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Assembling your own basses vs buying production basses vs modding

Which do you prefer? (you may select as many choices as you wish)

  • Buy production basses and leave them stock

    Votes: 252 40.9%

  • Buy production basses and perform mods

    Votes: 304 49.4%

  • Buy separate components and assemble basses to your exact spec

    Votes: 216 35.1%

  • Make basses from scratch including cutting the wood for bodies/necks

    Votes: 51 8.3%

  • Peel carrots to your exact specifications

    Votes: 68 11.0%
  • Total voters
    616
#101
Charlzm said:
I have a little bit of everything in my stable right now.
  • Fender Geddy Lee Jazz Bass CIJ - bone stock
  • Rickenbacker 4003 - stock except for cavity shielding and RWRP pickup wiring mod
  • Warwick Katana NT (made in germany) - stock (with some factory options)
  • Kiesel Icon 5 - ordered with options, then modified to fretless
  • Dingwall Afterburner 1 - stock except for Nordstrand pickups I had installed
  • Dingwall Combustion - upgraded tuners, upgraded monorail bridges, Nordstrand pickups installed, custom pickguard
  • Warmoth Z Bass - Warmoth Z Bass body, Warmoth Superbass neck, Nordstrand P/J pickups, BadAss II bridge, Hipshot D-tuner, Hipshot Ultralite tuners (final parts cost was about $1850, so it wasn't exactly cost-effective)
My favorite 4 string is the Warmoth, without a doubt, so I'd consider it money well-spent; it's the best-playing and best-sounding 4 string bass I have ever had.

My favorite 5 string is the Afterburner because it just sounds so godly, thanks to the Nordstrand Big Splits.

So... yeah, I think I'm at a point now where I know what I want well enough to not be buying any more stock basses. Unless one comes along that has exactly the options I want.
Click to expand...

Niiiiiice collection! :thumbsup:
 
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#104
I chose options 2 and 3.

This is one of the basses I'll never part with.
20160521_171408 (2).jpg


All Fender, all MIA, but nothing from the same bass. It's 100% a parts bass.
 
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#105
cordsonbass said:
I have a Peavy Cirrus 5 string and Squier Deluxe 4 string jaz bass. Both play excellent

Ive always wanted to build my very own bass, but I didnt want to get a kit because that would limit my options. This past year i was talking with my friend about it (i told him I was gonna buy parts off of Warmoth, but he said he'll build it for me from stratch.

Hes a carpenter and always wanted to do something challenging. Plus I'm always helping out other people so he wanted to do this as a favor for me

I ordered the hardware after researching what I wanted in my bass (pickups, preamp, neck, etc) and my friend gave me the money to get what I needed

It took us exactly 6 months (March 16 through Sept 16)

It feels great to play, and sounds excellent

I took it to a gig where there was another band playing and the bass playe said they loved the look of it and couldn't believe it was built from scratch

Altogether the project cost me $800, but the bass came out perfect in the end

I LOVE it!!!
View attachment 3647776 View attachment 3647777 View attachment 3647778 View attachment 3647779 View attachment 3647780 View attachment 3647783
Click to expand...

Great results!!! :thumbsup:
 
#108
NativeBobcat said:
I’ve come to love doing parts builds! I started by making a Bass VI from Warmoth parts and it was so much fun I built two more almost back to back. The leftys are mine and the righty I built for a friend.

The whole reason I got into it was because, being a lefty, my choices are very limited. That’s why I built a Bass VI and a Jazzmaster bass for myself. Close to impossible to find those left handed. The next build I’m doing is gonna be a lefty Mustang bass.View attachment 3647451 View attachment 3647462 View attachment 3647455
Click to expand...

Being a lefty myself, I've also wanted a lefty Mustang bass. I think the closest I would come would be to buy a righty Mustang then stripping all the hardware, tracing the body to a piece of paper, then sending that to someone who has experience in building bass bodies. I guess I would need to find a lefty Mustang pickguard too.

