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Squier Owners Club

#3,601
My most recent Squier is an active Jazz bass affinity in Flash Pink, a Thomann exclusive.

Swapped the neck for a Fender lefty neck (the original had quite sharp frets, and I wanted the reverse look anyway).

A custom pickguard with perfect color matching by the one and only gig.ink and you get the coolest bass in town 😎

1000157751.jpg
 
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#3,602
sgl said:
My most recent Squier is an active Jazz bass affinity in Flash Pink, a Thomann exclusive.

Swapped the neck for a Fender lefty neck (the original had quite sharp frets, and I wanted the reverse look anyway).

A custom pickguard with perfect color matching by the one and only gig.ink and you get the coolest bass in town 😎

View attachment 7478349
Click to expand...
nicely done! :thumbsup:
 
#3,603
I am a semi-retired bass player who does most of my playing these days in the worship band at church. At that location, I am getting what I would call a combination of a hum and a buzz out of my highly modified Squier Paranormal 54 Jazz Bass. This bass currently has a set of passive Seymour Duncan SJB-1 Vintage pickups and an EMG BTC active 2-band EQ. Even with both pickups turned up the whole way where I should be getting hum cancelling, I am getting this humbuzz. (Bah, Humbuzz???) Every cavity is shielded and grounded properly. I wired a master volume pot and ran it under the pickguard up to the top horn using Mogami shielded cable. (See pic below -- a picture is worth a thousand words.) That groove I cut under the pickguard is also shielded with shielding paint, and the back of the pickguard is shielded with copper tape. I've triple-checked all my wiring and it checks out OK -- no cold solder joints or loose grounds. At the church, we have a nice lighting system, and we use iPads on stage for our chord and lyric sheets. All of our mics are Shure wireless, and our worship leader uses a wireless on acoustic guitar. I've checked to make sure that the pickups' magnetic fields are opposite, and they are as they should be. The basses played by other bass players who volunteer do not do this. My bass doesn't do this anywhere else I play. Has anyone out there in forum-land found any solution to a similar problem? ... maybe something out-of-the-box, since I've tried all of the in-the-box things.
7-17-25 ActiveS.jpg
 
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#3,604
jglunt said:
I am a semi-retired bass player who does most of my playing these days in the worship band at church. At that location, I am getting what I would call a combination of a hum and a buzz out of my highly modified Squier Paranormal 54 Jazz Bass. This bass currently has a set of passive Seymour Duncan SJB-1 Vintage pickups and an EMG BTC active 2-band EQ. Even with both pickups turned up the whole way where I should be getting hum cancelling, I am getting this humbuzz. (Bah, Humbuzz???) Every cavity is shielded and grounded properly. I wired a master volume pot and ran it under the pickguard up to the top horn using Mogami shielded cable. (See pic below -- a picture is worth a thousand words.) That groove I cut under the pickguard is also shielded with shielding paint, and the back of the pickguard is shielded with copper tape. I've triple-checked all my wiring and it checks out OK -- no cold solder joints or loose grounds. At the church, we have a nice lighting system, and we use iPads on stage for our chord and lyric sheets. All of our mics are Shure wireless, and our worship leader uses a wireless on acoustic guitar. I've checked to make sure that the pickups' magnetic fields are opposite, and they are as they should be. The basses played by other bass players who volunteer do not do this. My bass doesn't do this anywhere else I play. Has anyone out there in forum-land found any solution to a similar problem? ... maybe something out-of-the-box, since I've tried all of the in-the-box things.
View attachment 7478454
Click to expand...

Yeow. That's frustrating.

Perhaps post this as a stand-alone post in.the Pickups section of TB to get the experts to weigh in?

.
 
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#3,606
Just a couple tweaks to my Slick Silver Affinity Jazz Bass. Previously I installed the Guitar Madness J-B Standard pickups (Alnico 5, 8.1/8.5KΩ) and a Black Pickguard (see posts from back in 2024.) It sounded and looked better than the stock ceramic pups and looked better than the 3-ply white pickguard, but still just didn't entice me to play it much.

Recently I installed a set of used D'Addario Chromes and really liked the sound. Also, while the black pickguard looked good, it just didn't sit well with my taste. I saw Ian Martin Allison's Firemist Lavender Mike Lull Jazz. He had a tortoise pickguard on it and I liked the looks, so I ordered a cheap Flea-bay one for my Affinity. I got one that was a red tortoise, but the color didn't quite look right with the Slick Silver. I ordered another in a brown tortoise and it looks much better.

