Upgrade my bass bits!

PaulieBoy

Hi all,
I got one of these to learn on http://www.thomann.de/ie/harley_benton_hbb400fltbk_fretless_ebass.htm
It's my first bass, but I played some other instruments before so I am getting the hang of it pretty OK.
I ( purely for fun) was thinking of upgrading the pickups!
Any suggestions for some cheap upgrade in that department ?
Or is it worth it, would I even notice the difference ? Just leave it and upgrade the whole thing when I have money ?
Worth my while upgrading the strings ?
Any advice welcome.
Thanks.

rcaz

PaulieBoy wrote: »

Worth my while upgrading the strings ?

No

This'll do next to nothing. Changing the capacitor(s) or potentiometers inside the bass will have a bigger impact than this.

I can't recommend any parts, sorry, but the strings won't make any noticeable difference (unless you've got some sort of hypersensitivity or something).

I'd start with the pickups, myself. I can't recommend any types to try, but there's my suggestion!

90% of your tone is in your fingers

Dord

El Pr0n wrote: »

No

This'll do next to nothing. Changing the capacitor(s) or potentiometers inside the bass will have a bigger impact than this.

I can't recommend any parts, sorry, but the strings won't make any noticeable difference (unless you've got some sort of hypersensitivity or something).

I'd start with the pickups, myself. I can't recommend any types to try, but there's my suggestion!

90% of your tone is in your fingers

Dude... seriously. Are you saying that if he changes from roundwounds to flatwounds there will be no difference in sound. BS!

The first thing to change is strings, different strings have a different feel, longevity and tone. I think that he should change them first and see how he likes it then.

Usually the strings that come on budget basses (or most basses for that matter) are ****. A reasonably priced good set of strings would be D'addario XL 0.045 - .105 roundwound nickels.

rcaz

Didn't think of flatwounds! I retract my statement!

Although, I wouldn't consider swapping to flatwounds an 'upgrade'. It'll change the tone, definitely, and I didn't think of it. I thought flat- vs. roundwound was more of a taste thing.

Dord

El Pr0n wrote: »

Didn't think of flatwounds! I retract my statement!

Although, I wouldn't consider swapping to flatwounds an 'upgrade'. It'll change the tone, definitely, and I didn't think of it. I thought flat- vs. roundwound was more of a taste thing.

Yes, it's more of a sideways move. But the point I was making is that strings have a sizeable impact on the tone of the instrument.

The first thing I do when I buy a new instrument is change the strings. I don't care if it's brand new off the shelf or used. They get changed. I've used many different brands and eventually settled on one that works for me. They're made by Optima (formerly Maxima) in Germany. Great strings!

But before this I had DR's on one of my basses and they were one of the worse sounding strings I had tried. Awful! They just ripped the mids out of the sound.

rcaz

I would always change strings when I get a new guitar too (but I don't buy guitars nearly often enough to speak from experience). Guitars tend to come through shops with some sort of weightless metallic angel hair for strings (9s or so?), which I don't like. So my changing would purely be to get a string guage I like the feel of (at the moment, 12s).

I don't play bass often enough to be sensitive to string guage. OP, do you like the feel of your bass strings? I find that the feel of the instrument can improve tone with some sort of placebo effect, if you like the feel, you'll like the sound, though YMMV.

Darkstrike

Before anything can be reccomended, you need to decide what you do and don't like about the tone and even feel, of the bass. A different guage, brand, type of string can completly change the feel, and aloow for lower action if you go tighter.

PaulieBoy

Many thanks for your time guys.
I shall start at the strings so.
Cheers.

reniwren

I recommend SIT strings they are the best feeling strings I have ever used because the winding are so tight and I now hav them on all of my basses, but sadly Irish shops dont stock them

and yes even different brands of string effect tone