Bass or Pickups?

[dechristimo]

So I am not a person of decisions. I am terrible at making my own choices so, I'm asking my fellow TB'ers to help me make an important decision.
I currently have an Epiphone Thunderbird, and I've been happy with it for about 2-3 years now, but it's time for something a little new. My two choices are as follows.
1) I can get SGD Lutherie Pickups for my thunderbird (the sidewinders. Approx $200. It would really increase my tone and it would make recording DI better and overall it would just get me better sound
2) The epiphone t-bird is a 4 string 20 fret bass, and this makes playing some of my favorite guys (Richard Bona, Victor Wooten) a challenge sometimes. So my other choice is to get a Yamaha Rbx 375 for $250 dollars. I'm a fan of tapping and doing more chordal stuff (like richard bona) so the fifth string would really come in handy for that. Also there are 24 frets so that opens up that world. However, it being a less expensive bass the tone is not the best, so that's the sacrifice there. (I wouldnt be selling my t-bird I would just have two basses)

What are your thoughts on this?

 

[bassmastan]

Save up some more, that way you can get something a little better than the yamaha

 

[king_biscuit]

+1 Don't waste your money -- save up and get a nice bass.

 

[dechristimo]

True, true. What would you recommend? (Keep a good price:value ratio in mind)

 

[king_biscuit]

There are so many great used basses for under 1k. You could get a nice Stingray, Jazz Bass, or Precision. Or something a bit more radical like a Bongo or a Big AL. Save your money and keep an eye on the TB classifieds.

 

[bassmastan]

EBMM Sterling(usa not that cheap crap) Stingray, maybe build your own with warmoth?

 

[TheArchfiend]

peavey or maybe a p-bass.

 

[darkstorm]

If you otherwise like the tbird, the sgd pups would be nice upgrade imo.

 

[dechristimo]

For the basses, price is still an issue, probably not over 1000, and the lower, the more likely.
I think the SGD's are seeming like a higher probability as of now.

 

[KeithPas]

I had a Yamaha RBX375 and it was a very cool bass