Bass mod regrets

[Altitude]

I had a Yamaha TRB5, got it in my head that it needed new electronics. Turned out the Yamaha TRB pickups of that period were active and of a proprietary size. Nothing aftermarket really fit without adding wood trim around the edges.

I wound up with Bartolini soapbars and an Aguilar OBP-2 preamp. Actually two preamps because I destroyed the first one wiring it wrong.

$600 and a lot of effort later, the bass sounded essentially the same. And it really sounded fine to begin with.

 

[MisterUbu]

I regretted rushing to spending about 120$ for a tech to change the bridge of a Dano bass/setup/drill strap buttons the instant I got it only to prefer the original rosewood bridge and sell it for what I paid for....

I buffed out the logo on the body of a headless bass only for it to hurt the resale value.

Outside of that, the actual hardware mods I did for other basses (i.e adding hipshots) I never regretted it. I took a different path than others, I commissioned a custom neck plate for a bass to fix it’s balance, a bit pricey but I wouldn’t be still playing that bass without it. I’m still convinced a set of Hipshot USAs are pretty much the best investment/upgrade you can make on a bass IF you feel something is not working, or just due to their general quality.

 

[CalgAaron]

I should mention not all of my mods have been regrettable. I have changed pickups on basses and was very happy. I changed the stock MM pickup in my Fretless SR4 to an Aguilar DCB-MM and do not regret it one iota. It had the dreaded weak G string. You’d think EBMM would adjust the pole pieces…anyways that’s a different thread

 

[BtaylorTheRogue]

Switched my Peavey Dyna Bass over to BEAD. Never really got into it and never really play it. Sits in the case on the bottom of the pile. I guess it's reversible with a new nut which I may get around to.

I converted my BTB to ADGCF for a metal band.

Then we broke up.

Now I have a BTB with thick, tight strings lol

I do plan to get a new nut some day, Kiff.

 

[Madjon1973]

My ibanez roadster fretless.....why didn't I leave it alone....snugglemuffin.

Refinished the neck and inadvertently sanded off the ibanez logo.

Broke a truss rod cover screw in the wood

Decided the chipped black finish was not good enough, took it back to wood.

Planed off a bit of the back of the top horn (actually an improvement)

Painted it maroon, then blue, then mahogany, then white van man white.

Killed the dimarzio's

Chiselled in a battery compartment

Several crap active circuits

I wish I appreciated what I had at the time and left it alone.

It sounds and plays awesome, even if I'm embarrassed about it and it would be worth around £700 now if I'd just left it alone when I got it back in 1995.

 

[Clipped]

De-fretted a perfectly good Gibson EB. The result still brings a tear to my eye.

 

[JimmyM]

My ibanez roadster fretless.....why didn't I leave it alone....snugglemuffin.

Refinished the neck and inadvertently sanded off the ibanez logo.

Broke a truss rod cover screw in the wood

Decided the chipped black finish was not good enough, took it back to wood.

Planed off a bit of the back of the top horn (actually an improvement)

Painted it maroon, then blue, then mahogany, then white van man white.

Killed the dimarzio's

Chiselled in a battery compartment

Several crap active circuits

I wish I appreciated what I had at the time and left it alone.

It sounds and plays awesome, even if I'm embarrassed about it and it would be worth around £700 now if I'd just left it alone when I got it back in 1995.

The bolded part is the important part. I trashed a 76 Precision doing mods and I could probably have gotten $3500 for it had I left it alone and didn't ding it up too much. But that ship sailed in 82 when I decided to choose function over possible collectability, which really wasn't thought of in those basses till the 2000's.

 

[txhawaii]

reposting from a current threat seen today

YIKES!!! and the money they are asking for!?!??!?!?!?!!?

here's something you don't see every day - modified 66 Jazz content

 

[Blues Bass 2]

Done a ton of mods on a lot of basses and I'm still at it . The only regret is that I painted my 67 Gibson EBO bright green . This was in 1969 so it wasn't very old and it was my first really good bass . My brother and I later stripped it and gave it the dark Walnut finish and redid the pickups , adding the small humbucker and the added controls to make it an EB3 . It looked great and played great but still didn't sound great .

