Do you Mod your Fenders? And why?

[Jeff Scott]

Have any of you taken your Fender to a bandsaw?

 

[bucephylus]

First off, I do whatever I feel is necessary for a given instrument to be right for my playing requirements. That includes boutiques etc etc.

That said, with USA Fenders, I do tend to keep the modifications in the realm of being practically reversible, just to retain the original configuration as an option. Reversible modifications are perfectly fine; as long as you are not talking about a collector instrument, where someone might be scrutinizing the solder joints at some point. Money aside, I personally would never own such an instrument anyhow.

Hacking into the body of a USA Fender is out for me. I've done it. At one time, believe it or not, the 70's Fenders were very inexpensive and not valued for their authenticity. I've stripped those thick cross linked finishes and routed J pockets into 70's P's back in the day; and I simply wouldn't do that again. Partly, there are enough PJ's etc available now, so you can pretty much find whatever your heart desires as a stock setup.

Anyhow, I'm pretty much done buying basses any more; but, just lending perspective $0.019. YMMV.

 

[JaseyT]

I've heavily modified my '70s Jazz, with zero regrets. It's a better playing, better sounding instrument now.

 

[Blaargh]

I've modded my US Jazz- It has a set of EMG JA pickups in it, a D-tuner and chrome strat-style knobs. I'm never going to sell it- it was a gift from my father- so I'm comfortable modding it.

One day I intend to get a P-bass with a Jazz neck, and probably some sick pickup (the Lace Nate Newton signature sounds pretty awesome). I've never been a fan of Precision necks. Maybe a fancy bridge too? I suppose I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

People tend to mod Fenders due to a) The relative inexpense of Mexi models b) The sheer volume of aftermarket parts out there and c) Precisions and Jazzes are designed to be easy to maintain, and through that, they're easy to modify. One neck will most likely fit on another body etc.

Also I suppose due to how common they are, people like to put their individual stamp on them.

 

[mattattack187]

I have a MIM Classic 50's P Bass. I've tried to mod it, different pickups & bridge but after doing that I kind of realized I already had a great thing going on with it before all that. Only mods were shielding and a different pickguard.

 

[jamro217]

The original concept behind Fender instruments was to build quality guitars and basses that could be slapped back together easily with universally fitted parts in order to keep musicians working. Unlike today, back in the '50's you couldn't just stop into the local music shop and buy electric guitar parts off the shelf. Imagine being on the road in East Nowhere Falls and having some moron trip over your bass and break its neck. What to do? Well, if you had a Ric or some other neck through instrument, you'd either cancel the rest of the tour until you got to a big enough city that carried electric basses, or try fixing it yourself (which borders on impossible and would leave you to learn to play bass harmonica). If you had a P bass, you'd pay big bucks for a replacement neck (if you could find one), or make one out of a table leg. With your teeth. GRRRRRR!!!! I do mod my basses. Nothing heinous or irreversible, though. Usually it's to make them more individual. I prefer a light action, round wound strings and a thick, bassy tone with enough clarity to discern the notes. Not too distorted, but with some tubey warmth to give it body. Guess that classifies me as a tonal snob.

 

[Xandrell]

Killed_by_Death said: ↑
You have to, because their "shielding" doesn't cut the mustard.

Wow, "you have to?" Guess I never got the memo. I'm sure the 25 or 30 Fenders I have owned over the last 38 years feel deprived that I never gave them the mods that they "have to" have.

I've found many instances of the frustration the TBer stated below had including my new fender bass that I had replaced twice because of noise. They were the same and became apparent it was just the way it was going to be. I have however also found people that the noise stopped after the pickups were replaced without a shielding job so go figure.

I recently purchased a brand new Fender Stu Hamm Urge 2 bass from a reputable dealer for Fender. I've never owned a Fender, and this seems to be a custom shop bass, lists for about $2400 and I paid $1340 plus shipping. Well that buzz is awful. It is worse when I use my smaller amp a Fender Bassman 150, but controllable with my Peavy Bam 210 with the modeling abilities. Some have no horn, or much tweeters, etc. My local guitar tech is ordering replacement P bass pickups Seymour Duncans Bass lines 1/4 pounders, and when he's inside he'll tape shield the Jass stacked Pickups too. We'll see if that helps. No matter what I will never buy another Fender product period. This is unacceptable for a bass priced like that. I have owned Carvin, Pedulla, Warwick, Ernie Ball Music Man (newer), my current Benavente 5, and this new Fender Stu Hamm. NONE of those others had this problem. I picked up every bass in my friends shop and they are were worse than mine in the same amps in his shop. Shameful electronics! Thats just my opinon, take it as such as I don't want to offend any of you Fender believers out there.
When I can afford it, (if the changing out of the pickups doesn't work) I will get a Mike Lull 4 string with the same configuration of P and J bass pickups. I'll bet that does not buzz.

