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What’s your #1 mod regret?
- Thread starter ReillyProductions
- Start date
I put Quarter Pounders in my MIM Jazz. The tone became too greasy. Sorry, couldn't resist. It really just didn't need them. It doesn't sound bad, just different in a way that didn't really matter. Anyway, it's done and that's that. I did swap out the Quarter Pounder that came in my P bass for a Fender Original pickup, and I'm not sure if I regret that or not. That bass has a Greasebucket circuit in it and it's really obvious, now. So, now I have to take the GB out and put in a regular orange drop cap and see if that makes it sound like P bass is supposed to.
I didn't do this "update", but it's still worth sharing...
A guy came to me a few years back to see if I could fix his girlfriend's Vox bass. He confessed that he had tried to make it more appealing for her by relic'ing it. Evidently, he'd read that if you bury the metal parts in garden soil and the plastic parts in coffee grounds for a week or so, they'll come out looking older. He soaked it in a bathtub half filled with coffee, potting soil, and water.
Seriously!!
Vox basses were never the strongest made instruments to start with. After he was done her bass was completely and utterly ruined. When he opened the case the bass looked like it had been raised from the bottom of a septic tank.
I have a handful of pics somewhere on my laptop. I'll dig around to see if I can post them.
A guy came to me a few years back to see if I could fix his girlfriend's Vox bass. He confessed that he had tried to make it more appealing for her by relic'ing it. Evidently, he'd read that if you bury the metal parts in garden soil and the plastic parts in coffee grounds for a week or so, they'll come out looking older. He soaked it in a bathtub half filled with coffee, potting soil, and water.
Seriously!!
Vox basses were never the strongest made instruments to start with. After he was done her bass was completely and utterly ruined. When he opened the case the bass looked like it had been raised from the bottom of a septic tank.
I have a handful of pics somewhere on my laptop. I'll dig around to see if I can post them.
I wish this still had the original pick up or at least the original pocket for one. But I was young and didn't know, Bill Lawrence was the hot ticket at the time.
Oh...too many to list
But the first I remember ...A schaller bridge replacing the original on my 76 Jazz
Eventually years later returned the original and it sounded better
But the first I remember ...A schaller bridge replacing the original on my 76 Jazz
Eventually years later returned the original and it sounded better
Fender Elite Jazz. Never had active electronics before, and wasn’t fond of them. When the cheap input jack (weak point of this Bass) went, I ripped out the active electronics and went passive. My crappy solder job (I’m blind in one eye, and bad sight in the other) made for a not so nice sounding Bass. Put active system back in and in the process wrecked one pickup. Put in Seymour Duncan Apollo’s and now it is one awesome sounding Bass. Just an expensive process to get there
Replacing the rosewood saddle bridge on a Danelectro longhorn for an adjustable one and replacing the stock strap buttons with shallers without relocating them. The worst part is after paying a guy to do that I sold the bass for the same price I bought it + the mods.
A REAL contender is something I did myself with a hammer drill and an electric screwdriver. I cant get the screw out.
Here's the original bridge
Essentially I tried replacing the original bridge on an old Goya bass with a hipshot, but it turns out the holes of the original were not the same measurements as a standard fender so I moved the hipshot back away from the nut, but my measurements were crummy so I drilled the new holes lopsided and not deep enough. So I ended up with a crooked bridge and hipshot screws that dont go all the way in in the middle 3 holes
A REAL contender is something I did myself with a hammer drill and an electric screwdriver. I cant get the screw out.
Here's the original bridge
Essentially I tried replacing the original bridge on an old Goya bass with a hipshot, but it turns out the holes of the original were not the same measurements as a standard fender so I moved the hipshot back away from the nut, but my measurements were crummy so I drilled the new holes lopsided and not deep enough. So I ended up with a crooked bridge and hipshot screws that dont go all the way in in the middle 3 holes
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If you have Vice Grips (or any locking pliers, really), you can probably use them to get that screw out.
Adjust the pliers to just a little smaller than the size of the head of the screw, clamp and lock the pliers in position on the head, and turn the screw out.
It'll damage the screw, but...
Adjust the pliers to just a little smaller than the size of the head of the screw, clamp and lock the pliers in position on the head, and turn the screw out.
