Bass mod regrets

[bucephylus]

So like the title suggests, anyone out there mod a bass and immediately regret doing it? I had my USA Deluxe V Jazz bass re-finshed from Olympic White (which was aging nicely) to a metal flake turquoise. When the painter refinished the bass it added about a pound of paint on it. Now the bass is much heavier, which says a lot considering it's a 5 string, and it just doesn't seam the same as before. Almost deader sounding and no sustain.

To be fair I was probably at the peak of my quarantine depression and was tinkering with all of my basses as I went from 60+ gigs a year to none. I want to sell it but I am worried I am basically going to lose my shirt on the sale because it's refinished.

Here is a photo of it. It's not too hard on the eyes but I loved it when it was Olympic White. Now it feels pretty "meh" to me. I almost want to refinish again back to white.

Anyone else out there have any bass mod regrets?View attachment 4619295

Modifications to basses fall into two categories: reversible and irreversible.

This OP mod is reversible, in the sense that the instrument can be repainted the original color with virtually no resultant change. This particular refin may be sub optimal, due to the thickness of the finish work. For finishes, I would stay with Pat Wilkins, who is an absolute master. I believe, BTW, that even flake finishes can be applied as thin layers, so as not to affect the instrument balance / tone.

Irreversible modifications include routing the face of a clear/trans finish body to add/change pickup locations. I’ve done that twice, and regretted it both times. Front routs can be filled, but the original finish can not be restored without revealing the rework. I try to stay away from those kinds of modifications; though we live and learn.

 

[JimB52]

Bought a 1971 Telecaster bass used in 1973, for $130 with HSC. Stripped the finish, contoured the body, defretted, and added graduated width hand whittled walnut fret marker inlays. My only bass for 15-20 years. Still have it, but would be worth just a bit more if I'd left it alone.

 

[Bill Murray]

I’ve adopted the mindset that if I don’t like something about the bass as a stock unit, then I’ll never like it. Sell it before I lose money on it and try again with another.

I’ve tried too many times to transform a bass. It’s almost never worth doing from a financial standpoint.

 

[jjk2007]

Back in the early/mid 90's I came across a used Schecter jazz bass in my local music store. It played and sounded way better (to my hands and ears) than any of the 15 or so jazz basses that were in the shop. Just had that sweet low end mixed with a great punch etc. I bought it and played around on it for a little while and then decided to do a Jaco on it and pull the frets and make a homemade fretless. I used it on a few gigs for a song or two but quickly realized I should have left it alone.....it probably would have ended up my number 1 player. I eventually ended up trading it towards some other gear.

 

[JRA]

modding regrets: i think most of my "regrets" have had to do with pickguards and control plates --- stuff that affects 'the look'. altering sizes/shapes/fit/etc. and then things didn't work out as expected and i had to start again or rethink. i don't recall any assemblies where the functional stuff was problematic....just the "kid stuff" --- the looks.

 

[Clark Westfield]

Painted my Schecter JD Signature all black and added a Sadowsky preamp.

Woke the bass in the looks and sound department.

Now it is my main gigging bass.

Before and after:

 

[ELG60]

Not immediately. I got this in the early 80's, don't remember the original finish color(s) or condition, had it refinished in tobacco sunburst and had EMG's installed. Don't remember if I kept the original pups, but I don't know where they are.

It's a '64, by the way.

 

[mrjim123]

I've mod'd two basses and both worked out great.

The first was a G&L Tribute SB-2. I removed the neck, shaved it down (to make it thinner front-to-back), and refinished it with Tru-Oil. The neck is stable and it plays like butta!

The second was a Sterling SUB Stingray. I also shaved the neck on this one, added a thumb rest, and replaced the stock pickup with an Aguilar AG 4M. I'm happy with all mods.

 

[H K]

I've done some dumb poopie in my youth, like scratching my name on the neckplate, giving the upper horn a "piercing", stuff like that. I don't really think about it, because its on basses that I'll never part with anyway. But I'd never do it again.
As for vintage instruments I keep them as stock as possible, same with almost anything I'm looking to resell at some point.

About to do some very heavy modding on one of my basses, but it's a relatively cheap one, of no particular vintage or stock value, so I dont mind. And I don't think I'll regret the mods either, as its only things I am 100% sure will improve the overall useability of the bass (for me), and that I have had in mind for a long time.

I guess the best way to go about it is to think long and hard before doing anything irreversible, and to always label the original parts and keep them close to the bass. God knows how many 60s/70s basses were ruined by poorly planned mods. As for that CV Squier thats still in production? Go ham. Try new stuff.

 

[Vektori]

So like the title suggests, anyone out there mod a bass and immediately regret doing it? I had my USA Deluxe V Jazz bass re-finshed from Olympic White (which was aging nicely) to a metal flake turquoise. When the painter refinished the bass it added about a pound of paint on it. Now the bass is much heavier, which says a lot considering it's a 5 string, and it just doesn't seam the same as before. Almost deader sounding and no sustain.

To be fair I was probably at the peak of my quarantine depression and was tinkering with all of my basses as I went from 60+ gigs a year to none. I want to sell it but I am worried I am basically going to lose my shirt on the sale because it's refinished.

Here is a photo of it. It's not too hard on the eyes but I loved it when it was Olympic White. Now it feels pretty "meh" to me. I almost want to refinish again back to white.

