Bass Mods and Improvements

[WG Plum]

A pick-up swap in my Vintera P made a nice difference. I've finally come to the conclusion that I like passive basses, the Fender tone stack, and simple amp controls. I really don't need limitless 'flexibility', and my basses ( I have a fretless FSO Jazz ) both sound good with my pedals. I might swap the tuners out on the Vintera simply because they're backwards to what I'm used to, but I'm not sure I care enough to actually do it. I'm not sure my ears would be able to hear a difference.

 

[BigCactus]

Added a SD Apollo jazz pickup to a Fernandes Atlas (comes with solo humbucker) and it growls like a grizzly bear. Kickass bridge and ultralite tuners made a big difference, too

 

[Chickenwheels]

Although any old bass will work for me (if that’s all there is), I like what Wal brings to the table, especially their multi-coil pickups and clever electronics.
Also, a bridge with no sharp bits is also a welcome addition to any instrument.

 

[dickfitts]

Multicoil humbuckers, dual lowpass filter pre. For this iteration I'm rocking Veijo Rautia pickups and the Alan Cringean EQ-01. Absolute. Game. Changer.

 

[micguy]

One thing you'll find about pickup swaps: As most of the sound different (but often not all that different), about 90 percent are "successful" as upgrades initially. Go down the road a few days, a week, a month, and you'll find that, once the new pickup smell has worn off, the success rate declines to maybe 50 percent - changing pickups, while it may offer an upgrade, is essentially a crapshoot in terms of whether it'll be "better" ultimately.

 

[Mechanical]

I've modded several. My favorite mod so far was dropping an EMG Geezer pickup in a mid 80s MIJ Fender P bass. It brought that bass to life a little. I also really liked the results of removing a high-mass bridge and going back to a bent plate on another P bass. It sounds more like a P bass to me now.

I'm the opposite. I put a Babicz bridge on my Jazz bass because it sounds "fuller" to me.

ETA: I modded my Mustang with a darker cap and newer pots, and of course flats. Sounds much woodier now.

 

[scott sinner]

I am very much a fan of hum cancelling pickups. I'll put up with the hum more on a 6 string guitar for certain single coil tonality reasons, but on bass, more smooth low (and no noise obv.) is hardly a problem.

The best pickup upgrade I did was to some Delano JMVC4 FE/M2s. It made an already great sounding bass sound over the top phenomenal and quiet.

I have upgraded to heavier bridges before and I'm not sure the timbral changes are really worth it, but they were worth it just for comfort and reliability.

I don't have a big electronics preference. I find if I have decent pickup and string combo, I tend to mostly just use the a tone or treble knob even when I have other options.

I haven't 'upgraded' or 'modded' tuning keys purposefully, but I've broken a few (damn walls) and I usually replace with Gotohs or Hipshot because I've had some of those for a long time and bumped them pretty good and repeatedly and didn't break them.

 

[two fingers]

I'm the opposite. I put a Babicz bridge on my Jazz bass because it sounds "fuller" to me.

ETA: I modded my Mustang with a darker cap and newer pots, and of course flats. Sounds much woodier now.

Just different goals. I want it to sound "like a Fender".

 

[Gizmot]

Back in the 70s, I modded a couple of guitars and the results weren't good. You've got to be careful and investigate before you go crazy making changes.

I have a '79 Ric 4001 that I've done a couple of things to - - I put in the high-pass bypass / tone control pull-up - - and that was fantastic! A few years later, I put in a Nordstrand Audio Nordenbocker neck pickup that's reverse wound to the bridge pickup which makes the bass humbucking when both pickups are on. The Nordenbocker is outstanding - - it sounds like a genuine Rickenbacker pickup. The other thing that I've done is to replace the stock bridge with a Hipshot. That was also fantastic - - my bass looks better, sounds better and has a much wider range of adjustments so that it is easier to intonate. It looks great and sounds great, so I'm very pleased with what I've done

 

[iiipopes]

In-line or Split-coil or dual coil humbucking pickups on a Jazz bass and others so the bass will be quiet on stage, especially in a bar or other venue with neon lights or signs, or dodgy mains wiring. I may have a couple of instruments with single coils for the tone for the studio, but I never gig with an instrument without humbucker pickups. Your sound man will thank you.

As above: good setup, good maintenance, fresh strings, and wipe down the neck and fret board does more to keep a bass going than any mod or upgrade.

