The Squier Mini Precision Bass Club

[Joel T]

I'm wondering how popular this Mini P-Bass is right now. I do feel like this is something Fender should've made a long time ago, shortly after they introduced the Mini Stratocaster. The Mini P-Bass is great for a mod-platform. Imagine a Mini P-Bass can still play great in the 2100s while it was manufactured in the 2020s. Quality does matter at some point. What a bargain for the one I bought back in 2022, in my opinion.

 

[Brocephus]

I'm wondering how popular this Mini P-Bass is right now......

Well, I did hear that there's an entire sub-forum dedicated to them on one of the big bass forums !!

 

[J Posega]

I'm wondering how popular this Mini P-Bass is right now. I do feel like this is something Fender should've made a long time ago, shortly after they introduced the Mini Stratocaster. The Mini P-Bass is great for a mod-platform. Imagine a Mini P-Bass can still play great in the 2100s while it was manufactured in the 2020s. Quality does matter at some point. What a bargain for the one I bought back in 2022, in my opinion.

Fender has made subshort scale P basses before, all the way down to 23” scale. For whatever reasons, they weren’t particularly popular.

 

[Brocephus]

To comment on a couple previous posts, I agree that these little bastages are a great deal, I've even had perfectly acceptable service from the cheap bridge and tuners.
When I was first considering my Mini (maybe a year and a half ago?), I spotted a killer (and short lived) deal at one if the big on line retailers, for $149. Earlier, i got my Bronco with a price match from our big local music store, so I rode into town to personally check our the Mini P they had in stock. It was perfect, so i ran the current deal by them, almost expecting them to refuse, but after checking, they said OK, so I was committed at that point ! (But never regretted it).
As to their lack of popularity, all I can think of is how floppy the strings felt when I first checked one out a year or two earlier. I was still playing a full sized bass, and while I thought the Mini was kinda cool, that almost ridiculous lack of string tension really put me off. Later, as my steadily aging fingers starting aching fron the full sized bass's reach and tension, I switched to a short scale, and ultimately to the diminutive Mini. Oddly, the strings don't feel floppy any more (but neither do my old knuckles ache while riffing around in front of the TV!!)

 

[Keith Soileau]

Here is a quick demo of the Ernie Ball Cobalt Flatwound strings on the Mini P. Bear in mind Rocksmith tries to emulate the tone of the song although in this case for this DLC the original tone was broken so I used my trusty Opeth tone which I use on all DLC's with broken tones.

My playing isn't great as I'm still a beginner, this video was recorded for another thread that I started really but I figured I'd post it here too since its the Mini P being played.

Where did you get the black pickguard?

 

[Stuey3D]

Where did you get the black pickguard?

Pickguard for Squier MINI Precision P BASS, scratchplate: many colours, NEW | eBay

 

[Brocephus]

I'd really love to have one of these (or especially in tort), but I can't justify 50us for simple ornamentation, especially given that the bass only cost me $149, brand new.
At the advice of someone here on the forum a while back, I got a can of black satin Krylon Fusion, and spray painted my Bronco's PG, then my Mini P, and was surprised at how well it turned out ( but admitedly, the beveled edge below the bridge will wear through after a while, but not a big deal to me).

 

[Stuey3D]

I'd really love to have one of these (or especially in tort), but I can't justify 50us for simple ornamentation, especially given that the bass only cost me $149, brand new.
At the advice of someone here on the forum a while back, I got a can of black satin Krylon Fusion, and spray painted my Bronco's PG, then my Mini P, and was surprised at how well it turned out ( but admitedly, the beveled edge below the bridge will wear through after a while, but not a big deal to me).

Depends on how you look at it, yes the pickguard costs almost 1/3 what the bass cost but the pickguard is a big part of the aesthetic of the instrument and can really transform the look of the bass and make it truly yours.

That being said that Mini P is currently rocking loads of upgrades anyway and has had way more than £150 spent on it, and yes loads in here will say I'll never get my money back on it and I shoulda got a more expensive bass to begin with, but
A) There aren't any more "premium" basses at 28.6" scale length
B) I enjoy the upgrade process and the research and tinkering to get everything just right for me
C) I'm not planning on selling so resale value means little to me

I know I'd never get this money back but just for info the bass is the combination of the following:

Squier Mini P - £160
EMG Geezer P - £100
Hipshot Kickass - £80
Gotoh GB 707 - £50
Pickguard - £40
Knobs - £10

Total - Approx £440 although I already had the Geezer in another bass I wasn't playing anymore so I didn't pay all that at once.

That bass is sounding and playing great now and I love it, it is so comfortable for my hands which don't have much stretch to them so for me the upgrades were well worth it.

