Making Fender Bass sound better???

  • Thread starter Thread starter Toker41
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I have built and worked on Fender basses/guitars for years. The actual wood does make a difference in tone and depth of sound. The USA Fender instruments have high quality wood that allows great tone and sustain. The bass especially needs sustain. The construction makes a difference also. However, the Japan, Mexican etc. basses, if setup properly, will sound good. Close enough to a USA bass. The one place that needs to be addressed is the electronics. The bass should be gutted and have everything replaced with quality components. There is no getting around it. The Mexican caps, pots, pickups and switches suck big-time. There is no argument. I recommend finding someone who can solder well and rebuild eveything. If you just change pickups, your signal will be degraded through the switch, cap, pot and even the output jack. Next, replace the bridge with a USA one. Much more accurate and made of a denser material. Adds to the sustain and intonation. Last, replace the nut with bone. You can use the tuners if they work. Set the action/truss rod for the strings you like and intonate. ( I usually do a fret job before I start a setup. Frets are NEVER level from the factory).
So, this will get you a really nice playing/sounding bass.

Now, before you reply that it is too much work/expense, I know.
That is why the Jap/Mex etc. Fenders are so much less money.
 
nice, interesting post acorec!

I know a good instrument tech can do miracles, but it's soo hard to find one (at least in my country/area)...


Herwig
 
DeadPoet said:
nice, interesting post acorec!

I know a good instrument tech can do miracles, but it's soo hard to find one (at least in my country/area)...


Herwig
Click to expand...

I hear you. I started doing it myself because of this reason. Pro guitar techs are in a hurry. They must make money. If you attack your personal instrument in a logical fashion, you can have a great sounding and playing axe. Some cheap guitars just have the wrong wood and will never sound/play good. The trick is to look closely at expensive guitars and look at the neck cut, type of wood, density etc. Now, when picking a "Mex/Jap/Korean" copy, find the traits of the expensive ones in the cheap ones. I know I can find and modify the "right" Mex strat copy so that you will not be able to tell the difference! I have done it for some of my friends.
 
Ok, Old post but I found it doing a search. I have been reading up on upgrading my bass to a set of EMGs. I own a Peavey Fury 4 which I picked up from a local dealer after I fell in love with it's action and narrow neck. I play bass but mostly during studio use or during my band's practice sessions before the real bassist shows up or not. When I first purchased the bass he played it during a practice session and afterwards he wanted to but it from me. His 4 string is a Fender Precision I think, but he said my bass sounds and plays pretty good. He did tell me that it lacked in the mids a little causing us to make small eq adjustments on the console. He in turn ended up buying a Spector with actives as well and it's sounds real good with the EMG's in it. So he told me a few months ago to not upgrade the pickups just yet , but to pick up a EQ. So I got a Boss EQ pedal to go with my other pedals.

So for what it's worth, I know I cant hear my bass with a A/B comparison between factory and EMG pickups. It sounds pretty good to me but things are getting a little more serious now. Im just wondering if it's worth the $ in regards to the amount of sound change I would get with some new EMG's.

I play mostly fingered, pluck style, thump, old soul, R&B, etc.

can I justify this upgrade?

Thanks

Malcolm
 
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