IMG_20260422_121647373_HDR.jpg

With the new looks and strings, I actually pick it up to play it when the mood hits. It almost went on the chopping block for downsizing, but it'll stick around for a while now.

As for my Sonic Bronco, I like it, but I'm just not bonding with it. I never cared for the original ceramic Strat pickup it came with a stark white single-ply pickguard that I didn't like. I got a custom pickguard cut for a '51 single coil Precision pickup and installed a Roswell pickup from an HB PB50 (A5, 9.1KΩ) and flat wounds. Sounds good, but was too hot for my taste. I recently got a vintage wound Alnico 5 G.M. 51 P pickup (A5, 7.1KΩ) and it did end up with a bit mellower sound.

Modded close up.JPG

Unfortunately, it just isn't enticing me in any way. Not sure what to do with it. It may end up on the chopping block.
 
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#3,607
MadJack said:
Just a couple tweaks to my Slick Silver Affinity Jazz Bass. Previously I installed the Guitar Madness J-B Standard pickups (Alnico 5, 8.1/8.5KΩ) and a Black Pickguard (see posts from back in 2024.) It sounded and looked better than the stock ceramic pups and looked better than the 3-ply white pickguard, but still just didn't entice me to play it much.

Recently I installed a set of used D'Addario Chromes and really liked the sound. Also, while the black pickguard looked good, it just didn't sit well with my taste. I saw Ian Martin Allison's Firemist Lavender Mike Lull Jazz. He had a tortoise pickguard on it and I liked the looks, so I ordered a cheap Flea-bay one for my Affinity. I got one that was a red tortoise, but the color didn't quite look right with the Slick Silver. I ordered another in a brown tortoise and it looks much better.

View attachment 7479822

With the new looks and strings, I actually pick it up to play it when the mood hits. It almost went on the chopping block for downsizing, but it'll stick around for a while now.

As for my Sonic Bronco, I like it, but I'm just not bonding with it. I never cared for the original ceramic Strat pickup it came with a stark white single-ply pickguard that I didn't like. I got a custom pickguard cut for a '51 single coil Precision pickup and installed a Roswell pickup from an HB PB50 (A5, 9.1KΩ) and flat wounds. Sounds good, but was too hot for my taste. I recently got a vintage wound Alnico 5 G.M. 51 P pickup (A5, 7.1KΩ) and it did end up with a bit mellower sound.

View attachment 7479828

Unfortunately, it just isn't enticing me in any way. Not sure what to do with it. It may end up on the chopping block.
Click to expand...
The Bronco looks handsome now, so if you decide to sell it should easily find a buyer. I swapped out the single ply white pickguard on my Sonic Precision; that particular shade of white was very cheap looking.
 
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#3,609
JC BASS 91 said:
I've posted it elsewhere, but missed sharing in this group. My third Squier is a parts build:

CV 60s Precision Body (with stock bridge, neck plate, neck screws)
CV 70s Jazz Neck (with stock tuners and string tree)
DiMarzio Model P (DP122BK) Pickups
Dunlop Dual Design Strap Locks
Everything else came from my over-full parts box.

View attachment 7481432
Click to expand...

Dude! That's terrific! Enjoy that set of parts!

.
 
#3,610
Finally, I got me my "Squier Crown Jewel"! :hyper:

Malak the Mad

Thread 'Unveiling XII: Squier James Johnston Jazz Bass'

Greetings, All!

The third time must really be the charm! Over the past two years, I've acquired three, new-to-me basses, not counting the Projekts I've assembled, and each of them has been a checkbox on my wish-list! The first was a Non-Export Aerodyne Jazz in U.S. Gunmetal Blue, the second was a Silverburst Mod Shop Jazz and now I've finally gotten a Squier James Johnston Jazz bass!🤘:laugh:

Advert pics from Reverb…
vdzEfXZ.jpeg

ZsLTRcG.jpeg


Now that the first pics are...
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#3,614
Here’s my pair.

IMG_1865.jpeg


2024 Rascal
2005 Affinity P Bass

The Rascal is the web-exclusive Candy Apple Red. When they first came out with them in green, I always said to myself, “if they come out with one in red, I might have to get one.” They did, so I did. Actually it was a Christmas gift from my wife, after a few not-so-subtle-but-half-joking hints. Stock, with LaBella Mustang flats.

