BASS VI - Squier Vintage Modified?! - DEMO!! pg12

[FuzzHugger]

Got my hands on one. It's kind of awesome and needs a little work at the same time.


Probably nothing new in my assessment, but I'll add to the chorus:

Likes:
- Sounds great, fun to play.
- Overall quality is good, what you expect from a good Squier.
- Action is great, as in, low and playable (except the way the low E plays).
- Excellent price for what you get.

Dislikes:
- Yep, the E string is too floppy...to the point where it's just not right. It's loose and farty. I can't imagining anyone preferring it to be this way.
- Came with really bad intonation, especially the low E.
- The strangle switch just makes the thing sound thin and bad. I don't get it.

Uncalled for gripes:
- Looks like a 4+ piece body (as expected), but that really shows with the sunburst (as expected...just thought I'd mention it).
- Could do without the bound neck, which isn't done really well, so why do at all? (It's not badd, they're wasting labor/cost by doing something unnecessary. Drop the binding and inlays and put that work/cost into lowering the price or putting a wider bridge on it.).
- Yeah, yeah, the tortoise isn't lovely.
- The nuts on these are still being cut comically bad.

[Helter]

Yeah I have the same problem with the low E on mine. Is there a fix for that anyone knows of?

[Schlatte]

Bigger string gauge?

[trace]

Yes bigger gauge for sure. I put on a set of la Bella tapewounds with a bigger low E and flipped the bridge around for more intonation range. Still not perfect but 100% better than stock.

[rfurtkamp]

No problems but I'm a standard tuning guy and use 10s on my mostly 24" scale regular guitars too. Doesn't seem out of line with anything else in the floppy category.

[Disarm D'arcy]

Got my hands on one. It's kind of awesome and needs a little work at the same time.


Probably nothing new in my assessment, but I'll add to the chorus:

Likes:
- Sounds great, fun to play.
- Overall quality is good, what you expect from a good Squier.
- Action is great, as in, low and playable (except the way the low E plays).
- Excellent price for what you get.

Dislikes:
- Yep, the E string is too floppy...to the point where it's just not right. It's loose and farty. I can't imagining anyone preferring it to be this way.
- Came with really bad intonation, especially the low E.
- The strangle switch just makes the thing sound thin and bad. I don't get it.

Uncalled for gripes:
- Looks like a 4+ piece body (as expected), but that really shows with the sunburst (as expected...just thought I'd mention it).
- Could do without the bound neck, which isn't done really well, so why do at all? (It's not badd, they're wasting labor/cost by doing something unnecessary. Drop the binding and inlays and put that work/cost into lowering the price or putting a wider bridge on it.).
- Yeah, yeah, the tortoise isn't lovely.
- The nuts on these are still being cut comically bad.

^This is spot on. I've had mine since October or November and I can totally agree.


I make it work with the standard string gauge. I wouldn't use the low E clean anyway but it sounds decent with the Pharaoh engaged. So I'll remedy to that once the stock strings are dead. The most painful to me was the rattling bridge. Fixed with the nail polish trick. Cleaned the nut a bit using a pair of tweezers and old bass strings to get rid of the plastic leftovers. Basically kept the guitar stock except for a setup and a few easy fixes.

[npfrs]

A decent set-up was required but it sounds sweet after - the low E is still a minor issue and I think I'll have a new nut cut and possibly put on thicker strings within a few months. I also had the bridge posts wrapped to make it a fixed bridge as I have no intention of temming it.

Replaced the knobs, added some Grolsch-loks (heh), want to replace the pickgaurd with a white one (any leads?) - other than that, soooooo sooooo good for the price!

[FuzzHugger]

Yeah I have the same problem with the low E on mine. Is there a fix for that anyone knows of?

Bigger string gauge?

That's my plan.
Also, planning on picking up a wider bridge to improve intonation range...there was someone, I think on eBay, selling wider bridges specifically for the VI...hopefully they pop up again.

[Schlatte]

A decent set-up was required but it sounds sweet after - the low E is still a minor issue and I think I'll have a new nut cut and possibly put on thicker strings within a few months. I also had the bridge posts wrapped to make it a fixed bridge as I have no intention of temming it.

Replaced the knobs, added some Grolsch-loks (heh), want to replace the pickgaurd with a white one (any leads?) - other than that, soooooo sooooo good for the price!

So awesome!
Someone from offsetguitars is selling vi guards in the bay or on the forum, i think it was mentioned earlier in the thread.

[trace]

http://staytrem.com/
This is the company that was/is making the wider bass vi bridges, I guess there aren't any around right now because they're moving. IIRC they were over $100 though, which is a little pricey for me for a $350 instrument.

[Psyre]

http://staytrem.com/
This is the company that was/is making the wider bass vi bridges, I guess there aren't any around right now because they're moving. IIRC they were over $100 though, which is a little pricey for me for a $350 instrument.

I went with the stay trem. I don't get why that's necesarrily too pricey an upgrade for the instrument. By getting rid of the horrible stock bridge and getting the stay trem I am more than happy to now have a $450 instrument. I put a little over half of the guitars costs into upgrades and general consensus in my friend group is it blows the pawnshop bass vi away at $150-200 less.

[MrNovember]

http://staytrem.com/
This is the company that was/is making the wider bass vi bridges, I guess there aren't any around right now because they're moving. IIRC they were over $100 though, which is a little pricey for me for a $350 instrument.

I went with the stay trem. I don't get why that's necesarrily too pricey an upgrade for the instrument. By getting rid of the horrible stock bridge and getting the stay trem I am more than happy to now have a $450 instrument. I put a little over half of the guitars costs into upgrades and general consensus in my friend group is it blows the pawnshop bass vi away at $150-200 less.

Yeah I'd rather buy a cheaper instrument and be able to afford more expensive upgrades
I'm definitely buying a staytrem for my JM when they're up and running again. I emailed them and apparently they'll have tons of stock on the 24th

[npfrs]

http://staytrem.com/
This is the company that was/is making the wider bass vi bridges, I guess there aren't any around right now because they're moving. IIRC they were over $100 though, which is a little pricey for me for a $350 instrument.

I went with the stay trem. I don't get why that's necesarrily too pricey an upgrade for the instrument. By getting rid of the horrible stock bridge and getting the stay trem I am more than happy to now have a $450 instrument. I put a little over half of the guitars costs into upgrades and general consensus in my friend group is it blows the pawnshop bass vi away at $150-200 less.

Yeah I'd rather buy a cheaper instrument and be able to afford more expensive upgrades
I'm definitely buying a staytrem for my JM when they're up and running again. I emailed them and apparently they'll have tons of stock on the 24th

^^^ Agreed. Not every player is worried about what the value is to to others - it's what its worth to them.

[rfurtkamp]

Yea, if I thought mine needed an upgrade I'd do it.

But I don't upgrade my Jaguars or Jazzmasters either, I learned to make the stock bridges work just fine during the Stone Age and to me the quirks and oddities are what make the guitars feel like what they are.

[MrNovember]

Yea, if I thought mine needed an upgrade I'd do it.

But I don't upgrade my Jaguars or Jazzmasters either, I learned to make the stock bridges work just fine during the Stone Age and to me the quirks and oddities are what make the guitars feel like what they are.

How do you get rid of the rattles?
The bridge screws in mine keep coming loose
I don't mind the not quite perfect intonation
But the constantly adjusting the height of the saddles to prevent them from rattling is driving me up the wall