Squier Jazz Bass Upgrade

Ok it's about time I got back to guitar related activities after a bit of a break.

First off the rank a Fender Squier Jazz Bass upgrade project for someone. Neck refinished with FW old Baltic and a few thin coats of poly. Neck quality is similar to a Mighty-Mite neck. De-branded. Upgraded nut, machine heads, string tree and tuners. For the body - Gotoh high mass bridge, USA spec electronics, knobs, Tonerider pups and pickguard. All new screws etc. The body on this is Alder and very well matched considering. Interestingly the pup routes are same size as pickups (no large or swimming pool style) and are US Fender compatible, along with the screw holes for pickguard. It now feels and sounds not that different to a more expensive USA JB

Next stop - spraying my Pitbull JB-4 project.......


Attachment 19242Attachment 19243Attachment 19244Attachment 19245

looks great Ponch, so have you got before photos ? Some nice upgrades you have done on this

Cheers Woks. No b4 pictures but it basically looked like this

http://www.squier.com.au/squier-bass...dyShape&bcid=0

Stock was a shocker. Sounded nothing like a jazz bass (If you managed to hear it over the noise it generated). Tuners very average but surprisingly the frets were level!


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no worries Ponch, so you did the upgrades for a mate ? Well that's a bonus at least the frets were level !

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Originally Posted by wokkaboy

no worries Ponch, so you did the upgrades for a mate ? Well that's a bonus at least the frets were level !

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Yep. We always keep a keen eye out for cheap (2nd hand) Squires for modding (fleabay, farcebook marketplace, road side chuckouts (!) etc..

Top job Ponch.

Looks like it has the narrower 38mm nut too, just as a traditional J Bass neck should be.

Cheers waz. Yes it has the 38mm JB neck. A bit too narrow for my humongous hands (I prefer P-Bass width) but does play nice

Does 3mm width make that much of a difference?

It does to the feel. When Gibson added 3.1mm (1/8") to their guitar neck widths in 2015, almost everybody hated them (except for one weird friend of mine). They didn't sell many and almost no-one wants to buy them used.

I believe the string spacing on the 38mm nut is only about 1mm narrower than the standard width, so finger positioning isn't that different. I was looking this up because the neck heel width is the same as on the wider nut Jazz basses, and so if the string spacing was narrower at the nut, but the same at the heel position, then at the strings would be wider apart at the bridge and so the bridge and the bridge pickup would need to be wider to accommodate this. By using a narrower nut/lower neck width but only slightly reduced the string spacing allows the bridge and pickups to be the same. Had the string spacing been reduced by 3mm as well, then there probably would have needed to be some bridge and pickup variations, otherwise the strings would end up a lot further away from the edges of the fretboard near the heel than at the nut.

Ah yes Simon. The 2015 Gibson models felt terrible in the hand. Ok if you played with your thumb in the middle of the neck but otherwise felt like clawing a classical guitar


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Yes, I tried a few and hated them. Felt rather like most PRSs do to me.

I do Love a nice Jazz Bass.....

And, back again. 1.5 years on this bass is in my possession for some additional work. This time - fret dots. The standard plastic dots have become very dull and hard to see, almost grey in colour. So these will be replaced with some white MOP inlay dots.

I started on this a week or so back.

Attachment 29100

First job is to mark the centre of each dot with a bradawl. This will act as a guide for the drill bit used in next step.
Then, using a drill and a small bit (2.5mm or so) drill a hole through the centre of each dot. Go very carefully and slowly, you'll be able to feel when you've gone through the dot. Too far and you'll be into the truss rod!

This is what the dots look like drilled through

Attachment 29101

Then, using the back end of the drill bit stick it in the hole and wiggle around. If you are lucky the dot will come clean out, else carefully scrape out remnants with a small screw driver

Here's a video of me removing one of the dots.....

https://youtu.be/jtVwSnaG8_s

Once the dots were removed and holes cleaned up I blasted outwith some air. Holes are now ready for new dots....

