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Let's See Your Hot-Rodded Cheapo Basses!

#221
I'll have to post pics later. Ibanez sr405 i picked up for 250 cdn including hardshell case. Swapped pickups for bassline 5 string jazz pickups i found on clearance. Added an active/passive switch. Swapped the opamp for a tl072 I had laying around. Gutted a di box and rewired the input jack so 9volts comes through a trs cable to power the preamp from a one spot wall wort. I think the pickups made the biggest difference.
 
#223
My SX Jazz .
Dimarzio Area Js
Audere 4 band classic pre
Schaller bridge
Gotoh string tee
Replaced neck screws with threaded inserts and machine screws .
S7300904.JPG
S7300907.JPG
 
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#224
arbiterusa said:
It sure does. I have three Classics, including the flat silver model you’ve got (sadly without the matching neck, it had a busted truss rod when I got it, but what does one expect from a thirty dollar bass?). It’s what Guitar Fetish and some other companies refer to as “Asian Spacing”. I call it “dumping a manufacturer’s mistake”. They are great basses but a little bit on the heavy side.

The pickups have the screw spacing of a standard rear Jazz, which is lucky as one just needs to rout about 3mm off each side of the rear pickup cavity to fit a standard jazz bridge pickup in there. The pickups lengthwise are the size of a standard front Jazz. Since they well routed the front under the pickguard, one just has to replace the pickguard with a standard pickguard and then a regular front J pickup will fit. I left mine stock, that is way too much hassle and expense and the stock pickups sound just fine. The VM fretless I’ve got takes standard J pickups and I tossed a set of EMGs in that. The sound is amazing.

View attachment 3165975

The VM, which most will notice now has a fretted neck, was the most expensive at $225 new. The flat silver Classic was the cheapest at $30. The green was $149 and the champagne was $129. All the Classics were used, all from GC, and were giggable as purchased save for the silver one. They’ve had their bridges replaced (about $15 each), the pots and wiring replaced (about $10 each), legit Jazz knobs put on ($3 each) and I put a tug bar on the champagne one for giggles. I will never use it. That bass also has flats. Flats on a Jazz is a great thing BTW. The pearl pickguard on the green one came from Anthill music and was $19.
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Green one looks great!
 
#225
Fenwick said:
Mine started as a cheapo $375 CDN (that's like $14.50 USD) Ibanez ATK 300 (Made in Indonesia, 2007). I can't reasonably say it's cheap anymore, as you'll see I have sunk some money into it.

Started off as a standard ATK300, ash body, natural finish, maple neck/fretboard. Here's a stock pic for reference - View attachment 3167780

I eventually added a Dimarzio Will Power Pickup (DP146 I believe), the 'middle' version aka the split coil, in reverse (D&G coils facing towards neck) and had a 2 pickup setup, added an additional volume knob for the split-coil. Ialso removed the original bridge to shed some weight, replaced with Fender bridge (higher mass)I don't have any pictures of it in this stage at the moment but, I eventually ripped out the original ATK300 pickup and electronics and added a 1970's Fender WideRange Humbucker (from 70s Tele basses) in the bridge position, so that it looked like this - View attachment 3167788 View attachment 3167789

I liked this setup, but new there was more. The thick layer of poly on the bass added some weight, so I removed it and had it stained walnut colored. That dropepd some weight, so I added the original bridge back for style. I also removed the flame-maple veneer on the headstock, had it replaced with an unknown piece of wood that suited, and had a catholic pendent inlaid in the headstock. I added a Fred Hammon Dark Star Pickup to the neck position, had the pickguard redone to hide routes and put some Chromes on. I'm not completely finished tinkering with this thing, but it's definitely close. It's mean as hell, and despite it's reverent looks, it sounds anything but. I run the WRHB on 250K pots instead of the original 1 meg, it's dark and growly but polks through in the mids likely because of it's positioning closer to the bridge.

I call it my Pray TK. Or the DATK Star. Or the DarKaster.

View attachment 3167795 View attachment 3167796 View attachment 3167797 View attachment 3167798

When I say *I* did anything to this bass, I mean a luthier or 2 I pay.
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Looks really good with that stain!
 
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#226
I have another! I finally found a 5-string precision bass for a better match to the instrument that kicked off this thread than my ATK (I love both sounds, but want both sounds in 4s and 5s). It needed a bit of help getting there, but I think I have it now.

Before:
B0F40E48-B9C2-459F-8E61-14131F1E7B99.jpeg


After:
29478988-0D89-4007-A953-0169EA798D4F.jpeg


~250 USD for the bass (paid a bit more, but they included a nice PRS bag that I would value around 45). 55 for black pickguard, 60 for Hipshot Kicka$$ bridge, 12 for Schaller strap buttons, 135 for Seymour Duncan Quarter Pound pickup ... so once again, mods about equal the cost of the base instrument for me. I think I'll try an M&V Atlas pickup when they've finished their move and can get me one (I've already paid for it, but didn't want to wait until September for this thing to sound right), and I might go mirror or gold anodized for the pickguard down the line (I know everybody loves their tort, but I don't need a thread to tell me that tort's not the best pickguard for metal :D). I might opt for a different finish down the line (as you can see in the "before" shot, the grain in the body parts wasn't lined up especially well), but the burst has grown on me, especially since I went to the black 'guard; if I did refinish today, I would go with solid orange.
 
