I have a VM fretless but my first real bass was an '82 Squier Bullet Bass in vintage white. Bought it at GC brand new with a hard shell case. Don't even remember what happened to it but wish I still had it even though it was short scale.
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Squier jazz bass club
- Thread starter 2010Flap
- Start date
Here's mine....a 2013 Squier VM Jazz 70s that I acquired specifically to try and recreate the AVRI 75 Jazz that I sold a while ago. I kept the mirrored pickguard from the AVRI, and it actually fit the VM with no problems. I bought some new "ashtrays" which matched the set I once had on the AVRI. The final piece was the Fender thumbrest. Outside of the grain pattern on the body, it now is a dead ringer for my old AVRI!
The VM is on the left, and the AVRI on the right.....
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I just acquired a CertainBass Variometer Jazz control plate assembly which I will be installing soon. It has upgraded CTS pots, and the original-style Jazz knobs. After stringing it up with Fender 9050 SS flatwounds, it's gonna serve me well at a fraction of the price of the AVRI!
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The VM is on the left, and the AVRI on the right.....
I just acquired a CertainBass Variometer Jazz control plate assembly which I will be installing soon. It has upgraded CTS pots, and the original-style Jazz knobs. After stringing it up with Fender 9050 SS flatwounds, it's gonna serve me well at a fraction of the price of the AVRI!
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Doner Designs
Steve Doner
- Jun 2, 2012
- 5,784
- 6,819
- Disclosures
- Doner Designs is an alias for Steve Doner
Vintage Modified BODY (from my first bass)....the rest has been replaced one bit at a time over the years...
DAYUM, Steve!
That is one WILD Jazz bass! I thought that a Peavey T40 had a lot of tonal choices....that must be about the most versatile bass on the planet!
Would you please do me a service and break down the pickups and the function of all those controls on your VERY customized control plate/pickguard extension? Of special interest to me is the large chrome "flip-top?" device at the bottom.
I picked mine off the Fenderwebsite and had them order it in. It wasn't on the L&M site but I wanted a particular model and I'm glad I did. Craftsmanship is amazing. Way better than I expected.
Here's my VM Jazz fretless. In the process of modding it. Currently sporting a fretless Warmoth goncalo alves/bocote neck and a Seymour Duncan Antiquity II neck pick up. The paired bridge pick up was DOA so I returned it to BBG and the replacement is on its way.
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Someday I might sand down the body and true oil it. It actually seems to have a somewhat interesting grain pattern.
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Someday I might sand down the body and true oil it. It actually seems to have a somewhat interesting grain pattern.
Doner Designs
Steve Doner
- Jun 2, 2012
- 5,784
- 6,819
- Disclosures
- Doner Designs is an alias for Steve Doner
Vintage Modified BODY (from my first bass)....the rest has been replaced one bit at a time over the years...
DAYUM, Steve!
That is one WILD Jazz bass! I thought that a Peavey T40 had a lot of tonal choices....that must be about the most versatile bass on the planet!
Would you please do me a service and break down the pickups and the function of all those controls on your VERY customized control plate/pickguard extension? Of special interest to me is the large chrome "flip-top?" device at the bottom.
Overkill is one of the key elements of what I go when doing mods for myself and for building charity project theme guitars. Probably more than you wanted but here goes...
First upgrade was the bridge back when the Babicz FCH first came out. Next came the tuning machines and the addition of a Gibson type mudbucker. At that point I wanted to be able to solo the bridge with the mudbucker (with no hum), so I picked up two Dimarzio Area J pickups. The look was a little unbalanced, so I picked up another Area J bridge pickup but it sat around for a year before I got to cutting a hole for the 4th pickup.
More recently, the truss rod blew through the fingerboard because of the super heavy strings I like to use. Had a choice to scrap the bass (my first) or buy a new neck. For sentimental reasons I kept the bass and got a new neck for it which inspired the complete make-over. The makeover included adding the Audere 4 band preamp and switching out the mudbucker for a Willpower neck. Most of the knobs are for the preamp. It has dual volumes and treble, high mid, low mid, bass. The J type tone knob is a passive tone control that I added with a push pull kill/mute switch. The two bridge pickups share one volume and the middle and neck share the other volume.
Four of the mini toggles are on/off pickup switches and the 5th is the Audere Z mode switch (a cool feature of their preamps). The big military switch with a clear cover disconnects the battery when open/off so you can leave the bass plugged in without draining the battery. We use these on all of our theme projects and have wired them in a variety of ways. This is the first time I used it "backwards" such that open = off.
I thought about doing a rotary switch to select from the 4 coils at the bridge, but was out of space. Likewise, thought about series-parallel switching but its already fairly cramped in there. The split J's are wired in series and parallel mode would not be very useful. The Willpower is wired in parallel in order do give it broader range and lower output so that it plays better with the J pickups.
The pickguard is clear with a photographic backing in between the two plies (which is how the logo is embedded). It's called red tort and is from Axetreme Creations made to our spec.
An additional thing I thought about was to put 3 or 4 jacks on the horn where our logo is so that any/all of the pickups could be disconnected from the preamp and run passively into up to 4 separate amps.
Thanks for your interest.
Steve-
All I can say is thank you for that detailed rundown and WOW! You guys do some COOL work!~
.
All I can say is thank you for that detailed rundown and WOW! You guys do some COOL work!~
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My VM jazz is really a great bass. I keep reaching for it and my other four get neglected. A few mods. 
Doner Designs
Steve Doner
- Jun 2, 2012
- 5,784
- 6,819
- Disclosures
- Doner Designs is an alias for Steve Doner
Here's my modified Affinity series Jazz. Started stock and now has the obvious visual upgrades with CTS 250k pots, rewired and shielded cavity, and Nordstrand NJ4's. I used Gracey's Burgundy Mist spray for the headstock refinish and an Old Fret replacement decal for a '62.
Stock photo
After mods
Stock photo
After mods
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I have to say, aside from the control panel pots, the thing that really annoys me about the VM Jazz bass is the 'Jazz Bass' font. Why couldn't it be more classy like it is for the Classic Vibe? Or at least use the font from the 70s bass decal.
It almost makes me want to get a new neck for this thing, but really, this baby plays like a dream already, and I have no idea how to change a decal on a working bass without messing up the finish on the headstock...
It almost makes me want to get a new neck for this thing, but really, this baby plays like a dream already, and I have no idea how to change a decal on a working bass without messing up the finish on the headstock...
Quit looking at it and play the thing!. You can't see the decal while you play. 
You may as well sell it as change the neck. First world problem to be sure.
You may as well sell it as change the neck. First world problem to be sure.
Bad ass!!!Vintage Modified BODY (from my first bass)....the rest has been replaced one bit at a time over the years...
