The Squier Mini Precision Bass Club

[G19Tony]

The Nordstrand blades are on the way. I have the bass back apart to replace the plate with a Cosmo Black one. I installed the Graphtech nut, and installed the Luminlay green side dots. The dots were easy, I used a 2mm bit and a pin vise. The old dots came right out. I used a little wood glue and a nipper, to get as close to the neck as I could, then sanded the excess. I also polished the neck up a bit.

 

[MakoMan]

Alright, now that I am absolutely thrilled with my Mini-P with the Chrome flats, I also tracked down someone to make me a pickguard. I will let you know how it works out.

 

[GrahamNN3]

Of course there are some folks who just use whatever they are offered, and/or who do not [yet] know the difference.

And there are a few who actually prefer 'floppy' strings on a short scale bass.

DavesnothereCA - If you could have any manufacturer, any string type and gauge what would you pick for this bass?

 

[andare]

Alright, now that I am absolutely thrilled with my Mini-P with the Chrome flats, I also tracked down someone to make me a pickguard. I will let you know how it works out.

Which gauge did you go for?
I just realized that instead of spending money I could just take the long scale Fender flats I have on my J bass and see how they work. The J needed a tune up anyway and now that I have a P I restored it to its original function with rounds. Will post when I do the swap.

 

[MakoMan]

Which gauge did you go for?
I just realized that instead of spending money I could just take the long scale Fender flats I have on my J bass and see how they work. The J needed a tune up anyway and now that I have a P I restored it to its original function with rounds. Will post when I do the swap.

I always go with these on short scales. They've bumped up the tension on every bass I have.

https://www.amazon.ca/DAddario-ECB81S-Chromes-Guitar-Strings/dp/B000K669LS

 

[DavesnothereCA]

DavesnothereCA - If you could have any manufacturer, any string type and gauge what would you pick for this bass? [Squier Mini-P]

~
If only the string makers would ask me that ! [and be prepared to follow through]

Now you realize that I do not have a Squier Mini-P, but that said, I like the feel and sound of the LaBella LT flats [42-100] which I got for my Hofner Ignition Club bass, and I have used GHS Brite Flats for many years, starting on my Ric during the 1970s when they made them for Dean Markley as Ground Round Wounds, so those would be on my 'Short List'.

I would continue to use flatwound or ground types.

Gauges for the Mini P ?

IMNSHO, the GHS Brite Flats are already a respectable gauge for SS [49-108, IIRC], so I might just ask for them to be custom wound to the proper length of around 30 or 31".

And for LaBella, I might try their 43-104 gauge DTF set, made shorter for the Mini-P, if I was working from gauges currently being produced, and LaBella already offers a wider variety of gauge choices in other scale lengths than most other makers do.

If I had to go in steps of 5 thousandths, I would likely begin with trying 45-60-80-105 for most 30" short scale basses, and possibly also for the Mini-P, for which 50-65-85-110 also might be considered.

For a long scale bass, I'm thinking 40-55-70-95 or 40-55-75-100, and already bought some LaBella [39-96] DTFs for my Ric, not yet tried - the Ric has had 45-56-77-98 Brite Flats [DM GRW] on it for many years.
~

 

[MakoMan]

So I spoke to the guy about the pickguard and he said to just order the material and he will be happy to make it for me. He's about a 5 minute drive away. I'm ordering the material today and will take it over there this week. I actually own a custom walnut telecaster that he made and he asked me if I'd be interested in selling it back to him. I'm swapping it back for the pickguard and future custom work on my stuff, or maybe a short scale bass build.
I'll also ask him to make a template so that if anyone else from the club wants a pickguard they can just contact me

 

[GrahamNN3]

~
If only the string makers would ask me that ! [and be prepared to follow through]

Now you realize that I do not have a Squier Mini-P, but that said, I like the feel and sound of the LaBella LT flats [42-100] which I got for my Hofner Ignition Club bass, and I have used GHS Brite Flats for many years, starting on my Ric during the 1970s when they made them for Dean Markley as Ground Round Wounds, so those would be on my 'Short List'.

