Squier Paranormal Rascal Bass HH - Metallic Black Reviews

Beautiful bass guitar that's fun to play and sounds amazing!

I am fortunate to be able to buy way too many bass guitars. I keep getting shocked on some of these cheaper squires. The build quality and how nice the necks are compared to some of the more expensive American fenders and other more expensive guitars. I bought the Lakeland short scale hollow body just a couple weeks ago. This rascal is twice the guitar for almost a 3rd of the price of the lakeland. It plays great and set up right out of the box. I normally buy my squires thru sweetwater but I wanted the green one and I ended up getting it directly from fender. Can't beat it for the price. Bit bigger than the mustang but to me the mustang feels a little too small. This has full size bass feel and sound but with that nice easy to play 30 inch scale. Great product for great price.

This is the weirdest bass I've ever owned. It has a full size body and headstock with a short scale neck. It's big, but it's not. It feels different and at first it was hard to figure out how to hold it. I normally put my basses on my left leg when I play, angling the neck up to play them more like an upright bass. This one is more comfortable on my right leg, resting in my lap. The pickups are positioned closer to the neck. I usually anchor my right thumb on the neck pickup. This bass is easier to play with my right thumb anchored on the bridge pickup. Like I said, it's different.

Once I figured out the ergonomics, it's an easy instrument to play with a warm and full-bodied tone. The neck shape (thinness) says jazz bass. The sound (to me) says precision bass. The back of the neck has a high gloss (shiny) finish. I like that smoothness. The fret wires on mine were smooth with no rough edges. The body is a glossy black metallic (black with silver sparkles in the paint). This is a well made and beautiful bass. It's solid (mine is 9 pounds, 6 ounces).

I played it for over an hour the first day and found myself wanting to pick it up again later that same day. It could easily become my favorite bass.

I highly recommend this unique and unusual instrument. Squier made a great bass.

This is a great bass. However, just know that if you're looking for a true "short scale", this may not be exactly what you're looking for. It has the sound and feel of a short scale bass, but in a regular bass body. This is probably due to a combo of the Bass 6 body, and Coronado headstock, among other things. But no worries, because of the bridge being more towards the center of the bass, and the frets not being quite as tall, it still has that nice "ease of play" quality like a typical short scale. I bought it hoping it would be just barely small enough to fit in a guitar case like a Mustang would, but that is not the case (lol). That being said, if you don't mind the fact that the bass itself is still roughly the size of a regular bass, this is a killer bass, especially at this price range. Fender is killing it with the whole Paranormal series. Solid hardware, warm, vintagey pickups that have plenty of output, great neck, and just nice to look at. I bought it thinking I would have to make a few upgrades, but I'm honestly happy with it as is.

Great Bass with awesome tone & great versatility. The color matched headstock gives a great vintage look. That is truly deserving of five stars of it wasn't for the weight and neck dive. Neck dive is easily fixed w/ the correct strap but at over 9lbs for a short scale Bass is a bit much.