Better Things

Upgrades to the new bass now completed. I have previously fitted flatwound strings and smoothed the neck with wire wool and T-Cut. I put the thumb rest on today, even though it is considered sacrilegious to drill holes in a Music Man pickguard. But the “zero mod” rest, that uses the existing screws, costs about £40. The rest in the picture was a couple of quid and, if it’s an issue when it comes time to move this guitar on, I can always buy a new pickguard for around £20!
The big upgrade is the fitting of a Bartolini pickup. I opted for their “Music Man Classic” model as this should get me closest in tone to the iconic MM Stingray Bass. And first impressions - through the new amp - are very good. Can’t wait to try it out at “gig volume” next weekend.
I must confess, I do get a great deal of satisfaction from taking a Far Eastern made “budget” guitar and upgrading it to - or above - the spec of of the “full fat”, American made equivalent. Both my basses and my Telecaster have been upgraded in various ways and part of the satisfaction I get from owning and playing them is the input I have had into the final spec.
And, in my opinion, the finished object not only plays better than its supposedly better American made counterpart, but even with the upgrades, it’s still considerably cheaper. I’ll call that “win win”.