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Best cheap bass to Wootenize

#101
Whether or not this is a good idea doesn't seem to be the point of this thread. I'll admit to not reading the whole thing so if I repeat someone's suggestions I apologize.

How about something by Yamaha? This one looks cool.

Yamaha BB614 Bass Black | Sweet Music Academy

Pricing used is affordable and there are a bunch of different quality levels to choose from.

They also make mahogany body models. And tend to be solid quality.
 
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#102
I have an Elrick that is "wootenized". Pope four band, aero pickups, kahler trem. Maple on mahoghany. Indian rosewood fretboard.


IMG_0084.JPG
 
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#104
giovabass said:
A Pope preamp into a Squier or similar "cheap" bass is like putting a Ferrari V12 engine inside a farm tractor and pretend it to be a Ferrari... a complete waste of money IMHO. Also the key factor to have a "wooten" sound is low action, which you would never get from such a cheap bass. To achieve that, you need a better quality bass than a Squier or similar.
A US made, 24-frets Kiesel/Carvin Icon or Vader with a PJ setup would make it IMHO. I did almost the same mod with my Kiesel Vader VB6 where I put Barts dual coils and the Pope Flexcore preamp with coil tap switches... turned out an awesome bass, my #1 go to.
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7129265591_7db91ca954_z.jpg

Just sayin.
 
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#105
taowin said:
I just ordered the EMG-pups/Pope-pre Wooten kit from Best Bass Gear and am now looking for a low to mid-priced good tone-wood p/j style bass to drop them into for a poor man's Wooten bass.

I could go with a Squire vintage modified J bass and rout out the front pup and cavity but I'm wondering if anyone has any good suggestions for other basses to use perhaps with less fuss, like just dropping the pups and pre right in.

Thanks!
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it would take way more then just a pope preamp/EMGs swap to achieve that! There's a lot to consider for such a project! The good news is atleast You already have an idea of one!
"wood tone"
 
#107
giovabass said:
Well, welcome to Boston. Totally love the city and everything, but temperature shifts of +- 20-25F during the same day are absolutely normal. Spent last 4 years there attending Berklee College Of Music... great life and musical experience, not so great for bass necks.
On my USA Fender 5 I had to re-setup the bass almost everyday, I just gave up and stick with a higher action. That's why I now have a 5-piece neck bass with titanium reinforcements.
Btw, the twisted neck problem was in my first Berklee year on a "boutique" jazz bass that I later sold. One piece maple neck, birdseye fingerboard. Got the bass used, but these new go for $3.0-3.5k... just sayin'.
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Utter nonsense.
 
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#108
giovabass said:
Also the key factor to have a "wooten" sound is low action, which you would never get from such a cheap bass. To achieve that, you need a better quality bass than a Squier or similar.
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i would definitely disagree on "never" - less likely, yes. bring me any squier and give me a day to level the frets and adjust the neck, it will has 100% as low action as any other bass.

nevermind action, i do agree that while a squier would be "fine," something with a little higher end build quality, like a carvin or similar, would be a great choice.
 
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#112
scootron said:
FWIW, my son has played Vic's Fodera a few times, and he says it is unlike those available for us to buy. He also says that Vic's sound is 99% Vic and therefore extremely difficult to cop.
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The first point is not really true. My YYD was made at the same time as Victor's current walnut body one (mine has a chambered walnut body - first time they did that on a YYD). Otherwise the instruments are identical. If he is referring to the Yin Yan Standard, then the construction is different, but frankly it is about 95% of the instrument that the custom is.

The second point is true - Victor sounds like Victor. He used one of my Monarchs to track for an hour when I was staying at his place. It sounded exactly like him. When I got it back into my hands, it sounded like me.

While the EMG PJ tends to have a certain sound, the Pope is fairly neutral, and you can push to tone around a lot between knob twiddling and technique on the instrument. It remains my go-to setup.

Mine getting a workout at the San Diego Brazilian Day 2017 festival last weekend

DSC04290.jpg
 
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#113
groooooove said:
i would definitely disagree on "never" - less likely, yes. bring me any squier and give me a day to level the frets and adjust the neck, it will has 100% as low action as any other bass.

nevermind action, i do agree that while a squier would be "fine," something with a little higher end build quality, like a carvin or similar, would be a great choice.
Click to expand...

Just to clarify for everybody, my first post sounded like I bash the Squier jazz basses which was not my intention.
Like I said later, they are a great choice for the price. Like any other bass, you can also maybe get a stable low action with some fretwork and a good luthier job... which implies spending additional money over it without having the assurance of getting the desired result tho. Like someone else said, can be a very rewarding or very frustrating process.
If the OP was looking for a cheap JAZZ BASS mod or a cheap "Miller" JJ mod I would definitely go for the Squiers - even tho nowadays you have stuff like the Sire basses which are maybe a more economically/quality desirable option than modding a cheap bass.
But the OP - which actually didn't clarify what his budget is, and/or respond to people's questions to help him - in his only post says he/she wants to put together a Victor Wooten kinda instrument, which is a 24-frets bass with a PJ setup... and apart from the quality/action considerations, in my world that's nothing like a 20-fret JJ Squier.
AND, since OP already bought the very SAME expensive electronics that are on Vic's signature Fodera, I would expect that he wanted the best possible result... or at least that's what I wanted, after spending all that money. Many people here made IMHO very good suggestions about instruments that are definitely a better fit.
 
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#117
BuffaloBass said:
I was only 16 when I afforded a used 73 jazz by putting pools in during the summer. This in 77. When I started gigging with a bunch of old farts in a CW band that fall, almost every bass I heard, sounded better than that J bass. I wheeled it for a brand new Peavy T40. Oft wondered if it was my naivety, my still newb ears, or maybe it was indeed a POS build bass. The Peavey was like an epiphany. I could do Chris Squire at home, and swing fat bottomed rockabilly with the old guys every Fri and Sat night at the pub.

Who knew?
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I know this is probably heresy or maybe just a coincidence but the more I understood about basses and the more skill I attained the less crappy instruments became. But the instruments didn't change.

So what was the true source of the crappiness?

I have two 1978 Jazzes that kill at what they do. I didn't run into any of the crappy 70's Jazzes that others apparently did back in the day or since. I have seen bad setups and I've corrected those when I've had an opportunity.

BTW I got my first year T-40 brand new in trade for my two year old first year Musicman Stingray. Seemed like a good idea at the time.
;)
 

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