Good luck on your build and keep us posted!
 
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#109
MegaSwing said:
I tweak them until I love them. Even with the finest components, they don’t always come together with nothing left to be desired. It’s a very organic process. By now, the basses I have all have been tweaked and distilled to a place where I couldn’t easily part with any of them.

However, I do keep an all-stock MIA Precision and a near all-stock MIA Jazz (body and neck from different years) just to maintain reference points. They’re both very nice, but not what I’d call perfect.

I think it’s easier to get exactly what you want by modding and swapping out components than by finding the ideal one off the rack. The results can be surprising.

I appreciate the Fender standard for this reason. The new and used aftermarkets are vast. There’s almost no way to try everything that’s out there.
Click to expand...

Well stated! :thumbsup:
 
#111
JRA said:
i haven't played a production bass for decades (3+?) --- i discovered then that i could never have what i wanted even if i spent tons on a custom build. if i don't assemble and/or mod myself = it will be someone else's interpretation of what i want. my axes are for me. resale value is a goofy consideration if you need alterations to an instrument to make it perfect for yourself.


:thumbsup:

big whup on the resale thing, see above.

some of you cats should check out the modding and re-assembling on the glarry cheapies as platforms:
Official Exquisite/Glarry/Burning Fire Bass Club?
the players in the glarry club are doing some serious, but fun, modding!

here's my last project --- it's a perfect 'P' from new parts i scouted...it weighs less than 6 pounds:
View attachment 3647810
and here is the same ax with a ramp i just installed:
View attachment 3647812

i've been doing this for years and i'm very 'vocal' about it (advocating the notion that no one should play an instrument that isn't perfect for them). i make an instrument play perfectly for me, or it's useless. what it's worth to others after my 'work' is not a consideration, ever. if they look good, that's cool. but they have to play as 'priceless'!

i agree with KBD: it's all about the neck, first. and then for me: balance and weight.

(some nice axes on this thread!) :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

Great post, JRA! Right on point! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
 
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#114
These two have been modded and both are my two favourite basses.

The Precision has HipShot Vintage bridge, HipShot tuners including an Xtender and a fun neck plate not pictured.

The Jazz is back to Chrome HipShot tuners, Xtender and bridge.
786D8FC6-089E-45B2-9D8A-2C57A60FC5FF.jpeg


I have other basses but there is no need to mod them currently. Having said that, I want to assemble one from parts just for fun.
 
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#115
SactoBass said:
Hey there TB'ers! :)

I've been playing bass since 1972, and for most of those years, I always bought production basses and left them stock for the most part. I've mostly owned Fenders and Rickenbackers over the years, including a few Fender Custom Shops.

For most of those years, it never dawned on me to assemble my own basses. For some reason, my brain was programmed to think that buying production basses was the only viable option (for me, anyway).

A few years ago, I reached a point where I wasn't quite satisfied with production basses, primarily because none of them had the exact components that I wanted. Since resale value is of zero interest or concern to me at this point in my life (a 63 year old retired civil engineer), and because I love to tinker at home putting things together, I made the decision a couple of years ago to start assembling my own basses using the exact components that I wanted. (Btw, I'm not talented enough to cut my own wood for bass bodies and necks, so I bought bass bodies and necks.) What I ended up with is a set of basses that I absolutely love! I am so pleased with the decision that I made to assemble my own basses because I now have exactly what I want. :thumbsup:

Now, I realize that assembling basses is not what everyone wants to do. We all like different things, which is the way it should be. But for me (and I'm only talking about *ME* here), the preference that I held for decades of buying production basses changed to a preference for assembling my own basses using the exact components that I wanted. Since I experienced this "shift" in preference (which honestly caught me by surprise), and the end result was a very high level of happiness and satisfaction (for me), I was wondering, do any of my fellow and/or fellowette TB'ers have a preference of buying production basses vs assembling them? (That is the original reason I started this thread....to ask TB'ers that question.)

