Assembling your own basses vs buying production basses vs modding

[Passinwind]

None of the above. I prefer letting an actual luthier build to my spec as far as the woodwork and pickups, and taking care of the electronics myself.

 

[SactoBass]

None of the above. I prefer letting an actual luthier build to my spec as far as the woodwork and pickups, and taking care of the electronics myself.

That is certainly a nice choice!

And thanks Charlie for bringing up that option. I will attempt to add that option to the poll.

EDIT: I tried to figure out how to add that to the poll, but I failed!

 

[2tonic]

LOL! Yes indeed it is! My lovely wife got me that 5-space rack this Christmas. How on earth did she know that is exactly what I wanted for my five basses?!

Perhaps it was the two weeks of you wandering around the house, singing "The Twelve Days of Christmas" with the day five gifts being a "five space bass rack" that clued her in!
Lovely basses and a really nice rack!
Mind sharing the brand or seller with us? It's not only more stylish than most I've seen, or used, but appears to fold up much more compactly.

 

[CallMeAl]

I have always bought a production model and performed mods.

The fretted has had one mod.
The knobs.

The fretless has had five.
Defretted once.
Then replace the pickups,knobs,and tuners.
Then had the defretted board replaced with unlined ebony fingerboard.
View attachment 3647443

Are those bridge-mount tuners?

 

[Snakeman1066]

To the OP

I for one have NEVER been able to find what I want from a production instrument produced by the usual offenders...so I have always bought used and modified to my desired specs...This is usually cheaper than buying components and building from scratch...but not always...sometimes you find guys parting out basses (as usually you can make more $$$ this way than selling used outright) and it ends up being cheaper than buying used an modding...

I started a thread some time ago about Fender needing to make a production "P" bass with a "Jazz" width neck and basically got pummeled by the Fender Fan Boi legion...

These Days I'm fairly satisfied with my collection and eventually went to Laklands as they DO make production instruments with my desired Aesthetics...

and currently I'm looking to a certain company's custom shop for what I'm wanting these days which is an option I didn't see in your poll...

 

[SactoBass]

Perhaps it was the two weeks of you wandering around the house, singing "The Twelve Days of Christmas" with the day five gifts being a "five space bass rack" that clued her in!
Lovely basses and a really nice rack!
Mind sharing the brand or seller with us? It's not only more stylish than most I've seen, or used, but appears to fold up much more compactly.

Thanks 2Tonic!

Ah yes, the 5-space rack. I did alot of shopping around before I zeroed in on that one. It cost $219.99 and I can tell you that it is solid as a rock! No flimsy cheap stuff here. It is well made. And yes it folds. It is available from Sweetwater. Here is the link:

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/de...-guitar-stand-black-with-translucent-supports

According to the manufacturer, the translucent rubber supports prevent leaving markings/discolorations on your basses that sometimes happens with stands that have black support material.

 

[SactoBass]

I started a thread some time ago about Fender needing to make a production "P" bass with a "Jazz" width neck and basically got pummeled by the Fender Fan Boi legion...

All four of my Fender basses have J necks, including the two P basses. The 1.5" nut width is my preference. I believe Fender came out a few years ago with their "postmodern" series that came with J necks. There are a number of bassists that like P basses with J necks. I am one of them!

currently I'm looking to a certain company's custom shop for what I'm wanting these days which is an option I didn't see in your poll...

Yep, I inadvertently failed to include that option in the poll. Another TB'er brought that up, and I tried to figure out how to add that option to the poll, but I failed!

 

[KohanMike]

Since I only play 21" to 25" scale bass and I'm totally into BAS/GAS, there are so few ready made, I will modify/convert short scale guitars. Here's my entire collection showing which are ready made and which are modified.

 

[SactoBass]

Since I only play 21" to 25" scale bass and I have am totally into BAS/GAS, there are so few ready made, I will modify/convert short scale guitars. Here's my entire collection showing which are ready made and which are modified.

So very cool! Love that non-reverse T-bird!

 

[Snakeman1066]

All four of my Fender basses have J necks, including the two P basses. The 1.5" nut width is my preference. I believe Fender came out a few years ago with their "postmodern" series that came with J necks. There are a number of bassists that like P basses with J necks. I am one of them!



Yep, I inadvertently failed to include that option in the poll. Another TB'er brought that up, and I tried to figure out how to add that option to the poll, but I failed!

