Leave her Stock?...no fun zone

[danesdad]

When I was young I took apart a cheap guitar, refinished the body, put the tone control from an of Ford f-150 AM radio in it, and basically put whatever I had laying around in it, if I thought it would help. The result was I took a 50 dollar Sears guitar and made it sound like a 55 dollar Sears guitar. I never modded a guitar or bass that was actually worth anything.

 

[pudgychef]

Always strap locks

 

[snyderz]

I play only unlined fretless basses, so there have been several times that I liked a bass, knowing I was going to throw a MightyMite or Allparts fretless neck on it. I am NOT a solderer, so when I change pickups, I use wire connectors.

 

[Skybone]

Modded many a guitar & bass over the years, but I've always had 1 rule. All mod's need to be reversible (that includes keeping the replaced parts!).

Made the "mistake" a few times of selling a modded instrument, usually for far less than it cost to buy it & mod it in the first place. I've sold parts on and then regretted it, because I can't return it to stock when it comes time to sell. When the time came to sell the instruments that were been returned to stock, I also sold the parts as well, and generally did better on those sales than if I'd left the mods intact.

Saying that, it is fun to work out how to modify something (i.e. putting your personal stamp on it), without damaging it, and being able to return it to standard afterwards.

 

[filwitheneff]

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?

I too have heavily modded Teles in the past. But for basses, not so much. I have 4 Fenders (2 P's and 2 J's), and I installed a Hipshot Extender on each one. But I really don't consider that a "mod" because it really didn't modify anything; it just added a tool.

The only "mod" I ever did was install a SD SPB-4 to my MIM P. I did it because I was convinced that the MIM stock pickup was sub-par. Did it make it better? Honestly, it just made it sound different, but not necessarily better. In hindsight, it was probably not needed.

 

[MCS4]

My No. 1 bass is modded to within an inch of its life and is the best instrument I've ever owned. My No. 2 bass and my No. 1 guitar are completely stock. There's no right or wrong here.

 

[Paulabass]

Mod if there is an improvement to be made.
Leave it be if everything is up to your standards.
If you just like tinkering, take one of those mail order small animal repair courses.

 

[Schopes]

I’m addicted to modding......(or rather getting mods done). I seemingly want stuff that doesn’t quite exist in standard models....

Modded list:
- Fender Jazz: Pickup selector added.
- EB-3: DiMarzio Model One and Willpower pickups (with humbucker/single coil switches added), Hipshot ultralight tuners, Hipshot Bridge, new pickguard.
- Hofner Ignition: Zero fret, an attached metal bridge, rewound origional pickups (had lots of feedback), new tuners, new pickguard, redid control panel.
- “Bessie” (Former Ibanez tele bass copy, and my primary bass): Replaced super warped neck, added jazz pickups to the already present neck humbucker, had controls altered for this to V/V/V/T with a pickup switch.

I currently have one other bass getting modded. Bassicaly, I’m having the EB-3 taken apart and putting it's mods onto a Squier Jaguar SS. I loved the sound on the EB-3, but I couldn’t get it to sit comfortably on me for playing live. (note: I did a lot of rearranging of strap knobs to no success. Ended up having to bend my left hand, quite uncomfortably at times, to get to the far left frets)

 

[micguy]

I build my own basses. I am the factory, and also the guy who develops the "model", so whatever I end up with in the end is "factory spec". Sometimes I get the right hardware the first time out, sometimes there's a dead spot, and changing the weight of the tuners moves it to where it's no longer an issue. Sometimes the thing sounds a bit tinkly, and changing from an aluminum to a brass bridge tames the thing to where now it'a musical instrument I can work with, not something that's fighting me the whole time.

It's not modding, it's experimentation to find the right parts that work together for me.

I'm sorry, what was the question?

 

[darwin-bass]

So many mods, so few upgrades.

 

[AndyPanda]

I love to mod but I also like to preserve resale value. So I leave my Stingray (etc.) stock and then I pick up less expensive basses (or put them together from parts bought in the classifieds here) and mod away. I've got some really inexpensive frankenbasses that play and sound terrific now.

 

[Blaargh]

Change stuff where there's an issue, leave stuff stock if it's fine. Doesn't seem complicated.

My Jazz has EMGs in it, because I loved everything about it but wanted it to be hotter and punchier. Actives are a bugger so I'm putting some Lace Man O' Wars in when I can afford to. As much as I find the bridge on my Thunderbird to be a pain when I'm restringing, it sounds fine, so I can't be arsed to be a replacement. My Gretsch is as good as it's ever likely to be (well, until I get those flats off it. Turns out I'm not a flats kinda guy). I haven't/am unlikely to sell a bass I like enough to mod, so reversibility doesn't bother me too much.

 

[DigitalMan]

Modding was more interesting in the early 80’s when many basses were fairly blah and the aftermarket parts were at least perceived to be a marked improvement. To me the golden age of bass modding has passed. Mods today seem to be a more subtle in their impact and effect. There will be outliers of course.

In a way it’s very similar to car audio. I don’t think I’ve owned a car in the past 20 years where replacing or upgrading the audio system was even a possibility.

 

[arbiterusa]

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?

I agree to a point. Replacing pickups is a thousand dollar exercise in utter futility. If the tone isn't there, it will never be there.

That being said, I always replace certain things: I replace the nut with bone or MOP - always. If it's a Fender style bass, I replace the bridge as well with a "high mass" unit. And on every single one of them I replace/rewire all the pots. I know if I do them they will not fail. As stated before, I don't replace pickups. My B4FL basses have had the active electronics completely removed, holes plugged and bodies refinished. I'm not a fan of active tone circuitry.

 

[Florinda4]

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

Photos? Not seeing any...?

 

[Killed_by_Death]

Read the post prior to that one, I was trying to make a joke, LOL!

 

[Versatek6]

On two of mine, I replaced the stock EMG B30 preamp with an Aguilar OBP-3 and a Bartolini NTMB+. On the latter, three mini-toggle switches were added: mid-frequency select, and parallel/single/series switching for each pickup. Making those extra holes was a tough decision, but the installation went very well.

All my other basses are stock. My guitars are mostly stock - different pickups on one, a GK-3 synth pickup on another.

I've also bought the occasional used carcass to build up from parts. It's fun and rewarding to have something tangible from your efforts, especially when you spend your work life behind a keyboard.

 

[40Hz]

Bought a Squier CV JB just to check it out and probably use as a future modding platform. Liked the way it sounded and played so much I left it completely stock.

I think modding is more a Fender thing due to their modular construction. Every non-Fender I’ve owned remained stock unless I bought it already modded.

 

[AngelCrusher]

If the bass needs mods (outside of maybe switching pickups) I am probably not interested. I have 3, one is getting new pickups and the other 2 are stock.

 

[JRA]

the golden age of bass modding has passed.

holy , i did not get that memo, or if i did: i misplaced it!

i change anything (including neck, body, and headstock specs/shapes) to suit me until i have the instrument i like: and finally, i might change the look of an instrument if i think that i can impress someone who knows absolutely nothing about it.

also: i'm too old to care about reversing any modifications: all mods/upgrades/adjustments are just for me.