Attachment 29099

with part 2 to follow.......

Welcome back Ponch.

I had been wondering where some of the long term regulars had been.

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Originally Posted by wazkelly

Welcome back Ponch.

I had been wondering where some of the long term regulars had been.

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Cheers Waz I’ve been working through a maze of health issues and just recovering from a bout of shingles. More painful than modern pop music haha!


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Part 2....

Next step is to put some CA glue into each hole, just a few drops to level the base of the hole. Leave enough gap for the dot else you’ll need to re drill the hole!

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...d63bbd0614.jpg

Here is the glue I use. It’s quite liquid which helps and labeled ‘professional’ so must be good!

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...a47fc517a3.jpg

I’m leaving this for a few hours to cure before next steps.


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Good to hear you are getting better.

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Time to get the dots in

BTW these are 6mm dots, measure existing dots carefully before ordering them and get a few extras incase you drop one.....

Dots lined up and ready to go

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...e4fe719276.jpg

Take a small file and round the back edges off a bit

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...56fec244a2.jpg

Then a drop of CA glue into the dot hole. Push the dot in using the back of a centre punch. Dot should sit slightly proud of the fretboard and level as possible. You can see the difference in colour with MOP vs plastic dot here

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...cf7f98770a.jpg

Wipe any excess CA glue away quickly with a cloth

Repeat above. All in place! I’ll wait for the glue to cure before starting on the process of shaving the dots flush with fretboard using a blade

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...3f07f84d23.jpg




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Nice work there, very well executed!

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Originally Posted by andrewdosborne

Time to get the dots in

BTW these are 6mm dots, measure existing dots carefully before ordering them and get a few extras incase you drop one.....

Dots lined up and ready to go

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...e4fe719276.jpg

Take a small file and round the back edges off a bit

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...56fec244a2.jpg

Then a drop of CA glue into the dot hole. Push the dot in using the back of a centre punch. Dot should sit slightly proud of the fretboard and level as possible. You can see the difference in colour with MOP vs plastic dot here

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...cf7f98770a.jpg

Wipe any excess CA glue away quickly with a cloth

Repeat above. All in place! I’ll wait for the glue to cure before starting on the process of shaving the dots flush with fretboard using a blade

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...3f07f84d23.jpg




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Lovely oainstaking word ponch!

Cheers guys, and for the next part..


https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...64dd08599e.jpg

To be continued later this evening..




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And time for dot levelling. I ended up using a combination of small and large craft knife blades and some tape to limit the scraping area. A small file came in handy for cutting back the higher dots. The razor blades worked well for scraping the fretboard afterwards.

Takes a bit of careful work, but comes up alright in the end. Finished off with lemon oil.

All in all it came out ok. I was very apprehensive about performing this task but happy with the results

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...3f04bfb502.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...c10f0322e2.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...b338fe362c.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...6a506eb292.jpg


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Bridge on and a set up required. The Allparts Bad Ass style bridge allows me to align the strings nicely and allows a nice low action.

I think that’s it for this Squire Affinity bass. Every thing that can be upgraded has been. The only surviving original parts are the body, neck plate and neck (although it was stripped back and oiled).

Does it compare to my US and Japanese Fender basses- not quite but it has a ton of character, plays and sounds great and perfect for a knock around/gig instrument. Onto next guitar job, my long forgotten Telecaster with Nashville style pickup setup...

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...8a5a087f9f.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...61d763af3e.jpg


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How did the razor blade treatment go? I usually sand the dots but it takes f o r e v e r!

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Originally Posted by Andy40

How did the razor blade treatment go? I usually sand the dots but it takes f o r e v e r!

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Well... the shaving razor blades were too lightweight to shave back the dots but worked ok for burnishing the fretboard. Stanley knife blade was too harsh, what worked best was a blade from a smaller craft knife this kind of style

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...a2a1109017.jpg

Some very careful filing also helped with the higher dots...


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I use the Stanley replacement blades:Attachment 29244

i find them convenient and easy to get into slightly tighter spots.