Proportions, prices new vs old etc can be trotted out to validate any argument,
Any builder/luthier/manufacturer you order straight may build you a shell of a bass, no electronics,l for a different cost and you drop your own in, or at cost neutral exercise you sell off an existing one and pop in a dofferent one new or second hand, or you can specify what you want, we seem to go back to Sandberg, but within their range past and present and easily accessible is Delano, Haüssel, sandberg, sandberg black labels, Seymour Duncan’s.
@therealting I am fully up for making changes, not an issue