Fender Squier Jazz Bass

The Fender Squire Jazz bass I own I gather was the first in the UK. It has a serial number of 000027 on it I would never sell it. It is in three tone sunburst with a rosewood neck, reverse machine heads and plays like a dream. there is no fret buzz even with such a low action

This bass does the Jaco sound with the bridge pick up and has a really fat sound with just the neck pick up, great for slap. I play through a Trace elliott now, but used to blast it through a marshall Jubilee 600 watt head with2x15 cab

this bass was bought off a perfectionist who looked after it immaculately. There are no flaws in it.

If you can pick one of these up I would reccomend. The only bass that surpassed this bass (after owning a musicman stringray, a Gibson eb bass, and a Warwick bass) was a 1972 American Jazz bass i owned.
this is a truly killer bass. the modern ones dont cut the mustard.

never needed them

i paid peanuts for this 20 years ago!!

have been told its worth a ??1000 now

It is Squier jazz bass Standard, wine red.
Bought it new in 2007, but last numbers of serial is 98. Made in Indonesia, agathis boody. But this wood is very soft so all of 10 pickguard screws were striped out. Easily repaired with toothpicks.

Got it with no accesories but that is local store problem.

I change factory string with Fender 7250s. On stick says it's 7250s already on, but you see difference imidiately. Sound is good but pickups are very low budget no-name.
I will replace the pickups with Duncan Vintage.

BE CAREFUL: the pickups are both the same NECK dimensions. Fenders have bridge pickup 3mm longer.

Set up was fine, but I prefer do it my self.
Like I said before, all pickguard screws were striped out and you must be very careful with other screws (tuners)-easy to damage.

Where the neck join the body I found little piece of sandpaper. It must be kind of a joke, because I read about sandpaper in Squiers before.
Maybe they are only get rid of the garbage on that way?

Have it less than a year. It' very light, hardware seems to OK. Strap buttons are solid.

One year warranty, but I repaired everything by my self.

I choose this copy because of Fender name on it (but heard that the name is only thing it has from Fender) and because it's beautiful.

If you want to own a decent Fender copy you must buy new strings and pickups (imidiately). The price of all together (guitar, strings, pickups) is than over 300 Eur.

Like the original Fender and I live a decent mid-range life but I will not buy Fender bass for 700 eur.

Squier Standard Jazz Bass in Candy Apple Red finish, rosewood fretboard. Made in Indonesia, 2006 I guess.
Features all the "normal" things you would find in a Jazz Bass: two pickups, 3-ply pickguard, 3 knobs (1 tone and 2 volume), open tuners.
Body and neck shape are almost exactly the same as the Fender Jazz Bass, however this one is more 70's style as you will see in the chromed knobs and the headstock.

Being a "Standard" (next step above the cheaper, very entry-level Affinity series), I didn't expect anything spectacular. The stock pickups look and sound too "normal". The sound is somehow low but of course a good amplifier or a processing software would improve it a lot. They don't sound bad at all, but of course if compared with any Fender, you will notice the difference.
Anyway, unless you only want it to play and practice at home, the next step is to replace them with better pickups (I will put some Fenders there).

Set-up was not good and the guy at the store adjusted it for better action. I've been playing it for 6 months now but suddenly I noticed that the neck was bent and the strings had gone "high" (it is summertime here so at first I will blame the heat and take it to the shop for maintenance).
So at least at the beginning it was very easy to play; the neck is very comfortable as with the Fender Jazz and while the fretboard is not perfectly manufactured, it is smooth and I did not notice any problem with frets or dead notes. The nut is a cheap piece of plastic and I will replace it, too.

To me, Squiers are basically TOOLS to learn, practice and start playing around. This Standard Jazz Bass is very solid and well balanced on a strap. The finish is very good and personally I like the candy apple red colour a lot, much more than the Fender chrome red.
The strap buttons are solid and with the proper adjustment you can depend on it. However, replacing the stock pickups and improving accesories is highly recommendable.

I've been playing bass for less than a year, however it is more natural to me than guitar playing, probably because I am a drummer.
First I was planning to buy a Squier Vintage Modified Jazz Bass but they did not have it, so it was the only Squier at the store. Anyway, I bought it and definitely do not regret this. I've been trying to sell it but in the end I always forget about this. I will upgrade it and keep it instead.