 

[GTHintz]

My take is that you should make your bass play how you want. Modding is a great tool to achieve that goal. And some parts just work better than others. I love adjustable bridge and nut parts. Adjustable string spacing is great and an adjustable nut such as Warwick just a nut technology are great! It all will make a difference. Playing at the right set up is going to make your hands faster and the notes pop a little bit better. Electronics are all different and I say it all matters and I implore everyone to explore the possibilities. That's why there are so many basses out there and they all have different parts aimed at giving us unlimited options for sculpting some amazing tone.

 

[coy garcia]

Best mod for me is a single passive P style pickup and a switch that goes between 2 different caps. 1 for bright pick sounding tunes or solos, and 1 for darker tone. Tone control either deleted or left wide open.

 

[bassicmike]

I've added the Hipshot Drop D tuner to both my basses. It's useful (I play 4 string exclusicely), and easily undone with no damage to the bass.

 

[Ostie]

The only mod I’ve ever made was swapping the MIM pickups on my Jazz to Duncan Basslines Vintage ‘62 pups. I did it twenty years ago and the pups were $60 each.

 

[ZedLepp]

There is only two basses IMO that need mods as soon as you get them.
The Ric and any two/three point bridged Gibson/Epiphone.
The bridges on these basses are horrible and need to be replaced with the Hipshot replacements.

 

[TheReceder]

I have a mid 70s jazz bass that was my only bass for a LONG time. As was typical back then, I changed the nut to a brass nut, and did a refinish on it. Eventually I put on a Badass Bridge. It was a pretty noisy bass and I opted to upgrade to Seymour duncan 1/4 pounders. Then I was driving through Sioux Falls South Dakota, and conned my wife into stopping at the local music store with a promise that I wouldn't buy a bass. They had a set of Seymour duncan Jazz Pickups in the bargain bin and I figured it couldn't hurt to grab them. As are most active pickups, they were close to noiseless and increased the tonal capabilities on that bass. I still have them, and I get a kick out of explaining to others what the switches on the pickups do,

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

I'm working on a pretty extensive bass project and I was curious. What are some of the best bass mods you've seen in a bass?

Whether it's active or passive electronics, specifically what, and why; bridge options; a certain kind of modified nut; an all access neck joint; the uses of piezo; various EQ options, vs only a tone control, vs any tone control at all; and so on, what are the best mods that you've seen. To give you an idea, the platform I'm basing this off of is a P-Bass, with particular attention to what Billy Sheehan and Cliff Burton did, so mods starting off with, say "using a neck-thru" and whatnot, while definitely worth mentioning, might not be directly applicable. Still, all mods are welcome.

Also, this thread is for education and fun, along with being directly applicable to a specific project I'm working on, so please, no responses about "the sound is in your hands" or "Jaco only used four strings" or "Jaco only used a plain Jazz Bass, so why bother" and so on. This is meant to explore different options and see how creative we can get, along with some really practical stuff as well, so that sort of response would be like observing that "Well, Ringo, Charlie, and Bonzo only used a four piece" on a thread exploring Neil Peart's or Terry Bozzio's kits on a drum forum. Let's just have fun talking about our favorite mods.

Also, this is a new account because I can't log into my old account. For whatever reason, the password reset function won't work, and I've tried repeatedly. If anyone knows how to get that working, please let me know.

Chesh

Lightweight tuners

Pickups (whatever you prefer)

Pickups on switches (it's just quicker and easier than knobs)

Series/parallel switch.

Mute button. Trust me, you'll use it more than you'd think.

 

[taconeko]

My favorite modifications have been adding EMG J pickups to a vintage style jazz bass, along with a Ray Ross bridge, and a finger ramp between the pickups. I love the results.

I also swapped the bridge on another bass from a dense brass bridge to an aluminum Hipshot A and am happy with that as well

 

[Ric5]

The source of a good mod is changing something on your bass that makes it better for you.

mods that have worked well for me:

- changing out pickups
- new bridge
- straploks
- new pickguard
- no pickguard
- active electronics
- changing out pots, 250, 500, 1000k ohms
- convert a 4 string to a 5 string
- convert a 4 string to an 8 string
- convert a 5 string to a 10 string
- make a thunderbird into a fenderbird
- straplok extender
- switch a rosewood fretboard neck for a maple
- stickers
- relic

 

[HardNHeavy]

so many parts, so little time... It's fun experimenting and creating something that's personal to you. I've modded everything from tuners to bridges, pups, electronics, necks etc. into 3 parts build which play and sound great. Not worried bout resale value as they are just projects. each of those basses sound excellent with new bling added