modding a squier p bass

[therex]

i am modding my bass to be even better is a squier VM p bass
what can of mods can i put in there other than pups and bridge?
i already have quarter pounder pups wich really improved the tone
any other mods?

BTW no bad ass bridge in my country, i could order one from some websites but i would cost me around 120$ and i dont have that much money
but i have something great in my country, i can find really cheap things that are made here, all i need to know is what kind of bridge to look for so any tips on a good bridge?

[daveman50]

Buy a Jazz Bass. (Just kidding.)

What do you want to accomplish with the mods? A P-bass is .. a P-bass. (Understand, I love P-basses and have more than one.) Are you looking for a different tone? The most significant change you can make is by experimenting with different strings.

[therex]

Originally Posted by daveman50

Buy a Jazz Bass. (Just kidding.)

What do you want to accomplish with the mods? A P-bass is .. a P-bass. (Understand, I love P-basses and have more than one.) Are you looking for a different tone? The most significant change you can make is by experimenting with different strings.

i already changed strings, the stocks ones were just awfull
well i think my bass has some problems with the sustain, i think is because the saddles of the bridge arent good
i think a bridge will improve sustain but as i said in my first post BAII is not an option but i can find really cheap bridges with nice quality but i need to know what kind of bridge would help the sustain or improbe the tone?
maybe a heavy bridge with saddles that dont dance

sorry for my english i know i am not very good

[stratovani]

Now, I'm not sure if they will deliver to your country or not (BTW, what country are you from?), but I recently got me a Wilkinson bass bridge with brass barrel-style saddles from an eBay store called Southeast Music. It's an excellent bridge with tons of sustain and I have it on my Squier Affinity P-Bass, it's a big improvement over the stock bridge for not a lot of money. You might send them an email and see if they will deliver to your country, and for how much.

http://stores.ebay.com/SOUTHEAST-MUS...QQftidZ2QQtZkm

[therex]

Originally Posted by stratovani

Now, I'm not sure if they will deliver to your country or not (BTW, what country are you from?), but I recently got me a Wilkinson bass bridge with brass barrel-style saddles from an eBay store called Southeast Music. It's an excellent bridge with tons of sustain and I have it on my Squier Affinity P-Bass, it's a big improvement over the stock bridge for not a lot of money. You might send them an email and see if they will deliver to your country, and for how much.

http://stores.ebay.com/SOUTHEAST-MUS...QQftidZ2QQtZkm

they do ship to peru(i think it said world wide shipping)
i think i will buy that bridge but the color in the wikinson one looks odd to me
is this bridge any good?
http://cgi.ebay.com/CHROME-Bass-Brid...ayphotohosting

thanks for the help dude

[Al Heeley]

Why would you think that would be any better than the stock bridge already fitted to your Squier P-bass? Maybe think about converting to thru-body bridge and strings, that would make a good difference to the sustain. Also check the nut, worth looking for a well-cut proper bone nut.

[jojo99]

Originally Posted by therex

well i think my bass has some problems with the sustain, but i need to know what kind of bridge would help the sustain or improbe the tone?
maybe a heavy bridge with saddles that dont dance
sorry for my english i know i am not very good

something to consider is the tightness of your neck/body joint (assuming your bass has a screwed-on neck like a Fender). Some of the true experts here seem to think that this connection is more important for sustain than just getting a heavier bridge-- they recommend installing threaded inserts into the neck so the body is attached by machine bolts instead of wood screws.

[62bass]

Originally Posted by Al Heeley

Why would you think that would be any better than the stock bridge already fitted to your Squier P-bass? Maybe think about converting to thru-body bridge and strings, that would make a good difference to the sustain. Also check the nut, worth looking for a well-cut proper bone nut.

I haven't found that a string through bridge adds any sustain or sonic benefits worth mentioning. It can add a bit of downward pressure which does have a subtle effect if the top load bridge you're using doesn't have enough.

Getting a perfectly tight neck/body joint does seem to help as did (for me at least) replacing the neck screws with threaded inserts and machine screws. But that wasn't so much sustain that improved. More of a more solid bass and more even response to the different notes.

A very heavy and dense bridge does seem to increase sustain somewhat.