There a a bunch of us that prefer "Jazz" necks on "P" basses it's a mod that has been done since "Jazz" basses first hit the market...Fender has done a few special editions over the years in various product lines...but it has yet to make "production model" status (Which IMHO is stupid)....which is why I eventually went to Lakland...Where I can get a "P" body with a bound and blocked "Jazz" neck in my choice of 17 colors with a P/J set up off the shelf all day long...and for a few extra bucks they will drop in pick-ups of my choice without it being a "Custom Shop" order

I can't get any of that off the shelf from Fender and even if i could they would be limited to one or two colors...plus I prefer the 10" neck radius of Lakland to the 9.5" or 7.25" of Fender

but....my current favorite "P" bass (though some may argue it's not a true "P" bass) is one I call Fan-Boy...It's a Dee Dee Ramone body married to a Geddy Lee Jazz neck and loaded with a set of EMG Geezer Pups....a Badass bridge, Hipshot thumb rest and a string retainer (all parts bought used except the bridge and pups and assembled by me)

 

[39-Bassist]

I have the ability to be able to build my own basses to my specs.
So I do for all 4 of mine.
Also, I am happy to be able to not pay an arm or a leg for my parts either.
Resale for me will just about break even after what I have put in them in parts.

 

[SactoBass]

my current favorite "P" bass (though some may argue it's not a true "P" bass) is one I call Fan-Boy...It's a Dee Dee Ramone body married to a Geddy Lee Jazz neck and loaded with a set of EMG Geezer Pups....a Badass bridge, Hipshot thumb rest and a string retainer (all parts bought used except the bridge and pups and assembled by me)

View attachment 3647561

That bass is saWEET! And it's a perfect example of putting together the components that *YOU* want!

 

[SactoBass]

I have the ability to be able to build my own basses to my specs.
So I do for all 4 of mine.
Also, I am happy to be able to not pay an arm or a leg for my parts either.
Resale for me will just about break even after what I have put in them in parts.

That is EXCELLENT!

 

[REV]

I also love to tinker. I love trying different combinations of parts to see what happens. Doing this over the years has helped me to deal with the various inconsistencies in the Fender design. I have modified most of my basses in one way or another to get them to be more like I want them to be.

 

[SactoBass]

I also love to tinker. I love trying different combinations of parts to see what happens. Doing this over the years has helped me to deal with the various inconsistencies in the Fender design. I have modified most of my basses in one way or another to get them to be more like I want them to be.

Biiiiiiiig +1

 

[Passinwind]

That is certainly a nice choice!

And thanks Charlie for bringing up that option. I will attempt to add that option to the poll.

EDIT: I tried to figure out how to add that to the poll, but I failed!

No worries. As you know, I'm all about supporting DIY'ers in whatever they do as long as it makes at least a little sense, so it's all good.

 

[bassplayer9512]

All of my basses with bolt on necks have warmoth necks. I love their necks. All of them. Its gotta be a bolt on production bass under $750 for me to be interested and usually it's the Squier Classic Vibe stuff lately. That new mustang is real tempting at $350 knowing a cam get a killer pickup upgrade and still be under $500 with the classic look.

Warmoth can get me just about any neck set up either used or new for about $350 and you can get a body from them or stratosphere amd pickups and hardware of choice. Neck thru or set neck are the only production instruments I'll buy in the $750 or higher price range because I most likely can can build the bolt ons in that range for cheaper or to my exact liking. I'm pretty meat and potatoes with my basses and only have one active bass that I built myself. Everything else I have is passive and single tone control except my Ric.

 

[ChrisBowsman]

I voted mod production instruments, because that's all I've ever done. It always seemed silly to spend the dough on a separate body and neck rather than getting something I liked then upgrading pickups and whatever. After putting the Allparts neck on my Squier P and winding up with a killer bass, I fully intend to piece together something from the ground up.

 

[buldog5151bass]

If you know exactly what you want, and can't find it in a production bass, and intend on keeping it for along time, a project bass is a great idea. But you will never get as much money back if you sell it.

And to me, you shouldn't add a Fender sticker on a non Fender production bass. Design your own.

 

[SactoBass]

All of my basses with bolt on necks have warmoth necks. I love their necks. All of them. Its gotta be a bolt on production bass under $750 for me to be interested and usually it's the Squier Classic Vibe stuff lately. That new mustang is real tempting at $350 knowing a cam get a killer pickup upgrade and still be under $500 with the classic look.

Warmoth can get me just about any neck set up either used or new for about $350 and you can get a body from them or stratosphere amd pickups and hardware of choice. Neck thru or set neck are the only production instruments I'll buy in the $750 or higher price range because I most likely can can build the bolt ons in that range for cheaper or to my exact liking. I'm pretty meat and potatoes with my basses and only have one active bass that I built myself. Everything else I have is passive and single tone control except my Ric.

Excellent!