 

[Gabu]

Here's a weird Q, since I don't know anything really about bass modding... Is it possible to buy another one of these, pull the electronics out, fill the precision route, and route it for J pickups, and then have a J in the same scale using the body, bridge, neck, and tuners as they are?

 

[J Posega]

Here's a weird Q, since I don't know anything really about bass modding... Is it possible to buy another one of these, pull the electronics out, fill the precision route, and route it for J pickups, and then have a J in the same scale using the body, bridge, neck, and tuners as they are?

Yes. No need to fill the P route. When you take the pickguard off, you'll see that the pickup route is oversized and connected with the control cavity route.

You'll also need a new pickguard.

My experience with the same-scale Ibanez Mikro PJ is that the J pickup didn't sound good. It was very thin sounding. If you make a Squier J out of your P, I'd suggest putting the bridge pickup closer to the neck pickup to thicken it up a bit.

I really wish Squier would just release a Mini J. And more colors for the series.

 

[RodRy]

Here's a weird Q, since I don't know anything really about bass modding... Is it possible to buy another one of these, pull the electronics out, fill the precision route, and route it for J pickups, and then have a J in the same scale using the body, bridge, neck, and tuners as they are?

I would think you could buy a different bass that's already a same scale length J-bass as a mod platform. Seems much easier and the final result may be nicer. Of course, I lucked out and one of our friends here did all the great modding for me.

Still really enjoying playing this little bass I call Lily.

Posting as a thumbnail instead of full image because it does not match the title of this thread.

 

[Badabababa]

If I want to swap out with the full sizes pots, do I need new knobs as well?

 

[andare]

If I want to swap out with the full sizes pots, do I need new knobs as well?

Probably.
Pots come either with solid 1/4" (6.35mm) shafts that need knobs with a set screw or a split shaft that is 6mm. The latter can have 18 splines (if metric) or 24 splines (if imperial) and use press-on knobs.
The Mini P uses 18 spline split shaft pots so that's what knobs it comes with.
If you buy 24mm CTS pots, they will have a 1/4" solid shaft pot. I think CTS also makes pots with metric shafts now but they are less common. Check the specs of whatever you end up buying.

 

[Bass-Drum]

Is anyone aware of a half round string supplier for the mini p? Apologies if it has been addressed in the other 229 pages of discussion.

 

[J Posega]

Is anyone aware of a half round string supplier for the mini p? Apologies if it has been addressed in the other 229 pages of discussion.

The only company offering strings off-the-shelf specifically for the Mini P is La Bella and it's only a set of flatwounds.

You can probably get away with putting a standard set of short scale half-rounds on the Mini.

 

[HaphAsSard]

Is anyone aware of a half round string supplier for the mini p? Apologies if it has been addressed in the other 229 pages of discussion.

- The D'Addario ENR71S short-scale Half-Rounds (pure nickel) have been discontinued and show up as out of stock in every North American webstore link I've clicked in the past couple googling minutes. You may be luckier though.
- The GHS 3070 short-scale Brite Flats (Alloy 52 which is nickel+iron) are a bit too long at 32.75" full-winding length ball to taper, so the E string would end up on the tuning post untapered some (which is dangerous for the string, unless it turns out fine, hard to tell beforehand).
- Elites Groundwounds and
- Magma Ultra Flats (both stainless steel) are long-scale only.

- Ernie Ball 2818 and 2817 Slinky Flatwound short-scale (cobalt alloy) are true flats that are in groundwound territory tone-wise, but they too are longish, at 32.5" full-gauge winding length ball to silk.

 

[rutabaga bob]

The only company offering strings off-the-shelf specifically for the Mini P is La Bella and it's only a set of flatwounds.

You can probably get away with putting a standard set of short scale half-rounds on the Mini.

The stock strings, according to Fender, have a .095 E. The La Bella is .109. Would switching require a new nut or serious filing?

 

[Gabu]

My Mini-P is new... but the strings on my Steinberger are probably 25 years old. Man, time flies.

 

[J Posega]

The stock strings, according to Fender, have a .095 E. The La Bella is .109. Would switching require a new nut or serious filing?

Most nuts on cheap basses are filed so poorly that you can put bigger strings than stock in with no issue. I had no problem installing the La Bellas.

 

[andare]

Most nuts on cheap basses are filed so poorly that you can put bigger strings than stock in with no issue. I had no problem installing the La Bellas.

When nuts are cut poorly, it usually means the slots are not deep enough and sometimes not wide enough. I've never seen a factory nut that had oversize slots.

My Mini came with 40-95 but seems to be cut for 45-105. Usually you can go 5 above or below without issues.