Modding a bass

[Wolverinebass]

A mate of mine recently bought a 5 string bass. I won't name brands or anything, but I think it was about £500 second hand. I think for the money it's a good bass. However, I was round at his the other night and he said that he was going to mod it a bit. I asked how much was "a bit" and he said he was going to change the circuit, pickups, tuners, bridge and nut.

Now, whilst it's not a bass I would have bought, would people argue that there is a point where doing this sort of stuff is just insane? I pointed out that for what he was about to spend on hardware, he might as well get a custom bass made for him. Now before you ask, I think that the bass body was maybe ash or basswood, so it wasn't like it was something ludicrously expensive.

I suppose the question is would you spend £500 on a bass then another £600 modding it? Or am I just totally wrong and that this is a viable move?

[jezzaboy]

For 500 quid it would need to be a decent 2nd hand bass I would think. Mabye a different pickup and a bridge? If it was me 150 tops. But mabye he really likes the shape/feel/weight of the bass and if he intends to keep it long term, it might be worth it. But he isn`t going to make his money back when selling on.

Jez

[Grand Wazoo]

[quote name='Wolverinebass' post='1307465' date='Jul 18 2011, 09:30 AM']A mate of mine recently bought a 5 string bass. I won't name brands or anything, but I think it was about £500 second hand. I think for the money it's a good bass. However, I was round at his the other night and he said that he was going to mod it a bit. I asked how much was "a bit" and he said he was going to change the circuit, pickups, tuners, bridge and nut.

Now, whilst it's not a bass I would have bought, would people argue that there is a point where doing this sort of stuff is just insane? I pointed out that for what he was about to spend on hardware, he might as well get a custom bass made for him. Now before you ask, I think that the bass body was maybe ash or basswood, so it wasn't like it was something ludicrously expensive.

I suppose the question is would you spend £500 on a bass then another £600 modding it? Or am I just totally wrong and that this is a viable move?[/quote]

[i][b]"and he said he was going to change the circuit, pickups, tuners, bridge and nut"[/b][/i]

That'll never come to £600. I'd say round ball park figure would be max £300.

[bartelby]

[quote name='Grand Wazoo' post='1307479' date='Jul 18 2011, 09:41 AM'][i][b]"and he said he was going to change the circuit, pickups, tuners, bridge and nut"[/b][/i]

That'll never come to £600. I'd say round ball park figure would be max £300.[/quote]

Off the top of my head, just to be a pedant:

U-Retro gold - £215
Nordstrand NJ5S pair - £210
Hipshot A style Bridge gold - £110
Hipshot Ultralites - (£27 each) - £135
total - £670

[Wolverinebass]

[quote name='bartelby' post='1307487' date='Jul 18 2011, 09:50 AM']Off the top of my head, just to be a pedant:

U-Retro gold - £215
Nordstrand NJ5S pair - £210
Hipshot A style Bridge gold - £110
Hipshot Ultralites - (£27 each) - £135
total - £670

[/quote]


Exactly. He's not sparing any expense when doing this bass up as he's not intending to sell it. That's not actually that far off what he's planning actually.

I just wondered if the whole concept of it was like putting a jet engine in a small hatchback.

[krazy_olie]

if it feels nice then it will catapult it in to a very high end bass. Although many would argue just buying a £1000 bass new would be better value.
Aftermarket stuff can get a bit pricey and poor value when you add it all up, law of diminishing returns and all.

Pickups are the best upgrade and seeing as they a massive factor in the sound of the bass often worth it, though £210 is not cheap considering I could buy a a complete bass for that. A £100+ bridge is probably not going to make anywhere near the amount of difference as the pickups.

[AttitudeCastle]

I'd say it was worth it ONLY if it would get it just the way you wanted and it would be a long term keeper, selling it on there is no way you'd make a profit, and even if you did it would be small (I think so anyway! Could be wrong,)

Though doing it up to sell on and spending over the orginal cost of the bass? Too much i think!

[Grand Wazoo]

I would consider that degree of modding a bit extreeme, but hey, don't forget it's his money, he can do as he pleases.

Someone I know was working on replacing a fried circuit loom on an original vintage 1957 Gibson semi acoustic, the loom that came out consisted of the original pots (huge pots I should add, each as big as a wristwatch) variatone, filters, caps and what not, the whole thing looked like the inside of a washing machine circuitry, this was going to be replaced with all period correct stuff sourced from the original factory and I've heard the final bill was going to scrape the £1200 mark. So it doesn't surprise me, that in order to preserve the faithful originality of a vintage instrument someone would go to these lengths, but everything has to have its limits when such is to be done on a cheaper instruments.

[Gust0o]

Unless you feel the wood, finish or branding (which seems to be all that he is keeping) are worth £500, then the economics become questionable... but they always are for modding.

