HB7's did fit my MIM P-Bass, but not my Squire. The mounting holes are different.
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Squier "Perfect Fit Replacement Parts" Mega thread
- Thread starter thobbinghotrod
- Start date
HB7's did fit my MIM P-Bass, but not my Squire. The mounting holes are different.
check this guy's thread, post #27.
The Hipshot HB-7s were not perfect for his VMJ, but they seemed to work. I PMd him recently and he was still using them, still happy.
YMMV, of course. Haven't tried them yet for mine, and not sure about the age thing you mention.
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=400203&page=2
I'm not 100% sure if its smaller or not, if an Aguilar would fit it wouldnt leave room for much else.
What I'm wondering is if one would hear any improvement by changing to supposedly higher quality parts but keeping the same cap value (0.047 IIRC). The stock pots are made by alpha, which are considered good quality (after using them I do think so), and the cap isn't a cheap ceramic one, but I don't know what it is exactly.
I think I'll be keeping the electronics stock for now, they work great and I doubt replacing them would make a difference soundwise.
Does anybody know whether the Himass Bridge comes as a replacement part?
The CV J bass comes with a 'Himass' Bridge and judging from the pictures it does look as if it'll work better than that cheap bridge on my VM fretless J. So since I think the Badass II is way too expensive - in Denmark it's something like half of what I paid for the bass to begin with - I've been looking for that Squier Himass Bridge, but so far I've found nothing. If I don't find one, I'm gonna go with a Gotoh 201.
The CV J bass comes with a 'Himass' Bridge and judging from the pictures it does look as if it'll work better than that cheap bridge on my VM fretless J. So since I think the Badass II is way too expensive - in Denmark it's something like half of what I paid for the bass to begin with - I've been looking for that Squier Himass Bridge, but so far I've found nothing. If I don't find one, I'm gonna go with a Gotoh 201.
This is a great thread. It makes me happy
I'm just wondering if anyone might know if the Squier VM necks would be a drop in for the Standard line. More specifically, the bound and blocked neck from the VMJ into a Squier Standard P/J special.
I'm just thinking that that neck on the antique burst p bass body would be hot.
I'm just wondering if anyone might know if the Squier VM necks would be a drop in for the Standard line. More specifically, the bound and blocked neck from the VMJ into a Squier Standard P/J special.
I'm just thinking that that neck on the antique burst p bass body would be hot.
From the Squier website, the schematic for the latest VM fretted Jazz says the cap is a .068 (683F).
If I had used a .047 for the cap in mine with the 75 RI pickups, I think the tone would have been too dark. The .022 is perfect. My thinking is that if one wants the sound/tone of the pickups from a specific instrument, you should use the cap value from the schematic for that instrument. There had to be a reason Fender used it in the first place.
Roger
This is a great thread. It makes me happy
I'm just wondering if anyone might know if the Squier VM necks would be a drop in for the Standard line. More specifically, the bound and blocked neck from the VMJ into a Squier Standard P/J special.
I'm just thinking that that neck on the antique burst p bass body would be hot.
The same info on the CV basses (unless I missed it already) would also be a good thing to add to this thread. I will hopefully be able to find out soon as I plan to swap out the CV neck with a Fender neck (if the deal goes through) and will post the results.
But with neck swaps in general, I really don't ever count on the bolt holes lining up. I also expect slight variations in heel and neck pocket dimensions, but that has always been with imported basses of various brands. Admittedly I have little experience with Genuine FMIC products.
I would expect a FMIC (Fender or Squier) to have rather accurate heel and neck pocket dimensions, no matter where they are made. I mean 2 1/2 inches wide is 2 1/2 inches wide, no matter what part of the globe you measure from. Maybe this is a pipe dream on my part and finding out the MIA, MIM, CIJ and CIA(Indonesian) FMIC products vary between each other would just be silly to my way of thinking.
Anyone able to shed some light on this?
I think there are some differences, mostly because some factory use the metric system and other use the imperial system. This causes small differences in measurements between instruments, which are often big enough to make them incompatible.
I think this is a very valuable observation. That is undoubtedly why Squier and Fender (and Fender and Fender Japan) parts don't always interchange.
Roger
Another thing I learned that I will pass along. When I was updating my Squier VM fretted Jazz with the 75 RI pups and CTS pots, I also intended to change the pickguard to an American W/B/W one. I found that the joint for the American pickguard did not match the Squier control plate, and that an American Jazz control plate did not line up with the screw holes in the Squier body. So that is why I ended up filing out the holes for the pots in the Squier control plate, I had to use it, and I had to keep the Squier B/W/B pickguard to match that control plate.
The shape at the pickguard/control plate join is different for American to Squier. So you have to use them as a matched set.
Also, it took a LOT of work to fit the neck pocket on the American pickguard around the neck, it was definitely NOT plug and play. I had to get the pickguard to fit to find out that the American control plate was NOT going to work without new holes.
Roger
The shape at the pickguard/control plate join is different for American to Squier. So you have to use them as a matched set.
Also, it took a LOT of work to fit the neck pocket on the American pickguard around the neck, it was definitely NOT plug and play. I had to get the pickguard to fit to find out that the American control plate was NOT going to work without new holes.
