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Squier Vintage Modified Precision V: who's got one?

#1,741
Rocksolid said:
Oh how things change! Your comments regarding the Kickass bridge on mine when I posted pics regarding it's ATK look certainly said you weren't a fan of these!

Welcome to the dark side. Enjoy!
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I thought you'd get a kick out of it. :D

I literally don't know what possessed me to spend over a hundred bucks on a heavier bridge, when I'm normally a bent-plate fan...

Oh, well. If it turns out I prefer the way the stock bridge sounds, at least I won't have any new holes to fill in...
 
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#1,743
So the Hipshot Kickass bridge squier specific is the way to go.

Next question:

What Jazz bridge pickup has anyone actually installed and is it enough to keep up with the existing P neck pickup and sound good with it? I've heard of people talking about installing one, but I hadn't read anyone that has and if the one they installed was a good match for the existing P pickup. Or heard clips.

Or:

What PJ5 pickups have you installed? What were the results?

Anyone try the neck nut inserts?

Thanks! (in advance)
 
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#1,744
tedsalt said:
So the Hipshot Kickass bridge squier specific is the way to go.

Next question:

What Jazz bridge has anyone actually installed and is it enough to keep up with the existing P neck pickup and sound good with it? I've heard of people talking about installing one, but I hadn't read anyone that has and if the one they installed was a good match for the existing P pickup. Or heard clips.

Or:

What PJ5 pickups have you installed? What were the results?

Anyone try the neck nut inserts?

Thanks! (in advance)
Click to expand...
I've put various Nordstrand, Duncan and Dimarzio pickups into 4 and 5-string Jazz basses for people, and for better or worse, there was always a noticeable change in the way the instrument sounded. My favourite passive 4-string Jazz setup is a pair of Dimarzio Area J's.

I've done the same thing to 4-string Fender and Squier P's. Noticeable difference in every case. For a vintage vibe, I personally prefer the Fender AVRI pickup. It has more bark, but a lot of people like the Nordy, which sounds just a little rounder and smoother. The QP definitely has it's own thing, higher output and rather exaggerated.

Regardless of which one you prefer, there's always a sense of having gotten some value for your money.

A couple of us have put the 2008 and up Am Standard Precision V pickup into our VMP5's, and to be frank, the difference isn't overwhelming. Audiences are not going to notice the difference.

There's a YouTube before and after video featuring the Nordstrand vintage 5-string pickup. You'd have to listen to it yourself, but personally I would call nice, but not it a $134 Improvement. TBH, you'd get a bigger bang for your buck out of a Tonestyler or an active preamp.
 
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#1,745
When it comes to the bridge, you've also got to think about placement.

I've noticed that a lot of people are putting Jazz pickups a lot closer to the neck position when they make a PJ these days- they don't just slap it into the standard 60's or 70's Jazz positions.

I bought a used Area J, and built a shoe to hold It upside down over the strings. That way I could slide it up and down the string to find where I liked it best.

Sure enough, the tone and volume seemed to match better with it further away from the bridge. I really liked it about a quarter inch back from the edge of the pickguard, but in the I went for something more like a conventional PJ setup. I think it's about a quarter inch closer to the neck than a 60's Jazz.

I can't give you gigging impressions, because I got lazy, and never bothered to rout a cavity and install it.

Last but not least, I'd like to make a counter-suggestion. My all-time favourite neck/bridge combo is a P/P setup.

Routing a new P-bass pickup cavity is a pain, particularly because I haven't seen any P5 router templates on eBay. But if I was really serious about having a two-pickup Precision as my main bass, that's what I would go for...
 
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#1,746
+1 about the Fender pickup not making a lot of difference from the stock pickup. I did that along with changing out the pots, cap, jack, wiring, insulating the cavity and a whole bunch of other stuff. Recently, I've actually been thinking about putting the stock pickup back. It had less warmth and body but more bite.

As far as adding a J pickup, I'd rather do a double P. The P in the bridge position would be reverse.
 
#1,747
I've got a few weeks break before a long run of gigs thru to Christmas, I picked up a Sandberg VM5 second hand recently and have been loving it's P bass tone, but still love the Squier VMP5. Might send it to my guy for a proper setup, check the frets etc. Might even get a second set of homes drilled so my kick ass bridge can sit back a few me. It would be in a much better position for its range of adjustment.
 
