The Squier Mini Precision Bass Club

[Volker Kirstein]

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?

Your money. Your bass. Your time. I like the idea. Do what you would.

 

[DavesnothereCA]

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?

Your money. Your bass. Your time. I like the idea. Do what you would.

~
My thoughts [rarely] in one word :

AchTUNG !

But seriously, natural finishes are my faves.

Best of luck, if you follow through.
~

 

[HaphAsSard]

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.

The more general rule is:
need to replace a neck (with x number of frets) with another neck which is the next standard scale* up [/down]?
* (36" > 34" > 32" > 30" > 28.6" > 27" > 25.5" > 24")

If the new neck has an x+1 [/-1] number of frets, the bridge may well not need to be moved;
if it has less or more than x+1 [-1], it will.
Replace "1" with "2..." if the new scale is two... standard scale lengths up/down.



(If the old or new scale is 35"
...it depends! )

 

[pcake]

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?

i think the wood on fender's cheapest bass may have multiple pieces frankensteined together or have blemishes. if that wouldn't bother you, why not give it a shot!

i admit it would bother me.

 

[hypercarrots]

a p bass jr... this person finds something rare and thinks it should be irreversibly altered...

Fender Precision Bass Short Scale Mini vintage 2003 Hand Painted made in Mexico Mexican MIM P | Burger Guitars | Reverb

 

[andare]

a p bass jr... this person finds something rare and thinks it should be irreversibly altered...
View attachment 4289256
Fender Precision Bass Short Scale Mini vintage 2003 Hand Painted made in Mexico Mexican MIM P | Burger Guitars | Reverb

...only to go and sell it.

I would understand if it was for personal use then go ahead and customize it.
Instead they took a rare instrument with the specific intent of painting it, thereby rendering it less valuable (and IMO they ruined it - I find the paint job absolutely hideous but that's just my personal taste) and now they're trying to flip it at a markup. They ruined a rare instrument to satisfy their hubris.

Or maybe I'm reading too much into this and this is just a piece of wood with some strings, not a vintage treasure.

 

[DavesnothereCA]

a p bass jr... this person finds something rare and thinks it should be irreversibly altered...
View attachment 4289256
Fender Precision Bass Short Scale Mini vintage 2003 Hand Painted made in Mexico Mexican MIM P | Burger Guitars | Reverb

...only to go and sell it.

I would understand if it was for personal use then go ahead and customize it.
Instead they took a rare instrument with the specific intent of painting it, thereby rendering it less valuable (and IMO they ruined it - I find the paint job absolutely hideous but that's just my personal taste) and now they're trying to flip it at a markup. They ruined a rare instrument to satisfy their hubris.

Or maybe I'm reading too much into this and this is just a piece of wood with some strings, not a vintage treasure.

~
Regardless of the paint job, at almost $1,900 CAD, it is ridiculously overpriced, IMO.

One of these was for sale in Toronto on Kijiji, earlier this year, with no mods, looked to be in decent shape from the pics, and it sat for several weeks at $700.

I guess it eventually sold.
~

 

[Moody Tuner]

...only to go and sell it.

I would understand if it was for personal use then go ahead and customize it.
Instead they took a rare instrument with the specific intent of painting it, thereby rendering it less valuable (and IMO they ruined it - I find the paint job absolutely hideous but that's just my personal taste) and now they're trying to flip it at a markup. They ruined a rare instrument to satisfy their hubris.

Or maybe I'm reading too much into this and this is just a piece of wood with some strings, not a vintage treasure.

It's nothing compared to what they did to the 1965 Gibson SG that they're asking $25K for.

Hand painting instruments appears to be this person's "thing", if you take a look at the rest of their Reverb store you'll see what I mean. It's just a shame that there is such a low level of aesthetic taste (IMO) involved in what they're doing. I'm not passing judgement, but there must be a surplus of (unchecked?) ego involved in thinking that what they're doing to these instruments is adding value. One person's aesthetic enhancements is another person's aesthetic mutilation, I guess...

 

[HaphAsSard]

bravo foxtrot delta

 

[andare]

It's nothing compared to what they did to the 1965 Gibson SG that they're asking $25K for.

Hand painting instruments appears to be this person's "thing", if you take a look at the rest of their Reverb store you'll see what I mean. It's just a shame that there is such a low level of aesthetic taste (IMO) involved in what they're doing. I'm not passing judgement, but there must be a surplus of (unchecked?) ego involved in thinking that what they're doing to these instruments is adding value. One person's aesthetic enhancements is another person's aesthetic mutilation, I guess...

Can't see the SG meaning it sold...

 

[Volker Kirstein]

People do all kinds of things to their basses, and people will pay for all kinds of things. Who are we to judge?

 

[hypercarrots]

because it's not a bass they are modifying for themselves. they take something they find to be rare, profess to be rare, flaunt the rareness of and then paint it in a very unique way that narrows down its appeal. then they mark the price up astronomically to attempt to make a profit. that is the source of my judgment.

