Squier Classic Vibe used bass, replace neck?

[coyote1]

PROGRESS REPORT. In caps, because there has been significant progress! I’ve trimmed nearly 1/16” in action at the 12th fret in the past day. I just gave the truss rod 1/3 of a turn, and we now have a truly playable instrument. That’s my last tweak until I return from my travels. When I get back, I’m expecting to give it another 1/3 of a turn… and that should be all it needs. It’s turning with more resistance now, but still has plenty of room left to turn. I’m not expecting to get the action as low as my Tobias, but it should get close.

Even as it is right now, it turns out to be a huge bargain… just because I was willing to do the research and work, and because others have traveled a similar path before. I think my innovation/contribution has been in the material choice for the spacer. Sacrificing an old 3/16” ratchet socket to this turned out to be the right move. This material will NOT go squish lol. Many thanks to all who lent a hand!

 

[coyote1]

Here’s the channel for the trussrod nut. Not sure how I’ll go about fixing this yet. Might simply color it with brown marker in the short term.

 

[DonaldR]

Simply leave it like this and don't bother

 

[definenredefine]

Simply leave it like this and don't bother

That's probably what I would do.

 

[Gervais Cote]

Here’s the channel for the trussrod nut. Not sure how I’ll go about fixing this yet. Might simply color it with brown marker in the short term.

Brown or black marker would do the job.

 

[C Stone]

Here’s the channel for the trussrod nut. Not sure how I’ll go about fixing this yet. Might simply color it with brown marker in the short term.

Fender sells replacement walnut plugs
(bi-flex) I don’t bother, I just use a brown furniture touch up marker. Good job on the plug/nut removal. I use an old drilled out truss nut cut to size as spacers in my projects.

 

[rockinrayduke]

Again, the real question: has anyone changed out a neck, and ended up changing the tone of the instrument? THAT is the info I’m seeking.

It also occurs to me that drilling out, say, the first 1/8” of threads in the truss rod nut could accomplish the same thing as a spacer. That is, unless the hex part of that nut extends too far down.

Well, it is a fact that some necks match up very well with certain bodies, the heavens part and the tone gods are pleased. Just takes finding the right parts.

Then sometimes some matches just sound like garbage.

 

[coyote1]

I’m finding that the optimal way to use this instrument (my opinion of course) is to have both pups at equal volume. This way, hum is cancelled completely - else you have to orient yourself to the amp to minimize the hum. Use the tone control for overall instrument tone. Then have amp settings that work for you. On the Hartke HA3500 this entails having the tone you have when the amp is flat, then another when you activate the ten band EQ. And then variations via the lo pass and hi pass knobs.

When I was using the bass to control tone, the EQ had a slight bump in the mids. Now that I’ve gone to the current arrangement, the EQ has a slight scoop when I activate it. Very little scoop though, because the midrange punch is vital.

Kinda makes a volume pedal imperative for local volume control, as trying to turn two volume knobs that precisely “on the fly” would be silly. Alternative arrangements will be researched. Though none will likely be chosen, as I would not wish to ruin the sound of this instrument.

 

[coyote1]

Ok… it’s there. Action is consistent and sufficient. The final piece of the puzzle was to get it sounding good for slap. I don’t do a whole lot of slap, but it occasionally needs to happen. The issue was twofold: the highest fret was clanking too much, and then something else was going on.

With the neck now in playable shape, the second issue revealed itself. I’d suspected it, and it was the case: the strings were banging against the neck pickup. This made the slap sound ugly. So I lowered that neck pickup, and changed its angles in both directions. It’s closer to the G string than the E string. This works fine because its output seems slightly biased toward the lower pitches.

The other thing I did was to turn the screws on the neck side of the neck pickup nearly a whole turn more than the screws on the bridge side of the neck pickup. So there’s almost no loss of height relative to the strings, yet when slapping those strings no longer contact that pickup.

I’m VERY happy with this bass. It’s now worth far more than I paid. It sounds great, looks great, and it plays easily. I will do one more thing, and that is to purchase a new truss rod nut along with the perfect hex key. Just to ensure I can keep it in good playing condition.

 

[coyote1]

Update: I purchased a new trussrod nut and tried to install it a few weeks ago. Big mistake. It’s nowhere near wide enough to work, and despite being nominally the same thread it did not thread on to the trussrod correctly. But the original nut’s hex socket was too far gone; when I tried to re-install it, it stripped and I could not get it to where it needed to be.

What to do?

I have a set of hex keys that have a hex ‘ball’ at the long end. So I took the next size up hex key, put it in my vise with the ball end up… and proceeded to use a hammer to bang the original trussrod nut onto it. Once I got to a certain point I turned the hex key to the short end, and banged the trussrod nut onto that.

I got it sufficiently deep to be able to re-install the nut correctly. And I got perhaps another 2/3 of a turn beyond what I’d had previously! There are no more turns available. It’s still not perfect and will never be, but it no longer acts like a bass with a warped neck. It acts instead like a bass with correct neck relief. It should be sufficient to last a few years this way before I would need to consider replacing the neck.

 

[coyote1]

I’m now truly EXCITED about this instrument! It’s playing better than I could have imagined, and sounding incredible.

The nut was loose when I got it, pulling ever so slightly to the E string side. Not good for its long term prognosis. So right now - having finally completed getting the neck set up to my satisfaction - I took a couple tiny dabs of superglue and an even tinier dab of wood glue to it. Just enough (I hope) to prevent it from pulling. Will re-string tomorrow and see how it works.