#1,748
So now I'm thinking about maybe putting in a Nordy Big Split bridge pickup. Since the Big Split / Big Single has a fatter J tone, instead of moving it towards the neck, giving it a fatter tone, move it towards the bridge a little. Until they're equivalent. Hmmmm ....

First I need to build one of those sliding pickup testers :D

Deja Vu ... Nordy Big Single P'upgrade for Squier DJAV

I should have kept that one ... :)

I may have to put some of my old projects back together again ... someday ...
 
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#1,749
IMG_3704.JPG
IMG_3705.JPG
I've got a slight crack in the headstock of my VMP5. I'm worried about it spreading. Anyone have any ideas on how to fix it or at least prevent to crack from spreading?
 
#1,752
I am so over eBay and their Global Shipping Centre nonsense.
  • Kickass bridge shipped from vendor in Abington, Maine last Monday, Sept. 18th.
  • My house is 614 miles from Abington.
  • Package sent to various USPS centers enroute to the Global Shipping location in Erlanger, Kentucky, September 21st (Thursday).
  • That's a 910 mile trip.
  • My package is finally prepped for Customs and mailed out on Saturday, Sept. 23rd. No tracking on the next portion of the journey, because they are using multiple carriers.
  • If the package takes the shortest possible route (which is unlikely), it will have travelled over 1,300 miles.
  • Expected delivery date is now Thursday, Sept. 28th.
 
#1,753
bassnyc1 said:
View attachment 2763826 View attachment 2763827 I've got a slight crack in the headstock of my VMP5. I'm worried about it spreading. Anyone have any ideas on how to fix it or at least prevent to crack from spreading?
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Did you shim the tuner bushing for a friction fit?

Looks like an unfortunate coincidence- some stress in that piece of maple, combined with either a tight tuner bushing, or having neglected to drill a pilot hole for the mounting screw.

If you're a really experienced woodworker (ie; instrument making or furniture repair) you could cautiously and carefully spread the crack a hair, and use some sort of low-viscosity adhesive to fix the crack (chair glue?).

However, doing this with confidence requires good nerves, and experience working with cracks.

If you're the slightest bit clutzy with tools, it would be better to let a luthier do the repair.
 
#1,754
steve_rolfeca said:
I am so over eBay and their Global Shipping Centre nonsense.
  • Kickass bridge shipped from vendor in Abington, Maine last Monday, Sept. 18th.
  • My house is 614 miles from Abington.
  • Package sent to various USPS centers enroute to the Global Shipping location in Erlanger, Kentucky, September 21st (Thursday).
  • That's a 910 mile trip.
  • My package is finally prepped for Customs and mailed out on Saturday, Sept. 23rd. No tracking on the next portion of the journey, because they are using multiple carriers.
  • If the package takes the shortest possible route (which is unlikely), it will have travelled over 1,300 miles.
  • Expected delivery date is now Thursday, Sept. 28th.
Click to expand...

Yeah - of the two eBay vendors I considered one uses the Global Shipping Program and the other USPS First Class Mail International - the latter came in at a dollar more. Needless to say which one I chose.

I once had something shipped to me - to Finland - via the GSP. It took a while.
 
#1,755
The headstock crack may have occurred when you changed to the Hipshot Ultralite tuners and placed a new screw where there was no existing hole, without drilling a smaller pilot hole first

Remind me to select anything besides GSP when buying from ebay :D
 
#1,756
Spent some time setting intonation for the bass (was way off, go figure), and ended up having to cut some of the springs on the B side way down to get them to screw far enough back with the strings I was working with.

IMG_20170925_215158263.jpg

In the end I did get intonation set correctly, adjusted the pickups a little for balance across the strings, then spent some time in worship with my friends from Third Day. Gave that B string some work. It's sounding pretty nice. Playing thru Markbass Compressore -> Fender TBP-1 preamp -> Crest Prolite -> Fender Neo 410. Me likey ...

Wondering how much difference nut inserts would make ...

I'll have to rummage thru my mess and find them ... they're around here somewhere ...
 

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