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#227
Riff Ranger said:
I have another! I finally found a 5-string precision bass for a better match to the instrument that kicked off this thread than my ATK (I love both sounds, but want both sounds in 4s and 5s). It needed a bit of help getting there, but I think I have it now.

Before:
View attachment 3488045

After:
View attachment 3488046

~250 USD for the bass (paid a bit more, but they included a nice PRS bag that I would value around 45). 55 for black pickguard, 60 for Hipshot Kicka$$ bridge, 135 for Seymour Duncan Quarter Pound pickup ... so once again, mods about equal the cost of the base instrument for me. I think I'll try an M&V Atlas pickup when they've finished their move and can get me one (I've already paid for it, but didn't want to wait until September for this thing to sound right), and I might go mirror or gold anodized for the pickguard down the line (I know everybody loves their tort, but I don't need a thread to tell me that tort's not the best pickguard for metal :D). I might opt for a different finish down the line (as you can see in the "before" shot, the grain in the body parts wasn't lined up especially well), but the burst has grown on me, especially since I went to the black 'guard; if I did refinish today, I would go with solid orange.
Click to expand...
Nice one! The M&V Atlas is great (as you know, I'm a fan, I suggested it!) I have a 4 & 5 string Squier with the Atlas in it, and they sound as good as any P Bass I have.
 
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#228
Rocksolid said:
Nice one! The M&V Atlas is great (as you know, I'm a fan, I suggested it!) I have a 4 & 5 string Squier with the Atlas in it, and they sound as good as any P Bass I have.
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Right on. I did order the Atlas after seeing yours. I'm considering picking up a Squier Classic Vibe '70s P and dropping either the QP or the Atlas in it based on how things go with this VMPV. Not that my pointy bass is going anywhere. Ever.
 
#229
Rocksolid said:
Nice one! The M&V Atlas is great (as you know, I'm a fan, I suggested it!) I have a 4 & 5 string Squier with the Atlas in it, and they sound as good as any P Bass I have.
Click to expand...

Riff Ranger said:
Right on. I did order the Atlas after seeing yours. I'm considering picking up a Squier Classic Vibe '70s P and dropping either the QP or the Atlas in it based on how things go with this VMPV. Not that my pointy bass is going anywhere. Ever.
Click to expand...

Oh, and the Lace Aluma-P would have been the obvious choice to match the Aluma-P in my pointy 4, but I checked with Lace and they didn't think it would work with this wide of string spacing. @bassike made it work on a Lakland but I seem to have chickened out.
 
#231
Riff Ranger said:
I have another! I finally found a 5-string precision bass for a better match to the instrument that kicked off this thread than my ATK (I love both sounds, but want both sounds in 4s and 5s). It needed a bit of help getting there, but I think I have it now.

Before:
View attachment 3488045

After:
View attachment 3488046

~250 USD for the bass (paid a bit more, but they included a nice PRS bag that I would value around 45). 55 for black pickguard, 60 for Hipshot Kicka$$ bridge, 12 for Schaller strap buttons, 135 for Seymour Duncan Quarter Pound pickup ... so once again, mods about equal the cost of the base instrument for me. I think I'll try an M&V Atlas pickup when they've finished their move and can get me one (I've already paid for it, but didn't want to wait until September for this thing to sound right), and I might go mirror or gold anodized for the pickguard down the line (I know everybody loves their tort, but I don't need a thread to tell me that tort's not the best pickguard for metal :D). I might opt for a different finish down the line (as you can see in the "before" shot, the grain in the body parts wasn't lined up especially well), but the burst has grown on me, especially since I went to the black 'guard; if I did refinish today, I would go with solid orange.
Click to expand...
Very nice!
 
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#232
I have one I got for free. It’s a Robelli take on the Musicman idea. It sounds great and plays great with no need for electronic modifications, but the frets have overrun the fingerboard and so are dangerous. I need to get the edges filed down or something, then it will actually be a stellar instrument.
 
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#239
Riff Ranger said:
Beauty! What’s that, and how did it begin?
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:) Thanks! Got the (1960's Decca short scale) mahogany ply body and neck (eBay), cut the pg (as original), added the twin lipstick pu's & electronics/60's vintage rocker switches, tuners and a bridge and refinished it. (bridge cover and Teisco knobs are 60's vintage also) The body was stripped when I got it and had some shaping going on. Came together as a sweet little player!
 
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