A big thanks again to the guys at Gunstreet Wiring Shop for donating their wiring kit for this project! gunstreetwiringshop.com And a huge thanks to each of you for watching as always!🤟
I think for me if the neck felt good to me then its worth modding, it always goes back to neck feel, dive, and finish for me. Original cost has little to do with the guitar/bass being modded
Alright first I’m going to replace the pickups, all the electronics, then the pick guard, nut, string trees, tuners, new bridge, new neck, and new body.
I think with these kinds of builds the idea is to make them more comfortable to play rather than drastically improving the sound. I might be wrong, though, so don't roast me.
At least half of my guitar collection consists of something I saw going cheap online or in a pawn shop or garage sale where I saw potential in upgrading electronics or replacing / repairing a broken neck for the right price. I get more satisfaction from playing an instrument that I've put a bit of love into and saved from neglect than buying expensive, brand new instruments.
Dave love yur reply! I'm glad I'm not the only one doing this.!! I know they are a little more expensive, but man I REALLY like the Billy Sheehan D'Adello relentless pick-ups. I do the set up, add some decent pots and wiring, a high-mass bridge, and boom off we go!!
I'm currently modding my Artist Jazz Bass which I had received as an 18th birthday present, so far I had installed a new pickguard and installed some ashtray covers, I have a wiring harness, pickups, bridge and tuners coming via mail.
I see some people saying it’s not worth it buying a cheap bass then upgrading, saying instead buying a cheap ibanez is better. Probably. But there’s something about buying a cheap bass, then upgrading it and making it a really killer bass, you get a better connection with the instrument when you put all that work into it. makes it really feel like YOUR bass. not just a bass.
I did a similar thing to a 1970s Memphis P Bass I picked up last year. It was made in Japan, so the body and neck were already not bad at all. The previous owner put in a new wiring harness already with all good parts (CTS ports, orange drop caps, etc.). I put the same Fender pickups in, refinished it in a see-through white, and added a gold anodized pickguard. Amazing bass for what I spent.
When it comes to cheap gear, I don’t know how I feel about keeping everything stock. Yeah, obviously you’ll have some diamonds in the rough, but most of the time, and I think y’all can agree, cheap stuff doesn’t sound the best. With modifications, the sky is the limit, and I have no problem with modifications. If you buy an instrument, it’s yours now. Nobody else’s. If you wanna mod it, that’s your decision. Nobody has to like it but you. And if you find that you prefer the original electronics or something like that, then as long as you save the original stuff changing back should be easy. If you route it out for a bridge or something, then I really hope you thought about it, because that’s gonna be a big hole to fill (pun 100% intended there). I recently modified my first electric guitar (it was a cheap AXL Strat copy that I got at a thrift store for $65) from a cheap piece of garbage into a cheap sunburst Frankenstein-inspired guitar. I’ve cut up the original pickguard to a single area on the body, and wired in a Seymour Duncan JB to a single 500k volume pot, and screwed the pickup directly into the body as close to the bridge as I could. Also replaced the original neck with a Starcaster branded neck (I know, not much of an upgrade, but trust me, I think it feels and looks so much better than the old one). I’m not ashamed to admit it’s still a piece of garbage, but it’s my piece of garbage. And when I get a chance, I’m planning on investing in some locking tuners and a new bridge (which will either be something like a Music Man Bridge from a JP6 or maybe a Floyd Rose)
I went the cheap route with a Harley Benton bass. surprisingly good bass for the money, but still not what I had in mind. so upgrade all the hardware and electronics then later down the line (when I'm not poor) ill eventually order a custom body and neck from Warmoth. IMO I think this a great way to upgrade as you're not just settling on an upgraded cheap bass and before you realises you've spent the money, you have a bass that feels and sounds amazing
Definitely. I have 2 cheap basses in the house. The e string didn't want to pickup on either. I put new strings on, and instantly better sound. Ernie Ball flats on one, D'Addario buckle flats on the other.
When the poster of the video said the difference isn't that big I had to double take. It's a phenomenal difference in tone, clarity, punch, depth... made me question everyone else's ears! Glad to see your comment.
I was one of the people who thought that the improvement was negligible... that was until I noticed that maybe I should watch the comparison again but with my studio headphone and YES, it definitely sounds a lot better.
This was an interesting video. You should do more of those Frankenbass transformations, especially since you have a heart for modded garbage gear (I have too, in a sense). Oh and we're all stoked for the Fakenbacker transformation that people already requested in the comments.
I was just waiting for you to connect a ground wire from the pickups to the bridge so it would not click or hum when you touch the strings (or not). Also, was hoping to hear you talk about properly setting up the bass. What I did with my bass was get a 12" long 1/8" drill bit and gun drill from the bottom strap button hole straight to the pickup pocket - take time to line it up right, so you don't make a boo boo and drill through front or back of the body. Then just make a hole under the bridge. You can still screw the strap button back in, and feed a ground wire through the new hole from the pickups to the bridge.
I get that this approach might work on a super tight budget, get the bass-upgrade tuners one month-pickup the next, but you just put $200 into that bass and it sounds perfectly acceptable. But in my opinion, if you're going to spend the $200, go for an entry level Squier or something like the Xavier guitars from GFS.
