Jean-Luc Pickguard

Don't Forget About Me — Dusty Springfield

Somethimes when buying secondhand, you get an accessory or two thrown in as a freebie. This week I bought a Fender starcaster bass which was listed as coming with a case. I expected a ratty gigbag, but it actually came with a (very slightly tatty but fully intact) epiphone Jack Casady hard case. Also included was a very nice worn-in Gibson 'modern vintage' black leather strap and a set of schaller strap locks (not copies). The strap goes for £58 new from gibson and might be . I'm not a fan of schaller strap locks and have ordered a set of gotoh fender-style buttons to go on the bass to be used with grolsch-style rubbery strap blocks, but the schallers should be worth the price of a few pints if I sell them. A nice bargain came from Cash converters where my black epiphone vintage pro thunderbird eventually only set me back about £100 once I had sold the humongous heavy duty aluminium flight case that came with it.

He's Gone — Doris Duke

Bulls On Parade — Rage Against The Machine

I switched from using a spectracomp to a Boss BC-1X. There were two irrational prejudices at work here - first I decided to go to an all-boss pedalboard in a attempt to put a constrain on the pedals I buy so I don't purchase a lot of different pedals that do the same thing slightly differently, and the row of LEDs on the BC-1X show that the compressor is having an effect on the sound even though it may not be very obvious.

I took the vintera II to rehearsal last night and played it on a couple of songs and it was a lot of fun and contrasted well with the JMJ mustang I'd been playing earlier. I took it as it came out of the box so will I need to make some adjustments. There's way too much relief in the neck, but as the adjuster is buried at the body end It's too much of a faff for now and I'll take care of that after changing the strings for LaBella flats when I'll do a full setup. I like how the wiggle stick stays in the position you leave it at rather than letting gravity flop it down when you let go (like it does on my Squier CV VI) however the plastic trem tip doesn't seem to want to stay on the wiggle stick. The tip end of the stick is threaded, but there doesn't seem to be a corresponding thread inside the tip for it to bite into, so I haven't been able to get it to stay attached. Any ideas?

Somebody Stole The Wedding Bell (Who's Got The Ding-Dong) — Eartha Kitt

I was wondering what Yoko Ono was up to these days

On a quick initial test, the bass mute noodle doesn't seem to be suitable for my Vintera Bass vi (which has just been delivered) as it is affecting the string height. I'll try it again once I've put the LaBella flats on and see whether more careful noodle threading works gives better results. Then I might order the guitar mute noodle to see whether that works better on a bass VI.

Looks like a particularly grotty Squier affinity to me. The fake serial number + 'made in USA' decal is clearly intended to deceive. Where has ebay hidded the 'report' button?

My Mute Noodle just popped through the door. I opened the packaging, glanced at the 'how to fit' illustration on the back of the pack, and fitted it to my PJ Player Mustang. I'm very impressed, it provides exactly the amount (or rather lack) of sustain I was hoping for. Also it's dead easy to put on and take off in seconds, and looks better than a ratty bit of kitchen sponge. Recommended.

Hard-on For Love — Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

I now have a vintera II incoming — it should be with me tomorrow. I already have a set of LaBella flats for it. I should be able to do a side by side comparison with my classic vibe once I've set up the vintera.

The dark textured neck wood sounds like wenge to me.