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Posted

Hi I have a Squire P Bass special that I am looking to funk up a bit, have change pups but am looking to pimp it up a bit in the looks dept, I am into the vintage vibe (as in old stuff not the compnay) , any suggestions

Posted

It rather depends what you mean by 'vintage vibe'.

Vintage precisions don't have the jazz pickup nor painted headstocks, so getting a 60's/70's vintage look would be very difficult. If you just want to relic it try looking [url="http://www.tdpri.com/resourceRELICING.htm"]here.[/url] There's are plenty of other resources on the net for relicing as well.

Posted

Some ideas:

If there is a particular issue about its sound or performance that you want to address:
Change the pickups
Rewire it with CTS pots and a switchcraft socket. (this can make more difference on a squier than you'd imagine)
install a badassII bridge (don't forget to cut the grooves)
Upgrade the tuners if the existing ones are crap

If you want somewhere to rest your hand like James Jamerson or Marcus:
Install a chrome 'ashtray' pickup cover
Install a thumb rest

If its just a matter of marking your territory:
get a different colour pickguard
stick some stickers on it

Posted

Thank you for the suggestions, ashtray pickup covers sound like a good idea, how to install though , body is made of agathis do you think it will stand up to drilling the holes to mount the ashtrays. Was thinking about maybe changing the bridge to one of the bridges with two saddles to make for a more vintage look [url="http://www.allparts.uk.com/catalogue/product_info.php?cPath=91002_91036_91038&products_id=10342"]http://www.allparts.uk.com/catalogue/produ...oducts_id=10342[/url]
Also changing volume and tone knob(s). Have got seymour duncan p , j set so will swap pickups over soon. Also does anybody know if it would be possible to modify a squier for thru body stringing. Any suggestions welcome

Posted (edited)

[quote name='davidmark' post='16163' date='Jun 12 2007, 12:31 PM']Also does anybody know if it would be possible to modify a squier for thru body stringing. Any suggestions welcome[/quote]

You'd need a replacement bridge that allowed thru body stringing. You'd also need metal ferrules for the back to catch the ball ends of the strings. If you'd like the holes to be in a straight line, don't even think of drilling by hand. Mount the bridge, mark the holes and use a vertical drill stand. Make sure you drill the holes for the ferrules at the rear nice and tight, you don't want them loose. PRACTICE ON SCRAP WOOD FIRST.

You should end up with something like this:

Edited by neepheid
Posted

You can get away with using a plunge router to drill the holes for through body stringing - just check that it will drill to the required depth.

Personally I wouldn't bother with two saddle bridges. As far as I recall only the earliest precisions, tele bass and musicmaster had these bridges, and the intonation suffers as a result, for something that's only visible to close inspection. It's your call.

Posted

Hi ,

I was also wondering if anybody knew how much (roughly) it would cost to get the pick ups changed over by a music shop, i have been quoted £35 but i am a bit sceptical as this sounds a bit cheap as I have heard of music stores charging that just to cut a new nut

Posted

[quote name='markdavid' post='17521' date='Jun 14 2007, 12:12 PM']Hi ,

I was also wondering if anybody knew how much (roughly) it would cost to get the pick ups changed over by a music shop, i have been quoted £35 but i am a bit sceptical as this sounds a bit cheap as I have heard of music stores charging that just to cut a new nut[/quote]

Sounds about right for fitting a new pickup if it's just a straight replacement, with no routing involved. Obviously it wouldn't include the price of the pickup though.

It's an easy job to replace pickups - why not do it yourself?

Posted

I have a P-special (jazz neck, jazz pup, gold pg, vintage pups). I'm going to fit covers, thumb rest and re-paint it in either a dark chocolate brown or vintage white. That should make it look pretty old-school.

Posted

Good call , I would love to see that Bass once the customisations have been done, make sure you post pics of it. I will be adding some pickup covers to mine very soon, am thinking of stringing it with flatwounds once everything else has been done (seymour duncans and flats , should make an interesting tone)

  • 3 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...
Posted

I've got a squire p-special, languishing unloved in a corner, that i'm eternally threatening to tart up. it already plays surprisingly well, so i'll probably start with the electrics and go from there.

A bit of old school black-on-black might be nice... although i'm kind of tempted by those glowguard things. Tacky as hell, but hey, the more flashing lights, the better it sounds, right??

  • 1 month later...
Posted

Hi all , will be adding ashtrays this week , have attached some pics now so you can see what i am working with , any ideas? What should I add next to pimpify my bass
[url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=67414&d=1188517508"]http://www.talkbass.com/forum/attachment.p...mp;d=1188517508[/url]
[url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=67415&d=1188517508"]http://www.talkbass.com/forum/attachment.p...mp;d=1188517508[/url]
[url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=65298&d=1186259902"]http://www.talkbass.com/forum/attachment.p...mp;d=1186259902[/url]

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