Best upgrades for a Squier P Bass

[Mariner72]

Hello, just got a good price on a Squier 60s Pbass. I have some spare funds so would like to make improvements. What would people recommend? I'm inclined to change pick ups first, not much umph in these presently. All advice greatly received.

[PaulThePlug]

Pics please...

#1 If Tort plate change it 😉

#2 Your Strings?

#3 What sort of Sound/Tone ya after - Vintage Warm / Clean and Articulate / Loads of GO?

#4 Budget

 

Funk plate from Aliexpress - under a tenner...

Pickups, Kent Armstrong £60ish, Tonerider £40ish and an aftermarket 'go to', Wilkinson £25ish...

If ya more Loads of GO maybe an Entwistle PBXN 'Neo' or a SD Quarter Pounder...

Check the FS section on here...

 

But, these are changes, not always improvements - apart from swapping a tort plate - Clean-up, New Strings and some time setting it up yourself... would be the place to start.

 

Enjoy and pics please...

[Mariner72]

Cheers, looking for a deep mid sixties thump.

 

TbH I hadn't given the guard much thought. I'm in the pick up, bridge and tuners zone. 

 

Really appreciate these responses people 

[PaulThePlug]

Rounds or Flats?

Adagio - Nickel (£18)

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/332636490116?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=k9thgGIYSEG&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=daj_hJ6fSo-&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

or Olympia - Stainless Steel (£16 offer)

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/302719180784?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=xj847H30SH-&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=daj_hJ6fSo-&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Flats are worth a try if never used Flats...

 

And for the £... Tonerider.

[Lozz196]

Yup, for pickups Tonerider. I’d also consider changing the electrics at the same time to a KiOgon (Basschat member) loom with Fender US specs. For one it makes the install of new pickups easier and secondly in many cases the reason Squiers sound twangier than Fenders is the pots, often 500s as oppose to the 250s that Fender use.

[KiOgon]

Thanks Lozz ^^^^

 

Yes change the wiring loom, new pots and jack + cap of choice maybe 0.1uF for deeper tone and solderless fitting so much easier to then swap pickups and you might just find the pickups ain't as bad as you thought 😊 could save you a bucket load of cash 🤑

 

(P-bass standard loom as above £27 posted UK from me).

 

John

[Mariner72]

Thanks John, I'm weighing up the options. Never thought changing the loom in isolation and retaining the pick-ups would make a significant change, but I'm learning a lot since posting

[kodiakblair]

10 hours ago, Mariner72 said:

What would people recommend?

A decent set up + strings.

 

Get the nut slots checked then have the neck adjusted. Get the action and intonation bang on. Have the pickup heights set properly.

 

It's all well and good bolting bits on but unless the bass is set to it's best potential are the bolted on bits an upgrade ? Also helps if you know why you want certain bolt on bits, what they do and will there be an impact. Light weight tuning pegs are a favourite, folk routinely throw them on to counter 'neck dive'. Thing is 4 in line pegheads are prone to dead spots which are related to peghead mass; light weight tuners change the mass and you might find the dead spot has moved to someplace more noticeable. Trying another strap or adjusting the length can fixed 'neck dive', will be cheaper and have no effect on peghead mass.

 

Before looking at new pickups, borrow an EQ (graphic or para). Play with the frequencies, boost some/cut others; it'll make more of a difference than any pickup swap.

 

[Geek99]

5 hours ago, Mariner72 said:

Thanks John, I'm weighing up the options. Never thought changing the loom in isolation and retaining the pick-ups would make a significant change, but I'm learning a lot since posting

I’d just do this and live with it for a while 

[neepheid]

Use the spare money for some lessons, upgrade yourself instead?

 

Unpopular suggestion, no doubt, but I thought I'd throw it out there. If you improve your playing, you improve how every bass you'll ever own sounds.

[Geek99]

4 hours ago, neepheid said:

Use the spare money for some lessons, upgrade yourself instead?

 

Unpopular suggestion, no doubt, but I thought I'd throw it out there. If you improve your playing, you improve how every bass you'll ever own sounds.

Get out of my head, mister 

[Obrienp]

On 22/02/2024 at 16:26, KiOgon said:

Yes change the wiring loom, new pots and jack + cap of choice maybe 0.1uF for deeper tone and solderless fitting so much easier to then swap pickups and you might just find the pickups ain't as bad as you thought 😊 could save you a bucket load of cash 🤑

 

(P-bass standard loom as above £27 posted UK from me.

@Mariner72 If that involves CTS pots, cloth covered wire, Switchcraft or Puretone jack socket, etc, that’s a really good price. It’s not going to cost you a huge amount less to do it yourself and you are going to have to solder onto the back of pots (my personal bugbear). 
 

WRT pickups: I recently put a Tonerider P bass set in my Ibanez Mezzo and (to my surprise) I am finding the E string response a little weak compared to the A and D in passive mode but I’ve put a Glockenlang replacement preamp in it and the pots are pretty small: fine when in active mode but maybe not so great in passive. This is with flats as well. I guess like anything, there is some variation between Tonerider pickups. The last one I had sounded strong across the board but then I did use full size CTS pots in that bass.

 

Just one point regarding the 0.1uF capacitor: it will give you a really deep cut in the higher frequencies but it is not going to increase the amount of bass. If it’s not there in the signal from the pickup, pots, etc, it’s not there. That’s why it is quite important to have a pickup that gives you a good starting point for the tone you are after. However, as others have said: start off with a decent wiring loom and take it from there. You never know; the standard pickup might produce the goods given decent electronics.

Edited March 3, 2024 by Obrienp