Question Why no modding?

[Norm66]

One thing I've noticed in buying a EBMM and coming to this forum is that EBMM owners don't generally change things on their basses. Being previously a Fender (or should that be 7ender?) guy, though never a modder myself, I'm used to folks posting about bringing home a brand new instrument and the first thing they do is rip the tuners, pickups, and pots out to "upgrade" the instrument they supposedly liked enough in the store to buy.

So what's the deal here? Are EBMMs just so superior that no mods are necessary? Is it just the mindset? Are the after-market parts available not up to snuff?

I'm not looking to change anything about my SR5 HH, but I've been a member here for a while and haven't yet started a thread. This seemed like it might be a good discussion.

 

[Manfloozy]

No need to mod, extremely high quality and exactly what they are supposed to be straight from the shop.

I think sometimes people buy that particular brand for name recognition and then adjust the sound and features to taste. I think people buy EBMMs for the sound and features and then learn to love the name for what it stands for.

 

[rizzo9247]

Regardless of brand, I can understand if I bought a $250 bass as a platform to mod, but why would a rational person spend top-dollar on a bass then replace parts?

 

[keko]

Regardless of brand, I can understand if I bought a $250 bass as a platform to mod, but why would a rational person spend top-dollar on a bass then replace parts?

+1

Yeah, right!

OK, to change pick guard, or put some non EB strings, but dealing with perfect hardware, electronics, or pickups, ...that's insane to me!

P.S. ...on the EBMM reflex can't change even a pick guard, 'cause there ain't any!

 

[drTStingray]

+1

OK, to change pick guard, or put some non EB strings, but dealing with perfect hardware, electronics, or pickups, ...that's insane to me!

+ 1 - they sound and look great the way they are - but you can also buy replacement tuning pegs and dare I say it....knobs through MM dealers/distributors.

I'm guessing you can buy black ones??

 

[adouglas]

Yep... no need to modify. EBMM gets it right the first time.

My last bass before I became a Bongoloid was my venture into trying to create "my ideal" instrument. New, booteek pickups and preamp, really expensive strings.....

.... and it still didn't sound anywhere near as good as the Bongo did right out of the box.

From time to time we get someone who really wants to change things. The usual response is along the lines of "It's your bass, go for it!"

Inwardly, though, a lot of us just quietly shake our heads and sigh, because we've come to the conclusion that we do not in fact know how to do things better than the good folks in SLO.

 

[jlepre]

Like my daddy used to say, "If it ain't BROKE, don't fix it..."

 

[bovinehost]

I'm not looking to change anything about my SR5 HH, but I've been a member here for a while and haven't yet started a thread. This seemed like it might be a good discussion.

Unbelievably enough, it's a discussion that has been ongoing for the last seven or eight years.

Here's the upshot. EBMM protects their designs vigorously, in part because of having seen the veritable (biblical proportions and all) flood of (choose your descriptor) fake / upgraded / aftermarket / replacement parts for, say, Fender.

Including near-exact replicas of the bodies of Ps and Js and so on.

And while there are "replacement" bits available here and there, the other thing is that this is the company forum. So it's not really in good form to go on about "upgrading" your bass with a pickup from another manufacturer.

That said, we've tried to tone down the Screaming Fanboi Response when someone turns up with a bass that's been modded. It happens, and I personally think you should do whatever you want to your own stuff in order to make it do what you want it to do.

(Do not attempt to diagram that sentence.)

But again, this being the official company forum and all, "we" tend to frown upon long discussions of other manufacturers.

(I use the royal "we" to indicate that I am fancy and like tea and stuff.)

Jack

 

[bovinehost]

Oh, and at one place I worked in my old job, we had a repair shop run by United States Marines. They had a sign that said, "If it ain't broke, we'll fix it until it is."

 

[jlepre]

Oh, and at one place I worked in my old job, we had a repair shop run by United States Marines. They had a sign that said, "If it ain't broke, we'll fix it until it is."

Hehehe...GOOD one Jack...

 

[MrChedda]

Unbelievably enough, it's a discussion that has been ongoing for the last seven or eight years.

Here's the upshot. EBMM protects their designs vigorously, in part because of having seen the veritable (biblical proportions and all) flood of (choose your descriptor) fake / upgraded / aftermarket / replacement parts for, say, Fender.

Including near-exact replicas of the bodies of Ps and Js and so on.

And while there are "replacement" bits available here and there, the other thing is that this is the company forum. So it's not really in good form to go on about "upgrading" your bass with a pickup from another manufacturer.

That said, we've tried to tone down the Screaming Fanboi Response when someone turns up with a bass that's been modded. It happens, and I personally think you should do whatever you want to your own stuff in order to make it do what you want it to do.

(Do not attempt to diagram that sentence.)

But again, this being the official company forum and all, "we" tend to frown upon long discussions of other manufacturers.

(I use the royal "we" to indicate that I am fancy and like tea and stuff.)

