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Scratch Plate and Bridge to fit A Squier Vintage Modified Fretless Jazz


Nostromo
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Hi all,

I've picked up a great playing but very cheap second hand Squier Vintage Modified Fretless Jazz - but thats for a reason - its got the most unatractive timber joins in the body - three totally different bits of wood both in grain and colour glued together to make the body leading to very pronounced glue joins as you look at the currently naked body. Also, its got a scratch on the front and a slightly miss-positioned Bridge (slightly off centreline relative to the neck) leading to the bottom E string being much closer to the edge of the fretboard than the top string at the pocket end of the fretboard.

Regarding the Body, Im thinking about fitting a vintage Tortoise Scratch Plate on this one as this would cover up the scratch and ugly glue joins nicely, and, I suppose, also make my example even more vintage modified than it was to start with ! !

Regarding the Bridge, I'm thinking of removing the bridge, filling the screw holes, and re positioning/fixing the bridge (or maybe an upgraded bridge) in its proper position so as to achieve the correct positioning of the strings across the fretboard.

So my question is, I've read several posts here that say its not so straight forward mounting exchange scratch plates as they are not very often interchangable and often dont fit well - especially at the scratch plate/neck interface around the neck ? . . . So . . . does anyone know which aftermarket Scratch Plate model is going to be the most likely to fit my fretless so far as snug fit at the around neck pocket is concerned ? ? . . obviously I dont need to worry about screw holes and I can even slightly move/adjust the control plate as required to make it fit snug against the scratch plate; but, it seems sensible to buy a scratch plate, which, from the outset, fits snugly around neck properly ?

Second less important Question, any thoughts on any alternative vintage style bridges that I might consider ?

Cheers,

:) :lol: :)

Edited by Nostromo
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  • 3 months later...

Thought I'd give this one a bump ?

Ive got the fretless stripped down and now have to decide whether to refit the existing bridge or get an upgrade ?. . . has anyone out there got any thoughts on a good upgrade for a Jazz bass ? . . . .

I was thinking about investing in a Fender Vintage High Mass Bridge . . . but they aint cheap . . . . !

any thoughts much appreciated

cheers.

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I no longer have it but I am going to have a rake to see if I can remember who I bought it from. They would know where they got it from



Edit: I didn;t buy it directly from him but Cygnus X-1 owned this so it must've been the person that had it before him who installed it.

Personally I don't think its going to be a major issue. The main problem with getting a scratchplate is that the holes rarely line up if you get the wrong one but there aren't any holes to begin with and it would be dead easy to shave a wee bit off to fit if need be with a craft knife. Edited by Delberthot
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  • 3 months later...

The scratchplates on these are totally different from the standard Fender ones in more than one place. The neck joint issue is one, but the control plate (where the knobs are) is a sharper corner where it meets the scratchplate - Fender ones have a more rounded point.

You could try getting a standard one - to fit Fender - and then cutting away at the control plate join to square it off more. And shaving off around the neck join to suit. The other option is that there are plenty of people who will make a scratchplate to your spec. so if you have the old one you can send it (or draw around it marking the holes etc. and send the piece of paper).

I put a Gotoh 201 Bridge on my VM, and it worked a treat. A couple of extra holes needed but as you're re-drilling anyway it should be fine. I had to shim the neck slightly due to the thicker baseplate, but it made for a much better sustain and punch - also the strings lined up properly!

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Ta muchly, starting from a Fender plate and cutting down seems best bet then. Not got a standard Jazz in the fold. The '89 Korean Squier needed custom plate as nothing like US or Japan basses. Could get closer if Controlplate was changed for US but no doubt that is drilled and positioned differently too :)

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[attachment=97049:2squiersforsale 011.jpg]

Heres one I had, this black one I did with a standard USA fit plate, just required a little sanding here and there on the neck pocket and a couple of mm cutting from control plate area, about 10 minutes work.

Re the bridge, Gotoh 201 works brilliantly as does a bridge sold on eBay (search, 'hard tail bass bridge') about half the price of a Gotoh. HTH.

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