Cheapest Fender or most expensive Squier?

[Mrbigstuff]

1 hour ago, chris_b said:

 

You could have highlighted the rest of my post.

I could have done. But the overall standardisation (QC) of the product’s manufacture is one factor that is relevant to the end price. There are also wages, machine v employee ratio, raw materials, shipping, tariffs, desirability/ market value and probably more.

 

All the end buyer sees is the end product, the made in/ crafted in sticker and reputation gained/ lost from reviews. You hear it all the time on BC, “japanese fenders are the best”. Any factors other than the location are made irrelevant due to the reputation earned.

[Bassassin]

6 hours ago, HeadlessBassist said:

Which gives us the tag line of: “Slap-up Curry or Fender Tax..?” 🤔

 

Or perhaps 'Fender Tax or another two personally-spec'd bass builds?'

 

I'm not a fan of brands in general, particularly slapped on what amount to little more than mix & match parts-box basses - as all Fender designs have become.

[Mrbigstuff]

4 hours ago, Bassassin said:

 

Or perhaps 'Fender Tax or another two personally-spec'd bass builds?'

 

I'm not a fan of brands in general, particularly slapped on what amount to little more than mix & match parts-box basses - as all Fender designs have become.

Branding isn’t free! I think most would agree Fender are the biggest contemporary instrument brand of the last century.

Of course it offers little to the end consumer other than a sort of guarantee of quality…

[prowla]

8 hours ago, Mrbigstuff said:

Branding isn’t free! I think most would agree Fender are the biggest contemporary instrument brand of the last century.

Of course it offers little to the end consumer other than a sort of guarantee of quality…

Fender has certain build standards so you know parts are interchangeable, as evidenced in a parts bass thread.

They have a defined hierarchy for their products to match certain price points and quality expectations; however, the respective ranges can overlap and some lesser ones may be surprisingly good.

I have a Squier Strat and a Fender USA Strat: they are both Strats, but each element of the USA one is noticeably higher quality than the Squier; I also have a MIM Strat and it falls somewhere in-between the two.

A lot of other companies businesses are based on copying and/or replacing Fender original designs/parts; again they place their products at certain price points based on functionality and quality.

Fender is the industry leader, others follow.

Many products are deemed to be "better than a Fender", but the fact they feel the need to mention "Fender" tells the story.

If you buy a Fender you have a pretty good idea of what you can expect to receive.

If you buy another brand (I have Tokai, Levinson Blade, and parts Strats) you may or may not get something suitable "for the price", but it'll always be compared to the respective Fender in some way.

[Stub Mandrel]

21 hours ago, Bassassin said:

Buy a body with the timber, finish & routing you want.

 

Buy a neck with the woods, inlays & proportions you want.

 

Buy the hardware & electronics you want.

 

Nail the lot together.

 

Go out for a slap-up curry with the change.

 

But it often is cheaper to buy off the shelf. 

[HeadlessBassist]

1 hour ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

But it often is cheaper to buy off the shelf. 

 

Very true. I've been plotting a new Jazz build with @Silky999 and the parts I want are often prohibitively expensive. Right now I'm looking at combining this build with one of Kiwi's forthcoming graphite necks. [Even more expensive!]

 

Edited 1 hour ago by HeadlessBassist