NBD Squire Sonic P Bass

[Minininjarob]

This is a really bad idea isn’t it?? 

[Lozz196]

Incredibly so! 

[Minininjarob]

1 hour ago, Lozz196 said:

Incredibly so! 

Thanks for the reality check. 😂

[ian61]

Yep, plenty of SQ love around here. My VM P bass with those 'Duncan Designed' PU's is probably best P bass Ive ever had, and  Ive had a few over the yrs.

[JJMotown]

2 hours ago, ian61 said:

Yep, plenty of SQ love around here. My VM P bass with those 'Duncan Designed' PU's is probably best P bass Ive ever had, and  Ive had a few over the yrs.

Which, the white or amber?

 

I've a sunburst sonic P with laural or whatever the faux rosewood is, instead of standard maple, with gold anodised vintera pickguard. Looks great, sounds really good with flats. Really like the narrow neck, nice and fast.

Edited Monday at 10:48 by JJMotown

[ian61]

It was actually a shop damaged blue VM P/J which I got for cheap. Plugged the bridge cavity kept the P PU and repainted....Its now a standard VM P bass albeit with a minor alteration. Great neck, under 8IIbs and nicely resonant.

[JJMotown]

1 hour ago, ian61 said:

It was actually a shop damaged blue VM P/J which I got for cheap. Plugged the bridge cavity kept the P PU and repainted....Its now a standard VM P bass albeit with a minor alteration. Great neck, under 8IIbs and nicely resonant.

Nice, I had the same PJ bass a little while ago, albeit, I don't recall it having Duncan Designed pickups.

[Minininjarob]

Ok so update. I have given up on the black theme for now as it was getting a bit expensive. Main reason was that I couldn’t find any tuners that would use the original screw holes apart from some really cheap ones which might have been worse quality than what’s on the bass already. It’s gotta work well and look good. 
So for the moment I’ve got a brushed alloy pick guard which is a big improvement on the white original, and a Fender hi mass bridge and new strings (current ones are not nice) . I’m also upgrading the electronics as the originals are a bit scratchy to be honest. Keeping the PU’s as I think they sound good. 
So a big change nonetheless but not as big as planned. Spending around £120 on it might seem a little crazy but I’ve got a P with a jazz neck with for £290 which a pretty good I think. 
Just need everything to arrive and I’ll get pics to show the upgrades. 

[Obrienp]

Fender high mass bridge: good choice and pretty good value as high mass bridges go. 👍

[Minininjarob]

4 hours ago, Obrienp said:

Fender high mass bridge: good choice and pretty good value as high mass bridges go. 👍

Thanks. I really can’t stand the BBOT even though I know it works ok. Just looks so naff. 

[SlapbassSteve]

These new Sonic Series models are absolutely fantastic- I've a Bronco and it's a far better bass than it has any right to be for sub-£150!

Fretwork was incredible on it, hardware all worked nicely. Pickup, strings, and scratchplate were the weak links but definitely not dealbreakers when everything else was so good. I normally fretdress new acquisitions and this one didn't really need it at all. We've come a long way in the last 30 years for that to be the case!

 

Totally agree about the pickguard though! For full disclosure I should add I make them for a living so probably care about this far more than most folks; but nothing bothers me more than seeing Squiers with a 1-ply white guard with 45 degree edges. Main reason? It'd be no more expensive (cheaper if anything) for Squier to make them with 90 degree edges, which would just look better automatically, maybe because they'd look more like the original HIPS ones Fender used in the 1950s... instead though it just makes the whole thing look super cheap. Especially on those 90's Affinity models where they all turned that grim uneven shade of cream from UV.

My guess is the edge bevels are harder for some players to catch their hands on... but using a 3ply material that'd look better would make the next models up harder to sell so maybe it's also a way of making the more expensive ones feel like more of an upgrade.

On my Bronco the actual quality of the cut was really quite good, it was a well-made and fitting guard, no unevenness around the edges- but just looked nasty because of the material/bevel choice.

 

 

[Minininjarob]

Ok so got the new bridge. Compared it against a Hipshot one on my other P and the BBOT on the Squire. I like it. 

[Minininjarob]

Ok so took off the pick guard to check out the electronics. They look very puny so I am glad I already ordered a prewired set of CTS/switchcraft electronics from Tiny Tone. Should arrive soon so I can solder them in. 

[Minininjarob]

Finally just offered up the brushed ali guard I got and I’m super happy with how it looks. Sorta glad I stayed with the silver to be honest. 

[miles'tone]

I installed a set of Gotoh Resolite GB528 on my Sonic. The two screw holes lined up perfectly with the right side holes on my neck. Yes you can see the two remaining holes but not enough to bother me. Great lightweight tuners that also look better from the front imo, as they're a bit taller than the stock ones which barely clear the top of the headstock. 

I'll take a pic when I get home...

Edited 5 hours ago by miles'tone

[ian61]

On 02/09/2025 at 17:51, JJMotown said:

Nice, I had the same PJ bass a little while ago, albeit, I don't recall it having Duncan Designed pickups.

Mine is early and it has the DD legend imprinted on the P PU covers.

[miles'tone]

1 hour ago, miles'tone said:

I installed a set of Gotoh Resolite GB528 on my Sonic. The two screw holes lined up perfectly with the right side holes on my neck. Yes you can see the two remaining holes but not enough to bother me. Great lightweight tuners that also look better from the front imo, as they're a bit taller than the stock ones which barely clear the top of the headstock. 

I'll take a pic when I get home...

I've also got a set of the GB528s on my Classic Vibe Mustang bass but interestingly, none of the screw holes lined up on that bass. I had to plug the standard holes and re-drill. Bit of a faff but easy enough. I was pleased that the set for the Sonic fitted exactly. On and done in 5 mins.

Edited 4 hours ago by miles'tone

[Obrienp]

Think I would be inclined to plug those holes with short lengths of toothpick and wood glue. It won’t make them entirely invisible but they won’t be quite that obvious.

 

P.S. Those Gotohs must have cost about half what the bass cost!

Edited 3 hours ago by Obrienp

[Obrienp]

2 hours ago, Minininjarob said:

Finally just offered up the brushed ali guard I got and I’m super happy with how it looks. Sorta glad I stayed with the silver to be honest. 

Looks good and you don’t have to shield it as it is already conductive. Just need a couple of bits of conductive tape from the graphite paint in the control cavity to a screw hole on either side and you should have really good shielding. 👍

[Minininjarob]

1 hour ago, Obrienp said:

Looks good and you don’t have to shield it as it is already conductive. Just need a couple of bits of conductive tape from the graphite paint in the control cavity to a screw hole on either side and you should have really good shielding. 👍

Actually it’s already spread to one of the screw holes, but I got some copper tape anyway so I’ll pop some on anyway doesn’t hurt. 

[miles'tone]

1 hour ago, Obrienp said:

Think I would be inclined to plug those holes with short lengths of toothpick and wood glue. It won’t make them entirely invisible but they won’t be quite that obvious.

 

P.S. Those Gotohs must have cost about half what the bass cost!

Yes. Long story. I should do a show and tell thread of my own actually. Might be helpful to others as I've made a few mods and I don't want to get into derailing someone else's thread!

Cheers 

Edited 1 hour ago by miles'tone