Jono Bolton

Have you listened to the Squier Matt Freeman Precision? The pickup is custom wound to replicate his 70s P Bass pickup. My bandmates love the sound of it, I haven't found anything about the bass to change and I've just bought another Matt Freeman with an SPB-3 that I'll be swapping out for the original pickup as soon as I get it.

This seems to be an old thread, but I'll chip in anyway. I (believe I) have DR Fat Beams on my P Bass for tuning a semitone lower than you and they're great. I've had them for years and they still sound excellent. I had a set of custom Newtone Drop Tune strings on before I chucked on the old DRs and they were sh*te; didn't do the job at all and flapped about all over the place.

[quote name='thebrig' timestamp='1430229659' post='2759210'] The annoying thing for me is, I am actually searching for a 60th Anniversary Precision which is how I came across it, and I would have gone for it had it not been trashed!!! [/quote] There's one on here isn't there?

Am I correct in thinking that basses with a natural finish (like the one in this link: http://classicandcoolguitars.co.uk/sold_basses/78natp.htm) is just a bare wood body with clear lacquer sprayed on over the top, or is there something else underneath the clear coat? I understand that the one in the link is an old one so will have changed colour over the years, but I can't help thinking that clear sprayed straight on to bare wood would look slightly anaemic to begin with.

Well, not an NGD today, but on Wednesday I took delivery of a Squier Classic Vibe 60s Stratocaster. I got it on sale from Dawsons at a time when FMIC have put up all the prices of all their Squiers, so it worked out at nearly £100 less than the standard CVs, so I can't be too displeased with that! It's a Factory Special Run in Lake Placid Blue with matching headstock, IMO a nicer colour than the standard range. First impressions are that it's very well put together as my CV Tele and Matt Freeman Precision are. Needed a bit of adjustment as the action was quite high out of the box, and the strings will need to be changed as I'm not a fan of 9s but the fit and finish is top quality. As always, this thread is worthless without pics, so here they are;

[quote name='theyellowcar' timestamp='1429727110' post='2754371'] Nice pair I love my Hoppus bass to bits. Mine is the very bass that Lozz mentions abov from the Herts bash. I'd be interested to see how you think they compare with the different pickup placement. [/quote] Is yours the older version or the newer? IIRC, the new model has the coils of the pickup flipped.

[quote name='ahpook' timestamp='1429719776' post='2754277'] The Mark Hoppus model has a Jazz neck, is that right ? [/quote] A Precision neck on a Jazz body with a Precision pickup.

I was in a guitar shop in Glasgow last Thursday and noticed that all the Squiers had jumped up in price on the week before. I asked a guy in the shop and he said that it was across the board, Squiers and Mexican Fenders had all gone up and American Fenders had come down slightly. He said this was to do with exchange rates and true enough, the next shop I went in had the same prices, and online too. It's a shame as the J Mascis Jazzmaster I was interested in had jumped from £373 to £425. Same with all the Classic Vibe basses. I would argue though that they are still worth the new asking prices.

I can vouch for Warmoth as well; I bought a Telebass neck on here last year, it has a Jazz-width nut but is quite chunky in terms of depth. The gloss finish isn't too thick and is very comfortable to play, the neck does weigh a bit more than the Fender neck I had before and it did dive a bit when I had some Fender tuners on but I swapped them for Schallers and it's fine now. The finish and frets are excellent, my only (minor) gripe is that the rosewood fretboard isn't as dark as I would like.

You're both right gents, bass is sorted and I feel like a right tit. If a mod could delete this thread to remove all evidence of my idiocy it would be much appreciated!

Does anyone know where I can get longer intonation screws? The saddle for my G string is right as far as it can go and the note is still sharp. The D isn't far off either.

My main bass is my Squier Matt Freeman, which is truly excellent. Very well made and has a great tone too. Every bit as good as the U.S. P Bass I had a few years back. My other P is a bitsa with a MIM body, Warmoth neck, Schaller tuners and a Wizard Thumper. It's in standard tuning so doesn't get much use these days and may well be up for sale soon but has a really nice low action and sounds great too!