RE: I Bought 5 Cheap A$$ Basses (To See if They Sucked)

Gear
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Maybe not what the OP was getting at, but my answer is… for fun?

When I first got into cycling an amazing number of years ago, I started with an entry level road bike. A Trek 1000, if memory serves. I couldn’t afford to drop the money for a higher-end road bike. What I could do, though, was afford smaller upgrades, and I’d always had an interest in wrenching on bikes (back when I was racing BMX, I did all my own wrenching). So, I’d get… new brakes here, new cranks there, new pedals, new bars, new saddle, etc., etc., etc. By the time I was done, I had a REALLY nice road bike, and it was totally mine in that there were no others like it and I’d done all the building myself. It was fun.

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To make a long story short: Both for fun and to save some money (because a Fender will always be more expensive than a Squier with the exact same parts, let alone compared to an off-brand).

There are some examples shown in this threat, but if you are creative enough and you know exactly what you want, modding your own trash bass can pay off while enjoying tinkering with your bass.

Unless you want a Rickenbacker 4001/4003 (which is a one of a kind bass), I’d advise to get creative :slight_smile:

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I get the fun bit, the tinkering with bikes (I can also strip down and rebuild a traditional road bike, although my hydraulic braked bikes … they defeat me and go to the qualified bike mechanic). I also get the tinkering with a bass for fun. That said, the furthest I’ve gone is installing strap locks and custom pick guards.

But, I simply can’t see the point in spending loads on upgrades, if the basic construct of the object isn’t actually that good.

I had a Trek 1000, @JustTim. Actually, I’ve had two over the years - a silver one and then a black one. Even with swapped out parts, they weren’t a patch on the 5200 I also had, or the Madone, and certainly couldn’t compete with the Cervelo, when I bought that. Of course, the 5200, the Madone, the Cervelo, were far more expensive machines, but they all had something in common, and that was a quality, lightweight, carbon frame.

Same with basses, @ElGatoVermelho, yes you can mod a cheap bass, and of course, you can have fun doing so, but as @howard stated, at it heart, the bass will still be a cheap bass. I’m not trying pick a fight, it just that in my opinion, I would rather start with something better, that doesn’t really need modding because it’s good in the first place. The main reason I love second hand is that one can buy some seriously good stuff for a lot less than retail, if one is prepared to wait.

Of course, we all have different views… Vive la différence!

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funny that both of you are road bikers too. I had kinda opposite experience with road bike. My first road bike was a custom steel frame from Seven Cycles and a custom retro fork. I was deciding which groupo to put on but my friends had a 105 around so I put that up and it worked so well I never changed it.

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ellsworth
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Bikes and bass, brother!!

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I should mention - I have certainly done the “buy cheap and mod” thing more than once. In fact I still need to finish and sell one project I am playing with. All the same I will at best break even with it and I was doing it mostly for fun. Modding for fun is a fine hobby and is fun for some of us.

I have also modded better, more midrange instruments to change them to configurations I have wanted. And I can say without a shadow of a doubt based on experience that doing that will lead to a much nicer outcome than turbocharging an entry level instrument, or worse, some unbranded Amazon turd du jour.

It’s worth it to spend a little more and start with a better baseline. Even something in the Squier CV range will give a lot better results from hobby luthering than the average (say) Glarry.

For those wondering - I have been sitting on a Yamaha Pacifica 012 project for like a couple years. It’s almost done, really just needs reassembly, but it’s just kind of sitting buried in my work area right now as I focus on other stuff. But with it I have:

  • Shielded the cavity
  • converted it from HSS to double-buck (including new HH pickguard)
  • levelled the frets, dressed the fret ends, and rolled the fretboard
  • swapped in Gotoh Magnum locking tuners
  • upgraded to CTS pots, a Switchcraft jack, and an orange drop
  • screwed its trem down into a hardtail

It’s actually gonna end up a cute guitar for someone. All the same I won’t even get $150 for it when I sell it, probably closer to $100. And it still won’t be as nice an instrument to play as a midrange Pacifica 611.

27

I test drove a 012 when I was going around Denver and being disappointed everywhere I went. It felt like the TRBX 174 of the guitar line. It’s fine as a beginner guitar, but it’s going to make you GAS for something better sooner than later.

