I've only modified one bass, a Lakland Skyline 5501. I replaced the MK Bartolini pickups and preamp with USA and it made a tremendous improvement. All others, are stock so the speak.
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.
How much do you mod your basses
- Thread starter Willie5String
- Start date
I started working on bass guitars when my wife passed. It helped keep my mind in a good place. I have since been purchasing mutts, with the sole purpose of 1- getting them to play properly 2- change their flaws 3- change their looks. Playability on all bass guitars is top priority. They must get a set up, and be able to have correct intonation. I have also purchased many bass guitars and left them alone, other than get a proper set up. My next challenge is to build my own bass. I will probably use a neck from my parts stash, as I am not sure if I want to put a lot of time into building a neck. Who knows, I may take on the challenge of making a neck and pickups. I do like to learn more about all aspects of bass guitar.
I still own my very first bass, a Yamaha TRBX174EW.....it served its purposes to learn how to play but once i started getting some higher quality axes i learned that even though the yamahas are well built (even the cheap ones) it was lacking "grit"....i took a $225 bass....added GOTOH tuners...Hipshot Kickass bridge, new Seymour Duncan Hot P and Hot Stack J pups, swapped out the mini vol pots for fender legacy and added a EMG BTC stacked active tone circuit.....aprox $450 in mods....i have to say...it took me a little while to get my tone set but now my "Frankin-Ha" plays like a rabid beast....i would put it up against my PRS and Stingray any day of the week (when playing metal or hard rock)....everyone asked me why i did it....my answer...because i could....and did...and dont regret one second of it
D
With maybe one or two exceptions, there hasn't been a bass guitar in my possession that I haven't modified in some kind of way in my 30+ years of playing bass guitar. To this day I have mixed feelings about it. On one hand some of the mods I did(or had done by a pro tech) I was quite happy with; and each mod (good or bad) taught me something about a bass guitar's build, tone, and setup. On the other hand I admit that I definitely wasted $$$ on some of the mods I attempted; and in some cases should've just followed Roger Sadowsky's advice to invest in a better instrument. There is a definite risk/reward factor when doing mods. Thread carefully grasshoppers...
Both of my main p-basses heavily modified.
My main bass is a ‘12 Nate Mendel with an Olinto pickup, CTS pots, orange drop cap, reissue mint pickguard, and Fender ‘62 reissue bridge. It also has a TUSQ nut and has been plek’d.
My 75 has an Aguilar 4P-60 pickup, a badass bridge, and custom electronics with a “tone kill” that disconnects all of the controls so the pickup is wired straight to the output. It also has a non-original, but period correct tort guard.
My main bass is a ‘12 Nate Mendel with an Olinto pickup, CTS pots, orange drop cap, reissue mint pickguard, and Fender ‘62 reissue bridge. It also has a TUSQ nut and has been plek’d.
My 75 has an Aguilar 4P-60 pickup, a badass bridge, and custom electronics with a “tone kill” that disconnects all of the controls so the pickup is wired straight to the output. It also has a non-original, but period correct tort guard.
I almost never mod my basses because I only buy a bass that in my head is already perfect.
My Warwicks are perfect
My Viellette Citrons are perfect
My older BC Rich’s and Gibsons are perfect
Even my aluminum neck Kramers are perfect
My Warwicks are perfect
My Viellette Citrons are perfect
My older BC Rich’s and Gibsons are perfect
Even my aluminum neck Kramers are perfect
My Fiesta Red got a new pickguard, new knobs, pots, cap, and jack. Nothing else needed it.
I mod 100% (only have one bass). Bought a used tagima tw66 then installed Bare Knuckle 65 pups and pots, graphtec ratio tuners and bone. GHS precision flatwounds and Hipshot kickass bridge. (My Mawcaber tele also heavily modded but, that is for another thread)
Last edited:
I don't ... If I need to put a bunch of money and/or time into something, to make it play the way I want it to, I don't need it.
All of my basses are modded to some degree, but it's usually a part that is replaced or upgraded. All but 1 have Hipshot D-tuners/Xtenders, and all but 1 have different pickups. I should have the last pickup swap done this weekend.
The pickups were the thing that shocked me, very nice.
The combination of those pickups/that bass and Chromes was close to magical.
I miss that bass with every fibre of my being.
Only one - my Ibanez SR506 has an OBP-3 preamp and a push-pull actuve bypass volune knob in place of the original preamp.
