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First Customizing Attempt. Any tips?

S

ScoutMaster Willie

Sep 10, 2014
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#1
Okay, so I have a beginner's fender squier bass that my girlfriend gave to me, this isn't my first bass and how it is now isn't that great. So I was wondering if you guys had any hardware suggestions?

I was looking to replace the bridge, pickups, knobs, and possibly put a hipshot extender on it. Any kind of tip, suggestion, or anything that will make this cheap bass just a little better in quality would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
 
#4
ScoutMaster Willie said:
Okay, so I have a beginner's fender squier bass that my girlfriend gave to me, this isn't my first bass and how it is now isn't that great. So I was wondering if you guys had any hardware suggestions?

I was looking to replace the bridge, pickups, knobs, and possibly put a hipshot extender on it. Any kind of tip, suggestion, or anything that will make this cheap bass just a little better in quality would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Have it setup with good strings. Any money other than this that you invest in this bass will be a frivolity.
 
#5
JLS said:
Have it setup with good strings. Any money other than this that you invest in this bass will be a frivolity.
Click to expand...

The only reason I'm wanting to do anything to the bass is because it's my first time and i don't want to try on my other basses because I would hate to mess something up inside of them. I wouldn't really care if I messed up this one though.
 
#6
cool .. it's great to have a bass to experiment on ... remember you'll never get the extra bucks back out of it .. !! so keep the original parts if you wanna sell it later ... best bet is to find used parts .. !! while you're at it , try your hand at 'sheilding' the inside of everything ... never hurts ... and it's easy when everything is out of the way ...
 
#7
Start small. Take your time.

Cheap parts, eBay or guitar fetish should work.

Get some tools from stew Mac for setups.

Check the holes on your tuning pegs. The lower line Squiers have smaller than average size pegs and most replacements will be too big.

Maybe do threaded inserts on the neck. Then practice taking it apart and put it back together. I learned a lot from doing that. Practice your soldering skills.
 
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#8
My usual replacements are almost always pickups and tuning machines.
Biggest noticeable improvement for least amount of work IMO, besides a decent setup.

Keeping in mind what DavC and JoeVictim said:
Once you're done with what you feel comfortable doing, you could take it to have the frets leveled.
I would NOT do this yourself right out of the gate.

Good Luck! Let us know how it goes.
 
#9
My vote is for a pro setup and a new set of strings and leave it at that. IMHO changing out a few components can be very worthwhile as little tweaks to an instrument you otherwise really like. Changing out a bunch of components on a bass you don’t really think is that good to begin with will likely not yield the results you desire and you’ll end up wasting money you could have put towards a nicer instrument. My two cents. Good luck.
 
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#10
I'd leave the bridge alone unless it isn't functioning correctly, way too many people waste money on bridges. If you must change the bridge, get a cheap high-mass bridge from GFS, ebay or somewhere else. IMO the bridge on 99% of basses (even most lowend) are perfectly fine as long as they work correctly.

Knobs are fair game, whatever makes the bass more aesthetically pleasing to you and helps personalize the instrument will encourage you to play it more.

As for pickups, this is also fair game, but to be honest, what you've got already has the potential for the sound you are after. If you're after a 90's punk tone (think Matt Freeman P-bass type of tone in Operation Ivy) , choose a bright set of roundwound strings and turn up your tone and play with a pick. If you really must have something more punk oriented, I'd go with either a Seymour duncan Quarter Pounder (My main bass has one and I play punk from the 70's right up to modern punk) or a Fender original '62 pickup. You may doubt the use of the original '62, but most punk players used whatever they had on hand, and 9 chances out of ten if you like the vintage punk p-bass tone, it was the stock Fender pickup.

The Extender would be a cool upgrade, but only really useful if you need to rapidly droptune in frequent increments. I find they are fairly expensive, considering I don't drop tune very often. I'd personally buy a good pedal tuner instead of an extender, but that's my opinion and ymmv.

Edit: As most people above me have already said, your best purchases for this bass would probably be new strings and a pro setup.
 
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#11
I would recommend to keep the hardware chrome - black is too limiting unless you're going for an unpainted Fender bass IMO

Strings and a setup, tuners if staying in tune is an issue. If you want to keep it for the long haul then considering other upgrades may be worthwhile, but you may not want to over invest in a bass that won't cut it long term. While changing the bridge on my bass was an exciting journey, I find myself going back to stock. Not so sure the Badass worked for me YMMV.
 
#12
What Ronbeast said. I'd just leave it alone, get a good setup, find a brand, model and gauge of strings you like, and play away. About the only thing I would do is if you end up playing the usual 3-hour bar gigs, putting some lightweight tuners like HipShot UltraLites on it so it will stay in tune and relieve about a half-pound of weight off the headstock will do more for playability than anything else. Then as you earn gig money, you can start with the other suggested mods - decent bridge, SD quarter-pounder with CTS pots.
 
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#13
iiipopes said:
What Ronbeast said. I'd just leave it alone, get a good setup, find a brand, model and gauge of strings you like, and play away.
Click to expand...

IMO this is on target. DON'T jump in and change a bunch of stuff. Start by installing your preferred strings, or experiment with different strings. Why? Because they make a big difference in sound, and changing strings makes no permanent or expensive changes on the bass.

Next - have a setup done. Basses are much easier to play when they're set up.

Now, play it for a while.

Next - if you're not happy with it, define WHAT you are not happy with. Change only that.

On a Squier the bridge is no problem, as it's a tried and tested design. Tuners can be swapped for lighter models if you need some help with the balance. Pickups come next, only if needed.
 
#15
For punk, just use several different methods to destroy the finish at random, a little burning, some scraping, little random splatters of paint remover, carve some hearts with arrows through them into the body, maybe a couple different colors of spray paint. Put a bunch of save the planet and anti corporate stickers on it, again totally at random, Let your strap out until the bass hits you just below the knees, then duct tape over the strap buttons, use at least half a roll of tape. Last of all, punch some holes in your speaker cones with a pencil.
 

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