The Squier Mini Precision Bass Club

[honeydorick]

I know,I did the same amount of mods to my Mini,Well worth the time and effort.Its great to play,look at &,listen to.You made it yours,great job.I love mine.I wouldnt care if it was a thousand dollars to make it mine the way it looks,& plays is fabulouse.

 

[Frank Vozak]

So this is what a Fender Custom Shop Mini would look like and play like

 

[Frank Vozak]

She's finally finished!

Sure, the idea was to do a quick mod, and have something to play over the winter, but you can't rush perfection. And while this definitely isn't perfect, I think it's at least pretty good…

View attachment 4642918

More pics below, but first the details:

• Strings: Rotosound RS88S flatwounds
• Pickups: DiMarzio Sixties P (DP124G)
• Bridge: Hipshot Kickass bass bridge (Okay, so the E string wouldn't fit properly, and was wrapping around the tuner post padt the silk. Luckily I had some extra strap buttons which I used to extend the string beyond the bridge, so that it wraps properly. It doesn't look great, but it seems to work.)
• Tuners: Hipshot Ultralite 3/8 Y Key
• Knobs: Hipshot O-Ring
• Strap buttons: Generic 12-pack of 4x gold, 4x black, and 4x chrome (the extras came in handy…)
• String Tree: Knockoff Hipshot 3-string retainer (I think it's Guyker, but I'm not sure. Got it on AliExpress, along with a gold one, just in case. It's off axis by a millimeter or two, and it's driving me crazy.)
• Output jack: Maybe Hosco
• Fender Logo: Gold metal decal sticker from Ebay (0.09 mm thick)
• Neckplate: Gotoh (included screws were too long, so I painted the original Squier screws gold using a DecoColor Premium gold paint pen.)
• Pots: Mini Alpha 250K audio taper
• Capacitor: Maybe Hosco Polyester 0.047uf
• Wiring: 22 AWG silicone wires from Amazon (none of those fancy cloth wires)
• Pickguard: Earlpilanz on Ebay (after my attempt to cover the original pickguard in black vinyl failed miserably. Pickguard screws purchased elsewhere.)
• Headstock: Oracal 651 high gloss black vinyl wrap (which, while not perfect, came out way better than the pickguard attempts.)

The bass itself cost me $275 CAD, tax in. All the upgrades came to just over $700 CAD (including tax and shipping). So yeah, I nearly quadrupled the total price.

But I love the look, and more importantly, the sound. It has that real old-school, warm sound. (I didn't like the metallic twang of the original strings.) Plus, it was a fun, if sometimes frustrating, project.

Well worth the time, money, and experience gained. Now I just need to learn how to play…

View attachment 4642918 View attachment 4642919 View attachment 4642921 View attachment 4642922 View attachment 4642923 View attachment 4642924 View attachment 4642926 View attachment 4642927

seeing this bass, I should have bought my Mini in black

 

[GrahamNN3]

seeing this bass, I should have bought my Mini in black

You need a second one for flats?

 

[honeydorick]

I have my red Mini,but I'd buy a black one,if they came out with a blond fret board,and then I would mod it my way.Then I would have 2 fabulous basses.LOL

 

[andare]

She's finally finished!

Sure, the idea was to do a quick mod, and have something to play over the winter, but you can't rush perfection. And while this definitely isn't perfect, I think it's at least pretty good…

View attachment 4642918

More pics below, but first the details:

• Strings: Rotosound RS88S flatwounds
• Pickups: DiMarzio Sixties P (DP124G)
• Bridge: Hipshot Kickass bass bridge (Okay, so the E string wouldn't fit properly, and was wrapping around the tuner post padt the silk. Luckily I had some extra strap buttons which I used to extend the string beyond the bridge, so that it wraps properly. It doesn't look great, but it seems to work.)
• Tuners: Hipshot Ultralite 3/8 Y Key
• Knobs: Hipshot O-Ring
• Strap buttons: Generic 12-pack of 4x gold, 4x black, and 4x chrome (the extras came in handy…)
• String Tree: Knockoff Hipshot 3-string retainer (I think it's Guyker, but I'm not sure. Got it on AliExpress, along with a gold one, just in case. It's off axis by a millimeter or two, and it's driving me crazy.)
• Output jack: Maybe Hosco
• Fender Logo: Gold metal decal sticker from Ebay (0.09 mm thick)
• Neckplate: Gotoh (included screws were too long, so I painted the original Squier screws gold using a DecoColor Premium gold paint pen.)
• Pots: Mini Alpha 250K audio taper
• Capacitor: Maybe Hosco Polyester 0.047uf
• Wiring: 22 AWG silicone wires from Amazon (none of those fancy cloth wires)
• Pickguard: Earlpilanz on Ebay (after my attempt to cover the original pickguard in black vinyl failed miserably. Pickguard screws purchased elsewhere.)
• Headstock: Oracal 651 high gloss black vinyl wrap (which, while not perfect, came out way better than the pickguard attempts.)

