well known auction site installed some quarter pounders for pickups and said he loved gigging with it,,another fellow on HCentral stated he loved his and had been playing stand-up since like the 60's

so hey!,,they are what they are!,,i strumped a dozen a month ago at the local GC and the VERY best feeling neck was(shhhh! keep it quiet! i'd buy THAT GIRL just so i could rub her neckSHHHHH!:D),,a lowly Squier Special P,,,now what it will do once tuned up with some phatphlats we don't know but that's the fun!

(yeah i'm a `neck man':hyper:),,and check em out=same warrenty as a real Fender!,,i hope Leo blessed the woodpile where they keep the stock;)
 
#303
3 weeks ago I visited my local GC in search of a short scale. I tried out the following:

> used Fender MIM Mustang - $450
> Gretsch Electromagnetic Jr. - $250
> Hofner Icon Vintage Violin - $370
> Epiphone EB-O - $200
> Squier Affinity Bronco (Indonesia) - $150

To my surprise, and that of the GC salesperson who was helping me, the Gretsch clearly sounded the best. We felt this was due to the quality of the proprietary single soapbar pup.



The Mustang was second, the Hofner third and the EB-O and Bronco tied for fourth. The EB-O and Bronco sounded fine (and different from each other), just not as good as the more expensive basses.

Anyways, my budget was $200 so I took home the Bronco. I chose it over the EB-O becuase I preferred its sound, it was lighter and more comfortable to play. The fit and finish on all of these basses I tried was top notch.



I like my Bronco a lot. I would like to see how it compares to the $170 Ibanez Mikro.
 
#305
I was in GC a few months ago just lookin' around for a new 5'er and there was a red Squire Affinity J used for $99 on a stand in the bass area. I figured what the heck and looked it over. I was quite amazed that it was flawless, good feeling neck, nice frets and had decent tone. It was also heavy (I'm not sure what wood, but not plywood.) Like every other bass in the shop it needed a good setup.

I like to noodle around with my bases but don't want to mess up anything that actually has value so I bought it.

So, now I put in new pups, and a new heavy bridge and BAM! it is easily as nice as any MIM I've ever held. It's now my backup but I play it a lot.

So, whatever.... Do what you will, but I enjoy making a cheap bass a nice player if it has decent construction and no obvious issues.

The little pegheads on the tuners do bug me though. I'm thinking about drilling out the headstock and getting some new elephant ears, but there's absolutely nothing wrong with the stock tuners. They even stay in tune for weeks without touching.

YMMV but I'm not a gear snob. Now I'm thinking about an SX before all of the old Fender-style heads are gone for good.
 
#306
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#307
Swampman Cory said:
Arrogance. At least that's what it is for the people I run into that condescend on the Squires. I've never owned one, but I hear that if you look for it, you can find some really, really nice ones.
Click to expand...

Heh, and you hear that from a lot of fanboys and squier owners. ;)

The only one I've owned is that bronco. It has a nice neck, a cheap body, poorly installed pickguard, mediocre electronics, and a guitar pickup that hums a lot and was far too muddy for my taste.

It also cost me $159 Canadian. All things considered, I'm not unhappy with my purchase, but I would probably have been equally or more happy with a similarly priced Ibanez.

I wouldn't really condescend on any bass that is worth what you pay for it. If they were selling them for $500, I'd be poking a lot more fun, but for $159 what are you expecting?
 
#308
RH434 said:
I was in GC a few months ago just lookin' around for a new 5'er and there was a red Squire Affinity J used for $99 on a stand in the bass area. I figured what the heck and looked it over. I was quite amazed that it was flawless, good feeling neck, nice frets and had decent tone. It was also heavy (I'm not sure what wood, but not plywood.) Like every other bass in the shop it needed a good setup.

I like to noodle around with my bases but don't want to mess up anything that actually has value so I bought it.

So, now I put in new pups, and a new heavy bridge and BAM! it is easily as nice as any MIM I've ever held. It's now my backup but I play it a lot.

So, whatever.... Do what you will, but I enjoy making a cheap bass a nice player if it has decent construction and no obvious issues.

The little pegheads on the tuners do bug me though. I'm thinking about drilling out the headstock and getting some new elephant ears, but there's absolutely nothing wrong with the stock tuners. They even stay in tune for weeks without touching.

YMMV but I'm not a gear snob. Now I'm thinking about an SX before all of the old Fender-style heads are gone for good.
Click to expand...

Yes!. The neck is #1. If it's got a decent neck, you can hack the rest into shape without much work.

I also would really like to try out an SX, but I'm having a tough time justifying it. I've got lots of basses already, and the $200 it would cost me to get one here is a bit much, just to satisfy my curiosity.

-Nick
 
#309
I bought my Squier California J Bass knowing that the California series has bad reputation and it wasn't particularly cheap from the place I bought it from, but the moment I picked it up I felt like I had come home. It was just the perfect feel for me, after more than 20 years of playing I had found what I was looking for. Maybe I got one of those legendary "good ones" but what are the chances of that?

I reckon you can always change pickups, wiring, pickguards etc but if you get the feeling I got don't be put off by the fact the F word is not on the headstock. Have the guts to say to the world, "I don't care what you think, this is the bass for me." Anyway, the music is what counts.
 
#313
Did anyone notice that the thread is called "Why do people hate Squires", and yet pretty much every post has been people saying that they like their Squires.

Mine was a total piece of crap, except for a pretty decent neck.

I certainly wouldn't recommend anyone buy one unless they can try it first, or are planning on hacking it up.

Someone else chime in here... Lets hear the hate stories. :D
 
#314
I recently had a Vintage Fretless Jazz Squire. I just sold it because I really didn't play it as much as my other basses. I thought it was a very solid bass and I had over 35 people watching it on ebay.
 
#316
People are jealous that they are decent basses for cheap, like SX, etc. I've got a MIM '96 Squier P, and it sounds and feels great. Better than many name Fenders I've picked up. The only mod I did was put in an EMG P pup. The tuners are not fantastic, and the neck board is a little cheap compared to top dollar F's. However, it rings out well, stays in tune decent enough, and it was under $200 new. If you were blindfolded, I doubt you wouldn't know it's not a Fender. I got it back in '96 cause another bassist at the rehearsal hall was playing one, and I said "man that's a great sounding P" and he said "well it's a cheap Squier for $195". I went and bought it that day! Still play it today. Even recorded a CD with it once.
 

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