£150 from santa. How should I upgrade my bass?

[jd56hawk]

10 hours ago, Friskydingo said:

As the title says got a nice tidy sum this Xmas. What do you suggest? 

I have a squire jazz vintage modified, nothing high end, but i've set it up to a high level (intonation, fret dress, the works) 

I'm already buying a new amp 😁 in case people suggest it

You might just consider buying an inexpensive DI and adding black tapewounds...must be a reason I have them on eight basses including two of my Jazz basses.

(I'm guessing your VM is the natural finish with the maple fretboard...black tapewounds will look great and sound better.)

Edited December 28, 2021 by jd56hawk

[Friskydingo]

8 hours ago, Bassfinger said:

You could update it by buying a Harley Benton to keep it company.

I was thinking of getting a cheap 5 or 6 string to see how I get on. 

[Lfalex v1.1]

I had a Squire (70s) VMJ.

I put a BadAss II on it and a set of DR Fatbeams. They were good additions IMO.

Pickups would've been next. I felt they these and/or the electrics made it sound a bit "dark" 

[NancyJohnson]

I suppose I'm as guilty as the next person where tweaking specs/altering stock instruments goes, but in all cases I'll consider the worth of the instrument, the necessity of the upgrade and whether the cost is warranted. 

 

Every bass I buy gets Dunlop Straploks.  A couple have D-tuners.  Both (IMO) cheap and worthwhile upgrades. 

 

Stepping up a bit, pickups; I put a (secondhand/as new) EMG Geezer Butler PJ set into an old Hamer as the matched P-unit was hokey.  Sub £90, decent upgrade, enough left from £150 for a chip supper.  Rule of thumb?  Shop around, check the for sale section here.

 

That said, in my case a £200 John East unit on a £5.5k bass?  Yes, but on a £350 instrument?  No, not so much.

As @Raymaninferred, a lot of money is wasted on upgrades.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Rayman]

Nobody is more guilty than me, for unnecessary upgrades....

 

Nordstrand pickup and new EQ into an OLP Tony Levin.....

EMG pickup and new EQ into a Fleabass....

Etc.... many many more pointless expense on other basses... and ALL sold on anyway. 

 

I learnt the hard way that in most cases, for me, I still didn't like the basses and lost money big time on the resale.

 

Now.... I spend time with the bass, get to know it, get to know it's pros and cons, and take it from there. I REALLY have to love the bass and KNOW I'm going to KEEP it, before any more money is spent on it.

 

There's very few basses, these days, in my opinion, that need any work doing at all.

 

Just my thoughts, after 40yrs of wasting massive amounts of cash.

[funkle]

I am also extremely guilty of serial modding. However, I will offer some benefits as well as the obvious negatives. 
 

As background, it is my view that there are 3 things that make up the majority of a particular instruments’ sound, *for a bolt on instrument with a maple neck*. (Note I did not say they make up *all* of the sound, but the majority of it.)
 

Firstly, the fretboard material. Secondly, the pickups used, and their placement. Thirdly, the preamp. (I will add a fourth, the thickness/amount material in the neck itself, but find it harder to quantify this in comparison to the others). 
 

In my view, this means if you like the neck, the sound of the fretboard material, and the shape

of the bass, then you can mod to your heart’s content, as essentially tuners/bridge are largely functional/aesthetic changes, and the body material makes only a very modest difference. This can be a lot of fun, as long as you recognise that mods add zero value and big modifications actively reduce the value of an instrument. 
 

Changing cheap pickups for better ones generally does make a difference in my view. Changing pickup types (J to P or MM) and placement is huge. Changing preamp, or adding one, also adds colour, though I would rank pickups themselves and their design as more important. It depends a little. 

 

Strings are a huge difference as well. You can do very well trying out different string types. Stainless steels have been a revelation to me over nickels. 

 

Modding is a lot of fun. I have found I am considerably more committed to the instrument after adapting it to my tastes, at least when it works out. When it doesn’t, I take all the mods off, and sell it and the parts. 
 

But I do remember all the time you spend tinkering is time you could be playing. And turning an instrument into something else it is not meant to be is quite difficult/expensive. You’re often better off buying another instrument in that case. 

 

 

 

[Friskydingo]

1 hour ago, NancyJohnson said:

I suppose I'm as guilty as the next person where tweaking specs/altering stock instruments goes, but in all cases I'll consider the worth of the instrument, the necessity of the upgrade and whether the cost is warranted. 

 

Every bass I buy gets Dunlop Straploks.  A couple have D-tuners.  Both (IMO) cheap and worthwhile upgrades. 

