Squier Paranormal Series Rascal Bass Review: A Punk, Pink Bass

This shorter scale, affordable bass option is actually a serious piece of kit that’s for more than beginners.

Grab your own from Sweetwater or Amazon!

A Short Scale Bass For The Discerning Guitarist

With the new year came a new city for me, as I packed up and hauled down to Washington DC for work temporarily. Don’t worry, I’m not working for Trump. As this move is limited to one year, I opted not to pack up and lug all of my guitar gear down to our nation’s capital. As sad as it was to sell off loads of gear, and put the more sentimental pieces into storage, it’s also been a good experiment to practice self-control.

As a result of this move, my loyal Classic Vibe Precision Bass was packed away for the year, leaving me without any low end in my life. The compromise to this was to grab a new, cheap bass when I got settled in DC. Well that time has come and the Squier Paranormal Rascal Bass was my pick after some quick research.

Here’s why I settled on the Rascal. First off, I absolutely love the look of this thing, which combines a Bass VI body, short scale neck, and big Coronado headstock onto one pre assembled partscaster. I was curious specifically about getting a smaller scale instrument, and the Rascal’s 30″ scale length is 4″ shorter than my beloved P Bass. That’s certainly made it more comfortable for myself, as I am primarily a guitar player. Lastly, the dual humbucker configuration was very different than the P-bass single coil thump I’ve relied on for about 6-7 years now. For full specs, go visit a retailer like Sweetwater or stay tuned for my Ultimate Guitar review!

Demo Time

I’m running this Rascal into a bevy of fun pedals including the recently reviewed Dalliter Fuzz and Glitchwave Filter! I’ve also got the brand new Oneder Effects Hot American Bummer in tow as well, all before it hits my UAFX Dream, Walrus Canvas, and Volt276 recording rig. Go check out my YouTube page for more demos!

My Thoughts

While we’re taking a brief excursion today from our usually independent builder reviews, I wanted to shout out this bass specifically. It’s incredibly affordable, at $399 USD, and it’s just been absolutely wonderful. It looks, feels, and plays like a more expensive Fender-style bass, while the dual humbuckers bring a very different sound to the table. The Paranormal Series Rascal has been a huge inspiration to me as I get settled here and try to get back into songwriting and demos. I’ve plugged it in and just made some wild and weird sounds using the few pedals I have here. And quite frankly, it’s just been a blast.

What praise is better than that? Having fun is why we do this and I appreciate that this bass feels more familiar to my guitar playing hands. It’s easier to play with the short scale length and the output of the pickups inspires me to play this like a guitar, with big, pronounced melodies and lots of effects pedals. It’s not a flawless instrument, and in my technical review for UG I detail that the tuning stability has taken some time to settle in. However, the price of guitar gear continues to climb rather drastically, motivating me to explore budget options more and more. Here’s a proven budget option that really doesn’t seem to sacrifice quality or fun factor, which hopefully appeals to many of you folks.

While I’m obviously a big believer in supporting local and independent builders, I can’t realistically afford to ONLY buy guitars, amps, and pedals from them. The Rascal bass feels like a good place to compromise, as I can save a few bucks and have a blast plugging this into my unique collection of pedals from great indie builders. Hopefully, some of you will find that to be a reasonable conclusion!

TLDR: Very affordable, but very fun, impressive, and unique looking! Matching headstock finish gets extra points.