beyer160
Poster Extraordinaire
My "open box" Squier CV '60s Precision bass from ProAudioStar arrived yesterday, in a sealed factory box. I know some folks have had issues with ProAudioStar, but this is my third order with them and I've had good luck each time. For $200, this is a smokin' deal. I bought a Thinline Tele at the same time, you can see the post on it here:
www.tdpri.com
Out of the box, the first thing I noticed was that the fretboard was nearly grey- it was the driest fretboard I've ever seen. I use boiled linseed oil on fretboards and hardly ever do more than one light treatment, this will definitely need a couple wipe downs. The action was sky-high, but a quick truss rod tweak and lowering of the saddles fixed that. There are a couple high frets which is annoying, but it's high enough on the neck to not be much of a problem. I'll try to pound them back down when I change the strings (P-basses need flatwound strings, end of discussion). The fret ends had the same barely noticeable fret sprout as the Thinline, easily fixed and not a dealbreaker by any means.
Setting the intonation was easy, the saddle screws didn't immediately start to strip out like my CV Thinline. Tuners seemed tight and substantial, no issues there. I did throw a business card shim in the back of the neck pocket to even out the action but that's par for the course on Fenders. I don't have a bass rig set up at the house, but playing through Amplitube it sounded like a P-bass. Then I compared it to my Fender Reggie Hamilton bass, which has the old USA Standard Precision pickup in a PJ configuration. Not quite a fair comparison (considering string differences, for one thing), but close enough for jazz. At roughly the same pickup height, the CV lacked the deep lows of the Hamilton's P-pickup and seemed more focused in the low mids. On stage I might not notice a difference, but through headphones it was audible. It's by no means a bad pickup though. I did get some RF buzz in the Squier that I didn't with the Hamilton, so some shielding tape will probably be a good idea.
It played great (other than the high frets when I ventured up the neck) and felt substantial and well made. I'd have no issues gigging it. As on the Thinline I'll probably knock the glossy finish on the neck down to a satin with a Scotchbrite pad, but that's personal preference.
Overall, $200 for a bass that's good to go out of the box is a no-brainer. My only real complaints are the high frets, which are totally acceptable in this price range. I'm only thinking about replacing the pickup because I'm an obsessive audio nerd, you don't really have to. I'll probably wait for a good deal on a used Fender American Standard, '62 or '63 Pure Vintage to pop up. I'll be fine with it as-is until then.
NGD- Squier CV Thinline
My "open box" Squier CV Thinline from ProAudioStar arrived yesterday, in a sealed factory box. I know some folks have had issues with ProAudioStar, but this is my third order with them and I've had good luck each time. For $220, this is a smokin' deal. I bought a '60s P-bass at the same time...
Out of the box, the first thing I noticed was that the fretboard was nearly grey- it was the driest fretboard I've ever seen. I use boiled linseed oil on fretboards and hardly ever do more than one light treatment, this will definitely need a couple wipe downs. The action was sky-high, but a quick truss rod tweak and lowering of the saddles fixed that. There are a couple high frets which is annoying, but it's high enough on the neck to not be much of a problem. I'll try to pound them back down when I change the strings (P-basses need flatwound strings, end of discussion). The fret ends had the same barely noticeable fret sprout as the Thinline, easily fixed and not a dealbreaker by any means.
Setting the intonation was easy, the saddle screws didn't immediately start to strip out like my CV Thinline. Tuners seemed tight and substantial, no issues there. I did throw a business card shim in the back of the neck pocket to even out the action but that's par for the course on Fenders. I don't have a bass rig set up at the house, but playing through Amplitube it sounded like a P-bass. Then I compared it to my Fender Reggie Hamilton bass, which has the old USA Standard Precision pickup in a PJ configuration. Not quite a fair comparison (considering string differences, for one thing), but close enough for jazz. At roughly the same pickup height, the CV lacked the deep lows of the Hamilton's P-pickup and seemed more focused in the low mids. On stage I might not notice a difference, but through headphones it was audible. It's by no means a bad pickup though. I did get some RF buzz in the Squier that I didn't with the Hamilton, so some shielding tape will probably be a good idea.
It played great (other than the high frets when I ventured up the neck) and felt substantial and well made. I'd have no issues gigging it. As on the Thinline I'll probably knock the glossy finish on the neck down to a satin with a Scotchbrite pad, but that's personal preference.
Overall, $200 for a bass that's good to go out of the box is a no-brainer. My only real complaints are the high frets, which are totally acceptable in this price range. I'm only thinking about replacing the pickup because I'm an obsessive audio nerd, you don't really have to. I'll probably wait for a good deal on a used Fender American Standard, '62 or '63 Pure Vintage to pop up. I'll be fine with it as-is until then.