I would continue to use flatwound or ground types.

Gauges for the Mini P ?

IMNSHO, the GHS Brite Flats are already a respectable gauge for SS [49-108, IIRC], so I might just ask for them to be custom wound to the proper length of around 30 or 31".

And for LaBella, I might try their 43-104 gauge DTF set, made shorter for the Mini-P, if I was working from gauges currently being produced, and LaBella already offers a wider variety of gauge choices in other scale lengths than most other makers do.

If I had to go in steps of 5 thousandths, I would likely begin with trying 45-60-80-105 for most 30" short scale basses, and possibly also for the Mini-P, for which 50-65-85-110 also might be considered.

For a long scale bass, I'm thinking 40-55-70-95 or 40-55-75-100, and already bought some LaBella [39-96] DTFs for my Ric, not yet tried - the Ric has had 45-56-77-98 Brite Flats [DM GRW] on it for many years.
~

Although you’ve not bought anything your a great customer - because you know what you want!

I asked LaBella about strings for the Mini and their answer was; No ... “We have found that going any shorter (than 30”) really affect the intonation of the strings.”

I’m actually a pianist / programmer who plays a bit of bass, my knowledge of strings & gauges is poor, which is why I work from recommendation. Tapes look after my fingers and don’t need much time to wear in - which is why their my current chosen string.

 

[DavesnothereCA]

Although you’ve not bought anything you're a great customer - because you know what you want!

I asked LaBella about strings for the Mini and their answer was; No ... “We have found that going any shorter (than 30”) really affect the intonation of the strings.”

I’m actually a pianist / programmer who plays a bit of bass, my knowledge of strings & gauges is poor, which is why I work from recommendation. Tapes look after my fingers and don’t need much time to wear in - which is why their my current chosen string.

~
You are right that knowing what I want makes me a better customer, albeit a PITA.

But I HAVE bought strings in the recent past, for some of my other basses, and that has helped me learn what I will want [or not] for future purchases.

I ordered the LaBella extra light 39-96 DTFs for my full scale Ric because I liked how their 42-100 LTFs presented themselves on my short scale Hofner, and that was my first deviation of string choice for the Ric since the 1980s.

Ordering the LTFs for the Hofner did require some research though, partially because of the non-standard way in which Hofner basses regard scale length vs wound length [due to their trapeze style bridges], and partially because I was about to try proper flats again after a long period of only using the 'ground' string types on my Ric, continuing with short scale GHS Brite Flats on a 30" scale 2010 USA Gibson SG bass, so I had an idea how the tension of those in short scale would feel, and chose not to go quite that heavy for the hollowbody Hofner.

Shopping for strings for the Hofner also emphasized in general the very limited available selection of anything but long scale bass strings.

I am about to shop for [non-round] strings for a medium scale Ibanez RS721 bass from 1981-82, which I bought last March, and I fully expect my choices to be even MORE restricted than for short scale basses.
~

 

[DavesnothereCA]

Although you’ve not bought anything you're a great customer - because you know what you want!

I asked LaBella about strings for the Mini and their answer was; No ... “We have found that going any shorter (than 30”) really affect the intonation of the strings.”

I’m actually a pianist / programmer who plays a bit of bass, my knowledge of strings & gauges is poor, which is why I work from recommendation. Tapes look after my fingers and don’t need much time to wear in - which is why their my current chosen string.

~
I give LaBella credit for avoiding a market segment which, if entered, in their opinion might hurt their reputation.

Judging by the selection which they already offer bassists in other scale lengths, they obviously have the tooling available to do so if they chose.

OTOH, if they are correct about it being tough to intonate a 28.6" scale bass, then we ought to be reading a lot more complaints about this on TB than we HAVE been reading.

And between the Ibanez Mikro, the Jackson Minion, and now the Squier Mini-P, that market segment is growing.

Hmmmm....

That said, I am curious as to how the folks with the Pyramid custom/bespoke flatwounds for the Mini-P feel about the tuning and intonation of those [including you, right ?], after playing them for a while.

As for tape wounds, I have not tried them very often, and not recently.

