This affordable Donner P-bass is a well constructed instrument, but can it be made better with new electronics, a handwound pickup, and a brass saddle bridge? Thanks to Alegree for supplying the wiring kit and pickguard for this project: Wiring Kit - www.alegree.co.uk/collections/wiring-harnesses-and-kits/products/precision-bass-wiring-kit Pickguard - www.alegree.co.uk/collections/bass-pickguards/products/white-precision-bass-pickguard?variant=36893535878 Previous P-Bass video - ua-cam.com/video/WCpS1VVKWsY/v-deo.html #pbass #upgrade #csguitars More from CSGuitars: Gain access to exclusive content at: www.patreon.com/csguitars Join CSGuitars Discord - discord.gg/d7b6MY8 Buy CSGuitars Merchandise - www.csguitars.co.uk/store Website - www.csguitars.co.uk Contact - colin@csguitars.co.uk
Colin did a great job, but I must say Rob Scallon's guitar truly is a master piece no doubt his guitar plays/sounds better then any 1000$ guitar on the market ..... Take notes Gibson!
This is a good, reasonable, and approachable project for viewers, falling in the space between "everything must fit perfectly or I won't touch it" and "I'm making my own from scratch anyway". I like it.
@@gringogreen4719 i love how the mid position pickup respondes to your playing, I need a fender style guitar like that, like a strat or a tele with one pickup in the mid position- no other pickup routing and no trem routing
@@iliasliakos6692 Volume and attack are two different things. Playing over the pickup gives you more attack. For example listen to early Dropkick Murphys, that's attack. But where you pick or pluck on a P Bass has a huge difference on your tone.
No doubt the upgrades sound better, but i do think i'd personally mix the new bass to sound closer to the original as i like the duller sound on bass. Easier to make a bright instrument dull than the other way around though, so these upgrades are definitely worth while
Colin, I love all your videos so much, and am always excited to see what you put out. But as a bass player, It makes me even more excited to see you doing anything bass related! Thanks for making such quality content!
an easy fix for void screwholes on pickguards is to screw the screw through the guard into a little chunk of foam. doesn't help hold the pickguard at all, but makes it look more natural without requiring any intensive extra work
I feel that bridge on a spiritual level. I got an 80 (U.S.) dollar guitar and the neck was 25.5 in scale length and let me tell you the bridge was way to close. so I tried moving it back, btw this was an S-style guitar and it was a pain because I didn't really have to proper tools to do these kind major modification. so I used sand paper to remove material. then used maple trim with super glue to add material. and I drilled new hole filled the old, and it... didn't work i need to more it back more, but i didn't want to do that all again. so I took the same maple trim and added it to the end of the neck in order to get the space i needed. finally it worked, it's not the best guitar i have by far but it's still fun to play and I'm glad I didn't give up on it. probably spelled so stuff wrong but i think y'all can figure it out
The tone difference was very obvious to my relatively untrained ear and it sounds more powerful with the new electronics... more tired and more subdued with the older electronics. Cool build out! Thank you for posting.
Nice job, but the saddle being at the end of its travel would bug me, especially as moving it forward a bit would have covered up those old holes! Big gain in sound quality though, I thought.
Great work. What I especially love is that you gave us a visual clue with the T-shirt colour as well. But: "I doubt that I'll ever need anything better than this" sounds like any pre-GAS guitar player ever. Either you'll find reasons why you actuallly need another bass ("In case it breaks!") or you'll simply want one. Ask me how I know ;)
A totally cosmetic thing, but you could: 1. cut the shank off some screws and glue the heads in the vacant holes on the pickguard 2. (if it will fit) drill pilot holes into some bits of scrap wood to go under the vacant holes and screw those in (has the advantage of not using glue, and therefore being easier to undo).
