Jean-Luc Pickguard

I would probably book a course of lessons if I had that much money going spare and it had to be spent on my bass addiction.

It sounds like this would be due to differences of the density/weight of the body so would vary for each individual bass rather than be a characteristic of each model.

Status string are great - I use their medium scale flats on my Guild starfire, however the Picato factory that made them for status has closed, and what they have left in stock now is the last of these until they get a new supplier.

The one the OP posted is gone, so the only pic we can see is the headstock, so considering only the headstock we can see that the logo decal is fake - the Fender logo should have a metallic gold coloured border and patent numbers. It is also poorly applied too close to the lower edge. The tuners are not the correct type - instead of 70s style Fender ones the shape of the ear and capstan give these away to be a cheaper type. A genuine Fender Jazz bearing this logo would have either a bullet truss rod adjuster or would adjust at the neck heel with a walnut plug where the fillet is on this one.

Has anyone asked yet whether these are good for metal?

It is a criminal offence to pretend to be a solicitor https://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/fraud-dishonesty/bogus-fake-solicitors/

I always use lighter fuel - I used to use an orange scented product called 'sticky stuff remover' which was good but I suspect it was just lighter fuel with added orange oil.

I'm sure the Fender tuners have been added. There is no serial number anywhere and any marks on the back of the headstock have been removed. I'm in no doubt that this is a torino red Squier affinity with a few upgrades. This black affinity strat also has an applied maple fingerboard with no skunk stripe: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fender-Squier-Affinity-Strat-Black-with-Maple-Neck-2020-ideal-for-beginners/303913067265

I'd look at a toolbox - the vanity case is likey to be extremely flimsy & easily broken. Something like this is cheaper and likely to be much sturdier: https://www.argos.co.uk/product/5412459?clickSR=slp:term:toolbox:1:986:1

Finished at £340 - that's ridiculous

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fender-stratocaster/284244061075 Someone going to pay over the odds for a Squier affinity strat with a few additions to dress it up to look like a Fender Colouring in the hole for the truss rod adjuster with a sharpie to make it look like there's a dark fillet there is a nice touch. https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/yiMAAOSw9aJgaGVJ/s-l1600.jpg

Is it a left-handed one though?

Its certainly a nice looking beastie

I ordered from the UK ebay seller as the postage was a lot cheaper

I previously had a bolt-on epiphone thunderbird - its a totally different animal

Was it a vintage pro thunderbird? The probuckers on those are certainly not underwhelming.

They're both excellent basses and you won't be disappointed with either. I own two vintage pro thunderbirds and they're both keepers.

I ordered the StewMac crank & it arrived this morning. Its perfect for my JMJ mustang. I've just given the truss rod a little tweak and it was so much better than using a screw driver. The two ended design makes it so easy to use at any angle of rotation of the truss rod nut. Well worth the money.

Justin Meldal-Johnsen was performing with St Vincent on SNL this week and was playing one of his signature mustangs (it might have been his original '66, but it looked pretty much identical to my JMJ sig) . He also played a hofner club which sounded nice & thumpy.

This sound feasible - its the only possible explanation that would explain taking a chisel & carving out such a big cavity.