I always found the degree of increase in gauge to be uncomfortable, as most makers just add an extra layer of nylon to some string which they already make, AFAIK.

IME, the one exception to that last remark was the Rickenbacker branded strings, available in glossy red boxes during the 70s, the tapes of which were heavier than their own flats, but not as much so as other brands of tapes were, compared to each respective brand of flats at the time.

IIRC, the G was only .050 in those, for example, and I might still have a set of them lurking in my used string archive.

I do not think that Ric markets those any more, maybe no a-la-carte strings at all ?

BTW, all of those Ric strings were pre-cut to fit a Ric 4001 with a 2x2 headstock, not a Fender, though I came up with a creative way to extend the G & D for a P-bass playing friend.
~

 

[macmanlou]

I asked LaBella about strings for the Mini and their answer was; No ... “We have found that going any shorter (than 30”) really affect the intonation of the strings.”

I think they still make these in small batches, though. You can find them on Reverb for $60, or get on Gold Tone's waiting list for $40 a set. They've been getting them in stock 2-3 times a year. They intonate well on 25" scale solid bodies. Too short for the Mini, though.

MicroBass LaBella Flat Wound Strings | Gold Tone Folk Instruments

 

[GrahamNN3]

I am curious as to how the folks with the Pyramid custom/bespoke flatwounds for the Mini-P feel about the tuning and intonation of those [including you, right ?], after playing them for a while

Yes, I have Pyramid custom/bespoke tapewounds on my Mini, they sound great - but my setup needs some help.

Normally, a pro-bass player who I write with will come over to work - he does setup far better than I can.

But unfortunately due to COVID I’m back in lockdown so my bass still has my thrown on strings. I know the nut needs sorting so for now the intonation is not perfect - but not far off. I am sure the strings will be fine.

Pyramid have been making strings since 1850 - although not for bass guitar.

 

[andare]

So I spent the whole day working on my basses.

The Harley Benton Jazz is now a Jazz again with the rounds it came with 5 years ago. Also fixed the sinking pickups and took the pickguard off.

I worked on the Mini as well. I dressed and polished the frets and rolled and oiled the fretboard. Much better.
I put on the flats I had on the Jazz (Fender 9050ML - 50, 65, 85, 100 long scale) and unfortunately the E wouldn't even fit in the post, so I stripped the winding and it decoupled form the core and now it sounds like a bumble bee
I guess buying a short scale set will remedy this (albeit with a bit of full size string on the post) but the other issue is more serious: the silk at the ball end ends up on the saddle. I don't know how this affects the sound because the string is dead anyway.
It's right there on the A and close on the G. This is weird since the bridge on the Mini is standard size (or is it?).

Hey @MakoMan do you have this issue with the ECB81S Chromes? Thanks in advance for answering.

 

[MakoMan]

I guess buying a short scale set will remedy this (albeit with a bit of full size string on the post) but the other issue is more serious: the silk at the ball end ends up on the saddle. I don't know how this affects the sound because the string is dead anyway.
It's right there on the A and close on the G. This is weird since the bridge on the Mini is standard size (or is it?).

Hey @MakoMan do you have this issue with the ECB81S Chromes? Thanks in advance for answering.

From my experience, it's fairly common for the silk ends on Chromes to end up on the saddle of a lot of shorties. I usually carefully trim it back with a razor blade. I did not put the Chromes on the Mini because the shop still owed me the free string change and re-setup that they provide for all new instruments. I don't think they had to be trimmed on the Mini because it intonates with the saddles pretty forward. On most of my other shorties they are pulled back further.

 

[Steve-D]

certainly! welcome, number 18

Volker Kirstein - #1
G19Tony - #2
hangnail - # 3
pcake - # 4
MakoMan - #5
Diver - #6
Bassylocks - #7
FinialBassist - #8
WildWes - #9
TK4261 - #10
pistonrod8 - #11
Bass-jay - #12
SBassman - #13
Jackcrow - #14
PBassPaul - #15
xboxdude - #16
andare - #17
Stephen Davis - #18
Frank Vozak - #52
DavesnothereCA - auxiliary member

Thank you!