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Yes. The 611/612 are much nicer.

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Sticking with Yamaha, the Revstar RSE’s (the low end of the Revstar line) are so vastly superior to the Pacifica 012, I would highly recommend saving a bit more and ponying up for that over the low end Pacifica. I don’t feel at all like I need to upgrade my RSE. Like, at all. I love it.

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Yep 100%, the Revstar is just great, all models.

And so that’s the point I was getting at. Spending a bit more on a better baseline instrument will, in my experience, always lead to better results than modding sub-$200 instruments.

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I’m the same with vehicle maintenance. When I was in high school in the late ‘60s, I got so tired of car and motorcycle maintenance, that I couldn’t wait to get a real job and pay someone else to do the dirty work.

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Wanting to mod but not learn to set up the instrument will not end well though :rofl:

It’s the bass equivalent of wanting to swap out a crankshaft but not do a tuneup.

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33

Late to the party, was not online yesterday, but my 2 cents as an IT guy - learn your own setups. Puts more money in your pocket for other bass expenditures and learning curve is really shallow.

As to modding, I’ve modded a bass or two. It’s a great thing to do but it is a cost. A 200 dollar bass with new pups, tuners, and bridge is a bass you would get $150 for if sold if your lucky. Better off to sell the parts.

Which if you go in with your eyes open is all fine. Better than buying an HB is to get a used bass and make it your own

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34

Oh but I’m not selling. My main bass is fully modded with a high mass bridge, TBX, Quarter Pounder pickups and more, but I’m modding a bass purely for my own taste and my own use.

If I’m talking about resale value: Just buying a complete product like everyone else.

My second bass will be a short scale and made for lazy playability. No way I’m willing or being able to sell my Frankenbass ^^

35

So… here’s how my Trek 1000 finally ended up, before I sold it and got out of road cycling:

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And that’s after swapping out a Trek 5200 frame and fork which I had to replace because the fork cracked. Motobecane Vent Noir aluminum frame/carbon fork, Full Ultegra group, Mavic Ksyrium wheels, Look Keo Classic pedals, Bontrager carbon bars and seapost, Bontrager… i-don’t-remember-the-model saddle and stem. There wasn’t a part on that bike that I didn’t replace… probably multiple times.

And sure, I’m falling into that “if you build a boat and wind up replacing every piece of wood on the boat over time, is it still the same boat?” thing, and I probably spent more over time on all the upgrades than I would have if I had just bought a Madone or Cervelo or something… but it was fun, and it was mine, and I learned a whole lot, and there were no other bikes like it, and I wouldn’t have traded it for a stock Madone or a Cervelo than fly to the moon.

You know, for whatever that’s worth. :slight_smile:

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Sometimes the journey is worth it

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A classic bit of British humour on the subject, Trigger’s Broom.

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I feel like I got a steal with these 2 Harley Bentons. JJ-55OP and the JJ-45OP. Ash bodies with roasted maple necks and roasted maple fretboards. There’s a wheel at the base of the neck for adjusting the truss rod. Such an awesome feature. Similar to a MusicmanStingray. I wish all basses had this feature and am surprised more don’t. The fretwork is really nice. No sharp edges and I can set the action pretty low without buzz.

The white 4 string has had all the hardware and electronics upgraded. It has EMG pickups and and an EMG BTS preamp. It plays and sounds great. Worth every penny put into it. The blue one has upgraded hardware (I like black hardware), but it still has its original pickups. I replaced the preamp in it, which was noisy and hissy, with a $30 Amazon Chinese made bass preamp. Which surprisingly sounds pretty good. And is very quiet. No hiss. I don’t play 5 string regularly so the stock pickups and cheap preamp are just fine for noodling around on it.

I also have an Ibanez SR500 and 2 Spector NS Pulses. Those 2 HB’s can hold their own against them all day long. And I have to get a screwdriver and remove a plate and find a hex to adjust the truss rod on all 3 of those more expensive basses.

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I have the same idea with the Harley Benton Short Scale. Good to see a good example there! :slight_smile:

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You can do even more :slight_smile:

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