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The Squier Mini Precision Bass Club

#4,461
WI Short Scaler said:
So can I ask a small favor of the group members here?

Can someone give me a measurement from the nut to the 12th fret on their mini P? Just wanting to compare to a Bronco neck for a build idea. I realize the Mini has 20 frets and the Bronco has 19, just wondering if I could get that and see if the saddles on one of my parts basses would be able to accomdate this change without moving the bridge.

Thanks.

If it's a stupid idea, as in not possible, be kind :D I'm not an expert at anything just randomly thinking of this possibility.
Click to expand...
362mm from inside edge of the nut to the center of the 12th fret for me.
 
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#4,465
andare said:
14 3/10 :)

I'll never understand how Americans deal with fractions, they get complicated real soon for me. 5/64", 3/32" etc.

In fact, isn't that why the third pounder burger failed? People thought it was smaller than a quarter pounder IIRC.
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Unfortunately that sounds about right, on the burger that it is. Just try paying a bill of $4.32 at a convenience store and give them $5.32. The clerk will most often freeze up not understanding what's going on.

I really like the Bronco neck on my avatar bass but was thinking a rosewood/laurel neck might add some depth to it like the original. And want something thinner than the original. Was just wondering if a Mini P neck might work, even with more frets being shorter that possibly I could adjust the bridge without moving it.

Seems if I go down that road the best option is really to purchase a new Sonic Bronco, the black ones have the laurel board, and part it out. I have a Squier Mustang CV in capri orange and I like that neck alot. Once you start tinkering.....
 
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#4,466
WI Short Scaler said:
Unfortunately that sounds about right, on the burger that it is. Just try paying a bill of $4.32 at a convenience store and give them $5.32. The clerk will most often freeze up not understanding what's going on.

I really like the Bronco neck on my avatar bass but was thinking a rosewood/laurel neck might add some depth to it like the original. And want something thinner than the original. Was just wondering if a Mini P neck might work, even with more frets being shorter that possibly I could adjust the bridge without moving it.

Seems if I go down that road the best option is really to purchase a new Sonic Bronco, the black ones have the laurel board, and part it out. I have a Squier Mustang CV in capri orange and I like that neck alot. Once you start tinkering.....
Click to expand...
The new Broncos have the Jazz nut width like the Mini, 38mm.
The Mini has a thin neck front to back, nice medium jumbo frets and of curse the sub-short scale. Quite the cramped playing experienced. I often find myself wishing it was a regular 30" bass with a >40mm nut width.

Or you can wait for Fender to reintroduce rosewood in all product lines in 5 years, come to their senses and reissue a proper Musicmaster with the pre-1978 pickguard and the improvements of the Squier Vista.
Wait, that's MY dream :)
 
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#4,468
Verne Andru said:
It's a British thing (Imperial system) they pound into your head during grade school. Crazy thing is the US went metric when Canada did 1975, it's just not being used for some strange reason.
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"Went metric" is a bit inaccurate. It was passed by Congress, but with most Americans being stubborn boneheads, it didn't last long. Americans would rather do things the stupid, hard way than the right, easy way.
 
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#4,470
J Posega said:
"Went metric" is a bit inaccurate. It was passed by Congress, but with most Americans being stubborn boneheads, it didn't last long. Americans would rather do things the stupid, hard way than the right, easy way.
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Not just Americans. People. Resistance to change when a habit is ingrained is common.
Just look at the letters on your keyboard. Their layout was necessitated by typewriter hammers jamming but when that technology was surpassed they could've been arranged in a more logical way yet people didn't want to relearn the layout. It's the so called QWERTY effect.
Similarly for guitars.
 
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#4,471
andare said:
Not just Americans. People. Resistance to change when a habit is ingrained is common.
Just look at the letters on your keyboard. Their layout was necessitated by typewriter hammers jamming but when that technology was surpassed they could've been arranged in a more logical way yet people didn't want to relearn the layout. It's the so called QWERTY effect.
Similarly for guitars.
Click to expand...
Yeah but especially Americans.
 
#4,472
andare said:
Not just Americans. People. Resistance to change when a habit is ingrained is common.
Click to expand...
I'm in Canada which changed at the same time the US did. Everything is metric - road signs, weather, government and corporate measures, and etc. I grew up during the Imperial system and must admit to still preferring the "old" way; you create an association between how cold it is and the number that's pretty hard to break. That said, I do metric and if the US was serious about it some legislative changes at the federal level could make that happen pretty quickly.

andare said:
Just look at the letters on your keyboard. Their layout was necessitated by typewriter hammers jamming but when that technology was surpassed they could've been arranged in a more logical way yet people didn't want to relearn the layout. It's the so called QWERTY effect.
Similarly for guitars.
Click to expand...
I did computer science at college just as micro-computers were being created. Part of the course included keyboarding training; the teacher was used to training secretary pools which were usually women who could type at blazing speeds.

I got up to 140 WPM, which is fast enough to keep up with somebody talking. The reason I could do that is because the QWERTY layout is designed to facilitate speed and accuracy. That's achieved by proper posture and hand positioning.

So I think your point is better phrased as - people today haven't been trained to use their primary input device properly which leads then to wrongly accuse the device of being improperly designed. I mean typing using only your thumbs?
 
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#4,473
Verne Andru said:
I'm in Canada which changed at the same time the US did. Everything is metric - road signs, weather, government and corporate measures, and etc. I grew up during the Imperial system and must admit to still preferring the "old" way; you create an association between how cold it is and the number that's pretty hard to break. That said, I do metric and if the US was serious about it some legislative changes at the federal level could make that happen pretty quickly.


