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Squier MusicMaster Vista Club

#1,801
StringJazzX said:
I have a Squier Musicmaster Vista at my school's studio. I've always loved that bass and have been looking for one for years.

Here is my story about my new Vista. For years I only owned one bass; a few months ago I decided it was time to upgrade, so the research started. I had my mind set on a Mustang but after trying a few, they just didn't feel great to me. Definitely not worth the $1700 they were asking for them. So, I went to look at a Sandberg Lionel (after reading forums here) and absolutely fell in love with it. I ended up getting it for the same price as the American made Mustang, so I walked away very happy. I thought I was done buying basses that day; I was wrong. I was spending the day in Hong Kong, so I was heading to my favorite area in Kowloon district after I bought the Sandberg. I passed this seedy looking bar-cigar shop and decided to have a drink before getting on the subway. I was sipping a whiskey and looking around the shop and low and behold were two Squire Musicmaster Vistas hanging on the wall. I went up and looked at them (still film on the pick guard) and rusty old strings. I asked the barkeeper about them. He happened to be the owner and told me he bought them as displays for the bar about 30 years ago. I asked if I could look at one and he obliged. I checked the neck for warping and looked over a white vista. I asked if he was willing to sell it. I said I know this bass guitar and I want one. He said "it was made on the mainland (meaning mainland China), it's probably not very good." I said "I'll take my chances" and we agreed on a $320 price so he could buy another bass to place on the wall. Well, I went home with two basses that day. I plugged in the Musicmaster right when I got home to see if the pickup was still good and it sounded alright. I replaced the nut with a bone nut, replaced the pots and cap, built a treble bleed circuit, put on a switchcraft jack, and some La Bella -Stang flatwounds. Wow, what a fantastic bass! I finally have one of my own! I'm now thinking of going back and buying the surf green one he has hanging on the wall.
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Great story, and an even greater price for that bass.

As for the surf green one, those were only made in 4 colors. Black, white, pink and light (daphne?) blue. So the surf green is the way the blue ones fade over time. Assuming it was never refinished that is.

You maybe knew that. I can't think of his name off hand without looking but there is a TB'er who owns one of each original color.

Enjoy that bass!
 
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#1,804
WI Short Scaler said:
Took a moment and looked up the TB'er that owns all 4 colors of the Squier Musicmaster bass.

He hasn't been active for awhile, @burl0029

https://www.talkbass.com/threads/squier-musicmaster-vista-club.
WI Short Scaler said:
Great story, and an even greater price for that bass.

As for the surf green one, those were only made in 4 colors. Black, white, pink and light (daphne?) blue. So the surf green is the way the blue ones fade over time. Assuming it was never refinished that is.

You maybe knew that. I can't think of his name off hand without looking but there is a TB'er who owns one of each original color.

Enjoy that bass!
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i’m sure it’s faded blue then. It didn’t quite look surf green but that was the closest color I could think of to describe it at the time. That’s definitely a cool faded color!
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#1,805
Hello Everyone, I’ve searched the Vista Club but I have not found an answer to my question. I am thinking of buying this other vista Musicmaster but I’m not sure the original pickup is any good. I would want to buy a direct drop in replacement and eventually have the original rebuilt if it’s not working. Has anyone had any good results with a direct fit pickup replacement? If so, could you post the brand and model name in a reply to this post please?
 
#1,808
StringJazzX said:
Hello Everyone, I’ve searched the Vista Club but I have not found an answer to my question. I am thinking of buying this other vista Musicmaster but I’m not sure the original pickup is any good. I would want to buy a direct drop in replacement and eventually have the original rebuilt if it’s not working. Has anyone had any good results with a direct fit pickup replacement? If so, could you post the brand and model name in a reply to this post please?
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I used a Seymour Duncan 1/4 pounder single coil and it was very close to the original. I also ended up have one rewound and it was indistinguishable from the the original.
 
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#1,809
StringJazzX said:
Hello Everyone, I’ve searched the Vista Club but I have not found an answer to my question. I am thinking of buying this other vista Musicmaster but I’m not sure the original pickup is any good. I would want to buy a direct drop in replacement and eventually have the original rebuilt if it’s not working. Has anyone had any good results with a direct fit pickup replacement? If so, could you post the brand and model name in a reply to this post please?
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I second the Sentell suggestion. I went with the B-16 as it has dual magnets similar to a Jazz p/u. Just a bit mellower than the original single pole magnets to my ear but, as they say, YMMV. ;)
 
#1,811
Hey everyone, I recently picked up a blue vista musicmaster bass and I've noticed a rattling noise coming from one of the tuners, more specifically from the peg, which also happens to be crooked (pic below). I've scrolled through this forum but couldn't find a clear answer on whether there were any drop in replacements for the tuners, or even just a replacement peg. I would really appreciate if someone could provide some information on this.

