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So after a very long break I'm resurecting this thread in a search for some advice. I got the bass back together to find that the neck, and/or the truss rod has a fairly serious fault. The action is very high all the way up the neck. I cranked the truss rod as tight as I could, which makes it slightly better, however when this is done the nut at the base of the neck- which is the truss rod adjustment- sits at a pretty alarming angle. My best guess is that the truss rod is knackered. So, I don't just want to bin the bass, the refret actually went very well and the neck, now its sanded and oiled, feels very nice. I think then, I need to replace the truss rod. Given that this is a hideously awkward job (I'll need to rout out the skunk stripe, remove the old one and refit the new one this way), and I really can't afford to pay somone to do this - it would be nuts considering what the bass is worth- I was wondering if anyone could suggest a method for routing out the stripe. I've got a decent router, I guess I'll need to make some kind of jig? Suggestions, advice and encouragement welcome.... I've attached a few shots below..The bridge is already as low as it can go.

I use what is sometimes apparently referred to as the ‘Dr Pepper’ setting, where the release and attack are at 2 o’clock and 10 o’clock respectively. I have the ratio at 8:1, with threshold and output at about 2 o’clock (passive basses).

So some people must have a lot of money. Around 64% of households do own a house. Yes. It's unequal and getting worse, possibly. Maybe it gets better as you get older, it should, otherwise what's the point of saving and investing? Ironically if people's earnings were more equal, more people would be below the poverty line as it's a 'relative' measure. Ideally we are all pretty equal when 1 in 3 are in poverty. I guess it depends on your interpretation of my use of 'loads' - that's obviously relative as well. Loads more people are above the poverty line than below it. None of this explains why people are staying at home and spending money on pizza and takeway and watching rubbish TV while surfing the internet.

P-lite

I live in Bradford, which I believe is one of the cheapest cities in the country to buy a house. Even so, we couldn't afford to live in the suburb where my wife has lived most of her life and where I went to school. Bear in mind that this is a pretty middling town, certainly not the poshest part of the district, and that we have a combined household income of around three times the average.

Bristol is the same. It’s shocking and kind of links back to the original topic. Do artists need a basic income or does everyone deserve to live in a society where the purchasing power of their money isn’t eroding faster than the cost of assets, goods and services? Apparently because of a basket of hair curlers, organic miso, a rice cooker and a bowler hat (or whatever shit is in the CPI this week) every thing is tickety boo and we are in the land of honey.

I brought a Polytune tuner at a bargain price from Mark. He very kindly posted it out to me before he received any payment, as he was busy preparing for his Holidays. It was posted on a next day delivery, it was received as described & was packaging extremely well. Thank you being so trusting Bernie

I have the same, first run from 2018. Recently wanted to part with it, but just could not and pulled out the ad after getting the first offer.

🎸 Afterword: The End of the Leo Era — Guitars in the Age of Machines There is a quiet, almost sacred weight to the realization that an era has ended. When G&L Musical Instruments closed its doors in September of 2025 and Fender Musical Instruments Corporation took ownership of the Leo Fender name and likeness shortly thereafter, it wasn’t just a corporate event. It was the closing of a circle that began in a California workshop nearly seventy-five years earlier, a circle drawn by the hands of one man who changed how the world heard itself. For decades, guitars were more than tools. They were companions to rebellion, mirrors for expression, and extensions of personality. The men who built them Leo Fender, Les Paul, Ted McCarty, George Fullerton didn’t see themselves as legends. They were engineers, craftsmen, and dreamers shaping the electricity of a new century. Their work gave sound a body and feeling a form. But as time passed, the tools outlived their makers, and the world they built for began to fade. In 1991, when Leo Fender passed away, production continued. His instruments still bore his name, still resonated with the clarity and bite that had defined his philosophy: “Keep it simple, keep it serviceable, keep it musical.” Yet the world around them changed. Computers began to play where musicians once did. Songs became data. Instruments became icons hanging on digital walls. Gradually, the sound of fingers on strings once the voice of a generation grew quieter beneath the algorithmic hum of automated rhythm and synthetic tone. Now, in an age of artificial intelligence, auto-tune, and generative soundscapes, the tactile nature of a guitar feels almost rebellious. To hold a slab of wood, to feel its grain, to fight the resistance of strings, this is an act of defiance against convenience. It is imperfect, human, and slow. And because of that, it is real. That reality may not trend on streaming charts, but it endures in hearts and hands that still crave authenticity. The guitars Leo built at G&L from the first F-100 to the final ASATs will never exist again. Not in their original form, not under his name, not with his vision guiding production. They are artifacts now, preserved echoes of a time when sound was made, not programmed. Each neck pocket date, each pot code, each finish check is a record of human intention, proof that design, when born of passion, can transcend the life of its creator. To the next generation, Leo Fender’s name may appear in footnotes, or on the headstock of a reissued model designed by committee. But for those who remember and for those who care to rediscover his genius remains carved in every curve and frequency of the instruments he left behind. And those instruments, kept alive by players and collectors alike, will continue to sing long after the machines have fallen silent. What dies in the market often survives in memory. And memory, if tended to carefully, becomes legacy.

Definitely, in Hemel Hempstead where I live there’s no way I could afford to buy on my salary now. And the cost of renting a one bedroom flat here would cost me 2/3 of my monthly take home.

Hi all, Posing a highly opinionated question but hoping to get a collective answer at the end of it. Would you consider Wilton Felder one of the greatest bassists of the 70s. I know I want you back is the best bass line of all time however some of his other work either for Motown, RCA, ABC etc have also been hugely influential lines.

Next big gig for me to see is Jamiroquai at Birmingham Utilita Arena on December 12th. Seem them on their last Uk tour, always at great atmosphere & event

Might be a stupid question but how does audio out work? You connect the USB interface to the Pi for input, are you then limited to the audio out jack from the Pi for output or can you configure the app to send audio to USB which you can then connect back to your DAW PC, essentially using the Pi as a pedal? The documentation doesn't seem to answer it or show a signal chain, and all the setup pictures just seem to show the USB input and power connected to the Pi....

Just so ridiculously talented.

It’s been debated before, but I think Fender body shape and split pickup in the conventional position covers the P bass definition. A double P is allowed but not PJ or any other pickup style.

Good thinking! Old, new and boutiques! I also forgot to treble the number for flats, nickel and steel rounds. So that’s 48 minimum. Add jazz basses into the mix and you will be into @cetera collection numbers.

Out of curiosity what made you want to move away from the Buddha?