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From Squier to Fender

S

seph77

Jun 11, 2013
41
0
#1
Hi everyone! I've got a Squier affinity Pbass and I would like to slowly modify it into a "Fender".
I would change the bridge (from stock to a Badass II), Pickups ( to Seymour Duncan spb3) and the Neck (a Fender one).
I would like to install a Jazz neck rather than a Precision neck.
Do you think these mods are possible without modifying the body? And It would be worth than buying an actual Fender MIM?
Thanks everyone!!
 
#2
I've been working on nearly the exact same project. Through conversations here and some research, here's what I've got:

For the neck: check the width of the neck pocket on your bass and just make sure the heel of the neck you're purchasing is the same. Standard Fender is 2.5". I have an Affinity P body to which I've attached a Squier Jazz Bass Special neck with 95% sucess (I'm not sure if it was the angle, or what, but I popped off a little bit of my body's finish. No biggie as I'm stripping it anyway). At the same time, a Fender MIM Jazz neck I recently purchased is a little skinny for my old (80s?) Squier J-Bass. So, one size does not always completely fit all

Bridge: BadAss II bridges are made to fit standard Fender bridge holes, so you should be okay there.

I'm pretty sure the pickup should be a simple swap, and I planned on doing the same switch, but I'll let others more experienced than I weigh in.
 
#3
seph77 said:
Hi everyone! I've got a Squier affinity Pbass and I would like to slowly modify it into a "Fender".
I would change the bridge (from stock to a Badass II), Pickups ( to Seymour Duncan spb3) and the Neck (a Fender one).
I would like to install a Jazz neck rather than a Precision neck.
Do you think these mods are possible without modifying the body? And It would be worth than buying an actual Fender MIM?
Thanks everyone!!
Click to expand...

If you do not count your time, it's a lot of work for minimal savings.

If you count your time, a MIM will be MUCH cheaper.
 
#4
The Squier necks are every bit as good as Fender necks....and as noted above, if you want a real Fender (not a fake) then buy a MIM Fender and sell the Squier.

If you're willing to have a great instrument that says Squier on it (I have a number of them), concentrate on the things that will make a difference in sound. In priority order, these are:

1) Strings
2) Pickups

I personally don't think bridges make an audible difference in sound, and I'm absolutely sure they won't make as much difference as either of the above items, but with that caveat:

3) Bridge

The neck won't change the sound, it will only soothe your need for status...and buying a MIM is cheaper than making all the above changes.
 
#5
Even simple things can make them a better instrument.

I can tell you what I've done with mine, all Affinities.

The first thing I do is get rid of the cheaper 500k mini pots and tone cap. I follow Fender specs and replace with full size 250k CTS pots, a .047 tone cap, and I upgrade to better gauge/quality wiring then what Squier uses. I believe standard Fenders use 22 gauge, where the stock Affinity stuff is pretty thin. Just doing that can bring new life, even if you retain the stock pickups.

My strat has stainless steel block saddles, similar to the old Fender Strat Pluses and a brass nut that I cut and shaped myself. I plan to replace the tuners with vintage style tuners soon, as the stock ones are 5 years old and getting a bit rough feeling.

For the basses, I have also upgraded the pots,caps, and wiring and shimmed up the necks to get better action. I plan to get better, vintage style bridges with brass saddles, put brass nuts on. Also nicer tuners at some point.

I haven't spent a whole lot, and I do my own work, so it saves labor costs.

You can do a lot with these things for not too much, and if you want to go further, one certainly can.
Whether or not it's worth the cost is up to you. If you want a nicer instrument, right off the bat, and one you should have to do less to, buy an MIM and just upgrade simple things. If you want the satisfaction of playing something you really built up yourself, I'd say gut the Squier and go to town. But you'll never get back what you put into it, if you were to sell it at a later point.
 
#6
What don't you like about the Squier to make you want to mod it? Sometimes mods go bad meaning you spend a good deal of time and money and the end result isn't what you expect. If it is purely cosmetic, you may just want to buy a Fender.
 
