Squier Review: Precision bass

History:

Purchase: Bought for £200 in 1990 or 1991 from a guitar shop in Southend-on-Sea. I can't remember what it was called. Bought as an upgrade from a truly dreadful Marlin Precision copy

What I Like About This Squier Precision bass: This is a Korean model made back in the days before the Japanese and Korean Squiers were really cheap and shoddy. By today's standards we're in Fender Mex territory. At the time, I couldn't afford a Fender but why would I need one?!? It was and remains a quality guitar at an affordable price.

What I Do NOT Like About The Squier Precision bass: I have only ever had two problems with this bass. Firstly, the truss rod in the neck slowly unwound itself over time and lots of playing. This is apparently not uncommon with P and J-basses as the low frequencies cause vibrations which loosen the truss rod. Everything is back in line but it needs checking now and again. The other problem was that the output from the pickups was nothing like loud enough compared to the Thunderbird I bought fairly recently. Well it was never going to be... I upgraded the pickups with a set of high-output Gotohs and it's like a new instrument, £30 well spent...

Squier Precision bass Quality Rating: This is nothing if not solid. The neck is nicely finished with a rosewood fingerboard which is extremely smooth with big fat frets. The tuners are huge, not the little cheap ones they started putting on Squiers. The neck fits very tightly into the body with no gaps at all. The body is heavyish with the obligatory thick Fender/Squier cellulose which only has a tiny chip in it after nearly 15 years of use. The electrics are basic but sound, apart from upgrading the pickups I've left it all alone.

Review Summary: This guitar has been my main instrument until recently and has never let me down. A modern Squier P-bass is unlikely to come near it in terms of build quality. If you can find an old one, buy it. The name on the headstock might be different but an old Squier will beat a cheap modern Fender hands down

Rating of this Squier product: 4

This Squier Precision bass Bass Guitars Review Submitted By: Phil Grimwade

Review Date: 2004-02-22