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Jazz Rascal mod

N

Natey Potatey

Sep 11, 2024
19
52
#1
So I am trying to learn to play slap bass but my Squire Rascal's front pickup gets in the way of my finger when it tries to get under the string for the pop so I thought about moving one pickup to the middle and putting a noiseless jazz pickup behind it. I still need to figure out how I'm going to switch it so I could use 1) humbucker 2) humbucker split coil 3) humbucker split coil + noiseless jazz 4) noiseless jazz
The current pickups are passive so I'll need a passive noiseless jazz pickup.

I marked up a picture Hnz (how do I tag him in this thread?) posted of his Squire Rascal so it also has a jazz pickup. I would order the new pick guard in tortoise shell like the one I've got on it now so I don't think the jazz pickup would stand out as much. What do y'all think? Is adding the jazz pickup a good idea?
I have plenty of experience modding guitars so it's not a question of personal skill, more one of design
 

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#5
Natey Potatey said:
So I am trying to learn to play slap bass but my Squire Rascal's front pickup gets in the way of my finger when it tries to get under the string for the pop so I thought about moving one pickup to the middle and putting a noiseless jazz pickup behind it. I still need to figure out how I'm going to switch it so I could use 1) humbucker 2) humbucker split coil 3) humbucker split coil + noiseless jazz 4) noiseless jazz
The current pickups are passive so I'll need a passive noiseless jazz pickup.

I marked up a picture Hnz (how do I tag him in this thread?) posted of his Squire Rascal so it also has a jazz pickup. I would order the new pick guard in tortoise shell like the one I've got on it now so I don't think the jazz pickup would stand out as much. What do y'all think? Is adding the jazz pickup a good idea?
I have plenty of experience modding guitars so it's not a question of personal skill, more one of design
Click to expand...
I was looking once about adding a third pickup to a 2 pickup guitar but I wanted Pickup 'A', Pickup 'B' Pickup 'C' in this configuration; A+B, A+C , AB&C then B+A, B+C and finally C+A and C+B.
I posted this over at 'pickup and electronics' section of this site, you may get better traction over there? Anyway either way you'd have to swap out your selector switch to a rotary switch. I never continued with the mod as I realised the switch would be deeper than the control cavity. I'll try to dig out my post later, it may not help exactly in your particular case but it would probably help you understand what's involved.

PS if you want to tag someone in your post, as you are typing your message simply put the '@' symbol then the name of the person you are tagging immediately after i.e. @ Natey Potatey without the space between the @ and the name then a little sub menu will appear with the name and similar names then just pick the name you want to refer to.
@Natey Potatey
 
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#10
Thank you everyone for your help and replies! I like the idea of a rotary switch @TeeSee thanks for the link. I don't hate the idea of simply moving the neck pickup down @PotsdamBass8 but I would like to get some real jazz bass tones without adding another bass to my collection. Maybe using the jazz pickup in combination with one side of a humbucker wouldn't work out but that also wouldn't be a deal breaker for me. I'm in no hurry to get this done but I'm glad to hear your thoughts
 
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#12
so...soloing that neck pickup (giving the best EB0 sound since the EBO, actually better) and soloing that bridge pickup (in the magic spot not too close to the bridge) is lost (the actual virtues of the Rascal, the slight scooped sound of both on too)(nice neck is still intact...) and slapping on a short scale....why? Fortunately, there are thousands of un-wrecked Rascals around for short money still and you have the right to live and learn, but I'd get a long scale Ray (American or Indonesian) or Jazz for slapping, better string tension. Sorry, I'm just a Rascal enthusiast, but I wouldn't slap it. I have long scales if I need to slap, which is about 5.5% of the time.
PS about age 23 I wrecked a Gibson EB3 by pulling the frets out, not knowing how they were held in by big tines, and even epoxied sorta smooth it made a lousy fretless, with a walnut body that didn't hold tuning for more than a day (too soft and bad in heat) just shameful, but Nevermind...you could get an used EB3 for about $200 in those days. People didn't want them.
 
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#13
Natey Potatey said:
Thank you everyone for your help and replies! I like the idea of a rotary switch @TeeSee thanks for the link. I don't hate the idea of simply moving the neck pickup down @PotsdamBass8 but I would like to get some real jazz bass tones without adding another bass to my collection. Maybe using the jazz pickup in combination with one side of a humbucker wouldn't work out but that also wouldn't be a deal breaker for me. I'm in no hurry to get this done but I'm glad to hear your thoughts
Click to expand...
You do you, there will always be people on here that will help you get where you want, hell I still don't know what the difference in sound is between series and parallel, it's anathema to me. I also have the the Rascal btw but all I've done is rip out the switch and put a blend pot in instead, shield it and get rid of that horrible gloss on the back of the neck, so I'm not exactly an expert but hope to get where you want to get bro or sis.:thumbsup:.
 