#7
Not a little expense and work for no a lot of return, IMO. If you want a Fender get one. For what you would spend converting your Squier, you could afford a MIM Fender. You could even just get a Squier VM or CV and not bother modding them as they don't necessarily need it.
 
#8
There is definitely going to be a point of diminishing returns. My work is fairly inexpensive, as I find the bodies and necks perfectly serviceable, and the stock pickups are really not bad, with better electronics behind them. And bodies, as well as necks and pickups(which are both something you say you want to replace) tend to be the higher dollar items to replace. And Badass bridges don't cost ten cents, either.:)

Again, in my view, it can be worth it if you just want to build something up yourself, with less concern for cost and later resale.

If you really just want a Fender, buy a Fender. You'll end up doing less, and it's value will hold better.
 
#9
The mods are in order to have a better instrument for live and studio..I'm going to explain why those mods:
Pups: Stock pups aren't that great and I love the sound of Seymour Duncan.
Bridge: To keep the tune better and for long time (if the tuning machine are a more affordable way of getting the job done I can keep the stock bridge)
Neck: Always wanted a maple fretboard (mine is rosewood) and I find more comfortable the thinner neck of a Jbass (So I can go as well with another squier neck, not necessary fender if you recommend so :) )
So tell me what you think :) It's not the brand on the headstock that I want, but the quality of the sound :D
 
#10
I think you should do whatever you think is worth it TO YOU. In the end, that's all that matters, is if it 's worth it for you. Those thing will likely be a big improvement for an Affinity.

Necks can be expensive, and you might be able to find a Squier neck that you like better than the current one.

New pickups and replacement bridges are common mods at any level that many people do, so if you are comfortable doing so, I say go for it.

I stand by changing pots and caps, especially if you are doing the pickup. I find the 500k minis quite bad. Might be worth it to look yours over.

In the end, produce what you want. I do.:)
 
#11
seph77 said:
The mods are in order to have a better instrument for live and studio..I'm going to explain why those mods:
Pups: Stock pups aren't that great and I love the sound of Seymour Duncan.
Bridge: To keep the tune better and for long time (if the tuning machine are a more affordable way of getting the job done I can keep the stock bridge)
Neck: Always wanted a maple fretboard (mine is rosewood) and I find more comfortable the thinner neck of a Jbass (So I can go as well with another squier neck, not necessary fender if you recommend so :) )
So tell me what you think :) It's not the brand on the headstock that I want, but the quality of the sound :D
Click to expand...

That's very helpful!

I stand by what I said earlier - the biggest change in sound is first, from strings, and second, from pickups. DOn't forget you can buy pickups on Ebay all day, and with a bit of patience you can find just about any pickup used.

It sure doesn't hurt to change the electronics, and of course changing from 500K to 250K (or vice versa, many people PREFER 500K) will change the sound for lower cost than strings or pickups. It won't make as much difference, but it will make a difference.

As for the neck - wanting a maple fretboard is a valid reason to change. (Although if it were me, I'd sell the bass and buy one with a maple fretboard.) Why not buy an aftermarket J neck and not get accused of trying to create a fake Fender?
 
#12
Oh well thanks everyone :D May I ask what's the difference between 500 and 250 (i'm not quite informed in electronic xD)? And for the tuning you think that only replacing the tuning machines will do the job? It would be very cheaper than buy the bridge xD
 
#13
No doubt, some people prefer 500k. I don't, but still advocate better quality, even if staying with 500k. If one is handy with soldering, even good pots and caps are fairly inexpensive, and one can always experiment to find what they like. I found a 500k value to just not be the sound I prefer, and the cheap mini pots to be almost useless, in my experience. Someone else's may be different.

Fender is now offering necks(rosewood and maple) that are stated as being replacements for Fender or Squier instruments, although whether they fit directly on an Affinity without some work is the question.
Aftermarket necks abound, as do used.

Plenty of pickups are available on eBay, no doubt about that.
 
#14
If you want to replace the neck and tuners, I would suggest buying used and fully loaded with hardware, typically cheaper than buying the parts separate. Other than setting intonation, the bridge doesn't have any affect on tuning.
 