Saw a couple of used Fender squires on craigslist for about $200. I would think that would be a better starting point... but I'm just a guitar player looking for a bass (for the fun of it). Also, what strings to put on it?
An interesting DIY project, proving that it can be done. I am left wondering if it would ultimately better to buy a used bass of better quality and skip all the hassle? Still, for someone with a very limited budget it’s a great way to dip your toes into the bass playing experience without sinking your money into an expensive instrument. Kudos !
Same cost, but he put a ton of work into this one. I'd say his upgraded bass sounds about as good as my Classic Vibe (which I love) but it's unclear if it was worth all the time spent assembling and tweaking the Wish bass.
Thanks for your honesty here! So many people with a passion for learning music quit or put music on the hobby shelf without some guidance.. This is good work!
Great vid. Thank You. I did the same thing to a Hamer Slammer P Bass that was given to me free from a homeless guy. It was built nice and solid so I put Seymour Duncan pickups, Emerson electronic package and had a luthier reseat the neck and set it up since I'm not handy like you. I ended up costing $252.00 for everything. Plays very nice. You don't have to spend a whole lot to get a good decent bass.
I did a project last year that had similar results. My brother in law kicked me his old Johnson P Bass and I also bought a $40 Squire P Bass that had PJ pickups. The Johnson pretty much remained stock. I got a used DiMarzio pickup and we also upgraded the electronics. Other than that I just added Dunlop strap locks. I covered the bass with hotrod decals and it looks pretty punk. I also used Bakelite chickenhead knobs and SR round wound strings on this. As far as cost, I only paid for the strap locks so this was under $20. The Squire was the exact opposite. It was an early 2000s bass with PJ pickups. I ended up replacing most things on here. The idea was to upcycle as much as possible. The bass itself is purple sparkle. The neck is a Jazz bass profile despite saying P Bass on it. The bridge is a new high mass Fender bridge. The pickguard is new and I went with a Stratosphere pickguard that is gold/copper depending on the lighting. The pickups were recycled Duncan Designed PJ pickups out of a Squire Jaguar bass. I opted for flat wound DR strings on this bass. The electronics were also recycled pots that are standard pots. Everything came together well except the Jazz pickup. Despite coming out of a newer Squire they were just a bit too big. I ended up filing the sides of the cavity for an hour until it went in. I also replaced the knobs with Bakelite chickenhead knobs. I also put in a thumb rest over the P pickup to facilitate finger style playing. The main idea behind this bass was to have a Motown feel and vibe. The interesting thing about this bass is that flatwound strings can growl. While I did this on a budget all said it ran me around $250 all said and done. The common issue that both basses share is that where the neck meets the body, the frets buzz out. Both basses need the fingerboard reprofile to play higher than the 12th fret. Eventually this will be done. Otherwise both play and sound great. Upcycling budget, cheap or non working basses can be fun and a great way to learn how to fix things and expand your instruments. The biggest thing I would say is do not expect perfection.
I recently did the same thing to Glarry's Bronco bass knock off. Dropped in a 51 Nordy,new wiring harness, hipshot ultralite tuners and hand rubbed 10 coats of Tru/Gun Oil into the neck and headstock. Gigged with it this past weekend and wow.....sounded great ! Very light, comfortable and plays well. I just love to upgrade cheap basses : )
Oh p.s. had the same problem with the pickguard ........and wasted $30 on a replacement that didn't come close to fitting. So I found faux tortoise contact paper online and with the wife's help bingo ! Looks great !
As someone whose generally short on cash, but not afraid of sweat equity, I found this to be a fun video, and now I'm curious about picking up, and fixing up, the same bass. Thanks for the inspiration, and nevermind those haters. Half of them probably don't know their way around an instrument, anyway.
Never watched your videos, but I've now seen this one and the $53 P-bass review. I thought they were both pretty interesting, insightful, and it was fun to watch fanangle the bass to accommodate the upgrades. And showing some love to GS for doing you a solid, damn decent all around. All that hatefulness just invented over nothing, man. I wish I were surprised, for real. I appreciate you! And I think you do good work, and so does everyone who's worth making videos for in the first place. Gonna subscribe.
I enjoyed your upgrade video and found extremely informative. Also, I like the plug you gave for the various hardware and wiring companies - great to know who they are and to get an opinion on the quality. I would love seeing you do an upgrade video regularly. Great job!!
I had the exact same problem with the tuners, upgraded my Glarry £72 P Bass and the Wilkinson tuners were massive, got a much smaller set from Wilkinson and they're perfect!
Thanks so much for this how to tutorial. I bought a Behringer P Bass knock off for $40. I'm just starting out learning the bass. Recognising that the Behringer bass will probably be factory fitted with low end quality hardware and accessories I thought that I would go to work and replace most of this stuff. I read online a player with a Behringer bass like mine retrofitted some fairly good quality replacements The recommended bridge and pick up changes, are priced way out into the stratosphere. A Fender High Mass Bridge and a set of Seymour-Duncan SP4 pickups. What to do? The prices mentioned here that were current about a year and a half ago, have now doubled. The Fender pickups are now $99.99 on Amazon, the GS loom is still around $41
I love modding guitars, my most recent was a similar one to this, except I've not touched the bridge yet. I put a set of Bareknuckle split 58s in a cheap bass I bought from Andertons. Sounds brutal now!
