Generally still need to solder the jack through.
Soldering is easy folks. Practice on a couple $0.25 knobs until confident.
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Well if he wants to use his existing jack, he will probably have to solder to it. But if he replaces his existing jack with the one in the kit, the wires have a slip on connector to connect it, so it will not need to be soldered. That’s the beauty of the EMG wiring kits. But it is always good to know how to use either if you are going to play around with guitar electronics.
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It’s a P Bass so the jack is on the pickguards, and really easy to change out. You can easily remove the current wiring intact by detaching the ground and installing the new EMG setup. No reason to reuse the jack and IME the EMG jack will be more secure than stock Squier
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Thanks for all the advice and info everyone - it’s much appreciated.
I’ve soldered stuff in the past but only infrequently so it’s not something I’m proficient at.
The EMG kit sounds interesting. I’ll have a look at that. The only reason I was thinking of Seymour Duncan’s was it’s a brand that I’m familiar with and the reviews were good so I’m happy to look at alternatives.
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I 2nd the EMGs. I got the EMG GZR kit for my P-bass. It’s literally plug and play with no soldering. Replaces pickups, pots, and output jack. EMG has a video on their site showing how to install step by step. I liked this option as I needed new pots/jack anyway and that would have been an extra expense plus soldering with other brands. Sounds pretty good, too.
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This is a tone question and depends on which pickups and what you want them to sound like for you. Plenty of online comparisons. My advise is….
If you are going to the trouble of upgrading don’t ring fence yourself to EMG because it’s easier. The point is to get the tone you want. Solder should not stand in your way.
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I ah e these and love them. I also have SD quarter pounders and some other SD I can’t remember. All VERY different tonally.
Go for the tone you want!
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Yea we are not advocating to use the EMG pickups. Go ahead and get the Duncan’s, I have used both brands and they are both high quality, and will sound good.
Check out Oliver Tobyn’s channel, he has done a lot of tone testing on pickups. He use the same bass and strings and changes out pickups. A little repetitive, but great way to find your tone
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Adding a little craftsmanship to music won’t hurt anyone 
Got a bit more done today - rounded all of the edges over and a bit more sanding. There’s still so much sanding to go, LOL. Decided I’d take a picture with some of the hardware in place.
I’ve already routed out the control cavity, so it’s a bit late to be having the “hmmm, maybe I should forego the pickguard” evaluation, but I’m giving it some thought. But really should have routed it from the back if I’d known I was going to go that way. The pickup routs were made with a pickguard in mind too.
Still, I’m considering the possibility of just a small control cavity cover instead of the typical PB pickguard. Dunno. But giving it some thought.
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You can’t cover up too much of it with a pickgaurd, you got so show off that flame/curly maple.
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I’m working on a guitar not a bass, but soldering to the back of pots sucks. This is almost as dumb a tradition and truss bolts requiring loosening the neck. At least this saves a half a penny though.
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Ok I should finish module 10 today. With a new week I switch basses and this is what I will play this week. I built this bass, making a pattern from an old Spector body I have. I really like the spector shape. Body wood is mahogany, the neck is a Warmoth neck. I tried their Fender type head on this one, and I can see and feel something that I don’t like 100%. The larger head along with the heavier tuners really make the neck weight noticeable. This is a medium scale (32”) bass. If I could find lighter tuners, it would help. These are Hipshot tuners. I used Seymour Duncan Quarter pound J Bass pickups, and passive on volume and tone. 1 set for neck and one set for bridge. The bridge is Hipshot B. Neck is roasted maple with rosewood fretboard. Color is white, base coat clear coat. This one sounds good also.
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Check out the Gotoh GB707 tuners. 20:1 ratio, compact and lightweight, sealed, inexpensive, but high quality. From Japan, if that matters. Often used to help reduce neck dive.
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I have them on all my main basses. They are sealed, inexpensive, quality … but I would not call them “lightweight”…
Gotoh claims 60.2g per tuner, where the typical Fender open back is about 112g. Schaller lightweight are supposedly 71g or so.
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My tuner holes are too large for that Gotoh tuner. Do they make a bushing?
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I have Hipshot lightweights they are 1.97 oz. That should equate to 55.8 grams. I think.
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I had the same issue. Got a aluminium tube from Amazon, cut it to pieces, and everything worked perfectly.
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