I bought a used Dimension V w/ Hardshell Case for $296. three tone Sunburst. on the truck for delivery! I would like to thank you guys for fueling the G.A.S!
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Squier Deluxe Dimension Bass (IV & V string)
- Thread starter Hank Scorpio
- Start date
Thanks!
Initial thoughts: wow, the B string is amazing. Holy Midrange Batman! I have the bass boosted, mids cut almost all the way and treble cut. I had to take the springs out from under the pickup as it was too high, causing some warbling in the B. Now that the pickup is lower, it has warmed up a bit.
I was able to get the action just right.
It is smaller than i expected, but larger than my Yamaha TRBX305 (which will be for sale soon.....)
Overall, great bass. Very well constructed and the preamp has everything you need.
Going to try it out in Worship on Sunday. Been looking for a lighter weight active bass as an alternative to my Bassmods 6. I love that bass but am currently recovering from a tick borne illness that makes holding the 6 painful. The Yamaha sounds good but doesnt give me enough control on the mids to cut through amd it just doesnt sit right physically on my not so slight frame.
For the price i paid, which included a nice hardshell case, this is definitely a winner.
Initial thoughts: wow, the B string is amazing. Holy Midrange Batman! I have the bass boosted, mids cut almost all the way and treble cut. I had to take the springs out from under the pickup as it was too high, causing some warbling in the B. Now that the pickup is lower, it has warmed up a bit.
I was able to get the action just right.
It is smaller than i expected, but larger than my Yamaha TRBX305 (which will be for sale soon.....)
Overall, great bass. Very well constructed and the preamp has everything you need.
Going to try it out in Worship on Sunday. Been looking for a lighter weight active bass as an alternative to my Bassmods 6. I love that bass but am currently recovering from a tick borne illness that makes holding the 6 painful. The Yamaha sounds good but doesnt give me enough control on the mids to cut through amd it just doesnt sit right physically on my not so slight frame.
For the price i paid, which included a nice hardshell case, this is definitely a winner.
Yeah, the midrange is hard to get completely under control. It's obvious they were aiming for the Stingray sound with these.
Let us know how you do that ("I'm electronically challenged), and how it works out.
I Will for sure. I am going to my luthier's shop monday to install a push-pull volume to bypass the preamp if possible, if not, i'll install a passive harness.
I'm also interested in the results of that modification. I think it will be easier to install a bypass switch than a pp pot though, because of the premp. I would really like to find out how these basses sound all passive. Keep us informed please!
Hello guys,
Here's the result of my visit to the luthier's shop.
I just want to remind you that I wanted to remove the preamp or install a bypass switch to go passive. The reasons behind the modification were because I wanted a more natural tone and a less Musicman type of tone too.
First, the luthier wired the pickup straight to the jack. My first reaction was: It's the same tone. My luthier who is also a sound man told me, the pickup is pretty hot and punchy. Most of the tone comes from the pickup and its location, not from the preamp.
Second, the luthier installed a switch between the pickup and preamp, to go from active to passive and we kept going between the two, to identify the difference the best we could.
Here's the conclusion:
Like I mentioned before most of the tone comes from the pickup and its location.
Going passive barely removed some of the tone's honkyness.
The preamp adds very little honkyness but also slightly smooth out the tone.
The preamp is almost neutral sounding.
Going passive sounded a little bit more natural to both of us.
Going passive only made a subtle change in the instrument's overall tone.
Going passive doesn't help me reach my tonal goal at all.
What will I do?
I like the dimension shape and feeling does much that I want to modify it to obtain the tone I am looking for.
I am thinking of installing a second pickup or transforming the bass into an active bass.
1) If I go with the precision pickup, I'll go passive with a vol-vol-vol-tone passive setup splitting the dimension pickup into two separate coils.
2) If I go with 2 jazz pickups, I'll install a wood ramp between the two pickups to hide the original pickup's route. Unfortunately, I feel like I will have to replace the original preamp because it's smooth out the tone a bit and I think that Jazz bass pickups need a boost...
Decisions....
Here's the result of my visit to the luthier's shop.
I just want to remind you that I wanted to remove the preamp or install a bypass switch to go passive. The reasons behind the modification were because I wanted a more natural tone and a less Musicman type of tone too.
First, the luthier wired the pickup straight to the jack. My first reaction was: It's the same tone. My luthier who is also a sound man told me, the pickup is pretty hot and punchy. Most of the tone comes from the pickup and its location, not from the preamp.
Second, the luthier installed a switch between the pickup and preamp, to go from active to passive and we kept going between the two, to identify the difference the best we could.
Here's the conclusion:
Like I mentioned before most of the tone comes from the pickup and its location.
Going passive barely removed some of the tone's honkyness.
The preamp adds very little honkyness but also slightly smooth out the tone.
The preamp is almost neutral sounding.
Going passive sounded a little bit more natural to both of us.
Going passive only made a subtle change in the instrument's overall tone.
Going passive doesn't help me reach my tonal goal at all.
What will I do?
I like the dimension shape and feeling does much that I want to modify it to obtain the tone I am looking for.
I am thinking of installing a second pickup or transforming the bass into an active bass.
1) If I go with the precision pickup, I'll go passive with a vol-vol-vol-tone passive setup splitting the dimension pickup into two separate coils.
2) If I go with 2 jazz pickups, I'll install a wood ramp between the two pickups to hide the original pickup's route. Unfortunately, I feel like I will have to replace the original preamp because it's smooth out the tone a bit and I think that Jazz bass pickups need a boost...
Decisions....