I bought one of these thanks to this video. I’ve kept the hardware the same but I’ve been stripping it of the paint. I think I’ll replace the pickguard with a black one at some point though
Great video! Yes all of these are issues on any Fender clones. I have two inexpensive basses. My Johnson I had the same issues as this model. What we did was just replace the pickup and electronics, same as you. That's all. I also sticker bombed it so it looks like a proper Psychobilly/Punk bass. My Squire we replaced just about everything except the neck, tuners and body. It has a P/J pickups setup and even though the Duncan Designed pickups came out of a newer Squire Jaguar, the J pickup did not fit. Yay filing!😐🤘 Even with Fender to Squire parts there were issues. The Fender high mass bridge was pretty easy. The pots were different as the two volumes were full sized CTS pots and tge tone was a mini pot due its position. The pickguatd screws also had trouble lining up, some did, some did not. If you are doing a project like these I would suggest going for a Bournes minipot as a solution because otherwise you may have to route or it may not even fit. With a Fender clone my recommendation is to swap out fewer parts. Parts designed for Fenders really won't work well on clones unless you go all the way like on the bridge and pickguard on Collin's bass. If you want a cheap mod with many options go for a Squire model and realize even though you have a Fender product it does not mean that everything will work or fit on it without some extra work past dropping them in. That said once you have an upgraded bass, it's definitely worth it.😎👍✨
Have you done a video specifically on "high mass" bass bridges? I'm curious to hear your scientific take on that. I ask mainly because I'm a bassist, and recently *removed* a high mass Schaller 3D bridge and replaced it with a very basic F-style, 4-saddle, bent plate bridge. And honestly, *if* there's a difference it's that my bass sounds way better with the "low mass" bridge.
I had a similar problem with the Wilkinson p bass bridge saddle screw length. Bought one for an el cheapo that I was refinishing and rebuilding for fun, then I rescued a beat up SX bass as well. The SX was the better bass so I decided to put the Wilkinson bridge on there instead. Had to use the screws from the old SX bridge to get it to intonate properly because there just wasn't enough length in the original screws to get the saddles forward enough. Maybe Wilkinson should consider supplying longer screws?
Crazy question, would longer screws on the saddles alleviate the lack of adjustment room? or are you pushing the limits of the adjustment screw's material at that length?
If you ever decide to revisit P bass electronics try linear taper volume potentiometer (I find audio taper volume too quick in passive P bass) and 0.1 uF capacitor (I find 0.047 uF too weak all across and too "middley" at the end). Have a nice day!
I have a bass my sister found in the apartment building's rubbish container a few years ago. All I know is it is a Sears, and has a weird single pickup, and has four strings. Everything is there but the electronics, and the plate that held them (the pick guard is there). I wonder where can I go to find out what this is then find out if it is worth repairing (it is from the late 60's I believe), or if I can even find the plastic that held the pots? I doubt this ever had a switch since it is just one pickup (weird looking thing I think may be a gold foil).
I did something similar to this to my cheap-@$$ Squier P-bass. I put in a Seymour Duncan Quarter-Pounder P-bass pickup and a Bartolini TC3 preamp on a push/pull switch, so I can get either a pure passive sound or an active sound if I need a boost. Greatly increased punch and clarity compared to the lame stock pickups.
it sounds to me it has "more punch" than stock. Question. I'm planning to change the bridge on a KAY (SG shape) short-scale bass, would i be best served by putting the saddles 1/2 way before fitting?
- I've got an 80's Squire P-Bass which is actually pretty good, for something with a laminate body... But, you know, it's on it's way to being a bloody vintage bass now, so... Anyway, it serves me well as a p- bass, and it's ripe for a similar upgrade to this. I don't want to spend too much. I was looking at Wilkinson pickups - any thoughts?
Does the gauge of wiring matter in this application? Coming from the nerf hobby with high amp draw motors and direct current, the general rule is to use as thick gauge wiring as will fit, but im not sure here
These wires are carrying AC signal, not DC power. There is no advantage to thick wire. Grounding and shielding will however be much more important to prevent the signal wires picking up external EMI noise.
@@ScienceofLoud Gotoh 203B-4 is really cool. I bought it because it has a little more mass but it has the sleeker vintage design, and the price is awesome!