 

[HaphAsSard]

Sometimes, something is rare because nobody wanted it the first time. Our painter is just dancing on the edge of Barnum's adage: depending on whether and wherewithal the bass sells, they'll either come up the greatest showman, or the...minute-man. The instrument will stay a piece of wood.

 

[RodRy]

People do all kinds of things to their basses, and people will pay for all kinds of things. Who are we to judge?View attachment 4292025

View attachment 4292026

Hello, I am Judgeymcjudgeface.

 

[OLD-PLAYER]

In 2018 I sold my Fender MIM Mustang PJ which I had installed a set of Gotoh GB350 Res-O-Lite tuners and a Nordstrand P bass pup. The negotiated price ended up with me me keeping the Gotoh tuners and the original Mustang P pup. Fast forward to a few weeks ago.... I picked up a new Squier Mini P and of course replaced the tuners with the Gotohs and swapped out the pup with the Mustang pup and added new 250k pots and a new .1 mfd capacitor and also installed a new bridge cover. The Squier "A" string tuner was originally installed slightly off and I need to pick up some super glue to fix the screw hole and drill a new one. But the the Gotoh tuners were in fact a direct, drop in replacement including the screws holes. The "E" string nut slot was cut a bit high so I fixed that. I installed a new set of GHS short scale precision flats and of course I have about a half wind of bare string on the E string post but it's fine and I did not have an issue with intonation. (the GHS strings are wound on a hex core... I would not recommend trying this with strings that have a round core like La Bella flats) I prefer just the taper being wound on the posts and I have ordered a set of Newtone nickel wound strings on a round core that will be a proper fit. I'll let everyone know what I think after I receive them what I think about them. Overall, I was not expecting the build quality of the Squier (the bass has "zero" fret sprout) to be as good as it really is and I can say the bass just sings and sounds absolutely huge through my Aguilar TH700 and a Fender Rumble 2x10 cab. I will gig this bass without hesitation for sure. It is a joy to play and it came in at 6.2 lbs! Cheers!

I'm also in the process of building a "Franken" Mini-Squire PB. I've done everything you've done EXCEPT upgraded the tuners (and I chose a Quarter Pounder instead of a Nordstrand). The problem is, that headstock is so small I was worried that I wouldn't be able to find a nice set of drop-ins (without a lot of scary modifications). However, your Gotoh's look wonderful. I've already ordered a set, and I'm looking forward to the actual fit!

 

[WI Short Scaler]

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

I'm already considering one of these to go with my Musicmasters. This would greatly "up" my likelihood to purchase.

a p bass jr... this person finds something rare and thinks it should be irreversibly altered...
View attachment 4289256
Fender Precision Bass Short Scale Mini vintage 2003 Hand Painted made in Mexico Mexican MIM P | Burger Guitars | Reverb

Love the paint job. Great to see something outside the normal in a world of brown-bursts and black. But I do agree with the opinion on here that custom work like that is only something I'd do if it was a "keeper" I wouldn't part with. Just to sell it? No. Too bad that price is way to high.

My son did a similar paint job on my Fender Musicmaster, my "take it to my grave" bass and it's not going anywhere. I'm actually considering getting the Mini P because my daughters are also creative and want to have a part in one of dad's basses.

 

[OLD-PLAYER]

I almost forgot to send a pic. Also, I added Rotosound Short-Scale Flatwounds immediately, and they are amazing! The factory strings were garbage (as expected). As a guitar player who doubles (for the past 45 years) I LOVE this 28 1/2" scale! In the rack this bass is just a tad shorter than my Strats. Plus, it weighs less than 8lbs!
So, I'll have just over $300 in this puppy. That's considerably less than a Squire Mustang! (except a REAL P.Bass pickup, American Electronics, and Ultra level hardware). As a bonus, it plays like a dream...

 

[OLD-PLAYER]

NOTE: If you add a Hipshot "Kickass 4" bridge, it lengthen's your string span enough
to make all 4 short-scale strings fit correctly on the posts! Personally, I went with
Rotosound Jazz flat-wound short-scales, and they really sound (and feel) great!

 

[WI Short Scaler]

NOTE: If you add a Hipshot "Kickass 4" bridge, it lengthen's your string span enough
to make all 4 short-scale strings fit correctly on the posts! Personally, I went with
Rotosound Jazz flat-wound short-scales, and they really sound (and feel) great!

Thanks for the info on a way around having to relocate the bridge.

 

[OLD-PLAYER]

While the addition of the Hipshot doesn't ultimately change the position of the trees, or alter
the intonation, it DOES lengthen the string span, thus using up more of the actual string...
Plus, it's the same bridge design Fender uses on their new ULTRA Precision Bass. More mass,
and much better sustain. The best $60 I ever spent.