The Squier Mini Precision Bass Club

[SBassman]

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Thanks for clearing up the acronym.

As for Fender, I'll move on when they fix their site.

Manufacturers should not mislead consumers about their products.

It would prob'ly be too much to expect Fender to be reading message boards such as TalkBass, to learn what consumers think about their products, but a conscientious customer-centric company would be.

Would they pay attention to emails, if some of us contacted them, explained the discrepancies, and pointed to this and other threads where they have been discussed ?

A large part of me doubts it.
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A constructive action for this would be to write to Fender and hope for the best.
They actually have an active customer support channel, and they respond quickly.
Whether the message will lead to change, I doubt it, but in my book, it is the only constructive approach.

Repeated references here are Not going to bring about any change. Just possibly chase people away from following the thread. IMHO, of course.

 

[J Posega]

It’s really amazing how granular some peoples wants & “needs” are from a sub-$200 bass.

Also, it’s not just as simple as pushing a couple buttons to make the CNC cut a wider neck. The geometry of the whole thing changes, so the profile of the back of the neck has to altered, how the transition fro

~
Thanks for clearing up the acronym.

As for Fender, I'll move on when they fix their site.

Manufacturers should not mislead consumers about their products.

It would prob'ly be too much to expect Fender to be reading message boards such as TalkBass, to learn what consumers think about their products, but a conscientious customer-centric company would be.

Would they pay attention to emails, if some of us contacted them, explained the discrepancies in the specs of Squier Mini P and Bronco basses published on their website, and pointed to this and other threads where they have been discussed ?

A large part of me doubts it.
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If Fender tunes into this thread they’ll see one guy make a decent point, a bunch of people agree with him, and then watch as he proceeds to beat the dead horse to a pulp.

Message Fender. They probably do have someone who reads these forums, or skins them for content, but Talkbass nerds don’t represent a vast majority of bass players.

 

[SBassman]

There are two channels to bring about Stuff:

1. Sales
2. Their customer support channel.

As this thread helps sell these basses, That and only That will get the interest of a Fender to possibly do other derivative Stuff. Then #2 kicks in - to possibly suggest what the derivative Stuff is.

This thread's value is in helping sell basses, and, helping each other turn the basses into what we want them to be. It's definitely not the channel to Fender.

 

[DavesnothereCA]

It’s really amazing how granular some peoples' wants & “needs” are from a sub-$200 bass....

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There are two parts to what I have been saying :

(1) That Fender might build a Squier class of bass that would suit me, which may never happen, and I completely understand the dynamics of why not, from a business perspective, though as I have posted upthread, I [and I expect others] would be willing to pay somewhat more if they did offer such a bass,

(2) That they publish accurate specs about whatever they ARE building and selling, and their not doing this, that is what bothers me more than anything else, as a consumer in general.

I would feel at peace with Fender if they were to accomplish just (2), and likely will give a try to contacting them, or perhaps better yet, to running these concerns past one or more of their major customer-centric retailers such as Sweetwater and Canada's Long and McQuade, who have parroted Fender's specs inaccuracies on THEIR respective websites, last time I checked.

- - -

Regarding the programming of CNC machines, I will defer to your remarks about that, as you likely have some experience with them.
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[Volker Kirstein]

 

[TK4261]

I received my Hipshot Ultralite 3/8" Lollypop tuners and installed them this afternoon. The bushing/sleeves had just a hair of play in them so I wrapped them with 1 1/2 wraps of HVAC metal tape and now they have zero play..Solid. I placed the string tree/retainer on it for the pic but wont install that till I get the Bass assembled and strung up. I have not decided what kind of nut I would like to try on it. I have a Jazz size uncut Nickel blank, A cut compensated Brass Jazz nut and a Graph Tech Black TUSQ blank. I am adding the Graph Tech TUSQ string saver bridge saddles to the Hipshot bridge so I am leaning more towards the Compensated Brass nut to balance out having the GT TUSQ saddles. I dont know what tonal difference if any it will produce.

 

[Volker Kirstein]

... I have a Jazz size uncut Nickel blank, A cut compensated Brass Jazz nut and a Graph Tech Black TUSQ blank. I am adding the Graph Tech TUSQ string saver bridge saddles to the Hipshot bridge so I am leaning more towards the Compensated Brass nut to balance out having the GT TUSQ saddles. I dont know what tonal difference if any it will produce. ...

Any tonal differences from nut material would only apply to open note strings. On a fretted note, the nut makes 0 difference.

