Local ad - Craigslist - One of a kind

[ack1961]

I usually just let these go, but this is special.
I've never heard of anyone moving the neck out of its pocket to intonate, but I haven't been playing bass that long.

http://raleigh.craigslist.org/msg/4147935195.html

[Dave W]

What an imbecile. I suppose he doesn't understand that "fixing the intonation" by moving the neck in the opposite direction as the bridge makes intonation using the fret markers impossible -- not that it would matter with this POS.

Japanese Squiers were never better than US Fenders. The guy is delusional. And there's no reason to think it's a Squier body anyway.

Shame they don't have a category for "not worth the powder to blow to hell." But if he'll pay me $200 to take it, I'll drive it to the dump.

[rahock]

He should have just stuck with "one of a kind" and left it at that .
Rick

[lowend1]

Japanese Squiers were never better than US Fenders. The guy is delusional. And there's no reason to think it's a Squier body anyway.

The point that is always made about the JV and SQ MIJ Squiers (and Fenders for that matter) is that during the 80s, their quality was consistently good while the US-made instruments were not. I would submit that, from experience, I consider that to be a true assessment. I have played several and own one of the SQs and they are terrific instruments.  Tremendous bang for the buck. I have played my share of USA Fenders from that period as well, and they were, at best, equal - and some were real turds. That's not to say that the one in this CL ad is a gem - it isn't.
Here's mine:

[gearHed289]

A friend of mine had 2 Squier Jazz basses. He added Badass bridges, and DiMarzio Model J pickups, and they were great!

[Dave W]

As a platform for modding, they were okay at best, IMHO. Stock, they were built to be cheap and sounded that way. They weren't anywhere near in the same class as Japanese Fenders.

[lowend1]

There have been so many different types of Squier instruments over the years that it is easy to paint them with a broad brush as entry-level or "mod-able", but there are marked differences in quality from an Affinity to a Standard to a Vintage Modified, to a Classic Vibe (current models). Trust me, a MIJ JV or SQ series P-bass is in a completely different league than most of the stuff that came shortly after. far better quality that most of the MIMs I've owned or played as well. One can always nitpick electronics, but people buy USA Fenders and upgrade the pickups and hardware too. My SQ still has the stock pickups. I replaced the pots and jack with a Bayou Cables setup - mainly due to my own hamfisted soldering technique.

[ack1961]

As a platform for modding, they were okay at best, IMHO. Stock, they were built to be cheap and sounded that way. They weren't anywhere near in the same class as Japanese Fenders.

The neck pocket intonation feature sure was innovative....surprised it didn't catch on with Peavey.

[Dave W]

There have been so many different types of Squier instruments over the years that it is easy to paint them with a broad brush as entry-level or "mod-able", but there are marked differences in quality from an Affinity to a Standard to a Vintage Modified, to a Classic Vibe (current models). Trust me, a MIJ JV or SQ series P-bass is in a completely different league than most of the stuff that came shortly after. far better quality that most of the MIMs I've owned or played as well. One can always nitpick electronics, but people buy USA Fenders and upgrade the pickups and hardware too. My SQ still has the stock pickups. I replaced the pots and jack with a Bayou Cables setup - mainly due to my own hamfisted soldering technique.

I'm not implying that all Squiers are the same. They do all have this in common: they're built to be not as good as Fenders. That's a fact. They're one or more steps beneath a Fender branded product.