The Squier Mini Precision Bass Club

[TK4261]

Quick question for those who have modded the electronics. Since I haven't opened mine up yet, I think I recall folks mentioning early on that these use mini pots. Is that correct? Also, is there a good source for replacement/upgraded mini pots that would be an appropriate replacement? I honestly don't think it is needed, and that any impact (if positive at all) would be relatively minor, but just in case I want to swap out at some point, I thought I'd get a confirmation from the Mini faithful.

Yes, The original pots are the small ones because the control cavity is small. Best Bass Gear carries small pots and probably on Amazon you can find some also. I ended up just ordering a complete wiring harness from Best Bass Gear and they use the small Noble pots...worked out great for me.

 

[Volker Kirstein]

Quick question for those who have modded the electronics. Since I haven't opened mine up yet, I think I recall folks mentioning early on that these use mini pots. Is that correct? Also, is there a good source for replacement/upgraded mini pots that would be an appropriate replacement? I honestly don't think it is needed, and that any impact (if positive at all) would be relatively minor, but just in case I want to swap out at some point, I thought I'd get a confirmation from the Mini faithful.

Small pots.

My electronics are fine as is: no crackles, smooth turning, my transceiver/cable stays firmly in the jack without wobble.

Changing pots with pots of the same value will change your sound 0. Zilch. Nada.

Unless your pots crackle, or flop around in their housing, or spin by themselves when you jump around, they're fine, and don't need replacing.

A cap is a cap is a cap. Assuming the same value, soviet oil and paper sounds no different than a Sprague orange drop sounds no different than a mica disc.

Jacks are another story. Jacks wear out, but it takes lots and lots of rough trade to do so, and they can usually be bent back into shape. I highly doubt any Minis suffer from jack wear already. Switchcraft is good and sturdy, but will change your sound 0. Zilch. Nada.

 

[JPJ]

Small pots.

My electronics are fine as is: no crackles, smooth turning, my transceiver/cable stays firmly in the jack without wobble.

Changing pots with pots of the same value will change your sound 0. Zilch. Nada.

Unless your pots crackle, or flop around in their housing, or spin by themselves when you jump around, they're fine, and don't need replacing.

A cap is a cap is a cap. Assuming the same value, soviet oil and paper sounds no different than a Sprague orange drop sounds no different than a mica disc.

Jacks are another story. Jacks wear out, but it takes lots and lots of rough trade to do so, and they can usually be bent back into shape. I highly doubt any Minis suffer from jack wear already. Switchcraft is good and sturdy, but will change your sound 0. Zilch. Nada.

They don't, and sound perfectly find to me, which is why I think I'll leave "as is". But, I do appreciate the confirmation of size.

 

[honeydorick]

Anyone guess at the chances of the mini p comming out latter with a maple fret board.

 

[andare]

Small pots.

My electronics are fine as is: no crackles, smooth turning, my transceiver/cable stays firmly in the jack without wobble.

Changing pots with pots of the same value will change your sound 0. Zilch. Nada.

Unless your pots crackle, or flop around in their housing, or spin by themselves when you jump around, they're fine, and don't need replacing.

A cap is a cap is a cap. Assuming the same value, soviet oil and paper sounds no different than a Sprague orange drop sounds no different than a mica disc.

Jacks are another story. Jacks wear out, but it takes lots and lots of rough trade to do so, and they can usually be bent back into shape. I highly doubt any Minis suffer from jack wear already. Switchcraft is good and sturdy, but will change your sound 0. Zilch. Nada.

I suppose CTS pots and paper-in-snake-oil caps are still cheap enough that one can buy them for the peace of mind but only from electronics stores. Some guitar companies sell harnesses for 50 bucks, now that's a ripoff.

In guitars, pots and caps just send signal to ground so they have zero to minimal impact on tone. I guess it might be a different story in pedals and amps where the signal path is more complex.

 

[SBassman]

Anyone guess at the chances of the mini p comming out latter with a maple fret board.

I'd do a day 1 purchase.

 

[SBassman]

You probably meant vicariously but precariously is fantastic!

Once upon a time my brain functioned fairly well.

 

[Frank Vozak]

I'd do a day 1 purchase.

We should all suggest a maple fretboard to Fender

 

[RodRy]

Anyone guess at the chances of the mini p coming out latter with a maple fret board.

33 & 1/3 %

 

[RodRy]

We should all suggest a maple fretboard to Fender

Well, everyone who would buy one should suggest it. If you wouldn't, then you shouldn't.

 

[JPJ]

I'd do a day 1 purchase.

I'm hoping for a mini Tele (guitar) next year (Fender has already done Strats and Jazzmasters) and I'd be in for a Mini '51 P bass with maple board.

