Upgrading Cheap Bass into Something Lovely

[Stevorebob]

ok so ive been playing bass for about 4/5 months now and am thinking of getting a second bass.

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this one to be precise! /\/\/\

now i know it will be a bit meh but playable so here is my plan!
- im going to swap out the stock pickups for either some seymour duncan SPB-1's or the steve harris signatures (massive maiden fan btw!!)
- add teh shiny pickup and bridge covers for the '60s retro style
- maybe some new tuners (hipshot xtender?)

and in the end of this little project i should have experience with the internals of a bass and also a lovely vintage style "'63 p bass" without having to shell out $$$!

any tips or ideas that i should incorperate?

(ive included the picture of the bass i want to replicate)

Sounds like a fun project. And if that's your motivator, go for it.

Now, if it were me, I’d save to get the best bass I could from the start. Good wood and good workmanship first. And if you’re looking for a good sounding, good playing bass, that's my recommendation to you. Not an ultra-cheap instrument into which you'll sink some serious cash. I’m not sure the LA Bass bass is worthy of the cost of even a string upgrade. The woods and workmanship don’t look to be much in the way of quality here. (Note how the distance of the E-string to the neck edge increases as you look down the neck, and how the distance of the G-string to the neck edge decreases. That’s not a good sign.)

 

[el_Bajo_Verde]

I'd say to wait and see how it plays before you mod anything. I grabbed an $89 Affinity P-bass that honestly had no problems that I could find. I swapped the pickups for Seymour Duncan SPB-3 and threw some flats on it, it was good to go!

 

[bassliner50]

A good setup and great pickups and good strings will improve any entry level bass into a worthy instrument.

 

[Growlmonkee]

@5544 in 40 years of doing my own repairs, and repairs and upgrades for others, sure I've seen bad, or broken wiring, and I've changed more bad CTS pots than any other brand, however, if it isn't broken, (probably is fine when brand new), there is nothing to be gained by changing wiring, pots, or caps, for the sake of changing wiring, pots, or caps, when they work fine. Are CTS, or Bourns pots, and "orange drop" caps better than no-name pots or caps?, most likely they are not better, none of those items is exceptional, or "the best you can get", they are run of the mill, average electronic parts, not a big upgrade.

 

[Eilif]

ok so ive been playing bass for about 4/5 months now and am thinking of getting a second bass...

...now i know it will be a bit meh but playable so here is my plan!
- im going to swap out the stock pickups for either some seymour duncan SPB-1's or the steve harris signatures (massive maiden fan btw!!)
- add teh shiny pickup and bridge covers for the '60s retro style
- maybe some new tuners (hipshot xtender?)

and in the end of this little project i should have experience with the internals of a bass and also a lovely vintage style "'63 p bass" without having to shell out $$$!

any tips or ideas that i should incorperate?

There are good cheapies and crap cheapies and the bass you build will likely never better than certain traits of the original instrument. I would always advise that if you buy a bass with the intent to mod, either buy something you can hold in your hand first or buy from a reputable line, preferrably with a good return policy.

I am doubtfull that an 80 quid bass is going to be a good basis for modding if you expect to get a good result. Consider perhaps looking around for a used Harley Benton or any cheapie that you can at least hold in your hand before buying. Also, a used bass will give you a chance to see if over-time the neck has twisted. You may be able to find something for the same price that is higher quality. I'm not sure what's available over there, but on this side of the pond there are loads of good basses that can be had used cheaply that are of proven quality and great modding platforms.

If you do decide to buy this LA bass, make sure that it is at least very solid and fits you comfortably before modding. You can change pups and such, but you're going to be stuck with the body and neck. If something about it's constuction or feel is off, don't optimistically think that modding will make it better. Send it back and get something else.

All this to say, would you rather spend a few hundred putting top-quality parts on an 80 pound bass and end up with crap or spend an extra hundred up front and end up with something much better in the long run?

 

[M.R. Ogle]

Growlmonkee is pretty much spot on.

I replace electronic components only when there's a reliability question, or if I want to experiment with different pot/cap values. If they're working, they're fine.

 

[Wfrance3]

I only read page one of this thread, but agree with most of it, and probably the remaining pages will be variations on a theme. Just in case no one else chimes in with the 2nd hand idea, you might find more bang for your buck second hand. I mod the snot out of pretty much anything I buy and in most cases just end up with the wood the bass was made from at the end of the day. So, that being said, if you know you are going to dump your pickups, pots, etc. you might find good value by getting something pre-owned. In fact, if you can find one that has questionable, maybe even shorting out electronics, you should be able to make a point of that and use it to negotiate a better price.

Good luck on your future project bass!!

 

[aah_scary]

That neck looks really wide, with an original Peavey headstock on top. And another shout-out to paulowina wood.

Given the location of the seller, I'm wondering whether OP may not be European as well. If so, some of the alternatives so casually tossed around here may not be so available to him. And what is the cost of an American P in pounds sterling?

