Leave her Stock?...no fun zone

[screefer]

As a Telecaster tinkerer and recent convert to bass, I've been reading all I can about basses.I just read this article on Premier Guitar...On Bass: Leaving Well Enough Alone | Premier Guitar... and reluctantly have to agree with him although I LOVE to tinker. All instruments can't be expected to be stock keepers but when you find one it's maybe best to "step away" from the soldering iron....regardless of what the headstock reads.
What say y'all?

 

[bovinehost]

I play Music Man basses. No tinkering needed.

 

[DirtDog]

I’d like a kill switch on my modded PJ.

 

[fermata]

I didn't know enough to tinker with the bass I had in high school; I just played. Maybe there's some wisdom there? (In fact, never even considered changing the strings...and I don't recall even adjusting the tone or volume knobs!)

However, that's the anomaly. The three other basses I've had since have undergone various electronic (and a few minor aesthetic) mods, and they were generally worthwhile. (Two of these basses have since been sold.) Just recently, I bought an old Aria Pro II, and that thing is wonderful as is; I have absolutely no compunction to mod anything.

EDIT: D'oh! I just modded it! (Well, mod is a strong word--I fixed a grounding issue on the pickup poles. Set-up/adjustment isn't really modding, right?)

 

[Nephilymbass]

As a Telecaster tinkerer and recent convert to bass, I've been reading all I can about basses.I just read this article on Premier Guitar...On Bass: Leaving Well Enough Alone | Premier Guitar... and reluctantly have to agree with him although I LOVE to tinker. All instruments can't be expected to be stock keepers but when you find one it's maybe best to "step away" from the soldering iron....regardless of what the headstock reads.
What say y'all?

What do I think? I say mod it to your specific needs. It’s a massive waste of money when you get into basses that cost over a grand when you sell them for a massive loss when you could have done something as simple as a pickup swap. Just keep the stock parts in case you end up selling the bass anyways

 

[JGbassman]

I'm a complete modder and master tinkerer. Most of everything I've ever had, I've taken apart at one time to see how it works. I've destroyed a lot of good stuff when I was younger, but the insight led me to a greater understanding of the mechanics of just about everything.

A lion's share of my basses have been modded if there was something I felt could be better. Many of my favorite basses are mutts, or have been modded with favorite parts installed. Some are test beds for various pickups, bridges, strings, etc.

That being said, I do have some basses that for reasons I've left completely stock, as I felt they were great in their original form. So while I do love tweaking a bass until it's as perfect as it can be, there are others I wouldn't dream of changing anything but strings on.

Edited for my normal typos. I'm not sure word suggest was the greatest invention mankind has ever seen.

 

[mongo2]

I think do whatever you want.

 

[James Collins]

I think you can do whatever you like, but the only tinkering I tend to do is with different strings, effects, and setups.

 

[Vinnie Boombatz]

I prefer to actually play my instruments and talk smack on TB. Others prefer to tinker. To each his/her own.

Aside from maybe swapping pickups, changing the pickguard for a different color, and shielding the control cavity I just keep them as is unless something needs to be repaired.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

I know enough about electronics to make mods & talked a good game for a while, then finally put my money where my mouth was.
Pulling off a few mods was cool, but I still get anxious thinking about picking up the ol' soldering iron.

I already realized that the modding was just another diversion from getting my fingers on the strings & actually playing.
Recently I "almost" modded my pristine Ibanez Premium, but I decided to do the mod on my Ibanez SR eXtreme first.

The SRX already had a scratchy pot for the balance, so putting in a 2nd volume made sense.
Turns out it didn't really do what I thought it would, so I left the Premium unmodified.
Just glad the SRX was around to use as a test bed first, LOL!

Going forward I will avoid mods.
unless they're super simple, super-cheap, & actually do change the timbre of the instrument for the better, or improve the level of output
I "think" my SR eXtreme has better mids now, but my ears aren't good enough to be sure & if so it's subtle.

 

[buldog5151bass]

Nothing wrong with modding when you need something, and you know what you are doing. But I get a kick about people talking about modding a bass before they've even bought it, let alone played it.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

Hey guys, I just ordered this bass (photos)
It arrives next week, what pickups should I buy for it?

 

[mongo2]

I prefer to actually play my instruments and talk smack on TB. Others prefer to tinker. To each his/her own.

It is possible to do all three, and other stuff too.

 

[skygzr]

Pretty much much all my basses and guitars serve Lord Tinker (blessed be His glowing soldering iron) In fact I usually buy cheap ones so i won’t feel bad about drilling holes in them.

Mods generally affect resale, if that is a concern. In that case, consider reversible mods.

 

[Axstar]

In the past I've modified instruments for the sake of it, but I've taken a bit of a back seat lately. One half of it is just a fun hobby for me, making instruments beyond stock. However my last few big mods have been simply to work on the performance of an instrument when it is required. As such I don't consider fretwork to be a 'mod' whereas a defret definitely is!

The last few mods I can think of are:

• Rewiring my Coronado II bass so that the volume controls work independently when both pickups are selected.
• Making a new pickguard for my Mustang bass (aesthetics rather than necessary).
• Making a new pickguard for my Coronado II.
• Swapping the switch tips on both the Coronado and Mustang for different coloured examples.
• Swapping the knobs on the Coronado for repro '70s Norlin-era Gibson knobs.

I have two lightly modded basses (Coro and Mustang) and two heavily modified basses, one of which is still 'in the shop'. My two heavily modified basses are:

• Aria TAB-66 bass. Defretted, pickups replaced, rewired completely (added more controls), new pickguard made, added new pickup rings, neck de-glossed.
• Epiphone Jack Casady bass. Body and neck stripped (awaiting respray), varitone switch hole deleted. Stock electronics removed, Guild BS-1 pickup installed requiring the top being plugged and re-routed.

 

[Runnerman]

Repairs yes. Mods no.
When I buy a used bass I want it just as it left the factory. It has more value to me to keep the original character of the bass.

 

[Nev375]

I haven't found a stock bass that was right for me. I'm always looking for something different from the rest. So I pretty much have to mod the ever lovin' crap out of my basses or build them from scratch.

 

[equill]

Tinker if you want to, mod it if it's needed, leave it stock if it's already up to snuff.
I've modded some instruments, and left others stock... oh, wait. I always fit strap-locks, and all my guitars get locking tuners. So yeah, apparently I'm on the side of "go ahead and mod as you see fit."

 

[MobileHolmes]

There’s no more or less reason to tinker with a bass than to tinker with a guitar.

Personally, I have some that are modded, some that aren’t. My #1 is a warmoth jazz that I built instead of modding a fender. The years I was looking at had lame pickups and electronics, and I decided I’d like a few other tweaks too if I were starting from scratch. Generally, I think pickups and preamps are the most noticeable. I personally wouldn’t change tuners or a bridge unless they were not working

 

[pablotries]

Some people's hobbies relating to the instrument are more mod-heavy than playing-heavy and that's fine! I used to be really into computer hardware to the point where I had an awesome gaming computer but would spend more time cleaning-up, re-building and upgrading the hardware than using it to play. Still, I enjoyed it so as funny as it sounds I didn't mind.
I've left my basses stock so far though.