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#15
My advice would be to sell the rascal and buy a ray or jazz. Much less work, and you wont "destroy" whats very likely to become a more collectible bass in the future.

I mean if youre 100% sure you're gonna keep it forever, go right ahead, but even squiers get a decent collectible status these days with models like this one.
And even at 75% of new price on the 2nd hand market, you can get one of the new active squier jazzes or something like that, that's pretty much made for slapping.

ANyway, just my advice; dont mod an instrument just because you're learning a new technique. Even if this is your only bass, it's worth considering adding another:) (I just sold a sire z3 today, that'd be a fantastic one to learn slap on. Wish I'd had acess to smt like that 20 years ago)
 
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#16
H K said:
My advice would be to sell the rascal and buy a ray or jazz. Much less work, and you wont "destroy" whats very likely to become a more collectible bass in the future.

I mean if youre 100% sure you're gonna keep it forever, go right ahead, but even squiers get a decent collectible status these days with models like this one.
And even at 75% of new price on the 2nd hand market, you can get one of the new active squier jazzes or something like that, that's pretty much made for slapping.

ANyway, just my advice; dont mod an instrument just because you're learning a new technique. Even if this is your only bass, it's worth considering adding another:) (I just sold a sire z3 today, that'd be a fantastic one to learn slap on. Wish I'd had acess to smt like that 20 years ago)
Click to expand...
The Z3 is indeed a force to be reckoned with, I have one too as well as the Rascal. Since I've never been able to slap then I couldn't really compare the two in that department but I imagine it would excel. They both come it at exactly the same price point (at least in the UK) at £399. But OP seems very clued up about working on guitars and sounds a little bit like me who really enjoys putting my own spin on something and making it unique. But I would agree with you that if OP ever want to sell it then it may be an idea to supply the original PG and switch at sale just so potential buyer can revert back if needed. That said, if I were the buyer I'd probably be really happy with the new configuration. :thumbsup:
Img_2475.jpg
You have to laugh at the Rascals size though even only 30" it is marginally taller than the 34" scale Z3 :laugh::laugh:
 
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#17
TeeSee said:
The Z3 is indeed a force to be reckoned with, I have one too as well as the Rascal. Since I've never been able to slap then I couldn't really compare the two in that department but I imagine it would excel. They both come it at exactly the same price point (at least in the UK) at £399. But OP seems very clued up about working on guitars and sounds a little bit like me who really enjoys putting my own spin on something and making it unique. But I would agree with you that if OP ever want to sell it then it may be an idea to supply the original PG and switch at sale just so potential buyer can revert back if needed. That said, if I were the buyer I'd probably be really happy with the new configuration. :thumbsup:
View attachment 7284547
You have to laugh at the Rascals size though even only 30" it is marginally taller than the 34" scale Z3 :laugh::laugh:
Click to expand...
Oh wow! I typically shy away from SS's because the overall size puts me off (I'm 200cm tall). But seeing them side by side like this, actually makes me wanna get one too..
 
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#18
H K said:
Oh wow! I typically shy away from SS's because the overall size puts me off (I'm 200cm tall). But seeing them side by side like this, actually makes me wanna get one too..
Click to expand...
I've just recently started to take a keen interest in shorties as I find that as I'm ageing a bit now my hands aren't quite as agile as they once were. For me, anyway I find it a little easier to get up and down the neck. I've now got 3 shorties and 1 medium scale (32"). When I was a teen we used to call them 3/4 basses and anyone who had one was not taken seriously, but a lot of things have changed in that time and the newer ones put up a decent fight against their full scale brothers in terms of sound and quality.
I particularly like my Rascal above the others I have because it doesn't look like a toy, it is one of the prettiest/coolest looking basses out there, I do love the sort of 60's vintage vibe sound it gives off (thinking surf rock/pulp fiction) but also if me and it are in the right mood it can laydown some really good reggae/dub if I switch to the neck pickup and play at the neck. :thumbsup:
 
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#20
I love to see so the Rascal appreciation around here! Just a few notes:
1) I intend for the Rascal to be my go-to bass for everything I play
2) I also own a 34" P-bass that I love but I keep it at my office, hence #1
3) the Rascal is just plain cool. As the kids say, it's got the rizz and that's worth all the elbow grease
4) I have no intention of selling the Rascal but it could be put back to stock if I ever wanted to
5) I'm definitely moving one humbucker to the center position so the real questions here were really:
A: Should I add a Jazz pickup while I'm at it?
B: If so, what kind of switching should I do for it?

I appreciate all the feedback!
 
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