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Tricked Out Squier Club Part 3

I picked up a 2013 or 2014 VM Squire 70s the natural finished one.
I like it pretty good, I was wondering if anyone had any idea on some good replacement pickups?
The bass isn't as loud as my PBass, I have to turn the volume way up.
Is there a way to put active electronics in here without having to route for a battery etc?
Thanks in advance.
 
Thanks!

Like I said, they hit the mark for my ear, and that's what counts. Well, and my partner is a blues guitarist who occasionally plays my basses, and she's threatened manslaughter if I change them out ;)
You know, a good rule is if the guitar player likes it it's time to change. Usually means she "can hear herself" and that means "can't hear you". ;)
Not that it's popular to rag on guitar players around here.
 
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I picked up a 2013 or 2014 VM Squire 70s the natural finished one.
I like it pretty good, I was wondering if anyone had any idea on some good replacement pickups?
The bass isn't as loud as my PBass, I have to turn the volume way up.
Is there a way to put active electronics in here without having to route for a battery etc?
Thanks in advance.
Raise your pickups.
 
Replacing them with the 2012 and earlier Duncan Designed ones will raise the volume. Other than that, if you want really high output, you can hardly go wrong with some SD Quarter Pounders. Just know, you may need to do a little router work, as the bridge width is set for the American Fenders, which is a bit wider. Other than that, there's a ton of good options over in the BG side of the Classified - Accessories section.
 
Replacing them with the 2012 and earlier Duncan Designed ones will raise the volume. Other than that, if you want really high output, you can hardly go wrong with some SD Quarter Pounders. Just know, you may need to do a little router work, as the bridge width is set for the American Fenders, which is a bit wider. Other than that, there's a ton of good options over in the BG side of the Classified - Accessories section.

I just dont know which ones to get to fit the VM.
 
Your neck pickup will fit regardless. The bridge pickups you'll purchase are likely going to be sized for American Fenders. I had to do a bit of shaving on my MIM Fender Jazz when I did the upgrade. One thing you might do, just to be sure, is to find the pickups you're generally interested in, and then contact the manufacturer and ask specifically about size. I lucked out on my VM70s and got the DD versions of the pickups. Word has it, the Fender designed versions are … well … rather polite. They sound good, but they aren't as high of an output as some.

Heck, you might even find yourself a set of the DD VM Jazz pickups in the classifieds, and those are a direct swap with a little solder.
 
You know what, I stand corrected. I just measured my VM70 and it has the wider bridge pickup. I'd measure yours to be sure, but the SDs (as well as others) might just fit what you're looking for.

Something else you might want to do, that I did as well, is upgrade the controls. Often you'll see loaded Fender jazz plates in the Classifieds. These have the 250K pots vs. the VM70s 500K pots (a bit darker, but with a maple board, MUCH throatier and still fairly bright). You can't use the same plate without changing the screw holes and the pickguard holes, but you can put the Fender pots in the Squier plate and away you go.
 
I picked up a 2013 or 2014 VM Squire 70s the natural finished one.
I like it pretty good, I was wondering if anyone had any idea on some good replacement pickups?
The bass isn't as loud as my PBass, I have to turn the volume way up.
Is there a way to put active electronics in here without having to route for a battery etc?
Thanks in advance.

I'm currently using Sadowsky hum canceling pickups. They fit fine and sound great, pretty sensitive as well so I can play light. It's standard fender 4 string size so a lot of replacement pickups fit.
 
I picked up a 2013 or 2014 VM Squire 70s the natural finished one.
I like it pretty good, I was wondering if anyone had any idea on some good replacement pickups?
The bass isn't as loud as my PBass, I have to turn the volume way up.
Is there a way to put active electronics in here without having to route for a battery etc?
Thanks in advance.
If you're referring to the volume on the bass that's fairly normal, it's not a bad thing to play with the volume all the way up. If you're using both pickups it's going to be a bit more "polite" sounding and the perceived volume will be a bit softer than the typical Pbass.
 
If you're referring to the volume on the bass that's fairly normal, it's not a bad thing to play with the volume all the way up. If you're using both pickups it's going to be a bit more "polite" sounding and the perceived volume will be a bit softer than the typical Pbass.

Well on my amp the volume is around 9 with the pbass
to get the jazz that loud i have to go to around 12.
The pbass is a nate mendel and it has the duncan in it but i did lower it
 
Well on my amp the volume is around 9 with the pbass
to get the jazz that loud i have to go to around 12.
The pbass is a nate mendel and it has the duncan in it but i did lower it

Do you have both pickup volumes on the bass on full? If so, if you roll either the neck or bridge pickup off slightly, it'll get louder, and give you a few different tonal options at least.

If you like the Quarter Pound in the P, it may be worth your time putting either a QP Jazz set, or a Seymour Duncan SJB-2 hot set, in the Jazz. You'll almost certainly notice an output bump.

Adjusting the amp volume isn't much of an issue, though, if you like the tone the pups give you.
 
Do you have both pickup volumes on the bass on full? If so, if you roll either the neck or bridge pickup off slightly, it'll get louder, and give you a few different tonal options at least.

If you like the Quarter Pound in the P, it may be worth your time putting either a QP Jazz set, or a Seymour Duncan SJB-2 hot set, in the Jazz. You'll almost certainly notice an output bump.

Adjusting the amp volume isn't much of an issue, though, if you like the tone the pups give you.
Well on my amp the volume is around 9 with the pbass
to get the jazz that loud i have to go to around 12.
The pbass is a nate mendel and it has the duncan in it but i did lower it
That's cause P basses have bigger balls...need I say more...
 
I picked up a 2013 or 2014 VM Squire 70s the natural finished one.
I like it pretty good, I was wondering if anyone had any idea on some good replacement pickups?
The bass isn't as loud as my PBass, I have to turn the volume way up.
Is there a way to put active electronics in here without having to route for a battery etc?
Thanks in advance.
Have you considered staying passive and having Fender Super 55s (or SD Basslines, etc) installed?
1zg48pz.jpg

You'll notice both the neck and bridge pickups are hotter than the standard or vintage jazz pickups...plus, they're noiseless.
Are your pickups the Duncan ones or the newer Fender ones?
 
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Have you considered staying passive and having Fender Super 55s (or SD Basslines, etc) installed?
1zg48pz.jpg

You'll notice both the neck and bridge pickups are hotter than the standard or vintage jazz pickups...plus, they're noiseless.
Are your pickups the Duncan ones or the newer Fender ones?

These don't say Duncan Designed and I know the bass is stock.
Maybe I just need to mess with the guitar more. Those look interesting though.