I sold my CV jazz and looking for red/maple deluxe dimension V.
Unfortunately, my local GC dint have ready stock. Have wait till December batch and price will increase.
Currently it price tag around USD 450 in my country, not include gst yet.
But, luckly , I get a tip-top condition used Ibanez Srff805 with the price USD500 last week.
I still have gas with the red/maple dimension V, wish I can get one soon.
Unfortunately, my local GC dint have ready stock. Have wait till December batch and price will increase.
Currently it price tag around USD 450 in my country, not include gst yet.
But, luckly , I get a tip-top condition used Ibanez Srff805 with the price USD500 last week.
I still have gas with the red/maple dimension V, wish I can get one soon.
Thanks for your report bassman74. I think I am not going to modify my Dimension V after reading your findings. Dialing out (most of the) midrange for a mellower sound does it for me (for now).
My red/maple Dimension V will find itself in the company of a sunburst/rosewood IV real soon now. I was able to buy an almost new one for a nice price. I wanted to also have a 4-stringer again. May as well be a Deluxe Dimension, right? I will post a picture when it has arrived.
Thanks for the update. I'll continue to turn the treble mid and bass to zero for a more natural sound.
I picked him (her?) up yesterday. Looks like brand new. The pickguard looked pretty scuffed at first sight, but then I saw that the protective foil was still on there. Beneath it a pristine pickguard. All in all not a scratch to be found. I have cut a small corner out of the bottom of the pickup cover so it doesn't sit on the wires and removed the springs. Sitting on the foam it is high enough for a big signal. Other than that just a bit of setting up and him and I are good to go! Great bass.
I'm going to put my sunburst Squier Dimension IV up for sale. It's a great bass, but I have a red one and I'm clearing out some of my collection.........for more basses. If you are interested, send me a PM.
I've bought a red one too - As a professional player, when I go to see friends and have a play at a jam session, I don't want two plus grand's worth of Status/Enfield/Mayones sitting on the stage, so this will be a fine cheap bass.
Picked it up today brand new and boxed for £170UKP at two weeks old and never played. Admittedly I had to drive about 300 miles in order to get it, but hey ho. It was a big saving on the usual UK retail of £302.
Thoughts so far... I'd quite forgotten how nasty & in your face series humbuckers can be in the midrange, but once I got used to it, it was fine. The preamp is a bit of an all or nothing affair - the bass seems to have the most clarity either with the preamp controls all flat in the center detents, or with the treble & bass at 80-90 percent and the mids flat. Okay, okay, I'm nit picking here - I'm used to a Status, Glockenklang or Aguilar preamp. But for the money, well...
I'm going to have to change the strings tomorrow. Not only are the Fender 45's terrible, but the E has a huge overtone on it. At first I thought it was the pickup too high, so had a play with the height and surprisingly, it never overmods. The only teller of it being too close to the strings is increased finger noise. So I think I have a dud E string. They'll be thrown away anyway, as I'll put some of my usual Elixir 40-95's on. Nice and light.
Did anyone notice the common problem on the 4-string? The Fender branded high mass bridge isn't designed with the 16 pole humbucker in mind - The A & E strings don't line up between the pole pieces because the bridge is too narrow, having been designed for J & P pickups. I checked mine against some detailed pictures of another one for sale in the UK and surprisingly enough, the strings line up in exactly the same way. Maybe that's why my E sounds out of phase?!
Picked it up today brand new and boxed for £170UKP at two weeks old and never played. Admittedly I had to drive about 300 miles in order to get it, but hey ho. It was a big saving on the usual UK retail of £302.
Thoughts so far... I'd quite forgotten how nasty & in your face series humbuckers can be in the midrange, but once I got used to it, it was fine. The preamp is a bit of an all or nothing affair - the bass seems to have the most clarity either with the preamp controls all flat in the center detents, or with the treble & bass at 80-90 percent and the mids flat. Okay, okay, I'm nit picking here - I'm used to a Status, Glockenklang or Aguilar preamp. But for the money, well...
I'm going to have to change the strings tomorrow. Not only are the Fender 45's terrible, but the E has a huge overtone on it. At first I thought it was the pickup too high, so had a play with the height and surprisingly, it never overmods. The only teller of it being too close to the strings is increased finger noise. So I think I have a dud E string. They'll be thrown away anyway, as I'll put some of my usual Elixir 40-95's on. Nice and light.
Did anyone notice the common problem on the 4-string? The Fender branded high mass bridge isn't designed with the 16 pole humbucker in mind - The A & E strings don't line up between the pole pieces because the bridge is too narrow, having been designed for J & P pickups. I checked mine against some detailed pictures of another one for sale in the UK and surprisingly enough, the strings line up in exactly the same way. Maybe that's why my E sounds out of phase?!
Attachments
Do you still have the Dimension? How much does the weigh? Less than the Yamaha? Thanks....
Well, the light Elixirs are on board and it's so much better. The out of phase E sound is good as gone too.
Setting up was a breeze too - The (slightly) baseball bat-like neck profile certainly helps with the stability. It's possible to get the action right down on the deck with no buzz and just the smallest bit of relief on the truss rod. The neck profile is actually very like the thicker jazz necks since the 2012 revisions to the American Standard.
I'm impressed.
Setting up was a breeze too - The (slightly) baseball bat-like neck profile certainly helps with the stability. It's possible to get the action right down on the deck with no buzz and just the smallest bit of relief on the truss rod. The neck profile is actually very like the thicker jazz necks since the 2012 revisions to the American Standard.
I'm impressed.
