Do you Mod your Fenders? And why?

[Killed_by_Death]

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

I currently own two basses that I have not modified & an unmodified guitar that I bought new.

Not saying I'll never own a Fender product again, as I like their amps, but I feel like I'd be stepping backward to buy a Fender bass.
I have owned a couple of Squier basses, an American Fender (JP-90), and a Mexican Fender Blacktop.
and a Mexican Strat

 

[jaco944]

I tend to mod my basses with years of playing, sweat and very limited cleaning lol. I'm lazy and the funk is in the gunk.

 

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

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.

Not necessarily... it depends what you are looking for and what bass you own .. of course one of the fine features of Fender instrument models is that you have a wide variety of parts which can be moved from model to model to creat funny hybrids .. this seems more difficult to with other brands

 

[staurosjohn]

Played the same RIC (purchased new when I turned 16) for 35 years- never 'touched' it with mods

I currently have 4 Fenders- have been thru about 15, over the past 5 years, to find the 'fit & sound' I'm looking for... each is modded to my liking:
- Mustang: Hipshot tuners, Aguilar (noiseless) p/u's, tort guard <D'Addario half-rounds>
- Oly White American Special P: Amer. Spec. Jazz neck, Hipshot tuners, SD QP p/u, celluloid tort guard <Roto 66 nickels>
- Sonic Blue Mike Dirnt body (refinished): MD Roadworn neck, Hipshot Lollypop tuners, Fender '62 p/u, 3 ply pg, bridge cover... <Roto 66 nickels>
- Black Amer. Spec. P: Geddy Lee Jazz neck, SD QP p/u, Fender Hi-mass bridge <Roto 66 SS>

Yes- Fender's are quite easy to find parts for

 

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

Played the same RIC (purchased new when I turned 16) for 35 years- never 'touched' it with mods

I currently have 4 Fenders- have been thru about 15, over the past 5 years, to find the 'fit & sound' I'm looking for... each is modded to my liking:
- Mustang: Hipshot tuners, Aguilar (noiseless) p/u's, tort guard. <D'Addario half-rounds>
- Oly White American Special P: Amer. Spec. Jazz neck, Hipshot tuners, SD QP p/u, celluloid tort guard <Roto 66 nickels>
- Sonic Blue Mike Dirnt body: ('heavily' repaired) before paint, MD Roadworn neck, Hipshot Lollypop tuners, Fender '62 p/u, 3 ply pg, bridge cover... <Roto 66 nickels>
- Black Amer. Spec. P: Geddy Lee Jazz neck, SD QP p/u, Fender Hi-mass bridge <Roto 66 SS>

Yes- Fender's are quite easy to find parts for

View attachment 1190751

The Olympic White Am. Special with jazz neck ... WOW ... super vintage looking ... nooo ... GAS is coming again ... HEELPPP!!! drooldrool

 

[staurosjohn]

The Olympic White Am. Special with jazz neck ... WOW ... super vintage looking ... nooo ... GAS is coming again ... HEELPPP!!! drooldrool

You too could assemble one just like it ... go for it !!

 

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

You too could assemble one just like it ... go for it !!

Correct but first I have to assemble my Am. Pro. P bass body and Am. Std. jazz bass neck arrived from USA one month ago and which are still sitting in a box (I forgot to buy the strings retainer !!)... this will be my third P bass ..

 

[staurosjohn]

Correct but first I have to assemble my Am. Pro. P bass body and Am. Std. jazz bass neck arrived from USA one month ago and which are still sitting in a box (I forgot to buy the strings retainer !!)... this will be my third P bass ..

Nice!

 

[malthumb]

I have two Fenders. One a USA Precision Deluxe, the other is a Squier VM fretless jazz (technically, it's my son's but I play it more than he does lately)

The P-Dlx has two mods, one for appearance, one for tone (with a side helping of appearance). I have the original guard and preamp bagged and boxed, should I ever sell or trade this bass (unlikely).

The Squire is unmodded.

AmDlxP-5 as received....

2005 Fender American Deluxe Precision 5

• malthumb
• Dec 26, 2016

After custom pick guard and Sadowsky preamp and knobs....

2005 Fender American Deluxe Precision 5-string

• malthumb
• Dec 26, 2016
• fender

Picture taken at hotel in Beijing, China

 

[mpdd]

I haven't had a fender in a few years, however
non usa fender - yes
usa fender - no

 

[DWBass]

I've only owned 2 Fenders. One (US Standard with the S1 switch) I modded the pickups and preamp and added StrapLoks. Previous owner changed the tuners to Hipshot vintage. The other one (MIM Standard) I left stock. Sold one and traded the other. I mod just about every bass I've owned though.

 

[mdogs]

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


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.

You sure that bass was new? It hasn't been made since 2010. So, if it was "new," God only knows what could have happened to it in the last 7 years. I doubt any of those other basses you have say you have owned had true single coil pickups. And if the buzz was as bad as you claim, I would be willing to bet there is another issue going on with the bass.

 

[joel406]

The last 4 bass's I had were all custom made. But since I dumped those(3 four stringers and an 8 stringer) I settled in with a Fender American Standard for the last 4 years. Haven't found anything better no matter where I look and I am not going down the custom road again.

Never felt the need to mod my Jazz it already has an awesome bridge and pickups.

 

[Nephilymbass]

hey all - I've modded my P-bass quite a bit to make it "mine." Have you modded your fender? And is it true that Fenders are more "moddable?"

I would assume a lot of people do. The huge aftermarket parts market for fender basses is one of the things I like about them.

 

[mc900ftj]

Yes, I do...why? Because I like the way it sounds....

 

[Badwater]

I think Fenders are more modifiable because of the abundance of aftermarket parts. Do I mod a fender? Up to a point. I've modded strats and teles with bridges, tuners, pickups, electronics etc... But, after buying a decent 70's strat with good pickups, and original 70s tuners, and 3 bolt micro tilt neck, All I did was replace the thin frets with jumbo frets, and that was all it needed. After my tone search ended with the 5E3 amp, I had no use for pedals, fx, or guitar mods. I found, I could get more out of my playing technique. Same goes for bass. I have a Yamaha BB424x and Sterling Ray34. Both feel and sound great, and comes with high quality hardware so no mods needed. If I need a change in sound, I search out the internet for techniques and tricks to get it with my hands, not my money. That's because I'm cheap, and have no money to exploit. If I had unlimited cash, I would mod all day and night.

 

[JIO]

 

[jaybones]

So far pickups and a PG only. Haven't seen the need to upgrade tuners, yet. But a D-tuner would be tempting if I played out anymore.

When I did, it was a simple matter of tuning down for a couple songs, then tuning back up.

 

[J-Bassomatic]

I mod all of my basses to some extent. Since 3 out of 4 are Fenders... I put an original Badass bridge on my '77 Precision in '78. Then moved the thumb rest down by the bridge, where it should be. That's right, screwed it right into the body, and 40 years later it's still there. Sometime after that I removed the frets (gently). I've never looked at basses as untouchable works of art, just an expensive tool. It didn't stop me from using it as a battering ram, crowd control device or baseball bat during the punk era. Bruiser never even went out of tune.
View attachment 1190078

Yeah, that one has survivor written all over it.

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.

View attachment 1190634

Awesome, except for the cream PUs it is exactly like the 73 I sold and wish I still had.

 

[J-Bassomatic]

View attachment 1191177

Let me guess, you put a tug bar on it?