 

[DavesnothereCA]

I think they still make these in small batches, though. You can find them on Reverb for $60, or get on Gold Tone's waiting list for $40 a set. They've been getting them in stock 2-3 times a year. They intonate well on 25" scale solid bodies. Too short for the Mini, though.

MicroBass LaBella Flat Wound Strings | Gold Tone Folk Instruments

~
Gauges are 48-68-88-108, BTW, for folks who are not into clicking links.

StratoBass Conversion, anyone ?
~

 

[Diver]

I wrote to pickguards.com - wdmusic - and they pretty much insulted me on the response. I gave them all the info, and they responded with - send us a trace - it will be 40 to 150 dollars. Um, 40 would work, 150 would definitely not work. They need a trace before they reduce that price range? I had described it, told them the bass model, told them it looked like a standard P bass pickguard but was reduced in size. That's not enough to tell me better than 40 to 150? Bzzzt. Next.

So I had a bit more hopes after I reached out to them, where they explained that they were about to create the rest of the section for the series (Fender American Ultra basses) for another bass I own. They linked me the fitting alternative and then I asked about the Mini-P's PG.
The person there said they would have to have a couple to roll through to make sure they are all consistent to each other before putting it online.

I offered to send mine over if he can procure the other one he needs and then forwarded me to the custom tracing PG form, bit no mention of the high price.

The regular PG seems to cost about $40 there, so I expect the custom 3-ply one to be a tad over that, but I also assume that it is the process they use to "acquire" the shape of the PG and define its consistency for production by determining its manufacturing tolerance(s) etc.

I can't imagine how many requests they must get everyday from people like me who just want one specific pickguard for a specific recent and "low end" model so it would make sense for them to tell us to "just use the process in place" to expose the demands per models they should prioritize.

 

[Aiden1382]

So I had a bit more hopes after I reached out to them, where they explained that they were about to create the rest of the section for the series (Fender American Ultra basses) for another bass I own. They linked me the fitting alternative and then I asked about the Mini-P's PG.
The person there said they would have to have a couple to roll through to make sure they are all consistent to each other before putting it online.

I offered to send mine over if he can procure the other one he needs and then forwarded me to the custom tracing PG form, bit no mention of the high price.

The regular PG seems to cost about $40 there, so I expect the custom 3-ply one to be a tad over that, but I also assume that it is the process they use to "acquire" the shape of the PG and define its consistency for production by determining its manufacturing tolerance(s) etc.

I can't imagine how many requests they must get everyday from people like me who just want one specific pickguard for a specific recent and "low end" model so it would make sense for them to tell us to "just use the process in place" to expose the demands per models they should prioritize.

I ordered a custom pickguard from Precision Guitar in Phoenix Arizona through Reverb.com for my Sterling by Music Man Stingray Short Scale. They didn’t have any on hand so I sent my pickguard in so they could make a template. I paid about $38. Took about few weeks to get b/c of limited pandemic hours. Precision Guitar

 

[G19Tony]

I ordered a custom pickguard from Precision Guitar in Phoenix Arizona through Reverb.com for my Sterling by Music Man Stingray Short Scale. They didn’t have any on hand so I sent my pickguard in so they could make a template. I paid about $38. Took about few weeks to get b/c of limited pandemic hours. Precision GuitarView attachment 4039918

I just sent an email to Mr. Robertson, offering my pickguard as a template. I've purchased pickguards from him on at least 4 occasions. He does quality work for a reasonable price. I'll let you all know what I learn.

 

[G19Tony]

Mr. Robertson was quick to reply. The pickguard will go out tomorrow.

Absolutely, it's one of the pickguards on my"to do" list but is one I might not have gotten around to for a while.
Make a tracing of the guard as a backup, as you are removing the guard, note any screwholes that are offset from the pickguard holes, pics are nice, and send it sandwiched in some kind of cardboard where it won't be easily bent. I had one guy put a big pickguard in one of those Priority Tyvek bags. Ouch.
Send to:
Precision Guitar
4442 N. 7th Ave. #6
Phoenix, AZ 85013