[Conan]

[quote name='Wolverinebass' post='1307465' date='Jul 18 2011, 09:30 AM']Now, whilst it's not a bass I would have bought, would people argue that there is a point where doing this sort of stuff is just insane? I pointed out that for what he was about to spend on hardware, he might as well get a custom bass made for him.[/quote]

Custom basses don't always end up being the panacea that people think they will be. The for sale section pays testament to that!

It seems more normal to do radical mods on a budget bass, rather than one costing £500 second hand. That must put it in the £800-1000 price bracket new. At that price you would expect the original hardware to be decent, so I'm not sure why he would want to replace ALL of it... And if he did, would it necessarily make that much of a difference? It's one thing upgrading a Squier or a cheap copy that just happens to have a great neck, but to replace everything on a decent bass seems odd to me.

If he is doing it for his own use and knows exactly what he wants, then fine. It's his cash. But as others have siad, it may not add anything to it's resale value. In some cases it may even reduce it.

Sounds like an odd project to me...

[Conan]

[quote name='Gust0o' post='1307558' date='Jul 18 2011, 10:49 AM']Unless you feel the wood, finish or branding (which seems to be all that he is keeping) are worth £500, then the economics become questionable... but they always are for modding.[/quote]

Why is that? I have just upgraded the pickup on my Squier Affinity P. It plays well and has a lovely neck, but the original pups were very ordinary indeed. For a total of £50 I now have a bass that I would happily gig. It plays great and now sounds great too.

OK, if I sold it on I would not get that fifty quid back as it is still a second-hand Squier - but at the moment I have no intention of selling it and the increase in quality makes the small investment well worth it to me.

I do agree though, that there comes a point when the economics do indeed become questionable...

Edited July 18, 2011 by Conan

[johnDeereJack]

I recently modded my Squier VM Fretless.
Tort PG, Gotoh 301, fake grounding strip, pull-bar, Jazz Bass style knobs, neck pup cover, electrics replaced with CTS & Switchcraft units, replaced the original cap with an old PIO .05 cap off a 50's Telecaster, Series/Parallel switching and I had the fretboard planed as well.
The bass cost me around £250 a couple of years ago and the modifications and upgrades came to more than £100 so in essence I've paid over £350 for a VM fretless.
Personally I think it was worth it because it looks and sounds so much better than it did originally. (Not that it was a bad bass to start with )
Here's a before/after comparison:

[attachment=85029:Fretless...ison_001.JPG]

[bh2]

[quote name='johnDeereJack' post='1307611' date='Jul 18 2011, 11:23 AM']I recently modded my Squier VM Fretless.
Tort PG, Gotoh 301, fake grounding strip, pull-bar, Jazz Bass style knobs, neck pup cover, electrics replaced with CTS & Switchcraft units, replaced the original cap with an old PIO .05 cap off a 50's Telecaster, Series/Parallel switching and I had the fretboard planed as well.
The bass cost me around £250 a couple of years ago and the modifications and upgrades came to more than £100 so in essence I've paid over £350 for a VM fretless.
Personally I think it was worth it because it looks and sounds so much better than it did originally. (Not that it was a bad bass to start with )
Here's a before/after comparison:

[attachment=85029:Fretless...ison_001.JPG][/quote]


That's it! Super looking Jazz bass... I'd put some vintage style machines on there, just my personal preference.
Here's some on a 60s CV Precision...

[johnDeereJack]

[quote name='bh2' post='1307661' date='Jul 18 2011, 12:00 PM']That's it! Super looking Jazz bass... [b]I'd put some vintage style machines on there[/b], just my personal preference.[/quote]

I've actually been toying with the idea of replacing the stock machines with vintage ones but I'm a bit dubious about the amount of work that'll have to go into it versus the overall gain. From what I've read, both on this forum and others, there are no vintage-style machines that are a direct replacement for Squier VM's so I guess it would involve filling and re-drilling for the new ones. As I currently have no issues with the stock machines I thought it best to leave them as is although I gotta say the vintage ones you have look really nice.
(PS - if I'm wrong please feel free to correct me regarding the direct replacement machines for VM's and maybe even point me in the direction of a suitable replacement set if you know of any )

[bh2]

AFAIK they will slot in fine, you'll have to drill out the mounting screws, that's all.

[johnDeereJack]

Cheers dude, I'll have a look on-line and see what I can find.
I'll also take the stock machines off and measure the holes in the headstock to get an idea of width I'll need.

[Darkstrike]

I don't think there is a too much, long as you love the parts of the bass you're leaving stock.

I have a pair of SX basses, one is a MM with replaced bridge, electronics, pickup and string retainer, mods cost more than the bass, love it completely.

The other, a starter pack P Bass(my first bass), which I replaced the pickup, added a bridge pickup, and a Kahler trem bridge, each separate part cost more than the bass, couldn't be happier with the outcome.

[Prime_BASS]

I wouldnt worry too much on his behalve. Modding and bitsa-basses tend to be worth less than the total sum of the parts.

However, I laid a ridiculous £530 for my sterling posted, and I'm not modding that at all, no need it's already a great bass and I don't think much will change by spending £600 on parts.