Upgrading a Squier piece by piece

[Muddslide]

Is the "wiring harness" just the wires going from pots/jack to pups? I can't see new wires making a difference... Also, are there "better" pots?

The wires won't make a huge difference. Some are thicker than others. That might add to durability, and there are those who feel thicker wiring may enhance things, but I don't really buy it. I'm not an electrical engineer or anything though.

Pots (potentiometers), however, DO make a difference. There are variables in quality and also a lot of internet discussion about 250 vs 500 pots, which is better for which bass or hoped-for sound, etc.

I am seriously considering bypassing the tone pot on at least one of my basses and wiring direct to the jack. I don't use the onboard tone knob much anyway, and some people swear this mod opens up the sound in a nice way (because there are fewer "thingies" the wiring runs through.

Again, I'm not a tech. Some of this "frankensteining" is going to be a learning process for me as well. I am pretty handy with a soldering iron and have disassembled wiring on many guitars and basses in order to do refinishes, but I've never done an actual pickup or wiring swap. So it remains to be seen how competent I may be at this...

 

[static0verdrive]

The wires won't make a huge difference. Some are thicker than others. That might add to durability, and there are those who feel thicker wiring may enhance things, but I don't really buy it. I'm not an electrical engineer or anything though.

Pots (potentiometers), however, DO make a difference. There are variables in quality and also a lot of internet discussion about 250 vs 500 pots, which is better for which bass or hoped-for sound, etc.

I am seriously considering bypassing the tone pot on at least one of my basses and wiring direct to the jack. I don't use the onboard tone knob much anyway, and some people swear this mod opens up the sound in a nice way (because there are fewer "thingies" the wiring runs through.

Again, I'm not a tech. Some of this "frankensteining" is going to be a learning process for me as well. I am pretty handy with a soldering iron and have disassembled wiring on many guitars and basses in order to do refinishes, but I've never done an actual pickup or wiring swap. So it remains to be seen how competent I may be at this...

OK Thanks for the info, I hope it helps the OP too. I'm in the same boat - just bought some nordstrands for my squier (just waiting on the copper shielding tape to arrive to start) and I'm sure the soldering won't be hard, so I was curious if there's anything else I should try while I've got 'er apart.

 

[SteveHeissner]

Parts are plentiful for upgrading Squiers. If that's what you want to do then go for it. You don't have to upgrade everything at once. Could do it in stages - bridge, tuners, pickups, pots, all over a period of time.

 

[GBassNorth]

OP, I say - let your imagination be your inspiration and let your wallet be your conscience.

Years ago I bought a Squier Afinity Jazz 5. Looked, played and sounded every bit as good as my MIA Deluxe 5 Jazz so I kept it stock for a long time. Just recently I got a bug to buy a '62 Jazz copy and was put off by the price. Then the lightbulb went off - why not just mod the Squier Jazz 5 to a '62 tribute bass. It was dirt cheap and lots of fun!

Here's how it came out (still planning on a tort guard install)...

 

[Bill Whitehurst]

I too have an Affinity J5.
When I got it, I expected to upgrade a lot of things.
I decided I should start with whatever was most obviously lacking.
As I played it more and more I realized it was doing all I expected from it.
Sure, some of the parts are cheap bottom feeders that will wear out soon,
BUT
they haven't yet and they work well together.
In 5 years I have made a thumb rest for it,
put Circle K strings on it
and moved to poll pieces in the pickups to match the fretboard radius.

One day the tuners will start to slip and I will replace them with Ultralites.
The pots will wear and I might go to a stack knob setup.
Maybe there is a refin somewhere in it's future.

In the meantime, I play it, marval at how well it sounds
and laugh when I think about how little it cost me.

 

[stratovani]

OP, I say - let your imagination be your inspiration and let your wallet be your conscience.

Years ago I bought a Squier Afinity Jazz 5. Looked, played and sounded every bit as good as my MIA Deluxe 5 Jazz so I kept it stock for a long time. Just recently I got a bug to buy a '62 Jazz copy and was put off by the price. Then the lightbulb went off - why not just mod the Squier Jazz 5 to a '62 tribute bass. It was dirt cheap and lots of fun!

Here's how it came out (still planning on a tort guard install)...

Beautiful bass! Well done! I've been thinking of doing something like this myself.

 

[NoBlackTShirts]

I have a Squier Affinity P-Bass, in fact I just put it down to come here.

I got rid of the chiche' black paint, put a real Fender alnico pickup in it, and put flatwounds on it.

I love, love, love it. It's as good as any bass needs to be for me.

 

[Feralhog]

This started life as an Affinity:

It's now got a Bad Ass II bridge, Seymour Duncan SBP4 pup, mirrored PG, Mighty Mite maple/maple neck with MIM tuners.



Originally purchased for $55 bucks:

I like the carpet pick guard on the first one!

 

[Torn Bassist]

One of the first things I had to do to a Squier Affinity P bass was raise the neck up in the pocket so I could get a set-up completed on string height and that was after fixing the nut on the trust rod so I could get the relief set correctly, don't want to knock these basses because I did start playing fretless using a Vintage Modified Jazz which was a 100% improvement over the Squier Affinity.

 

[Reaper Man]

It's like a car- modding is never with anything for resale, etc. Only good for the current user.

With that said, I have a heavily modified squier that I will never sell (it was my first bass)