dmz Posted April 2, 2023 Share Posted April 2, 2023 I’ve noted a few discussions lately on the Squier Classic Vibe 50’s P-bass, so I thought I’d post my mods to one that I did a while back - at least a couple of years ago. I’ve always had a fascination about Chris Squire’s modded Telecaster bass - since seeing that picture on the little booklet that came with the Fragile album. When the Squier CV’s first came out I thought to myself - hmmm, you could do a nice “Squire” modded version to one of those. So, the first thing I was going to do was to add another pickup at the bridge position - then things went a little bit crazy. Seeing as it is an “inspired by” rather than a clone I thought - what about a humbucker in the neck position ? A mudbucker would take up too much space, what about something alternative - how about a Ricky, given the Squire connection. After a bit of rummaging around the internet I came across Creamery pickups in Manchester. As it turned out, as well as a toaster, I ended getting a set of 52-Pbass pickups too - Alnico 2 for the middle and an alnico 5 for the bridge. A three hole telecaster control plate was bought which needed a little bit more routing of the existing cavity so that the concentric pots fitted. A Jazz Bass pickup cover was used to cover the bridge pickup. In a final bout of madness I got the luthier who did the work to add the “Squire” decal. How does it sound ? Well, the middle pickup has a lot of that early 50’s sound - great attack and definition. Maybe not as much weight as a 57-Pbass but has some nicely judged mids. The bridge, having alnico 5’s is quite aggressive but not thin and nasty. I think if you like Jean Jacques Burnel’s sound you’d like this bass. The toaster has less mids than the P-bass pickups but has a bigger bottom. With all three turned on it sounds almost active ! So, all in all very pleased with the way it turned out. Going forward I might be tempted to sand down the back of the neck for a more satin feel and get a bone nut installed. I really do like the smaller body shape on these basses - very comfortable. Sorry for my ramblings - hope you enjoy ! 26 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeftyJ Posted April 2, 2023 Share Posted April 2, 2023 That looks awesome! The custom decal is a great touch, I love it! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmo Valdemar Posted April 2, 2023 Share Posted April 2, 2023 VERY nice! I've been thinking of doing similar with mine, but more of a straight homage to Squire's with the Tele control plate and stereo out. That bass was played on more early Yes material than people think - it's all over The Yes Album. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dasbassman Posted April 5, 2023 Share Posted April 5, 2023 Aside from the fact I thought I was going mad when I saw this, it’s not bad at all! I never thought the Tele look would look good on a bass but here we are… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted April 5, 2023 Share Posted April 5, 2023 When Leo designed the '51 I'm sure he was thinking "Mmm, that's a lot of space between the bridge and PUP, I wonder what folks will do with it? Nice work, I'm doing something similar should time allow And 51' mod threads always warrant a pic of Charlie Tumahai 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulThePlug Posted April 5, 2023 Share Posted April 5, 2023 Nice Bass... Pour Me Out!... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmo Valdemar Posted August 8, 2023 Share Posted August 8, 2023 I still haven't got round to doing mine yet 😄 How does the pickup work so close to the bridge - do the strings line up over the poles ok? I know these pickups tend to have quite a narrow field, if I get carried away with the bends there's a bit of a volume drop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baloney Balderdash Posted August 9, 2023 Share Posted August 9, 2023 (edited) 9 hours ago, Cosmo Valdemar said: I still haven't got round to doing mine yet 😄 How does the pickup work so close to the bridge - do the strings line up over the poles ok? I know these pickups tend to have quite a narrow field, if I get carried away with the bends there's a bit of a volume drop. I suppose you could use a Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounder single coil P for the bridge, which got much bigger pole pieces that ought to produce a wider magnetic field, also as the only type of Quarter Pounder pickup it is not scooped at all, in fact it got a bit of a mid hump. Edited August 9, 2023 by Baloney Balderdash Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoulderpet Posted August 9, 2023 Share Posted August 9, 2023 On 02/04/2023 at 11:36, dmz said: I’ve noted a few discussions lately on the Squier Classic Vibe 50’s P-bass, so I thought I’d post my mods to one that I did a while back - at least a couple of years ago. I’ve always had a fascination about Chris Squire’s modded Telecaster bass - since seeing that picture on the little booklet that came with the Fragile album. When the Squier CV’s first came out I thought to myself - hmmm, you could do a nice “Squire” modded version to one of those. So, the first thing I was going to do was to add another pickup at the bridge position - then things went a little bit crazy. Seeing as it is an “inspired by” rather than a clone I thought - what about a humbucker in the neck position ? A mudbucker would take up too much space, what about something alternative - how about a Ricky, given the Squire connection. After a bit of rummaging around the internet I came across Creamery pickups in Manchester. As it turned out, as well as a toaster, I ended getting a set of 52-Pbass pickups too - Alnico 2 for the middle and an alnico 5 for the bridge. A three hole telecaster control plate was bought which needed a little bit more routing of the existing cavity so that the concentric pots fitted. A Jazz Bass pickup cover was used to cover the bridge pickup. In a final bout of madness I got the luthier who did the work to add the “Squire” decal. How does it sound ? Well, the middle pickup has a lot of that early 50’s sound - great attack and definition. Maybe not as much weight as a 57-Pbass but has some nicely judged mids. The bridge, having alnico 5’s is quite aggressive but not thin and nasty. I think if you like Jean Jacques Burnel’s sound you’d like this bass. The toaster has less mids than the P-bass pickups but has a bigger bottom. With all three turned on it sounds almost active ! So, all in all very pleased with the way it turned out. Going forward I might be tempted to sand down the back of the neck for a more satin feel and get a bone nut installed. I really do like the smaller body shape on these basses - very comfortable. Sorry for my ramblings - hope you enjoy ! That is one of the most awesome basses I have seen, always wanted a bass with 2 single coil p pickups, I bet that sounds amazing with all 3 on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmo Valdemar Posted August 9, 2023 Share Posted August 9, 2023 4 hours ago, Baloney Balderdash said: I suppose you could use a Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounder single coil P for the bridge, which got much bigger pole pieces that ought to produce a wider magnetic field, also as the only type of Quarter Pounder pickup it is not scooped at all, in fact it got a bit of a mid hump. I tried a QP before, not my cup of tea! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grenadillabama Posted August 9, 2023 Share Posted August 9, 2023 Cool mods and nice knobs too ! I wish for some stacked knobs so each pickup can be tweeked . I have gotten shy about cutting and drilling -your bass came out great ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dazed Posted August 9, 2023 Share Posted August 9, 2023 (edited) Loving that. Very similar to some ideas floating around in my head for the last couple of months! Also glad to see someone not afraid of doing mods to suit you and not about resale values 😎 Edited August 10, 2023 by Dazed 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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