What's the best modification you've made?

[Pbassmanca]

Currently playing a German Warwick $$ Corvette. BL said flats. I finally found a set (5-string) and put them on. Been playing them for about 6 months. They fit our music so I'm OK with that. Here in Nashville you do what the BL wants. Someday . . . . going back to stainless steel rounds.

BL's are over rated. #Stringselfdetermination

 

[ScrewDevil]

I'm not a very experienced mod guy but I took the crap stock pickups out of my Jazz clone and put in-line humbuckers in it and it made a world of difference.

 

[Tobiasfin]

Best thing I have done for tone: I took an Aguilar OBP-3 out of a bass and put it into a stompbox. 1 preamp, now works with all my basses. Killer.
Ah, like this:
I don't think this counts because I changed so much, but I replaced the stock body on a poopy-sounding sterling SUB with one I made from alder and threw in a PU from a MM Stingray, wired passive. New tuners and bridge, but the neck was nice, so that stayed. lol. Hella hours later, it's now my favorite bass, by far.

I have done a lot of mods on basses before, favorites are cloth-covered pick-guards, Quarter pounder pups on an SX bass, among others. This 1990 Squire has the original pup in the middle position, the SX pup on the bridge position, a tone and volume by-pass switch and a "bridge p/u only" switch. Also, added a string bar to my VMP5. IMHO, it improves sustain

 

[Vinnie Boombatz]

Actually practicing.

 

[TuneSalad666]

Swapped the stock pickups in a budget bass of mine with a pair of P/J EMG Geezer Butler pickups.

So much more clarity and definition gained, as well as some output and just overall better tone.

 

[onamission]

Since you can't find Leo Quans anymore I just put a Hip Shot High Mass on my spare Squier P Bass. The bass is a real player but needed a little kick. This bridge made it a lot more brighter and much more adjustable. Available on Amazon as a "Hipshot KickAss High-mass Bass Bridge for 5-bolt Fender".

 

[ZaxZumu]

I took a squier jaguar bass (the one with stacked '60 jazz bass knobs and pearl block inlays) and had a custom pickguard added to it for looks, but also to allow for me to have a seymour duncan sjb-1 and reversed spb-1 in. The reversed p makes it easier to record because I had issues keeping all the tones even across strings. If I boosted the low end to balance the d and g strings, my e and a strings would have way too much bass tone, and the opposite would happen if I then added more high end to balance the e and a strings. This way, they all get affected equally.

 

[chadds]

Excluding strings, what's the best modification you've made to a bass guitar that resulted in an improvement to the sound?

Practicing

 

[Bard2dbone]

View attachment 2949560

Okay. Trying again. If this posts the pic I wanted it to, it is remeniscent of a Frankenbass that a friend had in the 80's. Except his had two P pickups in opposing mounting, so basically the four coils formed a 'V'.

It sounded awesome.

 

[andruca]

I've just modded this Ray35, my most "invasive" mod ever (besides a DIY kit I built a couple years ago and have been modding). First messed with the wiring so I could single out each coil (don't care for the modern "filtered series" setting). Then added a pickup and the consequent extra switching options. Can get a P-ish tone now, some "spectorish" J tones and can single out coils in the humbucker. All in all versatile, even tho' it wasn't my top priority.

 

[Dreamsinger]

Replacing the outdated preamp in my '03 Carvin LB75 fretless with a Delano made a HUGE difference. My Warmoth P5 doesn't need mods because I built it with all the features that the Fender custom shop wouldn't do. Graphite reinforcing rods, Hipshot Ultralight tuners, Bill Lawrence 456 pu, massive Kahler fixed bridge, back routed with a double battery box *just in case* I got a wild hare to add a preamp. Basswood body, lightweight and tasty sounding.

 

[chadds]

Recent change. MIJ ‘51 RI. I had an internal string unwind from the extreme two bends the strings take.

I didn’t have that problem with all manufacturers but definitely with the ones I wanted to use.

So found a Fender exact replacement bridge that has four bridge sections is three hole mounting and has holes for body or bridge through string routing.

Same bent metal as original. Not a heavy mass change up. Looks stock except for 4 saddles.

 

[TH63]

BL's are over rated. #Stringselfdetermination

Tort pickguard. Improves sustain, mids. Lows, highs. Clarity and ghost notes.

 

[Pandastylebass]

Modding my Rickenbacker:
Pickups: Bartolini
Pickguard / Pickup / truss rod cover: black
Bridge: Hipshot

 

[Lowbrow]

Equipping my Precision with an EMG GZR pickup and DR Sunbeam strings.

 

[LoveThatBass]

Tort pickguard. Improves sustain, mids. Lows, highs. Clarity and ghost notes.

Lol; I did that too. Maybe it will do for me as well

 

[chaak]

replaced stock AFR-P and AFR-J in an Ibanez SR 1000 with EMG PJ set.

Replaced mint green pickguard on Fender AVRI '63 precision with reliced Tortoise Shell

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

White pickguard, not as much sustain or punch as tort but not bad..

 

[gmarcus]

View attachment 2899808 Flush mount strap locks on the back. One on the lower horn and one about an inch above the low b string through hole and an inch towards the head stock. This allows me to use a Slinger Strap so all of the weight is on my hips and I have absolutely no neck dive. The bass just sits there. This is the only reason I can still play with a messed up left shoulder

I got a question to elaborate on this here is my reply:

This is the strap
Guitar Straps | Bass Straps | Slinger Hip Strap
See that little tab strap? Fold that up so that it is between the belt and your belly. Mount the strap lock so that it points out from your body so the weight of the bass is supported by the belt. This tips the bass neck up. Mount the strap lock on the longer tab as per the instructions.

These are the strap locks
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000EEHFJG/ref=twister_B00IPHITHG?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

You have to drill a pretty big hole in your bass so make sure you have a sharp new bit. I cracked the finish in one of my bases, but it is on the back so its not too bad.

Here is a video showing how to install the strap locks

Very IMPORTANT!!! do not put them where he shows in the video this is for another product. Mount them as I described in my original post (I added some better descriptions)

"Flush mount strap locks on the back. One on the back of the lower horn (near the tip...leave about 1/2 inch distance from the tip and center it so there is enough wood all around it) and one about an inch above the low b string through hole and an inch towards the head stock."

One thing to note is that the bass will lean away from you a bit so it feels like you are playing from behind the bass. This took a little getting used to but is totally natural for me now.

 

[LoveThatBass]

The best modification has been putting Audere 4 band preamps and 60's voiced pickups in all of my gigging jazz basses. I also routed out my standard jazz and had wdmusic.com cut me a custom pickguard to drop a set of Aguilar PJ's in it.View attachment 2899088

Very nice trio of basses!