Standard jazzbass configuration, passive, made in Korea, Serialnumber CN 6090475. Nice purple/blue colour! Overall not bad, okay. I purchased the bass in 1998

Sounds great, crystal clear. Sound when picking or fingerstyle play is good defined. Not a very good sound when slapping. But this can be my technique and/or adjustment of the neck/pickups.

Set up was okay. I screwed it up myself after buying it, but the musicstore adjusted it back.

The bass withstand heavy duty. Only thing I had to do is changing strings now and then, refit one volume know and refit the input jack. I can use this on a gig without backup. So solid, you can kill a polarbear with it.

No repairs necesarry yet. Store where I purchased it was very helpfull.

I play about 14 years. I love the bass for it's sound and looks. I have to get it adjusted though. There's one thing I dislike: the weight.... After an hour of playing, my back feels soar like having a hernia. If it would be stolen, I don't know about replacement.... I think it will be again a jazz bass, for it's sound. I also own a so called legend bass. A very cheap bass I bought in 1992. Has one feature better then the Squier: light weighted!! But for the squier: no regrets at all that I purchased it.

Korean Jazz Bass. Owned for about nine years. Has served me well.
Standard features. Pickups are ok. Tuners stay in tune. Tone control doesn't do much. Neck feels fantastic, very playable. Has silver squire decal.

I've gigged it and used it for recording. As with other cheaper instruments it makes you work harder to acheive the sound you're after. You have to put the hours in, but the right sound is there if you learn where to look.
For the money I think it holds it's own. Until I played higher end (& much more expensive) basses I was always happy with the way it sounded.

This Bass is very playable, though I don't think anyone should use this review as a basis for purchasing one without playing it first. I beleive there are some pretty awful squires out there. I just struck lucky with the neck I think. No two trees are the same and all that.
The black body finish has been treated to a myriad of inspired (and not so inspired) creative whims, the most damaging of which was dripping molten solder on it an industrial effect. It is now very rough indeed, and possible unsellable! But I like it's battlescars.

I drop my guitars frequently (I have never quite got the hang of standing guitars up against things without them falling over. Come to think, this bass' asymmetrical body shape does work against you here so it's not all my fault!).
My bass has withstood 9 years of abuse at my heavy hands and is still holding up well. The electrics are due a change though. The volume/ tone pots have come a bit loose and have always crackled.
The tuners are good - some of the 'flower shaped' tuners can come loose at the joint and start to rattle. These are still solid.

Purchased second hand

I don't think I could ever part with my Jazz Bass. I learned to play on it. It has influenced my playing style. I played my first gig with it. I've drunkenly fallen off a stage through a fire exit with it. I've even impressed the odd girl playing it ;)
Writing this review has been a bit of a revelation for me and brought back some fond memories. However, I think my attachment extends beyond sentiment.
For me this bass represents all that a good first instrument should be - playable, reliable, abusable, credible & affordable.
I could never buy another. I'm too old and would pick out the flaws. But young love is blind...

Squire Standard 4 string Jazz bass. Everthing on it works great except the strings, upgrade to Ernie Ball Slinkys. I might get a Badass Bridge in the future, but the standard bridge is fine. The antique burst is incredibly nice with a "coffee grind" pickguard. nothing come with it though, as far as cables or gig bags.

I play metal, and this bass rocks! I love the sound. I use a Peavy Max 115 on vintage and it sounds like a genuine fender.

The bass was set up pretty good, i would get the strings adjusted a little closer to the frets, but thats a preference. The finish and body is great looking, and the action is great too.

I play gigs with it and it's been fine to me. It is built like a fender.

havn't dealt with then because, its perfect for me.

I personally like the overall feel better than a fender, some may think im crazy but i love this bass. I started a few years ago with an epiphone eb-0 and i recommend to never get that bass unless you have short arms. I would say this and the olp musicman mm2 bass, are the best starter bass that you can get. I love this bass, i will still have it when im old and gray.

It's a Squier Jazz bass.

It sounds good as soon as you put on good strings. The pups aren't so great, but they work just fine. for the money, the sound is great.

This is where they save you money. Here goes: The truss rod was way too loose, the frets were poorly dressed, the intonation was wrong, the pups were too low, the jack was loose. The good news is that I know how to work on basses. The neck wouldn't go very straight, but I got it close enough, and I'm gonna rip off the frets in time, so I don't really care about them.

