NBD Squier CV 50s Precision

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MattK
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NBD Squier CV 50s Precision

Post by MattK »

After a long period of curiosity I saw one of these Squier CV "original" style P basses on local classifieds. Made in Indonesia (a new one for me), 2TS, stock pickup but the owner had put LaBella flats on it. I just picked it up, and oh my goddddddddd it is wonderful. Fretwork, neck profile, feel, finish, all perfect for me. LOVE IT. Feels as good as most of the Fenders I have.
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Thom
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Re: NBD Squier CV 50s Precision

Post by Thom »

Very nice, congrats!
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Re: NBD Squier CV 50s Precision

Post by sunshiner »

Congrats, it's a looker!
matte30is wrote:Someone man up and get a balloon.
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Re: NBD Squier CV 50s Precision

Post by Ankhanu »

Jelly
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MattK
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Re: NBD Squier CV 50s Precision

Post by MattK »

I've got sore fingertips from playing, these flats are surprisingly brutal!
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Re: NBD Squier CV 50s Precision

Post by MattK »

An update. The guy who sold this to me had strung it with LaBella flats, as mentioned, but the ball-end silk wraps were sitting on the saddles. Thought it was weird and then realised they were intended for through-body strings which have extra length between ball and saddle.
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Instead of changing the strings, like a sane person, it began to bug me that this bass was an exact copy of a 1954 Precision (when the body was first contoured) except it had a 1959 bridge. It should have the original 1951 bridge, i.e. 2-saddle and through-body stringing. So I decided to do it, and bought some ferrules and a 2-saddle bridge from Fender (I think the same part they use on the Squier Telecaster Bass, so it has brass saddles). You might be able to see from the pic above that the factory bridge was slightly crooked so I figured I might as well fix that too.
Old bridge off (the tape shows the edges and pencil marks for the saddle positions so I could check if the new one could reach them):
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New bridge test fit (note change of angle, I measured from the neck pocket to each side):
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Drilled the string holes with the drill press, then used a brad point bit spun backwards to score the finish so it wouldn't chip. This stage was terrifying:
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(then drilled with a 1/2" wood bit, 10mm down, using the press, for the ferrule to fit in)
New bridge installed:
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Ferrules on the back (there was a bit of dicking around to get them looking straight, fortunately a small gap is in the black part of the finish).
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And now it's vintage-correct, the strings cross the saddles with metal on metal, it looks cool and I love it even more. The irony is that a new bridge and ferrules cost a little less than a replacement set of LaBellas ...
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sunshiner
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Re: NBD Squier CV 50s Precision

Post by sunshiner »

Nice job! It looks neat!

Having a drill press or an access to one is a great thing. I had one at my old job but it was old and in a terrible condition with a bit installed wiggling slightly which made any precise work impossible
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Bacchus
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Re: NBD Squier CV 50s Precision

Post by Bacchus »

Good job! That's an easy job to fuck up!

Tdpri is full of stories of people trying to convert their top loaders to string through because "it's just drilling a few holes and how hard can that be."

And then they find out.
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MattK
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Re: NBD Squier CV 50s Precision

Post by MattK »

To be honest I had to bodge one of the ferrule holes diagonally by about 2mm to make it look OK - even with a drill press it really is easy to fuck it up. We had very good string hole alignment but using them as pilot holes for the 1/2" bit was just terrifying, the brad point (new and very good quality) tried to gouge out chunks so we ended up using a normal bit and of course it wandered subtly, not enough to see until the bloody ferrules were in. Pretty stressful but a good result!
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MattK
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Re: NBD Squier CV 50s Precision

Post by MattK »

Also here's one for you - I can't figure out why a bass "Crafted in Indonesia" has this label on the neck heel.
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