I just bought a Glarry P Bass and I plan on ripping everything out of it and replacing everything. thanks for sharing your video. I'm hoping to have some success. I guess time will tell. thanks again.
The problem with demoing basses through a chain of Darkglass and other high end pedals is - it's extremely difficult to match all those pedal settings at a later date if doing a comparison!
I have been down this road many times. All that REALLY needs to be done to upgrade a cheap bass (providing the neck and frets are good) is to round the fret board and fret edges with a 150 Grit Scotch foam sanding block, do a GOOD setup, and most important - change the strings!! The rest of the items are nice, but do not affect the playability or sound.
A couple of years ago I upgraded my Squier PJ with EMG pickups and Fender electronics and hardware and I couldn't be happier. Now I'm looking for a better instrument overall, but the Squier definetly served me well.
They are built in the same exact factory...Glarry MIGHT have a quality control person at the end of the assembly line that will accept or reject the bass...if accepted...they will then put the "Glarry" logo on the headstock...if rejected the bass becomes nameless:)
I like your upgrade video a lot. I actually have this same p-bass copy in a dark blue sunburst, and it sounds decent for the price without the upgrades. I actually write and record commercially licensed music as a composer under professional rights organization BMI, INC. I play and record many electric and acoustic instruments in regards to the instrumental tracks that I write. One way, that I am able to do that (and minimize over all cost) is able to have different instruments in many configurations (such as pickups, size, ect), is buying the many "close copies" of famous branded instruments that are available. Sometimes writing songs, I really do need one sort of pickup configuration, or a certain size of acoustic guitar. Some instruments like that the p-bass copy that I have, just needed a very basic setup. There are some electric guitars that I have bought, that I needed to upgrade the pickups, or string nut or bridge saddles... but I can purchase parts for really inexpensive prices these days as well. Once in awhile, I come across an instrument that is totally beyond repair and I'll get a refund... it's always good to buy from a reputable place, like Amazon. Have a great week.
Cheap basses are awesome. My first and only bass for many years was a Boston P bass, used it in school orchestra for 5 years including many gigs. Had to have it re wired a few times cause of it's cheap electronics but still held up till last year when I sold it. Mine was all stock, apart from when it was resprayed gold and then red ( was originally yellow ) had plans to upgrade but never got around to it. Sold it last year for £20 in car boot not bad for a £70 new bass or something which I had about 10 years of use out of.
Hey great work I bought a Glarry P Bass I put on some flat wound strings pick guard and bridge cover I might upgrade the tunners and pickup tuners and bridge in the future thanks a lot.
I also did something similar but just with a Squire P Bass body I bought on ebay. I am in the UK and found a similar wiring harness company, put in some Seymour Duncan quarter pounders and used the Fender Himass bridge. Also I put a nice pearl effect pickguard and pearl control nobs that went nicely with the black body. All of that was pretty cheap but then I spent £300 quid on the Fender roasted maple neck. Had an issue with Wilkinson tuners, they did not fit and were too big for the holes in the neck so had to spend more on some Gotoh tuners - but to be honest they are just awesome so worth the extra cash.
Hey Patrick. I saw your initial review on the Wish bass and bought one myself (well, wifey had the account so she did it for me). Was not too displeased with it out of the box sound-wise but OMG those strings!! The bass is still in original state and had thought of doing something like what you have done now. Thank you for braving those rapids! BTW is it staying in tune for you now?
The pickups - bridge - and tuners are the cheapest Chinese available so it's also a candidate for upgrades. The Glarry headstock and logo are not the most attractive but if you're on a strict budget the stock Glarry can get you by. All guitars / basses benefit greatly by a proper setup and there are several good YT Videos that show you how. Same with mods and that's the fun to be had with these inexpensive instruments. Changing the pickups for some quality ones will change the sound the most - usually warming up the sound with better frequencies.
Nice pickup upgrade, it sounds much better on the low strings particularly. Good call with the sanding of the neck too. 9/10 if you cut the nut properly, take off a load of lacquer from the neck and sand block the edges of the frets, it’ll play like a guitar worth hundreds more
pickups are a huge improvement, i'd rather like to see the sound comparison without those new pickups to check if the hardware really improves the bass sound or just the pickups. Because a new pair of pickups always sounds better
i have to laugh a bit. I bought a p-bass body and neck with the same intentions and ended up with the same issues.. body cavity needed routing for the new pots, my pick guard didn't line up at any points, my wilkinson tuners were to damn big. But on the positive side, the wilkinson bridge was great. 10/10 value per dollar.
those kind of projects are really mainly just for fun it's almost like a kit bass but since it's assembled you can technically upgrade it one piece at a time so you always have a bass to play I brought an old samick bass for $60 all I did to it so far was put the EMG GZR PJ geezer butler sig pups in it, it had active pickups originally but they didn't work
This would be make a great beginner bass. I usually get new but defective basses to work on. Bad electronics or string buzz, but yeah;what an adventure it was. Mine was a G-style 5-string fret-less, neck through .
Thanks for the video! I recently upgraded an SX PJ bass, and I had the same problem when I put in the full size pots. I had to dremmel the cavity a little wider. I use a set of Dragonfire PJ pickups, and it works great.
