De-blinging a Squier 40th Precision

[fergs40]

I know there's a lot of love for these, and I share it. This is my second one - the previous was identical, but a victim of one of those 'perhaps I really do have too many basses' moments of doubt which can strike the unwary. This one cropped up on our local Irish small-ads site for a price not dissimilar to what I sold the old one for, so having watched and wondered for a while I eventually did a deal for it.

 

When I got it home, though, I realised that it hadn't just been the 'too many basses' feeling that had prompted the previous one's departure - I was also not loving the bling. So in a move which I'm sure some will regard as quasi-sacreligious, I set about replacing all that fine gold hardware with something a bit more, well, restrained. And here is the result:

 

 

There's no 'before' picture as I'm sure you all know what one of these looks like when it comes out of the factory (if you don't, there's one for sale in the classifieds at the moment).

 

I bought all the parts I needed - tuners, string retainer, pick guard, bridge, neck plate - on Amazon.ie, all sold by Musiclily Direct UK, for the grand sum of €62. I already had some vintage-style telecaster knobs and some regular strap buttons, so I didn't need those. I think the quality of the parts is every bit as good as those I took off it. I particularly like the pick guard, which fitted perfectly with no need for any fettling or redrilling of holes.

 

The tuners, despite being shown by my (admittedly crude) measurements as having the same dimensions as those I took out, did require me to fill and redrill, and the ferrules were slightly too small. Still, a few minutes work with some cocktail sticks and duct (duck?) tape (I couldn't find the PTFE) sorted that:

 

 

I'll get round to adding the other two screws to each tuner at some point. Maybe.

 

I was particularly pleased that I managed not to drill through to the front of the headstock...

 

 

The only evidence left of its illustrious origins is the output jack - I'm sure I could find a silver one in the parts drawer if I looked, but I a) couldn't be bothered with the soldering and b) quite like leaving this little marker for 'those in the know'.

 

 

A few more pics:  the new bridge (somewhere between a hi-mass and a BBOM, and perfectly functional - it even came with a shorter spring on the E saddle to allow for intonation), the pick guard (which picks up the blocks quite nicely I think), and the rear with its new plain neck plate (and my foot).

 

 

And done! I'm very pleased, and much more likely to pick this bass up in its new guise. Fickle, fickle, fickle...

 

Edited 2 hours ago by fergs40

[SpondonBassed]

10 minutes ago, fergs40 said:

The only evidence left of its illustrious origins is the output jack - I'm sure I could find a silver one in the parts drawer if I looked, but I a) couldn't be bothered with the soldering and b) quite like leaving this little marker for 'those in the know'.

 

That one touch of "bling" is tasteful.

 

I find the use of gold, faux or genuine, to be vulgar when it is applied liberally.  Where it is used to display the owner's wealth (one example being the current resident of a big white house) it is beyond vulgar and well in to perverse territory.

 

You now have a great looking bass.  That's a respectful modification.  Thanks for sharing.