How hard is it to replace... (bass, volume, cover, youtube)

jd0913 · 01-13-2009, 08:59 PM

i have little to no experience in this but i have a bass whose body i love more than anthing but virtually everything on it needs to be replaced for it to be playable and sound good. how hard is it to replace the neck, pickups, bridge, virtually everything on it but the body. or how much would it cost to have someone do it you think? thanks, im probably an idiot for asking though.

GuitarBizarre · 01-13-2009, 10:09 PM

depends on the hardware. I can only speak for guitar hardware, but in my experience bass hardware tends to be around the same money or a little more.

Anyway, on a guitar, a bridge, you're looking at £70 upwards for a good fixed bridge, 130 upwards for any kind of tremolo, topping out at around 200 for crazy things like kahlers.

Pickups? 200 for a good full set of HSH pickups. on a bass you'll usually on have two pups, so look around 140 upwards i think.

Necks? Depends where you're getting the neck from. A custom neck from someone like E.T. guitars can be 150 up to around 400 depending on what options you specify. Stainless steel frets and multi piece construction is gonna cost you dearly, especially with binding and inlay. Want the headstock finished to match the body? THat can be up to 150 depending on the paint.

Tone controls and volume pots wiring etc can be around 60 for a full kit of quality parts. Add another 20 onto that for solder and copper tape to shield it.

Tuners can be around 40 upwards for a halfway decent set. locking tuners are more.

straplocks? only 10 for these, but woe betide if you miss em out.

And all of this is just parts without labour. Getting someone to fit all of this for you varies wildly but I'd say at LEAST 200, and thats just for assembly, most techs won't give you anything but basic setup included there, so if your neck needs a fret level or anything like that, be prepared for more expenditure.

In most cases, its much, MUCH cheaper to buy a better instrument first, and then if you want a specific body shape, have one made to fit the hardware you already have and transplant the whole lot from one body to the other.

jd0913 · 01-14-2009, 10:46 AM

yeah. does sound like it could get carried away with the price. i'll probably just buy a new one. anything you guys can recommend? im looking at all sorts of price levels from cheap to mildly expensive, i just like to diddle around so im not going to shell out 1500 or anything.

GuitarBizarre · 01-14-2009, 11:06 AM

Ibanez do a really nice 6 string bass. Tony Dickinson, the guy I recorded 'A coelo usque ad centrum' with uses one. I forget the name but I'm sure it was SR506 or something similar.

Edit:

YouTube - Dream Theater - Overture 1928/Strange Deja Vu (Bass Cover)

Its there. I checked the ibby website, it is called the SR506.

01-13-2009, 08:59 PM	#1 (permalink)
jd0913 Groupie Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 2	How hard is it to replace... i have little to no experience in this but i have a bass whose body i love more than anthing but virtually everything on it needs to be replaced for it to be playable and sound good. how hard is it to replace the neck, pickups, bridge, virtually everything on it but the body. or how much would it cost to have someone do it you think? thanks, im probably an idiot for asking though.

01-14-2009, 10:46 AM	#3 (permalink)
jd0913 Groupie Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 2	yeah. does sound like it could get carried away with the price. i'll probably just buy a new one. anything you guys can recommend? im looking at all sorts of price levels from cheap to mildly expensive, i just like to diddle around so im not going to shell out 1500 or anything.