Did you change the strings? The newer sound is much more meaty in the midrange, while the original was high/low. I love the baseball bat pbass neck! I watched both- Great videos!
Looks good to say the least. I just bought a cheap 180 bucks Squier P-Bass in lime green. The quality was good although I expectet the worse. No need for upgrades from a technical point of view but I wanted black hardware a high mass bridge and other pus. Now it's my favourite instrument although I have expensive basses too.
I learned the hard way about those cheap basses... I got a brand new Donner 4 sting bass from Amazon for $60.00.. The only things that were usable were the body and the neck - everything else needed to be replaced.
A Tusq nut will help brighten the tone as well. For $15 more you could have went with Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounder pickups, and had a Major upgrade! Leveling the frets does wonders for playability, but that’s more involved.
Gunstreet is fantastic. It is Art. They take the time to make a great product. Just take a look at some factory wiring. Then look at Gunstreet. Huge difference.
Just got that more “deeper, growly, tone” it sounds like you can hear a humbucker sound with these pickups, sounds terrific for $147!! Even though you had to use leftover parts because some of the parts didn’t fit oh well at least you made that bass play and sound a lot better I think it was a successful upgrade!!
How is the playability? Yes the neck was too thick and needed some help, but fretts? Frett board? Sustain? Weight? Is it now worth the original cost pluss upgrades? Less more? I ask only because "if the musicians heart n soul doesnt come thru doesn't project then the most expensive instruments are shit as well as the cheap ones"
I've dropped in EMG "Geezer" pups into several basses and liked the results. Also on these cheap basses/guitars spend a little extra time shielding the back of the pick guard and the body cavity.....goes a long way. : )
I think this is very helpful because not everyone has the funds to buy a quality bass right out of the gate, but you can buy an inexpensive one and upgrade little by little as the budget permits. BTW, did the new pickup have more output in addition to a better tone?
A big thanks again to the guys at Gunstreet Wiring Shop for donating their wiring kit for this project! gunstreetwiringshop.com
And a huge thanks to each of you for watching as always!🤟
You should oil that fretboard too. It looks super dry
I think for me if the neck felt good to me then its worth modding, it always goes back to neck feel, dive, and finish for me. Original cost has little to do with the guitar/bass being modded
You playing with a pen not slap uncool play slap now
Plz
Real bassists play with their fingers... NO PICKS!!
You could have probably bought the equivalent components on a site like digikey for like $10.
Hey, could you please upgrade the Fake Rickenbacker you also bought
yeah that would be fun
imagine just putting the $600 Lollar horseshoe and the $200 Nordenbocker in it lol
Up
Mod it so it becomes like Cliff's bass
I wanna see him mod the rick with lemmy semour duncans pickups... Or mod it like cliff burtons.
Alright first I’m going to replace the pickups, all the electronics, then the pick guard, nut, string trees, tuners, new bridge, new neck, and new body.
The P-Bass of Theseus
That's so fuckin' funny.
...strings, frets...
😂
@@xandercovington4964I was about to say the same thing lmao
Please do the fake Rickenbacker next on upgrading the affordable. Awesome video as always. Thank you.
Up
I agree!
yas
Patrick : Can I make this $53 bass sound and play well?
Bass : Yes, you can
also Bass : now i ain't $53 bass anymore
Interesting build. Not a huge sound improvement, but it definitely got warmer, more natural. For $50, this might be better than buying a DIY kit.
But it's not 50 bucks anymore. IMO you would be better off buying for example a cheap Ibanez for that 200$ that all of that costed
I think with these kinds of builds the idea is to make them more comfortable to play rather than drastically improving the sound. I might be wrong, though, so don't roast me.
@@m1trek860 Which is exactly what he didnt do by just spending money. And he spent 3x the original cost.
Colton Benson 6:59
@@jakublistwon But then it wouldn't have the parts you wanted. You'd end up modifying it too. 😁
At least half of my guitar collection consists of something I saw going cheap online or in a pawn shop or garage sale where I saw potential in upgrading electronics or replacing / repairing a broken neck for the right price. I get more satisfaction from playing an instrument that I've put a bit of love into and saved from neglect than buying expensive, brand new instruments.
Dave love yur reply! I'm glad I'm not the only one doing this.!! I know they are a little more expensive, but man I REALLY like the Billy Sheehan D'Adello relentless pick-ups. I do the set up, add some decent pots and wiring, a high-mass bridge, and boom off we go!!
I'm currently modding my Artist Jazz Bass which I had received as an 18th birthday present, so far I had installed a new pickguard and installed some ashtray covers, I have a wiring harness, pickups, bridge and tuners coming via mail.
that's what i always do with bikes but i'm afraid to do it on bass, don't really know what pickups to buy and stuff
I see some people saying it’s not worth it buying a cheap bass then upgrading, saying instead buying a cheap ibanez is better. Probably. But there’s something about buying a cheap bass, then upgrading it and making it a really killer bass, you get a better connection with the instrument when you put all that work into it. makes it really feel like YOUR bass. not just a bass.
Wow, what a difference in tone. :O And I kinda dig the blue colour, especially with the black pickguard!
I did a similar thing to a 1970s Memphis P Bass I picked up last year. It was made in Japan, so the body and neck were already not bad at all. The previous owner put in a new wiring harness already with all good parts (CTS ports, orange drop caps, etc.). I put the same Fender pickups in, refinished it in a see-through white, and added a gold anodized pickguard. Amazing bass for what I spent.
