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Have you ever regretted modding your bass?

Mod it?

  • Mod it!

    Votes: 74 44.3%

  • Keep it stock!

    Votes: 80 47.9%

  • Bass is a fish, fry it in oil

    Votes: 13 7.8%
  • Total voters
    167
#101
The only successful mod I've done was the replacement of the goofy bridge on my 4001...back in the mid 70s. None of the subsequent mods yielded significant improvements. No regrets? But no improvements either. Just buy a bass you like and sell the one you don't; someone will like what you don't and will buy it.
 
#102
/\/\3phist0 said:
If you get a bridge pickup with strong magnetic pull , it can affect the string vibration, damping it for one.
It will introduce hum.
Unless you increase the output of the bridge pickup, it will be overwhelmed by the output of the split coil.
Therefore with weaker magnets, you would need more windings, which will have a different tone profile.
A large component of the MM pup is the strong magnets, and large poles, if that is a goal, keep that in mind. Look at M&V pickups. https://www.mvguitars.com/home-3-1-1-2
Or similar split coil designs


That said, I'm not one to rain on a mod effort, if you are accepting that this mod is a one way street.
Click to expand...

That's very interesting. What about doing a double-P type thing?
 
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#103
Back in the early 80's everyone wanted to be Jaco. It just so happened I had a '76 Fender Jazz (bought new in 1978). Tore it all apart. Stripped the vanilla finish off of it, swapped the neck out for an aftermarket fretless neck, replaced the stock pups with EMG actives, replaced the bridge and ultimately put in an Audere active preamp. I'd love to have that original bass back, untouched, in it's original form. Ahhh... youth... I dont even know if I'd play that original bass much, but either way I'd llke to have it just for posterity.
 
#104
Snarf said:
So now you have an idea of how important this bass is to me. My question to the forum: Have you ever regretted modding a bass of similar value to you? Has the instrument ever lost "something" after the modding process?
Click to expand...

Absolutely. Been at this since 2005... only a few mods go completely according to plan and don't introduce some kind of unforeseen problem. That's okay in many cases, definitely not okay in others.

You love this bass 98% so don't risk that by trying to get it to 100%. Some suggestions:
Buy something Just grab you something with a bridge-based voicing (MM, Jazz, etc). Should be relatively simple to do.
Reversible mod Get a ramp or thumbrest and work on your near-the-bridge playing technique
Reversible mod Try some brighter strings (stainless steel?) for a better slap sound
Not even a mod Use something in your signal chain to get a better slap sound. This could be boosting the treble on your amp and dialing down your P Bass tone knob until you want to slap, or have a pedal you engage that gives you a good slap sound.
 
#107
All of my mods are/were reversible except my Impala. It started out as a purple Squier Jazz bass. I put on a neck from a bass that I reversed the mod, stripped the back of the neck and put on Tru Oil. I routed out the body for a Precision pickup and a battery box for an Audere active electronics. I had to make a new pickguard because the P pickup went outside of the Jazz pickguard. I painted the body and headstock sea foam green, the same colour as a ‘63 Chev Impala, so I put on an Impala decal on the headstock (see avatar). I’ll never get what I put into this, but I’ve had this bass for over 10 years and gig with it regularly.
 
#108
alex1fly said:
Absolutely. Been at this since 2005... only a few mods go completely according to plan and don't introduce some kind of unforeseen problem. That's okay in many cases, definitely not okay in others.

You love this bass 98% so don't risk that by trying to get it to 100%. Some suggestions:
Buy something Just grab you something with a bridge-based voicing (MM, Jazz, etc). Should be relatively simple to do.
Reversible mod Get a ramp or thumbrest and work on your near-the-bridge playing technique
Reversible mod Try some brighter strings (stainless steel?) for a better slap sound
Not even a mod Use something in your signal chain to get a better slap sound. This could be boosting the treble on your amp and dialing down your P Bass tone knob until you want to slap, or have a pedal you engage that gives you a good slap sound.
Click to expand...

I'm starting to lean toward leaving this bass stock. Don't even know if I'd bother getting an additional one, since I've got other options. But I'm still going to bring this bass on 99% of gigs. To address your points:

Buy something: Not really necessary, I've got some options if I need them.
Ramp/thumb rest: Not needed. I have control over my technique, and it's relatively rare that I need the tone of playing near the bridge.
Steel strings: Played them for years. Switched to nickel, I like nickel better. Warmer tone.
Signal chain: Again, very satisfied with my signal chain. And the slap sound of this bass is great. It's got that time-honored P-only slap dialed in, with a little bit of character from a Sansamp VT Bass. But the P slap is a very, very specific thing, and a handful of songs in my regular performance rotation would benefit from an extra pickup.
 
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#109
Snarf said:
That's very interesting. What about doing a double-P type thing?
Click to expand...
I dig a good double P ! Show us your Double P Basses! | TalkBass.com
Mine: As the factory produced it:
20151006_233227-jpg.715091

And what i did to modify it:
Special Edition Build off - Goya 4-5 conversion | TalkBass.com
End result:
img_20200712_171944169-jpg.3902740
 
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#110
The biggest mod I regret is the one I didn't do. I once owned a white Squier Musicmaster that I found on CL. The action was high, it wouldn't stay in tune, the pots were scratchy. This was around 2000 or so. I had no one available that could give me advice, no online resources I could find. So I sold it. :( Had I known then what I know now I'd still have it.

The only thing I regret in the modding process of my two parts basses were buying parts that didn't work out for one reason or another. I love the way they came out, having my kids' artwork on them and all makes them pretty special to me.
 
#111
Snarf said:
I'm starting to lean toward leaving this bass stock. Don't even know if I'd bother getting an additional one, since I've got other options. But I'm still going to bring this bass on 99% of gigs. To address your points:

Buy something: Not really necessary, I've got some options if I need them.
Ramp/thumb rest: Not needed. I have control over my technique, and it's relatively rare that I need the tone of playing near the bridge.
Steel strings: Played them for years. Switched to nickel, I like nickel better. Warmer tone.
Signal chain: Again, very satisfied with my signal chain. And the slap sound of this bass is great. It's got that time-honored P-only slap dialed in, with a little bit of character from a Sansamp VT Bass. But the P slap is a very, very specific thing, and a handful of songs in my regular performance rotation would benefit from an extra pickup.
Click to expand...
Looks like I'm the lucky winner of this thread's "OP will itemize your suggestions and refute them one by one" award! What a day! :laugh:
 
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#114
My post (#12), was really a repair to my CII instead of a mod,
even though I replaced my bridge PUP with a Fralin.
There's no way I would have found a NOS DeArmond PUP.
Also, I had it re-fretted years ago which I still consider as a repair.

I've done many mods on other basses and only one didn't go smoothly,
which cost me extra money to have a pro clean up my mess.
But you live and learn, and I had fun doing it.....057912
 
#119
Out of the five mass produced basses I own 4 have had pickup changes.

No regrets.

The fifth will never be modded. It’s perfect as is.

Before any bass gets modded it is given a chance to shine on its own. If there is a problem it’s fixed.

Things like tuners and bridges are never an issue. Pickups are where the mods are.
 
#120
I tend to be value oriented. I buy budget or mid-range basses, and I don't want to put more money into them. I think that pickup, bridge and tuner changes are sideways moves most of the time, and don't really add much.

But I'm not a tone freak; I have no problem finding a workable tone to fit into the mix with any bass.

I've replaced faulty pots, a bad neck, pickups (reinstalling the original ones), I converted a 4-string to BEAD, stuff like that.
 

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