Basses that need no upgrades?

Gear
#1

Sprouting off an idea in another thread…

Is there a bass that you have bought that you thought was perfect as is (from an upgrade/mod perspective, not quality control)?

Asking because I find myself wanting to upgrade most of my basses in some way, but not all.

5 out of the 6 Fenders I own I have wanted to or will be upgrading pickups and/or other components.
My EMG Bello bass I swapped out to active Bello pickups and made it a world better.

The Gretsch G5123B hollow body and my Fender CS ‘61 P, and my MM Stingray BFR for sure need no upgrades IMO.

Any other adds from folks who love their bass the way it came?

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#2

My Ibanez SR650 and my Warwick Corvette will not be modified……. maybe but I can’t promise anything :joy:
All my others I’ve either modified or purchased modified

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#3

I do like to tinker with all this stuff, it is fun all in of itself.

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#4

That is my issue. Tinkering is part of the journey for me

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#5

I wouldn’t mod anything on my 2015 MIA Fender Jazz Bass.

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#6

Yeah, I modify everything. I even mod my kitchen equipment. Yes, I’m serious.
I was about to say that I had no plans to tweak my LsL p-bass, but then realized I already had. I knocked back the finish on the back of the neck with some high grit sandpaper the day after it arrived.
The only instrument that I never changed in any way was a Collings 290 guitar in TV yellow. It was perfect right out of the box. That’s what I sold/traded for the LsL bass. If Collings ever makes basses I’m in serious trouble.

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#7

I’m big on modifying and tinkering - all the basses I own have significant upgrades.

That being said, if/when I get my dream bass - a Fender MIA American Professional II Precision - it will remain stock. It already has a high mass bridge, good tuners, good electronics and an upgraded pickup, so nothing needs to be changed.

Except strings, of course - gotta have my La Bella flats.

And maybe a drop-d tuner. :smiley:

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#8

Porting my reply over:

My only desired mods on my Yamahas have been putting on Schallers. Otherwise the pickups, electronics, and hardware have been fantastic, and fit and finish outstanding. No desire to mod them at all.

The Rockbasses would have gotten new preamps if I had kept them, and active/passive switches. I strongly dislike 2-band EQ; usually it’s the mids you want to boost or cut.

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#9

+1 :+1:

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#10

my Yamaha SBV is 100% stock, perfect as is. also my Grabber is 100% stock too and I don’t see any upgrade I could do on it.

I’ve had a lot of Fenders and only one has kept its stock pickups (a Cabronita with excellent Filtertron style pickups).

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#11

I’m a habitual modder.
Motorcycles, Cars, PCs, Guitars, bicycles, everything gets modded!

But not my Dingwall.
Build quality, finish, electronics, hardware, even the strings and setup were perfect for me straight out of the box.

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#12

I ordered my TRBX 504 with a setup.

Some months later, I really haven’t tinkered with it, nor have I cared to. Its a little thin in the mid-low range, but it’s does everything else I want just fine with a fast neck.

Honestly, instead of modding it, I’m probably going to get a p/j bass for all that heavy duty boomy bass.

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#13

even in active mode boosting the bass and mids? hasn’t been a problem for me with the 604 :slight_smile:

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#14

Oh yea, when I throw on the active switch and fiddle with the knobs, I can get the sounds I want. I posted my funk practice on here which I believe I was using actives.

It’s really not a complaint though. It really does a whole heck of a lot for $500.

Thats just my backdoor denial way of buying another bass guitar without contributing it to GAS.

…Good to see you again btw Howard. Been busy settling in my home the last few months. :slight_smile:

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#15

Awesome! Great to have you back!

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#16

I’ve got 3 passive fender basses which I really like stock. I never had the urge to change anything on them. The only big difference for me is active vs passive. These days I prefer passive but with active you have so much more stuff to tinker on.

At the moment I only got 1 active bass with Glockenklang/Sandberg pickups and a passive custom jazz bass with Aguilar pickups. Both are amazing but so are my stock Fender basses.

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#17

I am a tinkerer by nature. But for some reason, I generally leave my basses alone. Except for strings, of course.

My trusty Ibanez SR300 has remained untouched since 2009. I was just about to get all new electronics for it, but found an Ibanez SR500EPB on Reverb with most of the electronics I wanted already installed, so I just bought that bass instead.

I swapped in a Hipshot Bass Xtender on my Carvin LB20, but that was because the original tuner broke. I’ll probably swap that onto the SR500EPB once that gets here… or maybe I’ll just buy a new one for the SR500EPB. :smiley:

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#18

Same here on my 504.

According to the spec sheets the electronics on the 504 and 604 appear to be the same with the only difference being the body material.

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#19

I’ve no wish to upgrade my Vintage VJ74. It was built with really good Wilkinson components and seems to be good with no upgrades. I am sure there are better parts I could upgrade it with. I just don’t see the need. And it sounds great. I thought I had a dead area on the D string. But I adjusted the action a little higher and now it rings out just like the rest of the strings and the volume is a lot more even.

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