Anyone else out there have any bass mod regrets?View attachment 4619295

But man, that paintnjob looks AWESOME! Gee, would love to have that for one of mine.

But to answer the question... I did rout a MM hole for my jazz. I don't say that ruined i, but routing in front of the bridge pickup, because at first i was using the MM and bridge pip. Though, ofcourse, i noticed that i didn't really like it, so i made a hole for a neck pup and covered the bridge pup hole. That being said, i could have routed the hole more on top of the bridge pup hole, but it was a bit late for that. Though, i have to admit that the bridge side coil of Nordstrand BigSplitMan and BigSlit on neck do a good combo. Also the neck side of MM alone in that position is pretty good. So do i really regret it? Maybe not. Also planning to wire the BigSplit man in series mode in the middle position. Don't really like the parrallel wiring.

 

[Jackcrow]

I had one of those turquoise MIM Fender P Basses that was my #1 for quite a while. Thought I could "improve" it by putting in a set of Aguilar P/J pickups that were in another bass and I liked the sound. Routed in the J pickup and installed them and ended up selling the bass a couple months later. Should have left it alone.

 

[BigBigGuy44]

I’ve regretted every mod I’ve done and have learned it’s better (and cheaper in the long run) to buy what works instead of trying to make something work that doesn’t.

 

[chris_b]

I removed the frets from my Framus Star bass in 1967. Not a bad move but it didn't sound anything like a double bass, which was the intention. So waste of time and effort. Idiot.

In the mid 80's I replaced the pickup on my Fender Precision with a Bart. 500% improvement in tone. Genius.

Spurred on by this modding experience I had a Jazz bridge pickup added and a Bart preamp. That got me about 5% improvement in tone, wasted a lot of cash and destroyed any value a vintage Precision bass could command today. Total idiot.

Moral of the story, if your bass isn't right in any way sell it and buy the bass that does the job you want.

YMMV

 

[tvbop]

Bought this squire VM P/J a few years back. Nice workmanship...super neck very well finished and sounded good but it was bright blue and very light. Would have sold it until the day I tripped over it and it smashed into a sharp edge right below the arm rest...ruined. I've subsequently...stripped it..filled in the J route added a bit more weight and rolled a cheap acrylic finish on it for pennies...looks terrible, plays and feels fantastic. Happy.

 

[pbass2]

I don't have a pic but waaaay back in the late 80's I bought a 60's Dano Longhorn that had the typical bridge with the single wooden saddle thingy. Being an old Dano from when they were made to be cheapo it wasn't the best-built beast--it even had a couple crooked frets. I decided to have a luthier fix the frets and at the same time had him swap out the bridge for an adjustable one that was this huge, massive thing that took up tons of real estate and looked absolutely wrong on the bass. It worked, but man, it took the soul right out of that instrument (not to mention ruining its vintage value).

 

[bolophonic]

An option should be 'I modded my bass, and it's fantastic'
Most folks on Talkbass said that I would regret, but I don't.

However I think it's weird that people make big mods to new or valuable basses. I seek out actual broken basses, parts lots, or basses people have previously done terrible things to.

I’m the same way. I try to accumulate the weirdest parts that have fallen through the cracks until I have enough to build a complete bass. Sometimes I re-shuffle the parts among several basses or completely part out something that isn’t working out great.

But buying a fully functional bass and immediately setting out to replace everything on it with “upgrades” has never made sense to me. It just seems like safe busywork for people who listen with their eyes.

 

[Bob Coldwell]

The fact you did not notice any difference does not mean it's the same for everybody. Now, it's ages I don't modify anything on my basses; nevertheless, some 20 years ago I had a Mex jazz and decided to put a heavymass (no name) bridge. The improvement on sustain and clarity was substantial. And evident, to my ears. But we're all different...

Badass replacement over traditional Fender style bridge made a noticeable difference to me too.

 

[Green Knight]

fretless conversion of stingray but dots in wrong place ... Geezers over stock pickups in Jazz Bass Special ... that is all

 

[bdplaid]

Here is a photo of it. It's not too hard on the eyes but I loved it when it was Olympic White. Now it feels pretty "meh" to me. I almost want to refinish again back to white.

That's what I'd do. If you use, I think, nitrocellulose, you can use the air duster/ hair dryer trick to check the paint. Or send it to a place like MJD who can do that for you.

 

[Philip McAdam]

So like the title suggests, anyone out there mod a bass and immediately regret doing it? I had my USA Deluxe V Jazz bass re-finshed from Olympic White (which was aging nicely) to a metal flake turquoise. When the painter refinished the bass it added about a pound of paint on it. Now the bass is much heavier, which says a lot considering it's a 5 string, and it just doesn't seam the same as before. Almost deader sounding and no sustain.

To be fair I was probably at the peak of my quarantine depression and was tinkering with all of my basses as I went from 60+ gigs a year to none. I want to sell it but I am worried I am basically going to lose my shirt on the sale because it's refinished.

Here is a photo of it. It's not too hard on the eyes but I loved it when it was Olympic White. Now it feels pretty "meh" to me. I almost want to refinish again back to white.

Anyone else out there have any bass mod regrets?View attachment 4619295

What does it weigh?