One Squier To Rule Them All...

[milesdavisblue]

Wow! great work. You are a inspiration I need to step up my game. I think I'll go to work on my Squier Jaguar 5 with some upgrades. My routes just never look like yours I am impressed.

 

[Dark Horse]

Wow! great work. You are a inspiration I need to step up my game. I think I'll go to work on my Squier Jaguar 5 with some upgrades. My routes just never look like yours I am impressed.

Sharp router bits and good templates are the keys to nice routes.

 

[micahwc]

That looks great.

 

[40Hz]

That is beyond cool! Very nicely done. Nothing more gratifying than fixing up a diamond in the rough.

I especially appreciated seeing those Dingwall pickups mounted in a Squier.

I don't know what it is about that I find that so aesthetically pleasing. But I do.

 

[Grumry]

Sweet awesomeness.

 

[Felken]

Dang that looks amazing.

I know I can't force you or anything...
But this bass doesn't go with tort, it deserves better.

White, red, mint? I don't know, but the tort just looks out of place.

 

[Spidey2112]

Sharp router bits and good templates are the keys to nice routes.

I'm directionally challenged, so my routes are all wrong...

 

[Dark Horse]

I'm directionally challenged, so my routes all wrong...

 

[Spidey2112]

For the template, I usually use MDF or void free plywood.

A bottom bearing router bit looks like this. What it allows you to do is the bearing rides along the surface that is already cut, and the blades only go as far as the bearing allows. That way you're left with an exact duplicate of whatever the bearing follows. I hope this makes sense to you.

View attachment 1407720

Someday, DH... someday... makes perfect sense, though... straight outta Woodworking 101, which is near Compton...

 

[Spidey2112]

If you have anymore questions, feel free to ask. I will do my best to try and answer.

Alright... what steps did you take to bring the finish back to life?

 

[Dark Horse]

Alright... what steps did you take to bring the finish back to life?

Just a good cleaning and then Meguiars Scratch X 2.0

 

[Dark Horse]

Someday, DH... someday... makes perfect sense, though... straight outta Woodworking 101, which is near Compton...

 

[edencab]

bloody hell that is stunning looking!!!!!!!

 

[phillybass101]

Congrats, very nice. My kind of project.

 

[Gully Foyle]

I have got to learn some router skills

I keep coming back to this thread, can't help it

 

[Picton]

If I may...

You know the PG cutout, where the control plate ordinarily butts in? I'd bevel that to match the rest.

Outstanding resurrection, sir! You did a great job.

 

[Dark Horse]

If I may...

You know the PG cutout, where the control plate ordinarily butts in? I'd bevel that to match the rest.

That's actually a very good idea... I might have to go that

Outstanding resurrection, sir! You did a great job.

Thanks !

 

[jd56hawk]

Some of you know that I enjoy doing rebuild and projects, especially ones that I can do in less than a day. I like the near immediate gratification of finishing the day with a much cooler instrument than I had in the morning. With that in mind, here is a quickie project !

The donor : Stock Squier Active Dlx 5 string.

I got this at a pawn shop for $150. It was filthy, needed setup, and completely neglected. But I could see the beauty in it . Here's what the stock bass looked like...

View attachment 1389004 View attachment 1389005

These are highly underrated basses in my opinion. They play well, have decent electronics for an inexpensive instrument, and are pretty enough in their simplicity. That said, I can see the potential to take it to the next level.

First up, a pickup replacement. I had purchased these Dingwall FD-3N pickups a couple weeks ago off the TB Classifieds. I wasn't sure what I'd use them on, but I bought them. I also emailed Dingwall to find out more about them. Jeff at Dingwall was kind enough to give me some tips about them, as well as send me a wiring diagram. So.....I decided that this bass would be a cool project to use them on.

View attachment 1389606


Of course that would require routing the body for them. No problem. Dingwall staggers the magnets, which requires them to be slanted to work properly, so I needed to take that into consideration.

First up, strip the body of parts and remove the neck.

View attachment 1389920


Then get out the router and start making wood chips !!!