I did computer science at college just as micro-computers were being created. Part of the course included keyboarding training; the teacher was used to training secretary pools which were usually women who could type at blazing speeds.

I got up to 140 WPM, which is fast enough to keep up with somebody talking. The reason I could do that is because the QWERTY layout is designed to facilitate speed and accuracy. That's achieved by proper posture and hand positioning.

So I think your point is better phrased as - people today haven't been trained to use their primary input device properly which leads then to wrongly accuse the device of being improperly designed. I mean typing using only your thumbs?
Click to expand...
Apparently it wasn't the hammers jamming, it was telegraph operators who developed the qwerty layout because it helped them with Morse code.
And then typists were trained with that layout so it stayed.
So the point still applies, there's no need for us to use this layout today. Two thumbs is pretty much the only option on phones.
 
#4,474
andare said:
Apparently it wasn't the hammers jamming, it was telegraph operators who developed the qwerty layout because it helped them with Morse code.
And then typists were trained with that layout so it stayed.
So the point still applies, there's no need for us to use this layout today. Two thumbs is pretty much the only option on phones.
Click to expand...
There's no doubt the originals are mechanical inventions, but the layout of the keys only makes sense if you are a touch typist. I also worked for the railroad and am very familiar with old teletype gear - it was all fine tuned to facilitate speed and accuracy of the man-machine interface. What we tried to do when converting to computers was maintain close proximity to the analog original to facilitate transitioning to the new devices. That was the key criteria - facilitating ease-of-use based on what people were already familiar with. Futuristic designs, limited to mostly science fiction, included the Dick Tracey video-phone watch which envisioned a voice and picture interface not a software version of an analog keyboard.
 
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#4,476
Mountain Mike said:
Common misconception but °C isn't "metric" nor is °F "Imperial".

They are just two temp scales that happened to get get wide usage.
Click to expand...
...With the latter being only confined to USA, the Cayman Islands and Liberia for official use, in current times.
It is true that the unit of temperature adopted in the SI is the degree kelvin, which is equal to the Celsius one (with the zeroes of the respective scales being 273.15 degrees apart).
Also, the gradual worldwide spread of the Celsius scale happened alongside metrification.
 
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#4,477
I got the Mini-P as my lunch break bass at work! I am very surprised at how good it sounds.

A couple things needed fixing for sure:

-I recommend replacing the stock strings ASAP. I got the specially made set of Labella's and I cannot be happier. I initially thought the weak sounding G string was an inherent issue with the bass - nope, the string change completely resolved this issue.

-The tuners needed to go. The factory ones are atrocious (as to be expected with a $250 CAD bass. The new Gotoh GB707s work much better. I'm sure it's been mentioned before but they drop in great other than the screws on the back which had to be filled and redrilled. The bushings were extremely snug however!

-A couple frets needed to be pressed into the fretboard - again, not surprising considering the price point.
 
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#4,478
I got one used from Guitar Center and loved it, though the strings felt a bit floppy. Spent a few hours modding it this weekend and I can't believe how good this thing is. I used some Guyker knock offs of the Wilkinson knock offs of Hipshot tuners, a Hipshot Vintage bridge I had lying around for years and a Delano p bass pickup. The bridge made a huge difference with the action— no more floppy strings and the Delano sounds big and full. I had an NP4 in there at first, but didn't like the way the strings sat over the poles. I reamed the pickguard for full sized pots and used an RS Guitarworks 280k super pot, a CTS no load tons pot with a Russian PIO cap and Switchcraft jack. I may swap the tuners out for cork sniffery, but they work fine as is. Action super low and it just came out great. I had already bought a second used one before modding this one and it came with flats, so that will be the next modding project.
IMG_7542.jpeg
 
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#4,479
June-2022-Mini.jpg
Philtastic said:
I think this board is single-handedly keeping that guy in business! But why the new pickguard? Wasn't the original one white?
Click to expand...
He does great work, he's dependable and fast! Well worth the investment. I added one of his black pickguards along with a few "minor" upgrades (Grover Mini Tuners, Kickass Bridge and tree, Dimarzio Quarter Pounder, a USA made custom wiring harness and Schaller Straplocks). I then re-cut the factory nut, rolled the fingerboard, perfectly leveled the frets, re-dressed and polished them. Next, I carefully copper foiled the inside cavity, and my new pickguard. I also added Rotosound 77 Short Scale Jazz flatwounds which are amazing! To top it off, I added Fender Factory Knobs to fit the new Bourns (Military Spec) Audio taper pots (the original knobs only fit small import pot shafts) and tapped out the pickguard holes to fit. I also added a ZERO-MOD thumb rest, 'cause I'm actually a guitar player in real life. :)
 
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#4,480
Hey all. New here. Love the forum. I'm not much of a mod'r, but I like playing the mini so much that I decided to spend a few extra bucks and some time to make it my own. The hi-mass bridge/string thru allows me to use any short scale string I want. I have some Dunlop flat ones on it that I used to have on a MIM Mustang. Pickups came from the Mustang as well. The open back tuners are Guyker (Amazon). They are very nice. One of the originals broke, so I had to upgrade the tuners no matter what. The pick guard is the original with an automotive vinyl wrap on it. I put normal size strap buttons on it. Also regular size pots. The paint is Dupli-Color Pewter (Corvette color). It sounds fantastic and is a lot of fun to play. Photos below.
 
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