 

[SJan3]

Thirty years ago I purchased a badass bridge to put on my '78 jazz bass because an advert in Guitar Player magazine convinced me I had to have one. I spent $80, put the bridge on and it made NO difference whatsoever. None.

I did the opposite. I purchased a Fender Highway One Jazz which came stock with a Badass and I immediately removed it in favor of the vintage bent steel plate bridge w/threaded saddles. The bass plays better, sounds better to my ears and is lighter.
WIN WIN WIN!!! I do not care for high mass bridges.

 

[DJ Bebop]

Fender Jazz Bass 1966 turquoise (modified) One of a Kind ! | Guitars by Merlin ! | Reverb

 

[Alan Tompkins]

Thirty years ago I purchased a badass bridge to put on my '78 jazz bass because an advert in Guitar Player magazine convinced me I had to have one. I spent $80, put the bridge on and it made NO difference whatsoever. None.

Did exactly the same thing, to my 78 Jazz, although it was about 43 years ago right after I bought it new. Exactly the same result. Couldn't tell that anything improved.

 

[Low Key]

I had a gorgeous G&L L100 and swapped the stock P pickup for an EMG in an attempt to strengthen the fundamental of a weak E string. It didn't do anything but make the bass more sterile sounding and it still had the string to string unevenness in volume. Today, I roll my eyes at what I tried to do back then. Electronics can help, but cannot fix structural issues with a bass. In hindsight, I could have tried many other things before changing the pickup.

 

[Alan Tompkins]

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

Looks gorgeous, but thick finish can really cut down on how much the wood resonates. Nothing to lose - take it apart and have someone strip it down and do a very thin lacquer finish on it. It will age quickly, should look great, and will probably feel better than it did new. Just my $0.02.

 

[CalgAaron]

Fender Jazz Bass 1966 turquoise (modified) One of a Kind ! | Guitars by Merlin ! | Reverb

Haha okay. Mine isn’t that bad!

 

[TJL]

The body of the bass probably absorbed 1/2 lb of paint stripper, and that is why it is heavier and sounds dead.

 

[Beej]

I wish I had pics, but I had a late 70s Aria Pro II that I reshaped the horns and then painted a pale purple, fretboard and all. It was about 1984. A year or so later I traded it and a Sunn amp for an inexpensive EB-3 copy because it was in much better condition. That Aria was a way better bass and would have been wonderful to restore.

 

[dpbass66]

My first bass was a '76 Fender Jazz. It was white/cream, and it was getting that yellow aged patina. It was 1978, I was 13, and like 10,000 other bassists, I thought I was going to be Jaco. In a fit of adolescent stupidity I stripped the finish, replaced the pups and bridge and got a fretless neck. The "new" bass was OK, but nothing terrific. Within 10 years of doing that I started to realize my transgression, by 15 years later I was lamenting what I had done. At one point I put a new fretted replacement neck on the bass (to add insult...the original jazz neck was stolen), but it wasnt the same. Now I'd give anything to have the original J-bass back, with it's original finish and hardware, etc. UGH.....

 

[Jhalb]

Back in the eighties I switched my 1965 Jazz Bass neck to my 1982 Jazz Bass. Traded both to different people. I dream about having the 65 back together and home with me.

 

[dpbass66]

I wish I had pics, but I had a late 70s Aria Pro II that I reshaped the horns and then painted a pale purple, fretboard and all. It was about 1984. A year or so later I traded it and a Sunn amp for an inexpensive EB-3 copy because it was in much better condition. That Aria was a way better bass and would have been wonderful to restore.

I had a late 80's Aria Pro II black and gold that I sold because I "needed" the $800 that someone was willing to pay for it. What a mistake. Same for a mid-80's Yamaha BB series. THAT bass had all sorts of mojo, and like the Aria, I sold it for some nominal cash. Now I want both basses back.