If the "upgrades"are what I would've done myself.I would.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Buying "upgraded" basses
- Thread starter Micha84
- Start date
There’s sometimes a very fine line between a modded bass and a frankenbass. The fact an instrument has been modded isn’t an automatic dealbreaker for me. But it also isn’t a plus.
If someone hopes to recoup some money from the mods they’ve made, their best bet is to : (a) confine themselves to mods that don’t permanently alter the instrument (b) retain all the original factory parts (c) return the instrument to stock before selling it, and (d) sell the mod components separately for parts.
The were only two times I ever bought a minimally modded instrument. And both were semi rare models.
The first was one where the previous owner swapped out the stock pickguard for a much nicer one he had custom made. The second came with a pickup swap that I didn’t care about because I had planned on swapping the pickups once I received it anyway. Both instruments also included their original parts.
I didn’t pay a premium for either instrument.
If someone hopes to recoup some money from the mods they’ve made, their best bet is to : (a) confine themselves to mods that don’t permanently alter the instrument (b) retain all the original factory parts (c) return the instrument to stock before selling it, and (d) sell the mod components separately for parts.
The were only two times I ever bought a minimally modded instrument. And both were semi rare models.
The first was one where the previous owner swapped out the stock pickguard for a much nicer one he had custom made. The second came with a pickup swap that I didn’t care about because I had planned on swapping the pickups once I received it anyway. Both instruments also included their original parts.
I didn’t pay a premium for either instrument.
Last edited:
One man’s upgrade is another man’s downgrade.
If I want a specific bass with the intentions of modding it I will buy one and do the work myself. I don't look for and buy that specific bass already modded. Someone else said it, I don't trust someone else's unknown work. But, everyone is different.
Too many people don’t know the difference between a mod and an upgrade. And even some “upgrades” may be irrelevant to the buyer. You put a new pick guard, tuners and bridge on your bass? So what? I wouldn’t pay extra for that.
A $350.00 preamp addition and $500.00 pickups don't add $850.00 to a resale price.
Me too. I haven’t bought any basses that have been modified, and I don’t think I would. I don’t like upgrading my own instruments either.
That said, I’ve modified one bass in my life. I’m in a very showy band these days and for the first time ever I searched for and bought a bass purely on looks. (I usually go for feel and tone) I needed a gold/black color schemed bass that played decent and wasn’t crazy expensive. Got a $250 Squier Contemporary active jazz bass, then poured almost $700 in upgrades into it. If I ever sell this bass, I will put it back to stock and then sell the Nordstrand pickups and pre, gold hardware, and other components separately. I should recoup most of my investment that way rather than trying to sell it all at once as a used modded Squier for upwards of $1k, which nobody in their right mind would buy. Even though it does actually play and sound like a $1k bass.
JazznFunk
Supporting Member
My take is that a $400 bass is a $400 bass, regardless of upgrades, and someone will still try to buy it for $200, widening the spread between its perceived value and its marketplace value. It doesn't significantly move the needle at all upwardly, and it depends on the nature of the upgrades and who did them. I think of it in the same way that washing a car, putting new tires on it, and changing the oil before you trade or sell it it in isn't going to make someone pay more for it, or give you more for a trade. It may increase the value to you, since you invested the $$ in it (and perhaps it was a good move), but it doesn't move the needle in the marketplace.
One can put lipstick on a pig but it's still a pig.
One of the weak points of entry level basses is the neck.
You can put boutique level pickups bridges and tuners on a CCB (cheap Chinese Bass) but if the neck is firewood it's always gonna be firewood.
Show me a CCB with a Warmoth neck and color me interested.
One of the weak points of entry level basses is the neck.
You can put boutique level pickups bridges and tuners on a CCB (cheap Chinese Bass) but if the neck is firewood it's always gonna be firewood.
Show me a CCB with a Warmoth neck and color me interested.
OP is clearly a newbie who is equating very basic changes with somehow devaluing an instrument. If you don’t like the change, don’t buy the instrument. But to otherwise indicate harm has been done? Eh, no. A pickguard is plastic and some screws. Soldering? Easily accomplished by a newbie but I bet most have a tech install. Bridge replacement? Seems like OP is unaware that this is a drop in task that uses the original screw holes as a mounting point.
DiabolusInMusic
Functionless Art is Merely Tolerated Vandalism
Adding $500 in parts to a $400 bass will easily get you more money on a used sale.
Like, a solid another $100 or so...
Like, a solid another $100 or so...
If you like it, buy it. They're just wood and wire.
It's not like anybody's painting a moustache on the Mona Lisa by modding a bass.
It's not like anybody's painting a moustache on the Mona Lisa by modding a bass.
I was going to blab on about all the basses I've bought, happily exploiting the upgrade math.
And then I realized, I wound up selling most of them eventually - sometimes after tossing more of my own money into the pit.
I still have my '78 P-bass neck that I've swapped bodies & pickups on, multiple times. That's not a very good example, though; I would have probably been better off, starting and sticking with a mostly all-original specimen.
And then I realized, I wound up selling most of them eventually - sometimes after tossing more of my own money into the pit.
I still have my '78 P-bass neck that I've swapped bodies & pickups on, multiple times. That's not a very good example, though; I would have probably been better off, starting and sticking with a mostly all-original specimen.
My favorite is when someone sells a modded truck, list's all the mods with prices, then adds them all up. Adds on the MSRP of the truck, and takes off $5k for a 'quick sale'
Yeah buddy your 2014 Tacoma is definitely worth $48k.
Yeah buddy your 2014 Tacoma is definitely worth $48k.
I just love the ads where the seller tallies up the new prices for all the changed parts, the overpriced luthier charges to do the swap, plus the price of the new bass, then knocks off a hundred bucks to set the selling price.
