Leave her Stock?...no fun zone

[electracoyote]

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 completely.

I can honestly say the majority of basses that have made me a valuable commodity have NOT been modded. I select the bass for the attributes and features it brings right out of the box. And 99% of the time, combined with my technique and signal chain, that works like a charm for me, my band mates, producers, arrangers, engineers, talent buyers, audiences, et. al.

I have a couple of basses that received a few touted "mods." I honestly can't say they made me a better bass player or vastly improved my tone.

 

[Phlipper]

If you just like tinkering, take one of those mail order small animal repair courses.

I have a small animal I'd like to repair. Where might one find this course you suggested?

 

[FC Bass]

I probably won’t mod my Alembic...

They are very moddable
I did extensive mods on 4 of mine, incl drilling in 3 of them. (paint and electronic upgrades)

 

[screefer]

Great responses all....lotta knowledge goin' on....

 

[equill]

Reading through this thread, I really miss tinkering on my old Frankenstrat. It most likely sounded like crap for most of its life, but I had a wonderful time figuring out what to do to it next.

 

[wideload]

They are very moddable
I did extensive mods on 4 of mine, incl drilling in 3 of them. (paint and electronic upgrades)

Blasphemy!

 

[FC Bass]

Blasphemy!

All with genuine Alembic parts and support (except for the paintjob, but that one was in pretty bad shape)

 

[mtdkingstonheir]

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

Very wise advice.

 

[somebrains]

All with genuine Alembic parts and support (except for the paintjob, but that one was in pretty bad shape)

One of the most wasteful and common builds thru the early 90's was a J neck, P body, route a bridge J, Barts/EMGs.
There were guys spending a considerable sum, often cannibalizing 2 basses people would spend good $ today like MIJ/CIJ basses that used to be dirt cheap and considered the way MIM is now.

Funny thing is that our junk parts can was full of J bodies that we ended up with, I started building them with whatever necks were cheaper than Warmoth dealer 12+.