Squier CV70 4 string Jazz bass bridge alignment or replacement

[dub]

I recently bought a second hand maple fingerboard Squier CV70 four string Jazz bass with Duncan designed pickups. I am very happy with both the sound and the playability, 

It has a nice neck and sounds like a Jazz which is what I was looking for.

The strange thing is that the original bridge is the wrong size for the pickup alignment. Has anyone had a similar experience?

 

I have corrected this by pushing washers between the saddles to bring it to a string spacing of 20mm at the bridge and the strings then lined up perfectly with the pickup pole pieces and the neck.

I prefer this slightly wider string spacing.

Before I put the washers in, the A string was the only one correctly in line with the pole pieces and the G was 3mm too close to the centre line.

I am pretty happy with it as it is but I am considering getting a Leo Quan badass II bridge or a more Jazz original type of replacement with 20mm spacing.

The bass has plenty of sustain and brightness already which is why I thought the badass II zinc alloy might be a better option than a solid brass bridge. 

Any advice on a replacement bridge and alignment methods would be much appreciated.

cheers Quee

[PaulThePlug]

Couple of pics will help...

I would not go overboard on string / pole piece alignment.

 

https://amzn.eu/d/gav3eTY

 

String to fretboard edge is more important.

Might be more down to the DD Pup, or 60's v 70's Spacing if rear pickup. Any room to move the pup side to side - pup mounting (or route)

I always thought the P and J had same bridge and spacing.

Have a good look at the barrels, the intonation screw hole and the string groove - maybe a slight difference, and you could swap the order?

I much prefer the F HMB over the LQ, looks sleeker.

 

Get some pics up.

Edited 20 hours ago by PaulThePlug

[dub]

It was helpful taking photos I realised that my initial measurement of the G being 3mm off was not accurate. The bridge is centred so it was both the E and G strings were close to 1.5mm too close to centre. The photo has the washers in place.

[Stub Mandrel]

Jazz bass string spacing is 19mm.

 

If the alignment with the pole pieces offends your eye, it could be considered a built in flaw of the pickup design. But every stock jazz ever has essentially the same issue.

[PaulThePlug]

@dub Nice... don't let anyone convince you to tort

 

...and a pic without the washers?

 

 

[Beedster]

Hope you used tone washers 

[dub]

3 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Jazz bass string spacing is 19mm.

 

If the alignment with the pole pieces offends your eye, it could be considered a built in flaw of the pickup design. But every stock jazz ever has essentially the same issue.

Well that's interesting. I don't really mind how it looks.

I couldn't hear any difference between the narrower spacing and wider spacing. It just felt a bit better to play and I thought that the strings were meant to be aligned between the centre of the two pole pieces.

[Stub Mandrel]

1 hour ago, dub said:

Well that's interesting. I don't really mind how it looks.

I couldn't hear any difference between the narrower spacing and wider spacing. It just felt a bit better to play and I thought that the strings were meant to be aligned between the centre of the two pole pieces.

 

I think Leo must have thought about the issue, as the neck pickups are 0.15" narrower, but he obviously miscalculated. Lots of hits for 'pickups not aligning' with pictures of jazz basses with the E and G strings overlapping the inner pole pieces of their respective pairs.

 

As six-pole guitar pickups work perfectly well on a bass, itxs clwarly the overall shape of the magnetic field not the exact location of the pole pieces that matters.

[JJMotown]

8 hours ago, dub said:

I recently bought a second hand maple fingerboard Squier CV70 four string Jazz bass with Duncan designed pickups.

That's not a CV70, it's a vintage modified (VM70s) jazz.

[dub]

50 minutes ago, JJMotown said:

That's not a CV70, it's a vintage modified (VM70s) jazz.

Well I am learning a lot here! How can you tell it is a VM70s Jazz? What are the distinguishing features? Any idea what the body is made of? Is it alder?

[JJMotown]

Maple body, only vm series had duncan designed pups. Also the neck should be tinted and glossy, not matte finish.

[Mediocre Polymath]

17 minutes ago, dub said:

Well I am learning a lot here! How can you tell it is a VM70s Jazz? What are the distinguishing features? Any idea what the body is made of? Is it alder?

The "Duncan Designed" pickups were a VM series thing, as were the precision-bass-style knurled metal knobs (most Jazzes have black plastic knobs). The body wood on the natural finish ones was "soft maple" I think. Source: I played one of these as my main bass for about 8 years. They're lovely things. I made a couple of cosmetic changes to mine, but left everything else more or less stock.

This is what mine looked like after I replaced the knobs, drilled through the bridge for through-body stringing and added ashtrays to make it more 70s and funky.

 

[dub]

Thanks for all of the details on the bass. I love the sound it has. Great to find that the wood of the body is maple. It has a naturally bright tone without any eq. I just bought it off Ebay. It was described as a Squier Jazz with no model number.

I have removed the washers and it is back to the original string spacing with a slight adjustment. I realised there can be a slight gap between the saddles if the strings are going straight out from the holes in the bridge. It's a bit too easy to shift them side to side, but really it's not a big deal. I may replace the bridge but I will leave it as it is for just now.

3 hours ago, JJMotown said:

That's not a CV70, it's a vintage modified (VM70s) jazz.

Well I am learning a lot here! How can you tell it is a VM70s Jazz? What are the distinguishing features? Any idea what the body is made of? Is it alder?

[JJMotown]

See above.