Modding a cheap bass

[NotHereNow]

So I recently picked up a squier sonic p-bass. After an initial setup I’m very happy with the way it plays. I bought on sale over the Labor Day holiday, so needless to say not a lot invested to date other than a new set of strings.

Being the type of person that really enjoys customizing my instruments, I immediately started thinking about all the possible upgrades I could make. One of the first things that popped into my mind was adding a Hipshot drop tuner. I also considered buying a MIM p bass neck since the sonic series basses feature a j neck.

What I found was really interesting. The single Hipshot tuning key was $70+ and the replacement p neck was $399. I didn’t even consider replacing the pickup because pickup prices are so crazy (and I actually like the stock pickup).

How is it possible fender can assemble and ship an entire bass for less than the cost of common replacement parts? Not to pick on Hipshot, but 4 tuners and a bridge sell for more than the cost of dozens of basses currently on the market. Why does fender sell MIM necks for $399 and somehow won’t sell squier Chinese or Indonesia necks at a lower price point like they do for their instruments? Does anyone know of a budget drop tuner I can try? Please leave your favorite budget p bass mod suggestions.

Rock on!

 

[Neon Blues]

You can make some really cheap metal these days. I bought a bass while back with black lollipop Hipshots. It was $350AUD for a single detuner in black lollipop.

I have seen bridges for sale for $30 AUD.

Best and cheapest way to make a cheap P sound amazing is a set of EMGs I find and a new bridge.

 

[Killing Floor]

Pics or it's a Strat

 

[factory presets]

Probably the answer is economy of scale. Fender knows they can sell many times more Squier P basses than replacement necks. So it makes sense to take a lower mark up, secure in the knowledge they can still make a worthwhile profit on the line as a whole. Another reason would be that, while they are happy for you to buy a cheap bass from their subsidiary, rather than buying cheap from the competition, they got no incentive to offer you a budget path to their premium instruments.

Also, and I don't mean this as a criticism, your post is worded in a way that suggests you want to mod you bass for mod's sake, rather than having specific goals in mind. That comes with the price it comes with. If you need lower notes you can learn to play everything in drop D tuning free of charge.

Likewise, I find a little shed time will get me comfortable with most necks that don't have major issues.

 

[NotHereNow]

You bought a cheap bass and want to mod it with cheap parts?

It’s not so much about the parts being cheap, it’s more about having options that correspond to the price point. I don’t understand how fender can assemble a bass and make (I assume) a profit, but no one else in the market has access to the same parts?

I mean I get that fender buys a million necks so they can get them cheaper than I can, but the fact that they aren’t widely available is interesting to me.

 

[gregmon79]

Probably the answer is economy of scale. Fender knows they can sell many times more Squier P basses than replacement necks. So it makes sense to take a lower mark up, secure in the knowledge they can still make a worthwhile profit on the line as a whole. Another reason would be that, while they are happy for you to buy a cheap bass from their subsidiary, rather than buying cheap from the competition, they got no incentive to offer you a budget path to their premium instruments.

Also, and I don't mean this as a criticism, your post is worded in a way that suggests you want to mod you bass for mod's sake, rather than having specific goals in mind. That comes with the price it comes with. If you need lower notes you can learn to play everything in drop D tuning free of charge.

Likewise, I find a little shed time will get me comfortable with most necks that don't have major issues.

This is exactly why. Because fender has the resources and infrastructure in place to make the amount of instruments they make at the cost they want and sell them for what they do. Markets and products and material costs change over time so that’s a lot of it too. It’s amazing to me that you can get a squier sonic P for $300 and from I hear, it’s pretty amazing. You can still spend four times that and get a certified banger made out of different materials and fully finished and smooth and ready to rock. Results still may vary slightly, but overall, IME you get a hell of a lot more bang for your buck with the mid to lower tier stuff.

Any bass I’ve paid $500 or less for, I got what I paid for for the most part and I’ve always modded them in some way. I’m like you @NotHereNow i love to mod my instruments. And I don’t normally have the amount of money American made instruments cost at any one time. So I’ve spent a few hundred here, a couple hundred there and modded them over time. It’s worked well for me for the most part.

Im actually planning on grabbing a Hipshot high mass bridge soon to put on one of my squier P’s I’ve had for years. Heavily modded already. I just like doing this stuff. I’ll say this, instruments sure aren’t like cars. They’re all quite different. I’ve picked up some MIA fenders that didn’t play or sound nearly as good as my modded squiers. But they were usually off of a GC wall. One of the best sounding and feeling basses I’ve ever played was like a ‘63 (something early 60’s) fender J bass in Chicago music exchange. I didn’t buy into the whole hubbub of vintage instruments until that moment. It was truly magical.

