Jean-Luc Pickguard

I had great service from Musik Productiv when I bought a fairly pricey bass which ending up needing to be replaced.

I'm not a fan of the stealth look - or black hardware in general. The only thing I would change on that bass would be to swap out the pickguard for a mirror one. To go full stealth you'd need a Status graphite neck and an EMG pickup.

I was setting up my guild starfire bass and found that it had a dual action truss rod so I've been able to set the relief for lowish tension flatwounds that enables me to prevent string buzz without needing to raise the action. I've never encountered a dual action rod before so I wonder why in 2020 this isn't the standard for all basses? being able to add relief when the strings don't pull enough on the neck to add relief is a real game changer and I'm impressed that Guild didn't stick to the original 1960s spec by using a standard single action truss rod. Who else is a fan of the dual action truss rod?

I don't think this is a rumbler, the case, tortoiseshell binding, black strings and toad inlay point to it being a more upmarket solid mahogany model probably the SMHG-FS

says 34" here: https://www.chicagomusicexchange.com/products/fender-custom-shop-abuelo-bass-heavy-relic-3-color-sunburst-apprentice-built-by-vincent-van-trigt-w-novak-bi-sonic-pickup-serial-r98802

That looks and sounds fantastic. A short scale version would be very tempting. My starfire has Guild bisonics which the Novaks are based on and they're great pickups.

He'd have to knock a few quid off for the missing thumbrest

A mustang with the original style bridge with large plate will need 32" medium scale strings as it is string-thru, but the ones with a standard BBoT will need 30" short scale strings. I have a few shortscales with various different strings. My favourites for the mustang were TI JF-324 but then I added a JMJ mustang to my collection which came with standard fender 9050L long scale flats which sound and feel great so I kept them on the bass and got a set for y other mustang. I recently bought a Guild starfire bass which also needs medium scale strings despite haveing 30" scale length. As it comes with roundwounds for some unknown reason I needed to source get some flats for it and ended up with status stainless flats. These are made by picato I believe, and no longer being made so stock will run out at some point which is a shame as they are perfect despite being half the cost of similar strings.

Yes thats the one.

If you replace the socket, or get someone to replace it, make sure you get a mono switchcraft jack socket. Standard cheapo ones lose their springiness over time but switchcraft ones are much sturdier.

Frankie Poullain left the Darkness for a few years and rejoined several years later.

To get the full effect you need to hear one

it looks like someone took the saying 'you can't polish a turd' as a challenge

have you tried contacting burns? [email protected]

Dylan's Blonde on Blonde is one of my favourites