I bet the Hipshot Ultralites would be good on this bass, as others have suggested. Better tuners, and a little less weight on the neck. I might look into this at some point. Mine's still totally stock, but I'm digging it!
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Squier Vintage Modified Precision V: who's got one?
- Thread starter Chef
- Start date
Still totally digging mine stock, can't find a reason to mod it despite having all American electronics waiting. My P5 is deeper, darker and smoother but the VMP5 has a growl I dig and offers a nice change of pace and a reason to use it for at least one set. Win/win.
Interesting experiment last night.
I had a VM Fretless Jazz a while back. It had cast pot metal bridge saddles. I installed a set of Allparts vintage threaded bridge saddles on it, both to correct some string spacing issues, and to see if it would improve the tone and sustain. It worked, making it sound noticeably more focused.
Meanwhile, the string spacing on both of my Precision V's has been a bit narrow out of the box. On the first one, I tweaked the neck joint slightly so that the D string was centered over the last position marker, dropped aluminum shims in between the saddles to widen the spacing slightly, and left it at that.
On this one, the strings were perfectly entered over the pole pieces on the bass half of the pickup, but not on the treble half.
I happen to have some Allparts saddles in stock at the moment, so I decided to replace the D and G saddles. This would allow me to fine-tune the string spacing on those strings, and see if there was a tonal change.
At close range, the mismatched saddles are noticeable. Other than that, this mod made NO difference to the tone or playability of my P5.
The overall string spacing is increased by less than 2mm, and I can't feel the difference. Similarly, if the tone and sustain has changed, I can't hear it.
This makes sense, since the P5's OEM saddles are heavier than the leftovers from my old Fretless, and have machining marks on the ends instead of casting lines.
Conclusion: unless you're going to install something exotic like a Babicz, there's little to be gained from a bridge swap on this bass. Another functional improvement over older Vintage Modified Squiers...
I had a VM Fretless Jazz a while back. It had cast pot metal bridge saddles. I installed a set of Allparts vintage threaded bridge saddles on it, both to correct some string spacing issues, and to see if it would improve the tone and sustain. It worked, making it sound noticeably more focused.
Meanwhile, the string spacing on both of my Precision V's has been a bit narrow out of the box. On the first one, I tweaked the neck joint slightly so that the D string was centered over the last position marker, dropped aluminum shims in between the saddles to widen the spacing slightly, and left it at that.
On this one, the strings were perfectly entered over the pole pieces on the bass half of the pickup, but not on the treble half.
I happen to have some Allparts saddles in stock at the moment, so I decided to replace the D and G saddles. This would allow me to fine-tune the string spacing on those strings, and see if there was a tonal change.
At close range, the mismatched saddles are noticeable. Other than that, this mod made NO difference to the tone or playability of my P5.
The overall string spacing is increased by less than 2mm, and I can't feel the difference. Similarly, if the tone and sustain has changed, I can't hear it.
This makes sense, since the P5's OEM saddles are heavier than the leftovers from my old Fretless, and have machining marks on the ends instead of casting lines.
Conclusion: unless you're going to install something exotic like a Babicz, there's little to be gained from a bridge swap on this bass. Another functional improvement over older Vintage Modified Squiers...
By the way, just started to mod it:
And now, it is finished
With both pickups on, the bass gains quite a lot of precision (sic), especially on the B string, and high range cleans up a bit (a slight mid scoop appears). The bridge pickup soloed is surprisingly rather useful, somewhat reminds me of Warwick Thumb.
I tried to record some sound samples yesterday but fell for luck of ideas (and time), will try to record some soon.
And now, it is finished
Wow. Nice work. Would love to hear clips. You sir, now have one very unique bass.
Nice. I have a fancy singlecut 5-string that had EMG 40-series soapbar pickups in it for nearly 20 years....With both pickups on, the bass gains quite a lot of precision (sic), especially on the B string, and high range cleans up a bit (a slight mid scoop appears). The bridge pickup soloed is surprisingly rather useful, somewhat reminds me of Warwick Thumb.
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By far and away my favourite configuration, was dual P5's.
My wife surprised me with a CAR P5 for Xmas and I simply can't get over the value in this bass! The fit and finish are excellent, it's light ~9lbs, plays really well and only cost $300.00. 
