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Squier P5 - USA pickups installed...


Telebass
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Hindsight tells me it was a waste of time and money swapping the pickup. The difference is marginal. I may even put the original back in. It even had reproduction push-back wire! Plastic on the USA...
Such a great bass, and not just for the money!

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Here's my VM P5, modded a bit to save weight.
I've installed licensed by Hipshot Ultralite tuners and an aluminium A style bridge and aluminium knobs. (I'm not quite sure if the new bridge has altered the tone at all, which is a good thing too as it sounded great anyway, but it has made a difference to weight of the body which is all I was after there) I had my luthier mate rout out the body under the pickguard too. It weighed 9 1/2 lbs when I took delivery of it and now I've got it down to 8 1/2 lbs (I could've sent it back and kept looking for a lighter one I suppose but I was so pleased with the fit, finish and feel of this bass that I couldn't part with it!)
I've also dropped an American Standard P5 pickup in that I picked up here on the BC classifieds along with a KiOgon wiring harness. There wasn't anything about the original pup and pots etc that made me want to change them, it's just the USA pup came up on here for a song and I had the wiring harness from an old project anyway. Played in isolation it does sound a little more refined but the original Squier pickup has it's own throaty quality that is equally valid. When cranked loud with a band the difference is negligible anyway I reckon.
It plays,feels and sounds fantastic! Very pleased indeed :)
I tried to get some decent pics of the finish in the sun today as the Candy Apple Red looks legit to me, as in it does look like a clear red over gold in a traditional way rather than just a thick coat of a single metallic red. It has some lovely coppery sparkles when the light catches it which my pics don't show too well unfortunately.
A killer bass for the money even when stock. B-)

Edit: I jammed last week with my two oldest friends who have heard me playing all my basses over the years, back to when I was young, free and single enough to be able to spend silly money on basses :) - they said this Squier is the best sounding bass I've ever had! (they're not the type to mince their words either) I have to agree.

Edited by miles'tone
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[quote name='miles'tone' timestamp='1425683988' post='2709835']
Here's my VM P5, modded a bit to save weight.
I've installed licensed by Hipshot Ultralite tuners and an aluminium A style bridge and aluminium knobs. (I'm not quite sure if the new bridge has altered the tone at all, which is a good thing too as it sounded great anyway, but it has made a difference to weight of the body which is all I was after there) I had my luthier mate rout out the body under the pickguard too. It weighed 9 1/2 lbs when I took delivery of it and now I've got it down to 8 1/2 lbs (I could've sent it back and kept looking for a lighter one I suppose but I was so pleased with the fit, finish and feel of this bass that I couldn't part with it!)
I've also dropped an American Standard P5 pickup in that I picked up here on the BC classifieds along with a KiOgon wiring harness. There wasn't anything about the original pup and pots etc that made me want to change them, it's just the USA pup came up on here for a song and I had the wiring harness from an old project anyway. Played in isolation it does sound a little more refined but the original Squier pickup has it's own throaty quality that is equally valid. When cranked loud with a band the difference is negligible anyway I reckon.
It plays,feels and sounds fantastic! Very pleased indeed :)
I tried to get some decent pics of the finish in the sun today as the Candy Apple Red looks legit to me, as in it does look like a clear red over gold in a traditional way rather than just a thick coat of a single metallic red. It has some lovely coppery sparkles when the light catches it which my pics don't show too well unfortunately.
A killer bass for the money even when stock. B-)

Edit: I jammed last week with my two oldest friends who have heard me playing all my basses over the years, back to when I was young, free and single enough to be able to spend silly money on basses :) - they said this Squier is the best sounding bass I've ever had! (they're not the type to mince their words either) I have to agree.
[/quote]

Really nice mods, im still saving for a Nordstrand and a new harness, im not too bothered about replacing the bridge/tuners though. I think I'm lucky as mine is already quite light, ive been trying to source a gold anodised pickguard for mine! does anyone know if the US P 5 guard would work?

cheers

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[quote name='miles'tone' timestamp='1425717960' post='2709956']
Christ just read all that back, please forgive the gushings :D

Here's the condensed version :

I bought a Squier P5, they are f**king ace.

The end.
[/quote]
No need to apologise - I liked the long version much better. V informative post - thanks for taking the time to write it!

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[quote name='lee650' timestamp='1425718735' post='2709965']


Really nice mods, im still saving for a Nordstrand and a new harness, im not too bothered about replacing the bridge/tuners though. I think I'm lucky as mine is already quite light, ive been trying to source a gold anodised pickguard for mine! does anyone know if the US P 5 guard would work?

cheers
[/quote]

Not sure about the Fender pickguard fitting but there is someone on ebay who does different pickguards for the Squier VM P5s.
I was intrigued by the Nordstrand NP5 as well, but then I saw this vid on YouTube and decided that the Fender pup is the way I wanted to sound personally (Which is why I jumped on the one I saw on here).
Both sound excellent to me though
Fender American Standard Precision Bass V (Pickup Tone Test "Fender vs N...: http://youtu.be/OcEgYU0ysZc

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[quote name='GrammeFriday' timestamp='1425721253' post='2709991']

No need to apologise - I liked the long version much better. V informative post - thanks for taking the time to write it!
[/quote]

Thanks, no problem.. Please excuse my French! :-P

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