2 x Squier Paranormal Rascal HH Basses - Small Customizations, BIG Results

[nixdad]

Before:

I saw this one on Facebook today and just had to share!
After:

Pickguard link (Vintage Dark Tortoiseshell): Pickguard for Squier Paranormal RASCAL Bass, scratchplate: many colours, NEW | eBay

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After:

 

[Clark W]

Before:
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I saw this one on Facebook today and just had to share!
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Pickguard link (Vintage Dark Tortoiseshell): Pickguard for Squier Paranormal RASCAL Bass, scratchplate: many colours, NEW | eBay

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Pickguards can make a huge a difference for sure. Normally not a fan of tort, but that red tort doesn't look most tort either. Definitely sets that body off!

And paisley will work on just about anything. My fav paisley scheme...
1965 Fender Paisley Red.

 

[nixdad]

Pickguards can make a huge a difference for sure. Normally not a fan of tort, but that red tort doesn't look most tort either. Definitely sets that body off!

And paisley will work on just about anything. My fav paisley scheme...
1965 Fender Paisley Red.
View attachment 7164564View attachment 7164565

Yep, Fender's Paisley (& Blue Floral) finishes are classic! They were actually introduced in 1968.

 

[steve_kyle]

Before:
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I saw this one on Facebook today and just had to share!
After:
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Pickguard link (Vintage Dark Tortoiseshell): Pickguard for Squier Paranormal RASCAL Bass, scratchplate: many colours, NEW | eBay

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View attachment 7164556

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But what does it SOUND like?

 

[Deleted member 271037]

That looks great, but I will keep mine stock. The Sherwood Green + mint pickguard was the main reason I got this bass. It looked so fantastic, I just had to get one! Silly, I know...

As for the tone/quality:

I'm generally not a fan of humbuckers, but these ones worked better for my tonal needs than most. They seem to have less of that nasty "hole" in the midrange that I often don't like with humbuckers. Personally I would probably have preferred ONE pickup closer to the P-bass "sweetspot" but I actually liked this bass much better with a band than I thought I would. It sits nicely in a dense mix, in an almost P-bass kinda way, which I didn't expect because it doesn't really sound like a P-bass at all. Dynamically I find it slightly stiff/inarticulate, but I could say the same about many humbuckers (vs single/split coils). I only ever use the neck pickup btw. Blended pickups or bridge pickups aren't generally my kind of tone.

I also love the slim neck profile. Very comfortable, very easy to play. Probably a bit TOO slim for many bass players. This is the kind of bass neck that guitar players will love.

The overall quality... After reading all the glorious reviews around here I have to admit I was a little bit disappointed at first (although I should have learned by now to take Talkbass NBD threads with a grain of salt...). The fretwork in particular wasn't great. The frets had to be leveled before I could set up the Rascal with my preferred action (which isn't crazy low at all). There were a couple of other issues I had to sort out as well, but I don't remember the exact details (I seem to recall a bad pot that needed replacing, I definitely remember needing to do something inside the electronics).

The balance of the instrument also feels a bit off, due to the unusual position of the bridge. If you want a short scale bass for their shorter "reach", you should definitely NOT get this one.

It looks gorgeous though, and it's a great sounding, fun little bass to play. Just don't expect it to punch above it's weight quality wise. At least not without some additional work. The overall quality out of the box sits kinda between entry-level and mid-level (at least this was the case with mine).

But it certainly LOOKS cooler than most basses in it's price range.

 

[InstantEctobass]

Do you have more photos of the red one with the tortoise pickguard, please?

 

[nixdad]

Do you have more photos of the red one with the tortoise pickguard, please?

I found the photo on Facebook. That was the only photo of the bass which was shared.

 

[InstantEctobass]

I found the photo on Facebook. That was the only photo of the bass which was shared.

Do you have the link by any chance ?

 

[nixdad]

Do you have the link by any chance ?

 

[doran.dragic]

Roses are red, violets are blue, life is too short, always use tort.

 

[Coldmilk]

Is there a benefit to reversing the bridge pickup on that red one?

 

[Tim Skaggs]

Is there a benefit to reversing the bridge pickup on that red one?

Good question. It would be (is!!) very noticeable so perhaps not an error?

 

[MdC64]

That looks great, but I will keep mine stock. The Sherwood Green + mint pickguard was the main reason I got this bass. It looked so fantastic, I just had to get one! Silly, I know...

