Last week our awesome tech Max put together a series of videos taking us through the installation process of the EMG PAX + LJVX Pickup Set and the Michael Pope Designs Flexcore Preamp – two of the components of the Victor Wooten Retrofit Combo.
One of our facebook fans liked what they saw, but had a pretty good question for Max:
I’d love to hear some recommendations for a cheap bass with decent action that the Victor Wooten Retrofit Combo compliments nicely?
Just check out anything with Victor Wooten playing!
Any P/J bass that plays and feels the way you want is a candidate for this retrofit. This happened to be an Ibanez, but could work equally well with a Squier or an SX, etc.
You never really know how good or bad a cheap bass is in the playability department until you try the bass. One of the things about cheap basses is they are kind of inconsistent. One will play great and the next not so good.
If your plan is to upgrade a cheap bass with good electronics I would suggest trying out as many as you can find until one of them feels and plays the way you want, then the upgrade will be worthwhile. If it doesn’t play the way you want then pass on it and find one that plays descent.
Do you have a question for one of our Best Bass Gear techs? Ask away in the comments or send them an email to sales@bestbassgear.com
Try one of the Epiphone toby Great Tobias style bass $199 for a passive model and $250 for active electronics check here @ Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Epiphone-Deluxe-String-Guitar-Translucent/dp/B005HGPXIG great basses for the money
Thanks so much man, Thanks so much man, most videos start off use this part of your thumb .they then go onto play some 3 miutne funk oddessy and say : now you try .This has helped loads. I guess you could say it was very BASSic. xD
Wow You should try an ESP LTD Vintage 204! It is the best impulse purchase I’ve ever made. It was about $200 from a certain ‘daily deals’ music gear website. I love the feel of it; it arrived really well set up & sounded decent with both p/u’s on max volume. I put in some DiMarzio replacements & now it sounds amazing too! It’s my go-to bass now. The only drawback is the finish is supposed to look like an old, worn in Fender with paint coming off & wood showing (all fake), but I think it’s cool-looking. I don’t actually care how it’s finish looks. I got it for performance (a good backup).
That’s EXACTLY what I did; same ‘daily deals’ website; same bass; same finish; same brand-name pickups (specifically, I put in an Ultra-Jazz P/U & a Model-P & blended together, sound awesome!). In fact, I loved this ‘cheapo’ bass so much that I bought another with the natural finish/black pickguard (like a Fender 70’s Deluxe) & liked it even better, so I decided to try some ‘pricey’, highly-recommended pickups and went with the Nordstrand J/P set, which of course, sounded great too. Definitely, check out the ESP LTD Vintage 204’s!