‘Upgrade’ - overused and meaningless?

[dave_bass5]

I’ve sold a few basses over the years, and a lot of them have had parts changed (upgrades for me). 
I do think it’s logical that a bass that has had money spent on it should be priced accordingly. You wouldn’t buy a £100 bass, spend another £100 on it and still only sell it for £50 (for example, based on what you paid for it). 
I’ve always kept the original parts and have given them to the buyers. Its up to them if they want to put them back, sell the extra bits etc. This can soften the blow if paying more than a big standard version I guess. 

[chris_b]

Having already wasted a shed load of money on "upgrades" I don't mod anymore. IMO buying the bass that does what you want is the sensible upgrade path.

 

Apart from that, all my gear purchases are an upgrade, ie each one is supposed to be better than the last one.  If it isn't I sell it and keep looking for the next "best thing".

[dave_bass5]

6 hours ago, chris_b said:

Having already wasted a shed load of money on "upgrades" I don't mod anymore. IMO buying the bass that does what you want is the sensible upgrade path.

 

Apart from that, all my gear purchases are an upgrade, ie each one is supposed to be better than the last one.  If it isn't I sell it and keep looking for the next "best thing".

While i agree, sometimes a bass needs a push in the right direction, or else you go boutique and silly prices. 

Ive found its sometimes cheaper to get an off the peg bass and add the bits you want, rather than have to get a custom bass made with more or less the same result. 

Saying that, i think quite a few of us don’t really need the features we spend the extra on. 

 

For example. My Fender Sandblasted bass came with chrome hardware. I wanted black. The two options seemed to be get a builder to make me one, or just replace the hardware. One worked out at less than £100 on top of the cost of the bass, the other was never an option. Does it sound better, no, of course not, but its a bass i love the look of and cant buy from a shop. 

Edited March 25, 2022 by dave_bass5

[StickyDBRmf]

Fender Sandblaster! That's a model they should put out!

[Rayman]

19 hours ago, chris_b said:

Having already wasted a shed load of money on "upgrades" I don't mod anymore. IMO buying the bass that does what you want is the sensible upgrade path.

 

Apart from that, all my gear purchases are an upgrade, ie each one is supposed to be better than the last one.  If it isn't I sell it and keep looking for the next "best thing".

That

 

I believe that every instrument, budget or expensive, has its own voice. My Mustang (about to buy another one) was 50 quid. I firmly believe that altering it in any way will take its vibe away, and it’s vibe is awesome as it is. Best p bass I’ve had, and I’ve had a lot. An upgrade would be a backwards step and remove its personality.

 

Buy the right bass in the first place. If you f*** up and don’t like it, move it on. Don’t waste your money on trying to make a silk purse out of a sows ear.

[dave_bass5]

15 minutes ago, Rayman said:

 

Buy the right bass in the first place. If you f*** up and don’t like it, move it on. Don’t waste your money on trying to make a silk purse out of a sows ear.

Why would you assume a bass that is almost prefect be a ‘sows ear’? Some people just like a bit of change, that doesn’t mean the bass is crap to start with.

If something needs a bit of a tweak to get it how you want it then what’s the big deal? 
 

[Rayman]

No big deal at all if you’re going to keep it, like I said a few comments ago. My experience is that a lot of upgraded instruments are moved on anyway, which makes the mods pointless.

[tegs07]

9 minutes ago, Rayman said:

No big deal at all if you’re going to keep it, like I said a few comments ago. My experience is that a lot of upgraded instruments are moved on anyway, which makes the mods pointless.

I’ve moved on modded instruments, Bitsa’s, factory originals. Some worked for me, others didn’t. Some were traded up, some to free up space, some to raise cash for other projects. I’ve made money, lost money but the cost to reward ratio on all of them was in balance to the reward. Hours of enjoyment for small change in the grand scheme of things.

[ezbass]

I have found that modifying stock basses helped me define exactly what I want from a bass. My 2 custom builds feature many of the things that I tried out on stock basses earlier (D-Tuners for example) and not the things that didn’t work out as I’d hoped. However, upgrades to stock basses rarely increases the worth of that bass if and when you come to sell it, it is not a sum of its parts, sadly, although they might help sell it to someone who likes the changes. On the whole, I think it’s best to keep the original parts and put them back if you sell it on and sell the modifications separately (or keep them for your next project). It is this way that you might see a ‘sum of its parts’ resale value.

