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Question for the masses

lowendblues

lowendblues

Supporting Member
Oct 8, 2004
3,484
4,727
Ohio
#1
I have a Squier black and chrome P/J bass that I am really wanting to like. I really dig the black and the matching black headstock.

I want to replace the tuners, pickups, pots, nut and bridge,,,,and the only thing holding me back is the neck is a little "unstable". Seems like it always wants to develop a slight bow, and I'm always tweaking it.

I've tried replacing the neck with an allparts neck I have lying around, but the Squier is based on a Standard format, and the neck wont fit into the pocket.

The bass in question:
Squire.jpg


Now,,, I've had my eye on one of the "Classic Vibe" Fiesta Red P-basses as well. My question is,, would you sink about $325 into the black bass or would you buy a new Fiesta red Classic Vibe for less money???

Are the Classic Vibes really that superior to the other Squiers such as mine?? Or will I still want to change all the parts????
 
#3
The CVs are pretty nice - but I don't have one since the neck is just too 'different' to me.

First though - I own an Ibanez SR500, a few Jazzes of both Fender and Squier DNA and a couple of Precisions too - so necks and their differences should not be a problem.

But the CV neck IS a problem for me. It just feels 'odd' to me.

The bass you have and if it truly has instability problems should under those circumstances not be upgraded. I still wonder what's really wrong with the neck though.
 
#4
Its just one of those necks I guess. I've taken it apart, shimmed it, and even dropped a couple of washers in under the adj. nut so I can get a little more adjustment out of it. The latter however has helped quite a bit, so I'm kind of in the "wait and see if it holds" stage for now.

I am just wonder if the "quality" of the CV's or even the VM's is supierior to what I have.
 
#6
I like a very small amount of neck relief. It seems like I can adjust it to my liking, play it a while, set it down for an hour or two, come back, and have to adjust it again.

As I said earlier, I dropped a couple of washers in under the truss rod nut to gain a little more adjustment,, and it does seem like its working for the time being. Its stayed stable for almost two days, and I've subjected it to pretty drastic humidity changes just for the sake of experimentation. So.. maybe thats all it needed. We'll see.
 
#7
You say the neck is "based on standard format" What the heck does that mean? Anyway, judging by the base of that neck it is a Jazz neck; rounded. P's are squared off.

When you say BOW, you do mean relief don't you? So you put in washers and got more adjustment. That may have been the problem in the first place.

Get yourself the CV But make sure you like it first. All that I have tried are great value, sound great, feel great. Then keep the other as backup and work it out over time. I see no reason for a bridge, nut, yes, Tuners, if they are truly crappy then yes, P'ups when you can afford, but there's no way to know if you'll like them until you drop the cash and they're in you bass. That's the biggest prob with pup swapping. But you can get them in the classifieds here. Maybe you'll find some CV pups there!
 
#9
96tbird said:
You say the neck is "based on standard format" What the heck does that mean? Anyway, judging by the base of that neck it is a Jazz neck; rounded. P's are squared off.

When you say BOW, you do mean relief don't you? So you put in washers and got more adjustment. That may have been the problem in the first place.

Get yourself the CV But make sure you like it first. All that I have tried are great value, sound great, feel great. Then keep the other as backup and work it out over time. I see no reason for a bridge, nut, yes, Tuners, if they are truly crappy then yes, P'ups when you can afford, but there's no way to know if you'll like them until you drop the cash and they're in you bass. That's the biggest prob with pup swapping. But you can get them in the classifieds here. Maybe you'll find some CV pups there!
Click to expand...

Thats what I assumed when I read it as well. If you keep tightening the truss rod, it's going to keep bowing more and more. What you'll need to do now is remove the truss nut, and apply some back bow to the neck in hopes of relieving some of that pressure.

I would think at this point, you might want to take the neck to a luthier and see what they think about it. Could be anything from unlevel frets to too much relief.:bassist:
 
#10
lowendblues said:
Sorry,, dont get excited... There are several variations of Squier. "Affinity" "Vintage Modified" "Classic Vibe" ect.... My Black and Chrome is simply says "Standard" on the headpiece. Sorry for the confusion.
Click to expand...

Not excited at all, just didn't get it from the way you phrased it. When did HECK become a cuss? Beaver used to say it all the time.:D

This BOW you speak of is forward causing too much relief, correct? Tightening the truss wil flatten the neck. So the washers are working. It could be that the nut had mushed the wood in there and now the washers are giving more surface area and it's remaining where you put it. I hope so, I really like the looks of that bass.

Again, buy a CV if you like them, and see what happens with the PJ. The Duncan VM pickups can be had used too, cheap. Get a set of J's and a P and see what happens. A new set of PJ's can set you back a big wad.

Here's a VM P $20 shipped (and some other good deals) http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f129/fs-3-sets-precision-pickups-split-coil-801478/
 
#11
96tbird said:
Not excited at all, just didn't get it from the way you phrased it. When did HECK become a cuss? Beaver used to say it all the time.:D

This BOW you speak of is forward causing too much relief, correct? Tightening the truss wil flatten the neck. So the washers are working. It could be that the nut had mushed the wood in there and now the washers are giving more surface area and it's remaining where you put it. I hope so, I really like the looks of that bass.

Again, buy a CV if you like them, and see what happens with the PJ. The Duncan VM pickups can be had used too, cheap. Get a set of J's and a P and see what happens. A new set of PJ's can set you back a big wad.

Here's a VM P $20 shipped (and some other good deals) http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f129/fs-3-sets-precision-pickups-split-coil-801478/
Click to expand...

Heck, Wally, they even used to talk about Ward out chasing Beaver on that show :D
 
#12
I just picked the bass up this evening, seems to be OK. I might put a little $$ in her for a backup as suggested,,, but I just found one of these for a pretty good deal.

Invalid Link Removed

What do you think?
 

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