Not necessarily. I've seen two piece neck and board setups that had the stripe, if only for decorative purposes.
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VM TELECASTER SPECIAL First impressions
- Thread starter travhop42
- Start date
Not necessarily. I've seen two piece neck and board setups that had the stripe, if only for decorative purposes.
So I got the special in vintage blonde from GC over labor day. Came to 260.00 shipped to the store. What an incredible bass! Comfortable,easy to play and has a great variety of sounds. Unfortunately I brought it back because of a paint defect on the edge of the body. It looks like it was oversprayed on a small area and could come off really easily at some point. They took it back and ordered me another one. The first one had a great setup which was a big surprise. I hope the next one is defect free and setup well!
Y'know ... with a 1.7" width at the nut, this baby could be a good candidate for a conversion to five-string, although you would have to drill a hole for the fifth tuner, make a new nut, replace the pickups, and get a new bridge.
Still, given how rare medium-scale fivers are, someone is bound to attempt this. Especially if they don't want to order a Chinese-made Warwick medium scale Rockbass Corvette five-string. Yeah. Those exist. Really. Hard to get in the USA, though.
Still, given how rare medium-scale fivers are, someone is bound to attempt this. Especially if they don't want to order a Chinese-made Warwick medium scale Rockbass Corvette five-string. Yeah. Those exist. Really. Hard to get in the USA, though.
So I decided to dig this up just so I can say I used the "search function"
But does anyone have this bass, and compared it to the standard single coil tele? I have the single coil one, and I love the way it plays, and sounds with flats. But I've got bad gas for another 4 string. I like the way this pickup setup is like the SG. What I am wondering is, if I put med XL's on it, would it be tonally different than my tele with flats?
But does anyone have this bass, and compared it to the standard single coil tele? I have the single coil one, and I love the way it plays, and sounds with flats. But I've got bad gas for another 4 string. I like the way this pickup setup is like the SG. What I am wondering is, if I put med XL's on it, would it be tonally different than my tele with flats?
BassHappy
Supporting Member
Hello Selowitch
Here is the deal. The Telecaster VM is 63mm wide at the top fret, near the top of the neck pocket. The Warmoth 30" and 32" necks are 60mm wide at approximately the same place.
Additionally, the Warmoth necks are rounded while the Telecaster necks are flat across:
So the short answer is the neck would fit width wise, but you would need to round off the neck pocket at the top - additionally, there would be 1.5mm gaps on either side of the neck. I think we all know the importance of a tight neck pocket in terms of sustain and well, maybe even tone, so I wouldn't recommend this at all.
I think this is one of the nicest necks Fender/Squier have ever designed, love that it is woody and medium scale - and the fact that there is no fingerboard, old school style.
The standard long scale necks are sold by Warmoth as 64mm, and they call that "Fender Compatible" so you can see this Telecaster VM neck is only 1 mm shy of the long scale necks in terms of width.
Best,
BassHappy
www.innertainment.net
wow, I really love your project with the tele. What laminate top is that? I'm pulling the trigger on the special, vintage blonde to match my other two squiers. Only mod I see doing is a coil tap, maybe.
Because I consider the Tele bass bodies to be unnecessarily heavy, one might be more inclined to fit its neck to a Warmoth body.
BassHappy
Supporting Member
Hello Lilduke
I had Pat Wilkins strip the body to this:
Chose a nice piece of saeple for the top:
And a smoked copper burst finish:
You are absolutely right Selowitch, the body IS heavy - and I wrestled with that quite a bit. Considered scoring a Warmoth or having Pat build me a lighter body - but I do mostly studio/session stuff these days - so I sit more than I probably should. With that in mind, the heavy body is not nearly as much of an issue for me.
Best,
BassHappy
www.innertainment.net
Beautiful work!
Thanks for the remark on weight. I was surprised to hear reports that these suckers generally weigh in excess of 10 lbs., with 11 lbs. not unheard-of (although once in a while, I've spotted one on Sweetwater under 9 lbs. that tempted me sorely). They are medium-scale bodies made of basswood and shaped almost like a slab. You'd think they would naturally be lighter than that!
