Making changes to my 75 Fender P

[bikeplate]

Fret job. Nothing else

 

[Chickenwheels]

My ‘75 has the original pickup, but with a cream DiMarzio cover put on it. This was so I could grind the top screw tab lower to make a better thumb rest out of the top pickup cover.
With your bass, I’d put the ‘74 pickup in, and if it’s sounds cool, leave it as is.
The original bridges work perfectly unless you are a maniac.
I don’t rate aftermarket bits and bobs. Each to their own.

 

[Wiremessiah]

change or color the pickup covers, the white is hideous IMO

 

[Marc61]

And draw all over that one. Leave the 74 alone. But alas, it's your bass, so I guess you'll do what you want.

The refin on this one is horrible but, I like it in a relic’d kind of way. That’s the reason I’m allowing the artwork. I’ll post when it’s done. You’ll see. It’ll be cool

 

[brett adams]

do it all.

 

[Callused Finger]

I’d get a refret when it needed it and leave it alone.

If you want to do all that you’d be better off building a Frankenbass.

 

[sikamikanico]

Fret leveling + try swapping the pickups. Compare to the MIJ, see what work better. Done.

OK, OK, refin if you insist

 

[craigie]

Keep the bridge. Keep tye pickup until it’s set up with the strings you want and play it awhile. Then swap the pickups with the 74 you already have and see if it’s better. Costs you nothing.

I’d clean off the monkey jissolm around the controls....

 

[JimmyM]

Having owned a couple 70's P basses, I'd take the Lollar any day over those pickups. And I'd keep the bridge stock. Never saw the point in Badass bridges. To me they just add weight and do nothing for tone.

 

[REMBO]

whatever you do, don't route the body for an extra pickup....
i'd keep the sack bridge and, go with whatever pickups give you the best tone...
i'm a bit worried about the drawing.... but, since it's a refin, i guess do what you'd like...

 

[keith1r]

If it sounds good, keep the pickup and bridge. Change the pickguard to a black one

 

[Laurent]

Let your ears guide this process. You have to test the different options to determine what sounds the best.
It depends on your taste and on the instrument itself, the way a bass reacts to different pickups can be unpredictable but there are definitely some pickups that sound better on a given bass. The bridge will give you more sustain but often diminishes the specific character of a bass. The bass sounds like the high mass bridge more than the tone of the instrument. In other words it can diminish the singular voice of an instrument and make it sound more blend. Sometime a good thing sometimes a bad thing depending on the situation. Fender bent bridge make the instrument sing more to my ears.

 

[cnltb]

I'd leave it alone if you don't even know why exactly you want to change things beyond teh typical 'what if'.

 

[MynameisMe]

Add a flux capacitor! Then you can go back in time to get original parts!

 

[GravyGoodness]

In regards to the bridge - let's be honest. Does it noticebly change the tone? If you can truly hear the difference then you have not listened to as many racecars and loud music as I have.

All that being said, I love the BAII for functionality and looks. It's my fave, and was the main reason I bought my HWY 1 JBass - regardless of that being a silly reason or not.

At the end of the day it's what you want. It's a player and not a time machine. There's nobody else to please other than yourself. If you want that bridge then plunk it on there. You can always remove it easily and swap back.

 

[lug]

I actually noticed a sound difference when I added a BAII to my Pbass. I have 4 BA's on various basses and it's the only one that had that effect.

 

[GravyGoodness]

I actually noticed a sound difference when I added a BAII to my Pbass. I have 4 BA's on various basses and it's the only one that had that effect.

I wish my ears were adept at hearing differences like that (honest -not a smart-a$$ statement)
I suppose I haven't done a subjective A/B of them both with all other things being equal, but I've never heard the difference.

 

[lug]

I wish my ears were adept at hearing differences like that (honest -not a smart-a$$ statement)
I suppose I haven't done a subjective A/B of them both with all other things being equal, but I've never heard the difference.

The thing was, I wasn't expecting a difference. Just noticed it in the band mix. My Pbass is a weirdo anyway, one of the lightest I've ever picked up.

 

[NathOBX]

Change the bridge and pickup if you want, get the frets done, but for Pete's sake don't paint it!

 

[MattZilla]

Change the bridge and pickup if you want, get the frets done, but for Pete's sake don't paint it!

it's already been poorly painted. Semi-crucial point that was for some reason omitted from the op.

I still think that building one around a modern neck would be more enjoyable.