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Mexican P is magical...

#41
Claymore said:
Oh, great... another guy singing the praises of his Mexican-made fender and making unsubstantiated claims about how it sounds as good, if not better than an American Fender. I'm not doing that. If fact, I can't remember ever playing an American P-bass so I have no basis for judgement. (although I do own an American Jazz) What I AM saying is that I avoided getting a P-bass entirely for the better part of my playing life cuz it's the obvious, pedestrian choice... EVERYBODY seems to have a Precision and that in itself kept me from buying one cuz I am a stubborn rebellious man. But after having played one in GC for the first time in maybe 20 years, I thought to myself maybe this Leo Fender character was onto something... just maybe. I know this will elicit a chorus of "Yeah, no duh" but I love this bass. That didn't stop me from ordering a different pickguard before I even had the instrument in my sweaty hands, ripping the strings off it the very first day to make way for the LaBella flatwounds, dressing the fret ends (which weren't too shabby to begin with), rolling the fretboard edges and ordering an EMG Geezer pickup. I may or may not do a parallel/series switch. I guess the point of this post is to acknowledge that no matter how much I love an instrument, I can't help messing with it... I have an illness. How many of you out there also suffer from upgrade-itis? For those of you that are compulsive tweakers, has there ever been an instrument you owned so perfect that you didn't dare alter it? This question is not directed at "Just buy an instrument that has the features that you want"-type people. It's more for the modders.
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I most certainly have the itis!! I guess it's just my way of "making it mine". Or something like that. I have almost always bought Squiers for the expressed purpose of modding the hell out of it and making it my own beast. I can't normally afford an MIA Fender, so there's that too. But I have 5 Squier's, 2 P's, 2 PJ's and a VMJ. And they're all modded to hell with just about everything you can do to them. I also have a CIJ Geddy sig Jazz I love a ton. that one was modified but before I bought it. I pretty much kept it the way it was when I bought it as it had a number of mods done that just works.

I mean, I even swap knobs out on pedals most the time. It's like I have to do something to the gear I own. Not always...but a lot of the time. So I know how you feel @Claymore
 
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#42
Claymore said:
I'm going to do some math on that to see what the difference in price is doing it that way... That's very interesting and I hadn't thought of it. I convince myself at the point of purchase that I'm not going to mod it and then my hands start shaking and I slowly reach for my soldering iron.
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When I built the white one necks were $199 and the bodies were $169. Then sometime last year Fender increased the bodies to $249 and necks at $249. The blocked and bound neck is $299.

So I have about $750 in the sunburst one and about $600 in the white one. If one were to by a new Player series and upgrade the pups, tuners and bridge you'd easily surpass the $750!
 
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#43
micguy said:
I build my own basses, and design pro audio gear for a living, so....kind of the ultimate DIY'er - I've never built a bass that didn't get at least some changes done after the initial build. Most of my re-builds are re-wires (changing the circuitry - see my avatar for some idea of what's up there). I judge the success of an iteration not by it never being further modded, but by how long it holds up before it gets modded.

Of course, sometimes there are issues that require physical modification:

View attachment 3688486
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Those holes actually look quite nice! Are they just rounded over with a router?
 
#44
Claymore said:
I guess the point of this post is to acknowledge that no matter how much I love an instrument, I can't help messing with it... I have an illness. How many of you out there also suffer from upgrade-itis? For those of you that are compulsive tweakers, has there ever been an instrument you owned so perfect that you didn't dare alter it? This question is not directed at "Just buy an instrument that has the features that you want"-type people. It's more for the modders.
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:laugh: i suppose you could call it an illness --- i guess it would depend.

i mod the 'looks' for the kid-stuff thrill of it --- the fun part. but i mod (and assemble) on the important parts to suit playability for me: if the ax doesn't end up being a "#1 in terms of feel, a "dream bass," a "main," then why have it? i've had customs and boutiques and the only thing i learned from the experiences is this = you cannot expect someone else to understand what you think/feel you need in the way you need it. so, for me, it's some times fun, always a learning experience, but mostly rewarding --- they are a pleasure to play. not everyone has the time or interest. yet. :laugh:
 