Thanks for the remark on weight. I was surprised to hear reports that these suckers generally weigh in excess of 10 lbs., with 11 lbs. not unheard-of (although once in a while, I've spotted one on Sweetwater under 9 lbs. that tempted me sorely). They are medium-scale bodies made of basswood and shaped almost like a slab. You'd think they would naturally be lighter than that!
As for the loss of sustain due to a less-than-ideal fit in the neck pocket, I wonder if using threaded inserts in the neck's screw-holes would restore some of the necessary sustain in the case where somebody really wanted to mate, say, a Squier tele bass neck with a short/medium-scale Warmoth body.
Probably not really worth the effort, but just sayin'.
Probably not really worth the effort, but just sayin'.
Have one that's currently in pieces. Still thinking of exactly what I'm going to do with it.
The body alone with no hardware weighs 5.2 pounds. Thinking of making it weigh less and changing the whole look.
The body alone with no hardware weighs 5.2 pounds. Thinking of making it weigh less and changing the whole look.
BassHappy
Supporting Member
Hello again Selowitch
I beg to differ with you about the basswood remark. Basswood, absolutely would be much lighter. I can't of course, vouch for all of these basses, but after stripping my body, Pat Wilkins told me that these bodies appear to be made of European Alder, not basswood, which would account for the greater weight.
His exact words were:
"Yeah, I was surprised at the quality of the wood myself. It's alder, not ash but it's very white alder. It looks like the same alder that I buy from time to time. It's Eastern European alder and usually sounds very good. It's a little bit more pricey than standard alder but I like it because it sounds good and is just a bit lighter than standard American alder too."
Also, it is no problem using these necks on a full scale body - it doesn't need to be a short or medium scale body to fit this neck as there is only 1 mm of difference in width at the neck pocket. The ONLY reason you would ever shrink the entire body size slightly is to get the neck pocket size down to the standard 2.25" of most standard medium scale Fender necks (think Japan or Stu Hamm Urge I). Not needed in this case, as the neck width is fine - but you are wise to cut your own neck pocket to get an uber tight fit. However, the millimeter DOES make a difference and you will find yourself taking about 1/8" of body material off near the neck pocket to insure comfortable playability with respect to the neck fit in the pocket.
Best,
BassHappy
www.innertainment.net
Why do you beg to differ? I thought we agreed that basswood is usually lighter than ash or alder and therefore it's a surprise that these bodies turn out to be so heavy.
BassHappy
Supporting Member
Hello Selowitch
I think we agree!
The point of course, is that my body is NOT basswood and if it were basswood it would NOT be so heavy!!!
BassHappy
www.innertainment.net
Yes, of course. I was speaking of the stock bodies on the Squier Vintage Modified Telecaster Bass. Sorry for the confusion!
BassHappy
Supporting Member
I hate to keep beating this dead horse, but my body IS an original Squire Vintage Modified Telecaster bass.
It's this one before it was stripped by Pat Wilkins.
My body, after being stripped was not basswood, it was european alder as previously mentioned.
Just want to make sure we are clear about this. Not sure what yours is but mine is apparently european alder, and thus much heavier than basswood.
Best,
BassHappy
www.innertainment.net
No worries. I'm just exploring a curiosity here.
I don't have one of these lovely basses and in any case I don't know a whole lot about wood/trees. Here's what I find interesting:
Fender's published specs for the Vintage Modified Telecaster Bass state that the body is made of basswood. You apparently have a bass of the same model with a European alder body. How do we account for that apparent contradiction? Do the actual basses sometimes differ from the published specs?
I don't have one of these lovely basses and in any case I don't know a whole lot about wood/trees. Here's what I find interesting:
Fender's published specs for the Vintage Modified Telecaster Bass state that the body is made of basswood. You apparently have a bass of the same model with a European alder body. How do we account for that apparent contradiction? Do the actual basses sometimes differ from the published specs?
BassHappy
Supporting Member
I saw the same thing on the spec sheet and that was why I was so surprised to find out they used the euro alder! I suspected all along it was too heavy to be basswood!
Best,
BassHappy
www.innertainment.net