The bass itself cost me $275 CAD, tax in. All the upgrades came to just over $700 CAD (including tax and shipping). So yeah, I nearly quadrupled the total price.

But I love the look, and more importantly, the sound. It has that real old-school, warm sound. (I didn't like the metallic twang of the original strings.) Plus, it was a fun, if sometimes frustrating, project.

Well worth the time, money, and experience gained. Now I just need to learn how to play…

View attachment 4642918 View attachment 4642919 View attachment 4642921 View attachment 4642922 View attachment 4642923 View attachment 4642924 View attachment 4642926 View attachment 4642927

Great job! Were the tuners drop-ins?

 

[Philtastic]

Thanks for the kind words, everyone!

Great job! Were the tuners drop-ins?

I had to sand down the inside of the tuner holes a tiny bit to enlarge them (a fraction of a millimetre), but otherwise they are a perfect fit. Also, there is no need to drill new screw holes, and the included screws went in smooth. Of course, the old tuners will be loose if I want to restore it to stock, but they were already a bit loose to begin with. Also, I'm never going back to stock.

I had some trouble actually finding them in stock (at least in gold), but the version that's made in the USA has the added feature of being able to change the orientation of the tuning peg to either the bass or treble side. So if you can't find enough bass-side tuners, you can just use a treble-side tuner (after taking it apart and reassembling it in the other orientation, which is easy to do). Keep in mind that the same tuners made in Korea do not have the ability to swap sides. The USA models have Hipshot USA stamped on the back. The Korean ones don't (obviously).

 

[PDW30]

Love it!!

Great job and I just LOVE that painted headstock!

With all due respect ( ) why pick on the headstock. It all looks good.

 

[PDW30]

Is it time to look at strings again?

What strings do you have on your Mini P that fit without winding beyond the silk on the tuners?

 

[DavesnothereCA]

She's finally finished!

Sure, the idea was to do a quick mod, and have something to play over the winter, but you can't rush perfection. And while this definitely isn't perfect, I think it's at least pretty good…

View attachment 4642918

More pics below, but first the details:

• Strings: Rotosound RS88S flatwounds
• Pickups: DiMarzio Sixties P (DP124G)
• Bridge: Hipshot Kickass bass bridge (Okay, so the E string wouldn't fit properly, and was wrapping around the tuner post padt the silk. Luckily I had some extra strap buttons which I used to extend the string beyond the bridge, so that it wraps properly. It doesn't look great, but it seems to work.)
• Tuners: Hipshot Ultralite 3/8 Y Key
• Knobs: Hipshot O-Ring
• Strap buttons: Generic 12-pack of 4x gold, 4x black, and 4x chrome (the extras came in handy…)
• String Tree: Knockoff Hipshot 3-string retainer (I think it's Guyker, but I'm not sure. Got it on AliExpress, along with a gold one, just in case. It's off axis by a millimeter or two, and it's driving me crazy.)
• Output jack: Maybe Hosco
• Fender Logo: Gold metal decal sticker from Ebay (0.09 mm thick)
• Neckplate: Gotoh (included screws were too long, so I painted the original Squier screws gold using a DecoColor Premium gold paint pen.)
• Pots: Mini Alpha 250K audio taper
• Capacitor: Maybe Hosco Polyester 0.047uf
• Wiring: 22 AWG silicone wires from Amazon (none of those fancy cloth wires)
• Pickguard: Earlpilanz on Ebay (after my attempt to cover the original pickguard in black vinyl failed miserably. Pickguard screws purchased elsewhere.)
• Headstock: Oracal 651 high gloss black vinyl wrap (which, while not perfect, came out way better than the pickguard attempts.)

The bass itself cost me $275 CAD, tax in. All the upgrades came to just over $700 CAD (including tax and shipping). So yeah, I nearly quadrupled the total price.

But I love the look, and more importantly, the sound. It has that real old-school, warm sound. (I didn't like the metallic twang of the original strings.) Plus, it was a fun, if sometimes frustrating, project.