My Memphis is an incredible Japanese bass!!!!!
At this price point I'd rather throw in another 100-200$ and buy a used MIM Fender
Even an Indonesian one
Or even a high end Squier
Can confirm first hand that there isn’t really much of a difference between MIM fender and a high end squier
AllSound Music Maybe Im vain, but I like the classic Fender headstock logo
There's something satisfying about modding your own bass.
That actually is a big improvement I'm really impressed by this. This is something I might have to do
When it comes to cheap gear, I don’t know how I feel about keeping everything stock. Yeah, obviously you’ll have some diamonds in the rough, but most of the time, and I think y’all can agree, cheap stuff doesn’t sound the best. With modifications, the sky is the limit, and I have no problem with modifications. If you buy an instrument, it’s yours now. Nobody else’s. If you wanna mod it, that’s your decision. Nobody has to like it but you. And if you find that you prefer the original electronics or something like that, then as long as you save the original stuff changing back should be easy. If you route it out for a bridge or something, then I really hope you thought about it, because that’s gonna be a big hole to fill (pun 100% intended there).
I recently modified my first electric guitar (it was a cheap AXL Strat copy that I got at a thrift store for $65) from a cheap piece of garbage into a cheap sunburst Frankenstein-inspired guitar. I’ve cut up the original pickguard to a single area on the body, and wired in a Seymour Duncan JB to a single 500k volume pot, and screwed the pickup directly into the body as close to the bridge as I could. Also replaced the original neck with a Starcaster branded neck (I know, not much of an upgrade, but trust me, I think it feels and looks so much better than the old one). I’m not ashamed to admit it’s still a piece of garbage, but it’s my piece of garbage. And when I get a chance, I’m planning on investing in some locking tuners and a new bridge (which will either be something like a Music Man Bridge from a JP6 or maybe a Floyd Rose)
that's how ya do it.
BassRacerx that’s very true
I went the cheap route with a Harley Benton bass. surprisingly good bass for the money, but still not what I had in mind. so upgrade all the hardware and electronics then later down the line (when I'm not poor) ill eventually order a custom body and neck from Warmoth. IMO I think this a great way to upgrade as you're not just settling on an upgraded cheap bass and before you realises you've spent the money, you have a bass that feels and sounds amazing
a big improvement but for the next one you should change the strings as well, as that makes a hell of a difference!
Definitely. I have 2 cheap basses in the house. The e string didn't want to pickup on either. I put new strings on, and instantly better sound. Ernie Ball flats on one, D'Addario buckle flats on the other.
Also I once put EMGs Alnico 5s in a BC rich Warlock. It was killer. I gave that one to my son.
great now u have to test this modded 55+150$ bass vs a stock 200ish $ bass.
The nodded bass has the parts he selected for it, including the sanded down neck. It's personalised, so it'll most likely play better.
The difference is huge. Not bad to begin with but I hear a clear improvement.
When the poster of the video said the difference isn't that big I had to double take. It's a phenomenal difference in tone, clarity, punch, depth... made me question everyone else's ears! Glad to see your comment.
I was one of the people who thought that the improvement was negligible... that was until I noticed that maybe I should watch the comparison again but with my studio headphone and YES, it definitely sounds a lot better.
Major improvement over those cheesy ceramic magnet offshore pickups. Their sound is vapid. Now he has a real bass..
That Gunstreet wiring looks clean
I had the same problem with my Wilkinson tuners. To solve the problem I used a grinder and took off some of the extra material of the back plates
This was an interesting video. You should do more of those Frankenbass transformations, especially since you have a heart for modded garbage gear (I have too, in a sense). Oh and we're all stoked for the Fakenbacker transformation that people already requested in the comments.
I was just waiting for you to connect a ground wire from the pickups to the bridge so it would not click or hum when you touch the strings (or not). Also, was hoping to hear you talk about properly setting up the bass. What I did with my bass was get a 12" long 1/8" drill bit and gun drill from the bottom strap button hole straight to the pickup pocket - take time to line it up right, so you don't make a boo boo and drill through front or back of the body. Then just make a hole under the bridge. You can still screw the strap button back in, and feed a ground wire through the new hole from the pickups to the bridge.
I get that this approach might work on a super tight budget, get the bass-upgrade tuners one month-pickup the next, but you just put $200 into that bass and it sounds perfectly acceptable. But in my opinion, if you're going to spend the $200, go for an entry level Squier or something like the Xavier guitars from GFS.
Question is.... is it better than an off the shelf $200 bass ?
It is not
Not at all
Saw a couple of used Fender squires on craigslist for about $200. I would think that would be a better starting point... but I'm just a guitar player looking for a bass (for the fun of it).
Also, what strings to put on it?
An interesting DIY project, proving that it can be done. I am left wondering if it would ultimately better to buy a used bass of better quality and skip all the hassle?
Still, for someone with a very limited budget it’s a great way to dip your toes into the bass playing experience without sinking your money into an expensive instrument.
Kudos !
Dude i looooove your playing!!!
You come up with the most creative basslines and have real balls and grit in your playing style!!