 

[/\/\3phist0]

It’s not so much about the parts being cheap, it’s more about having options that correspond to the price point. I don’t understand how fender can assemble a bass and make (I assume) a profit, but no one else in the market has access to the same parts?

I mean I get that fender buys a million necks so they can get them cheaper than I can, but the fact that they aren’t widely available is interesting to me.

LOTS of cheap basses out there. Some good some hideous. CNC, buying clout, distribution network, market share.
Economy of scale. I just got a 129.00 Squier Debut and it’s very nice too!

 

[Leigh Semmens]

My Chinese clone MM is actually lighter than the equivalent genuine article. I fitted a belcat preamp because I was not satisfied with the sound I got from it. Only to find that the pickup selector switch was never wired in. I fixed that and it is close to the genuine article albeit a bit warmer in sound. I might actually wire in a passive/active switch at some stage, but for now.......

 

[SharpCat]

Fender replacement necks are generally MIM, so likely cost more than Indonesia or other Asian locales. I guarantee they don’t cost Fender anywhere close to $399 though. I’ve heard that retail goods are generally wholesaled to the store at about 50%. Since SW also sells the same Fender necks, that would imply the cost to manufacture is under $200. Probably much lower.

At this point, ask yourself if the name on the headstock is importantly to you. For me it sometimes is, actually. In those cases, I peruse the Stratosphere on the bay. Like new necks there, Squier runs about $200, MIM $300-350, MIA in the $500’s. Tuners add $40-ish.

OTOH, on one P I have a MightyMite neck that I got on sale for $120 and it’s great.

Also, Fender seems to have 25% off sales once in a while. Can also use the free Fender Play offer that you get with a new instrument, and that gets a 10% discount at the Fender website. (Don’t forget to cancel before getting charged. )

 

[Iristone]

Maybe Fender thinks no one wants to "upgrade" to Squier necks. The Chinese CV are great instruments, but I don't think their P necks are exactly 43 mm wide, either. In China there are "B-stock" for sale, but many of these are actually other brands and makes from the same OEM manufacturer.
Buying and modding an affordable bass can be a great way to get your ideal instrument at a low price - provided that you know exactly what you want, and the bass provides some of it in the beginning. Sometimes it's hard to resist the urge of just modding it for fun. In the end only you can decide if it's worthwhile.

 

[pie_man_25]

It's invariably more expensive to go the a la carte route.

I've been seeing folks do this with bases, guns, and bikes for a while now. If you want it how you want it and you're going aftermarket? You're going to pay aftermarket prices for the way that you want it. Fender has a complex system set up so they can make you a sonic p bass and get it shipped to the music store for $300 CAD and it's all worthwhile because they planned out the logistics and economies of scale. If you want it your way you're basically just using their plants and forgoing all of their logistics to make the cheap part happen and then getting some of their stuff, some of somebody else's stuff et cetera. The price you pay is for all the little parts to get built and shipped to some other plant that assembles it all, tests it, boxes it, ships it to wholesalers and distributers, and then retailers before it gets to you.

The most consistent ways I've seen to get ahead in terms of price are to have stashes of old parts from previous projects or people's trash; be willing to wait on the used market for stuff you want or be willing to compromise for good enough parts; or have industry connections in some way. That guy on YouTube that built his guitar with parts from xyzguitars? The parts were probably free to plug the website.

 

[MrClassicMetal]

Best and cheapest way to make a cheap P sound amazing is a set of EMGs I find and a new bridge.

This model in particular:

 

[BobKos]

You can buy a sub-$100 neck on eBay all day long. It won't say Fender or Squier on the headstock. It will need fretwork as do ALL Fender replacement necks (including my $600 MIA AO 60's neck) . "FENDER" does not make Squier instruments or parts. They are contract builds from Asian factories (Probably Cort?). Fender specs the instruments, has them made, sells thousands of them through their marketing system, profits from their legacy and marketing clout. They prob don't really have access to the parts any more than you or I. If you keep your eyes open in the TB classifieds, Warmoth and other quality necks show up at reasonable prices.

 

[Yahboy]

Actually the Sonic P are quite amazing due to it price tag. Way better than current day Indo CV line especially factory fret work !!!
Sure upgrade stock tuning machine are good start. Maybe also upgrade with better quality pot .