As for the tone/quality:

I'm generally not a fan of humbuckers, but these ones worked better for my tonal needs than most. They seem to have less of that nasty "hole" in the midrange that I often don't like with humbuckers. Personally I would probably have preferred ONE pickup closer to the P-bass "sweetspot" but I actually liked this bass much better with a band than I thought I would. It sits nicely in a dense mix, in an almost P-bass kinda way, which I didn't expect because it doesn't really sound like a P-bass at all. Dynamically I find it slightly stiff/inarticulate, but I could say the same about many humbuckers (vs single/split coils). I only ever use the neck pickup btw. Blended pickups or bridge pickups aren't generally my kind of tone.

I also love the slim neck profile. Very comfortable, very easy to play. Probably a bit TOO slim for many bass players. This is the kind of bass neck that guitar players will love.

The overall quality... After reading all the glorious reviews around here I have to admit I was a little bit disappointed at first (although I should have learned by now to take Talkbass NBD threads with a grain of salt...). The fretwork in particular wasn't great. The frets had to be leveled before I could set up the Rascal with my preferred action (which isn't crazy low at all). There were a couple of other issues I had to sort out as well, but I don't remember the exact details (I seem to recall a bad pot that needed replacing, I definitely remember needing to do something inside the electronics).

The balance of the instrument also feels a bit off, due to the unusual position of the bridge. If you want a short scale bass for their shorter "reach", you should definitely NOT get this one.

It looks gorgeous though, and it's a great sounding, fun little bass to play. Just don't expect it to punch above it's weight quality wise. At least not without some additional work. The overall quality out of the box sits kinda between entry-level and mid-level (at least this was the case with mine).

But it certainly LOOKS cooler than most basses in it's price range.

Nice write up. Thanks.
The past few months I’ve been thinking about getting one.

 

[TeeSee]

That looks great, but I will keep mine stock. The Sherwood Green + mint pickguard was the main reason I got this bass. It looked so fantastic, I just had to get one! Silly, I know...

As for the tone/quality:

I'm generally not a fan of humbuckers, but these ones worked better for my tonal needs than most. They seem to have less of that nasty "hole" in the midrange that I often don't like with humbuckers. Personally I would probably have preferred ONE pickup closer to the P-bass "sweetspot" but I actually liked this bass much better with a band than I thought I would. It sits nicely in a dense mix, in an almost P-bass kinda way, which I didn't expect because it doesn't really sound like a P-bass at all. Dynamically I find it slightly stiff/inarticulate, but I could say the same about many humbuckers (vs single/split coils). I only ever use the neck pickup btw. Blended pickups or bridge pickups aren't generally my kind of tone.

I also love the slim neck profile. Very comfortable, very easy to play. Probably a bit TOO slim for many bass players. This is the kind of bass neck that guitar players will love.

The overall quality... After reading all the glorious reviews around here I have to admit I was a little bit disappointed at first (although I should have learned by now to take Talkbass NBD threads with a grain of salt...). The fretwork in particular wasn't great. The frets had to be leveled before I could set up the Rascal with my preferred action (which isn't crazy low at all). There were a couple of other issues I had to sort out as well, but I don't remember the exact details (I seem to recall a bad pot that needed replacing, I definitely remember needing to do something inside the electronics).

The balance of the instrument also feels a bit off, due to the unusual position of the bridge. If you want a short scale bass for their shorter "reach", you should definitely NOT get this one.

It looks gorgeous though, and it's a great sounding, fun little bass to play. Just don't expect it to punch above it's weight quality wise. At least not without some additional work. The overall quality out of the box sits kinda between entry-level and mid-level (at least this was the case with mine).

But it certainly LOOKS cooler than most basses in it's price range.

I've the same as you, Sherwood Green, I've changed out the pots for CTS and the ever ubiquitous Sprague orange drop but ripped out the switch and added a blend pot, oh yeah I forgot, I sanded the gloss off the back of the neck as I prefer the satin necks.
Regarding balance, I never thought I had an issue with neck dive, but try to play this on your lap and it'll go south in an instant. Personally I don't care about neck dive it seems to be one of these millennial hand wringing things but seems to be coming increasingly important to a lot of people. Good job we all have a right hand and arms to support and fret when we're playing. Put a strap on it and stand up and it goes nowhere, at least mine doesn't, even if I jump up and down without holding it and shimmy my shoulder, I cannot get the neck to move down.
Again, same as you mate, me being the habitual tinkerer and wanting something slightly different, I so wanted to change the pickguard but the mint green compliments it much better than any other colour or design I can think off, so the pickguard stays stock.