Well worth the time, money, and experience gained. Now I just need to learn how to play…

View attachment 4642918 View attachment 4642919 View attachment 4642921 View attachment 4642922 View attachment 4642923 View attachment 4642924 View attachment 4642926 View attachment 4642927

Looks fantastic!!
Who needs to play it?
Just hang it up and admire it for the work of art that you have created.
(But seriously, It will be a blast to play for sure).

~
While black is not one of my personal faves for an instrument colour, that's certainly a fine job there !

And like some of the other folks here, I have questions.

I recall from some posts a bit upthread, that the Hipshot Kickass bridge does pull the balls of the strings slightly further South than the stock bridge will, but obviously you needed to do what you did with the extra strap buttons, and I have done the same thing using other bits of stray/conjured hardware, for the E of someone else's regular scale P or J bass, back during the 1970s, for a make of string which I now forget.

But to clear up any speculation, please tell us, did you mount the new bridge into the original screw holes, and would you be willing to measure and post the dimension of the fully wrapped length portion of your short scale RS88 strings ?

I'm simply wondering whether any other brands would have fit without doing the extension - I'm thinking possibly D'Addario short scale, for which I believe that the fully wrapped part is 32".

Thanks.
~

 

[DavesnothereCA]

I have my red Mini,but I'd buy a black one,if they came out with a blond fret board,and then I would mod it my way.Then I would have 2 fabulous basses.LOL

~
I have several times seen used Mini-P basses come up for sale on Kijiji here in Canada, for $200 CAD or occasionally less, but either the sellers had committed to other buyers before I reacted, or the distance to drive had offset the saving vs. buying a new one closer by, and I'm being too cheap to spring for new.

And like you, I too would pay more attention to these if they released them with a Maple fretboard, and/or if the nut width was that of a standard P bass [ I don't care whether that is out of proportion dimensionally - that's what fits my big ol' paws ].

If I do eventually snag one of these basses, I still have that Solo kit neck [mentioned here in the past] which is the same scale length, with Maple fretboard and wider nut, though a wider neck pocket requirement, which I might be able to make fit.

I don't suppose that anyone here would be interested in selling a used Squier Mini-P bass without the neck, tuners, and strings ?

If I [sooner than any of those scenarios happening] become sufficiently motivated this year, that Solo neck may well find its way onto a used JTB-40 Jay Turser 30" scale Mini-P style bass [of which I own two, and have recently been gigging one in stock condition], of which I think that the neck pocket might be a closer fit.
~

 

[DavesnothereCA]

....I had some trouble actually finding them [HipShot UltraLites] in stock (at least in gold), but the version that's made in the USA has the added feature of being able to change the orientation of the tuning peg to either the bass or treble side. So if you can't find enough bass-side tuners, you can just use a treble-side tuner (after taking it apart and reassembling it in the other orientation, which is easy to do). Keep in mind that the same tuners made in Korea do not have the ability to swap sides. The USA models have Hipshot USA stamped on the back. The Korean ones don't (obviously).

~
I too have read that this is easy to do, but wish that someone [here] would post a tutorial with pics, mentioning what tools are required for the task.

Or post a link to anywhere else where this has been previously published.

Thanks.
~

 

[DavesnothereCA]

Is it time to look at strings again?

What strings do you have on your Mini P that fit without winding beyond the silk on the tuners?

~
And in that category, I am curious to encourage all of the folks who bought the FSR custom sub-short scale LaBella DT Flats a few months ago for their Squier Mini-P basses, to post here what they think of the strings, now that there has been some break-in time.

Apparently there were 40 sets made, and how many posts after the prompt sellout ?

Nudge, nudge, ,
~

 

[RodRy]

Thanks for the kind words, everyone!

I had to sand down the inside of the tuner holes a tiny bit to enlarge them (a fraction of a millimetre), but otherwise they are a perfect fit. Also, there is no need to drill new screw holes, and the included screws went in smooth. Of course, the old tuners will be loose if I want to restore it to stock, but they were already a bit loose to begin with. Also, I'm never going back to stock.

I had some trouble actually finding them in stock (at least in gold), but the version that's made in the USA has the added feature of being able to change the orientation of the tuning peg to either the bass or treble side. So if you can't find enough bass-side tuners, you can just use a treble-side tuner (after taking it apart and reassembling it in the other orientation, which is easy to do). Keep in mind that the same tuners made in Korea do not have the ability to swap sides. The USA models have Hipshot USA stamped on the back. The Korean ones don't (obviously).

As an alternate, the Gotoh Res-o-Lite tuners are even lighter weight and come in gold. I've been enjoying them on my Yamaha.


