So What exactly does "vintage modified" stand for?

#2
I’m pretty sure it is kind of what the name implies, a Squier line based on vintage guitar models with various mods (or upgrades). Kind of like some of the “hot rod” series where they take a vintage design and make some small changes to it. On here the VM guitars are well regarded for their price points. I owned one a bit back and it was a solid instrument.
 
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#3
I think it basically means "vintage-style, but don't get picky about it". Real vintage Fenders weren't made of basswood and didn't have miniature pots, for example. But the Squier VMs are nice instruments from what I've seen. My daughter has one of the 2012 VM Jaguar basses (long scale with concentric pots). It plays well and sounds great. Our one annoyance with it is that the output jack tends to come loose once a year or so, though I don't think it's done that since the last time I tightened it (then again, she hasn't been playing it much lately -- too busy with her clarinet work for school).
 
#4
Well, I looked up your model.

It seems the neck is a “slim C” shape. So the neck was skimmed down for this model. Mod.

The neck was also “vintage tinted”. Mod.

“Soft maple body”. Different from other models. Mod.

I’m sure there are more. But the point is that it’s made to look like a vintage bass but with some modifications.
 
#5
prokfrog said:
what the heck does Vintage Modified mean?
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It means....

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...absolutely nothing!!!!

But it sounds good and it sells so....

may the bass be with you

Wise(b)ass
 
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#6
BigDanT said:
I’m pretty sure it is kind of what the name implies, a Squier line based on vintage guitar models with various mods (or upgrades). Kind of like some of the “hot rod” series where they take a vintage design and make some small changes to it. On here the VM guitars are well regarded for their price points. I owned one a bit back and it was a solid instrument.
Click to expand...

Yeah. I must say. I thought I would soon find myself needing/wanting to swap pickups, hardware, etc. But right out of the box with a fresh set of strings and it's gig ready. Not changing a thing!
 
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#9
My 2 cents........I started playing in the mid late '70's.

Back then and through the '80's the big thing was take an original Fender Jazz or Precision and mod the hell out of it.

Choices weren't like they are today. You had Fender , Gibson, Rickenbacker and maybe a few others. That's why today you see P/J basses, Precision's with black block jazz necks, Jazz basses with Gibson mudbuckers, Mustangs with P/j set ups, ect..... its all been done before, but they were cool mods. Fender is just making them as stock instruments now.

Hence, Vintage "Modified"
 
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#10
They've taken a vintage (read: old) design (what does Fender or Squier make that isn't based on an old design?) and Changed whatever they thought would sell more, and hence make them more money (or cost them less money), from where it's made, to the parts, to the finish, etc....

It's like those adds that say "up to 50% off or more" - any number fits, as it's less than equal to, or greater than 50%. Hence it's a meaningles statement. "Vintage modified" - same thing. It's just a name, nothing more.
 
#14
prokfrog said:
Hi All, I bought a vintage modified Jazz V a few months ago. I bought it as a dedicated Eb tuned bass for my new gig. I really like this bass, but what the heck does Vintage Modified mean?

Thanks
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It means they first built the bass.
Then, they modified her to give her vintage-like components.

Vintage usually means 50's or 60's or 70's
In those times, the pickups were built of different materials : alnico usually which means aluminium + nickel + cobalt. What they wanted for the pickups were permanent magnets. They did not want to sale you an instrument whose magnets would lose their magnetic field over time. And in those eras, Alnico gave permanent magnets that were not too expensive and we didnt knew about more modern powerful magnets we have today.

So your bass has been modified to use Alnico pickups instead of Ceramic ones, because it changes the sound a little.
Various other parts of your bass have been modified for parts that are more vintage. The idea is to both reproduce the look and sound of the era.

A lot of players learn by imitation, like monkeys. We listen to bands we like and imitate them.
That's how kids learn, that's how we learn to play. And we usually do that by listening to the people that came before us, so by using vintage instruments, we get closer to their sound, so we can reproduce it and learn...

I like metal. So I was interested in what bands my favorite modern bands listened to. They listened to Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, and so on... Those bands themselves listened to previous artists so as I kept diggin' I went further back to the 60's and 50's.

No wonder I play a 70's bass today. Of all the eras, the sound I prefer is 60's and 70's (with a clear preference for 60's !).

I think your bass is using pickups designed by Fender and built by Seymour Duncan for them for this specific bass.
You are using "square/rectangular" inlays on the neck which is typical of the 70's and nowadays the inlays are usually small and round (big inlays are kick ass).
The shape of the neck also is specific and more "vintage" shaped because modern necks are not cut the same way.

So your bass has :
- modified neck compared to a standard Squier
- SD made pickups
- specific turning knobs
- better inlays
- bar style instead of round string retainer

It required more work, it's more expensive, and it's quality is considered one notch above a standard Squier.
 
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