Let's See Your Hot-Rodded Cheapo Basses!

[Ghook]

Fun crenelated fret markers. Did you add those, or did it come to you like that?

I added them.. 9.95...speed knobs 7.95 (4) Bridge and P/U cover via China 10. The strings 38. I don't count them as a mod since I have Tapes on my other 2 basses ( Yam RBX 170 and Hofner Travel) and frankly will immediately install them on any new or used bass I get in the future

 

[-Stingray]

This is a Squire VM Jazz. Look at the wood on this beauty. Somebody at the factory saw this wood and took pains to put it together like this. I bought it for $200 from a guitar player GASing for a new guitar. Since I bought it, I've put in Seymour Duncan Antiquity II pickups and a StewMac Golden Age wiring harness. Total on the mods was about $300. So, for $500 I have one awesome bass.
View attachment 3339939

drooldrooldrool

 

[EatS1stBassist]

Well not sure If Hot Rod would be accurate but this is my eBay $55 bass with minor cosmetic changes and some LaBella Tapewounds. It's the pickup that's not horizontal not the cover....hey $55 ...what can you expect?

View attachment 3340003

WOW! I love it!

 

[UNCKLE-TICKLE]

So, this isn't anything special to look at but the time, work and money put into it was totally worth it! This thing sounds incredible and is probably in my top three favorite basses I have ever played/owned.
This P-Bass started out life as a 2000-2001 Indonesian Squire P-Bass. I paid $80.00 for it with a gig bag, cord, strap and some other stuff. This particular year(s) seemed to have a few build/quality issues from what I’ve gathered but I was able to get all of those problems worked out.
I sanded off the Squire P-Bass headstock logo and replaced it with a classic Fender Precision Bass water-slide decal, replaced the stock pickups with Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounders with new wiring, Pots, etc., lined the body cavity with copper tape, replaced the stock tuners with black Hipshot tuners with a drop-D, swapped out the existing bridge with a black brass bridge, replaced the white pick guard with a black one and made a custom maple thumb rail and stained it black.

Hope you like it!

 

[Volker Kirstein]

This is Jenny. She's the first bass I bought after arriving in Germany. I got her as a birthday present to myself in 2017.

She's a Harley Benton PB Shorty. The earlier versions didn't have a pickguard.

I replaced the bridge with a Fender Himass, and the chrome tuners with black no-names. These will be upgraded to Gotoh or Schaller sometime in the future. The PU is great as it is, but I did replace the wiring harness with heavier pots, they were loose turning, and I didn't like the taper.

And, of course, knobs that go to 11.

Höfner short scale roundwounds.

She now purrs like a P should, and is my usual playing bass.

 

[SBassman]

Nice. Hot rodded cheapos for the win.

 

[Loki182]

 

[SBassman]

View attachment 3451785

Nice. Love the block inlay and love the pickguard. What's the story on that one?

 

[Ric5]

Rickenfaker parts bass

 

[Ric5]

Mouradian 5 parts bass

 

[gregmon79]

All my basses except the ATK are modded. Actually, I’ve replaced the barrel jack in that now that I think about it. Other than and some minor repairs and upkeep, it’s stock.

But the rest are modded to kingdom come!

My first bass ever, the Squier P in natural. It’s a ’98 I believe. It was black. I stripped and refinished the body. The neck is from another Squier Mustang bass that I’ve added a D tuner too. tuners are a mish mosh from over time, pickguard is from another bass I think. I honestly can’t remember. All the hardware like the knobs and strap buttoms (strap locks now) have been changed out. The bridge is either a BAII or Omega bridge. Pups are EMG PAX’s. It’s strug with flats atm. Nothing on this bass is original except the body. Which again, was refinished.

The Jazz on the right end is the newest to the bunch. It’s a CIJ Fender Geddy sig. I haven’t modded this one much myself. But I am refinishing the fretboard atm. The original finish was peeling off so I’m recoating it now with poly. There was an aftermarket pg put on it as well as Dimarzio Model J’s. I LOVE this bass. I am really happy I got it and I look forward to many years of playing with this one. It looks, sounds and plays awesomely! I may swap the neck out for an aluminum one day but we’ll see.

The other back one is a Squier PJ that have the EMG GZR’s in it. This one has a Mighty Mite neck on it that used to be on the natural P bass. I still need to finish the neck on this one. It has a BAII or an Omega bridge on it. I can’t remember atm. Tuners are also mismatched from other basses. I also once had a bridge on there that was a string through and modded it as such ferals and all but have since gone to the BAII bridge on it.

Then the natural J is a VMJ. Neck is off another Squier bass that I just replaced the truss rod nut on. This one has some sort of plug-n-play electronics setup in it. It’s got a push pull to make it run series or parallel too. And the pups are a gift from a buddy. Not sure what they were. Nordy’s maybe. I tried to make the original neck on this one fretless. And I did. But it didn’t play all that great in the end. I may revisit that again soon. Not my fav one, should’ve just left it stock. Live n learn I guess.