Now I’m curious about the outcome of an A/B comparison against a Squier Affinity since they’re pretty much the same cost. Great vid! 👍🏼
Same cost, but he put a ton of work into this one. I'd say his upgraded bass sounds about as good as my Classic Vibe (which I love) but it's unclear if it was worth all the time spent assembling and tweaking the Wish bass.
AMP Yeah, that was my thought too. The work put in probably made this cheap bass sound/play on par with $400 basses.
I think the Yamaha BB range start at around 200 and the Ibanez tmbs. At least buying these or a squire your getting warranty and after sales support.
When you dremeled it to fit the pots did you figure out if it was plywood?
I liked this project. Great info and shows what’s possible. Love to see more like it.
sensei1NTBFW me too
Thanks for your honesty here! So many people with a passion for learning music quit or put music on the hobby shelf without some guidance.. This is good work!
That wiring kit looks awesome. Nice attention to detail.
Patrick, hell yes. Much improvement. Sounds like a damn solid pbass.
Dude, I love that plastidip’d pickguard! Matte black looks way cool!
What a great attitude to have when people hate on your vids. Just continue being positive and productive
Dynamics before: n a h
Dynamics after: *Y A H*
Great vid. Thank You. I did the same thing to a Hamer Slammer P Bass that was given to me free from a homeless guy. It was built nice and solid so I put Seymour Duncan pickups, Emerson electronic package and had a luthier reseat the neck and set it up since I'm not handy like you. I ended up costing $252.00 for everything. Plays very nice. You don't have to spend a whole lot to get a good decent bass.
I did a project last year that had similar results. My brother in law kicked me his old Johnson P Bass and I also bought a $40 Squire P Bass that had PJ pickups.
The Johnson pretty much remained stock. I got a used DiMarzio pickup and we also upgraded the electronics. Other than that I just added Dunlop strap locks. I covered the bass with hotrod decals and it looks pretty punk. I also used Bakelite chickenhead knobs and SR round wound strings on this. As far as cost, I only paid for the strap locks so this was under $20.
The Squire was the exact opposite. It was an early 2000s bass with PJ pickups. I ended up replacing most things on here. The idea was to upcycle as much as possible. The bass itself is purple sparkle. The neck is a Jazz bass profile despite saying P Bass on it. The bridge is a new high mass Fender bridge. The pickguard is new and I went with a Stratosphere pickguard that is gold/copper depending on the lighting. The pickups were recycled Duncan Designed PJ pickups out of a Squire Jaguar bass. I opted for flat wound DR strings on this bass. The electronics were also recycled pots that are standard pots. Everything came together well except the Jazz pickup. Despite coming out of a newer Squire they were just a bit too big. I ended up filing the sides of the cavity for an hour until it went in. I also replaced the knobs with Bakelite chickenhead knobs. I also put in a thumb rest over the P pickup to facilitate finger style playing. The main idea behind this bass was to have a Motown feel and vibe. The interesting thing about this bass is that flatwound strings can growl. While I did this on a budget all said it ran me around $250 all said and done.
The common issue that both basses share is that where the neck meets the body, the frets buzz out. Both basses need the fingerboard reprofile to play higher than the 12th fret. Eventually this will be done. Otherwise both play and sound great. Upcycling budget, cheap or non working basses can be fun and a great way to learn how to fix things and expand your instruments. The biggest thing I would say is do not expect perfection.
I recently did the same thing to Glarry's Bronco bass knock off. Dropped in a 51 Nordy,new wiring harness, hipshot ultralite tuners and hand rubbed 10 coats of Tru/Gun Oil into the neck and headstock. Gigged with it this past weekend and wow.....sounded great ! Very light, comfortable and plays well. I just love to upgrade cheap basses : )
Oh p.s. had the same problem with the pickguard ........and wasted $30 on a replacement that didn't come close to fitting. So I found faux tortoise contact paper online and with the wife's help bingo ! Looks great !
As someone whose generally short on cash, but not afraid of sweat equity, I found this to be a fun video, and now I'm curious about picking up, and fixing up, the same bass. Thanks for the inspiration, and nevermind those haters. Half of them probably don't know their way around an instrument, anyway.
your vids are always much appreciated! thanks for all the good reviews man! 🤙🏻
Wow man the upgraded stuff sounds so much better!
Never watched your videos, but I've now seen this one and the $53 P-bass review. I thought they were both pretty interesting, insightful, and it was fun to watch fanangle the bass to accommodate the upgrades. And showing some love to GS for doing you a solid, damn decent all around. All that hatefulness just invented over nothing, man. I wish I were surprised, for real. I appreciate you! And I think you do good work, and so does everyone who's worth making videos for in the first place. Gonna subscribe.
I did the exact same thing with an old P Bass I had kicking around. Sounded awesome after that!
I enjoyed your upgrade video and found extremely informative. Also, I like the plug you gave for the various hardware and wiring companies - great to know who they are and to get an opinion on the quality. I would love seeing you do an upgrade video regularly. Great job!!
What I like about this channel is he uses a pick and doesn't use the bass as a dum machine.
You can make any cheap guitar/bass amazing if you know what you are doing and willing to put some money into it.
I had the exact same problem with the tuners, upgraded my Glarry £72 P Bass and the Wilkinson tuners were massive, got a much smaller set from Wilkinson and they're perfect!