View attachment 1389921


I also decided I wanted a pickguard on it, so I grabbed this 5 string J guard. Of course it didn't fit properly....

View attachment 1390058


So I mounted it into position, grabbed the router, and went to work !

Much better !!!


View attachment 1390100


I also wanted to do some work on the neck ...first up was polishing the frets ....

View attachment 1390182


Once that was done, I cleaned the gunk off the fretboard. Much nicer looking...

View attachment 1390316


And because I'd never done it, I decided to use some vinyl block inlay stickers. It actually looks pretty darn good !

View attachment 1390459


Ok, at this point I won't bore you with details about wiring and assembly.... I'll just skip ahead to the "finished" bass. I wired it up, put on the neck, put a set of GHS Boomer Roundcores on there , and gave it a quick setup. I wired the pickups in series because I wanted maximum fatness and punch, but I may add a series parallel rotary switch someday. And the stock Squier preamp sounds good with these pickups. 3 band EQ with a slap switch. Maybe I'll upgrade someday, maybe not. Anyway, it sounds fantastic, and I'm just barely scratching the surface of the available tones.


So now I'll shut up and get on with the final photos... I think it turned out great !


View attachment 1390954 View attachment 1390956 View attachment 1390968 View attachment 1390983 View attachment 1390984 View attachment 1390995

 

[Ric5]

Some of you know that I enjoy doing rebuild and projects, especially ones that I can do in less than a day. I like the near immediate gratification of finishing the day with a much cooler instrument than I had in the morning. With that in mind, here is a quickie project !

The donor : Stock Squier Active Dlx 5 string.

I got this at a pawn shop for $150. It was filthy, needed setup, and completely neglected. But I could see the beauty in it . Here's what the stock bass looked like...

View attachment 1389004 View attachment 1389005

These are highly underrated basses in my opinion. They play well, have decent electronics for an inexpensive instrument, and are pretty enough in their simplicity. That said, I can see the potential to take it to the next level.

First up, a pickup replacement. I had purchased these Dingwall FD-3N pickups a couple weeks ago off the TB Classifieds. I wasn't sure what I'd use them on, but I bought them. I also emailed Dingwall to find out more about them. Jeff at Dingwall was kind enough to give me some tips about them, as well as send me a wiring diagram. So.....I decided that this bass would be a cool project to use them on.

View attachment 1389606


Of course that would require routing the body for them. No problem. Dingwall staggers the magnets, which requires them to be slanted to work properly, so I needed to take that into consideration.

First up, strip the body of parts and remove the neck.

View attachment 1389920


Then get out the router and start making wood chips !!!

View attachment 1389921


I also decided I wanted a pickguard on it, so I grabbed this 5 string J guard. Of course it didn't fit properly....

View attachment 1390058


So I mounted it into position, grabbed the router, and went to work !

Much better !!!


View attachment 1390100


I also wanted to do some work on the neck ...first up was polishing the frets ....

View attachment 1390182


Once that was done, I cleaned the gunk off the fretboard. Much nicer looking...

View attachment 1390316


And because I'd never done it, I decided to use some vinyl block inlay stickers. It actually looks pretty darn good !

View attachment 1390459


Ok, at this point I won't bore you with details about wiring and assembly.... I'll just skip ahead to the "finished" bass. I wired it up, put on the neck, put a set of GHS Boomer Roundcores on there , and gave it a quick setup. I wired the pickups in series because I wanted maximum fatness and punch, but I may add a series parallel rotary switch someday. And the stock Squier preamp sounds good with these pickups. 3 band EQ with a slap switch. Maybe I'll upgrade someday, maybe not. Anyway, it sounds fantastic, and I'm just barely scratching the surface of the available tones.


So now I'll shut up and get on with the final photos... I think it turned out great !


View attachment 1390954 View attachment 1390956 View attachment 1390968 View attachment 1390983 View attachment 1390984 View attachment 1390995

Nice work ... I like the tilted pickups

 

[Mo cowbell]

Wow! Amazing transformation. She's perty!