Do you apply any custom decorations to your instrument?

[Hot Rats]

Just a little old steal your face. Nothing on any others.

 

[Rojd]

I put hipshot tuners on one bass and some abalone knobs on two others. That's it.

 

[Pyrrho Epoche]

Nobody cares about your tattoos, except your mother, you, the artist you are paying, your employer and the person trying to date you---same goes for guitar flair, except nobody probably cares but you. I would not put a sticker on my bass for the same reason I am not putting stickers on my $65k Audi

 

[mattie13]

I found this guitar on the curb in somebody's garbage and decorated it with my own band's stickers. I might smash it at a show; haven't decided yet.

 

[Manticore]

No. I like my Alembic basses as they were delivered. The other basses don't really get played, so there isn't much point in mods.

 

[sabre79]

Things like adding stickers

I have grown to love blocked and bound dark boards. If I get a bass with a dark board without the blocks and binding, I add Jockomo inlay stickers. Looks great and have never peeled off or had any effect to sound.

 

[BurtMacklinFBI]

I usually replace the knobs with something cooler looking, and I sometimes replace pickguards. If I don't go for something more out there, and assuming the bass doesn't have any stacked knobs, I usually at least replace normal knobs with Gibson-style top hat knobs.

 

[SteveFromBerlin]

Not sure what you are talking about.

 

[J-Bass RMR]

Generally / historically - No.
2 exceptions;
I got these because they had features I wanted - not to emulate anyone.
But, I decided to have a little fun with them.
Nothing too original - just a little nod to them...

 

[SunByrne]

Changed a pickguard on one bass. Otherwise, nope. But no judgment for people who do, either—whatever floats your boat. Sometimes I think these kinds of things make basses look worse, but if it's not my bass it really isn't my business. For instance, I think pickup/bridge covers look terrible—ashtrays is a good word—but as long as nobody is putting them on my basses, no worries.

 

[r_bnks]

Yup. On all my Fenders except one.

 

[Why Nautilus‽]

My “Sticker bass” has plenty of decoration. But I also got it for that purpose.

 

[factory presets]

Will anyone ever top SRV or Eddie?

 

[Swerve]

Trevor Dunn

Bobby Vega

Macca

Dave Dreiwitz

Flea

Billy Sheehan

Mike Watt

Paul Simonon

Geezer

Brian Gibson

Mani

Lemmy

 

[___]

I found this guitar on the curb in somebody's garbage and decorated it with my own band's stickers. I might smash it at a show; haven't decided yet.View attachment 5373198

with a little love, these starcasters are actually great guitars. much better than a squire equivalent imo. i have one i got from a friend that after some neck work, a proper setup, and replacing the electronics it's such a rad little guitar. i currently have it set up with just a single humbucker and it's awesome but with the stock pickguard painted black and with its extra holes, it's definitely got an "aesthetic" to it. i may get it a proper hb only pickguard someday but tbh it's kinda great as is.

 

[StereoPlayer]

Does this count?
I did this to two of my basses.

 

[factory presets]

Billy Sheehan View attachment 5373324

"The wife" makes a good point. Once you've chopped it that hard, all that's left of value is provenance. Might as well make it personal as you're not welcome here.

 

[Tim Schnautz]

I wonder how common it is for people to apply cosmetic, non-functional changes to their instruments, to personalise it or make it look better if it's dull. Things like adding stickers, drawing something on the body or neck, partial/full repaints or anything else including attaching stuff.

I did that a few times on my first ever guitar (talking about 30 years ago*), which was a very blank-looking cheap Squier with black body and black pickguard. I once put green tape on it to emulate Van Halen, changed it for a while to silver geometrical stickers, and then put some little ghost figures on certain frets to work as more visible marker dots. I never did anything of this sort to my instruments after that first one.

*I remember seeing some pretty crazy stuff back then... from students of art painting incredible pictures on guitar bodies with permanent markers, to someone actually torching the body of his guitar to make it look it survived a battle

No, if I buy a used bass I take them off

 

[singlemalt]

I’m not confident in my airbrushing skills to go after a bass….yet. But I have ideas.

Outline of my Dbird, used it as a stencil. Fun stuff!

 

[foal30]

It’s very common for my fans to adorn my instruments with rotten eggs and soft fruit

I’d prefer it after the performance but hey the customer is always right