I love modding my basses. The ATK just didn’t need it IMO. It’s prefect the way it is. And most the others were good as is too. But I just love modding things. It’s a lot of fun for me. I even recently stripped the rat fur off of and refinished that SWR cab too. It came out great!! Love the way it looks.

 

[Loki182]

View attachment 3451785

the neck started from a squire VM 70s jazz. It is a great neck and has been moved around from various experiments, including multiple p bodies and a warmoth explorer body. (purchased the full bass for $230)
i did lightly sand only the front/back of the headstock to remove the logos and put a light misting of polycoat, whatever i did made the wood pop darker and looks cool in contrast to the rest of the lighter neck

the body started life as a squire Classic Vibe 60s bass body that i picked up for about $80 that has also been through multiple iterations of j pickups. its mostly routed around the bridge position and slightly forward

the pickup is from an old musicman SUB bass ($20)

likely the most expensive part is the John East UK 2-band MM preamp ($125 i think)

the dr black beauties take the zip out of the tone so i'll be swapping those with some high-beams

generic "high-mass-bridge" ($12)

uncut pearloid pickguard ($25)

has a cool 50s sci-fi girl with ray-gun neck plate (Neck Plate for Fender Guitar Color Graphic PJ Bass Strat Tele Ray Gun Girl | eBay)

sour apple green spray paint

my name is Bob so i have have started putting a bob-omb sticker on things

I love the feel of jazz basses, but the tone of my old stingray was great...this is a bit of a hybrid of the two thanks for looking!

 

[Riff Ranger]

View attachment 3451825



All my basses except the ATK are modded. Actually, I’ve replaced the barrel jack in that now that I think about it. Other than and some minor repairs and upkeep, it’s stock.

But the rest are modded to kingdom come!

My first bass ever, the Squier P in natural. It’s a ’98 I believe. It was black. I stripped and refinished the body. The neck is from another Squier Mustang bass that I’ve added a D tuner too. tuners are a mish mosh from over time, pickguard is from another bass I think. I honestly can’t remember. All the hardware like the knobs and strap buttoms (strap locks now) have been changed out. The bridge is either a BAII or Omega bridge. Pups are EMG PAX’s. It’s strug with flats atm. Nothing on this bass is original except the body. Which again, was refinished.

The Jazz on the right end is the newest to the bunch. It’s a CIJ Fender Geddy sig. I haven’t modded this one much myself. But I am refinishing the fretboard atm. The original finish was peeling off so I’m recoating it now with poly. There was an aftermarket pg put on it as well as Dimarzio Model J’s. I LOVE this bass. I am really happy I got it and I look forward to many years of playing with this one. It looks, sounds and plays awesomely! I may swap the neck out for an aluminum one day but we’ll see.

The other back one is a Squier PJ that have the EMG GZR’s in it. This one has a Mighty Mite neck on it that used to be on the natural P bass. I still need to finish the neck on this one. It has a BAII or an Omega bridge on it. I can’t remember atm. Tuners are also mismatched from other basses. I also once had a bridge on there that was a string through and modded it as such ferals and all but have since gone to the BAII bridge on it.

Then the natural J is a VMJ. Neck is off another Squier bass that I just replaced the truss rod nut on. This one has some sort of plug-n-play electronics setup in it. It’s got a push pull to make it run series or parallel too. And the pups are a gift from a buddy. Not sure what they were. Nordy’s maybe. I tried to make the original neck on this one fretless. And I did. But it didn’t play all that great in the end. I may revisit that again soon. Not my fav one, should’ve just left it stock. Live n learn I guess.

I love modding my basses. The ATK just didn’t need it IMO. It’s prefect the way it is. And most the others were good as is too. But I just love modding things. It’s a lot of fun for me. I even recently stripped the rat fur off of and refinished that SWR cab too. It came out great!! Love the way it looks.

You and I have much in common: modded cheapos, stock black ATKs (what’s up with those jacks, though? Mine both give me trouble), old Peavey stuff

 

[gregmon79]

You and I have much in common: modded cheapos, stock black ATKs (what’s up with those Jack’s, though? Mine both give me trouble), old Peavey stuff

Right?!?! Haha fun stuff man. I can spend days on mods. In fact, I do! Haha


The stock input jack on my ATK always gave me issues ever since the day I bought it. I finally took it in to a local tech years ago and had it replaced. Even after getting it replaced with a new jack, it still gave me issues. Not bad enough to where it was terrible. Just annoying every now and then. But I used it for years and it got to the point where the jack was just worn and didn’t hold ¼ plugs very well. In all that time I got some confidence and learned a lot. So I bit the bullet. I removed the old jack, drilled a 1 inch hole out of the jack hole and installed a nice, locking jack. In hindsight, I wish I would’ve just stuck with that style of jack as the locking jack, just non locking. Not a huge fan of the locking one today. But it works a hell of a lot better than the old jack and it functions better too. So I’m happy overall.


