Upgrading a Squier! (Video\Results Included)

[H13]

The original pickup was to muffled sounding to me. The P46 produces a clarity that gives my bass a completely different sound. Much more pleasing to my ears. And I’m no longer struggling with the eq. Hope this makes some kind of sense.

See that's the thing. I was hunting for "clarity" with my P-Bass. I got it, and realised it wasn't what I wanted. I want big warm and fluffy.

While I get people's concerns about resale when doing this kind of thing, theres nothing keeping you from returing the bass back to stock form if you decide to part ways. You can use the goodies on your next project or sell them separately. In the case of the Sonic; its comes with a Jazz neck which is a popular mod on basses that cost way more, and the EMG pup which is another popular mod on basses costing significantly more, and the total investment was less than a Squier CV. The total cost was also less than what you'd typically lose selling a MIM Fender if you bought it new.

While this is a valid point, at the end of the day, as I said in the video: I'm not after resale or anything like that. I'm after a bass that gives me the most amount of joy . Instruments for me are never a financial question, they're a: "Will it do the thing?" question.

 

[Swerve]

I just did this on a Squier Sonic P, surprisingly the stock PUP in the Sonic was noticeably hotter than the Geezer and had alot more bottom end. The EMG cleaned up some muddyness in the low notes that I didnt love and gave it a brighter, less compressed sound with more clarity. For jamming and playing live I have NEVER had trouble getting a P bass dark enough, so I like having more top end on tap if I need to cut through better.

Mine just got the Geezer kit and a new pick guard. I tried a high mass bridge but that bass did NOT like it at all, creating a huge dead zone on the E string and a really unballanced sound across the strings, so the stock one went back on.

While I get people's concerns about resale when doing this kind of thing, theres nothing keeping you from returing the bass back to stock form if you decide to part ways. You can use the goodies on your next project or sell them separately. In the case of the Sonic; its comes with a Jazz neck which is a popular mod on basses that cost way more, and the EMG pup which is another popular mod on basses costing significantly more, and the total investment was less than a Squier CV. The total cost was also less than what you'd typically lose selling a MIM Fender if you bought it new.

I got one of the new Indonesian Fender Standard P’s and love the ceramic pup that came with it. It’s bright and hot but by lowering the pickups and adjusting my EQ it sounds as good as any other great precision pickup I’ve tried. The days of me running off to immediately change pickups are over until I’ve tried everything else (strings, height adjustment, amp settings, etc).

 

[Exophysical]

See that's the thing. I was hunting for "clarity" with my P-Bass. I got it, and realised it wasn't what I wanted. I want big warm and fluffy.



While this is a valid point, at the end of the day, as I said in the video: I'm not after resale or anything like that. I'm after a bass that gives me the most amount of joy . Instruments for me are never a financial question, they're a: "Will it do the thing?" question.

I hear you, and I'm of a similar opinion. Thats just the most comon argument against doing these types of projects. Heres a pic of mine, it plays great, it sounds great, and it looks great. IMO it very much "does the thing."

RIMG0193 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/153108294@N08/, on Flickr

 

[Exophysical]

I got one of the new Indonesian Fender Standard P’s and love the ceramic pup that came with it. It’s bright and hot but by lowering the pickups and adjusting my EQ it sounds as good as any other great precision pickup I’ve tried. The days of me running off to immediately change pickups are over until I’ve tried everything else (strings, height adjustment, amp settings, etc).

The thing there is, the Fender Standard is a different class of instrument. All the low end Squiers I've had were perfectly playable after a good setup, but I've had problems with the electronics in most of them, so installing the Geezer kit was as much about replacing the wiring and pots as it was about the tone. Now a P-bass is pretty simple compared to a Strat or a Tele Deluxe (the other two Squiers I currently own) so maybe it would have been the exception, but I have alot more confidence in that bass having replaced the whole works.

 

[Yahboy]

HEY!

So last year I made a video comparing J, P and Active basses.

In the process of making that video, I got quite attached to the Squier P and J basses that I used.

As a result, I decided I would upgrade those basses to see what I could turn them into!

For the Jazz Bass:
- New pickups (Dimarzio Model J)
- New pots (500k)
- Rewired (V\T\B instead of V\V\T)
- New Bridge

For the Precision:
- New pickups (Dimarzio Model P)
- New Pots (500k)

It might look like the P-Bass got less love, but in reality, theres' not much else you can do with a P-Bass. That's what makes them so freaking awesome.

Overall, I'm very happy with these upgrades and I found it absolutely worth it to upgrade the Squiers. While I need to try a different set of pickups for the P Bass, the experiment demonstrated its value. The Jazz Bass I am thrilled with and believe that I have it "sorted" now.

I have 2 videos about it. The first video is the full longform video where I explain the mods and the choices I made:


The second video is just the demos so you can hear the results without my babble:


I'm keen for any other suggestions\recommendations you have for these basses! In particular I'm keen for suggestions about the P-Bass pickup. But hey! Let me know what you think

A500k pot are dimarzio standard for both model P and J.

My fully passive mod Charvel Pro Mod PJ ( stock DP126 pickup )has a500k volume and mn250k blend pot, only, combine with EB cobalt flat, she has lots bite and attack tone which work great for metal and rock.

Meanwhile, the Model P on my Squire Matt Freeman P has both 250K volume and tone pot. This bass has naturally aggressive vibe. With same EB cobalt flat loaded, I found 250K volume pot work better for me than 500K. This pbass also able sound like traditional warmth P vibe with just dial back the tone knob about 25% @ .068uf cap.

Dimarzio model pickup still has nice dynamics than some expensive overwound alnico P pickup .