Bitsa Basses, oppinions?

[Gibbo9876]

Hey everyone,
I was just wondering what people thought of bitsa basses. I have a couple and l love modifying them every once in a while.
Mine are below.
Would they be able to sell? or are they just a personal thing.
Also wondering if anyone has a cool idea that I could have a go at?

Edited April 15, 2016 by Gibbo9876

[alyctes]

Generally they are hard to sell at cost - sellers usually make a loss. It seems to be more profitable to part them out.
Bitsas are often quite specific to the maker, so their attraction to other people can be dubious.

[Grangur]

[quote name='alyctes' timestamp='1460764075' post='3028655']
Generally they are hard to sell at cost - sellers usually make a loss. It seems to be more profitable to part them out.
Bitsas are often quite specific to the maker, so their attraction to other people can be dubious.
[/quote]
Ditto

An Encore plus fancy pups and bridge, is still an Encore, no matter how great it sounds and feels.

I too like working on basses, but there's no money in it. You simply build a stupidly large collection of basses with little value.

[Lozz196]

Agreed on the previous posts, however having a cheap-ish bitsa as a backup to take along to gigs is worth doing. Saves having to take two expensive basses out when gigging. I wouldn`t be without mine.

[Hugh971]

I agree with the others. If you like tinkering it's a great way to get a cheap, good quality bass, and it's good fun.

But for selling they're rarely with the sum of their components. Unless you find a buyer who happens to want exactly what you've made.


Hugh

[hubrad]

Agreed on the resale value.
Also agreed on the fun, and you can get something fine-tuned to your taste! :-)
Here's one for you. .
http://basschat.co.uk/topic/44673-ibanez-roadster-megacustom/page__hl__ibanez%20megacustom

[DarkHeart]

This is my bitsa, I started off as wanting a cheap jazz ended up with Wizard 84`s, Hipshot bridge, Fender tuners and a John East preamp off Neil Murray! I can honestly say I will never part with it. It needs a better plate though.

[URL=http://s80.photobucket.com/user/jeffhop/media/P1060159_zpsushuvhon.jpg.html][IMG]http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j186/jeffhop/P1060159_zpsushuvhon.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

[Roger2611]

I am really into building my own basses at the moment, mostly Fender clones, nothing better than taking a bunch of parts, doing your own paintwork putting it all together and setting it up to be a really nice bass, the last three I have built have all been gigged over their genuine counterparts with loads of compliments.

My most recent is a Candy Apple Red Precision, red over gold nitro finish which has already crazed like an original nitro bass should, I think it looks fantastic and I actually find I have more connection to it over an off the shelf bass because I built it.....if that makes sense

[paul_5]

Love 'em. I've got 2 basses, both of which are 'bits' basses. They cost me less than £100 each and play brilliantly (as far as I'm concerned). I know that if I sold them (not that I ever would) I'd struggle to make half of that back, but that's not why I made them.

There are many like them, but these 2 are mine.

[LukeFRC]

[quote name='Gibbo9876' timestamp='1460761549' post='3028648']
Hey everyone,
I was just wondering what people thought of bitsa basses. I have a couple and l love modifying them every once in a while.
Mine are below.
Would they be able to sell? or are they just a personal thing.
Also wondering if anyone has a cool idea that I could have a go at?
[/quote]

I've wanted to make a bitsa that looked like a Fender jaguar but wasn't like the stock one - what have you modified to yours?

[matski]

I like my bitsa

Modding was necessary as it was originally a Fender JV Precision that I had left with a friend when I emigrated from England and I didn't get it back again until 15 years later.

Twas in a shocking state: needed a new neck (twisted), tuners (seized up), pickups (rusty pole pieces), wiring (might as well, eh?), knobs (brass!), scratch plate (stickers all over), and last but not least a refinish. The only original parts left are the body and one pot!

However it is now a great bass - especially for recording.