I've never had a problem with too little sustain on any Fender bass, even with the stock bent metal bridge. But sustain isn't a quality I care much about. Usually there is too much sustain for me.

[62bass]

Originally Posted by therex

i already changed strings, the stocks ones were just awfull
well i think my bass has some problems with the sustain, i think is because the saddles of the bridge arent good
i think a bridge will improve sustain but as i said in my first post BAII is not an option but i can find really cheap bridges with nice quality but i need to know what kind of bridge would help the sustain or improbe the tone?
maybe a heavy bridge with saddles that dont dance

sorry for my english i know i am not very good

Your English is better than some of the guys that post here who claim to speak it.

Having too low an action will decrease sustain somewhat. Try raising your strings a bit and maybe lower your pickups. Too strong a magnetic pull from the pickup can decrease sustain. But it's only noticeable if they're way too close to the strings.

Another thing to try--raise the saddles for each string a lot, so the strings are coming off the back of the saddles and into the holes in the bridge plate at a steep angle. Of course your strings will now be way too high off the fingerboard. You correct that by putting a shim under the neck at the end closest to the body to tilt the neck back to compensate. Studio bassists in the 60s used to do that a lot so they could get a better downward force on their bridges.

The stiffness of the neck does also have an effect. Nothing much you can do about that without changing the neck. A graphite neck, which is very stiff, would cost more than your bass did.

[scootron]

I changed out the bridge on my old Squier and it helped a lot with sustain. The stock ones just didn't have much mass, IMO.

A couple of suggestions for a guy on a tight budget...Stewart-MacDonald has a pretty good replacement Fender-style replacement bridge for about $24. There is also a site,
that I have found to be reliable, called Guitar Fetish, that has a Fender-Style replacement bridge now available for the very inexpensive price of $12.95, including screws and an allen wrench for adjustments.

I don't have any connection with either, but I remember trying to find parts for a guitar and not having very much money to do it.

[Al Heeley]

I've bought a lot of different stuff off the guitar fetish guys over the past couple of years - mostly pickups, always found them really good value for money; not top end quality stuff but for the low prices they are great.

[therex]

any other cheap mods i can made to the bass?
nothing too dificult to do

[scootron]

The Squier I modded had really bad tuners. The screws were loose, and so they rattled when I played. I found a cheap set here on TB. One reason they were so cheap was that the TBer didn't have the bushings or the screws, but I had the bushings and screws from the existing tuners, so it was a cheap and easy upgrade ($15) that made a big difference.

Bridge, tuners and new pickups, and it was a superb bass for very little money.

[GeoffByrne]

How about finding items on eBay.com (good quality, used) & having them posted to you?

[therex]

Originally Posted by scootron

The Squier I modded had really bad tuners. The screws were loose, and so they rattled when I played. I found a cheap set here on TB. One reason they were so cheap was that the TBer didn't have the bushings or the screws, but I had the bushings and screws from the existing tuners, so it was a cheap and easy upgrade ($15) that made a big difference.

Bridge, tuners and new pickups, and it was a superb bass for very little money.

my tuner are pretty solid i dont think a can upgrade that with something cheap, i alredy changed the pickups, added some straplocks, and the bridge is my main objetive now
but what if i change the pots and the cap, would that make a worthy difference? i was thinking in put some dimarzio pots and a cap you guys recomend, i have heard good things about orange drop cap
also what diference will it make to put 250 or 500 pots?, in my pickup diagram there were 250 pots but i used the stock ones(500)

and ebay seems like a good idea but not everything is shipped to peru

[stratovani]

Originally Posted by therex

any other cheap mods i can made to the bass?
nothing too dificult to do

One mod that you can do that's easy and inexpensive is replacing the existing nut with a Tusq nut. I replace the nut on my bass with one and what a difference it makes. A clearer sound and it sustains for days. Of course, that's only on open strings, but no matter, I think it's a worthwhile mod. The one I got dropped in perfectly with no further slot filing or height adjusting to do. Here's where I got it:

http://cgi.ebay.com/BASS-GUITAR-TUSQ...742.m153.l1262

[therex]

are dimarzio pots any good?
and what kind of cap should o put?
also i was thinking in to put a push/pull put but what kind of use could it have in my p bass?

[4Slater]

Replace the bridge with something solid. Gotoh is good.