Peavey Millennium BXP 5-String Moddable?

[coandca]

Hi, I have a Peavey Millenium BXP 5-String and was thinking about changing somethings on my bass, like a new bridge, tuners, pickups, and maybe the nut. I was wondering if I can do that with my bass. I know most Fenders are highly moddable, but not sure about Peaveys (especially 5-strings). Also, if my bass is moddable, what would you recommend.


Thanks!

[Beefbass]

Hey there, I just put a down payment on the 4 string version of that bass, but I haved played the 5 string version. Here is my assesment, if it helps;

The bridge seems to be a version of a Gotoh. Looks solidly built, has side slots to keep saddles from sliding around, and you can top load, or string thru body. IMHO I would leave that be.

The electronics seem very solid! The pickups are hum cancelling(according to Peavey's website)and to me have a nice fat sound to them. The input jack felt VERY solid-not cheap, like almost every Fender I've plugged into. As far as electronics go, that is always very subjective. I don't plan to change mine. I felt the need to change them in my Fenders though. Again-subjective.

The nut? Only if yours isn't either cut well, or you may be changing string gages from time to time. Again, if there's nothing wrong with it, I'd leave that be also.

The tuners appear to be Gotoh minis-same type used on basses that use this kind of tuner. I had Fender 5 strings years ago with those tuners, and never had a problem. If weight is an issue, you may want to consider hipshot ultralites. The Milleniun is a very light bass however-one reason I chose it-so I don't know if neck dive will be an issue. Of all the mods you've mentioned, this might be the only one I'd really consider, for reasons mentioned above. I have no plans to change mine. In fact, I have no plans to change anything!

The less expensive Fenders are nice basses, but IME, they really can benefit from some changes. The bridges are crap, the pickups aren't the best, and I've found the tuners quite sloppy. Once you change those, then you have an instrument that can compare favorably against a more expensive MIA Fender. Some may have different experiences, I'm just relating mine.

I've found the Millenium to be a lot of bass for the money. I'd say a stock Millenium is hands down a better bass than a stock MIM, and this is coming from someone who has used Fenders for years, and owns 3 MIM's-all modded!

My advice-leave the Peavey stock. If later you decide you really want to change it, than more power to ya'. Ultimeatly, your happiness with it is all that counts. Hope that helps.

[coandca]

Thanks a lot. I really appreciate your help. I was just thinking of trying to make the best of my bass. When I use the pickups on mine, if I have both the neck and bridge at the same volume, there is no hum problem, but when they are not the same volume there is some hum. Would different pickups get rid of that problem?

Also, would you prefer a highly-modded MIM P or J over a non-modded BXP? I love my BXP, but am considering getting a MIM too.

[Beefbass]

Shielding could help with the hum. You might want to give that a try. If those pickups really are just single coils, then yes, true hum-cancelling pickups would help too.

Quite honestly, in the future, I think I would personally stick with the Peavey bass. If I wanted a different sound, I would get a BXP-AC model. Those have the Cirrus active pickups in them. I would probably consider that more if I were getting the 5 string version-I like actives better for 5's. Since I'm basically a 4 string guy though, I'd stick to passive.

All that is my opinion/experience.

[coandca]

Thanks for the help.