So if it isn't a matter of the degradation of the battery or strings and you are someone who just wants to change out the preamp and pickups of this bass to experience something new and interesting in the way of sounds, then you are sitting on a great bass for that.
I'm a tinkerer/customizer, through and through, and I've eyed these basses as a great project platform since they debuted. The pickup size is (likely) the "BC" shape (you'd have to measure to confirm) and there is plenty of room to change to a different preamp as well.
The older version of these was also a great platform, which I'd upgraded numerous times and the results were amazing.
Depending on the sounds and functionality you're after, you have a very wide selection of pickups that would fit, either made in those casings or just added under an empty casing of that shape. Nordstrand is my go-to because they have a wide variety of options for any kind of sound you may be after.
The preamp, same thing, you have 4 pre-drilled holes, which allows for a lot of options, depending on what features you'd like. Again, I'm a Nordy fan. I use the 2B and 3B preamps frequently because they produce great results, have onboard gain adjustment to tailor for your desired level of output, and can be configured in a number of options with ease.
What I will say is, both the pickups and preamp have effects on what they are doing for the bass. For examples:
- If you have lame pickups going into a decent preamp, the preamp is only changing the sound of the lame pickups. You could find a new set of pickups is all you'd need, possibly, if that was the weak link;
- If you have a preamp that chokes off the signal or doesn't really do enough to enhance decent pickups to begin with, then a new preamp could be the proper modification.
The thing is, you kinda need to experiment with that before you start upgrading, if you want to play it safe.
Any preamp can be bypassed, so it may be worth a shot (if you're well enough versed at soldering and wiring) to remove the preamp signal from the chain and see what the pickups sound like on their own. You may like the pickups and the preamp was killing them! Or, you may find that the sound you don't like remains, so it is the pickups causing your desire to upgrade.
If you test this out first, it's essentially free.
That said, if you jump in feet first and want to do it all, it's certainly an option. But do realize, you could spend almost as much as you did on the entire bass, just doing the upgrades. That may be a reason people would try and talk you out of the process.
Then again, this is TB, where for a number of years, people would buy SX basses for $120 and then put $500 in upgrades into them to make them a bass worth $120 that cost $620. Not sure why that was a thing, but it was, so essentially, you're kind of in the right place if that is your goal.
I fear I've gone on a tangent though, sorry, the coffee is kicking in.
Hopefully this helps in some way. As I said, this bass is a great platform for changing electronic components and you can definitely experience some real changes if you'd like. But it's gonna cost some money to do so. And as others have stated, you're gonna want to figure out what types of change you're after to narrow it down.
