Minininjarob

All done! CTS pots and switch craft socket, new pick guard, new Tone Rider The Duke pickups, fender Hi mass bridge and new DR Low Rider strings. £340 in total but that includes the bridge I didn’t need (but I have to have) and you could save money on some cheaper strings if you wanted so less than £300 for a bass which to be honest is as good as my Fender! Sounds completely different though as I got the vintage ish pickups and I went for a higher value capacitor on the electronics. Output seems high and quite bright right now but strings are very very new. It does sound wierdly like my Musicman Sterling I just sold but passive which is a really good thing!

Keep a look out on eBay or Facebook marketplace locally. Be open to anything and if it’s local go and test it out before you buy.

I was going to buy a new rumble when I started 3 years ago as I think they are the best sounding combo by a long way BUT I ended up getting a GK combo really cheap. Theres not many around and people don’t go for them as they are a bit unknown but my 112 200w combo kicks ass and is plenty loud enough - I go it for £150. Look out for the old 400rb combos too - very reliable and sound amazing but heavy - if you are keeping it at home that won’t matter. I think you’d be really happy with a relatively recent Rumble though.

My stubby fingers won’t get to those notes anyway. 😂

My fender P into my 25yo GK is still the best sounding combo for the music I play. Tried the fancy active basses and class D amps and they just don’t have the tone needed. There is no “better” only different.

Same. I don’t like the 5/6/7 basses with fancy wood grains and weird shapes but I don’t go commenting on every thread which features them.

The market isn’t saturated if all the people making them are selling them. if you don’t like them you don’t have to have a long winge about it, just move onto the next thread. If these are made well they are a good price and I like the look of them.

I don’t mind if they are mods suitable for both basses. It’s interesting to see what people have done to the squires all in one thread.

Actually it’s already spread to one of the screw holes, but I got some copper tape anyway so I’ll pop some on anyway doesn’t hurt.

Finally just offered up the brushed ali guard I got and I’m super happy with how it looks. Sorta glad I stayed with the silver to be honest.

Ok so took off the pick guard to check out the electronics. They look very puny so I am glad I already ordered a prewired set of CTS/switchcraft electronics from Tiny Tone. Should arrive soon so I can solder them in.

Ok so got the new bridge. Compared it against a Hipshot one on my other P and the BBOT on the Squire. I like it.

Ooooooooohh they look amazing

It helps I have a friend who runs a backline business! Trying to get him to get one of the handmade Hiwatt heads in!! it was his place I fell in love with GK amps after trying out the frankly terrifying 2001rb.

When we tried it the B15 setting sounded lovely and smooth and the SVT more gritty but you can dial in the amount of each feel you want. Against a real SVT i thought it did a really good job. I wasn’t expecting much after disliking a Portaflex I tried once but I walked away very impressed.

Thanks. I really can’t stand the BBOT even though I know it works ok. Just looks so naff.

They weren’t compared to the SVT we compared it against but that’s not a fair fight. 😂😂

Ok so update. I have given up on the black theme for now as it was getting a bit expensive. Main reason was that I couldn’t find any tuners that would use the original screw holes apart from some really cheap ones which might have been worse quality than what’s on the bass already. It’s gotta work well and look good. So for the moment I’ve got a brushed alloy pick guard which is a big improvement on the white original, and a Fender hi mass bridge and new strings (current ones are not nice) . I’m also upgrading the electronics as the originals are a bit scratchy to be honest. Keeping the PU’s as I think they sound good. So a big change nonetheless but not as big as planned. Spending around £120 on it might seem a little crazy but I’ve got a P with a jazz neck with for £290 which a pretty good I think. Just need everything to arrive and I’ll get pics to show the upgrades.

Ok so I demoed one of these at a friends business - he owns a backline company and was lent one to try out to see if he wanted to add it to his stock. He had a 700w version and the matching Ampeg 2x10 cab. Construction - all seemed pretty good, nice and solid. Wouldn't transport it around without a bag but as good as any others I've seen of the same type. The low and high switches weren't amazing but functional and easy to use, I would have used a metal switch but apparently they are copying the SVT Classic style which makes sense. Was pretty easy to figure out how to use it, and I ran it pretty much flat with the super low switch on the mid position and the super high on. Sounded really nice and powerful, no obvious issues, I was really taken with it to be honest, made my P sound great! The overdrive was really nice too, no loss of bass and sounded quite natural to me. I had the idea of trying it against some other Ampeg amps in his warehouse to compare it. Ampeg SVT 4 pro into a 8x10 - sounded brittle and sharp and just unpleasant compared to the Venture. Not used one them before so it might be user error but when you try it flat and it sounds awful that's not a great start is it? The a SVT Classic full 300w all valve goodness into the 8x10. Oh. My. God. I WANT ONE. As we all know they sound amazing BUT what I thought was the Venture did a good job tonally against the SVT - no it would never have the velvety smooth sledgehammer power of the SVT Classic but the character was very similar to my ears. Hope that helps - I was never a huge Ampeg amp fan but I've been looking at maybe getting a Venture in the future. Or an SVT if I can afford a roadie as well.

Thanks for the reality check. 😂

This is a really bad idea isn’t it??

Oooh thanks dm me

What electronics do you get?

I’m gonna stick with putting my money into UK music shops as far as I can.