 

[vaesto]

Hi. First of all this bass is not Classic Vibe, but VM - Vintage Modified, slightly cheaper series made in Indonesia. Second: Squier guitars use metric system for nuts/bolts - so Fender US/MEX parts DO NOT FIT. Don't even try. And you also need metric tools to operate. Cant say 4 or 5 mm hex is needed for TR.
Other than that - it is good instrument. You may want to give it to luthier to do a fretwork - level, crown and roll the fret ends.

 

[SharpCat]

Hi. First of all this bass is not Classic Vibe, but VM - Vintage Modified, slightly cheaper series made in Indonesia. Second: Squier guitars use metric system for nuts/bolts - so Fender US/MEX parts DO NOT FIT. Don't even try. And you also need metric tools to operate. Cant say 4 or 5 mm hex is needed for TR.
Other than that - it is good instrument. You may want to give it to luthier to do a fretwork - level, crown and roll the fret ends.

Interesting. I bought a 2010 vintage modified P body from a fellow TBer recently. No hardware other than strap buttons, so luckily none of the issues you bring up. USA spec neck pocket and pickguard fit fine though. I like it very much.

 

[coyote1]

Hi. First of all this bass is not Classic Vibe, but VM - Vintage Modified, slightly cheaper series made in Indonesia. Second: Squier guitars use metric system for nuts/bolts - so Fender US/MEX parts DO NOT FIT. Don't even try. And you also need metric tools to operate. Cant say 4 or 5 mm hex is needed for TR.
Other than that - it is good instrument. You may want to give it to luthier to do a fretwork - level, crown and roll the fret ends.

Yeah… I have metric tools, and I measured the threading of the existing trussrod nut. It fit only one screw, which was indeed metric. Ordered the ‘correct’ new trussrod nut. No go… and again, too slender. Even if I could get it on I would not trust it when torqued.

And no, it is not Vintage Modified. It is this:

 

[five7]

I have put spacers on many squier necks and experienced several with stripped nuts.
I hope I never buy or work on them again!

 

[coyote1]

I have put spacers on many squier necks and experienced several with stripped nuts.
I hope I never buy or work on them again!

It’s funny. Now that I know exactly what the issue is and how to solve it, I’m scanning for these necks. I see some on eBay. I would consider a purchase as a future standby, but every one of ‘em is priced significantly higher than I paid for the entire instrument. I’m seeing upwards of $200 for necks that I KNOW are worth perhaps sixty bucks. The listings say stuff like “never played”, yet there are multiple sets of screw holes in the heel.

And knowing what the issue is, I’d love to be able to warn folks who might be interested of what they are up against if they do purchase one.

 

[rockinrayduke]

Local store has one used, and two new. Used one is $120 less than new, in fantastic shape visually and sonically. Problem is the neck is bowed, and there’s no more give in the trussrod. From what I’m reading on the web, a bowed neck is unfortunately not uncommon with these basses.

All three have a bit of fret sprout starting around the 14th fret, but that can be handled.

The other problem: that used bass with the trussrod issue sounds like a dream. Exactly what I hear in my head when I think “Fender bass”. Sounds incredible. Has huge punch in the midrange. Sounds a lightyear better than the new ones. I’m stunned at the difference. Sounds better in fact than a lot of the $1500+ Fender Jazz basses in that store. It’s alive; it has soul.

So my question, to those of you who have replaced necks: has it ever made a significant difference in the sound of the instrument? I would hate to buy the bass, replace the neck… and be disappointed in the sound. Please share your experiences.

I had a Squier standard loaded Jazz body but needed a neck so I looked around on eBay for something affordable to go with it. Found a used old CV 60’s neck that according to the seller had no truss rod issues as far as he knew, rod turned easily but said he hadn’t tested it under string pressure. This seller has a lot of used necks in different stages of condition.

Anyway he wanted $75 for it so I bought it. It’s going on a beater bass anyway so II figured WTH, why not. Turns out still has a little bit of back bow even with truss rod maxed. I slapped some old TIs on it and though it still has a slight bit of back bow it straightened out just enough to give me a nice low action without buzz. So I guess I dodged a bullet this time.

 

[coyote1]

I just saw a vid that perhaps explains my experience in purchasing this bass. Remember, there were three in the shop. Two new, and the one I got. And the new ones sounded nothing like this one. Well, this vid might be the explanation. Check out the sonic difference between the Fender Original and Fender 74 sound. The new ones in that shop sounded like the Fender 74, while mine sounds like the Fender Original.

 

[coyote1]

One more interesting note on this. I went to some length to ‘correct’ the neck. Did the spacer; that helped immensely. That made the bass very playable. But I was still having to de-tension the strings when not playing.

So I did a heat treatment of sorts on the neck during the coldest days of winter. Soaked a Bona floor pad in water, and suspended the bass just a few inches above it with the neck aligned with the pad and the front facing down. This directly under the forced air heating duct closest to the heating unit. Balanced a pair of 8 pound dumbbells strategically on the neck, and left it in place for over a week.

The neck can now go three days without de-tensioning, and retain its action! I’ve not gone beyond that; perhaps it can go longer. But I accidentally forgot to de-tension since Sunday, and this evening the action was still very good! I will continue to de-tension when not playing just to ensure I don’t have issues going forward, but clearly I have rescued this neck. It’s a very satisfying feeling, and great to not have to procure a new neck and do all the stuff needed to get that set up correctly.

 

[coyote1]

Two months later: the neck has stabilized. I still loosen the strings when storing it, but it can go a week or more with playing tension and show no sign of bowing. The action is now great.