 

[Deleted member 271037]

I've the same as you, Sherwood Green, I've changed out the pots for CTS and the ever ubiquitous Sprague orange drop but ripped out the switch and added a blend pot, oh yeah I forgot, I sanded the gloss off the back of the neck as I prefer the satin necks.
Regarding balance, I never thought I had an issue with neck dive, but try to play this on your lap and it'll go south in an instant. Personally I don't care about neck dive it seems to be one of these millennial hand wringing things but seems to be coming increasingly important to a lot of people. Good job we all have a right hand and arms to support and fret when we're playing. Put a strap on it and stand up and it goes nowhere, at least mine doesn't, even if I jump up and down without holding it and shimmy my shoulder, I cannot get the neck to move down.
Again, same as you mate, me being the habitual tinkerer and wanting something slightly different, I so wanted to change the pickguard but the mint green compliments it much better than any other colour or design I can think off, so the pickguard stays stock.

Yeah, it balances nicely on a strap. I was thinking more about the "reach", which is considerably longer than with most other short scale basses, due to the unusual position of the bridge. Or to put it another way: The distance physical distance to the 1st fret (with the bass on a strap) feels more or less than same as with a long scale bass. This doesn't bother me at all, but some people want short scale basses specifically for a shorter "reach". For these people this bass might be a poor choice. For me it was more a matter of positioning my plucking hand in a slightly uncomfortable angle, but I like plucking the strings close to the fretboard.

Another side effect of having a Mustang-style bridge so far "forward" is that you will need a very thin, long screwdriver to adjust the intonation. A standard screwdriver won't fit, because of the "overhang" behind the bridge. I just barely managed to adjust the intonation with a long electrician screwdriver, but this type of screwdriver is really a little bit too small for these screw heads. This makes be worried that the intonation screws might strip with regular string changes/adjustments. You should at least make sure to loosen the string tension before attempting any adjustments. Personally I'm sticking with ONE type of strings on this bass. It's definitely not the right bass for string testing. This is perhaps THE most annoying thing with the Rascal. A Mustang bridge looks cool, but installing it this far forward is extremely inconvenient and bordering on a design flaw IMO.

 

[InstantEctobass]

Can't see

 

[Iridescentone]

My green Rascal arrived yesterday. I snagged it off the GC used basses site for $239, where it was described as "used". It's in brand new condition, but it came with a set of 45-100ga Chromes installed by a PO. The Chromes are a good match for it, but I'll experiment with other string types anyway.

Weighs exactly 9.0 lbs, which I suspect may be on the lighter end of typical Rascal weight range. Balance on a smooth leather strap is poor...it's a diver for sure, wants to go down below horizontal. A suede lined strap will help with that enormously no doubt, but lighter tuners are already on the slate for this bass. They'll be a good move anyway because whomever chose these "tapered post" units clearly doesn't understand how strings are supposed to sit on tuner posts. As seen in the below pics, the taper actually prevents the leads from reaching the post bottoms. In this case a couple more wraps on 3rd string probably would have been better, yet not ideal. As it is, the A string rattles and sounds a bit "hollow" with its poor break angle. C'est la vie, the strings are cut, not going to waste the set, so a 3-slot string tree may be in order.

Not finding any fit or finish flaws, neck is straight, truss works well, and the fretwork needs no tweaking yet. Plays nicely, just needs intonation adjust. I was hoping for a big fat bucker sound and that's exactly what I got with these pickups. Not hearing any extraneous noises or hums, it may not need shielding (TBD). I'm okay with the 3-way pup switch and gloss neck finish. Pretty sure this one's a keeper for how it sounds, none of my other basses do what the little Rascal does.

Oh, and I even like how it looks too.

Dopey tapered posts....

 

[Yahboy]

Before:
View attachment 7164555


I saw this one on Facebook today and just had to share!
After:
View attachment 7164553

Pickguard link (Vintage Dark Tortoiseshell): Pickguard for Squier Paranormal RASCAL Bass, scratchplate: many colours, NEW | eBay

Before:
View attachment 7164556

After:
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Beautiful....turn both bass guitar look to next level !!

 

[Hnz]

As a Mustang/Precision guy, I am used to making the sound with my fingers and the position of my playing hand.
Although I really love the ergonomics of this bass, I just cannot get in to the Paranormal Rascal's 2 pu set up.
So I'm about to take a drastic decision to get the bass modded as in the picture.

What do you think?

 

[Naviiin]

As a Mustang/Precision guy, I am used to making the sound with my fingers and the position of my playing hand.
Although I really love the ergonomics of this bass, I just cannot get in to the Paranormal Rascal's 2 pu set up.
So I'm about to take a drastic decision to get the bass modded as in the picture.

What do you think?

View attachment 7186950

Love the look. Are you gonna repurpose the switch too?