#15
May I ask what's the difference between 500 and 250
Click to expand...

250k will cut more of the highs. It's quite common for single coils, which tend to be very bright, to have 250k pots to tame some high end. 500k is generally used on double coils, to preserve the high end that DCs can lose. It keeps them from getting muddy. But that is more a guideline, rather than a hard, fast rule, as some prefer it the other way.

Some hotter single coils can need 500k, as they start to lose highs as they get overwound. A few DCs I've seen were designed for 250k.

There is a common wisdom that says 250k for singles, 500k for humbuckers, but there are exceptions and differing personal preferences.

I think the bast thing to do there is try both values and see what sounds best to you for the pickup in question.
 
#16
SquierJazz72 said:
Even simple things can make them a better instrument.

I can tell you what I've done with mine, all Affinities.

The first thing I do is get rid of the cheaper 500k mini pots and tone cap. I follow Fender specs and replace with full size 250k CTS pots, a .047 tone cap, and I upgrade to better gauge/quality wiring then what Squier uses. I believe standard Fenders use 22 gauge, where the stock Affinity stuff is pretty thin. Just doing that can bring new life, even if you retain the stock pickups.

My strat has stainless steel block saddles, similar to the old Fender Strat Pluses and a brass nut that I cut and shaped myself. I plan to replace the tuners with vintage style tuners soon, as the stock ones are 5 years old and getting a bit rough feeling.

For the basses, I have also upgraded the pots,caps, and wiring and shimmed up the necks to get better action. I plan to get better, vintage style bridges with brass saddles, put brass nuts on. Also nicer tuners at some point.

I haven't spent a whole lot, and I do my own work, so it saves labor costs.

You can do a lot with these things for not too much, and if you want to go further, one certainly can.
Whether or not it's worth the cost is up to you. If you want a nicer instrument, right off the bat, and one you should have to do less to, buy an MIM and just upgrade simple things. If you want the satisfaction of playing something you really built up yourself, I'd say gut the Squier and go to town. But you'll never get back what you put into it, if you were to sell it at a later point.
Click to expand...

What did you use to cut the brass nut you put in yours? I have a brass nut and I filed the slots quite a bit. The only problem is I used the same size file to do all the slots so they're, not totally, but almost the same size as the A slot. I'm thinking I'll have to grab another nut and get different sized files.
 
#17
I used a small, triangular hand file, cut shallow grooves for the plain strings, cut a bit deeper for the wound strings, and used the remnants of a set of heavy gauge strings to smooth the slots into shape, by just working them back and forth across each slot to get the right size and depth. Time consuming, but it worked well enough. Then I filed down the ends to match the neck width and filed down the underside to get it at the right height. I don't have a wide range of tools, or proper nut files, so I got creative. Still needs a touch of work to look better and eliminate a tiny bit of buzz on the high e string, but overall, it works. The process for the basses will be similar, but I can start the slots with bigger files.
 
#18
SquierJazz72 said:
I used a small, triangular hand file, cut shallow grooves for the plain strings, cut a bit deeper for the wound strings, and used the remnants of a set of heavy gauge strings to smooth the slots into shape, by just working them back and forth across each slot to get the right size and depth. Time consuming, but it worked well enough. Then I filed down the ends to match the neck width and filed down the underside to get it at the right height. I don't have a wide range of tools, or proper nut files, so I got creative.
Click to expand...

Oh man I didn't even think about using a string. Thanks for the tip. I have a few small different shaped files that I'll just have to make it work. I know all nuts are different but I was reading a lot about nut cutting and for a P bass, did you pretty much cut the nut to stay almost even when you strung the bass after you cut it? Like the nut I have on my P now:

ImageUploadedByTalkBass1372711117.904090.jpg
 
#19
I haven't done my P yet, just the strat, but my blanks have a bit of curvature on top, and I cut deep enough to settle each string in well, but there is a bit of a radius left at the nut. Since I was finding the narrow Affinity width on my strat a bit restrictive for some playing, I took the opporotunity to widen out the spacing to something closer to standard, without running the strings off the edge.
 

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