 

[honeydorick]

Lets Do It.I'll take a black mini with a maple neck & board please. Since my Bonco is already red.Or maybe ill buy another bronco and attatch the maple neck and board to the black mini ,if the pocket is the same size.Even though the scale would then be 30 inches instead of 28.6 Im ok with that but 28.6 would be fabulouse for me.Wait a minute.Forgot I dont have gobs of money to spend.$400 to make 1 bass? Maybe.

 

[Frank Vozak]

I'm hoping for a mini Tele (guitar) next year (Fender has already done Strats and Jazzmasters) and I'd be in for a Mini '51 P bass with maple board.

To quote Smokey Robinson, "I second that emotion"

 

[Volker Kirstein]

... Even though the scale would then be 30 inches instead of 28.6 Im ok with that but 28.6 would be fabulouse for me. ...

A quick remider: If you change the distance from the 12th fret to the nut, you have to equally change the distance from 12th fret to the bridge. In this case:

• 30 - 28.6 = 1.4 (scale difference)
• 1.4 / 2 = 0.7 (equal from both ends)

You'll have to move the bridge about 0.7" further from the 12th fret.

Just sayin'.

 

[HaphAsSard]

A quick remider: If you change the distance from the 12th fret to the nut, you have to equally change the distance from 12th fret to the bridge. In this case:

• 30 - 28.6 = 1.4 (scale difference)
• 1.4 / 2 = 0.7 (equal from both ends)

You'll have to move the bridge about 0.7" further from the 12th fret.

Just sayin'.

Is the number of frets the same? If not, the relevant aspect is the amount of scale length occupied by the fretboard: a 30" neck with 21 frets* replacing a 28.6" one with 20 frets* would not need the bridge be moved, just a readjustment of the saddles.

* [with no fretboard overhang (board extending past the heel), that is]

 

[MojoBat]

A neck for a 30" scale instrument will measure 15" from nut to 12th fret, which means you will need the distance from the 12th fret to the bridge saddle to be 15" also for the bass to intonate.

Whether or not there'll be enough travel on the saddles to make up that extra distance is the question.
Personally I doubt it, but you never know. If you already have the neck I suppose it'll cost nothing to try.

 

[Volker Kirstein]

Is the number of frets the same? If not, the relevant aspect is the amount of scale length occupied by the fretboard: a 30" neck with 21 frets* replacing a 28.6" one with 20 frets* would not need the bridge be moved, just a readjustment of the saddles.

* [with no fretboard overhang (board extending past the heel), that is]

Doesn't matter. If you change one measurement, you have to change the other. Regardless of how many frets. Period. The equation must balance, and the balance point is the octave harmonic (12th fret).

 

[HaphAsSard]

Doesn't matter. If you change one measurement, you have to change the other. Regardless of how many frets. Period. The equation must balance, and the balance point is the octave harmonic (12th fret).

Doch. Fret number, combined (obviously) with scale, does matter.

Fret Position Calculator | stewmac.com
^ Fret positions for a 20-fret, 28.6" fretboard. Now subtract the distance between last fret and nut (19.592") from the scale length (28.6"). Result: 9.008", which is the (nominal, uncompensated) distance between 20th fret and bridge. Basically the pickup area.
Fret Position Calculator | stewmac.com
^ Fret positions for a 21-fret, 30" fretboard. Same subtraction (scale minus position of the last fret relative to the nut - in this case 30 - 21.081) gives 8.919". Which, again, is the distance between the last fret and the bridge.
Now, 9.008 - 8.919 = .089". In other words, replacing a 20-fret 28.6" scale neck with a 21-fret 30" scale neck, on the same body, will require an adjustment of less than a tenth of an inch, which is probably within the travel capabilities of the saddles of an adjustable bridge.
QED.

If you think about it, if you have two necks of same scale (say 34") and different number of frets (say, 24 vs. 22 - again, with no overhang, so as to keep the comparison apples-to-apples) you can't install them on the same body without putting the bridge in different positions. Because, with each neck, the section of scale length taken up by the fretboard changes (longer on the 24-fretter), and so does, inversely, the pickup area (shorter with the 24-fretter). Which fact, alone, proves mere scale length doesn't, and couldn't, tell the whole story.
Conversely, if I modify a 21-fret 30" neck, putting the nut where the 1st fret formerly was, I get a 20-fret 28.316" scale neck: if I then use it to replace a 20-fret 28.6" scale neck, I'm close enough for rock n' roll, with saddles taking care of the difference.

(Uh, I'm forgetting sumthing, what was it? Ah: )
Period.

 

[DavesnothereCA]

Lets Do It. I'll take a black mini with a maple neck & board please. Since my Bronco is already red. Or maybe I'll buy another Bronco, and attach the Maple neck and board to the black Mini-P, if the pocket is the same size. Even though the scale would then be 30 inches instead of 28.6 Im ok with that but 28.6 would be fabulous for me. Wait a minute. Forgot I dont have gobs of money to spend. $400 to make 1 bass? Maybe.

