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Squier Debut Series

Stub Mandrel

By Stub Mandrel,
in Bass Guitars

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Stub Mandrel Grand Master

Stub Mandrel

Posted
Posted

Fender/Squier have made a determined assault on the entry level market with the new 'debut' series on Amazon for £129.

Looks like they are squaring up to Glarry in the USA and Harley Benton over here, even cheaper than the Squier mini-P.

This suggests the market is segmenting even further with Squier having almost as many 'levels' as Fender with affinity, CV, paranormal and Anniversary models.

If anyone drops the cash on one, it would be useful to know how these square up as beginners' instruments. I'm assuming these are going to be closer to the old Korean budget jobs than recent models.


Site stripe link .... https://amzn.to/3U1lAVW

LeftyJ Grand Master

LeftyJ

Posted
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I don't understand these, to be honest. That's not that far below the recently introduced Sonic series, and close to (I think slightly above) the discontinued Bullet series. Doesn't seem to add a whole lot. 

Stub Mandrel Grand Master

Stub Mandrel

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Posted
11 minutes ago, LeftyJ said:

I don't understand these, to be honest. That's not that far below the recently introduced Sonic series, and close to (I think slightly above) the discontinued Bullet series. Doesn't seem to add a whole lot. 

 

I forgot those! It's an insane level of market segmentation. I assume they want to compete at every level. It's hard to see what meaningful differences there can be between £129 and £155 basses without making the cheapest deliberately cruder.

neepheid Grand Master

neepheid

Posted
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What about that massive gap between the top end of Squiers and the least expensive Fenders?  Are they just going to leave that to the likes of Sire then?

  • Like 2
LeftyJ Grand Master

LeftyJ

Posted
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9 minutes ago, neepheid said:

What about that massive gap between the top end of Squiers and the least expensive Fenders?  Are they just going to leave that to the likes of Sire then?

I believe they did that on purpose. Fender had the Modern Player series for a while that was made in China, to fill this gap. But it had a ton of overlap with the more expensive Squiers in the Vintage Modified and Classic Vibe line. It was confusing many potential buyers, and in terms of quality the Squier CV and Fender MP were identical. They were quite succesful, but at the same time they made it even more difficult to justify paying that much more for a MIM, let alone an MIA Fender when you could have the Fender name on the headstock of a €400-500 guitar or bass!

  • Like 2
Stub Mandrel Grand Master

Stub Mandrel

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)
25 minutes ago, neepheid said:

What about that massive gap between the top end of Squiers and the least expensive Fenders?  Are they just going to leave that to the likes of Sire then?

 

I think @LeftyJ is right, quality wise there's not much to call between CV and VM Squiers and Fender Player whatever the logo snobs say. Certainly, the Squier Anniversary models were the equal of any entry level Fender.

They are walking a narrow line to keep the Fenders as 'premium' instruments.

 

I saw a GuitarGuitar video yesterday comparing Gibson and Epiphone 335s with a 10:1 cost ratio. They sounded a bit different but...

Edited by Stub Mandrel
  • Like 1
Jono Bolton Mentor

Jono Bolton

Posted
Posted
14 minutes ago, LeftyJ said:

I believe they did that on purpose. Fender had the Modern Player series for a while that was made in China, to fill this gap. But it had a ton of overlap with the more expensive Squiers in the Vintage Modified and Classic Vibe line. It was confusing many potential buyers, and in terms of quality the Squier CV and Fender MP were identical. They were quite succesful, but at the same time they made it even more difficult to justify paying that much more for a MIM, let alone an MIA Fender when you could have the Fender name on the headstock of a €400-500 guitar or bass!

The Chinese Classic Vibes were excellent; even if you took the price out of the equation, they were just good instruments. I think it was definitely intentional to merge the VM and CV lines to drop the quality on them and move them further from the lowest rung of the fender ladder. 

  • Like 1
neepheid Grand Master

neepheid

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Well, from my point of view (and I appreciate that I'm an odd fish at the best of times), Fender's most basic offerings are too expensive for what you get.  It's the bass that's important to me, not the name on the headstock, and Fender are banking on most people being unlike me.

  • Like 3
tauzero Grand Master

tauzero

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The world was crying out for a cheap copy of the Precision bass. How fortuitous that Squier are filling that vacant niche in the marketplace.

  • Like 1
  • Haha 6
asingardenof Grand Master

asingardenof

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7 minutes ago, tauzero said:

The world was crying out for a cheap copy of the Precision bass. How fortuitous that Squier are filling that vacant niche in the marketplace.

A cheap copy of a cheap copy of a cheap copy of the Precision bass. A very specific niche indeed, I'm excited to see how it plays out.

  • Haha 1
Rodders Proficient

Rodders

Posted
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Could be handy as a mod platform? Particularly for those of us who risk serious injury attempting any form of DIY, I would probably just buy a HB but they don't do one in red (yet!).

Jean-Luc Pickguard Grand Master

Jean-Luc Pickguard

Posted
Posted

When I first saw these, I thought they'd simply be renamed sonic series in limited colours to compete with amazon cheapies, however I've noticed that the debut doesn't have the dark surround in the truss rod adjustment orifice, where the sonic does. I wonder what other costs they were able to shave off.

 

If they did a black one with maple fingerboard I could easily be tempted to get one to mod.

asingardenof Grand Master

asingardenof

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12 minutes ago, PaulThePlug said:

Amazon Special... nothing on the Fender Website...

This Green Meanie for £175...

https://www.fender.com/en-GB/squier-electric-basses/precision-bass/limited-edition-squier-sonic-precision-bass/0373901535.html

Crying out for a Kawasaki ZX750RR logo...

I thought it was the Ninjas that were green? I admit to no knowledge on the subject beyond my sister owning a Ninja many years ago

  • Like 1
Baloney Balderdash Grand Master

Baloney Balderdash

Posted
Posted
22 hours ago, PaulThePlug said:

Amazon Special... nothing on the Fender Website...

This Green Meanie for £175...

https://www.fender.com/en-GB/squier-electric-basses/precision-bass/limited-edition-squier-sonic-precision-bass/0373901535.html

Crying out for a Kawasaki ZX750RR logo...

Love that!

 

Green finfishes ought to be more common.

 

Green has taken over as my absolute favorite finish over black, though sadly I own no green basses, yet.

 

Baloney Balderdash Grand Master

Baloney Balderdash

Posted
Posted (edited)
6 hours ago, Grahambythesea said:

The statement in the ad about “quality” might be open to challenge!

Yes, personally in that price range I would chose a Harley Benton over a Squier, any time!

 

Edited by Baloney Balderdash

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