I recently gave my 5-string Deluxe Jazz Bass a major makeover. I swapped the original pickups for Nordstrand Big J Blades (warm & wooly wind), added an Aguilar OBP-3 preamp, replaced the old bridge with a Hipshot KickAss, and even threw on some cool black metal knobs.

Just like the other hardware on this bass, the bridge on my old J bass is definitely not top-of-the-line. So, there's a big opportunity for a bridge upgrade to yield a noticeable improvement. If this bass already had a high-quality bridge, I'd only consider a new bridge for better adjustability or a different aesthetic. But that's not the case here.