Jean-Luc Pickguard

Fingerboard oil

not something to buy, but I would learn how to set up a bass much sooner. I had owned my precision for 20 years before I was brave enough to adjust the truss rod

Flatwounds

£40 delivery charge though

Try wd music

I'd second the recommendation for a BDI21. It really punches above its weight. I don't really use mine anymore but it is handy to keep around for emergencies to use as a DI box.

They are the '9050' set, .045 - .100. I put a set on my CIJ mustang and I think I only had to trim off a little of the skinny part at the end of the E & A strings.

The stock long scale fender flatwounds work really well on the JMJ, but Fender really should think about adding a 32" set to the range.

Not really gimmicks but an input clipping indicator & a mute button are always welcome.

Look out! I think this is the mythical 'ugly stick' - make sure you don't get hit with it.

Also have a look at the squier mini precision - you can pick up a black one from PMT for £125 at the moment and they look to be excellent for the price. They are extremely cute and I am very close to being tempted to get one but I know it wouldn't get much action when my JMJ & CIJ mustangs are hanging on the wall.

I think this is a case of the owner's mum or significant other telling them they must sell one of their basses, and listing it for for that price will ensure it will never sell.

My main short scale has been a JMJ mustang for a few years but I got a long-desired starfire II (a gorgeous flamed maple one with ebony fingerboard) a short while ago. I've not played the lakland semihollow so I can't comment on it, but I can confirm that going from the mustang to the starfire isn't a problem and going from a long scale like a precision or thunderbird doesn't present any problems either. It is very comfortable to play the guild both sitting and on a strap. The tone from the bisonics is huge and there's a lot of variation in tone available even with flats - status 32" stainless steel ones are my favourite on it. When recording these days its usually a difficult choice between whether to use the mustang or the starfire and my other basses hardly get a look-in.

Alright thenpbass-pg.pdf Print this PDF at A4 and it should come out the right size

For me the last two should be the reverb and the gate, but you want the reverb after the gate so the reverb tails don't get cut off weirdly.

Oh my - how did you ever bring yourself to let that one go?

100% The necks on these are fantastic

When I built my Fretless bitza I didn't like the cheapo moulded plastic nut that came free with the neck and I was too stingy to buy a tusq blank. I had recently bought a box of 'imitation ivory' chopsticks from Wing Yip and had a go a cutting one down and fashioning a nut from it. surprisingly it came out very well and is still on the bass over 15 years later.

I really like the current version of fender curly cables. I’m not worried about treble loss as I’ve been playing my telecaster through one this afternoon and the tone from the bridge pickup has tons of twang with the eq on the amp set flat.

It’s funny that I took the hip shot D-tuners off all but one of the basses I had them on as I never used them as much as I expected to. In a previous band I used to drop down for one note in the middle of one song, but the rest of the time they just sat there making my headstock heavier. My only five string is for sale on commission in a shop for the same reason. I have kept a lollipop D-tuner on the fretless precision bitza I built though mainly as it looks cool with the other lollipop hipshot tuners on that bass.

but does he have a time machine to travel back to 2019?

What are everyone's favourite pieces of hardware to use when building a bitzer or upgrading an existing bass — or hardware that came on a bass you bought. Mine are: Gotoh GB 640 tuners — These look like standard 50s Fender tuners but don't turn the wrong way, are precision engineered, don't require dimples to be drilled into the back of the headstock, and are super lightweight. They also look super cool on my vintage pro thunderbirds. EMG Geezer butler precision pickup — Super easy to install with the included pots & socket, Passive so no batteries, and makes a bass with a 'P' route sound exactly how I think a good Precsion should sound. Fender High mass bridge — My favourite of the badass look-a-likes, nice and afforable at around £30, and uses brass saddles as opposed to standard zinc or whatever saddles of a badass. I tested both bridges on my '81 P and I preferred the tone with the Fender bridge, however I may have imagined the difference!

The tuners are probably worth a few quid, not sure there's much else that's salvagable though