Why do you mod your basses?

[Lesfunk]

For me, there are some things That I just prefer that doesn't come as an option on some basses.
Take my Sadowsky for example.
I'm a big fan (Zealot) of the Badass II bridge. I have been for 20 years.
I can't get one on a Sadowsky without doing it myself. Roger won't put one on.
So I put one on and it turned my Sadowsky into one of my favorite basses.

 

[GlennW]

How did the added j pup at the neck change the sound of the P-Bass?

That's a Danelectro RI lipstick tube pickup, not a JB pickup. I like it, it's good alone and blends well with the P pickup. It has a temporary surround in that picture because there was a Hagstrom by the neck at first which was a little wider, but it didn't sound as good as I'd hoped it would. I should have tried the Hag before cutting the pickguard.

 

[grifo]

It took me some months but in the end I got the bass that I wanted: Fender Geddy Lee Jazz body with Audere preamp and Fender American Precision RW neck. The bass sounds great and cuts through, plus the neck fits better my big hands

This bass is a keeper!!!

 

[Lowbrow]

The P-Bass is an Epi body, Ibby TR Series neck with reshaped headstock and fake Fender decal and stock tuners, Dano RI pickup,

Interesting stuff, Glenn; that lipstick in the EB-Mud position has got to sound GREAT!

Lowbrow

 

[lpdeluxe]

That has to be the most beautiful 335 type guitar I have EVER seen. That and your unlined fretless maple P show that you sir have impeccable taste.

Thank you! I ended up with the Sheraton by accident (you might say). I've been trading gear to downsize all my old Ampeg and Music Man and Carvin amps and this Epi showed up at the store the morning I hauled my gear over there to start bargaining. I've always liked the natural maple finish with the maple neck (most Gibsons are mahogany) so I jumped on it.

 

[malthumb]

Kinda both.

My first mod was to see if I could build a kick@$$ J-Bass for less than I paid for my Marcus Miller ($535 including straplocks). SUCCESS! Even sold the Marcus!

Then I wanted it to look a certain way (tort guard, blocks / binding). Bought another J-Bass just to get the blocked / bound neck.

My third mod project was to make the donor bass for the blocked / bound neck salable. SUCCESS!

Peace,

James

 

[Bardley]

I do love working on my basses as well as other people's basses. I just recently modded my Charvel PJ bass. It was my first bass and it hadn't been out of the house for a gig or rehearsal in probably ten years. I hated the cheap tuners and limited pups. I added hipshot ultralites with clover keys, Dimarzio Model P/J pups, shielded the cavity, and added new CTS pots and it sounds and plays great! It'll get playing time now. I'm thinking of changing the pots to push/pull 500k pots for a bit more highs and series/parallel switching. It'll really rock then.

 

[Ric5]

Just curious - Do you guys and gals modify your basses purely because you want something about it to be different, or is it that you enjoy the process of working on your bass?

I realize most, if not all of you, do it for a little of both reasons. Just pick whichever is your primary motivator when you do your modifications

I mod basses to meet my needs.

 

[ToneRanger]

I just love tinkering, but mostly I'm fixing problems. I had a '65 Rick that needed new bridge saddles, and a string keeper to stop strings flipping out of the nut, and the neck pickup moved so it actually lined up with the strings...

In my J-basses I've replaced the second volume pot with a 4-way rotary pickup selector (with series & parallel options). In the past I've had to replace Fender bridges that rattled, although I've been lucky with recent ones.

Actually the only bass I've owned that I haven't modded is my Warwick Thumb NT - because it's so beautifully designed & built there's no reason to mess with it.

 

[T-MOST]

I modded 2 basses because I thought i could improve them. IMO you don't really improve them by modding and would never do it again. I would rather buy the bass I like rather than try to change a bass I kinda like into something I would like better.

P.S.

Changing the color of a pickgauard isn't modding. I reserve the term modding for pups, electronics or some other critical element of the instrument.

 

[Fender32]

If players didn't ever modify their basses, there'd be no such things as a commercially available P/J bass, no signature series instruments and Roger Sadowsky would probably still be working on his own, building jazz guitars for a handful of rich New Yorkers !

So, "long live modding", I say !

(Shock admission) In fact, modding instruments is probably even more fun to me than playing them !

 

[ProfGumby]

I chose because I like working on my bass, but that is not entirely it. I modded the black Sx Jazz to look like Geddy's bass, not necessarily to look like a Fender Geddy, but to look like Geddy's '72 Jazz.

I am modding the other two as I want to learn about such things and what not as I plan to start building basses for fun, and maybe profit. Building and modding basses satisfies my urge to tinker and create.

So, using a 109 dollar P bass or a 119 dollar Jazz is a no hassle, wallet friendly way to start. It really helps that the SX line are pretty good basses to begin with....