I did buy a 1 inch doll rod and another Ibanez barrel jack just in case one day I want to install that back to the way it was originally.

 

[kodiakblair]

The PU is great as it is, but I did replace the wiring harness with heavier pots

Nice to see someone else who uses PCB terminal block on their pots No idea why more folks don't,makes life so much easier.

I've long had a hankering for a pine body P-bass. With the Squier CV gone reckoned I'd just build one. £40 for pine blank (southern yellow pine). Shown here in negative

Pocket cut,pickup routed and bridge holes drilled. Neck is from a Harley Benton PB-50, £20 off ebay and 15 minutes to reshape headstock.

Fancied a blue finish. The monster control cavity had a few reasons. 1: have a Noll P-bass preamp so need battery space. 2: Varitone pots are on the cards at a later date. 3: Sure made for drilling pickup wires and bridge ground easier

Final assembly 3pm New Year's Day. Wilkinson tuners,£20. Bloodstone 51 pickup £35. 2 saddle bridge £15 inc delivery from Arkansas Musicworks. TI jazz flats from my string cupboard.

Few months later I finally admitted it was too dark,out came the sandpaper.

 

[EatS1stBassist]

I apologize if a thread like this already exists, but I couldn't find one, so here we go (again?).

I know I'm not the only one who has tweaked a budget bass and liked the results and yes, I want to show mine off, but I also want to see who else has fine-tuned their frugal finds into favorite instruments.

Suggested parameters for posting:

• instrument was inexpensive by your own standards at the time of purchase; suggested figure: originally cost <500 USD in today's market, or equivalent at time of purchase (I'm aware that "cheap" comes at different prices for different people—"cheap" for me is more like <300—but <500 seems like "budget bass" for most of us right now as far as I can tell)
• list modifications, including cost of each if applicable
• explain why you made your modifications
• share "before" pictures as well as "after"

I'll start in the next comment unless somebody beats me to it. I hope this is inspiring as well as fun.

Here’s my latest! $70

Nice to see someone else who uses PCB terminal block on their pots No idea why more folks don't,makes life so much easier.

I've long had a hankering for a pine body P-bass. With the Squier CV gone reckoned I'd just build one. £40 for pine blank (southern yellow pine). Shown here in negative

Pocket cut,pickup routed and bridge holes drilled. Neck is from a Harley Benton PB-50, £20 off ebay and 15 minutes to reshape headstock.

Fancied a blue finish. The monster control cavity had a few reasons. 1: have a Noll P-bass preamp so need battery space. 2: Varitone pots are on the cards at a later date. 3: Sure made for drilling pickup wires and bridge ground easier

Final assembly 3pm New Year's Day. Wilkinson tuners,£20. Bloodstone 51 pickup £35. 2 saddle bridge £15 inc delivery from Arkansas Musicworks. TI jazz flats from my string cupboard.

Few months later I finally admitted it was too dark,out came the sandpaper.

View attachment 3452415

very cool!

 

[EatS1stBassist]

Cleaning up the neck pocket. Polished frets and smoothed the ends then intonate.

 

[Mustang Surly]

SX shorty P & J upgraded with DiMarzio DP-123 and DP-127 pups:


Bases bought used so pups (bought new) cost more than basses.

 

[RobOnBass]

Bronco, has a great neck with the P width nut I prefer, just didn’t like the noisy pickup or look of the pick guard.

So bought a fender noiseless tele neck pickup and cut my own pick guard from a mint green pearl sheet (what a hassle). Also made a control plate out of aluminium as I like being able to access pots and jack without de-stringing and removing whole guard. Bit of a rough job, but I gig with this when I don’t want to risk my mustang for some reason (weather, venue etc).

 

[Riff Ranger]

Nice to see someone else who uses PCB terminal block on their pots No idea why more folks don't,makes life so much easier.

I've long had a hankering for a pine body P-bass. With the Squier CV gone reckoned I'd just build one. £40 for pine blank (southern yellow pine). Shown here in negative

Pocket cut,pickup routed and bridge holes drilled. Neck is from a Harley Benton PB-50, £20 off ebay and 15 minutes to reshape headstock.

Fancied a blue finish. The monster control cavity had a few reasons. 1: have a Noll P-bass preamp so need battery space. 2: Varitone pots are on the cards at a later date. 3: Sure made for drilling pickup wires and bridge ground easier

Final assembly 3pm New Year's Day. Wilkinson tuners,£20. Bloodstone 51 pickup £35. 2 saddle bridge £15 inc delivery from Arkansas Musicworks. TI jazz flats from my string cupboard.

Few months later I finally admitted it was too dark,out came the sandpaper.

View attachment 3452415

Fun! A buddy of mine did a pine slab body ‘51-ish kind of thing, but went with a Thunderbird pickup. “Dark and throaty!” says he.