It'll damage the screw, but...
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I've had this problem a few times due to the cheap metal used to make the screws.
To remove a stripped or broken screw CAREFULLY drill off the head. Once the head of the screw is out of the way and the bridge is removed there might be enough of the screw protruding to grab it with a pair of vice grips. If the screw is flush with the body then you'll have to be a little more intrusive. One way to remove a broken screw in wood is by fitting a sharpened tube to a drill. You use the tube to drill down and round the screw. Fill the resulting hole with a dowel of wood (in your case maple) and Titebond glue. Thankfully, the hole you need to fill will be under the bridge.
Also, I'd run a pilot hole through the maple insert to ensure you don't run into this issue again.
I found a video that better depicts the process I shared.
Hope this helps.
I've had this problem a few times due to the cheap metal used to make the screws.
To remove a stripped or broken screw CAREFULLY drill off the head. Once the head of the screw is out of the way and the bridge is removed there might be enough of the screw protruding to grab it with a pair of vice grips. If the screw is flush with the body then you'll have to be a little more intrusive. One way to remove a broken screw in wood is by fitting a sharpened tube to a drill. You use the tube to drill down and round the screw. Fill the resulting hole with a dowel of wood (in your case maple) and Titebond glue. Thankfully, the hole you need to fill will be under the bridge.
Also, I'd run a pilot hole through the maple insert to ensure you don't run into this issue again.
I found a video that better depicts the process I shared.
Hope this helps.
Funny enough a couple of minutes from posting this, I actually got it off! All thanks to these puppies
30$ very well spent! Now I just gotta not repeat that same costly mistake to make sure this doesnt happen again
The two times I’ve tried to do a refinish, both came out horrible. First one I tried sanding, and it was ugly and uneven. Second I tried the heat gun and scraper and that also came out horrible. Lesson learned: if I’m going to refinish, just paint over the original finish. If it isn’t a factory translucent finish, don’t try to make it one.
The picture says it all...
I love the bass but now I wish I could have time shifted from 1972 to today to buy a Squier P and took it back with me and done this on a Squier instead of a 1962 P bass
I love the bass but now I wish I could have time shifted from 1972 to today to buy a Squier P and took it back with me and done this on a Squier instead of a 1962 P bass
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Early 1980’s and Stingrays were all the rage for slapping. I had a guy install a 2 band active preamp in my 1981 G&L L1000. I never really got into the slap thing though. Years later I paid to have it restored back to its original passive state. Only scar is the empty battery compartment in the back. Installed flats and using it for jazz sessions now.
One of my mod regrets is not having done it sooner than I did.
D
Had a '77 Greco P bass, natural, maple neck. Loved that thing!
I thought it would have been cool adding a bridge mute like on those Hurley sig models.
I live in Germany - the mute was made for inch-sized drills which I don't own. I just approximated and installed the mute. It didn't work. Dunno if it was about further setting it up or anything but I was very disappointed. So disappointed that I sold the bass shortly afterwards. This is the part of the story I regret the most.
I thought it would have been cool adding a bridge mute like on those Hurley sig models.
I live in Germany - the mute was made for inch-sized drills which I don't own. I just approximated and installed the mute. It didn't work. Dunno if it was about further setting it up or anything but I was very disappointed. So disappointed that I sold the bass shortly afterwards. This is the part of the story I regret the most.
I don't really have any when it comes to bass, but I'm still fairly new at this, so plenty of damage may occur at some point. Nothing I've done so far is irreversible.
What I do regret is modding almost every guitar I've ever owned. It's not the mods so much as the "quantity" of mods. I simply took it much too far.
Nothing I've done so far is irreversible. What I do regret is modding almost every guitar I've ever owned. It's not the mods so much as the "quantity" of mods. I simply took it much too far.
I'm doing my first refinish. Not professionally, just as a sanity project. While I'm enjoying the process, I'm in the clearcoat (non catalyzed) & polish sand part.
My only regret is really the timing. I'm on the coast and in winter the humidity rarely goes below 80%. This has brought the process to slow crawl.
I stand by my mods....
My only regret is really the timing. I'm on the coast and in winter the humidity rarely goes below 80%. This has brought the process to slow crawl.
I stand by my mods....
