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  #1  
Old 03-12-2013, 03:23 PM
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Squire bass project

I purchased a Squire p bass special body (13 hole pickguard ) off of eBay for a Frankenfender project. I bought a MIM Jazz neck for it. The neck holes are off by a quarter inch. I'm afraid to mess up the neck by drilling new holes so close to the old ones. Would a regular Squire neck bolt right up or should I just go with a mighty mite neck? It came without a pickguard so I was going to drill new holes for a 14 hole pickguard.Click image for larger version

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  #2  
Old 03-12-2013, 04:05 PM
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Are you sure that both body and neck are actually what they're *supposed* to be??? The reason I ask is, I put together exactly the same combination - a MIM Fender Jazz neck on an MIK Squier P Bass Special body, and it was a direct bolt up - as it should be...

I also once mated up a MIM Fender neck to an SX body, and the holes didn't line up... In that case, I filled the neck holes with golf tees with wood glue, and drilled new holes - it worked out just fine...


- georgestrings
  #3  
Old 03-12-2013, 04:15 PM
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I could take the neck off of one of my other fender basses to see if the jazz neck bolts up
  #4  
Old 03-12-2013, 05:28 PM
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What year is your P-Bass Special body?

Unfortunately, there are (or were, more on that below) a lot of subtle differences between Fenders and Squiers. A lot depends on what year each part was made. I know this from several experiences.

1. I tried putting an official Fender Jazz pickguard on a 2008 CII Squier Standard Jazz. I had to do a fair amount of buzzing down around the neck and pickup pocket with a Dremel tool.

2. That same pickguard, before I put it on the Standard Jazz, mounted with little difficulty onto a 2010 MIC Affinity Jazz.

I also have a 2001 CII Squier Standard P-Bass Special with fourteen holes, instead of the usual thirteen. I bought a Mighty Mite Precision pickguard also with fourteen holes. Absolutely did not fit or match up. Not only would I have had to Dremel the hell out of the neck and pickup pockets, but would've had to re-fill and re-drill most of the holes. Suffice it to say, I exchanged that pickguard without altering it.

I've heard from a lot of bassists that until a few years ago Squier's quality control was rather lax. I don't know if that accounts for all the incompatible parts or if it was an intentional strategy by Fender to keep the two lines far removed while still being able to call them "Squier by Fender".

But whatever the reason, their builds seem to be getting close to each other again. There's the example above with the newer Affinity matching up with the new pickguard. Also, I bought a 2009 Squier Active Jazz IV to use the neck with a Mighty Mite P-Bass body (meant for a Fender neck) that is a 95+% perfect fit and a 100% fit for a new Precision pickguard.

All this "proper, or damn close, matching" does seem to coincide with the time Fender started enforcing better quality control within Squier. Perhaps the new doctrine is "people will buy our Fender parts and accessories to put on their Squiers"?

So, going back to your original question; Depending on the year your Squier body was made, a Mighty Mite neck might not line up either. You may have to buy a used Squier (preferably from the same country of manufacture and a similar year), harvest the neck and sell off the body to recoup some bucks.
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  #5  
Old 03-12-2013, 05:47 PM
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Not sure what year it is I can make out March and that's about it. The MIM neck fits the neck pocket just the previous mounting holes are off by a quarter inch or so. A mighty mite with no previous mounting holes would work. I'm going to check with a local guitar shop. He says he has 3 necks . Click image for larger version

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  #6  
Old 03-12-2013, 08:20 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hybrid_Moments View Post
I could take the neck off of one of my other fender basses to see if the jazz neck bolts up
Well, that would tell you if the problem is the neck or the body - I'm guessing it's the body... How about a pic of the neck's headstock??? As I said before, I had the same problem you're currently having when I mated up a MIM Fender neck to an SX body - it's fixable, but wasn't just a slam dunk like it *should* be, if both parts are Fender and/or Squier...

I looked at your pic again, and that PG isn't matching up to the body like it should, either - I don't think that's an actual Squier body, to be honest...


- georgestrings

Last edited by georgestrings : 03-12-2013 at 08:23 PM.
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