I keep going back and forth between this Indonesian P5, my Sadowsky and my American Standard P4... Different styles of basses in completely different prices ranges, but the P5 stands up to the test. Can't wait to play at a rehearsal this week.
The only thing I plan on changing at the moment is the output jack as the stock one feels quite flimsy. The tuners are also a little stiff and I'll try to get them working more "smoothly". They hold their tuning well, but they're rather stiff.
Cheers,
LR
I keep going back and forth between this Indonesian P5, my Sadowsky and my American Standard P4... Different styles of basses in completely different prices ranges, but the P5 stands up to the test. Can't wait to play at a rehearsal this week.
The only thing I plan on changing at the moment is the output jack as the stock one feels quite flimsy. The tuners are also a little stiff and I'll try to get them working more "smoothly". They hold their tuning well, but they're rather stiff.
Cheers,
LR
I just received mine on Friday from the friendly neighborhood UPS guy. I bought it through Musician's Friend as a used - condition 2 model for $240. When it arrived, the only thing that told me it was used - at all - was the retaped orignal box and lack of tags. The pickguard had two layers of plastic on it, strings felt new, and there's not a single mark on the body or neck anywhere. I am quite pleased, as this is currently my second bass (third ever), and the only fretted one I own. It's been quite a weekend, trying to transition from flats and fretless to rounds and frets. I'm still finding my left hand on top of the frets more often than not, leading to terrible buzzing. I had to move the saddles anywhere from 1/8" to as much as 5/16" on the B in order to get the intonation in check, but the saddle height and truss rod adjustments were pretty close to right where I like them.
All in all, I'm pretty pleased with it. It's my new Rocksmith bass for sure. I'm still having slight attacks of buyer's remorse due to getting the 5 string vs. another 4, but I figured that worse comes to worse, I won't lose much if I sell it on for another.
Does anyone know of a site where I can buy a (in stock, not custom) black/white laminate pickguard for this bass? There are several places that have them listed for the Fender precision V, but I wasn't sure if the hole spacing or neck cutout would be different.
All in all, I'm pretty pleased with it. It's my new Rocksmith bass for sure. I'm still having slight attacks of buyer's remorse due to getting the 5 string vs. another 4, but I figured that worse comes to worse, I won't lose much if I sell it on for another.
Does anyone know of a site where I can buy a (in stock, not custom) black/white laminate pickguard for this bass? There are several places that have them listed for the Fender precision V, but I wasn't sure if the hole spacing or neck cutout would be different.
I bought an American P5 white pguard and it would need minor filing at the heel of the neck, the screw holes all lined up fine though.
How minor?
I've been wondering how difficult it would be to fit an Am Std or Warmoth neck...
I've been thinking about the Warmoth neck thing myself. If the Squier neck goes a little wonky after a couple of years it would be worth the upgrade to replace the neck with a Warmoth with the graphite rods, imo.
Gotta be careful about cost, though.
VM Precision V + Hipshot Ultralites + pre-finished Warmoth neck with a few options = $700 plus tax and shipping, if you're buying at published street prices. With a Fender neck at current eBay pricing, you're closer to $900.
That puts you within spitting distance of a used Am Standard, which comes with a hardshell case, has more bragging rights and better resale value.
This deal works out much better if you like the bass pretty much the way it came out of the box, as most of us do...
True, I definitely wouldn't order one with the intent to mod it straight away. My thinking was more along the lines of if/when I run out of turns on the truss rod, which should be several years down the road if at all.
And since I'm one of the ones that really, really like the bass as is these are more just ideas that ping around from time to time more than anything else.
And since I'm one of the ones that really, really like the bass as is these are more just ideas that ping around from time to time more than anything else.
Well, a new Warmoth neck (finished) is roughly the same price as a new Squier. You could replace the whole bass in case your neck deteriorates...
In a few years these basses may fall into the "discontinued" category and that wouldn't be an option.
This is not a bass that absolutely requires modding. It looks and sounds great stock. All it takes is strings of your own preference and a little adjustment and it's ready to go. Modding is certainly possible and might be fun, but is not really mandatory in my opinion.
Big +1 on that. All I did was a setup and installed oversized strap button I use on all my basses. Sounds and plays great! I do get some noise when I touch the pole pieces, so i will probably ground them at some point. But not that big a deal.
I have two Squiers on hand that I play regularly and I really, really like them both.
