When is your bass "good enough"?

[Ric5]

When is your bass "good enough"?

When it is a frankensteined 5 string active Fenderbird

 

[Sam Dingle]

Yes my bass is good enough.

 

[gsquare]

Define "enough"

I'm sure someone else probably said this already, but it's when it does everything that I want it to. Since that will never happen I have a bunch of basses that I am super happy with that all do slightly, or for that matter, drastically different things!

 

[metron]

When I dont think about them. I have two mia fenders that just work. Never thought about mods.

 

[TB24]

When I dont think about them. I have two mia fenders that just work. Never thought about mods.

Same. I try to get them as close as I want from day one. I own one Fender Deluxe Jazz, One Elite PJ, One Select P. No sound I cant between those 3. Don't really see myself needing a new bass of any kind for several years. Guitars on the other hand... I am always looking to tweak lol.

 

[Joybass]

I hate a thread like this. Gives me instant mod gas. Damn.

 

[Honch]

Having been a gearhead in a past life, I will say that wear, not just metrics vs. SAE, will often cause a need to use the next +/- of the other type to be sure you don't strip something. Having both sets of hex Allen's and nut drivers is not a big cost, for the size range we are talking, and will always make life easier. IMVHO. A player's touch you might say...

Edit: At the same time, Time is Money!

But the actual wear and strip out is due to mixing metric and sae!

On headless basses, or basses in general it's no problem, but on guitars with locking trem systems, and locking nuts, where you have to carry 2-3 different hex allen keys with you it's a drag. And you loose them like picks, and tries to find something that - by eye - seems to fit. Then you notice it doesn't, and carries on with it anyway.

 

[chris_b]

The only bass I modded ended up sounding better but worse off by loosing half of its original value.

I only buy basses that sound like I want these days. If I want to get the tools out I work on the house instead.

 

[Joybass]

The only bass I modded ended up sounding better but worse off by loosing half of its original value.

I only buy basses that sound like I want these days. If I want to get the tools out I work on the house instead.

Sounds like you got your ass kicked by the Mrs.

 

[theduke1]

Just a follow up on my earlier post.
My current basses (IMVHO) are the best I have ever owned. I played many years with good bases that were not G&L, but did the job and I made good money using them. But as a player who has evolved on style, technic are learning the art of playing with my bandmates my needs or wants have also changed to where I am with my gear at this point in life.
So they are not good enough the are the best for me. I never tried to sound like anyone else I always try to do my part to be the best we can be.
I hope you enjoy the pictures
Rock on my friends
Duke

 

[LanEvo]

When it's set up properly and fitted with the right strings, I'm happy.

 

[CryingBass]

But the actual wear and strip out is due to mixing metric and sae!

On headless basses, or basses in general it's no problem, but on guitars with locking trem systems, and locking nuts, where you have to carry 2-3 different hex allen keys with you it's a drag. And you loose them like picks, and tries to find something that - by eye - seems to fit. Then you notice it doesn't, and carries on with it anyway.

Sorry - I was thinking more of a home/shop setting. In a gig setting, that's a royal pain.
But even aside from wear, and sometimes because of shoddy manufacturing, a metric
wrench works better on an SAE hardware bit and visa-versa. The tighter the better!
No doubt, if you are lead into using the wrong sized tool, that's a bad setup! ( and a bad pun )

 

[Honch]

The one mod I always wants to tinker with WAS the neck dive. Today I am looking for basses that has no neck dive from the start on. Which limits my choices. They may have "good enough" neck dive, for it to be of no concern. I can tell you I have yet to play a Warwick that I wanted to even tinker with.

 

[Sav'nBass]

Hello TB,
A question regarding modifications. Most of us enjoy making our basses our own, whether it's a neck swap or preamp install. Some of us only want one or two things done, some go the whole nine yards and completely renovate their instrument.
What does it take for you to be happy with your bass? Is it tone, playability or aesthetics? Share and explain your bass mods here.

Of course playability but in my opinion playability also encompasses tone and aesthetics.. For me .. a pointy, heavy bass no matter how playable it was action etc. wise.. is not very playable.. I prefer my basses under 10lbs.. I prefer more traditional shapes.. For me the whole mod thing is about the sound.. I have discovered that what I like best is just a simple B/T/variable M kind of thing.. I don't like pups that are too bright.. and I am not a fan of single coil pups.. I have also found that string spacing from 17.5mm on the tight side to 19mm on the wide side is the range that I prefer and I also have come to the conclusion that 24 frets while nice.. are not a must have for me.. Most of my basses fall somewhere in that range of preferences ..

I have two Peavey Cirruses.. a 5 and a 6 both with Millenium Pres installed.. They came that way and they need no modification.. I know that to some the Milli is a mod.. but from my perspective since the Milli pre is a Peavey product so .. it's a mod .. but it's not a mod..

