Upgrade Day! Anyone Else Upgrading?

Finally made the time to sort out the draining battery on my Warwick streamer.

The Ground and Battery terminals were shorted in the jack so the pre-amp was being permanently powered.

Fitted a new input jack and all is well in the world once more!

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Been there as well.
Feels good to win the small bass battles.

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So, if changing the looks of your bass counts as upgrading, then I upgraded my MIM P-bass today. It came with a white pickguard, which was kinda meh:

Replaced it with a black one, and added a Fender hi mass bridge for good measure:

I noticed I’m turning it into a cheap Nate Mendel signature replica/lookalike/ripoff, so I might swap out the pickup for a Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounder at some point. However, I’m really liking the tone of the stock pickup, so I’m keeping that as-is for now.

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By the way, while taking the thing apart, I found this round cavity beneath the pickguard, about halfway between the electronics cavity and the bottom horn:

Anybody know what this is for?

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My guess is they use the same CNC program as for other basses. That looks like the position for a pickup selection switch if that were a PJ model. That’s where Fender puts it

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actually and after comparing it to a hi-mass bridge, the basic Fender plate happens to be my favorite.

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yes, it’s used on some production lines to move the bodies from one machine to another. maybe it’s not well said but you get the idea : it’s a pure technical thing related to the manufacturing process.

also it’s a way to identify a Fender MIM body (also true for Fender guitars) : it will have this round hole where a MIA won’t.

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I have a Sterling By Music Man Ray 4 - and its my first bass, and the one I am using to complete the beginner to badass course. I noticed that when I play, I sometimes lose placement of the pickup due to it being further back on the body than I would like.

picked up this little neat thumb rest from the folks at Zero Mod - just installed it :slight_smile: trying it out in a few minutes

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This looks great!!

I also like the stock MIM P-pickups a lot. I pulled them out of mine so it can be red and gold but have a project destination for them hopefully soon.

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I like the HiMass of the bridges I have had so far. Just easier to setup with it. A high mass bridge definitely alters tone, but I can’t say if it’s any better or worse. It’s kind of a sidegrade to me tonewise.

But setup wise, I like it much better

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Thanks @terb, this seems to be the most common explanation. Either that, or it can be used to hide your stash from the cops, or your mojo gets accumulated in there over the years :joy:

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My new bridge arrived today - for my Stream

PXL_20220323_005404627

A Gotoh 201B-4 bridge in black, to replace the Wilkinson bridge on my stream. Nothing wrong with the Wilkinson, other than it’s chrome and doesn’t fit the planned aesthetic.

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Yeah, I like the Wilkinson on my Cort, even if it is a trem.

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Yeah, I’ll probably end up with a Fender at some point with the tin can bridge they come with, and it will end up on that as an upgrade

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My Fender HiMass is here. The strings are not.

I need to drill two more holes, but don’t own a drill so need to figure that out. Sounds really good though, and the bridge feels really solid in the three screws.

Which were in super tight. I had to use a ton of pressure to get them out, resulting in a circular scratch when the bridge went spinning. Oh well. Adds character

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This seems a pretty nice upgrade for a Rick :smiley:

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Silver and black looks great like that, @wombat-metal . . . :+1:

Cheers
Joe

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Time to get a drill with torque adjustment. Doesn’t have to be anything terribly expensive. Especially with all these projects, its essential. If you are worried about not drilling a straight hole just cut a small block of wood, drill through that first as a guide and then place it over the spot you want to drill. Make sure you mark off the drill bit (piece of tape will do) so you don’t go too deep.

Awesome build so far. I was contemplating getting a HB because of what you have done, maybe the tele bass model, but I am not sure yet.

I just had another not so great experience with a Warwick purchase and I am thinking of giving it up and just stick to what I have. May also sell off some basses because maintaining the lot is getting a bit tedious.

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It feels and sounds great. I wouldn’t get put off by a bad experience, for the money I spent how can I be dissappointed? It’s still less than a Squire costs

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Should add I have a cull coming myself. Just need to update pictures

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