Squier VM Baritone Jazzmaster mod into Bass VI w/Bigsby

[ScuzzButt]

Long story short; Guitar shop near me had a "moving to new location" sale so I bought this for really cheap($400CAD) with the intention of doing a custom paint job on it.
Not really a fan of this Antigua finish, along with pickup selector switch, strat-style input jack, and the bridge, there's a few things I would like to change.
I don't understand why Squier would put the selector switch where it is when the body is routed like a regular jazzmaster on the lower horn and has plenty of open space for the switch to go.
Sizing up the existing bridge plugs with a SQVMBassVI bridge to see how much body work I'll have to do to install a new one.
It kinda looks cool with the pickguard sanded down to white and the body "relicced"
Had to improvise and make my own post-puller, worked beautifully.
Body painted to matte white and waiting for the bridge to arrive.
Everything is here, just need to paint and clearcoat.

[_nash]

I tried to get one of these for exactly this purpose when GC/MF had them on sale. Missed 'em though.
Looks awesome!

[higgsblossom]

I never realized those had 30" scale necks

[ScuzzButt]

I ended up trying my hand at an oxblood finish, I'm liking how it turned out.

[Bigheadred1900]

Hey man thinking of doing a similar set of mods to mine, couldn't tell from the photo but did you have to modify the bridge holes to fit the bass vi bridge?

[FightingPlankton]

im glad its not antigua any more...I was considering buying one of these...but I cant get past the funky shape of the pickguard. that upper horn cut is just...i dont know, off.
i understand its different since the body is longer, but why'd they have to completely change the curves instead of just going with an upsized guard of the exact same shape?

[blimpage]

I don't understand why Squier would put the selector switch where it is when the body is routed like a regular jazzmaster on the lower horn and has plenty of open space for the switch to go.

Yeah what the hell? That cavity is completely wasted. I'm guessing they just didn't think it was worth making a different Jazzmaster body template that didn't have that cavity hollowed out. Bit of a waste.

[bacongrease]

I ended up trying my hand at an oxblood finish, I'm liking how it turned out.

Tight tight

[ScuzzButt]

Hey man thinking of doing a similar set of mods to mine, couldn't tell from the photo but did you have to modify the bridge holes to fit the bass vi bridge?

Yeah, the old bridge posts were a tad too narrow. Had to drill them out, plug them, and redrill.
It's worth noting that the bassy lows are very heavy with this. I thought I would have trouble getting a usable bass tone out of it but it is glorious.

[Bigheadred1900]

Hey man thinking of doing a similar set of mods to mine, couldn't tell from the photo but did you have to modify the bridge holes to fit the bass vi bridge?

Yeah, the old bridge posts were a tad too narrow. Had to drill them out, plug them, and redrill.
It's worth noting that the bassy lows are very heavy with this. I thought I would have trouble getting a usable bass tone out of it but it is glorious.

Good to hear! I've been using it in my post hardcore band for cleaner guitar parts ( we tune to drop B so this works perfect) I just think the bigsby would be a nice touch. So you're tuning it E to e like a bass vi?

[ScuzzButt]

Good to hear! I've been using it in my post hardcore band for cleaner guitar parts ( we tune to drop B so this works perfect) I just think the bigsby would be a nice touch. So you're tuning it E to e like a bass vi?

Correct. I have three flatwounds on the lower half that I took off my jazz bass after a string change and the higher three are from a D'addario bass vi set.

[eboe]

I so wish I had the money for the sweet None-Blacker model they have out now... Already having a Squier VI, I could easily live without a trem on that. Considering I've had a Six-String Bass with a Bigsby before, the Gretsch (which I sold to get money to buy a Hellcat VI). I wish I could trade that older Hellcat VI for one of the newer ones with the maple board and black blocks... they are so pretty!

[WillPhistre]

So I just got one of these Antigua JMBs, and I was HOPING the pickguard would sand down to white... and lookit that! Sweet!

ScuzzButt can you tell me what you did about the nut to get this to run Bass VI strings well? If you removed the existing one, can you tell me if the nut have a flat or curved bottom? I grabbed a replacement blank nut but I'm not sure if it'll work

[sea]

Does the bigsby work well? I've always appreciated that the VI has a tremolo, although the stock Fender trem doesn't really do much on a VI.

[bacongrease]

looked good in primer white too
bravo