Here's my Hipshots for comparison:

 

[Philtastic]

But to clear up any speculation, please tell us, did you mount the new bridge into the original screw holes, and would you be willing to measure and post the dimension of the fully wrapped length portion of your short scale RS88 strings ?

I'm simply wondering whether any other brands would have fit without doing the extension - I'm thinking possibly D'Addario short scale, for which I believe that the fully wrapped part is 32".

The fully wrapped (black) part of the Rotosound RS88S short scale bass strings is 32", from where the ball end wrapping ends, to where the silk tail starts. For the record, the extender at the bridge moves the ball back 1.5", which is just enough to keep only the thin part of the silk on the tuning peg.

The actual length of the string from nut to saddle is 29", which is as good as I could get for intonation, even when using the shorter saddle screw. My intonation at the 12th fret is about 10 cents sharp, so ideally I would move the saddle a bit further back, but it's at the limit.

I only used the short saddle screws for the E and D strings, but it's probably a good idea to replace all the long saddle screws with the short ones (both long and short screws are included). I still can't get perfect intonation on the A and G strings, but I'm too lazy to take it all apart now, and I doubt I'll be doing much that high on the fretboard. Also, it's much harder to hear the difference on a bass.

I too have read that this is easy to do, but wish that someone [here] would post a tutorial with pics, mentioning what tools are required for the task.

The Hipshot USA Ultralite tuners have a small hex screw on the bottom (the black screw seen in the photo below) which holds the tuning key in place. Removing the screw allows you take out the key, and then put it back in from the other side. Then tighten the screw to the desired tension. It's a simple process.

The only tool needed is a very small Allen key. I don't know the exact size, since I just found the right one in my tool box. It's possible the small Allen key that came with the Mini P Bass would fit, or one of those multi-bit screwdrivers for small electronics would likely have the right size.

 

[DavesnothereCA]

As an alternate, the Gotoh Res-o-Lite tuners are even lighter weight and come in gold. I've been enjoying them on my Yamaha.
View attachment 4645316

Here's my Hipshots for comparison:
View attachment 4645321

~
IMNSHO, posts which include clear pictorial information [such as photos of items being weighed on scales, or of calipers on strings or nut to show gauge or width], deserve a special kind of upvote or tag which this board does not so far offer - in addition to the normal upvote, and it should be possible to look for such a tag in an advanced search.

Your last post would receive both.

That said, are the tuners in your pics the models with 3/8" posts [as per compatible with a Mini-P bass] ?

I think that those Gotohs only come in that size anyway.
~

 

[RodRy]

~
IMNSHO, posts which include clear pictorial information [such as photos of items being weighed on scales, or of calipers on strings or nut to show gauge or width], deserve a special kind of upvote or tag which this board does not so far offer - in addition to the normal upvote, and it should be possible to look for such a tag in an advanced search.

Your last post would receive both.

That said, are the tuners in your pics the models with 3/8" posts [as per compatible with a Mini-P bass] ?

I think that those Gotohs only come in that size anyway.
~

Glad I had those weight pics to include!

Now I will need to go check my basses.

Oops, can't. The one with the Gotohs is at the luthier's getting electronic work done. From my feeble recollection, the posts are about 1/2" diameter. The Hipshots came off my Rob Allen when I put Sperzel locking tuners on it.

 

[amr1695]

So I stumbled across the Kids Guitars section on the Fender website last year and since I saw the Mini P I vowed to get one. Mostly because I wanted a lightweight bass that didn't make me look tinier than I already am (5'1'' adult here).

And finally, on the 1st of April I received my own Mini Precision! I was actually quite surprised by its quality for the price, specially the neck. It came already setup with low action, the frets are rolled, didn't stick out from the fretboard, and the fretboard itself has rolled edges, I'd say if this thing came with a finish instead of being just raw wood it would have surpassed my 2011 Fender MiM Jazz Bass neck out of the box.

Of course it's not perfect, since it has some neck dive and the stock pickup edges are a little sharp but still, nothing that a couple of mods can't fix, I think.

So what I want to do first is to send it to my go-to luthier so she can put a finish to the back of the neck and headstock along with putting some custom vinyls and change the stock bridge to a Hipshot Kickass which I had lying around.

