• Ernie Ball
  • MusicMan
  • Sterling by MusicMan

chaddukes

Member
Joined
Aug 27, 2005
Messages
7
Who has modded thier MM Basses? You see guys modding Fender's all the time, but I haven't seen anyone mod a MM Bass.

If I had one I have a feeling that I would make some mods to the body.

What mods have you made to your MM Bass?

Chad
 

TheAntMan

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 14, 2004
Messages
972
Location
Ft. Lauderdale, FL
:eek: MODS!!!! :eek:

Dude! I am not going to change a thing. I spent a long time checking out basses before I settled on the ones I have. The reason I got my EBMM basses was for what they had to offer. :cool:

The only things I have changed are pickguards and fresh strings. Would not change anything that messed with the tone or design.
 
Last edited:

stingrayplayr83

Well-known member
Joined
May 15, 2005
Messages
103
Dude, MM's are known for what they are, amazing basses. IMHO, you could change anything on the bass, but there wouldn't be anything that is as good as what MM put on it. I personally, have modified one bass, but sold it. I had one bass repainted, with a Hipshot D tuner, and a badass 2 bridge. I sold that bass, for more than a new music man, but it definately didnt feel as good as my stock music man. Not that anything but the bridge was physically different, but it just isnt what a MM should be. Sorry, I have a tendency to ramble. People here have learned to deal with it, I guess.
 

kn38ms

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 27, 2004
Messages
121
Location
NW FL
MM's are like Glocks, best left as is from the factory.
These basses are perfect out of the box. Maybe a string change if
you are looking for a certain sound. I use EB's only. :p
 

kn38ms

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 27, 2004
Messages
121
Location
NW FL
chaddukes said:
Who has modded thier MM Basses? You see guys modding Fender's all the time, but I haven't seen anyone mod a MM Bass.

If I had one I have a feeling that I would make some mods to the body.



Chad


Why? :confused:
 

bovinehost

Administrator
Joined
Jan 16, 2003
Messages
18,185
Location
Dall-Ass, TX
My frequent modifications:

1. Dunlop Straploks
2. Flatwound strings.
3. sometimes a new pickguard but then I'm slutty.

Other than that, it's plug and play simplicity, baby!

But of course I do think that it's your bass, and if you decide to install gear shifts, tachometers, bottle openers....hey, if it floats your boat, do it, because I sure would.

Jack
 

Psychicpet

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 16, 2003
Messages
3,930
Location
Red Deer, Alberta, Canada
hmmmm......

amazing from the factory but then again..... To date I've taken the pre-amp out of my fretted Bongo5 , have swapped it's neck humbucker for the bridge humbucker in my fretless Bogno5 and am in the process of dropping an Aguilar OBP-1 into the currently passive fretted Bongo5. So far that's it. :eek:
 

phatduckk

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 25, 2004
Messages
8,143
Location
San Mateo, California, United States
my USA Fenders are modded with Badass bridges but thats b/c the stock bridge is some fancy tin foil :)

MMs stuff's pretty damn awesome but its your bass, your money, and your sound. if some mod suits you better, then you should go for it dude
 

chaddukes

Member
Joined
Aug 27, 2005
Messages
7
I'd just be tempted to change pick ups and electronics. Oh, and fretboard markers too! I'd have to change those.

If I had a Bongo I'd have to change that suckers apearance! Perhaps it would grow on me, but I'm not so sure.

I had thought about the idea of taking the body off and hollowing it out to reduce the weight, but then it would probably unbalance the guitar. So, that wouldn't happen.
 

barkatozz

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 13, 2004
Messages
689
Location
Gloucester, New Jersey
I've modded all my basses:
!) Schaller Straplocks.....I put 'em on all my basses
2) Hipshot Detuner.....all got one of them too
3) 3 of 'em have different pickguards then what they came with
Other then that I ain't touching jack sh!t as far as electronics. :D
 
Last edited:

AnthonyD

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 23, 2005
Messages
3,683
Location
New Jersey
phatduckk said:
my USA Fenders are modded with Badass bridges but thats b/c the stock bridge is some fancy tin foil :)
This is so true! :p


bovinehost said:
My frequent modifications:

1. Dunlop Straploks
2. Flatwound strings.
3. sometimes a new pickguard but then I'm slutty

Ahem... Schaller straplocks and flatwounds. ;)

I am a huge believer in "to each his own" and have no problem with folks doing as they please with their basses. But personally, I think EBMM has done a fabulous job of putting all the right pieces together and delivering an instrument that is far from lacking in any area! :D
 

Psycho Ward

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 28, 2005
Messages
5,053
Location
Elk Creek, VA and Murrells Inlet, SC
The only mod I've made was the straplocks and a microfiber polishing cloth instead of the factory polishing cloth. I found the factory polishing cloth to dark and prefer the brighter, white microfiber cloth. I also bought a case of Duracell 9 volt batteries with the same expration date as the orgional, so the next big mod for me will be in 2009.
 

shamus63

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 8, 2005
Messages
4,018
Location
San Mateo, CA
My '79 Sabre came to me in trade already modded; Modulus Graphite neck and Hipshot bridge.

While I like the bridge upgrade, I don't care much for the graphite neck. It's okay, but not something I'd be compelled to do. I'll be keeping my eye open for a maple neck that fits.

Maybe a blend pot to replace the 3-way; definitely would take some mod's to make that work!
 

Aussie Mark

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 9, 2003
Messages
5,646
Location
Sydney, Australia
chaddukes said:
I'd just be tempted to change pick ups and electronics

To me, that would be like buying a new car and immediately putting another maker's engine under the hood. Makes absolutely no sense at all. Build a parts bass if you like to tinker.
 

bdgotoh

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 2, 2005
Messages
970
Location
Pacific NW
I'm very comfortable with reversible mods and have done some to my EB/MM basses.

First up is the pair of Honeyburst Rays in my avatar that had their clear pickguards replaced with white pearloid and the black pickup covers with white.

burstRays.jpg


Next is the Bongo HH4 that I put stock EB Alnico Stingray pickups into. It sounded good, not all that different but I think it looked cool. I think the quote from Jon was "Heresy"!

retrobongo.jpg


The mod to my 1989 Sabre wasn't visually obvious, but I found an NOS 8 pole Sabre bridge pickup and swapped it in to replace the stock 16 pole neck pickup. I changed the wiring to series instead of the stock parallel and it sounded great. The bass was over 10 lbs though, so I ended up returning it to stock and selling it.

Oh, and I should mention that all of my keeper MMs wear G&L aluminum string posts on the tuners, it removes 0.2 lbs from the headstock and they drop right into the MM tuners.
 
Last edited:
Top Bottom