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NBD Squier HM Bass

Ran into this bass on a website, pretty affordable. I have been searching for a cool Candy Apple Red bass for a while, this seemed to fit the bill perfectly.
FSQ.jpg


I never heard of this line before, but apparently Fender/Squier were trying to target the metal market in the late 80's with a line of guitars and basses. Pointy headstock, more pronounced horns and "badass" Squier-logo.

Picked it up at the seller, turned out to be the first owner of the bass, bought it in the second half of the 90's. Must have hung in the shop for ages, then. Overall shape was decent, the dings and scratches you'd expect from a 32 year-old bass. No amp at the owner's house, only 3 strings, so it was a bit of a gamble. But worst case scenario: I'd end up with a perfectly functional body and neck. Paid, drove home, plugged in and... nothing. Turned out to be the pots. Got the neck pickup working, the bridge only at a very low volume. Tone works, but a lot of hiss, crackle and pop. A fresh set of pots will most probably do the trick.

Oiled the fretboard, cleaned the body and "borrowed" the strings from one of the other basses and started playing: the neck pickup so much closer to the neck are pretty cool. Great tone, especially in the lower end. Thin, fast neck, closer to my Jazz than my Precisions. This could very well be the combination I'm looking for, save for the J-pickup. I could do without, but let's see what it does with a set of fresh pots.

All in all a cool addition to the collection. Lightweight, fast neck, and a bit obscure.
 
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Ran into this bass on a website, pretty affordable. I have been searching for a cool Candy Apple Red bass for a while, this seemed to fit the bill perfectly. View attachment 4528026

I never heard of this line before, but apparently Fender/Squier were trying to target the metal market in the late 80's with a line of guitars and basses. Pointy headstock, more pronounced horns and "badass" Squier-logo.

Picked it up at the seller, turned out to be the first owner of the bass, bought it in the second half of the 90's. Must have hung in the shop for ages, then. Overall shape was decent, the dings and scratches you'd expect from a 32 year-old bass. No amp at the owner's house, only 3 strings, so it was a bit of a gamble. But worst case scenario: I'd end up with a perfectly functional body and neck. Paid, drove home, plugged in and... nothing. Turned out to be the pots. Got the neck pickup working, the bridge only at a very low volume. Tone works, but a lot of hiss, crackle and pop. A fresh set of pots will most probably do the trick.

Oiled the fretboard, cleaned the body and "borrowed" the strings from one of the other basses and started playing: the neck pickup so much closer to the neck are pretty cool. Great tone, especially in the lower end. Thin, fast neck, closer to my Jazz than my Precisions. This could very well be the combination I'm looking for, save for the J-pickup. I could do without, but let's see what it does with a set of fresh pots.

All in all a cool addition to the collection. Lightweight, fast neck, and a bit obscure.
Nice score and that bass does have interesting pickup spacing. Hope you get all the bugs worked out and rock that PJ.