While an eq pedal can't get a frequency change like this, it can help you be heard in a mix if you are having issues. Assuming that's what you're asking anyway. It won't as good of a job. but it is much cheaper, and can be used to shape a sound in many other ways depending on what's needed. Just do a bit of research before you buy anything.
But with the total money invested in the guitar and upgrades, is it now as good as a Fender of the same price? Or would you be better to just buy the Fender of the same price?
Total money invested was less than £100. The instrument itself is £115 at retail. That's equivalent to a basic, bottom rung Squier P-Bass and you won't get CTS pots and handwound pickups on those.
This affordable Donner P-bass is a well constructed instrument, but can it be made better with new electronics, a handwound pickup, and a brass saddle bridge?
Thanks to Alegree for supplying the wiring kit and pickguard for this project:
Wiring Kit - www.alegree.co.uk/collections/wiring-harnesses-and-kits/products/precision-bass-wiring-kit
Pickguard - www.alegree.co.uk/collections/bass-pickguards/products/white-precision-bass-pickguard?variant=36893535878
Previous P-Bass video - ua-cam.com/video/WCpS1VVKWsY/v-deo.html
#pbass #upgrade #csguitars
More from CSGuitars:
Gain access to exclusive content at: www.patreon.com/csguitars
Join CSGuitars Discord - discord.gg/d7b6MY8
Buy CSGuitars Merchandise - www.csguitars.co.uk/store
Website - www.csguitars.co.uk
Contact - colin@csguitars.co.uk
Hey dude great video I was wondering on what kind of tuners I can upgrade my Donner to
Loved the video brother! I'm in the same situation... I got a Glarry and am going to do BASSically the same thing.
I didn't watch it yet, but I'm sure you did a better job than Rob Scallon
Colin did a great job, but I must say Rob Scallon's guitar truly is a master piece no doubt his guitar plays/sounds better then any 1000$ guitar on the market ..... Take notes Gibson!
Sorry but Scallon's guitar was far more metal than anything this channel has done ;)
@@TedSchoenling just because it could kill you 🤣
Lmao
I nearly cried with laughter watching Rob make his guitar, genuinely one of the funniest things I've seen in a long time!!
This is a good, reasonable, and approachable project for viewers, falling in the space between "everything must fit perfectly or I won't touch it" and "I'm making my own from scratch anyway". I like it.
It was incredibly minor adjustments needed to get it all to fit. I was surprised by how close the Fender stratchplate was to Donner's own
The "Stay safe" at the end makes me feel taken care of and protected, Thank you, Colin
"I doubt I'll ever need anything better than this"
Famous last words
If I had a dollar for every time I said that I'd just use it to buy more gear.
The P-bass... the king of the solid body instruments
King of the studio basses! 👑
@@gringogreen4719 i love how the mid position pickup respondes to your playing, I need a fender style guitar like that, like a strat or a tele with one pickup in the mid position- no other pickup routing and no trem routing
@@iliasliakos6692
You also get the most signal playing directly over the pickups.
@@gringogreen4719 you can also turn the volume on your amp up.
@@iliasliakos6692
Volume and attack are two different things. Playing over the pickup gives you more attack. For example listen to early Dropkick Murphys, that's attack. But where you pick or pluck on a P Bass has a huge difference on your tone.
Love your bass playing man, can't wait untill your fans force you to play primus.
No doubt the upgrades sound better, but i do think i'd personally mix the new bass to sound closer to the original as i like the duller sound on bass. Easier to make a bright instrument dull than the other way around though, so these upgrades are definitely worth while
Curious if they changed out the strings. Makes a huge difference on their own.
If you didn't want to drill new holes for the bridge again, you could find longer screws for the saddles.
Colin, I love all your videos so much, and am always excited to see what you put out. But as a bass player, It makes me even more excited to see you doing anything bass related! Thanks for making such quality content!
I love the Adam Neely shout in the stinger!
Moo
Brilliant as always. Need more you tubers like Colin!
