Jono Bolton

I actually like the Venus! The angle of the strings begin the bridge doesn't seem very well thought through, though

It's quite deceptive; it feels almost toy-like compared to my P Bass, but the sound from it was completely unexpected. It can do proper clank, but dialling back the tone gives you a very nice thump.

I put medium scale D'Addario chromes on my Squier Musicmaster the other day.

I've recently picked up a new (old) bass and the frets are pretty manky. I have the Planet Waves fret polishing kit and it's done a reasonable job, but they're still some way from being as good as they could be. What else should I be using? Are the fret erasers any good, or is it just a case of getting some steel wool on them?

After a week of waiting, my new bass arrived this morning - a Squier Vista Series Musicmaster, in shell pink. I've been after one of these for a while but haven't seen many turn up, and the ones I have seen have been overpriced, knackered, or both. This one was definitely overpriced when I found it on eBay, but I managed to negotiate the seller down to a more reasonable figure, though slightly north of what I'd hoped to pay. It's in good condition overall, with only one tiny chip on the rear of the body, and a couple of small dents. The seller said it had been "well loved", and though it definitely hasn't been abused, it hadn't been looked after. I had to take the whole thing apart and clean a fair bit of gunk off it. The frets in particular were in some state and despite my graft still need a bit more polishing to get the shite off them. I scored some very cheap D'Addario medium scale Chromes on eBay last week so it's been restrung with those, and just needs a set-up, which I'll do this evening. I've never had a short-scale before, unless you count a Bass VI, and it's great fun to play. It sounds very good through my Peavey Century. It'll be shielded and get a new Switchcraft jack later this week, and possibly a new pickguard as well. Pics:

That's a cracker. My JV Precision is my #1. My Bass VI is a lot of fun, and I have a MIJ PB70 that I haven't used much, but it's the JV that passes the house fire test.

Which colour is which on your basses?

Brian Pillans made a great pickguard for my JV P Bass. The original tortoiseshell plate was a bit knackered and had a wonky cutout for the pickup where someone had tried to widen it and made an derrière of it. I sent him the original to trace and he did a smashing job and got the new pickup hole spot on.

With regards to point 1, yes I have. The break angle on it is fine, but it's just on the low E that I have problems; the other strings are fine. I didn't know about the GHS strings, I'll have a look into them, or I might just ask Newtone if they can do me a single .105 to replace the one I've got on there already.

Possibly a bit of a niche question, but has anyone tried these? I've got a Squier CV Bass VI, and I swapped the stock strings for a set of Newtones (roundwound), but the low E - even at .100 - still feels pretty loose and it's difficult to get a low action without a lot of fretbuzz. The La Bellas are .095 on the low E, but I wondered what the tension was like on them. I probably prefer the sound of flats to rounds so would rather have flats if possible.

My latest acquisition; a Fender Japan PB70. I've had this for about 3 weeks now, bought from @lapolpora from the Marketplace. The colour caused much discussion in the sale thread, and I can confirm that it looks absolutely nothing like the pictures below 😄 It's probably Sonic Blue but does look Daphne Blue at times. I stuck on a set of Gotoh lollipop tuners I had spare and some Dunlop flats and it plays and sounds fantastic. I really need to get the Patio Magic out. span widgetspan widget

I used to play in C# standard (C#, F#, B, E) for a few years in an old band. I used to buy 5-string D'Addario sets with a .130 as my bottom string. I liked the tension of them on my P Bass and got a decent action out of them.

I couldn't imagine selling my JV Precision; in part because I don't think I'd recoup what I've put into it - knackered bass + re-finish + new pickup and pickguard - but mostly because I genuinely love it. It sounds great and plays like a dream. The neck is the best I've ever ever played, and it's my favourite colour for a bass too.

My first bass was a Peavey Foundation exactly like this: I think I got it for my 14th birthday which would have been 2001, though I'd been playing in school for a few years before that. I bought it from a boy a couple of years above me in school for £50 if I remember right. I sold it on to one of my brother's friends for about the same amount a few years later. I bought another one a few years ago out of nostalgia but it wasn't as good as I'd remembered and I didn't keep it long.