Whammy on a Squier.

Linkert · #1 11-15-2007, 08:19 AM

Before i start my project i would like to know exactly how much it will cost me so i need you guys to recommend a bridge with a whammy that would fit on a Squier VM Jazz bass.

Gonna put a pair of Lundgren jazz pickups on it to go with the whammy

BellBottomBlues · #2 11-15-2007, 08:28 AM

Kahler, IMHO makes the only worthwhile whammy for bass, so look for kahler tremelos.

JimmyM · #3 11-15-2007, 11:56 AM

I have a Kahler and like it quite well, but Hipshot also makes one that's well-received by those who use them.

Hoover · #4 11-15-2007, 12:40 PM

Just wondering (no pun intended), did Washburn ever make a bass version of their WonderBar?

BellBottomBlues · #5 11-15-2007, 12:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Linkert

Before i start my project i would like to know exactly how much it will cost me so i need you guys to recommend a bridge with a whammy that would fit on a Squier VM Jazz bass.

Gonna put a pair of Lundgren jazz pickups on it to go with the whammy

I should have asked this earlier...

Why are you putting a tremelo on a squier?

fryBASS · #6 11-15-2007, 01:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BellBottomBlues

I should have asked this earlier...

Why are you putting a tremelo on a squier?

Why wouldn't you?

But seriously, why not? If I could, I think I'd put a tremolo on every bass

BellBottomBlues · #7 11-15-2007, 01:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fryBASS

Why wouldn't you?

I don't like spending more on the bridge than I did on the bass?

fryBASS · #8 11-15-2007, 01:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BellBottomBlues

I don't like spending more on the bridge than I did on the bass?

Maybe it's his favorite bass/ project bass?

Webtroll · #9 11-15-2007, 01:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fryBASS

Maybe it's his favorite bass/ project bass?

lately i've been diggin my Squier Jazz more than my vintage P. add to that even if I wasn't I'd rather drill extra holes in my cheaply replaced Squier than my '81 P

newfuture · #10 11-15-2007, 02:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hoover

Just wondering (no pun intended), did Washburn ever make a bass version of their WonderBar?

gawd, I hope not. After suffering through one of those in the mid '80s on a guitar I can saw without hesitation it was one of the most flawed locking trem systems ever designed.

That wasn't too harsh was it?

They were notorious for not returning to pitch, regardless of the direction of pitch bend.

Linkert · #11 11-15-2007, 03:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BellBottomBlues

I should have asked this earlier...

Why are you putting a tremelo on a squier?

Squier only have a bad reputation because of the bad factory setup.
But the people that can set the strings to a nice hight and fix the intonation if needed gets a really sweet bass, almost in the class of any good fender.

Then if i put some Lundgren jazz pickups on it, i will have a bass to go for my whole life.
So why not get a whammy bar while im on it? But im also thinking i might just get a badass II instead.

Webtroll · #12 11-15-2007, 03:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by newfuture

gawd, I hope not. After suffering through one of those in the mid '80s on a guitar I can saw without hesitation it was one of the most flawed locking trem systems ever designed.

That wasn't too harsh was it?

They were notorious for not returning to pitch, regardless of the direction of pitch bend.

aye every locking tremolo system i tried made me appreciate the floyd rose even more despite of how much of a PITA they were to set up. i haven't played any bass tremolos to have an opinion of that kind tho. i know that the original khaler guitar tremolos were godawful and it wasn't untl they started making trems based on the floyd rose patent that they were any good.

JCGuitars · #13 11-15-2007, 08:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BellBottomBlues

I should have asked this earlier...

Why are you putting a tremelo on a squier?

It beats putting one on a Fodera

Deathblade Eric · #14 11-15-2007, 08:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Linkert

Before i start my project i would like to know exactly how much it will cost me so i need you guys to recommend a bridge with a whammy that would fit on a Squier VM Jazz bass.

Gonna put a pair of Lundgren jazz pickups on it to go with the whammy

Greetings,

A Kahler Model 7410 will fit the gap provided. You'll have to rout out a bit of the top to allow the roller cam to fit, but nothing compared to the amount of carving required to fit a Hipshot.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JCGuitars

It beats putting one on a Fodera

I tried one of Entwistle's cast-off Alembics with a trem back in the late 80s, so I don't see why a Fodera should be exempt!

Quote:

Originally Posted by BellBottomBlues

I don't like spending more on the bridge than I did on the bass?

Each to their own, I guess. My battle-scarred Aria TSB-400 cost me GB£120 new in 1981, the Kahler was nearer GB£250 in 1988. Sale value today? I'd be lucky to get £200 for it all including the hard case. Value to me? Priceless.

Nearly 20 years of ownership later & any bass that doesn't have one fitted feels as though it's got something missing.

Have a picture or two...

Pete.

JCGuitars · #15 11-15-2007, 10:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deathblade Eric

I tried one of Entwistle's cast-off Alembics with a trem back in the late 80s, so I don't see why a Fodera should be exempt!

If by chance, once installed the player decides that a trem is not perhaps what he(or she) was hoping it might be, un-moding a $200-ish bass is quite a bit less painful than a $3K+ bass. This is considering the chance that the trem needs to be recessed into the body to archive proper tension over the saddles. A Squire bass, I would imagine is a bolt on. Adding and removing shims to change the neck angle is no big loss.

Deathblade Eric · #16 11-15-2007, 10:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JCGuitars

If by chance, once installed the player decides that a trem is not perhaps what he(or she) was hoping it might be, un-moding a $200-ish bass is quite a bit less painful than a $3K+ bass. This is considering the chance that the trem needs to be recessed into the body to archive proper tension over the saddles. A Squire bass, I would imagine is a bolt on. Adding and removing shims to change the neck angle is no big loss.

I quite agree - I wouldn't consider using a high-end "boutique"/custom (or a top drawer vintage instrument) as a test bed for anything that wasn't 100% reversible. That said, if I had road tested the mod & found it was what I were looking for then I'd have no qualms about applying it to any instrument I saw fit (with the probable exception of, say, a 1960 Jazz or equivalent).

Pete

JimmyM · #17 11-15-2007, 11:43 PM

Can't say I miss one on basses that don't have them, but I do like having a bass with one on it. Mine stays in tune like a rock, and it's got a fairly good range. You can make the E string go all floppy if you want.

DavidRavenMoon · #18 11-16-2007, 02:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimmyM

I have a Kahler and like it quite well, but Hipshot also makes one that's well-received by those who use them.

The Hipshot unit requires a lot of routing. It's made like a Strat tremolo... the string block goes all the way through the body, and the springs are in the back.

I had a Kahler on a Hondo II P copy that I fixed up back in the 80's.

It worked very well.

Linkert · #19 11-16-2007, 05:13 PM

For everyone that has named the price on the squier as 200$-ish, actually in sweden it costs exactly 586.6$..

codyAllen191 · #20 11-16-2007, 05:44 PM

I bought one from here for my custom jazz build: www.wammiworld.com

cost me $189, free shipping and great service