 

[tlc1976]

Fenders (and their Squier nephews) are sort of like small-block Chevys or Harleys: There is a huge aftermarket of hot-rod pieces out there. And since they are mostly built to a price and a certain expectation of what's Fender and what's not, a lot of guys see room for improvement or personalization as it's just easy to do, as so many 'other' pickups, bridges, keys, etc., are available.

I think of Fender as the Jeep of basses. You can build a complete Jeep from the ground up using catalog parts if you want. And the selection of aftermarket parts is huge, everybody can have one that's a little bit different that suits their fancy.

 

[Jonathan C]

My MIM Deluxe Active P Bass Special (2015 model) had a Babicz bridge installed almost immediately after purchase as the stock one's string height slipped and I cannot be bothered with that! Changed the pickups to Aguilar (P&J). Lastly rewired to passive with V/B/T/T with series switch on the volume pot. This bass plays and sounds 10x better than new.
My 2003 MIM Fretless Jazz (purchased in 2016) had a dead neck pickup on arrival, but still had the plastic on the pickguard! I replaced those with DiMarzio Model J's and new pots.
My P Bass Select had no mods, but it had a weird intermittent no sound issue, my luthier resoldered everything and it's been flawless. Elite Jazz (2016 model) no mods, but I'm always trying different strings on it! Just switched from Chromes to Dunlop Super Bright Nickel Roundwounds. I love 'em!

 

[KickingBass]

Most definitely moddable! Mine was originally a MIM deluxe P bass special. Mine has a new gotoh bridge, custom pickguard, my bands logo sticker, EMG electronics and PJX pickups, and block inlay stickers. Im hoping to get black ultralites, a graphtec Tusq black nut and make the headstock matching black someday. I'd say they're definitely the easiest to mod.

 

[Son of Wobble]

That's a shame. If you love something, who the hell cares what other people think?

Sure, easy for you to say, what with your iconic signature look and all...

 

[Son of Wobble]

Here's an assemblage that always gives me gas: mint pickguard on a MIJ Steve 'arris Signature.

I think of Fender as the Jeep of basses. You can build a complete Jeep from the ground up using catalog parts if you want. And the selection of aftermarket parts is huge, everybody can have one that's a little bit different that suits their fancy.

Finally, an apt bass/car analogy!

 

[Mantis Tobaggan]

For people on a budget, it may make sense to buy a MIM and upgrade components gradually. I think in the long run, it is better to scrape the money together up front and try to buy a MIA or used MIA. My first bass was $85 and I saved for an EBMM Sterling and played it for 20 years as was. I am glad to have all four of the basses I wanted at this point in my life but I certainly remember the early days and the struggles of making ends meet with bass equipment.

 

[el_Bajo_Verde]

Fenders/Squiers are the most moddable basses by a long shot, there is just so much stuff that's compatible with them since they're considered the "default" design for basses.

 

[GnarwhalNick]

I think of Fender as the Jeep of basses. You can build a complete Jeep from the ground up using catalog parts if you want. And the selection of aftermarket parts is huge, everybody can have one that's a little bit different that suits their fancy.

As a Fender Bass player and a Jeep owner, I appreciate and approve this post

 

[ergodynebass]

Only modded one, my Geddy Lee Jazz. Just threw some 70s wound Nordstrands in them. I like it better, more bottom end and sounds more like a classic 70s sound does than the stock pickups.

 

[Altitude]

all basses are modable. why pick on fender?

I had a Yamaha TRB for a while, tried to mess with the electronics and found out everything in there is proprietary. I had to gut the whole thing and start over top to bottom, from the pickups to the preamp to the pots, even the routing.

So, yeah - they're all modifiable but some more easily than others. I bet a lot of people just think it's fun to slap a new pickup in their P to see what it sounds like. Since you can do it in 15 minutes...

 

[Spidey2112]

Have any of you taken your Fender to a bandsaw?

No, but I took one to the prom, and it was a magical night...

 

[phillybass101]

I modded my 2008/2009 Japanese made Geddy Lee and I have TB to thank for it. Pups. After seeing so many negative comments about the so called scooped sound of DiMarzio Ultra Jazzes I decided yup that's the pickup for me. So I ordered a set in cream. Next I bought an Audere 4 band pre with Zmode switch. The result a very sexy and hifi and still organic sounding slap machine. I added a black PG for the blackout effect. Meet Betty Boop.

 

[Coolhandjjl]

I think it's pretty much impossible to be a TB member and not mod a bass. Any bass. Any mod.

In fact, the forum should be called ModBass or BassModders, or something like that. In my seven years of membership, I have yet to do any actual talking.