Jean-Luc Pickguard

When I bought my first Fender in 1982 at the age of 18 I didn't have a frame of reference for what a bass should weigh, so it didn't strike me as odd that my new precision was rather heavy compare to the cheap jazz copy I was upgrading from. I still have the Precsion but now I know the weight isn't normal and is due to CBS cutting costs and using the cheapest ash rather than the most suitable lightweight swamp ash. Apart from the non-optimal choice of wood, I've heard a story that CBS also sourced wire for the pickups based on whatever gauge was cheapest rather than what was in the original spec. I had a EMG active pickup in this bass since 1986. I had to suffer a whole summer of working in Bejam to buy this bass so I'll never sell it despite its shortcomings. Who else has a bass from this era? According to my scales my precision weighs a back-breaking 11lb - can anyone beat that?

That headstock...

You don't want to use a drill. The correct tool to use is a tapered reamer.

Amazing what you can do with sweet wrappers & glue

If you've not removed a neck before, hold the neck tightly onto the body with your other hand when loosening the neck screws so the screw can't split open the screwhole due to the weight. Also do the same when attaching a neck. Other than that it *should* be a straight swap as long as the holes line up.

I used masking tape when I upgraded my thunderbird vintage pro twins with a couple of sets of res-o-lite GB640s. Be sure to put enough on so its a good tight fit as this should prevent the bushing from lifting slightly at one side. I've heard that building up a small even layer of plastic wood or similar filler around the inside of each hole also works, but I've not tried that.

Dunno about you, but I doubt I'd be very comfortable in a bass case 😁

Today I've been using some 60/40 I bought from Clas Ohlson a while ago to wire up a jazz bass and I quite enjoyed it - in stark contrast to the frustrating time I had the last time I had some soldering to do and managed to make a total mess of my attempt to put together a P bass harness with lead free.

...is not as good as the other stuff is it?

I used to have TI flats on everything but I'm currently using Fender flats on my mustangs & Cobalts on my thunderbirds and I always dial in some grit from the VT Bass

It looks like someone's puked a gutfull of skittles on it 🤮

When I first got my CIJ mustang I had serious GAS for an original 1966 one in Daphne blue with lollipop tuners - basically the JMJ sig. I saw one advertised in good condition which I could have bought for £600. I didn't feel I could justify the cost to the missus. It'd be worth a lot more these days. I have a JMJ now which cost half as much again and is a fantastic bass, but it would have been good to have a 'real' one with a little less roadwear.

Rosetti is the UK distributor & sell complete sets of knobs https://www.rosetti.co.uk/guitars-accessories/spares?p=3 perhaps they could supply just the bit you need

Drugs - just say no!

I had a theramin briefly a few years ago. It was great fun but it's not as easy as it looks & I didn't get past the 'ghostly noises' stage in the few weeks I had it. I bought it as it was very cheap in the local trash converters (even before I knocked them down a tenner). I recognised it as a US made burns B3 model & I made a tidy profit putting it on ebay.

... maybe this is the mustang David Byrne used for 'burning down the house'

I used one of the angled red neutrik "silent" plugs to plug into the bass for a cable I soldered this week and it is a revelation - no speaker thump when plugging or unplugging - I'll have to upgrade a few other cables with one of those.

Just the thing for a tribute act called coalplay

I have an enclosed strat cool rails double blade humbucker in a '72 musicmaster which looks just like the original pickup when its fitted and sounds fantastic. A similar but open hot rails in my other '72 doesn't work quite so well though - its a bit clanky for my taste.

I happened across this video: Looks like a good idea for any basses which don't already have rolled edges and smooth fret ends. Has anyone here tried this? Is the method in the video a good way to make these improvements?

Looks like a job for...

Who else had a go on the Eich bass board that was on demo? I'd quite like one for home but I'd just stand there hitting the open E repeatedly & enjoying the foot massage.

Looks great with the chrome hardware - much better than the black hardware of the one in the video.