Went to GC last week and was just stopping in to get a few things (strings, etc.) Naturally, my curiosity got the best of me and I wandered back to the basses. I scanned the wall for anything new, and something caught my eye... A Sunburst MII 5-string P with plain covered J pickups...hmm....Squier...let's check it out.
I picked it up off the hook and sat down to play it. Before I played it, grabbed the tag to see how much it was going for. I figured judging by the shape it was in that it would be at the very least $200. Nope, it said $99! I was shocked and automatically thought "if anything this would be good for parts."
I played it a bit and noticed it was fretting out on the neck past the 14th fret on a few strings. Upon further inspection I saw that someone had been messing with the action and the saddles were all out of whack! I sighted down the neck and noticed it needed a little TLC. Nothing drastic to be sure. The sales guy said he didn't even know that bass was going for 99 bucks. "I'd grab it before it's gone." I agreed and took it home.
I messed with it for a bit and noticed it sounded "dead" and weak. I thought "man, these pickups suck!" I called Lowend that day and we were talking. "Why don't you get some new strings for it and see how it sounds then?" I did just that; I bought some new DR Lo-Riders and it started to sound better. I was able to back off the pickup height and still have strong sound.
Still I was not totally happy with the tone of the pickups. I started looking for some better pickups for it. Naturally, I consulted TB and found out some interesting stuff. I read that Squier 5s usually just had the 4 string jazz pups on them. This is why the pup covers are plain and have no holes. I got out my screwdriver, popped one of the covers off, and sure enough....FOUR pole pieces. I was pretty P/O'ed. I think that's pretty shady, don't you?
Meanwhile, I took the bass over to Lowend's house and had him check it out. His reaction was to immediately tweak the truss rod to help out the action even more. He was right! It was much better to play after that. I don't have to fight it, and the action is waaaay better. I have been just tweaking with it, and breaking in the strings. I still have two issues that I'm trying to contend with:
1) Pickups: I want to upgrade to something better, but don't want to spend a fortune either.I don't want active pickups, as I feel they are just too expensive. I'm thinking somewhere below-$100 range. EMG Selects in the Stew-Mac catalog look appealing and I'm sure they are better than the stockers. Not only that, the blade pole piece should work a bit better than the 4 and one just hanging on the field of the last string. I also plan on upgrading the stock pots in the near future as well. Okay....
2) I have a strange overtone on the B string that I can't seem to get rid of. Lowend thinks it might be a pickup height issue. This is my guess as well. In addition to the overtone problem, my B string will not intonate as well as the other strings. I do the harmonic and fret at the 12th, and it always comes up sharp. It will probably never be perfect, nonetheless it should be close.
Other than that, it's great and was well worth the little cash I spent. I'm really looking forward to upgrading the electronics, tuners, bridge, and I think this one's a keeper.....Now if I could find some place that makes blank pickguards (with no cutout)....I'm going to just make my own - The plain white has GOT to go. I'm thinking gold anodized like the 57's...
I picked it up off the hook and sat down to play it. Before I played it, grabbed the tag to see how much it was going for. I figured judging by the shape it was in that it would be at the very least $200. Nope, it said $99! I was shocked and automatically thought "if anything this would be good for parts."
I played it a bit and noticed it was fretting out on the neck past the 14th fret on a few strings. Upon further inspection I saw that someone had been messing with the action and the saddles were all out of whack! I sighted down the neck and noticed it needed a little TLC. Nothing drastic to be sure. The sales guy said he didn't even know that bass was going for 99 bucks. "I'd grab it before it's gone." I agreed and took it home.
I messed with it for a bit and noticed it sounded "dead" and weak. I thought "man, these pickups suck!" I called Lowend that day and we were talking. "Why don't you get some new strings for it and see how it sounds then?" I did just that; I bought some new DR Lo-Riders and it started to sound better. I was able to back off the pickup height and still have strong sound.
Still I was not totally happy with the tone of the pickups. I started looking for some better pickups for it. Naturally, I consulted TB and found out some interesting stuff. I read that Squier 5s usually just had the 4 string jazz pups on them. This is why the pup covers are plain and have no holes. I got out my screwdriver, popped one of the covers off, and sure enough....FOUR pole pieces. I was pretty P/O'ed. I think that's pretty shady, don't you?
Meanwhile, I took the bass over to Lowend's house and had him check it out. His reaction was to immediately tweak the truss rod to help out the action even more. He was right! It was much better to play after that. I don't have to fight it, and the action is waaaay better. I have been just tweaking with it, and breaking in the strings. I still have two issues that I'm trying to contend with:
1) Pickups: I want to upgrade to something better, but don't want to spend a fortune either.I don't want active pickups, as I feel they are just too expensive. I'm thinking somewhere below-$100 range. EMG Selects in the Stew-Mac catalog look appealing and I'm sure they are better than the stockers. Not only that, the blade pole piece should work a bit better than the 4 and one just hanging on the field of the last string. I also plan on upgrading the stock pots in the near future as well. Okay....
2) I have a strange overtone on the B string that I can't seem to get rid of. Lowend thinks it might be a pickup height issue. This is my guess as well. In addition to the overtone problem, my B string will not intonate as well as the other strings. I do the harmonic and fret at the 12th, and it always comes up sharp. It will probably never be perfect, nonetheless it should be close.
Other than that, it's great and was well worth the little cash I spent. I'm really looking forward to upgrading the electronics, tuners, bridge, and I think this one's a keeper.....Now if I could find some place that makes blank pickguards (with no cutout)....I'm going to just make my own - The plain white has GOT to go. I'm thinking gold anodized like the 57's...
are definitely in order. 