Rancid ftw
I would say that the upgrades improved the presence and character, exactly what it needed.
an easy fix for void screwholes on pickguards is to screw the screw through the guard into a little chunk of foam. doesn't help hold the pickguard at all, but makes it look more natural without requiring any intensive extra work
Knowing me, I would've kept the original bridge plate and pickguard, and just replaced the saddles and electronics. Awesome job, pal!
the old pick guard probably didn’t fit and he had to change it out
@@AjCohn Actually, he points out how the _new_ pickguard doesn't fit properly. 😶
@@ALTDOK667 right but he also put new pickups and pots in that probably didn’t fit on the original
I feel that bridge on a spiritual level. I got an 80 (U.S.) dollar guitar and the neck was 25.5 in scale length and let me tell you the bridge was way to close. so I tried moving it back, btw this was an S-style guitar and it was a pain because I didn't really have to proper tools to do these kind major modification. so I used sand paper to remove material. then used maple trim with super glue to add material. and I drilled new hole filled the old, and it... didn't work i need to more it back more, but i didn't want to do that all again. so I took the same maple trim and added it to the end of the neck in order to get the space i needed. finally it worked, it's not the best guitar i have by far but it's still fun to play and I'm glad I didn't give up on it.
probably spelled so stuff wrong but i think y'all can figure it out
sounds like there's a lot more mid and high mid definition with the new pickups
The tone difference was very obvious to my relatively untrained ear and it sounds more powerful with the new electronics... more tired and more subdued with the older electronics. Cool build out! Thank you for posting.
Metal Zone!
NO MIDS, MORE GAIN
SLAYEERRR!!
Excellent, I'm gonna do this with my friend's busted Samick.
Cheers Colin!
New upgrades sound great! Love to see more complex upgrades for the bass. Series/parallel switch, varitone pot or diff tone capacitors.
Nice job, but the saddle being at the end of its travel would bug me, especially as moving it forward a bit would have covered up those old holes! Big gain in sound quality though, I thought.
Get longer screws to put your saddles on.
Sounds great. Simple and effective upgrade.
Wow!! What a difference!! Great job!! Love that you are playing Rancid 🤘🏼😁
New setup is brighter and tighter. Sounds great!
Great work. What I especially love is that you gave us a visual clue with the T-shirt colour as well. But: "I doubt that I'll ever need anything better than this" sounds like any pre-GAS guitar player ever. Either you'll find reasons why you actuallly need another bass ("In case it breaks!") or you'll simply want one. Ask me how I know ;)
I mean, a P-bass is nice, but... it's not a J-bass. Or a MusicMan. Also, 4 strings is kinda limiting :D
It warms my heart to see a self-proclaimed guitarist having a ball with a p-bass.
thinking about doing the same to a old ltd b-50 pj bass ...fun watching your vid ...thank you
I’ve got to admit that I’m shocked how much the upgrades changed a budget bass. Super cool!
The fact you covered Rancid in this video makes my heart very happy! Haha
You're the friend ever guitar player wishes they had.
Always enjoy the vids!
love the accent big reason im here
I just had my first child three months ago and i secretly hope she becomes a bass player
I don't think it's secret anymore.
nobody asked, parentjacker
difference is night and day with the new and old stuff, wow. As you said, it's clearer in a mix.
I love that little shoutout at the very end to Adam Neely
A totally cosmetic thing, but you could:
1. cut the shank off some screws and glue the heads in the vacant holes on the pickguard
2. (if it will fit) drill pilot holes into some bits of scrap wood to go under the vacant holes and screw those in (has the advantage of not using glue, and therefore being easier to undo).
I bought one of these thanks to this video. I’ve kept the hardware the same but I’ve been stripping it of the paint. I think I’ll replace the pickguard with a black one at some point though
Can't remember the last time I was this early. Great vid as always Colin. Keep it up!
Great video! Yes all of these are issues on any Fender clones. I have two inexpensive basses.
My Johnson I had the same issues as this model. What we did was just replace the pickup and electronics, same as you. That's all. I also sticker bombed it so it looks like a proper Psychobilly/Punk bass.
