Finally got my old Aria back!
I bought this bass new in early 1994. It was my first reall bass (the first one was a really cheap Aria that was good for a begginer but was a really bad bass...) and my only one up to 2015.
This old Integra MIJ is the model used by Billy Gould to record Angel Dust, one of my favorite records by Faith No More. There weren't many basses of this model sold out of Japan, and people from the only company that imported these basses here in Portugal told me that I've probably got the only one that came here. At the time, I didn't knew any of this but I liked the bass, wanted a 5 strg and I bought it (more accurately, my parents bought it for me).
I've always loved this bass, but felt that it lacked some punch and definition. When I bought my BB424x, I stopped playing it for a while and when I picked it again, I felt like it really needed something more and I didn't want to sell it because I'm quite attatched to this bass (blasphemy for a TB'er, I know...).
So I did some research and eventually decided to change the electronics of the bass. I choose the Delano SBC pickups and got a Sadowsky pre with Vtc.
A friend of mine is used to making mods and setups so I gave him the bass to do the service. This was in May 2016. He's a working musician, has a day job and a family, so I didn't bother that much about the time it took him to do the service because I have other basses to play.
This weekend, he finnished the job and yesterday I went to pick up the bass.
The moment I got it in my hands it felt so confortable. It's a lighter bass and very ergonomic. The neck is awesome. It's wider than an Ibanez but it's thin and it's quite confortable to play. The fingerboard is ebony with real abalone marker dots. The bridge and the tunners are Gotoh and the bridge is one of the most adjustable ones that I've seen. You can change everything.
Then I plugged it and played and it was WOW! Now this bass has the sound that fits it. It has the punch and clarity that I was looking after. The definition of the notes is awesome and the low B sounds really tight. We've placed two switches for each pickup to change series/single coil/paralel.
Man, I fell in love with this bass again. Now it will be played as it deserves.
EDIT: I forgot to mention that I've put some D'Addario NYXL strings and I've really liked how they sounded and felt.
I bought this bass new in early 1994. It was my first reall bass (the first one was a really cheap Aria that was good for a begginer but was a really bad bass...) and my only one up to 2015.
This old Integra MIJ is the model used by Billy Gould to record Angel Dust, one of my favorite records by Faith No More. There weren't many basses of this model sold out of Japan, and people from the only company that imported these basses here in Portugal told me that I've probably got the only one that came here. At the time, I didn't knew any of this but I liked the bass, wanted a 5 strg and I bought it (more accurately, my parents bought it for me).
I've always loved this bass, but felt that it lacked some punch and definition. When I bought my BB424x, I stopped playing it for a while and when I picked it again, I felt like it really needed something more and I didn't want to sell it because I'm quite attatched to this bass (blasphemy for a TB'er, I know...).
So I did some research and eventually decided to change the electronics of the bass. I choose the Delano SBC pickups and got a Sadowsky pre with Vtc.
A friend of mine is used to making mods and setups so I gave him the bass to do the service. This was in May 2016. He's a working musician, has a day job and a family, so I didn't bother that much about the time it took him to do the service because I have other basses to play.
This weekend, he finnished the job and yesterday I went to pick up the bass.
The moment I got it in my hands it felt so confortable. It's a lighter bass and very ergonomic. The neck is awesome. It's wider than an Ibanez but it's thin and it's quite confortable to play. The fingerboard is ebony with real abalone marker dots. The bridge and the tunners are Gotoh and the bridge is one of the most adjustable ones that I've seen. You can change everything.
Then I plugged it and played and it was WOW! Now this bass has the sound that fits it. It has the punch and clarity that I was looking after. The definition of the notes is awesome and the low B sounds really tight. We've placed two switches for each pickup to change series/single coil/paralel.
Man, I fell in love with this bass again. Now it will be played as it deserves.
EDIT: I forgot to mention that I've put some D'Addario NYXL strings and I've really liked how they sounded and felt.
Last edited:
