Decisions/Dilemma

[SH73]

Folks
I don't know how about you but I end up doing endless research and find different opinions about guitar pick ups, bridges etc.
At the moment I can't decide if I should change a pick up on my electric guitar or keep it.There's only way to find out buthe if I don't like it I blew money.
Same with high mass Fender bridge that has been collecting dust for months. If I change it is it going to change the sustain etc significantly. I don't really play style of music where the sustain is a must.
Anyone is in a similar situation or is it just me going bonkers?

[ivansc]

(grin) I think I found the way round this. Dont modify what you already have if you like it, just buy another bass to suit the style and then sell it as and when the gig ends.
Much easier to sell a whole bass than a bunch of aftermarket addons

P.S. And it is a great excuse to use on that Significant Other Who Doesnt Understand

[paul_c2]

I think everyone else except me is in a similar situation/going bonkers.

I have a bass guitar which is 40+ years old, is a bit bashed up, has imperfections, a few missing screws but I have no desire to fix it or buy another. If it stops working, I'll bodge it up or spend as little as possible getting it fixed. And whatever sound it makes, I make do with/adapt to it.

[Roger2611]

[quote name='paul_c2' timestamp='1478876036' post='3172321']
I think everyone else except me is in a similar situation/going bonkers.

I have a bass guitar which is 40+ years old, is a bit bashed up, has imperfections, a few missing screws but I have no desire to fix it or buy another. If it stops working, I'll bodge it up or spend as little as possible getting it fixed. And whatever sound it makes, I make do with/adapt to it.
[/quote]

This is clearly madness, you need to spend more time in the sales forums suffering incurable GAS like the rest of us

[taunton-hobbit]

If it does what you want - leave it alone.

[SH73]

[quote name='ivansc' timestamp='1478874365' post='3172299']
(grin) I think I found the way round this. Dont modify what you already have if you like it, just buy another bass to suit the style and then sell it as and when the gig ends.
Much easier to sell a whole bass than a bunch of aftermarket addons

P.S. And it is a great excuse to use on that Significant Other Who Doesnt Understand
[/quote]
I like the PS quote

[SH73]

[quote name='taunton-hobbit' timestamp='1478876528' post='3172329']
If it does what you want - leave it alone.


[/quote]
Yep that's why I haven't modified

[Trueno]

It's the phenomenon that changing something gives the illusion of progress. Best to spend your time practising the bass. If that makes me sound holier-than-thou, I'm not... I don't follow my own advice.

Edited November 11, 2016 by Trueno

[Lozz196]

I`ve been down the swap bridges/pickups path and it was good fun, but ultimately I found that I preferred the stock items that Fender put on their basses more than any others. My fave ever bass is my 2015 US Standard Precision so the only slight difference to keeping things stock is that I`ve put the same Fender Custom Shop pickup that`s in my US Precision into my MIM backup, and put a Gotoh bridge on the MIM to replicate the Fender Hi-Mass bridge on the US (the aftermarket Fender Hi-Mass bridges that fit MIMs are too Badass looking for me).

[Ghost_Bass]

I've done a fair amount of modding just to get small differences in the end. It's great fun and helps you get to know your way around your basses and learn how to repair them if needed.
Two advices:

- Don't make permanent mods like cutting/carving/routing/drilling the bass unless you're sure they'll be for ever. If you mod a bass making sure it's all reversible you can bring it to it's original state when it comes to sell it and sell all the extra parts on the side. It will be the most profitable way to sell that bass.

- If it ain't broken or malfunctioning don't bother to change it. Pickups do some difference to the tone but there's so much influenced by the instrument (wood/strings) itself that the difference won't be as dramatic as you might think. Getting a new bass with a core tone very close to your taste is allways a better starting point. You'll never make a Fender sound like a Wal, ie.

Bridge mass hasn't as influence in sustain as a new saddle/nut cut properly and with a good break angle and well intonated.
All in all, i think that the best mod to really make a bass sound much different must be to add/replace a good quality on-board preamp, but then, there's so much preamp/eq pedals out there...

Edited November 11, 2016 by Ghost_Bass

[RhysP]

Luckily, both for my sanity & my bank balance, I've never been into the whole modding thing.
I buy a guitar or bass because I like how it sounds & how it plays. If the first thing I was thinking about was what to replace on it I just wouldn't buy it.
I've never got the whole "high mass/endless sustain" bridge thing for basses either, when we seem to spend most of our playing trying to stop notes ringing out for ages.

[SH73]

[quote name='Ghost_Bass' timestamp='1478886218' post='3172495']
I've done a fair amount of modding just to get small differences in the end. It's great fun and helps you get to know your way around your basses and learn how to repair them if needed.
Two advices:

- Don't make permanent mods like cutting/carving/routing/drilling the bass unless you're sure they'll be for ever. If you mod a bass making sure it's all reversible you can bring it to it's original state when it comes to sell it and sell all the extra parts on the side. It will be the most profitable way to sell that bass.

- If it ain't broken or malfunctioning don't bother to change it. Pickups do some difference to the tone but there's so much influenced by the instrument (wood/strings) itself that the difference won't be as dramatic as you might think. Getting a new bass with a core tone very close to your taste is allways a better starting point. You'll never make a Fender sound like a Wal, ie.

Bridge mass hasn't as influence in sustain as a new saddle/nut cut properly and with a good break angle and well intonated.
All in all, i think that the best mod to really make a bass sound much different must be to add/replace a good quality on-board preamp, but then, there's so much preamp/eq pedals out there...
[/quote]
I once made a permanent mod to a D-bass Jolana which was a Rickenbaker copy and regret it to this day. Lesson learnt

[Guest bassman7755]

I've swapped bridges on a bass before but it was purely a practical matter - I dont like fender style captive bridges that a lot of cheap basses use as it makes changing strings a pain and makes a quick string swap with already used strings impossible. I use replacement locking tuners for a similar reason, to make string changes easier.

[SH73]

[quote name='bassman7755' timestamp='1479115783' post='3173950']
I've swapped bridges on a bass before but it was purely a practical matter - I dont like fender style captive bridges that a lot of cheap basses use as it makes changing strings a pain and makes a quick string swap with already used strings impossible. I use replacement locking tuners for a similar reason, to make string changes easier.
[/quote]
You saying that you swapped a standard bridge for a high mass bridge?