Though, from reading this thread I have a couple questions about some other mods I have seen here:

1. I saw that some of you changed the stock pickup with a Dimarzio Relentless Middle. I plan to do the same but I read somewhere that the screws that came with it were too long for the body of the Mini P. How did you solve it? Did you have to use the stock screws that came with the bass and use them with the Dimarzio pickups?
2. About upgrading the electronics, do you happen to know if there's a wiring kit in existence for this bass? I have seen that this kit from Amazon could work but I don't know if the pots will fit. Talking about pots, what pots does the Mini P has? Are they normal sized or mini pots?
3. Regarding knob replacements, which I think come hand in hand with the type of pots this bass has, what's the diameter to make them fit? I'm interested in this kind of knobs, which it says that fits 6mm pots.
4. About the Hipshot HB6 3/8'' UltraLite Tuners as a replacement from the stock ones, are they really drop in replacements? Because reading the last posts I remember someone had to sand down the headstock holes to make them fit, is that always the case to make this upgrade or just a particular case?
5. And finally, about solving the neck dive issue, how did you solve it? Did changing to a high mass bridge and getting lighter tuners solve the problem for you?

P.S. if you're wondering about the softcase in the photo, it's a Fender FE1225, I just bought it preemptively once I knew from reading here that a guitar sized case fits the Mini Precision, and it sure does, this thing is much smaller than what photos make them justice!

 

[Ping2000]

n

She's finally finished!

Sure, the idea was to do a quick mod, and have something to play over the winter, but you can't rush perfection. And while this definitely isn't perfect, I think it's at least pretty good…

View attachment 4642918

More pics below, but first the details:

• Strings: Rotosound RS88S flatwounds
• Pickups: DiMarzio Sixties P (DP124G)
• Bridge: Hipshot Kickass bass bridge (Okay, so the E string wouldn't fit properly, and was wrapping around the tuner post padt the silk. Luckily I had some extra strap buttons which I used to extend the string beyond the bridge, so that it wraps properly. It doesn't look great, but it seems to work.)
• Tuners: Hipshot Ultralite 3/8 Y Key
• Knobs: Hipshot O-Ring
• Strap buttons: Generic 12-pack of 4x gold, 4x black, and 4x chrome (the extras came in handy…)
• String Tree: Knockoff Hipshot 3-string retainer (I think it's Guyker, but I'm not sure. Got it on AliExpress, along with a gold one, just in case. It's off axis by a millimeter or two, and it's driving me crazy.)
• Output jack: Maybe Hosco
• Fender Logo: Gold metal decal sticker from Ebay (0.09 mm thick)
• Neckplate: Gotoh (included screws were too long, so I painted the original Squier screws gold using a DecoColor Premium gold paint pen.)
• Pots: Mini Alpha 250K audio taper
• Capacitor: Maybe Hosco Polyester 0.047uf
• Wiring: 22 AWG silicone wires from Amazon (none of those fancy cloth wires)
• Pickguard: Earlpilanz on Ebay (after my attempt to cover the original pickguard in black vinyl failed miserably. Pickguard screws purchased elsewhere.)
• Headstock: Oracal 651 high gloss black vinyl wrap (which, while not perfect, came out way better than the pickguard attempts.)

The bass itself cost me $275 CAD, tax in. All the upgrades came to just over $700 CAD (including tax and shipping). So yeah, I nearly quadrupled the total price.

But I love the look, and more importantly, the sound. It has that real old-school, warm sound. (I didn't like the metallic twang of the original strings.) Plus, it was a fun, if sometimes frustrating, project.

Well worth the time, money, and experience gained. Now I just need to learn how to play…

View attachment 4642918 View attachment 4642919 View attachment 4642921 View attachment 4642922 View attachment 4642923 View attachment 4642924 View attachment 4642926 View attachment 4642927

Love it, but you are going to accuse me of copying when mine is done! I fell in love with the 2008 Midnight P Bass and am making a mini clone. I just finished amber dyeing the neck today. I am going to use a silver Squier
waterslide to try and match the silver Fender logo. My one other deviation was the Gold Relentless pickups. Anyway, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and/or great minds think alike!

 

[Philtastic]

Love it, but you are going to accuse me of copying when mine is done! I fell in love with the 2008 Midnight P Bass and am making a mini clone. I just finished amber dyeing the neck today. I am going to use a silver Squier
waterslide to try and match the silver Fender logo. My one other deviation was the Gold Relentless pickups. Anyway, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and/or great minds think alike!

I did a lot of research (aka scouring Google Images for "all black p bass") until I came across the Midnight P Bass, as well. So I can't say my design was entirely original. Although I think the gold pickups really pop, whereas black pickups on a black pickguard on a black body is just a sea of black, and everything gets lost.

As for the Relentless pickups, I almost went with those, but after finding the Sixties P, I knew they'd give me that vintage tone I was after. The Relentless should be great for a more modern sound, though.