This is only my second bass, and I’m still learning, so I’m no expert.

The Jaguar special is produced in Indonesia. I found no cosmetic or mechanical issues at all with mine. It seems to be set up well for a (relatively) inexpensive bass. The only mod I’ve made is to replace the factory strings with flatwounds for a more mellow tone.

The sunburst finish is beautiful. Although the wood of the body is subtly grained, especially on the front of the instrument, it still has a very warm and rich feel.

The tone is good through a decent amp. I bought it hoping to get more versatility out of the P/J pickup configuration, but to be honest, my newbie bassist ear can’t really tell any difference between the two. I don’t know if it would be more obvious with a full stack amp. But it’s a clean, warm tone from both.

A couple things to be aware of: these are active pickups. If the battery (9 volt) dies, you’ve got an inert hunk of wood with strings. The battery apparently drains any time you have the instrument jacked in, so unplug when you’re not using it.

Also, Squiers ship without manuals or documentation, nor is there any official online manual. If you’re a new bassist, you might have to do some digging to get information relevant to this particular model, since it’s not as popular as the P-bass or J-bass configurations. I wasn’t even sure what the knobs did at first, since they’re not labeled in any fashion.

I have to rate this instrument with 5-stars/”I love it”, because I love it. With the string change, it works perfectly for the genres I’m learning (alt, folk, soft rock and a touch of country). My impression is that with different strings, it would handle fine for hard rock and metal, or jazz and funk, but I don’t know the styles well enough to say for sure.

But general advice for any instrument purchase: if there is any way you can possible get your hands on an instrument through a friend, in a pawn shop, whatever, try it before you buy it. That’s the single best way to find what works for you. Reviews can help you narrow down your search, but don’t take my word or anybody else’s for it. Get your hands on one and try it for yourself.

OK let me say I was on the fence about buying this bass. For the price I figured it was going to need a lot of work and it would sound like a cheap bass. I went to youtube and did a search. Squier had a 2 min. video that gave me a idea of what it sounded like. I loved the body style and I liked the way it sounded just from what I heard on the video.. I am a 20+ year bass player & working musician.I wanted a bass to take to gigs I didn’t have to worry about. I own several basses and non of them are cheap. My primary basses are a MIJ Geddy Lee Jazz, MIJ Steve Harris P bass and a American Standard Jazz.I was looking for a knock around bass I didnt have to worry about because I do play in bars and I have had things knocked over in the past. I decided to purchase it sight unseen and not played. I bought the tobacco bust Jaguar. It arrived and was very well packaged. It comes with the wrenches to adjust bridge and truss rod. I looked it over and could find no finish flaws. Neck felt nice in my hands. Frets were done nice and no sharp ends. Neck is finished with a satin sealer. No heavy polly that gets sticky when your hands sweat. Neck profile feels like a Jazz bass but a bit slimmer.Setup was actually really good on this bass. Low action and the neck was straight. No high fretsanywhere. I had to make a small bridge saddle adjustment on the E string as it was a bit low. Intonation was spot on. Plugged this bass up and WOW! Very nice sounding pickups and they are a bit hot. Bass uses 9v battery to run pickups. It has a 2 band eq.Bass and Treble. 2 Volume controls for either the J or P pickups. I took the stock strings off (They Suck) and put on some Ernie Ball strings. Took it out on it’s first gig(3/8/2014) and never picked up my Geddy Lee all night. It’s much lighter than my J basses and was easy on the back. I ran it through the paces and I am thrilled with this bass. Best 0.00 I have spent in a long time. Squier has really stepped up their quality control and this bass rivals any of my other basses in sound and feel.

Alright kids here is the deal. This is a great bass for the money. It is still a FENDER product and that is good in music. This bass, like most will need some minor set up but that is usual with most things musical.Have a tech do the deed with the set up if you get lost doing this kind of thing. No biggy for me. I do all my own set ups anyhow. Now for the cool part. Like punchy bottom end? There is a 9 volt battery in this bass and it will have what some call active electonics. This bass will work good on recordings and you can go straight through the board. For those of you who need a bass for the gig NOW. This is a good bass for that too. This bass when set up properly will be a comfortable, great playing instrument. Just because it says SQUIRE on it, does not mean it is a bass that sucks. This means it wont break your bank too bad. Think of it as more bass for less money. When you make music for a living you will like this bass. One thing you might want to do on the neck is to take some light sand paper and maybe some steel wool to the back of that neck and buff the finish like you do with a pool stick. Makes it smoother to play and your hand will slide much better on the neck. Then it will be perfect. YES kids you will need to buy a strap and a case and a good 20 foot chord and you will need to find a good bass amp to play through. You will like this bass for all kinds of music styles and it looks good on stage too.