Squier P or J basses - any good?

[Angel]

I fancy a cheap P or J bass. Are Squier basses any good if I take a punt on one via eBay? Is the body usually plywood or something better?

[Grangur]

I'm sure an expert will be along in a minute but fwiw I've got an Afinity p bass.

The feel is good. It's got a nice neck. The body is ply/block board, but feels good and it sounds good after I fitted SD pups and replaced the electrics.

That said, having bought the bass and the electrics and such to do it up...

Bass - £100
Pups - £60
Pots - £10
Tuners - £15 (maybe you won't need these)
Pickguard- £15 (ditto)

.... you start to get in the area of "would I do better to buy a better bass?"

[davehux]

Well worth the money. I've had a couple of Affinity P's, 2 VM jazzes and now a MIJ P - and all of them in bog standard condition are well made instruments

Plus, they have a good reputation on here and you normally will have no problem selling it on if you want to change

[Grangur]

[quote name='davehux' timestamp='1396957483' post='2419052']
Well worth the money. I've had a couple of Affinity P's, 2 VM jazzes and now a MIJ P - and all of them in bog standard condition are well made instruments

Plus, they have a good reputation on here and you normally will have no problem selling it on if you want to change
[/quote]
They're good solid instruments and the weight is really good IMHO. All the rest is personal preference. I'm not knocking them.

You can sometimes pick one up for <£100 right now, so you can't go wrong.

[Norris]

I picked up a Squier P-bass Special on here for about £150 and it's a fantastic bass for the money.

P body, J neck & P-J pups.

If you get one make sure you play it a bit before changing anything. I've never felt the need to 'upgrade' the pickups as the stock Squier ones are actually pretty good IMHO.

[Angel]

How can you tell if a bass is an affinity? It's not on the headstock is it?

[redstriper]

I have had Squier CV and VM Jazz basses which have been excellent and better built instruments than the Mexican Fender they replaced.
My '90s Squier silver series Jazz is even better, although I am thinking of selling it to help fund a Fender CS.

I think the Affinity basses are marked as such on the headstock - my Bronco is.

[HowieBass]

I have a (from new, bought online) Squier Active Jazz Deluxe IV and a Squier Vintage Modified Precision (bought secondhand from another BC member) and I think they're both fine instruments. I've set them up how I like them and the necks are good and they have decent body woods (they don't use plywood these days) and are well put together.

[Grangur]

Yes, the Affinity has it on the headstock.

I had the good luck to pick up a Squier Silver Series Jazz bass for another BCer and ship it to him in the west-country. I tried it out. (as you do)

WOW!! It had a really nice fast neck. It was a dream to play. Great tone... Was I envious or what?

There are some great Squiers to be had.

[brensabre79]

The newer ones are pretty darn good IMO. I don't think they use plywood much these days. Although I think plywood can come in many forms - many £1,000+ basses effectively use plywood!
The Affinity series are the cheapest.
The VM and CS ones are awesome value for money - even new. i think they use solid Agathis wood for the body on those.

[Cat Burrito]

I have to echo the comments about Squiers. I've sold off my Fenders and play them exclusively now. The VM and CV are simply stunning (basswood bodies typically) but the Affinity range are great and likewise the old silver series too

[KevB]

[quote name='Norris' timestamp='1396958285' post='2419068'] I picked up a Squier P-bass Special on here for about £150 and it's a fantastic bass for the money. P body, J neck & P-J pups. If you get one make sure you play it a bit before changing anything. I've never felt the need to 'upgrade' the pickups as the stock Squier ones are actually pretty good IMHO. [/quote]

Concur with Norris, had one of the Indonesian made ones for a while and it was only about £180 new at that time, very good value for the money. The PU's were a bit weak but quite acceptable through a decent rig.

[HowieBass]

The Duncan Designed pickups found on some of the VM series are good (and little different to the proper Seymour Duncan variety) and the pickups used for the CV series are thought to be identical to Tonerider pickups.

[AttitudeCastle]

The newer squiers are darn good, they are good enough that I don't play any fenders anymore,

I feel less bad about mucking with them and treating them rough...

This thread has given me major GAS for a Squire Jazz bass with a Squire P neck and some bareknuckle pickups. Only takes a quick look at the bank account to stop those thoughts though haha!

[Nodd]

Just bought a second hand '09 Squier P bass.
Apart from a badly fitted p/guard, it's a pretty good bass.
Lots lighter than my 'real' P.

[bonzodog]

Have a look at the JHS Vintage range too. Very well made with Wilkinson pickups and on a par price wise with the Squiers.

[HowieBass]

[quote name='bonzodog' timestamp='1396965596' post='2419187']
Have a look at the JHS Vintage range too. Very well made with Wilkinson pickups and on a par price wise with the Squiers.
[/quote]

I'm afraid I have to add a note of caution here. I bought a new Vintage P bass online a couple of months ago and when it arrived I was thoroughly disappointed, it had many flaws so I sent it back and asked for a full refund. Not on a par with Squiers in my experience though I believe that many others are happy Vintage owners. I ended up buying a Squier P from a fellow BCer and the difference is like night and day.

