CAR PJ has turned up today. Just got to get through work to get home & check it out. Looking forward to seeing the finish in person
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New SQUIER VM series! (Part 2)
- Thread starter smperry
- Start date
I always seem to have emergency dental appointments around 1 o'clock on new bass days.
Congrats. I hope you love yours as much as i love mine.
Talking of which, ive sorted my saddle screw issue out. I put my Classic Vibe Jazz neck on my PJ and so needed to raise the saddles quite a bit, and all is now better than ever.
So had a quick play with the bass - overall, I'm impressed! Half a turn of the trussrod, all saddles lowered a turn, a bit of fine tuning on the pickup height and it was ready to go, no buzzing at all. Slight rattle on the A string which may be the nut, can't hear it plugged in. Something very small is rattling inside the body, not sure what it is & everything is working fine. The small issues will get ironed out when I take it in for the customary new bass setup, I'm sure.
The finish looks great in person, so much better than the stock photos. Pups sound nice, but reserving judgement until hearing them with the band. Balances pretty well, I think it's less neck dive than it is the low weight of the body! A heavier bridge may sort that.
I've been adamant that I'd stick a maple Jazz neck on it, but now I'm wavering. It looks better than I expected, but it's mostly the feel. It's thin but doesn't feel like a toothpick, it's smooth, the finish on the back is nice and not sticky (again, reserving judgement until a gig..) and it feels natural to me, which is never the case with Precision width nuts.
Considering I paid £220 for this, and haven't even had it looked at by a tech, the fact I'm even thinking about gigging it on Halloween is a huge compliment. It's even better out of the box than my VM Jaguar bass (the one with the block inlays), which I wasn't expecting at all.
I'll put more playing time in and add more thoughts, but here's some obligatory pictures...
The finish looks great in person, so much better than the stock photos. Pups sound nice, but reserving judgement until hearing them with the band. Balances pretty well, I think it's less neck dive than it is the low weight of the body! A heavier bridge may sort that.
I've been adamant that I'd stick a maple Jazz neck on it, but now I'm wavering. It looks better than I expected, but it's mostly the feel. It's thin but doesn't feel like a toothpick, it's smooth, the finish on the back is nice and not sticky (again, reserving judgement until a gig..) and it feels natural to me, which is never the case with Precision width nuts.
Considering I paid £220 for this, and haven't even had it looked at by a tech, the fact I'm even thinking about gigging it on Halloween is a huge compliment. It's even better out of the box than my VM Jaguar bass (the one with the block inlays), which I wasn't expecting at all.
I'll put more playing time in and add more thoughts, but here's some obligatory pictures...
Attachments
Nice write up, your experience seems very similar to mine, even down to the rattle on the A string.
I've found since I put the Jazz neck on that the neck dive has almost gone. I can tell the PJ's neck is heavier. I also noticed the edges are sharper. Not a big deal though.
I've found since I put the Jazz neck on that the neck dive has almost gone. I can tell the PJ's neck is heavier. I also noticed the edges are sharper. Not a big deal though.
The fret edges on the PJ neck are better than on my VM Mustang & VM Jag tbh, not very sharp at all. If I stick with this neck I'll get the edges rolled anyway, so it'll take care of that.
dave, did you manage to eliminate the rattle on the A string before you switched neck? It's barely audible even when unplugged, but I know it'll bother me. Also, if you switched to a maple-fretboard neck and could post a photo, that'd be much appreciated.
dave, did you manage to eliminate the rattle on the A string before you switched neck? It's barely audible even when unplugged, but I know it'll bother me. Also, if you switched to a maple-fretboard neck and could post a photo, that'd be much appreciated.
Yeah, the edge of the neck isn't bad, it's just not as smooth as my CVP necks.
It's funny but yes, the rattle has gone. I've had the bridge and the neck off but didn't actually find out what it was.
I only put my maple Lakland JO neck on for a few mins, the heel is slightly narrower so I didnt bother keeping it on, sorry.
It's funny but yes, the rattle has gone. I've had the bridge and the neck off but didn't actually find out what it was.
I only put my maple Lakland JO neck on for a few mins, the heel is slightly narrower so I didnt bother keeping it on, sorry.
The edges on my P5 are nice and rolled. Seems a lot of the maple necked ones are. Some of the RW boards I've seen had more of an edge.
Just ordered a set of 08 American Std P5 pickups for my Squier. I chose them over the Nordstrand based on some sound clips. Can't wait to try them out and I'll be sure to report back.
Good choice. I had a Fender P5 when they first came out, and I much preferred the tone to the nordstrand I had a while later in another P bass. To me the Fender was exactly what it should be, whereas the Nordy was a bit too clean and modern sounding.
I have the AmStd P5 pickup lying in my spares box, but I am not sure I want to get rid of the stock pup. I like the tone a lot. It has this singing quality and nice highs.
I've had my Lake Placid Blue PJ for about a month now. Still need to do a setup on it (action is a little high). The only issue I'm having, which may be a non-issue, is when I have both volume pots maxed the sound drops out. It seems like the pickups are not wired correctly and I am getting phase cancellation. This is my first bass and I'm not sure if this is normal for a PJ setup.
If you guys could provide some insight, that would be great. I'll post some pics in the next few days.
If you guys could provide some insight, that would be great. I'll post some pics in the next few days.
That does sound like a pickup phase issue, particularly if the sound changes in character an looses some bass at the point where it drops out.
Have you tried it with different amps ?
Have you tried it with different amps ?
Slight drop in apparent volume is normal because of cancellation of some frequencies. Jazz basses behave like that too.
If it is very important though, you may have phase problems indeed. Just invert the leads of one of the pickups and it will go away.
If it is very important though, you may have phase problems indeed. Just invert the leads of one of the pickups and it will go away.
Do you mean the sound drops out completely or just dips a bit?
Agree with T-34. When both pups are full up there is a change in tone, and it does sound a bit lower, due to a drop in the midrange I believe.
If it's going almost completely then yes, it's a phase issue. It's easy to correct though, as long as you don't mind doing a bit of soldering.
As T-34 says, you just need to reverse the wires on one of the pups. It's easy to do and takes a few mins.
I want a PJ bass with a fretless neck. It looks like I could buy one of each (fretless P and fretted PJ) and swap necks, I wish they offered the former. Hmm...
