Jean-Luc Pickguard

I might get away with it as long as I keep my daphne blue musicmaster in a gigbag.

Mine has just been delivered. The colour is very close to my Daphne Blue musicmaster bass and the roadworn job is natural looking & not too severe. It doesn't look grimey like some of the pics I have seen of this model, and the back of the neck has a smooth even matt finish. I was surprised that it came with a gigbag suitable for a precision or jazz which is several inches longer than the 'Fender urban shortscale' gigbag I use for my CIJ mustang & squier jag SS. The neck is a little chunkier than the CIJ mustang and the hipshot lollypop tuners are lovely. Straight out of the box it really doesn't feel like a spanking new bass - the set up is almost perfect and it feels like the bass equivalent of a comfy worn-in jumper. I've had a quick blast though my Roland Microcube bass RX amp and it seems that the pickup is louder than the one in my CIJ. Not sure how I'm going to break the news to the missus.

I couldn't resist - I've just ordered one. I'm going to be in so much trouble when the missus notices it.

I want one of these so bad - it'd match my '72 Daphne blue musicmaster bass, but apart from me being skint, the missus also seems to think seventeen basses constitutes a complete collection - & I'm still in trouble for buying an epiphone vintage pro T-bird this year. I put a set of the standard Fender 9050L flats on my CIJ mustang & they're pretty good - only the E has an unsilked bit going around the tuning post and it doesn't seem to suffer any ill effects for it.

I have a nice goldtone cripple creek Irish tenor. I chose a 4 string banjo as I already play ukulele so the plan was to string it like a tenor uke (using Newtone loop-end unwound single strings: 0.008, 0.011, 0.014 & 0.018). The Irish tenor has a shorter neck than other 4 string tenors. I use it mainly for strumming chords rather than picking. Whether to go for 4 or 5 string will depend on the type of music you want to play on it. If I wasn't already a uke player I would have probably gone for a 6 string banjo tuned like a guitar.

The used Spark mini I had my eye on went for a fiver more than a new one costs from several shops. Weird.

Cheers - sounds like a TC Spark will be my best bet.

Cheers for the replies everyone. I have a bid on a TC Spark mini at the moment, but if I don't get that it looks like there are plenty of other options to check out.

I use a TC Spectracomp into a Tech 21 VT Bass to achieve a nice saturated tone without fizzy distortion, but there are some times in the set (eg the bass solo in 'substitute') when I could do with increasing the volume a few db but without changing the tone or adding more distortion. I'm thinking that a TC spark mini after the VT might do the job, but there are a few other pedals that might be suitable like the Electro harmonix LPB-1 nano and various cheap & cheerful mini pedals in the £15-£25 range. Can anyone offer any experience/recommendations for a clean boost pedal?

I don't have a yellow bass, but I would like one to match my car

Here's a bass being offered as an alder-bodied Squier Mustang bass with a BIN of £245. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fender-Squier-Mustang-Relic-Bass-short-scale-30-Included-Vox-mini-Amp/123469702860 Even my missus would be able to tell you its an agathis-bodied bronco bass worth about £80-£100 on a good day with the wind behind it.

I normally love mustangs, but this one is minging

The body wings appear to be made from B&Q knotty pine. It looks like a first attempt at putting together an eight string before realising that it didn't work & giving up on it.

I suspect these guitars aren't for playing but are for rich people to display in a glass case in their office

There is no mention in the listing that this guitar was originally sold by Thomann for decoration only and not as a playable instrument.

Pickguard - Jean-Luc Scratchplate would be a silly name

I'm sorry I made you sad by changing the truss rod cover on my bass :o(

Cheers for the heads-up. I've just bought little clipper for a quid so the voucher for ozone should be heading my way soon.

Interesting alternative to a whammy bar. It does seem to result in floppy strings and an action you can drive a truck under. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDPh2OKBPI0

I made a great fretless bitzer Precision several years ago with a Brandoni neck & body. The Neck is fantastic with a nice bit of flame/birdseye in the maple and a lovely dark ebony unlined fingerboard. I wouldn't be surprised if they still sell the same necks.

good grief

nope, my playing is equally inept whatever colour bass I'm using.

'F' for fake logo on incorrectly shaped headstock.

I tried a plectrum once; I didn't like it.

I'd been planning to replace the original mini pots & switch in my '97 CIJ 1972 reissue telecaster thinline guitar as they crackled badly and randomly cut the signal making the guitar unusable plugged in. Before ordering all the bits & bobs to make a new harness, I thought it might be worthwhile to attempt to clean the pots & switch so I ordered a can of WD40 'specialist fast drying contact cleaner' (not the same as regular WD40) from amazon. It comes with a funky straw attachment to direct the spray into the pots. I wasn't sure whether to expect a big improvement, but after a quick squirt and rolling each pot & the switch back & forth a few times, there's now absolutely no crackle so I won't be needing to get the soldering kit out. Pretty good stuff for a fiver.