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

[binky_bass]

1 hour ago, Friskydingo said:

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 

I went from a 4 string Ibanez Roadster to a 10 string bass (Binky) years back, now I mostly play 6 strings, and the occasional 8, 9 and 10 string! 

 

You'll be surprised how much more you can express yourself on a 6 string, you might absolutely love it! 

 

Treat yourself to a reasonably cheap second hand 6 string (HB or Ibanez), and if you don't like it after 6 months, sell it on, break ever (maybe turn a small profit!) and then use that money to upgrade your Squier 

 

Or... if you get the 6 string bug, then welcome to the REAL world of bass! 😁

Edited December 30, 2021 by binky_bass

[Stub Mandrel]

Great case and a nice strap, nickel strings, lemon oil and a pointy stick to keep those who say don't use it at bay.

[binky_bass]

32 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Great case and a nice strap, nickel strings, lemon oil and a pointy stick to keep those who say don't use it at bay.

A good strap is a good shout...

 

I use Richter, Pinegrove and Italia straps. All excellent. 

 

Italia seem to have a constant 2-4-1 deal and they are very good straps! Hand made in California to order. 

[SumOne]

I'm eying up a few upgrades for my US Standard Jazz Bass V:

 

Pickups -  DiMarzio ultra Jazz. 

Preamp - A John East J retro. 

Tuners - Hipshot ultralight. 

 

But it's about £400 of upgrades on £900 worth of Bass and probably doesn't increase its value by much so I'm not sure it's worthwhile in resale terms. Perhaps worth it for me keeping the Bass long term though. 

 

Or Preamp/EQ Pedals are an easy alternative. 

[neepheid]

46 minutes ago, SumOne said:

I'm eying up a few upgrades for my US Standard Jazz Bass V:

 

Pickups -  DiMarzio ultra Jazz. 

Preamp - A John East J retro. 

Tuners - Hipshot ultralight. 

 

But it's about £400 of upgrades on £900 worth of Bass and probably doesn't increase its value by much so I'm not sure it's worthwhile in resale terms. Perhaps worth it for me keeping the Bass long term though. 

 

Or Preamp/EQ Pedals are an easy alternative. 

 

Upgrades have little to no positive effect on resale value.  For certain basses they can actually decrease resale value - backwards though that sounds.  If you're going to be upgrading, be sure to keep all the stock parts and return it to stock for selling, then either keep the parts for another bass or sell them separately.  This will minimise your losses on the upgrade parts.

[SumOne]

2 minutes ago, neepheid said:

 

Upgrades have little to no positive effect on resale value.  For certain basses they can actually decrease resale value - backwards though that sounds.  If you're going to be upgrading, be sure to keep all the stock parts and return it to stock for selling, then either keep the parts for another bass or sell them separately.  This will minimise your losses on the upgrade parts.

 

Yeah, I'd probably be better off selling the Bass and using that plus upgrade money on a new Bass. I do quite like the idea of slightly modifying it to have a small degree of customisation and to slightly better fit what I want from it though (even if it is just the equivilant of adding a bodywork kit and lowering a car - not really making it any better for anyone else and actually limitiing it's resale, interesting to do though and makes it feel more personal).

 

Actually, thinking about it a bit more I reckon the ultralight tuners would be a waste of money as the Bass is well balanced and reasonably light and has the smaller Fender tuners anyway so the weight saving would small, the active preamp might be good but it's probably not doing much that a Preamp/EQ pedal wouldn't do without any fitting hassle. I think new pickups could potentially make a worthwhile difference - but how much difference (and if it's a difference I actually like) I'm not so sure. 

[Kev]

On 28/12/2021 at 18:29, Friskydingo said:

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 

So is it the tone you don't like? Changing pickups and adding a preamp is a big jump, I would certainly start with one and see how you get on.  The pickups are probably fine, so if you're looking to make it active then go for the preamp. Understand though that the £150 will all but disappear; there will be little if any increase in value to the bass post-work.

[neepheid]

10 minutes ago, SumOne said:

 

Yeah, I'd probably be better off selling the Bass and using that plus upgrade money on a new Bass. I do quite like the idea of slightly modifying it to have a small degree of customisation and to slightly better fit what I want from it though (even if it is just the equivilant of adding a bodywork kit and lowering a car - not really making it any better for anyone else and actually limitiing it's resale, interesting to do though and makes it feel more personal).

 

Actually, thinking about it a bit more I reckon the ultralight tuners would be a waste of money as the Bass is well balanced and reasonably light and has the smaller Fender tuners anyway so the weight saving would small, the active preamp might be good but it's probably not doing much that a Preamp/EQ pedal wouldn't do without any fitting hassle. I think new pickups could potentially make a worthwhile difference - but how much difference (and if it's a difference I actually like) I'm not so sure. 

 

Just go into it eyes open, don't do anything irreversible and you'll be OK.  I agree, on a bass that already balances well lightweight tuners are a complete waste of money unless you're replacing dodgy tuners to start with (and it doesn't sound like the stock tuners on this bass will be - certainly they shouldn't be on a £900 bass!)

 

The biggest change to the tone of the bass you can make is changing the pickups but don't do it just for the sake of it - identify what it is you don't like about the sound of the bass as is before you wander down the rabbit hole of replacement pickups.  Then research, research, research!

[funkle]

Great advice here, mods are really for you only, they hold pretty much zero value for anyone else if it comes to resale time…so if you think you might eventually sell, keep them (having hopefully kept and then replaced the original parts on the bass). 
 

An alternative way to look at it is that mods may also commit you more to an instrument. 

Edited January 27, 2022 by funkle