Edited April 19, 2016 by matski

[Marc S]

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1460797939' post='3028782']
Agreed on the previous posts, however having a cheap-ish bitsa as a backup to take along to gigs is worth doing. Saves having to take two expensive basses out when gigging. I wouldn`t be without mine.
[/quote]

I agree with all the comments about resale value. But generally, we don't put a bitsa together in order to make money
It's usually put together to build your own custom shop, or as a cheaper alternative to buying a factory made expensive bass
I've put a couple together, the first of which was because I'd picked up a really cheap Japan built 70's / 80's P copy, with a broken neck

I enjoyed putting a new neck on it, and having a play about with the bits. It taught me quite a bit, and I got a nice bass from an unusable instrument. I'd recommend having a go at putting a bass together, to anyone who hasn't yet tried - just don't expect to make any money.~
As Lozz points out above - you can end up with a bass that plays & sounds good, but is a great backup, or even main bass which you don't mind taking to "certain venues"

EDIT: Nice looking bitsa's on here. And nothing wrong with the plate on that Jazz IMO DarkHeart - nice bass

Edited April 19, 2016 by Marc S

[ratman]

I got a cheap loaded P body on here a couple of months ago. I already had a spare P neck with tuners, flats, and I sourced a high mass bridge. My first bitsa bass built and nicely set up, total cost £50! I was thinking about replacing the pups with some Quarter Pounders from my PJ but off the bat the unknown stock pups sounded great - fat and meaty with just enough treble bite for my taste. A month later I was doing some Paddy's Day gigs in Switzerland and I decided to take this bass. It was so playable and it sounded great. Even though I prefer J necks the P neck didn't bother me at all. I know I'll never sell it as it's not worth sh*t, but as a worthy back up or for a rowdy pub gig it'll do just fine.
Of course, any offers over £300 will have my full attention. Only kidding, this one's a keeper

[Gibbo9876]

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1460838887' post='3029297']
I've wanted to make a bitsa that looked like a Fender jaguar but wasn't like the stock one - what have you modified to yours?
[/quote]

Hi,
My bitsa jag is fairly conventional. the body is just a regular Japanese jaguar bass in hot rod red, with a badass bridge and a Seymour Duncan Quarter-pounder. The Neck is an all parts regular jazz neck with just plain dots and I painted the headstock to match. I think it is a somewhat unique bass but in all honesty I still think regular jaguar basses with blocks look better.

[Andytre]

i love a bitsa, currently have 4, 3 precision's and a jazz, built from a collection of ebay parts, old parts and bits from Thomann Dekos back when you had a chance of getting them, as many have said all worth nothing but i enjoyed building them as much as i enjoy playing them! also meant i could experiment with different pickups, preamps, bridges and necks!

[Rich]

This is my bitsa P. A solid no-name body with a Squier Jazz neck, Wilko pickup and EMG 2 band eq. And a slightly incorrect decal The decal isn't an issue as I won't be selling it -- as has been said by others, it's worth tuppence-ha'penny to anyone except me really.

[Rich]

[quote name='DarkHeart' timestamp='1460822049' post='3029106']
This is my bitsa, I started off as wanting a cheap jazz ended up with Wizard 84`s, Hipshot bridge, Fender tuners and a John East preamp off Neil Murray! I can honestly say I will never part with it. It needs a better plate though.

[URL=http://s80.photobucket.com/user/jeffhop/media/P1060159_zpsushuvhon.jpg.html][IMG]http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j186/jeffhop/P1060159_zpsushuvhon.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
[/quote]
If you're after a darker tort, could I work in a cheeky plug for the one I'm selling?
http://basschat.co.uk/topic/283339-jazz-bass-parts/page__view__findpost__p__3029905

[bartelby]

All these nice looking bitsa basses. I'll bring the thread down with mine:

Marlin Slammer body, LH Harley Benton Jazz neck, no name eBay special pickups and a Fender high mass bridge.