On another note, I took off the pickguard and noticed that the whole body was a significantly darker shade than the original color which I assume was caused by cigarette smoke but there isn't a strong smell or sticky residue, I only picked up the slightest scent of anything coming from the pickguard. Is it possible to clean it without damaging the finish?

IMG_7006.jpg


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#1,812
That’s how they all aged. Mine look very much like that. There is no cleaning it; you’d be removing the finish.

As for the tuner, I’d just try very carefully bending it back. You’ll need a vice or some sort of jig to hold it in place while you slowly pull it straight.
 
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#1,813
bassbully said:
They came out in 97' and were made for only 1 year then pulled. They come up on the bay and here and there used but are not easy to find and are getting a bit pricey.
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Hello. Writing from the future. Yes, they've gone up. Just bought mine on GC used for $650. I don't know what they did with this pickup but it sounds flipping amazing. It edges out my 77 Musicmaster and sounds better than MANY of my other basses. Even my JMJ. (Don't tell him I said that). Love the longer vintage style tuners, painted headstock, etc.
 

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#1,814
Drummerdan said:
Hello. Writing from the future. Yes, they've gone up. Just bought mine on GC used for $650. I don't know what they did with this pickup but it sounds flipping amazing. It edges out my 77 Musicmaster and sounds better than MANY of my other basses. Even my JMJ. (Don't tell him I said that). Love the longer vintage style tuners, painted headstock, etc.
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It's worth just to leave these stock, they are that good.
 
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#1,815
I have a question for everyone here. I have two of these now and a third that my school owns. There are two blue ones; they both have a 42mm nut width. There is a white one that has a 38mm nut width. The more I come across these it appears the nut width varies. Has any one else had this experience? I picked up a blue one very cheap; $210 but the pickup was dead and all the internal electronics were shot. I was sad about the pickup but I replaced it with a SD scpb-2; it’s the first S.Duncan pickup I’ve ever liked.
 
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#1,816
These are still great little basses, and the Vista pickups were so good. It's make no sense that they didn't continue production on those and use them in other basses after they stopped the Squier Musicmaster.

I still have one of these. I sold it once locally to someone I knew whose son wanted to play. After about a year he told me it was a short lived interest and was largely ignored so I bought it back for the same $$ he paid me. It's been in the case for a long time, I still play short scales but my partsbasses with wide range humbuckers get all the playing time.

I was perusing Reverb and came across this Vista guard and pickup at a reasonable price, if anyone is interested. For that price even if the pickup didn't work it could maybe be revived at a reasonable cost. Just an FYI, no affiliation with the seller.

Squier Vista Musicmaster bass pickguard and pickup 1997 | Reverb
 
#1,817
StringJazzX said:
I have a question for everyone here. I have two of these now and a third that my school owns. There are two blue ones; they both have a 42mm nut width. There is a white one that has a 38mm nut width. The more I come across these it appears the nut width varies. Has any one else had this experience? I picked up a blue one very cheap; $210 but the pickup was dead and all the internal electronics were shot. I was sad about the pickup but I replaced it with a SD scpb-2; it’s the first S.Duncan pickup I’ve ever liked.
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I have not seen a specimen with 38mm nut width. It may be that the neck isn't original? Was it altered?
 
#1,819
StringJazzX said:
I have a question for everyone here. I have two of these now and a third that my school owns. There are two blue ones; they both have a 42mm nut width. There is a white one that has a 38mm nut width. The more I come across these it appears the nut width varies. Has any one else had this experience? I picked up a blue one very cheap; $210 but the pickup was dead and all the internal electronics were shot. I was sad about the pickup but I replaced it with a SD scpb-2; it’s the first S.Duncan pickup I’ve ever liked.
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Mine has a 41mm nut width. Everyone says that these are from 1997 and my neck is stamped [poorly] as a '97 but the Squier Wiki page says they were only available from '98 to '99 which makes me think they were built in '97 but not sold till the following year FWIW.
 

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