 

Stepping up a bit, pickups; I put a (secondhand/as new) EMG Geezer Butler PJ set into an old Hamer as the matched P-unit was hokey.  Sub £90, decent upgrade, enough left from £150 for a chip supper.  Rule of thumb?  Shop around, check the for sale section here.

 

That said, in my case a £200 John East unit on a £5.5k bass?  Yes, but on a £350 instrument?  No, not so much.

 

As @Raymaninferred, a lot of money is wasted on upgrades.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'd have to disagree about the John East comment. If I have to upgrade a 5.5k bass, then I brought the wrong bass or overpaid for a bass that didn't fit my precise specifications. 

That's why I'm using money given to me for upgrades. I won't spend £500 on upgrades as that would be a new bass territory 

[funkle]

Context is probably helpful.
 

Here’s two threads where my mods worked out great:

 

 

Here’s one thread where it didn’t:

 

 

Here’s a thread where I genuinely don’t know yet:

 

 

[chris_b]

If you just want to spend £150 with no clear objective you might as well throw that cash out of the window.

 

You are already buying an amp. Do that first and spend a month or so to see how you feel about your sound then.

Edited December 28, 2021 by chris_b

[funkle]

Final comment, I promise

 

The Squier CV Jazz I mentioned in an earlier post cost me £250 in 2009. I will never sell it, as it was signed by all my music school teachers, including Jeff Berlin who taught at the time, and it has huge sentimental value to me. Even though I now don’t like the sound of rosewood necks, it will always be with me. 
 

The poor thing has been the victim of many modifications over time, and I have learned a lot from doing that. 
 

Swapping the neck over made me realise how much tone is in the neck/fretboard. (Basically most of

it, in my view)
 

Swapping out the bridge a few times and the tuners made me realise that there was no obvious tonal change to me from doing these mods. Similar for plastic to a bone nut. 
 

Adding a John East J-Retro then a J-Tone preamp made it a lot better sounding, even using the stock Chinese pickups. The J-Retro had too much bass baked in, so it was swapped out for the J-Tone. But even this could never add in the highest frequency ‘snap’ I wanted, only found with maple boards. Rosewood boards have treble in a slightly lower spot than maple boards, in my experience. 
 

Swapping out the pickups multiple times led me to realise how much they affected tone. But they could never add in the ‘snap’ up high I could hear from maple boarded basses either. They just filtered what was there already in different ways. 
 

Nickel vs Steel round wounds was a huge difference. One of the cheapest ‘mods’ you can make with a very high return on investment. 

 

It is now the most tricked out Squier going, lol, with many of my other old project mods put into it. But it will never truly sound like anything other than a rosewood boarded Jazz. 

Edited December 28, 2021 by funkle

[OliverBlackman]

£150 would buy approx 5 sets of strings. Experimenting with them would be more fun for me than a new pre amp

[Maude]

If you are thinking of a preamp or loom upgrade then incorporating a series switch is something I'd recommend. I really like a Jazz with the pickups in series, but that's probably because I prefer a P bass sound. 

Nevertheless it's a useful addition to a Jazz. 

[neepheid]

Another reformed serial tinkerer/upgrader here. In years past I couldn't leave a cheap bass alone. Out of all the basses I've "upgraded" I only kept one. I probably lost thousands of pounds in the process. I say probably because I don't want to think about it too much.

 

These days I mostly accept basses for what they are and only change things which are genuinely poor quality (tuners on my Epiphone Embassy for a recent example).

 

It's entirely up to you what you do with your bass. Just make sure you go in eyes open, learn from my mistakes by keeping the stock parts so you can return it to stock if selling and keep the upgraded parts back for another project (you will NEVER recoup the cost of the upgrades when selling on an upgraded, inexpensive bass).

[NancyJohnson]

1 hour ago, Friskydingo said:

I'd have to disagree about the John East comment. If I have to upgrade a 5.5k bass, then I brought the wrong bass or overpaid for a bass that didn't fit my precise specifications. 

That's why I'm using money given to me for upgrades. I won't spend £500 on upgrades as that would be a new bass territory 

 

If I'd had the East installed where the bass was made (Seattle), it would have cost considerably more than doing it myself, so the bass was shipped as passive.  It was always going to be active.

 

[Lfalex v1.1]

(In agreement with much of  what had been said before)

 

The real "value" in modding lies in the learning processes;

 

The acquisition of the technical skills to perform the task and the learning curve that accompanies this. 

 

The understanding of how the modifications affect the tone and playability of the instrument. 

 

The insight that the modification process gives into the original design and construction

[Maude]

I've been known to spend far too much time and money on cheap basses, I'm literally flatting and polishing a refinished 80's Kay bass between BC browsing sessions. I look at it as a hobby, I don't do any of it to make a profit and I'm well aware that some of my basses would make a fine loss if sold. 