Unless you count my first bass, an LTD B-50, where I stuffed paper in the pickup slots to keep them from moving around...
Unless you count my first bass, an LTD B-50, where I stuffed paper in the pickup slots to keep them from moving around...
Boomer here. I was an early adopter of the modding craze that started back in the late 70's. Saw someone gigging a Fender PJ.... in the blink of an eye, my own '78 Fender P-bass had DiMarzio PJ pickups, Schaller tuners, a Badass bridge. Zero regrets about that: it was a brand new Fender at the time, and even though I loved the look it was just a mediocre bass for tone and playability even after the mods.
Next step was to throw together a FrankenFender. It started with a Schecter PJ body and Wayne Charvel wide-flat P-bass neck, and I had a local tech combine it with quality hardware and Bartolini EZQ preamp. That bass went through a bunch of different pickups and preamps... grass is greener syndrome; the bass was essentially a test bed.
Cut to the new millenium: I've mostly purchased custom boutiques where I can order pretty much exactly what I want, so there's rarely a need to mod. However I'm still on board with modding as needed: both of my Benavente basses have been routed for new pickups, and I had one refinished.
I've never modded a bass in the 25+ years that I've been playing, unless you count changing the pickguard on my current #1. Why? None of them ever needed any modifications. Every bass I've ever owned has been a top-shelf professional-grade instrument, either bought new or mint condition used.
(new) 1992 Fender Jazz Bass Plus V Ash
(new) 1997 Music Man StingRay fretless 3EQ
(mint used) 2002 Music Man StingRay fretless 3EQ
and my current instruments:
(mint used) 2000 Music Man StingRay fretless 3EQ+piezo
(new) 2003 Warwick Custom Shop Corvette Proline short scale fretless
No need for any modifications whatsoever.
(new) 1992 Fender Jazz Bass Plus V Ash
(new) 1997 Music Man StingRay fretless 3EQ
(mint used) 2002 Music Man StingRay fretless 3EQ
and my current instruments:
(mint used) 2000 Music Man StingRay fretless 3EQ+piezo
(new) 2003 Warwick Custom Shop Corvette Proline short scale fretless
No need for any modifications whatsoever.
I've recently discovered changing your own parts when they fail to save $$ is the gateway to modding my basses. One broken part turned into "I can just replace this too while I have the bass apart", into another part and so forth and so on.
Before working on my own instruments all of my basses were completely stock.
Before working on my own instruments all of my basses were completely stock.
Depends on the Bass....
My main 2 are a '86 Jazz Bass Special thats (bog standard) black and gold hardware, and a '13 MIM P-Bass Black/black/maple that I changed the pickguard from white, and thats the sum total of mods for my "using" basses.
However.... I have a white PJ squire that I'm giving the Duff look, black tuners, black hi-mass bridge, black painted neck and headstock with pearl trapezoid inlays. I've put a tonerider pickup in the P slot but I'm dubious if its an improvement... Its been a bit of a project.
Also working on my Classic Vibe Jazz bass, its the 70s one black with the red tort, I'm going a bit stealthy on it, black pickguard, black covers and switches, not doing the tuners and bridge... yet...
Not done anything to my red sparkle Yam RBX thats a bit of a beater guitar, I tends to be the one I play/spill beer on/drop down the stairs at the weekend, but it keeps playing, and staying in tune and beeing generally amazing for a 90 buck fleabay buy.
My main 2 are a '86 Jazz Bass Special thats (bog standard) black and gold hardware, and a '13 MIM P-Bass Black/black/maple that I changed the pickguard from white, and thats the sum total of mods for my "using" basses.
However.... I have a white PJ squire that I'm giving the Duff look, black tuners, black hi-mass bridge, black painted neck and headstock with pearl trapezoid inlays. I've put a tonerider pickup in the P slot but I'm dubious if its an improvement... Its been a bit of a project.
Also working on my Classic Vibe Jazz bass, its the 70s one black with the red tort, I'm going a bit stealthy on it, black pickguard, black covers and switches, not doing the tuners and bridge... yet...
Not done anything to my red sparkle Yam RBX thats a bit of a beater guitar, I tends to be the one I play/spill beer on/drop down the stairs at the weekend, but it keeps playing, and staying in tune and beeing generally amazing for a 90 buck fleabay buy.