[Lozz196]

The Affinity range does have this marked on the headstock. I`ve had a good few Squiers, Affinity, Standard, and Classic Vibe, but the best for me are the Made In Korea basses. These hark back to the 90s I believe - my current one is a 91 - and are really good, the necks are incredible. I`ve no idea what the body is made of, just that they play and sound good. My 91 has had the whole of the electrics changed by a previous owner, including pickups, but on a £100 - £150 bass this isn`t a big issue. To me it`s far easier to get a bass with a good playing neck and change the pots and wires than get a bass with good electrics and source another good neck. Go Squier!

[Jonnyboy Rotten]

I have an Squier Affinity P and I love it - I picked it up from Gmutree for £50.

Stuck some decent pickups and tuners on it and it is great! It is not my 'go-to' bass but that is not due to the quality - more the fact that I tend to get on better with slightly slimmer necks.

It has (as far as I know) a solid Alder body.

The only thing that I think gives away the fact that it is a budget guitar (other than the 'Affinity' logo on the head), is the wood grain on the neck. You see some necks and they look amazing with lovely grain and chosen for their colour and patterning. This is not like that - it just looks like a lump of maple has been carved to the right shape with no regard for what the grain was doing. It doesn't look terrible - but you don't 'admire' it - if that makes any sense!?

Edited April 9, 2014 by Jonnyboy Rotten

[theyellowcar]

[quote name='HowieBass' timestamp='1396967626' post='2419221']
I ended up buying a Squier P from a fellow BCer and the difference is like night and day.
[/quote]

I sold Howard this very bass, which is what I base my opinion of current Squiers on. They are excellent value for money, well built, solid and great sounding basses. Particularly the VM/CV series.

I have to confess the only reason I sold mine was a great deal popped up on a virtually new MIM Precision, and the Squier was the only one I could face selling on to make room.

[4000]

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1396968567' post='2419238']
The Affinity range does have this marked on the headstock. I`ve had a good few Squiers, Affinity, Standard, and Classic Vibe, but the best for me are the Made In Korea basses. These hark back to the 90s I believe - my current one is a 91 - and are really good, the necks are incredible. I`ve no idea what the body is made of, just that they play and sound good. My 91 has had the whole of the electrics changed by a previous owner, including pickups, but on a £100 - £150 bass this isn`t a big issue. To me it`s far easier to get a bass with a good playing neck and change the pots and wires than get a bass with good electrics and source another good neck. Go Squier!
[/quote]

I've got a Korean one too; it may be an '89, can't remember offhand. Whatever, it's great; cost me £135. Decent weight, lovely neck, big frets, very good tone; nails John Deacon with the tone back. Looks cool too, having been refin-d in Surf Green (prior to me getting it) to which I've added a minty s/plate. The frets need a dress - nothing much - but I'll get that done as and when. I recently tried it against a number of '60s and '70s Ps and an AV63 in London and and the only two that I arguably preferred were a lightweight '73 maple neck at £2200 and a '66 at £4000. It dusted the rest comfortably for my needs.

[action_panzer]

Picked up an Affinity P a few months ago for £100...it feels lightweight in a bit of a jokey way, but the only bass ive played for the last 10 years is a stingray so thats all I'm used to...

Besides weight, I was blown away by how good it was for the money. REALLY playable neck, not at all like an American P (ie bassball bat...see what i did there?), genuinely sounds like a P, and like many others I upgraded the pups to Seymour Duncan quarterpounders (kinda standard I hear) and it honks like you wouldn't believe

I love it for the £170 total its cost me!

[dazza14]

My bass is a VM jazz from 2007 and it's been my fave bass since then, I flirt with my fretless Vintage from time to time but I just adore the Squier. The only downside is the weight, it's pretty bulky but hey, it sounds good and is nice to play. I upgraded the bridge and pickups but this was after a few years of playing it and wanting a slightly different, higher output from the pups. I recommend them highly...

[tom1946]

I have a VM Precision and it's faultless. I have fitted an SD SPB-1 and it's flippin' brilliant now. Low action, excellent finish and a window rattling sound.
Why pay more?
I also have the Squier 50's P. Fitted an SCPB-1 pickup to that and well....you can guess the rest.

[sirmuppet]

Have to agree with pretty much all of the above. A friend owns a music shop and I've tried all sorts of makes. Squier I think is the best bang for buck. I had an Affinity one as my first bass. Thought it was fantastic. Good build quality and sounds good to. You do notice a change in the parts when you go up to the Mexican models.

There are as many have said above various different price brackets for the Squiers. Affinity, Standard, Classic Vibe, Vintage modified, signature etc... There are some older types like the Vista series, JV, SQ, silver series. To confuse things more different areas of manufacture like Japan, China, Korea, Indonesia. All of these factors have things going for them. Now Squier are making the Jaguar, Mustang and other designs too.

So it really all depends on what you want to spend and what you want to get out of a bass, then you look at which models you can get and decide from there.