But i love the feel and the build for the stock neck after 2000 sand paper rub . She has 38mm nut width but similar to Mattfreeman neck thickness. One of the great part of this bass guitar.

The stock pup sound quite nice and with right amount of dynamic for low cost ceramic pickups, far better than Fender Mexi standard P ! If you love those Model P and SPB4 sound, this stock pickups is your thing . I have great result with EB Cobalt flatwound bass string 2814 , she sound sooooo massive and lot of Ommph as my Matt Freeman P + Model P with same flatwound !

Another great thing with Sonic P are light in weight, few piece i been setup weight within 3.4kg-3.7kg , plus no notable neck dive ! Weight varation are narrow than Indo CV line .

If you wanna swap with Fender P neck, i suggest you measure the neck pocket width before place order. I found Sonic P has at least +/-1mm gap if you install Fender neck. Hope i am wrong ......

Silver Anodized pickguard well match with California Blue P. She can look like " Mirror-less Steve Harris P ."

 

[Tommy Sparks]

OEM (original equipment manufacturer) parts are usually $$. I find that in most things.
They are moving much more fully assembled products than the parts themselves.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Modding a decent bass in good shape is fun, like a treasure hunt, but does nothing to increase the resale value of the bass, if that's a factor, or, in most cases, make a big differenxe in playability or tone. When I was a teenage bassist (1970's), the "cheap" basses were crap, just unplayable junk. Now you can get a really good, fully giggable bass for under $500, or even unde $300, thanks to CNC manufacturing. The "Hi-Mass" bridges a case in point. They look cool, and may have some slicker adjustment features, but you won't hear some miraculous tone improvement. The parts may be cheap individually, but the "shipping and handling" will add up. Got Prime? That just means you pre-paid S&H, there is no such thing as "free shipping". It's just factord into the price. For me, it's all about the neck. If you rally want a J style neck, splurge on that, but it will probably exceeed or equal the cost of what you paid for the enitire neck.

 

[H K]

Pics or it's a Strat

Bahahahaa!!!!!!

With the Harley Benton guitar amp package.

Can't believe that reference lives on XD

 

[Brian Patterson]

I recently dropped the Geezer solderless kit into my new $381 Yamaha BB234 along with a Hipshot KickAss bridge and a set of LaBella Deep Talkin' Bass Flatwounds.

I will be going further by creating individual Volume/Tone controls for each pickup with two EMG concentric pots - and one of the EMG Geezer pots - to create a VT/VT/Master V configuration to finish the journey into bass nirvana! This configuration has been suggested to EMG as a Geezer kit option...

Future mods include Hipshot USA UltraLite Tuners and a prettier pickguard...

 

[NotHereNow]

It’s amazing to me that you can get a squier sonic P for $300 and from I hear, it’s pretty amazing. .

$186 after taxes and free shipping direct from fender.

 

[H K]

Because good sir, the bass is not necessarily the price of its parts!
How TF does that make sense, you say?
Well let me draw a picture; You have a vintage rickenbacker with OHSC. If you sell the OHSC alone you will get 500$. In combination with the bass, the same case is worth 800$. So theres a difference right there; the price of the "bundle" being greater than the sum of it parts.
This goes both ways.
Some shops will run a sale/discount/whatnot on an item, and run it so low they're breaking even, or even losing money. This is to draw in customers, who are then upsold on all kinds of other stuff. So while theyre not making money directly on that item, the customers it draws in more than makes up for it.

This is kinda the same thing. I'm not saying they expect the squier sonic's to break, but they dont expect you to use em for a long time without upgrading either.

If they provided replacement parts for them, people might pick one up and stay with that one bass for longer than "intended". Fabricating spare parts also requires you to have the manufacturing capabilities to dedicate to it, increasing the overall price.
I dont remember the english name for it, but its like, planned obsoletion or whatever. It's the reason cellphones only last so long, lightbulbs break, etc. They want you to come back buying more.

TBH, it's kinda confusing in the market atm, because it seems like every guitar company is trying to shift their place in the hierarchy. Fender/squier moving into all kindsa new price ranges, basically trying to corner the whole market. Epiphone wanting to climb on the "price" ladder, projecting more exclusivity. A 2500$ Epiphone Tbird? No problem.
But they also make the 250$ version.
Do they have the tech to make the 250$ version awesome? Yes. Do they do it? No. Why? Because then they wont sell any of the 2500$ ones.

So, get em on the line with a cheap model + make em have to upgrade the whole thing later = moneys