Making $100 Bass Sound Like a $1000 Bass

"I didn't wanna go buy a new bass..." That's it. I'm out. Not a real bass player! The right number of basses to have is N+1! 🙂

Id say its different... I prefer the original tone but the new one isnt bad

The problem with radiused pickups, is that they don't always match the radius of the neck at the heel (or 20th/21st fret), which leads to unbalanced volume between the strings. I put a Dimarzio Standard PJ set into my bass, and adjusted the individual pole screws (use an allen wrench) of each pickup to match the radius of the neck at the heel of my bass. Nice balanced volume over both pickups. I love DiMarzio pickups...they have a nice "growl" to them when the master volume(s)are turned all the way up. Also, don't forget to adjust the bridge saddles to match the radius of the neck heel.

Sounds the same to me

I prefer the before sound even better.

You can't polish a turd...

I think a jazz bass would've been a better choice for that preamp and Bartolini pickups a better choice also. The amp was clipping, signal too hot.

This bass was just fine totally stock.

Active bass is a pain, having to rely on a battery, once it's dead , bass is dead.

The old one was so muffled, it almost acted like a compressor evening out the volume. Now you can hear every minute detail of what's going on, plugging a slow reacting compressor in line might help even it out a bit (although you'd loose volume expression a bit in the process).

I would've tried using the blend knob as the tone, with treble bleed on one side and bass on the other

For the blend control, what you want to do is jumper the signal in and signal out for the neck pickup, and singal in and ground for bridge. Then you can get rid of the blend pot kicking around inside the guitar.

That bass sounds so amazing

Hi Travis, Interesting video again thanks! Could a passive pickup have made the grade - a lot less hassle and how long does the battery last as it is a bit of a job changing it over as the pickguard will have to be removed? Cheers Jon (Australia).

thank you.

Just start with a great bass, and don't improve it.

Interesting video. But, for me, I'd rather buy a coherent well built all-rounder $1000 instrument to begin with. And support a good instrument builder, rather than throwaway instruments that the planet doesn't need. Schecter, Sterling, Ibanez and FGN all have great basses for $1000 that I'd rather have.

Why you need to buy some piece of crap and turn it to anything decent for additional money vs buying already decent guitar with the amount of money for '1 piece of crap + additional work'?

The easy way is to learn to play bass.

Amazing video! Thank you.

The After Just sounds more metallic because thats what the pickups are made of. Also your new $300 filter preamp look like theyre still made in China as I mess with alot of Cheap Chinese electronic components and P. sure I can recognize one. You just proved China is competitive at out China'ing China and Nyet guitar is good. I'd say if youre unhappy with your sound do this: Go practice, Learn to Tune, Learn to do a set up job, Buy an effects pedal.

And you don't even need a blend knob at all. Just eliminate it.

Just add a side jack and use the top three for controls.

Next time you may get yourself a J bridge PU. Your amp already can cope with it.

I would have removed the output wires from the blend pot and soldered the wires from the pickup to the end of the wires that used to go to the blend pot

Original sounded just as good!!

I'm a DIY'r so I'll go with the underdog every time. This my seem weird but I like knowing that I MADE that sound. Plus, it's great to tweak it until it plays like butter

Interesting bad ass video.

DiMarzio relentless alone would have been better. Not a fan of preamps on a p bass.

Has a richer tone to it. I'm not understanding what pre amps are for but it does sound better

I seem to be more comfortable with the before sound. The after sounds muddy.

for slap before is better

lol cheap pickup sounds a lot better and way more fender

I think the biggest improvement is the tone sounds like you took a blanket off it. I wouldn't necessarily say it was a better or worse difference, because I go for old-school bass tones anyway (P-Bass into an Ampeg, Bob's your uncle}.

sounds just a little louder

The biggest problem is that the bass is not a jazz bass but by the one pickup (no matter which) and its position just sounds like a typical "Preci". Very woody, hardly any sound possibilities. Seriously unsuitable for funk bass. Neither the natural nor the pimped sound would animate me to play. Interesting experiment but unfortunately wasted effort and money.

The clarity and output is such better with the new pickups. But you can hear the low quality wood of the bass in how it resonates.

Hinestly, even if the new picks are tehnically better, they sound horrable!
I think you forgott to adjust the high of them?
Much too much low end and agressively poppy highs...on the first run I thought your recoding amp was broken^^
On th other hand, it sounds like you had "all the tone" down (to compare it with a passive one.

Honestly, for a cheap bass, go with a Tonerider TRP1.
In my ears a passive P sounds mostly better than an active.

The only difference is the sound one is louder one is less loud

I have customized my cheap bass by changing the pickups, neck, tuners, bridge, and crafting a new body.

Naah... waaay too zingy for me... it's better unupgraded...

two 100$ pickups is basically the price of my bass where I live lol

Using a hand router i the body above the pickup would have made ample room for any electronics

While it might feel better afterwards, its just sounding different and not really better. You could've just added treble and mids to the stock bass.
I'm a producer and I tell you guys, 98% of the sound is in the mixing and in the mixing alone. I've made enough 200$ instruments sound like a 1000 bucks.

I’ll echo what others have said. The fret dressing, Board oil, and setup probably made the most difference. I would have left the stock pickup or dropped the Dimarzio P in and done a full passive rewire. Either would have opened it up quite a bit. Also, I would have CHANGED THE PICKGUARD. A new tortoise shell guard would have made it LOOK more expensive. Also, a bit of brown shoe polish on the maple to “vintage tint” it. Whether we like it or not, people often hear with their eyes.

Dumbass, move the JACK to the bottom side edge of the body (think Les Paul) and use the old Jack hole as the pot location! I do hundreds of these pre amped conversions at my shop over the last 25 years! Duh!

sadly, the before is actually better.

i have a feeling that players dont know what a bass should sound like
just listen at isolated tracks from mixing stems and then compare the bass is often times in no way so crisp sounding like the after (after the mod).
sounded just fine
the bass is in no way an instrument which stands out it supports the mix
it was a waste of money imo :/

Yeah, more clarity and definition post mod. I bought a used Chinese Made Fender Squire 50th anniversary P-Bass. I changed the pickups as you did, I left all of that passive, I installed a hipshot bridge system, and I insulated the electronics with copper foil. Sounds great ... not bad for a $100 guitar plus mods ($120). Most important: the neck is amazing! Very playable.

If you were going to put in the DeMarsio upgrade. Why didn't you take full time advantage of the active system and for a few dollars more, go with a DeMarsio PJ pickup install. You'd of gotten the fully rounded sound you were looking for, instead of that anemic washed out, flattened, bland... Yah...you get it...😊