Of course, in between those two options would be to take a production bass, and perform whatever mods you wish. That is indeed what I did with my Ric 4003S shown in the middle of the pic below. That is the only production bass that I own. All I did there is swap out the stock neck pickup for a Nordenbacker. The other four Fender basses shown in the pic (two J's on the left and two P's on the right) were assembled by me using high end components of my choice (eg, USA Fender necks with 1.5" nut width, Lollar pickups, Hipshot Kickass bridges, Fender Deluxe Schaller Lite tuners, either USACG or Warmoth bodies, top shelf wiring harnesses/pots including a series/parallel switch on one of the J's, and in the case of the bass on the right, custom paint by Guitarpaintguys). Each of the Fender basses ended up costing me around $1400 to $1500 in components. IMO, they are better (for me) than the $3000 Custom Shop Fenders that I owned in the past because these basses have the exact components that I want (plus they were assembled by a really nice guy! :D:D:D)

Now that I think about it as I'm typing this, I think I will create a poll to gauge what TB'ers prefer! :thumbsup:

Please vote, and also please post explaining why you voted the way you did. Bass pics are also encouraged! :)

EDIT1: see my post #29 for parts sourcing info! :thumbsup:

EDIT2: see my post #46 for info on the 5-space rack.

View attachment 3647177
Click to expand...

Interesting topic. I have done all except building one from scratch. There is a different joy from each experience. The most fun were ordering a custom made just for me and putting together a parts bass. But I play one custom, one bone stock production bass, one parts bass made by someone else, one parts bass made by me, and one production bass with the electronics swapped out by me.

The "bone stock production bass" is a bit of a misnomer because it's the only one exactly like it, but the maker made that model a lot. And I'm very seriously considering sending that one off to Nordstrand this week to have some pickups made for it and the electronics swapped out as well.

Wait! I will still have one bone stock because I just remembered a very early 90s MIJ Ibanez I picked up recently. So, there ya go. Other than made from scratch I have your whole list covered. And I really loke all of them.

That being said, I have to fight off the urge to keep buying parts all the time because putting together my parts P bass was a blast!
 
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#116
Killed_by_Death said:
I looked at buying parts to build a bass & it would be a lot cheap to buy one already assembled (pre-owned) & then just change what you don't like about it.
The important part is the neck, find something with a good, stiff neck & you're golden.

This one cost me just under $200 USD:
GSR100EX in the sun

GSR100EX in the sun


That's even after changing almost everything:
bridge
machine-heads
pots & knobs
neck
Click to expand...

If you changed all those parts isn't it essentially a parts bass?
 
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#118
Moving Pictures said:
These two have been modded and both are my two favourite basses.

The Precision has HipShot Vintage bridge, HipShot tuners including an Xtender and a fun neck plate not pictured.

The Jazz is back to Chrome HipShot tuners, Xtender and bridge.
View attachment 3647835

I have other basses but there is no need to mod them currently. Having said that, I want to assemble one from parts just for fun.
Click to expand...

Those basses are really sharp looking! :thumbsup:
 
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#119
two fingers said:
Interesting topic. I have done all except building one from scratch. There is a different joy from each experience. The most fun were ordering a custom made just for me and putting together a parts bass. But I play one custom, one bone stock production bass, one parts bass made by someone else, one parts bass made by me, and one production bass with the electronics swapped out by me.

The "bone stock production bass" is a bit of a misnomer because it's the only one exactly like it, but the maker made that model a lot. And I'm very seriously considering sending that one off to Nordstrand this week to have some pickups made for it and the electronics swapped out as well.

Wait! I will still have one bone stock because I just remembered a very early 90s MIJ Ibanez I picked up recently. So, there ya go. Other than made from scratch I have your whole list covered. And I really loke all of them.

That being said, I have to fight off the urge to keep buying parts all the time because putting together my parts P bass was a blast!
Click to expand...

Wow TF! You have an awesome collection! :bassist:
 

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