Other people pay thousands per year to push a trolley around a golf course, digging around in the undergrowth and whacking balls into lakes. 

As has been mentioned, as long as you go into it with your eyes open and don't expect a bass to be worth the sum of its parts, then knock yourself out and enjoy the process. 

[Paul S]

1 hour ago, neepheid said:

Another reformed serial tinkerer/upgrader here. In years past I couldn't leave a cheap bass alone. Out of all the basses I've "upgraded" I only kept one. I probably lost thousands of pounds in the process. I say probably because I don't want to think about it too much.

 

These days I mostly accept basses for what they are and only change things which are genuinely poor quality (tuners on my Epiphone Embassy for a recent example).

 

It's entirely up to you what you do with your bass. Just make sure you go in eyes open, learn from my mistakes by keeping the stock parts so you can return it to stock if selling and keep the upgraded parts back for another project (you will NEVER recoup the cost of the upgrades when selling on an upgraded, inexpensive bass).

 

4 minutes ago, Lfalex v1.1 said:

(In agreement with much of  what had been said before)

 

The real "value" in modding lies in the learning processes;

 

The acquisition of the technical skills to perform the task and the learning curve that accompanies this. 

 

The understanding of how the modifications affect the tone and playability of the instrument. 

 

The insight that the modification process gives into the original design and construction

 

My view is a combination of these two, really.  I used to tinker, learnt a huge amount, spent a huge amount.  Now I generally don't bother unless I can see a tinker that is worthwhile.  But I wouldn't be in that posiiton had I not tinkered in the first place.  So I would say go for it and enjoy the ride.

[Friskydingo]

I'll probably get a preamp/new pups as I'm happy with the tuners, saddle, etc. 

I'm not too worried about resale value as I got it for fairly cheap a couple of years 

[Boodang]

On 27/12/2021 at 20:55, fretmeister said:

EMG pickup set.

EMG do a passive set designed by Rob Turner that look interesting... JV52. They're split coil but alnico 5 for the neck and alnico 2 for the bridge. Inspired by these I got Creamery pickups to make me a non-split coil set with the alnico 5/2 setup. The combination sounds great on my Squier VM. 

A pre amp like the Audere would be good, they do a version with a dummy coil which is made to match the coil windings of your pickups, so you can still use standard single coils but with humcancelling... not necessary of course if you go with the split coil. 

I wanted to keep it traditional and passive, so as well as the Creamery pickups I got a Starr Guitar Systems stacked knob passive pre amp with the 'vitamin' capacitors and a series/parallel switch added.... the pickups sound nice and fat in series mode.

Edited December 29, 2021 by Boodang

[BigRedX]

If your bass isn't doing what you want, then sell it and use that £150 to go towards a bass that does.

 

[Friskydingo]

19 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

If your bass isn't doing what you want, then sell it and use that £150 to go towards a bass that does.

 

I'm getting a new amp next year. It will be a struggle to justify a new bass as much as its a good idea and I want one. 

Apparently we need house extension done! 

[binky_bass]

@Friskydingo - get a cheap 6 string bass. You'll not regret it. 

[Boodang]

7 hours ago, BigRedX said:

If your bass isn't doing what you want, then sell it and use that £150 to go towards a bass that does.

 

I've got a Squier VM jazz and a few upgrades have turned it into something really special. 

The thing I like about doing upgrades as opposed to just putting the money towards a more expensive bass, is that you get something unique and personal. After all, a VM jazz with creamery pickups, stacked knob 60s preamp, graphtec nut and babicz bridge is not something you can get off the shelf. It might not have been the cheapest of upgrades but it plays and sounds so good I wouldn't swap it for a top of the range american model.

[bassbloke]

My son's VM maple neck jazz is an excellent bass.  I've ABed it against my maple neck MIJ jazz with overwound Lindy Fralins, my maple US Deluxe Jazz V with Noiseless pickups and 3 band Audere preamp and rosewood US Deluxe Jazz V with 2 band Audere and it really holds its own.

 

My only observation is that the pickups sound a little weedy soloed, but I am nit picking here.  If that £150 is really burning a hole in your pocket, then look out for some 2nd hand pickups.  That said, a quick browse on ebay and basschat shows that 1) there isn't much for sale and 2) prices are a bit silly atm.

[Friskydingo]

19 hours ago, binky_bass said:

@Friskydingo - get a cheap 6 string bass. You'll not regret it. 

Your belief in my ability is heart Warming but I think I'll become too confused. As much as it tempts me, I only play rock, so it would be wasted on me