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#45
tzohn said:
1)Pickguard
2)Pots & jack
3)Pup
4)Fully shielded
5)Brass saddles

View attachment 3688625
View attachment 3688627
View attachment 3688628
View attachment 3688629
View attachment 3688630
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Quick question... What is that in between the two pots? (I have a feeling this is going to be really obvious but I can't figure it out)
9D17F41C-AD6D-4159-86BE-B0B080BC441B.jpeg
 
#50
Claymore said:
I guess the point of this post is to acknowledge that no matter how much I love an instrument, I can't help messing with it... I have an illness. How many of you out there also suffer from upgrade-itis? For those of you that are compulsive tweakers, has there ever been an instrument you owned so perfect that you didn't dare alter it?
Click to expand...

Yup, both my Fender P basses are modded. I just recently bought a Player P (MIM) with full intention on putting in hardware and pickup like my old Highway One P has (also modded).

So the mods I did:
- mint green pickguard (ok, pickguard swaps I don't consider as mods)
- 70s Fender bridge
- EMG GZR pickup
- Hipshot HB7 lollipop tuners

So now both of my P basses have the same pup and hardware. I basically wanted to have one with flats and one with rounds.

As for "perfect" instrument that I wouldn't alter? I actually have 2 of those now too - Stingray 2 band and Stingray 3 band. I've modded Stingrays in the past with different pickups and preamps, but the two rays I own today have the OG pickups/preamps. I simply prefer the original after trying out several combinations.

Not that I HAVE to mod a Fender, and I've had stock Fenders too, but I really dig EMG GZR, and MIM hardware left a bit to be desired. I probably wouldn't mod Classic 50s P basses, Road Worn P basses, USA Standard or American Original, but, yeah. I also loved the stock pickups and hardware on my Flea Jazz, but Js aren't really for me in the long run. EMG GZR is pretty much my go to P bass pup now. Also, modding is fun. Very fun.
 
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#52
mouthmw said:
Yup, both my Fender P basses are modded. I just recently bought a Player P (MIM) with full intention on putting in hardware and pickup like my old Highway One P has (also modded).

So the mods I did:
- mint green pickguard (ok, pickguard swaps I don't consider as mods)
- 70s Fender bridge
- EMG GZR pickup
- Hipshot HB7 lollipop tuners

So now both of my P basses have the same pup and hardware. I basically wanted to have one with flats and one with rounds.

As for "perfect" instrument that I wouldn't alter? I actually have 2 of those now too - Stingray 2 band and Stingray 3 band. I've modded Stingrays in the past with different pickups and preamps, but the two rays I own today have the OG pickups/preamps. I simply prefer the original after trying out several combinations.

Not that I HAVE to mod a Fender, and I've had stock Fenders too, but I really dig EMG GZR, and MIM hardware left a bit to be desired. I probably wouldn't mod Classic 50s P basses, Road Worn P basses, USA Standard or American Original, but, yeah. I also loved the stock pickups and hardware on my Flea Jazz, but Js aren't really for me in the long run. EMG GZR is pretty much my go to P bass pup now. Also, modding is fun. Very fun.
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Nice. I don't think I will be modding either my SB-2 or TRBX604. I can't think of any way to improve either instrument other than cleaning up the frets on the Yamaha. Had very pointy ends when it arrived.
 
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#53
I can relate to your disdain for P basses because they’re just too pedestrian. I never wanted one but decided after 40+ years to get one to see what all the fuss was about. In my case though, the P I bought is D Lakin with a 1.5” neck that came with Geezer pu already installed. I put LaBella flats on it and it is just superb!!! The neck and frets were already better than any bass I’ve ever had.
The only issue for me is how much that Geezer pu makes me love the tone of this thing. Beefy and articulate with great dynamics. But would the stock pickups have provided the same P bass revelation for me? I may never know.
I don’t enjoy the modification route because I’ve had frustrating results in the past changing pickups. But this Geezer pickup makes me wonder what a set of Fralins or 62 Fenders would sound in my stock Lakin J bass. Not that it sounds bad, but man that Geezer is just amazing.
 
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