The P Bass is the house beater, one I don’t care if it gets knocked over by the dogs or whatever. So it’s usually out for me to grab. It’s been torn down and rebuilt and parts repurposed a few times, but other than the pots, knobs and pickguard, it’s back to stock. It plays absolutely wonderfully the way it’s set up now, but it needs work. The truss rod is maxed out and it’s wearing LaBella Low Tension Flats. I’d love to have the option to use heavier strings. I’m not a fan of the blue, and I have an old red body that I thought was from an Affinity, but the neck bolt holes don’t line up, so who knows. So part of me wants to plug/redrill the neck holes to use the red body and to find some washers to fit behind the truss rod nut (which I’ve been unable to find a size that works). A small part of me is thinking of trying to do a refret with slightly larger fret tangs to flatten the neck out. But it plays and sounds so good that it’s easy to be lazy about doing anything.
 
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#3,616
TDR1138 said:
Here’s my pair.

View attachment 7492247

The truss rod is maxed out and it’s wearing LaBella Low Tension Flats. I’d love to have the option to use heavier strings. I’m not a fan of the blue, and I have an old red body that I thought was from an Affinity, but the neck bolt holes don’t line up, so who knows. So part of me wants to plug/redrill the neck holes to use the red body and to find some washers to fit behind the truss rod nut (which I’ve been unable to find a size that works).
Click to expand...
The only way I've been able to get a washer under the truss rod nut was to find one that would fit over the end of the truss rod and grind it down so it would fit into the truss rod hole. You probably know this, but be careful using a washer. I used one on the truss rod of my '08 G&L SB-2, and it split the fretboard at the first fret. (Not a big deal as the neck was badly ski jumped, so I had G&L build me a new one.) Also something else you probably know: Make sure to lubricate the washer and nut -- maybe even use two washers. Actually, it's such a hassle to do for such a seemingly simple thing, if it was me, I'd just have a luthier do it, as lazy as I am.
 
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#3,618
jglunt said:
The only way I've been able to get a washer under the truss rod nut was to find one that would fit over the end of the truss rod and grind it down so it would fit into the truss rod hole.
Click to expand...
I actually have an old truss rod nut from another old Squier that I was thinking about drilling out to smooth/remove the threads and then cutting it down to about the depth of 2-3 washers.
Again, lazy…
 
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#3,619
TDR1138 said:
I actually have an old truss rod nut from another old Squier that I was thinking about drilling out to smooth/remove the threads and then cutting it down to about the depth of 2-3 washers.
Again, lazy…
Click to expand...
That would probably be a good solution if you have the tools and expertise. Me? Besides being lazy I have neither the tools nor the expertise. I could probably get that accomplished, but I'd get complaints from the neighbors about the cussing.
 
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#3,620
TDR1138 said:
Here’s my pair.

View attachment 7492247

2024 Rascal
2005 Affinity P Bass

The Rascal is the web-exclusive Candy Apple Red. When they first came out with them in green, I always said to myself, “if they come out with one in red, I might have to get one.” They did, so I did. Actually it was a Christmas gift from my wife, after a few not-so-subtle-but-half-joking hints. Stock, with LaBella Mustang flats.

The P Bass is the house beater, one I don’t care if it gets knocked over by the dogs or whatever. So it’s usually out for me to grab. It’s been torn down and rebuilt and parts repurposed a few times, but other than the pots, knobs and pickguard, it’s back to stock. It plays absolutely wonderfully the way it’s set up now, but it needs work. The truss rod is maxed out and it’s wearing LaBella Low Tension Flats. I’d love to have the option to use heavier strings. I’m not a fan of the blue, and I have an old red body that I thought was from an Affinity, but the neck bolt holes don’t line up, so who knows. So part of me wants to plug/redrill the neck holes to use the red body and to find some washers to fit behind the truss rod nut (which I’ve been unable to find a size that works). A small part of me is thinking of trying to do a refret with slightly larger fret tangs to flatten the neck out. But it plays and sounds so good that it’s easy to be lazy about doing anything.
Click to expand...
I actually like the blue so I'm seeing a pair of handsome basses. What strikes me is the Rascal is bigger than the Affinity - not having seen one in the flesh, it's bigger than I expected.
 
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