Now that I have set it up, it feels great, plenty sturdy. I glued in some Schaller strap locks, so they'll never come off. The pickguard warped, though, that's the only thing that I'm concerned about.

I like high end gear, but I also like to tinker with crap. That's why I bought this bass from a buddy of mine. It was way better than I expected. I'll gig with it if I ever need a 4 string. even at the new price of about 230 bucks, I'd be happy with the way this bass exceeded my expectations.

Bought new just a month ago (2006 Indonesian Standard) from Twelfth Fret in Toronto - Walnut Satin finish on an Agathis bodywood. I'd had my eye on this for a year now but the only store model had been sold as I went in to buy it! S/S pickups, (smoky?) black pickguard, 2 vol/1 tone, 4-saddle bent metal plate bridge, came fresh out the box with that new bass smell. The store threw in a gig bag, but I forgot the allen key and other goodies at the store (along with any remaining dignity)! Maybe they kept them.. Anyway, everything one would expect to get from a catalog-ordered instrument from Squier. My only beef would be the less-than-stellar intonation job out of the box.. yeesh - more on this later.

My style is just developing (spread across rock, latin, blues, funk, jazz), hence the cheaper bass. I've played $2500 basses that most naturally sound 'better', but keep in mind that 'better' is in the eye of the purchaser mainly :)

I've read here helpful reviews about the stock pickups and yes they sound nothing like Bartolini or Dimarzio, but then the price wouldn't be affordable for the likes of me. To me, they sound perfectly usable - tighter sound than a P, low end a bit loose but not unrecognizable, definitely keep your nails short with fingerstyle playing as the sound will annoy you! Surprisingly not 'brittle' sounding like the previous model I had played in-store. It is lighter than most Fender basses I've hefted so they must use brighter pickups to compensate for the darker body sound. I guess build quality is still a variable in the Squier Standards, albeit with less extremes.

Apologies for repetition: if you want a variety of sounds from this bass, you will get noise! Please expect this and consider it when looking at the stock pickups. Replacements are not that expensive and I am definitely going to throw in some Ultra Jazz's as I need the reduced noise floor for recording, and the variety of tones will be usable without the hiss. My rig is non-existant as I cannot afford a blingin' bass head with cab to knock down buildings with. My small home studio allows for a TubePre preamp into either my M-Audio 2496 card for recording, or alternately into my Hot Rod Deluxe for practicing (sounds nice through the tube amp - DI is always a bit sterile for my tastes).

With both pickups full on, you will get a nice growly tone that should do fine for stage, but in the studio you will probably want more versatility in sound at the cost of noise. Replacement pickups are everywhere and the static sound you get from rubbing the pickguard can be cured with a little shielding. Squier starts you off, ball's in your court to take the product somewhere special!

Action! A little low - I guess Squier wants you to feel like anything is possible by lowering the strings enough for you to widdle away your Jaco solos effortlessly. The E string buzzed ridiculous past the fifth fret upwards and in general, the strings had little rattlings scattered across the fretboard. Pickups were set so the bridge pickup was closer to the strings, I assume to get a louder, solo sound. The intonation was set so the bridge saddles were staggered evenly like a staircase, but this seemed more for looks as I cried at the first notes to come out of my bass. The strings wouldn't tune properly, headphone analysis revealed a bog monster howling away instead of my new bass. I sat down in front of my compy, looked up some intonation and action sites, and within minutes (with the aid of a universal allen key set), had achieved a state of order. There are no dead spots on the neck, no string rattles, the only thing that won't go away is a faint buzzing on the bridge somewheres.. the tuning pegs are actually doing their job! Live, no-one will notice you only paid Squier prices.

Again, one tiny fault. In the finish, small bubbles can be felt in a couple places around the body, but thankfully they are in hard to spot places so I can still show this puppy off to fellow dirt-poor musicians. You may not be so lucky if you order the bass blind from the catalog!

I can't say much here as I haven't gigged with it yet. I can only give educated guesses. So here goes! A friend of mine has a Squier P-Bass that has lost its Vol and Tone dials within weeks of purchase (new) and I have heard all sorts of tales of strap buttons losing their threading in the wood and coming off. If you're gonna drive your bass hard and treat it like a butcher tenderizes meat, get more reliable strap thingies. Otherwise, the stock ones should last you long enough to spend that money on candies for smiling babies.