My Squire we replaced just about everything except the neck, tuners and body. It has a P/J pickups setup and even though the Duncan Designed pickups came out of a newer Squire Jaguar, the J pickup did not fit. Yay filing!😐🤘
Even with Fender to Squire parts there were issues. The Fender high mass bridge was pretty easy. The pots were different as the two volumes were full sized CTS pots and tge tone was a mini pot due its position. The pickguatd screws also had trouble lining up, some did, some did not.
If you are doing a project like these I would suggest going for a Bournes minipot as a solution because otherwise you may have to route or it may not even fit. With a Fender clone my recommendation is to swap out fewer parts. Parts designed for Fenders really won't work well on clones unless you go all the way like on the bridge and pickguard on Collin's bass. If you want a cheap mod with many options go for a Squire model and realize even though you have a Fender product it does not mean that everything will work or fit on it without some extra work past dropping them in. That said once you have an upgraded bass, it's definitely worth it.😎👍✨
Definitely sounds better with the upgrade
Definitely an improvement!! Nice job!!
Why not a high mass bridge? Just wondering.
Slightly better. TO THE MAX!
Definitely the new set up has more punch and stands out in the band mixes more
Ooooooo wasn't expecting a Rancid track to be laid down! Matt Freeman is deffo an underrated bass player!
Sweet clanky P-bass goodness, awesome!
Epic Adam Neely reference at 10:06
Have you done a video specifically on "high mass" bass bridges? I'm curious to hear your scientific take on that.
I ask mainly because I'm a bassist, and recently *removed* a high mass Schaller 3D bridge and replaced it with a very basic F-style, 4-saddle, bent plate bridge. And honestly, *if* there's a difference it's that my bass sounds way better with the "low mass" bridge.
the new electronics is happening! it has a greater clarity and punch.
Seems a solid improvement to me! 👍
NOTIFICATION SQUAAAAADDDDD
Squad !
@@hazrod13 (Hi Lucas)
@@JuveriSetila (Greetings, Grand Archivist)
I had a similar problem with the Wilkinson p bass bridge saddle screw length. Bought one for an el cheapo that I was refinishing and rebuilding for fun, then I rescued a beat up SX bass as well. The SX was the better bass so I decided to put the Wilkinson bridge on there instead. Had to use the screws from the old SX bridge to get it to intonate properly because there just wasn't enough length in the original screws to get the saddles forward enough.
Maybe Wilkinson should consider supplying longer screws?
Patreon squad!
Squad !
Squad!
@@hazrod13 (Hi Lucas)
@@JuveriSetila (Greetings, Grand Archivist)
that tone difference tho. I always knew that getting a Chender P bass and dropping a great pickup in it is the way to go
I did basically the same thing to a vintage Aria Pro II "Precise" Bass (heh,) but I chose a high mass bridge with brass saddles.
"A fully operational battle station" 😂 Yes! 🤟
Crazy question, would longer screws on the saddles alleviate the lack of adjustment room? or are you pushing the limits of the adjustment screw's material at that length?
So the wires can cause a good pickup to sound like a cheaper one? (I assume same with the pots?)
Nailed the Matt Freeman tone there pal
Thanks
patreon squad!
Squad !
@@hazrod13 (Hi Lucas)
You could always glue some pieces of wood into the control cavity so you can screw the pick guard down.
Och aye 'tis a nice thumper now Col! \m/
If you ever decide to revisit P bass electronics try linear taper volume potentiometer (I find audio taper volume too quick in passive P bass) and 0.1 uF capacitor (I find 0.047 uF too weak all across and too "middley" at the end). Have a nice day!
Colin must be a Palpatine fan at 0:39
I have a bass my sister found in the apartment building's rubbish container a few years ago. All I know is it is a Sears, and has a weird single pickup, and has four strings. Everything is there but the electronics, and the plate that held them (the pick guard is there). I wonder where can I go to find out what this is then find out if it is worth repairing (it is from the late 60's I believe), or if I can even find the plastic that held the pots? I doubt this ever had a switch since it is just one pickup (weird looking thing I think may be a gold foil).
