I’ve played the (electric) guitar for more than 15 years now, and never really considered trying another instrument. Drumming would be good for my lacking sense of timing, but I have no room for a drum kit. I bought a keyboard last year so my kids could practice for school, and I’ve dabbled with it for a bit (playing Van Halen’s Jump, of course), but it’s not really my cup of tea. It then happened that we played Peter Frampton’s Show Me The Way with the band, and our bass player announced that he knew the solo and would be fine playing the guitar for this song. Which of course meant that I’d have to play the bass. And, lo and behold, it actually went pretty well and was fun. This made me ask for an affordable entry-level bass as birthday present.

I looked around for a bit and then settled upon the Squier Sonic Precision Bass. Sonic is Squier’s entry-level range, but gets good reviews nevertheless. There’s no Jazz Bass in the range, only the full-scale Precision and the short-scale Bronco – I guess they wanted to stick with one pickup models to keep the price down.

The Precision Bass is available in black (with Indian Laurel fretboard), Two-Tone Sunburst, and California Blue, both with maple fretboard – California Blue of course being the color that I asked for and got. My bass is made in Indonesia, which means CorTek – the company that, in another facility, builds the acclaimed PRS SE models. The body is poplar, a popular choice for affordable guitars as it is fast-growing and hence cheap. The bodies of the Sonic range are apparently a bit smaller/thinner than with regular models.

Another difference is that the neck is narrower, which is nice for beginners. The neck shape is a nice full C, not as flat as the modern C that is used on Fender and Squier electric guitars. Just as importantly, the neck is straight and the fretwork is excellent. The hardware is nothing special but works fine. With a single pickup, controls are limited to one volume and tone control.

I’m no expert in judging and describing bass sounds – but it sounds like a bass. 😉 Combined with the flawless finish, good fretwork and functional hardware and electronics, there’s really no reason not to recommend this bass to someone looking for an affordable bass guitar. It is often said but clearly true that today’s beginner instruments have achieved a level that makes them usable for everyone. It amazes me that it is possible to sell such an instrument at €200 and still leave a profit margin for dealer, distributor, Fender, and CorTek.