Yes, great job on the bridge, and taking the shine off the body too- excellent! Thanks for the tips, I may follow suit soon.
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Ok, I got the Fender vintage bridge in the mail today, installed it this evening.
I used the middle hole on the bridge and filled the other four. It aligned perfectly leaving 1/16" on either side of where the original bridge was placed.
Here's a few photos of the process
http://www.flickr.com/photos/zenrad/sets/72157625243197520/
It did finally get the feel and sound to what I wanted. I have a Fralin pup in the bass, CTS pots and a good 5% tolerance cap. The thing I noticed right away was that the bass didn't sound as bright and brittle as it did with the heavier bridge. I was looking for more of a classic 60's thumpy tone and while I was really close, this, IMO finally did it.
Another thing I did while I had the strings off was to take it apart and knock off some of the shine from the bass. I'm not a fan of reliced instruments, but it just didn't look right to me all shiny. I used grey scotcbright followed by 000 and then 0000 steel wool, and then I used fine rubbing compound by hand. This gives it a worn in look with a slight sheen, like one of my old guitars that's been wiped down and polished a thousand times over the decades. The pickguard got the same treatment followed by plastic polish to remove most of the scratches. Once I play it for a few hours all of my right hand marks will be right back where they belong
So I'm very happy with it. This was an easy change that made a noticable difference in the feel and sound of the bass.
Wow, bass looks great! I was gonna leave the stock bridge but after seeing your work, think I may swap it out, especially if you are hearing a difference in the tone. I have Fender Original PU in mine that I've been happy with but still doesn't have the thump of my AVRI 57.
Love the dull finish. Curious if you did the neck as well with same approach and what the result was.
Also, I added business card neck shim to mine and it really helped get the action where I want it.
I tend to shim all my basses these days. I just like seeing the action staying constant past the 12th fret.
Ive not actually done it to my CV P yet but i will once my new bridge is on.
I did the neck and headstock also, the shine on the neck looked out of place against the rest of the guitar. I removed the tuners and did the headstock too.
No shim in my neck, the action is quite nice.
I have it at
008" clearance between the 6th fret and a straight edge placed between frets 1 and 12 on the A string.
G string height at the 12th fret 4/64" gradually moving to
E string height at the 12th fet 5/64"
I keep my action just on the verge of buzzing when I dig in, but high enough to let me play without fret noise if I control my right hand.
No shim in my neck, the action is quite nice.
I have it at
008" clearance between the 6th fret and a straight edge placed between frets 1 and 12 on the A string.
G string height at the 12th fret 4/64" gradually moving to
E string height at the 12th fet 5/64"
I keep my action just on the verge of buzzing when I dig in, but high enough to let me play without fret noise if I control my right hand.
That sounds almost identical to my set up. Its nice and low without much fret buzz if i play softly but has a nice clank when i dig in.
Im quite surprised at how well the CV P bass was setup out fo the box, and ive not had any issues getting it to how i want it.
One other reason i shim most necks is to get the saddles up a bit higher. I dont liek them digging in to my hand as i tend to rest it on the bridge.
Ill wait untill i get the new bridge on before doing the shim.
New pup is also on its way so hopefully ill have it in time for the weekend.
Not at all, the decal is under the finish so it wasn't harmed. It still looks about the same.
Cool. I hit my neck with some 0000 steel wool which I used extensively on my nitro finished guitars. Didn't phase it at all.
I shimed cause the string hit started to rise after the 12th fret. Simple shim took care of it and evened things out. You can imagine the neck pocket is a place where they could be a little inconsistent.
Ive now got a Fender Vintage bridge on my CVP as well. It feels nice and although i prefer the look of a high mass bridge it seems sturdy enough. I think ill put a Gotoh 201 on at some point.
Ive also got a Wizard Thumper pickup in. This has been quite a stressful upgrade.
The fisrt one took ages to get in as its slightly bigger than the stock Squier pup so i had ot do a lot fo filing. Once it was in it turned out to be faulty so i sent it back and have only just put the replacement in.
This works fine but i think i messed up the volume pot as it cuts out if you move the wire. Ive got some CTS pots and a .o47 Orange drop cap coming this week. Im sure the bass is fine, and its working perfectly at the moment but i dont wan to take any chances, as i like playing this so much its going to become my gigging bass.
I might need to get a new pickguard though. The pickup is tilting forward due to the tight fit and im fed up with filing.
Does anyone know if a 62 vintage P PG will fit?
Oh, and ive now got my CV Jazz neck on the P. Much nicer to play.
Ive also got a Wizard Thumper pickup in. This has been quite a stressful upgrade.
The fisrt one took ages to get in as its slightly bigger than the stock Squier pup so i had ot do a lot fo filing. Once it was in it turned out to be faulty so i sent it back and have only just put the replacement in.
This works fine but i think i messed up the volume pot as it cuts out if you move the wire. Ive got some CTS pots and a .o47 Orange drop cap coming this week. Im sure the bass is fine, and its working perfectly at the moment but i dont wan to take any chances, as i like playing this so much its going to become my gigging bass.
I might need to get a new pickguard though. The pickup is tilting forward due to the tight fit and im fed up with filing.
Does anyone know if a 62 vintage P PG will fit?
Oh, and ive now got my CV Jazz neck on the P. Much nicer to play.