Also, there is little evidence that nut material effects tone/sustain at all. Much of the anecdotal evidence comes from replacing "worn out" or "damaged" nuts, where it would sound better no matter what type nut you put on.

 

[DavesnothereCA]

Any tonal differences from nut material would only apply to open note strings. On a fretted note, the nut makes 0 difference.

Also, there is little evidence that nut material effects tone/sustain at all. Much of the anecdotal evidence comes from replacing "worn out" or "damaged" nuts, where it would sound better no matter what type nut you put on.

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Exactly.

OTOH, the effect of the composition/construction of the BRIDGE on the character of the sound is a horse of a different colour.

But regarding nuts, on instruments with a so-called 'zero fret', such as the German-built and Contemporary series of Hofner basses, it is SO much easier to get the strings to sit at the correct height at that end of the instrument, which contributes significantly to making it easier to set intonation properly, which leads to better tuning accuracy and stability, as well as not having the strings sit differently if you change gauges later, like often happens with V-shaped grooves of a poorly cut one-piece nut.

I know that it likely costs a tad more to build that way, but consistent with other comments which I am known for making, I don't mind paying a bit extra for something worthwhile and quality enhancing, for everything in life, not just musical gear.

WARNING - Topic Drift :

I wish that I could afford a German-built Hofner Club bass , instead of my Ignition series.

But a new one is something like $4,000 Canadian ! - Plus 13% sales tax.

Used Contemporary series clubs come up occasionally [near enough to me] for under $1000 CAD with a hard case.

And any Hofner basses which I have seen, played, or about which I have read, all have necks which fit my hand and long experience [muscle memory].
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[MakoMan]

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Exactly.

OTOH, the effect of the composition/construction of the BRIDGE on the character of the sound is a horse of a different colour.

But regarding nuts, on instruments with a so-called 'zero fret', such as the German-built and Contemporary series of Hofner basses, it is SO much easier to get the strings to sit at the correct height at that end of the instrument, which contributes significantly to making it easier to set intonation properly, which leads to better tuning accuracy and stability, as well as not having the strings sit differently if you change gauges later, like often happens with V-shaped grooves of a poorly cut one-piece nut.

I know that it likely costs a tad more to build that way, but consistent with other comments which I am known for making, I don't mind paying a bit extra for something worthwhile and quality enhancing, for everything in life, not just musical gear.

WARNING - Topic Drift :

I wish that I could afford a German-built Hofner Club bass , instead of my Ignition series.

But a new one is something like $4,000 Canadian ! - Plus 13% sales tax.

Used Contemporary series clubs come up occasionally [near enough to me] for under $1000 CAD with a hard case.

And any Hofner basses which I have seen, played, or about which I have read, all have necks which fit my hand and long experience [muscle memory].
~

Go on Dave... buy a Mini P... you know you want to, otherwise you would not be spending so much time in this thread

 

[GrahamNN3]

How do you change the strap buttons?

Do they twist or pull out easily?

 

[GrahamNN3]

How do you change the strap buttons?

Do they twist or pull out easily?

Changed my glasses and I can now see there’s a screw!

 

[SBassman]

Changed my glasses and I can now see there’s a screw!

No pulling allowed. . Screwdriver only.

 

[Diver]

Go on Dave... buy a Mini P... you know you want to, otherwise you would not be spending so much time in this thread

Wait, what? I myself got fooled in thinking he did hahaha...DO IT Dave!

 

[DavesnothereCA]

Go on Dave... buy a Mini P... you know you want to, otherwise you would not be spending so much time in this thread

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Actually, I'm mostly AFK, but leave the computer logged in 24-7.

I certainly can AFFORD one of these, in fact I could afford TWO, one in each colour, and I'd gladly pay the price of two, maybe more, to have just one [standard short scale] bass, ANY make of bass, which matched my other requirements/wishlist as mentioned upthread.

BTW, for those looking for best price on them, I think that we Canadians can do better by ordering the Mini P from the thomannmusic.de site, rather than from L&M or Amazon.ca , for example, even when paying the Fedex shipping to here from Germany (not sure how it works out if you are in USA though).

When I checked, the bass was $116 CAD, and shipping was $92 CAD, and I expect that someone would be holding out their hand for about $14 of HST.

I discovered this before we had confirmed that the neck at the nut is too narrow for me.

OTOH, L&M wants $250 CAD plus 13% HST on that, plus shipping or driving there, which for me would be about $30 of fuel [the REAL GAS].