Jack

Jack, is it worth adding a sticky thread to the top of the forum, with some information on the official company stance on modding? Or possibly updating the "The Usual Questions and The Search Function" thread to include specific information on modding.

To your point (re: fanboi response), just thinking when someone comes along in the future that it might help to further tone down the fanboi response if someone can just politely redirect them over to a common thread. Just a thought.

Chris

 

[bovinehost]

I can edit the "usual questions" sticky - good idea. Although it will probably be along the lines of "Should I consider an aftermarket pickup" "NO."

 

[HeavyDuty]

To be honest, I've never felt the need to mod *any* EBMM bass beyond changing pickguards, adding straplocks and replacing the nancyboy skinny rounds with proper EBMM Group I flats. I'm not shy about modding stuff, either.

 

[cyoungnashville]

for me, when i had any other brand of bass, chances were good that the thing really for the most part was designed in the '50s. that lead me to the..." huh, i wonder what i can do to this damn thing to bring it kicking and screaming into the '80s now that its the 2010's?" with ebmm basses, i find myself spending most of my time trying to catch up with their designs and figure out all the neat things i can do with them that have never been possible before. bongo 6 anyone?? how do you "upgrade" a bongo? you dont, you spend a good long while playing it and attempting to rise to its level.

 

[BassMent]

Oh, and at one place I worked in my old job, we had a repair shop run by United States Marines. They had a sign that said, "If it ain't broke, we'll fix it until it is."

And that's exactly what happens when you start dinking around with the electronics on an EBMM... you fiddle and tweak (not to mention spend and spend) until it no longer sounds good. Then you put it all back to stock and see if you can get anything for your "upgrades" on eBay.

 

[strummer]

For me it's simple: There are NO upgrades at all possible when it comes to the Bongo. Except maybe for straplocks, but even here I find the normal strap buttons to be my cup of tea.

And when it comes to the SR5, I guess I own one because I want the exact bass that, since 1987, has been the standard 5-string. It's just a voice all its own, and one I want.

 

[oddjob]

I have done some small mods over time... each time I go back to the original config. (with the exception of my hipshots). It comes down to 2 things: 1) EBMM did it right the first time 2) The mod market isn't any better than what is there (it is "different" but not better)

It happens, and I personally think you should do whatever you want to your own stuff in order to make it do what you want it to do.

(Do not attempt to diagram that sentence.)

I do this for a living and all I can say is,"Wow, that gives me a headache."

 

[LawDaddy]

To be honest, I've never felt the need to mod *any* EBMM bass beyond changing pickguards, adding straplocks and replacing the nancyboy skinny rounds with proper EBMM Group I flats. I'm not shy about modding stuff, either.

+1

I mod like crazy (both basses and guitars) and beyond a thumbrest for my SR4, there's really nothing needing a mod.

I think the fanboi response can be partly explained by the empirical evidence that many here bought their EBMM because of what it was, not what it could be modded to become. For example, I think the preamps and pickups are a reason many are drawn to the EBMM sound in the first place, so not much desire to mod there. When a poster shows up with a mod question, the masses respond accordingly in their view and overwhelm the unfortunate poster. This happens on the skinny string side if anyone wants to mod an EVH, for similar reasons.

Unfortunately, the nature of written communication leads to posts questioning the putative modder's intentions in modding in the first place being easy to mistake as being personal in nature, and the amount of responses consistent in opposition to modding can appear as fanboi hivethink.

(Don't try and diagram that sentence either)

All we can do is try and stay classy and flag the responses that cross the line, and let civility rule the day.

 

[nurnay]

For me it's simple: There are NO upgrades at all possible when it comes to the Bongo. Except maybe for straplocks, but even here I find the normal strap buttons to be my cup of tea.

Yep, strap locks are my only mod.

 

[OldSchool Noob]

My .02 on the subject ...

One of the reasons that basses get modded so often is because there is a cottage industry that has emerged to support it. The basses most often modded are Fenders or Fender look/work-alikes.

As you know, there are individual manufacturers that will sell you several different flavors of Fender Jazz or P pickups. The same with preamps -- there are literally dozens of manufacturers out there who sell these products and there is a culture that freely supports and engages in this practice.

The reason it doesn't happen in the EBMM world is that:

1) EBMM does not support (tacitly or otherwise) the modification of its instruments.

2) They have done a great deal of intellectual property work to make sure that certain aspects of their designs remain protected. This allows them to retain copyright/patent protections of their designs and protect their revenue streams.

3) They do not publish electronic specifications or other technical data to make it easy for aftermarket suppliers to sell parts or "upgrades" for their instruments.

That EBMM instruments are not widely modded is not a function of their "perfection." (Need has never been a condition for modification of basses.) Many people mod their basses "because they can." Most people don't mod EBMM's "because they can't" or because it's not worth the hassle to try. The "cottage industry" for modding basses doesn't exist (not significantly, anyway) for EBMMs.