I also have a 55-01 that came with Bart 5s and a LH3 pre .. I sold the LH3 and put an Audere PZ4 in it.. I like the PZ4 but given my amps.. if I had that mod to do all over again I would just put a PZ3 with sweepable mids ..

I also have a Kingston Heir that was stock but I put Delano pups in it and a Delano Sonar 3 pre in it.. I set up the MM pup so it can be switched from single coil F/R to double coil like the 55-02.

Last but not least I have a Brubaker Brute JJX that I bought modded. It does not have the traditional JJX J pups in it though. It has Bart Quad soaps on it.. and a Bart NTMB pre ... The original seller said that the routing for the larger soapbar pups and the installation oif the mod was done by Brubaker.

Each of those basses have their own unique flavor .. and although I have considered selling a few of them.. I would be hard pressed to pick which one I would let go because I like them all.. My other two basses are un modded 4s.. an ABG and a Jazz. The 5s get most of my attention and I am playing the 6 more. Still have not played it out yet though.. I think that if I get better at it and am able to work it in better I would be more inclined to let one of my 5s go.. but that has not happened yet.

When it doesn't hold me back. Personally, practicing more is better than any mod I can do.
Also, given my age and some chronic health issues, I've decided to play pretty much stock instruments from here on out. That way if I pass suddenly, my wife won't have to get into painful detail about what's been done to any of my instruments. They're also easier to value in stock condition.

I wrote up a spec sheet for all my gear with a potential sale price range .. just in case.

When it can walk to the refrigerator and beer me without being asked.

All my basses except for the Peaveys and the Fender are imports... and I think the electronics in them now sound better than the original ones.. but if I bought a more expensive bass i would probably buy it how I wanted it.

 

[ToneMonkey]

I wrote up a spec sheet for all my gear with a potential sale price range .. just in case.

I still don't want her having to explain what an Audere pre is, or the difference between a stock and vintage Fender bridge with threaded steel saddles.

Mercifully, my EB MM Stingray is dead stock and easy to value.

 

[Sav'nBass]

Just a follow up on my earlier post.
My current basses (IMVHO) are the best I have ever owned. I played many years with good bases that were not G&L, but did the job and I made good money using them. But as a player who has evolved on style, technic are learning the art of playing with my bandmates my needs or wants have also changed to where I am with my gear at this point in life.
So they are not good enough the are the best for me. I never tried to sound like anyone else I always try to do my part to be the best we can be.
I hope you enjoy the pictures
Rock on my friends
Duke
View attachment 901296 View attachment 901298

I have been curious about these basses fr some time now..

 

[RedVee]

It's not my basses that are not good enough.

But I'll keep trying.

 

[twinjet]

I have been curious about these basses fr some time now..

They're incredible. If you like Fender, G&L kicks it up several notches. There's a reason for this quote...

G&L Guitars and Basses are the best instruments I have ever made.

Okay, he didn't type it out. But anyone who owns a G&L presently will tell you they're incredible.

 

[drumsnbass]

All my basses are better than my personal abilities. I don't 'mod' any of them. If I want a different one or feel, I just try another and cycle thru them until I find ones I like and want to keep.

My current love(s) are Kubicki ex Factors, and Pedulla MVP5/Pentabuzz basses. I've really loved the latter for some time now, and think I will feel the same about the former as well for a long time to come.

 

[ToneMonkey]

They're incredible. If you like Fender, G&L kicks it up several notches. There's a reason for this quote...



Okay, he didn't type it out. But anyone who owns a G&L presently will tell you they're incredible.

Well, I'll take the counterpoint. Leo Fender was not a musician. In fact his instincts were often at odds with musicians he trusted in his inner circle. I recall a story of a guitarist trying out a Fender amp (it may have been Dick Dale), Leo walks over while the guy is playing and tweaks the controls to his liking. The guitarist promptly walked over and returned them to his favorite settings.

As a guitarist, I've owned (and tried to like) two different G&L guitars. I found the MFD pickups absolutely appallingly unmusical. Very mid-heavy, no sparkle or chime to speak of, but also very quiet (which probably pleased Leo). Part of the problem no doubt was the boat anchor bridge that G&L uses on all (or nearly all) their instruments. Yes, I'm sure it did add sustain, but almost certainly at the cost of harmonic complexity. That's always the trade off with adding mass to an instrument.

I've played a few G&L basses over the years. Very very well made instruments. But for whatever reason, they didn't float my boat. What do I play now? An EB MM Stingray. So I clearly do relate to and like the post-Fender Leo DNA. I also love (and have played) Fender J basses for years. I find almost nothing in common between a Fender J bass and any G&L bass I've ever played. Again, not saying the G&L is a bad instrument. If you like them, great. But I personally don't see G&L as the natural successor to Fender P and J basses. G&Ls, at least the ones I've tried, have very much their own thing going. Same with MusicMan instruments. If you didn't know Leo was involved with all three companies, you'd be hard pressed to make a connection.