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Under $5 a set in eBay. Look at the pictures to make sure they're push on style. If you get the screw lock type they work: just line the set screw up with the slot in the pot shaft so it spreads the shaft, not compress it and break a shaft tang off.
Use a kitchen towel. Slide the edge under the knob, wrap it around all under, bunch the towel up in one hand like the tail of a horse and pull up. It will come right off. Like this http://youtu.be/cuGc83-F_Wk
I used a butter knife and a very thin material shirt. Wrapped the blade with the shirt and slowly pried them up a little
Worked like a charm. Thanks!
Worked like a charm. Thanks!
I've been meaning to post this here and mention that I'm in, since, well.. January. Seven months isn't too long to wait for a bad pic of an awesome bass on an ugly couch
I've been pondering what to do with it. I've added the series / parallel switch for the pickup, but I've been playing with the idea of a new color. I love the matte-finish black Jag from the tricked-out Squier thread, but not sure if I want to go that route. I'm not a real fan of bursts unless they're really unusual. If the body were solid ash rather than basswood with veneers I'd consider stripping it and staining it cherry.
Maybe I'll leave it bone stock. I dunno, heh.
Honest answer? Because a handful of these basses slay anything up until the $1200ish mark. I have played and owned A LOT of basses across plenty of price ranges. Now, I'm a jazz bass dude and this Squier (and many others I've played) rocks just as hard as something LITERALLY 10x the price. The major difference is stuff like the fretwork which can be fixed without too much cost. Throw a preamp in there and you could have something better than any $600 (and more than a little beyond) bass could hope to offer off the rack.
So yea, I had the option to get a $3000ish bass this time around if I wanted (without breaking the bank). I didn't. I bought a Squier. That might not say something to you, but it does to me
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I would agree that it's not necessarily a given that the $300 Squier will even need upgrading at all . More often than not, I get the impression the only reason many people end up heavily modding their Squiers is because they are "supposed to", when they don't really need it. With that in mind I do agree that it is indeed a waste of time and money upgrading a $300 Squier, especially if it actually doesn't NEED upgrading.
I do my mods only for aesthetic reasons. My 70's VMJ just looks better to me with black: pg screws, pearl pg, tuners and bridge oh and jazz style knobs. Granted, the Hipshot tuners are an upgrade, but the stock worked fine and would easily last decades.
Complete aside here: I think it's funny that we're comparing / contrasting the merits and drawbacks of modifying something that has "modified" in its name to begin with.
That said, I changed the knobs on my 70's J to "jazz" knobs instead of the chrome-domes, and I put a heavier bridge on it simply because that's my preference. Still, I think regardless of knowing that improvement follows a logarithmic scale at the same time cost follows an exponential one, people buy these to "upgrade" BECAUSE they're cheap to start with. You spend 300 bucks at the store and you get a great neck attached a fine body with a nice finish filled out with all high quality parts. If you decide you want to then personalize it to your desires (misguided or not), you're at least starting with a very competent platform.
That said, I changed the knobs on my 70's J to "jazz" knobs instead of the chrome-domes, and I put a heavier bridge on it simply because that's my preference. Still, I think regardless of knowing that improvement follows a logarithmic scale at the same time cost follows an exponential one, people buy these to "upgrade" BECAUSE they're cheap to start with. You spend 300 bucks at the store and you get a great neck attached a fine body with a nice finish filled out with all high quality parts. If you decide you want to then personalize it to your desires (misguided or not), you're at least starting with a very competent platform.
Personally, I don't really think of it as upgrading, more "customizing" if that makes any more sense. Like, I'm more comfortable having an active preamp than a passive system so throwing one in would just help me dig the bass more that much more. It doesn't make the bass strictly better but it works better for me. My VMJ5 sounds killer as it is.
I think a lot of people had hit it on the head with the upgrade/modification platform of this series of basses. The thing is, when you mod a Fender American Standard to the amount that some folks mod their Squiers, you could potentially be decreasing the resale value of a "stock" instrument in 20 or 30 years. Whereas, with Squiers, the resale value isn't expected to be particularly high, however they have the quality to be a great platform for modification. Which is why I'm getting ready to mod the crap out of my VM jazz. 
I'm back from my first gig, and it passed with flying colors. So much so I played it for 2 of the 3 sets! It was very clear, and extremely comfortable to my hands. The spacing was a little more than my SR5, but very similar. The satin neck was extremely familiar, as my SR5 is also unfinished. I only added straplocks so far, and have new black knobs on order. The next thing will be some EBMM Cobalts.
People don't buy Squiers for their investment value. They're bought to be played! If I dropped the money on an Am. Std. it would likely sit in its case under the bed while I played the crap out of my Squiers. After doing this for 25 years or so, I don't see why a bass that you play live can't be the one you record your next album with... and in my case, I ended up with two Squiers that fit the bill enough that I sold my Warwick that I had modded with pair of EMGs and a BTC. I have plans to build two customs that will scratch the itch that these two don't, and building them is contigent on my locating 1 more Squier pickup, oddly enough.
When a player starts with a serviceable instrument and ends with a family member, that's all that matters. A Dingwall is too precious to mold to fit its player, but a Squier, well, now, they're modder's gold.
When a player starts with a serviceable instrument and ends with a family member, that's all that matters. A Dingwall is too precious to mold to fit its player, but a Squier, well, now, they're modder's gold.
Got my Vintage Modified Jazz Bass '77 yesterday. Very impressed so far
These are so cool. I have my eye on one.
