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Who Believes In Leaving Basses Alone?

#101
JimmyM said:
so you're the one! ;) i love marcus...fantastic player and one of the nicest and most helpful guys you'll find. but warm and non-brittle?
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Yeah, funny... I don't even think his sound is particularly bright compared to most players. He has a lot of top end, but his sound to me is very low-mid focused, although in a different way than the usual "growl" kind of low mids. After seeing him live, the overall impression I had of his sound was one of thick, solid low end (with sprinkles on top), even while he was slappity-slappin away.

What can I say? I is difrunt. :hmm:
 
#102
If it doesn't have the right sound, then it's the wrong instrument. I see no point in buying something just to pump a few hundred more into "upgrading" it, when I could have just spent that on a *better* bass.

I only have one bass that has a replaced pickup, but that was because it came to me with a non-original "upgrade" pickup already in it, and I disliked it.
 
#104
What about letting people decide for themselves?
I haven't changed anything besides strings and straplocks (for safety), but I have to change the tuners on my Kasuga Rick-copy because they are ALL worn out. Stuck is what they are!

But if some wants to put active pups in their P-bass or an EB-2 pup in their Rick, why would any else than that person have to take an interest in that?
As long as the bass is not going anywhere it is no one elses business!
Just my 2 cents on the matter.
 
#110
Who Believes In Leaving Basses Alone?


Not me!

I prefer Frankensteined basses!

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#111
Ric5 said:
Who Believes In Leaving Basses Alone?


Not me!

I prefer Frankensteined basses!

b%20129.jpg
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What the hell we got going on here?
Why does it have a Martian antenna ?


I'd like to upgrade and tinker with my basses, even build a frakenmoth but I can;t even make myself spend the money, heck I have a hardtime justifying new strings in my head.
 
#112
Caca de Kick said:
If it doesn't have the right sound, then it's the wrong instrument. I see no point in buying something just to pump a few hundred more into "upgrading" it, when I could have just spent that on a *better* bass.

I only have one bass that has a replaced pickup, but that was because it came to me with a non-original "upgrade" pickup already in it, and I disliked it.
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Stock isn't for everybody. What's wrong with taking the elements of different basses that you like and combining them?
 
#114
billiam5billion said:
I really, truly enjoy the act of tinkering with my bass in my little workshop. I like replacing stuff, even if there's not much of a change in tone, just because I dig the act of it. How else was I gonna learn how to solder, set up intonation, use a dremel, or cut a pickguard to fit? That's stuff I really enjoy, and don't get to do much since I quit being a mechanic.

I think that for someone to criticise modding as being "unnecessary" while owning a dozen basses is being just a tad hypocritical.

Also, if I never modded anything, I wouldn't have these boxes of parts laying around, waiting to be turned into new projects.
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I guess I'm a tinkerer as well. I tinker with my house, my truck, my computer...and some of my basses. It's not always rational, but it's my stuff and it's fun. All of my basses are strap-lok'd.

Ric 4001 - Hipshot bridge and Schaller/Ric keywinds (Ric bridges suck and so did the original Kluson tuners).
Fender 70's Classic Jazz - BadAss II bridge (don't like bent metal and had it in my junk drawer).
Peavey T-40 - Totally stock.
Lakland Duck Dunn - Black pickguard (looks waaay better with CAR than white).
Fender MiM Precision - Gotoh 201 bridge, B/R/B pickguard, and fretless neck (bent metal...again, love the look of all black/maple, and I wanted a fretless P).
Fender MiM Jazz V - Audere JZ3 preamp and white pearl pickguard (B was a little weak-sounding and midnight wine/white pearl look great together).
Squier P-Bass - Added J pickup and 3-way Tele switch. Bought this bass as a modding guinea pig.

Bottom line is that I like all of them better with the mods...none of which (except the $80 Squier) can't be returned to stock, anytime. Aside from the neck, I probably haven't spent $300 total, anyway.
 
#117
There's no hard-and-fast rule that can be applied here, of course. To each his own, and I love some of the mods TBers do. I haven't modded any of my basses, but that's only partly based on my beliefs--the rest is lack of mechanical skills and laziness.:p

That said, a cruise through the TB Classifieds on any given day shows that a lot of folks make mods that they very likely won't get much (if any) money back for--because they fooled themselves into thinking they'd keep the bass forever.:hmm:
 
#118
For the players, basses are tools. If the tool doesn't do the job, either change it or get a new tool. I've made one change on my Rick 4002: replace one volume knob with a push-pull so I can have the inline capacitor in or out at will. This one little change has greatly expanded the tonal palatte of the instrument, and can be switched back to "stock" fairly easily.

OTOH, to see what everthing really does, and minimize the "what if" guess, about 17 years ago I bought a Squier II with the single purpose of having an experiment instrument that I could try out to see what everything did as it caught my interest. I finally carved so much out of the body trying different things that it had to go away, but not before I learned as much as I could. Now, if something sounds deficient on a bass, I can usually tell if it's something worth "fixing" or "upgrading," and if so to what.

What gets me are players who do something radical thinking it will change the fundamental character of an instrument. It won't. No matter how many Rick pickups I put on a P-bass, it will always sound like a P-bass, just with a little bit different edge, depending on what i do to it. And on my 4002, no matter if I use flats, the mid pickup only, and crank the 1.5 kHz slider on my amp, it won't sound like a P-bass, but like a fat Rick with the leading edge and growl the maple gives it.
 
#119
M.R. Ogle said:
Sorry, not me.

That's half the fun, getting inside them and trying out different strings, pickups, bridges, pots/caps, and stuff on my basses. It's a part of the hobby I really enjoy.

I learned a helluva lot doing this, and it made me a better judge of instruments and gave me a deeper understanding and appreciation for them.
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That sounds like me, sometime I learn something from modding, like leaving well enough alone :D
 
#120
When I have a problem with my gear I try to fix it. If I am not successful, I will take it to a tech. If I don't get the sound I want, either I get new gear or mod if possible. I like to have the choices.

Is adjusting the truss rod an intonation "not leaving it alone"? I would not stop there.
 

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