matt-bass-sparkes Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 I recently bought a 12 year old Squier Standard Jazz bass...mostly because my previous bass broke, and I was skint..! I am slowly gaining more money, and definitely looking to upgrade again... However, does anyone have any knowledge on the wood type of Indonesian crafted Squiers from late nineties/early 2000's? I'm wondering whether it's worth just totally renewing the electronics and hardware, (definitely get a new neck...this one feels horrible!) and keeping the body...this would obviously be more cost effective, but I won't do it if the wood is not up to it. I've been told by a few people that the quality of Standard Squiers is comparable to Mexican Fenders...is this also true-ish? Many thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gary mac Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 I have a squier project on the go at the moment. Can't answer your question about the wood but mine does sound good for a change of pups, controls/wiring and bridge, a huge improvement to how it was when I bought it. The wood is probably good enough to work well enough but unlikely to be particularly attractive if you were thinking of stripping it back for a natural look. I would say go for it, even if it's just to gain the experience of working on an instrument and setting it up etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjones Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 Up until recently I had an Indonesian Squier Jazz Bass which I gigged with regularly and it sounded pretty good compared to my other more expensive Jazzes. As far as sound is concerned I think the body is not as important as the pickups. Whack some decent pickups in it (maybe secondhand from Ebay) and it will improve the sound no end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Foxen Posted May 6, 2011 Share Posted May 6, 2011 If you have the body, you are in the best position to evaluate it. I've had hands on an Indonesian Squier strat and it was one of the worst things I've handled, nasty ply routed badly, but some of the new top end Squiers are Indonesian and are pretty nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveO Posted May 6, 2011 Share Posted May 6, 2011 I've had squires with ply bodies and with rather nice ash bodies (although the latter was japanese I think) If you can take it apart and take photos of the pup + neck cavities then there's a chance of ID-ing it as the paint in there tends to be a bit on the thin side. If its ply it will be obvious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt-bass-sparkes Posted May 6, 2011 Author Share Posted May 6, 2011 Thanks for your comments everyone Apparently the wood is "Agathis"....is this up to standard? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjones Posted May 6, 2011 Share Posted May 6, 2011 The Squier I had was just a standard from 2002, probably Agathis. Bodys are made from alder, walnut, swamp ash, basswood etc. As long as it's not plywood it will sound fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
untune Posted May 6, 2011 Share Posted May 6, 2011 My Ibanez is agathis... Always sounded fine to me, plus it's a light wood so easier on your back I suppose. Aren't some of the Vintage Modifieds made of agathis? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul S Posted May 6, 2011 Share Posted May 6, 2011 I would say that for what it costs to get new parts to do the upgrade you could buy a much better quality instrument than the bitza you would end up with. Westone Thunder/Spectrum, for example, would cost you less than £150 for a beauty. £150-£200 would get you a SGC Nanyo Bass Collecton - both would be far superior. Of course if the process of doing it up is part of the fun then go for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcnach Posted May 6, 2011 Share Posted May 6, 2011 [quote name='gjones' post='1222465' date='May 6 2011, 06:30 PM']The Squier I had was just a standard from 2002, probably Agathis. Bodys are made from alder, walnut, swamp ash, basswood etc. As long as it's not plywood it will sound fine.[/quote] Plywood guitars can sound mighty tasty indeed. They just don't look as good... The problem is plywood is used mostly in the cheapest of the cheap... so it's low quality all around. But you can build a pretty good sounding guitar with a plywood body. I did. What I don't like (apart from looks, unless it's some fancy "laminate") is that the plywood is not as solid when routing etc... I'm not saying "let's go plywood!", just that the actual material of the body has a (small) effect in the sound, and that "bad wood" does not necessarily mean "bad tone" in the end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ou7shined Posted May 6, 2011 Share Posted May 6, 2011 [quote name='mcnach' post='1222603' date='May 6 2011, 09:09 PM']Plywood guitars can sound mighty tasty indeed. They just don't look as good... The problem is plywood is used mostly in the cheapest of the cheap... so it's low quality all around. But you can build a pretty good sounding guitar with a plywood body. I did. What I don't like (apart from looks, unless it's some fancy "laminate") is that the plywood is not as solid when routing etc... I'm not saying "let's go plywood!", just that the actual material of the body has a (small) effect in the sound, and that "bad wood" does not necessarily mean "bad tone" in the end. [/quote] +1 In fact I'll go as far as to say that sometimes ply beats solid wood for density (and therefor musicality andsustainn) because of the glue, chemicals and the compression processes it goes through. I think it'll be a while before the bass community at large is willing to buy this fact though - for the moment all ply will continue to be seen as sub-standard.... it ain't though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted May 6, 2011 Share Posted May 6, 2011 This is my Jazz Bitza, Squier body and neck but with full size tuners fitted and the fret edges dressed in a bit, Bartolinis, EBS pre amp with a jack socket mounted into the body to allow use of the hole in the control plate for the extra knob, BadassII bridge, Fender 3 ply guard (standard one was white). Easily one of the best basses I have played bar nothing and it sounds awesome too all for about £400-450 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted May 6, 2011 Share Posted May 6, 2011 Authentic green Fender logo was a pound off eBay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt-bass-sparkes Posted May 7, 2011 Author Share Posted May 7, 2011 Ah awesome!! Cheers people! What I may do then, is grab a Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounder for the neck position with a standard 250k pot, and then get a SD Vintage Single Coil for the bridge position...I was thinking about getting a 500k pot for the bridge position to further bring out the high mids and treble...however, can you actually mix and match the resistance of the two volume pots? Or will this create some sound issues? May stick with the neck to be honest...will just reglaze it. I'll post some pics of the finished article if anyone cares lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted May 7, 2011 Share Posted May 7, 2011 Do it mate at the end of the day you could change the neck and or the body at any time, My neck is really good so I would not swap that but maybe one day I will get an ash body who knows, thats the fun of a bitza. To put it in context how good my own bitza has turned out I bought my Squier Jazz for £150 from Sound Control in Brum just to see how I got on with a general Jazz type bass with a serious view to sell the Squier on eBay and replace it with an Overwater made to my spec possibly partly funded by selling my 2002 Ray. Now its no where near as well finished as an Overwater Jazz dont get me wrong but as for playability and sound its as good as any other Jazz I have tried (Sadowsky, Alleva, Fender etc etc) so I didnt bother getting a [i]proper [/i] Jazz and got 2 more Rays instead Get on eBay and the misc bass parts for sale and see what you end up with, I could be better than you think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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