And if you DO want two of them from Thomann, the shipping costs no more than for one, so you could split an order with a friend, or have one in each colour all to yourself, or have spare parts - all KINDS of reasons !
~

 

[Diver]

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Actually, I'm mostly AFK, but leave the computer logged in 24-7.

I certainly can AFFORD one of these, in fact I could afford TWO, one in each colour, and I'd gladly pay the price of TWO, maybe more, to have just one bass, ANY bass, which matched my requirements/wishlist as mentioned upthread.

BTW, for those looking for best price on them, I think that we Canadians can do better by ordering the Mini P from the thomannmusic.de site, than from L&M or Amazon.ca , for example, even when paying the shipping to here from Europe (not sure how it works out if you are in USA).

I discovered this before we had confirmed that the nut is too narrow for me.

And if you DO want two of them, the shipping costs no more than for one, so you could split an order with a friend, or have one in each colour all to yourself, or have spare parts - all KINDS of reasons !
~

Just curious, how much price difference did you find between Thomann and L&M/Amazon? And is that often the case when purchasing music instruments in Canada? I thought Thomann shipped from Europe or do they have a warehouse in North America now?

 

[DavesnothereCA]

Just curious, how much price difference did you find between Thomann and L&M/Amazon? And is that often the case when purchasing music instruments in Canada? I thought Thomann shipped from Europe or do they have a warehouse in North America now?

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I think I added the info to my last post, before reading your question.

Just call me 'Carnac reincarnated'.

Thomann also has a .com site, but it looks to be a mirror of the .de site, and shipping is the same, so must be from Germany for both.
~

 

[Diver]

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I think I added the info to my last post, before reading your question.

Just call me 'Carnac reincarnated'.

Thomann also has a .com site, but it looks to be a mirror of the .de site, and shipping is the same, so must be from Germany for both.
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The site has it now at $168, but I am in the US so it is not letting me calculating shipping costs, but it sounds like it equates the $260 CAD overall purchase if shipping is $91 CAD. Are you sure you weren't looking at the UK prices in pounds?
I was asking because I have a cousin in Canada who's kid wants to start bass. I think they'd rather get it from L&M, pay the extra driving gas in case of a return, which I would assume is easier via a music store. I doubt Thomann can have you return it for free, but I may be wrong.

 

[DavesnothereCA]

The site has it now at $168, but I am in the US so it is not letting me calculating shipping costs, but it sounds like it equates the $260 CAD overall purchase if shipping is $91 CAD. Are you sure you weren't looking at the UK prices in pounds?
I was asking because I have a cousin in Canada who's kid wants to start bass. I think they'd rather get it from L&M, pay the extra driving gas in case of a return, which I would assume is easier via a music store. I doubt Thomann can have you return it for free, but I may be wrong.

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While you were looking, I also checked again, and was about to post that I too saw that the price had jumped.

Then I saw your next post.

Not only the price, but they now refuse to ship to Canada when you select it.

They say that they blame Fender, and suggest buying another brand.

Sounds like they briefly did, and then some US and/or Canadian dealers complained.

At the price I posted I had seen only a few days ago, I'm not surprised if this did happen.

And everything was in Canadian funds, with the shipping quoted on a separate line of the order.

You know what they say about things which seem too good to be true....
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[Diver]

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While you were looking, I also checked again, and was about to post that I too saw that the price had jumped.

Then I saw your next post.

Not only the price, but they now refuse to ship to Canada when you select it.

They say that they blame Fender, and suggest buying another brand.

Sounds like they briefly did, and then some US and/or Canadian dealers complained.

At the price I posted I had seen only a few days ago, I'm not surprised if this did happen.

And everything was in Canadian funds, with the shipping quoted on a separate line of the order.

You know what they say about things which seem too good to be true....
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Yeah, I work for an audio company in the US and Thomann is famously known for displaying that butt-hurt message about the brand not letting them sell into such and such country.
America has MAP, the EU doesn't (it is illegal there),plus, and more importantly, there is no in-country support. Most brands don't give distribution deals unless you have a support chain backing it up, so you would have to deal with the manufacturer, provided he is in the US.
We found some of our top of the line products in Brazil with European cables, German user guides and poor customers left with no other option than to go the to local distributor/dealer who now has to honor warranty for something someone outside the country made profit on. What could possibly go wrong?

 

[Volker Kirstein]

... I certainly can AFFORD one of these, in fact I could afford TWO, one in each colour, and I'd gladly pay ...

You want one regardless. You can hear it calling... Pick me up, Dave! Stroke my neck, Dave! Make me moan, Dave! You know you want to. Give in to temptation.