Hope I don't have to deal with them ever! I left the papers and such at the store so I have no idea how long the warranty is.

I am mainly a guitarist who has come upon the need for bass to stop putting off recording projects for myself and clients simply cuz my friends with basses are unreachable that weekend. I own a Fender MIM Tele (sounds quite nice!), an almost two decades old Squier Strat that I practiced wiring and shielding on, and an Ibanez Performance acoustic that is soon to hit the curb. What a selection!

Before reasoning myself into buying this bass, I had considered Ernie Ball Musicman, Godin Highway basses, and at one point almost settled for a Yamaha! *shudder* I didn't have too much cash to spend, but knew that I would only get some reliability and quality by shelling out near my maximum ($350-400). This bass was just the perfect fit for my situation. I even think about the sound of Musicman, and while cool and very distinctive, I prefer something a little more conventional. Also, I have it in mind to upgrade the bass as time passes - new bridge, pickups (preferably noise-reducing/cancelling) and possibly a new pickguard (although this is purely cosmetic). To be frank, I also settled for the Squier Standard as some more expensive Fender basses didn't come in quite the colours I wanted.

If this were stolen, I would curse my bad luck. It seems to be a very usable bass with that nice growly Jazz Bass tone at a price most starving artists can afford. I have no backup and I will protect this instrument with my life.

It may seem weird that I give a higher rating overall than the sum of the sections, but I have to say despite the faults from factory, most were correctable and made me get to know my instrument better. With any luck, a Badass bridge with Ultra Jazz p/u's and I'll be on easy street. Hope you found this novel a good read!

Indonesia 2001. Antique sunburst. Standard Jazz Bass body. Passive electronics. I Had to change the potentiometers, because they were not the best quality, it gave humming, but now I changed them the sound is still impressive low-end and very tight high pitches. My style of playing is more funk and rock, it suits those very well!

Stage bass for sure!!!

Read the upper frame...

Finish is very good no problems with anything whatsoever.

Solid standard bass. I have used it on gigs without backups.

1 year

I highly recommend this Bass for every rock-funk-a-holic!

Made in Indonesia ,year 2001.
Features :classic jazz bass configuration.
Body:agathis
neck:maple with rosewood fingerboard.

I use this bass for a rock & roll and blues coverband.I run it through an Ampeg B248 combo and it generates an impressive low end.It would suit also reggea and funk ,very versatile.I use no effects.
The sound is classic jazz bass but the pickups sound too harsh in my opinion so I changed the neck pick-up for an artec jazz style pick-up and the sound improved to a mellow jazz sound.The stock pick ups are not bad but sound too agressive for my taste.Attention this does not mean that the stock pick-ups are crap.

I bought this bass second hand and the set up was horrible.The guy who I bought it from said he didn't play it for 3 years and I believed him ,the bass was practically brand new.Even the plastic was still on the pick-guard and he didn't touch the bass the moment it left the shop.
So I did the set up my self as with every bass that comes in my hands.
Finish is very good ,one tuning peg rattled but I fixed it in 5 minutes.
I changed the bridge for a 90 ties american standard bridge wich adds more sustain.Good wood and neck that competes with the quality of a mexican Fender.

This bass is well built regarding the wood and routing.If you consider the hardware ,it is not bad but I suggest to replace the hardware, at least the bridge,the tuners are OK.The electronics are good except for the pick-ups-character(too new sounding).Truss rod is stable.
I would use it on a gig but I always carry a back up.

Warranty:not available if you bought second hand.

I play 20 years now and I currently own a Aria SB , Vantage vs600b,Washburn precision clone,Aria cardinal bass, fenix jazz bass .I've owned and played Lag The beast,Fender precision 73,Fender jazz USA,Peavy dyna bass ,Ibanez roadstar.My main amp Is an Ampeg B248 and I play also vintage Simms & Watts Bass amp. I bought this bass for modding.I figured the quality of the wood was good and I needed a jazz bass and I was not willing to pay an arm and a leg for an american or a japanese fender.
So for the price I've payed , this is a bargain.
I'm now looking for a squier precision special I would like to buy.
I recommend the Squier standard Jazz bass because it has decent hard-ware and pick-ups and it is well built and cheap.The overall quality is decent.I've seen much worse than this.