You're so close with the pickguard you have, take a break and when you feel like giving it some time start your filing again, you'll get it. I had to reshape the pickup openings on my PG when I put the Fralins in my bass, it takes some time especially if you want it to look good. It'll be easier if you remove the electronics and can just hold the PG any way you'd like and keep trying the fit. Just be patient and think of it as a meditation
Also take a look at the pups when the pickguard is removed and make sure they're not tilting because the foam under them is off to one side.
My local Sam Ash store has (at least) one. Where are you located?
Edit: Found this via Google: [This invalid link has been removed]
Stock Fender parts don't necessarily fit Squiers. The Fralin pups are made to vintage specs and will fit in a USA Fender without issues.
Don't know about the P, but I swapped the pickguards of my CV Jazz and American Series Jazz and they fit perfectly.
You're so close with the pickguard you have, take a break and when you feel like giving it some time start your filing again, you'll get it. I had to reshape the pickup openings on my PG when I put the Fralins in my bass, it takes some time especially if you want it to look good. It'll be easier if you remove the electronics and can just hold the PG any way you'd like and keep trying the fit. Just be patient and think of it as a meditation
Also take a look at the pups when the pickguard is removed and make sure they're not tilting because the foam under them is off to one side.
Thanks.
Your right , when i change the pots over ill be able to get more filing done. So far its all be done while everything has been connected. Its not that its really bad, the pup still moves up and down when i adjudt it, but looking at the screw holes for the PG, and the slight gap at the end of the neck, i can see i need to file down a bit more. Im sure it will be fine.
The foam under the pup is dead centre. Its funny but the stock pup was also leaning towards the neck and that too has the foam in the centre. Maybe ill wedge something in there when i put it all back together.
If it was easier to get PG's over here in the UK i might be tempted to just buy a proper Fender one. Ive been told the Vintage PG fits but these are quite hard to come by and not cheap.
@Tusec. The Squier pup is about 1mm shorter than the norm. Ive taken measurements off the SD website, as well as other 3rd party Fender pups and its the Squier pups thats non spec. I guess if the PG has been cut for these then it makes sense that it would need filing. I did try and get the coils in to the Squier covers but they wouldn't fit. This is the only P ive not been able to just drop a pup in, other than a badly made PG i had for my Duck Dunn a few years ago.
@DynaFlow. Thanks. I also had a MIA PG and even my HW1 and HW-one PG on my CV Jazz and the all went on more or less perfectly.
I'm getting a classic vibe in this week. The 60's P and I wanna upgrade the tuners and bridge a bit. I've already got a Leo Quan Bad Ass II coming for it. Would "Wilkinson" brand tuners fit this bass or what size tuning pegs do?
Okay, interesting. If I ever upgrade the pickup I'll probably swap the whole pickguard to avoid having to file. I wonder if the non-standardness was planned or if it was a production snafu?
I swapped out the CV tort guard for a 62 Fender tort guard that I had from another project. Fit perfectly with no filing required except for a small gap near the output jack. Not much can be done about it except use the stock PG which appears to have a slightly different curve in that area. All screw holes and pickup cutouts fit fine - no filing required. I've also since replaced the PUs with Fender 62 Originals with no PG issues. The Fenders come with the mounting plate and foam which is slightly better quality than the Squier ones. It is a bit tricky to get everything lined up but once PUs mounted PG fits fine. Haven't tried with Squier guard but suspect will be OK.
I'm surprised that much filing would have to be done any standard sized pickups. One thing to check is the size of the pots. The CV uses smaller pots and it's possible if you replace with full size ones that the PG may not fit properly. I ended up using smaller CTS ports just as a precaution.
I'd except some slight variance from one PG to another and I know not all Squier and Fender parts are interchangeable but seems like it would be easier for Fender who owns Squier to simply send them the standard PG template rather than have them make their own especially on instruments that are so close to Fender original specs.
If you mean using Fender pups with the Squier PG can i ask why you feel you wouldn't have any problems when others have, based on whats been said over the past 24 hours.
Also, have you measured the Squier pup and the Fender ones like i did? That would show that im not imagining it or making it up.
No offence but i think if you tried it and then told us you wouldnt have any problems it might be more useful than saying you dont think you would, straight after others have posted there are issues.
Thanks for the heads up about the 62 PG though. Im not sure ill bother if there is a gap near the jack. I find the Squier one only just covers the cut out already.
Not suggesting you or others didn't have problems, hence my comment about difference in manufacturing. Only saying I didn't have any problems swapping the PG (except where noted) and the pickups. I haven't done any measurements but in thinking about it perhaps it's the covers that are part of the problem. I do remember being able to swap the covers between the Squiers and the Fenders and they both seemed to fit OK but that was when the pickups were not installed. Maybe worth trying different covers as an alternative to filing PG.
FYI, I have a older Fullerton 62 RI JB that I installed a set of DiMarzio Ultra Jazz PUs in. Loved the sound of those PUs in that bass but could not get PG to fit over what turned out to be slightly larger PU covers on the DiMarzios. Ultimately decided to switch back to stock rather than filing PG given value of bass in original condition.
FYI, I have a older Fullerton 62 RI JB that I installed a set of DiMarzio Ultra Jazz PUs in. Loved the sound of those PUs in that bass but could not get PG to fit over what turned out to be slightly larger PU covers on the DiMarzios. Ultimately decided to switch back to stock rather than filing PG given value of bass in original condition.
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