Thanks so much for this how to tutorial.
I bought a Behringer P Bass knock off for $40.
I'm just starting out learning the bass.
Recognising that the Behringer bass will probably be factory fitted with low end quality hardware and accessories I thought that I would go to work and replace most of this stuff.
I read online a player with a Behringer bass like mine retrofitted some fairly good quality replacements
The recommended bridge and pick up changes, are priced way out into the stratosphere. A Fender High Mass Bridge and a set of Seymour-Duncan SP4 pickups.
What to do?
The prices mentioned here that were current about a year and a half ago, have now doubled. The Fender pickups are now $99.99 on Amazon, the GS loom is still around $41
I love modding guitars, my most recent was a similar one to this, except I've not touched the bridge yet. I put a set of Bareknuckle split 58s in a cheap bass I bought from Andertons. Sounds brutal now!
Great video I like how you documented the problems you ran into.
Funny, when the bass sounds better, it looks better too!
Yes to the Chinese Rick! Let's see you upgrade, dude! 🤘
Great job in the bass !! I have a Squier jazzbass and I change the mics for Wilkinson mics.
I just bought a Glarry P Bass and I plan on ripping everything out of it and replacing everything. thanks for sharing your video. I'm hoping to have some success. I guess time will tell. thanks again.
I think this is a very useful topic. Even a lot of high-end guitars need some kind of upgrade, or even just a modification.
The problem with demoing basses through a chain of Darkglass and other high end pedals is - it's extremely difficult to match all those pedal settings at a later date if doing a comparison!
I have been down this road many times. All that REALLY needs to be done to upgrade a cheap bass (providing the neck and frets are good) is to round the fret board and fret edges with a 150 Grit Scotch foam sanding block, do a GOOD setup, and most important - change the strings!! The rest of the items are nice, but do not affect the playability or sound.
A couple of years ago I upgraded my Squier PJ with EMG pickups and Fender electronics and hardware and I couldn't be happier. Now I'm looking for a better instrument overall, but the Squier definetly served me well.
Great work. very thorough and i love the ideas
Wilkinson gear is superb for the price you pay.
I installed Wilkinson tuners on my Sterling Stingray and it's been stable ever since.
I had that problem with wilkinson machine heads too. I used a grinder to fix it.
Thanks for the info on the Gunstreet wiring going to up grade my Squier P,
I put that Wilkinson brass saddle bridge on two of my basses and it really improved tone and sustain.
Good video, nicely edited. I like the ideal of taking cheaper basses and modifying them, I personally like to start at the Squire level.
I wonder how well this compares to anything from Glarry
They are built in the same exact factory...Glarry MIGHT have a quality control person at the end of the assembly line that will accept or reject the bass...if accepted...they will then put the "Glarry" logo on the headstock...if rejected the bass becomes nameless:)
Patrick, love ur style of playing. Awesome! 👍
I like your upgrade video a lot. I actually have this same p-bass copy in a dark blue sunburst, and it sounds decent for the price without the upgrades. I actually write and record commercially licensed music as a composer under professional rights organization BMI, INC. I play and record many electric and acoustic instruments in regards to the instrumental tracks that I write. One way, that I am able to do that (and minimize over all cost) is able to have different instruments in many configurations (such as pickups, size, ect), is buying the many "close copies" of famous branded instruments that are available. Sometimes writing songs, I really do need one sort of pickup configuration, or a certain size of acoustic guitar. Some instruments like that the p-bass copy that I have, just needed a very basic setup. There are some electric guitars that I have bought, that I needed to upgrade the pickups, or string nut or bridge saddles... but I can purchase parts for really inexpensive prices these days as well. Once in awhile, I come across an instrument that is totally beyond repair and I'll get a refund... it's always good to buy from a reputable place, like Amazon. Have a great week.
I think it actually sounds way better! The new pickups sound way punchier. Well done sir!
Cheap basses are awesome. My first and only bass for many years was a Boston P bass, used it in school orchestra for 5 years including many gigs. Had to have it re wired a few times cause of it's cheap electronics but still held up till last year when I sold it. Mine was all stock, apart from when it was resprayed gold and then red ( was originally yellow ) had plans to upgrade but never got around to it. Sold it last year for £20 in car boot not bad for a £70 new bass or something which I had about 10 years of use out of.
Hey great work I bought a Glarry P Bass I put on some flat wound strings pick guard and bridge cover I might upgrade the tunners and pickup tuners and bridge in the future thanks a lot.
I also did something similar but just with a Squire P Bass body I bought on ebay. I am in the UK and found a similar wiring harness company, put in some Seymour Duncan quarter pounders and used the Fender Himass bridge. Also I put a nice pearl effect pickguard and pearl control nobs that went nicely with the black body. All of that was pretty cheap but then I spent £300 quid on the Fender roasted maple neck. Had an issue with Wilkinson tuners, they did not fit and were too big for the holes in the neck so had to spend more on some Gotoh tuners - but to be honest they are just awesome so worth the extra cash.
The only things that would make that bass out of the box sound good would be replacing it with a Fender P-bass or a Stingray. LOL.
Russell Kimball I put a jazz neck on mine and I’m told by sound engineers it is a great sounding bass
this is almost the equivalent of LS Swapping a Honda
Foreals.!!! Ive thought about a few times After pickup swapped my P bass with some seymour duncans !!!