[tegs07]

7 minutes ago, ezbass said:

I have found that modifying stock basses helped me define exactly what I want from a bass. My 2 custom builds feature many of the things that I tried out on stock basses earlier (D-Tuners for example) and not the things that didn’t work out as I’d hoped. However, upgrades to stock basses rarely increases the worth of that bass if and when you come to sell it, it is not a sum of its parts, sadly, although they might help sell it to someone who likes the changes. On the whole, I think it’s best to keep the original parts and put them back if you sell it on and sell the modifications separately (or keep them for your next project). It is this way that you might see a ‘sum of its parts’ resale value.

Indeed. Sometimes breaking down the bass and selling some parts on and keeping others for the next project is also an option. I’m speaking as someone who did a few of these projects just to keep sane during lockdown rather than as general advice!

[Rayman]

Interesting topic, and I can only comment with my many experiences of mods and the fact that I always ended up moving the bass on anyway after a quest to improve it.

 

Like I’ve said, if you’re keeping it and a few tweaks make it better for you, awesome. However my experience is that ultimately the bass was moved on anyway because I was trying to find something in the instrument that was was never there in the first place.

[dave_bass5]

31 minutes ago, Rayman said:

No big deal at all if you’re going to keep it, like I said a few comments ago. My experience is that a lot of upgraded instruments are moved on anyway, which makes the mods pointless.

Surely if someone is buying a modded bass they are ok with the additions? Who’s to say one persons ‘upgrades’ doesn't work for another as well?

I take your point, and its easy to say ‘just buy the right one in the first place’, but in practice how do we know its not going to be the right one until we get it,  and on here even being the right one doesn't stop it getting sold on. 

Most basses aren't sold with many options unless you go higher end, so sometimes we have to do it ourselves. Doesn’t mean the bass is crap to start with, nor after. 

 

If someone likes the tone of a certain pup (for example)and someone is selling a bass with that in then its a win win IMO. Nothing is ever cut and dry though, and id be more inclined to buy a bass that hasn't been modified by someone, as ive seen some real disasters. Ive never brought a bass with the intention of changing parts, but as time goes on and you find you want something slightly different, this can be a cheaper way of getting it. 

 

Then there are those that just like to mess things up 😁

[tegs07]

Like most topics this one is entirely subjective!

If you have the money to buy your ideal bass ( or basses as it’s pretty tricky to find one bass that will do everything) then modding/upgrading whatever you want to call it is pointless.

If you only have the cash to buy a budget instrument and are happy with the way it looks and sounds then it’s pointless to change it.
If you don’t like how it looks or sounds but can afford incremental changes then why not do so?

 If your a hobbyist meddler and get a kick out of making changes then as long as no small animals are harmed in the process why should anyone care?

Finally if your looking at buying another bass and someone is charging more for changes you don’t like don’t buy it. If it’s overpriced it won’t sell.

Edited March 26, 2022 by tegs07

[TimR]

If you buy a bass and have a problem with it, do a Google and find loads of other buyers have exactly the same problem with it. You can either send it back for a refund, which you're unlikely to get  if you've had the bass a long time, or you can swap the problem part out with a new upgraded part.

 

I don't see how any potential buyer would be put of by a known issue that's been fixed and improved. 

Edited March 27, 2022 by TimR

[AnAnInginAneAnA]

9 minutes ago, TimR said:

If you buy a bass and have a problem with it, do a Google and find loads of other buyers have exactly the same problem with it. You can either send it back for a refund, which you're unlikely to get  if you've had the bass a long time, or you can swap the problem part out with a new upgraded part.

 

I don't see how any potential buyer would be put of by a known issue that's been fixed and improved. 

 

Case in point, Gibson 3 point bridge, Rickenbacker bridge, Jazzmaster bridge, Pots and wiring on pretty much every bass/guitar under £700. Theres not much chance of a parallel replacement being done on those, those upgrade are pretty much a given at some point.

[dave_bass5]

9 minutes ago, AnAnInginAneAnA said:

 

Case in point, Gibson 3 point bridge, Rickenbacker bridge, Jazzmaster bridge, Pots and wiring on pretty much every bass/guitar under £700. Theres not much chance of a parallel replacement being done on those, those upgrade are pretty much a given at some point.

Good point

When I got my Jack Casady bass, the bridge popped off on the first tune up. I was aware of this issue so had already looked in to a replacement bridge, that was definitely an upgrade. 
Considering how long the bass has been in production there was no way this would ever be fixed by Epiphone.