Jono Bolton

Doesn't say anywhere, and a lot of the designs are the same as, or similar to, some of the VM bases made in Indonesia; 70s Js, the Ps look like the VMs but without the J pickup, plus they're doing Jags, Jazzmasters and Mustangs, as well as Thinline Teles which were all part of the VM range. I noticed as well that they've got BBOT bridges and look to be fairly standard, whereas the old CV basses had heavier bridges and different mounting screw positioning, which meant aftermarket bridges would just drop straight in. The more I think about it, the more it seems like these are just tarted-up Vintage Modifieds.

There's a shop in Glasgow that has a used-but-mint Sonic Blue CV Precision at £369; the prices for these are lower than that, and lower than the current CV stock. It'd be interesting to see if they're the same quality.

My first thought was that it looks nothing like LPB. The rout for it looks a little big when you zoom in on it.

A whole heap of them. Js, Ps and Bass VIs, in sunburst, black, Olympic White (P) and Lake Placid Blue (J). Some of the new CV guitars look good too: https://www.thomann.de/gb/search_dir.html?sw=fender+sq+cv+bass&smcs=a2fdba_730

I was thinking a TOM bridge and a trapeze tailpiece

I just had a look to see what bridge it had as I wasn't familiar with the bass. I know that they're the standard bridge used on most types of bass, but I can't get over how much it doesn't fit in with the overall design.

A green scourer attached to a Black and Decker mouse allowed me to take the gloss off an Epiphone SG in no time at all.

Luckily, with old Peavey stuff it's really easy to get inside; the head has separate front and back panels so just four screws need to be removed to get into it, and you can leave the back panel in place. I phoned my local amp tech to ask about having it replaced, and I was quoted about £25, which isn't too bad for a job that I wouldn't be comfortable doing myself. They also be better placed than me to identify if it is just the pot that needs changing, and not something else such as leaking caps.

I've been poking the straw on the can inside the wee hole in the pot to make sure the Servisol is getting everywhere. How much Servisol should I be using? I been giving it a fair few big sprays but I watched a video on YouTube where a guy was having the same problem with an old Yamaha and he was absolutely drenching the pots, so perhaps I'm not using enough. Here's said video; the noise from his amp isn't too dissimilar to mine:

I picked up an old Peavey head recently, and it sounds amazing, but the volume pot clicks, pops and bangs whenever I turn it; not really an issue at home, but I probably couldn't use it for gigging as it is. I've used Servisol on it a few times now, and it isn't getting any better. Is replacing the pot the only option or is there something more heavy duty than Servisol that I can use? The amp's probably 40 years old, and has cheap plastic shaft pots, although the others seem to have held up ok.

After a wee delay, the new corner protectors have arrived and have been fitted to the head. A couple of holes had to be re-drilled but they generally fit pretty well. Now that they're on, and the vinyl's has been cleaned, it looks almost brand new bar a bit of tarnishing on the handle. Not bad for £70.

I've had quite a few of the CV models (P Basses, Strats, Teles) and while I've not been able to fault any of them, I've never clicked with any of them either. I'd still like the Sonic Blue CV Precision, and there's one in one of the shops up here, but they're wanting £370 for it. A mint condition one went on ebay the other week for £430. They're getting to be silly money now for certain models.

D'Addarios for me usually, although I've got Fender flats on my bass at the minute. I've used Rotos in the past but only when I've come across them cheap. I've always found that they're rough as toast.

Is the Yamaha BB400 fretless for sale near me worth a punt at £269?

Biffy Clyro.

Best: I sold my black Matt Freeman and bought a white one instead. No discernable difference between the two other than the colour. Perhaps the Fender flats I put on it were the best purchase. Worst: Nothing yet; I've bought very little this year. Aside from a Peavey 4x10, the only other bass-related purchase I've made was... Schrödinger's Purchase: I picked up a 70s Peavey Century head last week. It had some scratchy pots and switches but they seem to have cleaned up ok. It's tidied up well, but I haven't had a chance to really give it a full test yet; it's far too loud for using at home. There are no notches on the knobs or numbers on the control panel so it's impossible to see what settings I'm using, which is a massive pain in the derrière. It does sound good, but only time will tell if it's something worth keeping.

I managed to get inside the head today and sprayed some Servisol inside the pots and did bit of general tidying. No more crackles from any of the knobs which is nice. I've had the corner protectors soaking in coke since Tuesday but I tried cleaning them today and they're pretty shot, so I've got a new set ordered and once they're on I'll add some pictures. It's a very nice sounding wee head.

Not a valve amp, but I've used an old Sunn Concert Lead for bass before and it was great. For recording in the past I've split the signal through my Peavey Mark IV and an Orange guitar head to good effect.

The only time my amp has failed on me was when I didn't have a backup; thankfully it was towards the end of a set and there wasn't anyone there to bear witness other than the sound guy, who seemed to have never done a hardcore band before so the sound was stinky poo to begin with. It was a horrible gig. I booked the amp in to a tech to be looked at as it was a couple of weeks before we went on a short tour, got it back the weekend before and was told it was fixed, only for it to happen again at practice the night before the first of our run of gigs. Had to spend the next few days borrowing from other bands, using house amps or DIing straight into the desk. When I went back to collect my amp for the second time, the guy told me it was due to one of the capacitors that had failed, and showed me the swollen cap in a "this is very obvious" kind of way. I asked how he managed to miss it the first time round given it looked fit to burst but he had no answer for me.

By sundries, do you mean cans?

That was my plan, but for some reason none of the screwdrivers I have fit comfortably into the cross heads of the screws to be able to get them out My pal down the street has a 'leccy screwdriver that I'll ask for a shot of over the weekend; that should hopefully get me inside. I'll have a look at the solder joints too while I'm in there.

I picked up an old Peavey Century head today. I didn't get a chance to test it before I bought it and the seller hadn't used it in over 6 months but I managed to haggle a bit off the price as a result. When I first plugged it in, there were a few pops and bangs from the inputs and the power switch, which I attributed to the fact it had been in storage for most of this year. I don't have a Phillips-head screwdriver that fits the screws on the front panel to be able to open it up, but a quick spray with Servisol on the knobs from the front, and on the power switch and jacks seems to have cleared most issues up, but the volume knob is still incredibly scratchy. Is there anything else I should be looking at doing to try and sort it before booking it in for a service? P.S. the chrome corners are soaking in coke just now to try and get rid of some of the rust spots, so pics will be added once I've put it all back together.