Hey Patrick. I saw your initial review on the Wish bass and bought one myself (well, wifey had the account so she did it for me). Was not too displeased with it out of the box sound-wise but OMG those strings!! The bass is still in original state and had thought of doing something like what you have done now. Thank you for braving those rapids! BTW is it staying in tune for you now?
well at 70$, you can get a pretty decent glarry bass
The pickups - bridge - and tuners are the cheapest Chinese available so it's also a candidate for upgrades. The Glarry headstock and logo are not the most attractive but if you're on a strict budget the stock Glarry can get you by. All guitars / basses benefit greatly by a proper setup and there are several good YT Videos that show you how. Same with mods and that's the fun to be had with these inexpensive instruments. Changing the pickups for some quality ones will change the sound the most - usually warming up the sound with better frequencies.
Nice pickup upgrade, it sounds much better on the low strings particularly. Good call with the sanding of the neck too. 9/10 if you cut the nut properly, take off a load of lacquer from the neck and sand block the edges of the frets, it’ll play like a guitar worth hundreds more
pickups are a huge improvement, i'd rather like to see the sound comparison without those new pickups to check if the hardware really improves the bass sound or just the pickups. Because a new pair of pickups always sounds better
Love when you do cheap bass comparisons & projects. Keep it up. 👍
i have to laugh a bit. I bought a p-bass body and neck with the same intentions and ended up with the same issues.. body cavity needed routing for the new pots, my pick guard didn't line up at any points, my wilkinson tuners were to damn big. But on the positive side, the wilkinson bridge was great. 10/10 value per dollar.
Those pickups made a big enough sound difference for me! Plus the black pick guard looks sexy!👌🏻🤘🏼
those kind of projects are really mainly just for fun
it's almost like a kit bass but since it's assembled you can technically upgrade it one piece at a time so you always have a bass to play
I brought an old samick bass for $60 all I did to it so far was put the EMG GZR PJ geezer butler sig pups in it, it had active pickups originally but they didn't work
Awesome Vid. I would take a spray can to the blue and the head stock. Some sparkle color. Maybe put on logo on it....rename it.
This would be make a great beginner bass. I usually get new but defective basses to work on. Bad electronics or string buzz, but yeah;what an adventure it was. Mine was a G-style 5-string fret-less, neck through
.
Thanks for the video! I recently upgraded an SX PJ bass, and I had the same problem when I put in the full size pots. I had to dremmel the cavity a little wider. I use a set of Dragonfire PJ pickups, and it works great.
SX real name used to be Essex, but they got sued by Steinway pianos, so they had to change it.
Did you change the strings? The newer sound is much more meaty in the midrange, while the original was high/low. I love the baseball bat pbass neck! I watched both- Great videos!
Looks good to say the least. I just bought a cheap 180 bucks Squier P-Bass in lime green. The quality was good although I expectet the worse. No need for upgrades from a technical point of view but I wanted black hardware a high mass bridge and other pus. Now it's my favourite instrument although I have expensive basses too.
I learned the hard way about those cheap basses...
I got a brand new Donner 4 sting bass from Amazon for $60.00..
The only things that were usable were the body and the neck - everything else needed to
be replaced.
hey- loved your vids. I'm getting a slick bass, what do you think are the best p bass replacement pick ups for vintage sound?
That bass for 50 bucks is badass by itself
Gun Street is awesome.I will use them whenever I need a bass harness.
Cool bass! I'm restoring a short scale tiesco and putting a pbass pick up between the two pu it has!!!
I just feel that everything chrome has to be gold
A Tusq nut will help brighten the tone as well. For $15 more you could have went with Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounder pickups, and had a Major upgrade! Leveling the frets does wonders for playability, but that’s more involved.
Gunstreet is fantastic. It is Art. They take the time to make a great product. Just take a look at some factory wiring. Then look at Gunstreet. Huge difference.
totally agree wilkinson have very good quality parts i bouth a lot pieces, bridge, pickups, tuners etc for my instruments all are very good
Just got that more “deeper, growly, tone” it sounds like you can hear a humbucker sound with these pickups, sounds terrific for $147!! Even though you had to use leftover parts because some of the parts didn’t fit oh well at least you made that bass play and sound a lot better I think it was a successful upgrade!!
It sounds like he cranked the compressor WAY UP and crushed his signal.
How is the playability? Yes the neck was too thick and needed some help, but fretts? Frett board? Sustain? Weight? Is it now worth the original cost pluss upgrades? Less more? I ask only because "if the musicians heart n soul doesnt come thru doesn't project then the most expensive instruments are shit as well as the cheap ones"
I've dropped in EMG "Geezer" pups into several basses and liked the results. Also on these cheap basses/guitars spend a little extra time shielding the back of the pick guard and the body cavity.....goes a long way. : )
Nice! You dont need to pay allot for a decent kit. I bought a $200 jay turser j-bass and its absolutely beautifull
I think this is very helpful because not everyone has the funds to buy a quality bass right out of the gate, but you can buy an inexpensive one and upgrade little by little as the budget permits. BTW, did the new pickup have more output in addition to a better tone?
Needs a jazz neck and a series Parallel switching