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They probably mean it actually is Squier, not Squire.

I was chatting to @Mike Brooks on WhatsApp about this latest L42 tour the other day. He was saying that the Pink JayDee sounded a little hollow and flat, but when the red JayDee came out, it sounded immense. I haven't heard it in the flesh yet, but I've never liked traditional/vintage instruments through the ultra-processed MarkBass amps. They just don't sound right to me. (I have one and only use it due to the light weight. I much prefer my TC RH750.) By all means tell me if I have weird ears, but the JayDees through the MB rig always sound as if they 'Quack' like a Duck... 🙉

Agreed. The Mexican £1400 signatures are very good in isolation (I had the Flea Jazz with the Pure Vintage 64's for a while), but when you put them next to the American Original, there's no comparison. There was just something about them that gave them an organic sound. Mine is also very light, so I guess it's a very high quality piece of Alder too.

Maybe tap to a larger size thread and fit a Helicoil?

Completely agree, it’s great. I honestly cannot see how something like this would even get close for the same money!

Blimey, he needs those big boots to find his way around that big pedal board...

It’s an always on ‘tone-shaper’ kind of pedal for me, so I’m using it more like a preamp. However, I don’t run it last in my chain. It’s currently sitting after my compressor and octave pedals, but before my Rat clone. It’s worthwhile experimenting with it in different spots in your chain as it can do some cool things to gain pedals.

Andy, you must do what's right for you. You've given fair notice so they'll be ok. Don't stress about it, you have enough going on

How do you find your American Original? I've had mine for six years and it's still the best passive Jazz I've ever played.

Apple Shampoo - Blink-182

I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair - South Pacific OST (Rodgers & Hammerstein)

Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever had a better sound than this combination gives me. I’m a huge fan of gentle compression when playing live and the Empress just gets the job done. The nerve centre of tone is the Jad Freer Capo which is just lush to play through, and then the Phil Mann with bass in mind version of the SushiboxFX Finally DI pushes out a lovely fat warm valve DI to FoH. The Thumpinator is there to protect my amp (I love this little box of tricks) but as I’m now almost always using IEM’s the amp is almost becoming redundant.

Back at the Old Fox, in Felling, a small town just south of Newcastle upon Tyne. This is one of those gigs you look forward to, a live music pub with an audience who appreciates your efforts. We’re all using IEMs now and that’s been an absolute game changer for us, and as one well respected local live music aficionado has just posted on FaceAche “Southern Incorporated were tighter than a nuns chuff”. Loads of folk we know out supporting us too, and a very happy landlady who stuck an extra £30 in the pay packet at the end of the night. Job done!

Wash It All Away - Five Finger Death Punch

Great looking setup, he’s bypassing the Markbass pre and using the Caveman BAS-1 for tone shaping though 😊

I probably didn't explain very well. I use a shelving response rather than the more usual bass tone control which rolls off the bass increasingly as the frequency drops. A shelving response acts like a volume control for bass cutting it all by a set amount. Like this but I only cut by a couple of db not 6db as in this example. I chose the 160 point as that was what was on my mixer at the end of the last gig. I ws surprised it was so high myself but it sounded good on the night. It wouldn't suit every bass or every bassist and Al makes a good point about weight. I suppose what I wanted to say ws don't be scared of equalising around a higher frequency and if you have a shelving response available on your mixer then explore using it. I find it quite a pleasing way of removing some of the boom whilst keeping a little deep bass and way better than using the conventional bass control on my active bass or the bass amp. You have to use your ears and of course we are all aiming for different sounds. Perhaps the other advice would be to make small changes and go back to a flat response from time to time whilst adjusting so you can be sure the changes are genuinley improvements. more here