Brit here. Basses are lot more expensive here and there's not much of a used market here. An American Standard P normally runs you about £1200-1300 ($1500 - $1650), with the MIM ones at about £600 ($750).

 

[Rabidhamster]

@gebass6
Maybe the OP would prefer not to shell out $2250 after 5 months playing. I got 36 years under my belt and I wouldn't spend that

Good, that would be silly since you can get a real fender p under $500 any day of the week

 

[kodiakblair]

Good, that would be silly since you can get a real fender p under $500 any day of the week

Not in the UK you can't That's where myself and the OP live.

 

[Rabidhamster]

Not in the UK you can't That's where myself and the OP live.

Cheese and rice! A used Mexican or Japanese p bass is more than 1k there????

I'm planning my vacation accordingly!

 

[Mvilmany]

Check Craigslist for a good used Squier. Bring a more experienced friend with you to make sure that there aren't any issues with it. (Make sure that the truss rod can turn!!!)

Get it set up professionally. A well set up instrument of decent quality is better than a poorly set up high quality instrument. (If you want to learn to do it yourself, there's videos on youtube, but pay attention to ALL the details)

Putting a great pickup in a decent instrument will get you a great sounding instrument. Change the wiring as well.
I'd say don't bother with the tuners, as long as they stay in tune.

 

[dave64o]

OP, I'm one of those wackos who made EXTENSIVE mods to a cheapo bass (an SX SJB-62 5 string fretless, including replacing the fretless neck with a fretted), costing me considerably more in parts than the original bass cost me.

Like you mentioned, I did it in large part as a learning experience. I also did it because if I were to have to buy packing material and pay for shipping to sell it, I'd net next to nothing. So I figured, WTH, make it a project bass. Yes, it was cool to pick out all the parts myself. Yes, I did learn some things about basses, about how the parts work together, about how electronics interact, etc. Yes, the finished product looks, and especially, sounds fantastic. Yes, it significantly improved the bass. And, yes, I really am happy with the finished product.

That being said, there were also negatives. First, I spent a few times the cost of the original bass on parts and the labor (I had a talented luthier who does all my work make all the mods) to put it all together. And keep in mind that many of the parts were bought used here on TB to keep the cost down, so it could have been a lot more expensive than it was! Second, this is still technically an SX bass so I'll NEVER be able to sell it for a price that will make it worth while. For better or worse, I'm stuck with it unless I want to part it out, which has its own drawbacks (lots of parts to sell individually that will nickle-and-dime me to death with shipping costs). Finally, I get some well-deserved ridicule here on TB for spending that kind of money on my project whenever I post my story.

If I did the work myself, I'd say it would have been a much more worthwhile project overall than it turned out to be for me. I would have learned a lot more useful info that way than I did by having a luthier do the work. Also, it would have been WAY more cost effective to sell the original bass as as-is, accept next to nothing as a net price after factoring in packing/shipping, and take the money I spent on parts to buy a good value used bass from the TB For Sale forum. I honestly do love the bass, but my personal opinion for myself is that I'd rather not do this again, and that's the last and most important thing I learned from this project.

That being said, your bass is your bass and your money is your money so the decision is entirely yours about what to do. If you do buy it and mod it, you of course have to post the before and after. Tb rules 'n all.

 

[Eilif]

Brit here. Basses are lot more expensive here and there's not much of a used market here. .

I can't speak to local sales exactly where you are, but there are alot of Squire and basses that have sold (I checked completed listings) for 100-200 quid or less at the uk ebay site. And I'm seeing plenty of yamaha, Ibanez (even TMB's currently listed new for under 200 shipped!) and others at the similar prices. Quite a few Harley Bentons at 100 or less.
I'd much sooner spend my one of those than an unknown LA bass.

If you're going to dump 300 quid in upgrades into an instrument then it's worth it to spend and extra 100 up front for something that isn't likely to be an unpolishable turd.

 

[aah_scary]

I can't speak to local sales exactly where you are, but there are alot of Squire and basses that have sold (I checked completed listings) for 100-200 quid or less at the uk ebay site. And I'm seeing plenty of yamaha, Ibanez (even TMB's currently listed new for under 200 shipped!) and others at the similar prices. Quite a few Harley Bentons at 100 or less.
I'd much sooner spend my one of those than an unknown LA bass.

If you're going to dump 300 quid in upgrades into an instrument then it's worth it to spend and extra 100 up front for something that isn't likely to be an unpolishable turd.

I've not had too much experience with eBay (other than picking up an SR305 for £180), but when I look, they mostly seem to be companies selling new basses. There's the occasional 'deal' on Gumtree, so you can save a few quid. But compared to countries like the US, there's not so much of a used market to choose from. (Pawn shops there seem to be good.)

But I agree, definitely worth getting a better bass to start with. Squier VM would be my go-to, or the Harley Bentons for something really cheap but useable.