Can you do a video for PJ pickups?
I kinda need to know how to do that
May the algorithm be ever in your favour.
OMG HE PLAYED RANCID hell yes!
Thank you for using fingers on Iron Maiden. Bless you.
If you’re still doing the tata videos, could elaborate on the difference between a cheap vs expensive guitar pedals?
I did something similar to this to my cheap-@$$ Squier P-bass. I put in a Seymour Duncan Quarter-Pounder P-bass pickup and a Bartolini TC3 preamp on a push/pull switch, so I can get either a pure passive sound or an active sound if I need a boost. Greatly increased punch and clarity compared to the lame stock pickups.
what pickups did you use? they sounds incredible and I want a pair for my own bass
Do you have any experience with standard EMG PHZ pickups and can you tell me what is the difference when you compare them with GZR pickups? Thanks
The sound was the same to my ears but its came through more with the upgrades
it sounds to me it has "more punch" than stock.
Question. I'm planning to change the bridge on a KAY (SG shape) short-scale bass, would i be best served by putting the saddles 1/2 way before fitting?
Was it possible to keep the base plate on the brige and just swap the saddles? Just a thought...
0:33 hehe...knobs.... hehe solid shaft....
Colin went full Adam Neely at the end
You probably could have used the fender high mass bridge, which is longer fore to aft and has much more travel in the saddles.
4:11 Tony Hawk's Underground 2!
Sounds good! Type of strings?
Just the strings that came on the instrument.
- I've got an 80's Squire P-Bass which is actually pretty good, for something with a laminate body... But, you know, it's on it's way to being a bloody vintage bass now, so...
Anyway, it serves me well as a p- bass, and it's ripe for a similar upgrade to this. I don't want to spend too much.
I was looking at Wilkinson pickups - any thoughts?
- I shall look into Alegree
Would have been fun to head got the time by anthrax the bass in that is just crazy 🤣🤘
The new set up has quite a bit more noticeable attack. I think that's why it cuts through the mix better
Does the gauge of wiring matter in this application? Coming from the nerf hobby with high amp draw motors and direct current, the general rule is to use as thick gauge wiring as will fit, but im not sure here
These wires are carrying AC signal, not DC power. There is no advantage to thick wire.
Grounding and shielding will however be much more important to prevent the signal wires picking up external EMI noise.
The empty screw holes you could use magic screws just cut the head off and glue it in
maybe cut the heads of some screws and glue them on the unused pickguard holes?
I'm surprised you didn't try a high mass bridge. I think those brass saddles with make a difference for sure. That bridge vs high mass?
The problem with high mass bridges is I think they look really ugly
@@ScienceofLoud Gotoh 203B-4 is really cool. I bought it because it has a little more mass but it has the sleeker vintage design, and the price is awesome!
Would it be possible to get a similar effect by using an EQ to boost the mids without having to change the pick ups?
While an eq pedal can't get a frequency change like this, it can help you be heard in a mix if you are having issues. Assuming that's what you're asking anyway. It won't as good of a job. but it is much cheaper, and can be used to shape a sound in many other ways depending on what's needed. Just do a bit of research before you buy anything.
you can always just get longer adjustment screws for the bridge saddles, can't you?
😢Hello, something is wrong with my guitar, the sound is bad, what do you advise?😂 please give me some advice!!!😊
But with the total money invested in the guitar and upgrades, is it now as good as a Fender of the same price? Or would you be better to just buy the Fender of the same price?
Total money invested was less than £100. The instrument itself is £115 at retail.
That's equivalent to a basic, bottom rung Squier P-Bass and you won't get CTS pots and handwound pickups on those.
Good point. For a grand total of £215, you cannot even get a Squier Classic Vibe, which I would consider nearly perfect right out of the box.
As lovely as the upgraded one sounds, I feel like the unupgraded one would djent better.
but does it slap?
Discord!
All The BASS!!! Wait what?
Hey Colin
should have put little blocks of wood (or something) to allow you to put screws in all the holes, so they at least look complete.
Rule One - Think it through and get parts that fit!