Roger
I understand that, but 2 1/2 inches (2.5 inches) is still 63.5000mm That's pretty close if you ask me. And I say that understanding that the thickness of any finish coat will alter the width of the neck to some degree. However that still does not account for some differences of a full 1/16th (0.0625) of an inch (or 1.5875mm)
Further if the neck pocket is 63.5mm wide the neck cannot also be the same width, before or after finishing. But if the standard pocket needs a neck that has a heel width of 62.5mm the fit should be uniform. Especially if they allow for a nominal finish thickness.
Back yard builders and luthiers can figure this out, why can't a builder with production facilities in 3 countries? Especially now, well more than half a century after Leo created these things!
I'm no math wiz and I can figure it out. And no it does not substantially raise the cost of production to get three people, in 3 countries, who run the CNC machines to set the sodding thing to 63.5000mm in a neck pocket and 62.500 on the neck milling machine. And once set, thousands will be so exact it would boggle the mind.
And since I am on it, the bolt holes could also be so precise that any neck should bolt right up to any bass. Computers are really funny things, they can direct the milling down to 1000ths of an inch, all the time, every time.
Obviously all within reason. I understand the science and art involved in properly mating a neck to a body. Especially one (a neck) that was already mounted on another body.
SX should be able to do this on up to (pick the most expensive production bass you can think of)....
I think the answer is that Fender does not build Squiers themselves, they hire them to be built to a price by a contractor. They likely give them a basic blueprint, which could be in English dimensions, and then the contractor, be it Cort, Samick, or whoever, has to build the instruments to meet the print.
It's also possible that the contractor was given an instrument to use for measurements (thereby preventing the contractor from having exact dimensioning information that could be considered proprietary and sensitive) , and they had to arrive at dimensioning and tolerances themselves. That might be a better explanation for the variances.
I agree that it should be possible for perfect fit, but it has to be a priority on Fender's part, and I don't think it is. Squiers are intended to be less-expensive representations of Fender instruments, but not necessarily exact.
Roger
On a different note(yes pun intended) the pups on my VMJ Bass are as you know Duncan Designed JB 101's. Has any body ever priced these to see how they are to buy from Fender and with so many different Jazz pickups made by Fender,if you were to replace them,what would you suggest? Keep in mind please that I have a Aggie OB-2 installed on my Squire VMJ. Thanks.
You nailed it there. I believe they do not care, nor do they want guys swapping parts around, especially from line to line (Fender neck on a Squier body etc..). They (FMIC) would much prefer you buy another bass than swap parts.
Also the difference in tolerances and dimensions is sloppy engineering on their part. I say again 2.5 inches is 2.5 inches. No other way to put it. In metric measurements it is still 63.5000mm. And that is the same in Japan, China, Indonesia, Mexico, Europe, Russia, the whole globe and even in the US. Funny isn't it?
Actually it's a pretty sound business practice: increase profits by something called "price discrimination".
If you're willing to pay only $200-$300 for a bass, you get it from China (Squier). If you are willing to spring up $500-600 then you get it from Mexico with a "Fender MIM" label. And if you want "the very best" then I'll charge you $1000+ for pretty much the same design/parts with American labor overhead and a "Fender MIA" label.
But, I wouldn't want you to take your bare-bones China design, swap in "American" components, and end up with pretty much the same "top of the line" instrument at a much lower cost. I am out to suck you dry and get from you every single penny I can, for just about the "same product".
We human beings are very prone to petty disputes on things like how my $500 toilet flushes counterclockwise while your $50 one does it clockwise. AND mine has purple stripes, you see. We do care as much about "style" as we do about "substance" after all.
"They" know that.
If you're willing to pay only $200-$300 for a bass, you get it from China (Squier). If you are willing to spring up $500-600 then you get it from Mexico with a "Fender MIM" label. And if you want "the very best" then I'll charge you $1000+ for pretty much the same design/parts with American labor overhead and a "Fender MIA" label.
But, I wouldn't want you to take your bare-bones China design, swap in "American" components, and end up with pretty much the same "top of the line" instrument at a much lower cost. I am out to suck you dry and get from you every single penny I can, for just about the "same product".
We human beings are very prone to petty disputes on things like how my $500 toilet flushes counterclockwise while your $50 one does it clockwise. AND mine has purple stripes, you see. We do care as much about "style" as we do about "substance" after all.
"They" know that.
I was thinking more of the way the Car/motorcycle aftermarket works where you take your Harley and customize it with "custom" screamin eagle parts etc. Anyway its no big deal I bought Warmoth necks for my Squires.
I was thinking more of the way the Car/motorcycle aftermarket works where you take your Harley and customize it with "custom" screamin eagle parts etc. Anyway its no big deal I bought Warmoth necks for my Squires.
Yes, and even though Fender misses out on those sales it is fine with their bean counters. They just don't want you to end up with a "Fender" product that undercuts their "top of the line" offerings, otherwise they can't justify charging you premium dollar for what's nothing more than a highly overpriced bass with a Fender label. That is all people are really paying for, a brand name.
Of course, to each his own and people can choose to spend their money as they see fit. After all, why spend $$$ for a product when you can spend double or triple (or more) for basically the same product with ever diminishing value returns. It's the reason why Joe spends 50 grand for a car that gets his butt from point A to point B, while Jane spends 20 grand for an offering that gets her butt to point B just the same. Ah, but if you listen closely, the exhaust of Joe's car is more harmonically tuned and with better sustain... and the stick is "buttery smooth"... not that it really matters 'cause most folks can't tell the difference anyway. And, let's face it, Joe's car is more of a status symbol, 'cause (neither the common) Joe (nor the majority of his peers) can't earn a decent living these days by just driving his car...
