Jean-Luc Pickguard

Its okay, you don't need to report me to the elders of the 2023 bass aquisiton abstinence thread I actually bought this mid-November last year, and it has been sitting in its case unloved and forgotten as I bought it with the intention to sell it. The story is that I got a lowball offer accepted on package which was listed for local pickup only consisting of a Fender Vintera Mustang bass, A Fender mustang Hard Case, and a Fender Rumble 40 amp. I worked out that I should be able to sell the bass and the amp for more than the price I paid and essentially get to keep the case for free as I was after a case for my black JMJ (which cost exactly double what I paid for the vintera, case & amp.) I had forgotten about it until last week when I got it out to set it up before putting it up for sale. I made a big mistake plugging it into an amp, it sounds great and I decided to keep it even though it brings my tally of mustangs up to four (or six if you count the Fender & Squier mustang guitars) I've now made a few minor mods: The previous owner had a tug bar installed. I've got used to the thumbrest on my JMJs so I had to move that to to the other side. I like the 70s look of a black pickguard on a sunburst mustang. so I ordered a pickguard from Brian Pillans on ebay (top bloke - fantastic pickguards) I also swapped out the LaBellas which were on it for Chromes which are currently my strings of choice for mustangs, darkened the Pau Ferro fretboard with Dunlop 65 and rolled the fingerboard edges with a Bosch extra fine foam sanding block. I think the vintera has been somewhat overshadowed by the JMJ due to the JMJ being such a phenomenal bass, but the vintera is pretty good in its own right at a lower cost. The pickup is voiced differently to the JMJ's Seymour Duncan. It seems to be a more modern tone with a crisper top end. The neck profile is its more of a U than the C of the JMJ but I think it is slightly slimmer at the nut. The fretboard radius is different according to the specs, but I don't really notice a difference.

I'd rather go blind - Etta James

I like my blue JMJ mustang so much I also bought a black one. I'm just hoping no other cool colours are added to the range - it could get expensive.

In the Middle of Nowhere - Dusty Springfield

Fembot in a Wet T-Shirt - Frank Zappa

C0ck In My Pocket - Iggy & The Stooges

Congrats - it looks like you were really enjoying it on the video.

how about adding a kill switch or two? Or LEDs? Or one of each?

I have tried and bought a lot of straps and I like to have one for each instrument which is usually attached permanently with grolsch washers (or equivalent rubber straplocks) I have most recently bought quite a few Leathergraft comfy suede straps as they live up to their name. My only critisism is that the colour choice is fairly limited. I have them in brown, black, tan, red and blue but some additional colours in the range would be better, eg daphne blue & ivory.

A lot of modding, and I've been guilty of this, is marking the bass as your territory like a tomcat, but I s'pose it is more hygenic to put on a different bridge/set of tuners/pickguard than peeing on it. In my case both of my Epiphone vintage pro thunderbirds got Gotoh GB650 resolite tuners at around £100 a set. There was nothing wrong with the stock Wilkinsons but I like the aesthetic of the more vintage looking Gotohs. Yesterday I was writing a list of mods to do on my sunburst vintera mustang bass - I have a black pickguard incoming and I will fit a thumbrest (on the bass side, so not a tug bar), shield the cavities with copper tape, put on a set of Chromes (is this a mod?) and roll the fingerboard edges. I'm not going to change the pickups though as the stock ones are surprisingly good. I imagine there is a similar urge for people to personalise their gear in a lot of hobbies. At least basses are cheaper and have less depreciation than cars.

Little Things Mean A Lot - Bettye Swann

Fiddle About - The Who

I didn't have one, but I had a good solo practice of bunch of songs using my Boss Waza Air bass if that counts.

Fallin' - Alicia Keys

Classical Gas - Mason Williams

Oh my! I've just seen this and I'm so tempted. My setup is in danger of outgrowing the pedaltrain nano+ I currently use as I had to take a few mini pedals off when I added the Boss SY-1, and there's no room to add the TC spark mini back as a clean boost. Good thing for me that its currently out of stock - that makes it easier not to order one. I'll have to see whether I can resist once they are back in stock. I wonder whether this will also be offered with a hardcase in place of the bag like the unpowered version.

When the lavvy breaks - Led Zep

Booker-Loo - Booker T & the MGs

The electrocutioner - The Residents

Meat Raffle. Sell lots of tickets for pub gigs, but we always get a load of punters who seem to be very irate on the night and don't appreciate the music. It was the same with my previous band 'topless gogo girls'

Torn and Frayed - The Rolling Stones

Once the switch cleaner is in there, and before it evaporates, you could try twisting the knob from zero to full on and back repeatedly in an effort to clean the track. If they're cheapo pots like you get in a squier I woudn't bother trying to save them. In that case I'd take the opportunity to upgrade and put in a bunch of CTS or similar pots

Wild is the Wind - David Bowie

Cry to Me - Solomon Burke

Yellow Submarine - Fab four