A quick remider: If you change the distance from the 12th fret to the nut, you have to equally change the distance from 12th fret to the bridge. In this case:

• 30 - 28.6 = 1.4 (scale difference)
• 1.4 / 2 = 0.7 (equal from both ends)

You'll have to move the bridge about 0.7" further from the 12th fret.

Just sayin'.

Is the number of frets the same? If not, the relevant aspect is the amount of scale length occupied by the fretboard: a 30" neck with 21 frets* replacing a 28.6" one with 20 frets* would not need the bridge be moved, just a readjustment of the saddles.

* [with no fretboard overhang (board extending past the heel), that is]

A neck for a 30" scale instrument will measure 15" from nut to 12th fret, which means you will need the distance from the 12th fret to the bridge saddle to be 15" also for the bass to intonate.

Whether or not there'll be enough travel on the saddles to make up that extra distance is the question.
Personally I doubt it, but you never know. If you already have the neck I suppose it'll cost nothing to try.

Doesn't matter. If you change one measurement, you have to change the other. Regardless of how many frets. Period. The equation must balance, and the balance point is the octave harmonic (12th fret).

Doch. Fret number, combined (obviously) with scale, does matter.

Fret Position Calculator | stewmac.com
^ Fret positions for a 20-fret, 28.6" fretboard. Now subtract the distance between last fret and nut (19.592") from the scale length (28.6"). Result: 9.008", which is the (nominal, uncompensated) distance between 20th fret and bridge. Basically the pickup area.

Fret Position Calculator | stewmac.com
^ Fret positions for a 21-fret, 30" fretboard. Same subtraction (scale minus position of the last fret relative to the nut - in this case 30 - 21.081) gives 8.919". Which, again, is the distance between the last fret and the bridge.

Now, 9.008 - 8.919 = .089". In other words, replacing a 20-fret 28.6" scale neck with a 21-fret 30" scale neck, on the same body, will require an adjustment of less than a tenth of an inch, which is probably within the travel capabilities of the saddles of an adjustable bridge.
QED.

If you think about it, if you have two necks of same scale (say 34") and different number of frets (say, 24 vs. 22 - again, with no overhang, so as to keep the comparison apples-to-apples) you can't install them on the same body without putting the bridge in different positions. Because, with each neck, the section of scale length taken up by the fretboard changes (longer on the 24-fretter), and so does, inversely, the pickup area (shorter with the 24-fretter). Which fact, alone, proves mere scale length doesn't, and couldn't, tell the whole story.

Conversely, if I modify a 21-fret 30" neck, putting the nut where the 1st fret formerly was, I get a 20-fret 28.316" scale neck: if I then use it to replace a 20-fret 28.6" scale neck, I'm close enough for rock n' roll, with saddles taking care of the difference.

(Uh, I'm forgetting sumthing, what was it? Ah: )
Period.

~
So far [HaphAsSard], I am mainly seeing bass necks with 19 or 20 frets, not 21, but I do understand why you used a 21 in some of your examples.

- - -

Back during Jan or Feb of this year, IIRC, I made a series of posts upthread, regarding the feasibility of putting other necks onto a Mini-P body [or vice versa].

One of the conclusions which I reached, with the generous help of pics and measurements provided by other posters, was that [IF the neck pocket dimensions were compatible, or could be made so,] to put a 30" scale 19 fret neck [such as that from a Squier Bronco] onto a Mini-P body would force the bridge to need to be moved back, sufficiently far such that there would most likely not be enough wood behind it in the body to securely attach the mounting screws.

Also compounding that issue is that the body tapers as it approaches the edge, making it doubly difficult to mount the bridge further back.

- - -

We did not discuss this next option back then, but obviously, if a person was prepared to try to mount the neck to the body without pushing it all of the way into the pocket [say a half of an inch shy], and inserted a small block of hardwood or metal into the resulting gap for strength, that it would shift things such that the bridge could most likely stay where it is, and properly intonate.

I'm not sure whether I would WANT to do it that way, but it does support the required math.

BTW, if the 30" scale alternate neck had 20 frets and no fretboard overhang, same as the shorter scale Mini-P neck does, it would achieve the same result as not inserting a 19 fret 30" scale neck [as per the last example] into the pocket all of the way - i.e. the bridge could most likely stay where it is, and properly intonate.
~

 

[SBassman]

Ok, I'm having a moment. Some of you might want to talk me out of it.

My son is doing some painting for us, and he has his sander out. I'm thinking of taking #2 apart, sanding it bare, and then tung oiling the whole thing.

I won't use stain because I have read that Poplar can sometimes be challenging to stain evenly. So, I'll just tung oil it all.

Whatchya think?