Jean-Luc Pickguard

Whats with the weird cutout in the headstock behind the nut? - is it similar to where 70s P basses that always seemed to have a lit fag stuffed under the E string - 'for later', but MK prefers a sausage roll instead?

The truss rod is always the first thing to look at when a bass starts to feel different. - The shim isn't likely to change over time & neither is the bridge (unless bits are loose). The wood in the neck changes its stiffness due to the ambient humidity changing. Adjusting the truss rod counteracts that. I'd put it back exactly as it was before fiddling with it and then tighten the truss rod about a quarter turn and and see if that makes it any better - if not another quarter turn until it does. Pressing the first & last frets of any of my basses shows a gap of less than 1mm at the 7th/8th frets and they all play very nicely. 3mm would be unbearable for me. At least on a Mex fender the truss rod adjusts at the headstock so you won't have to remove the neck.

Did he say he actually 'makes them' or does he outsource the manufacture to a factory in China?

I don't know why, but I alway cringe when the Booker T & the MGs Soul Limbo is referred to as the cricket theme. Like hearing The William Tell Overture referred to as "the Lone Ranger Theme"

This is cheaper (ie free) [url="http://wheatsbassbook.org"]http://wheatsbassbook.org[/url]

I've used Kent Armstrong 'enclosed' Cool Rails and 'open' Hot rails in 70s musicmaster basses. I definitely prefer the cool rails. The hot rails is too clanky whereas the cool rails is smoother punchier and deeper (at least to my ears).

This thread is sooo rock n roll I had to sit down through my last band rehearsal as I'd put my back out

I can practice silently with my bass unplugged or using the tascam headphone/mp3 thing I can't see what the problem is that these basses are supposed to solve. Any ideas?

I guess that would help if the original socket was one of the flimsy cheapos, but I always put in a standard mono switchcraft if I replace the socket in a passive bass/geetar & they're sturdy enough that the contact doesn't lose its spring.

I think the track is called "elephant phart"

Money - Pink Floyd We've got to get out of this place - the Animals

My opinion is that its best to keep your powder dry & put my maximum bid in with about two seconds to go.

At half the price they'd probably be fantastic, but £250 for a Chinese SX/JIM Deacon ?

Has anyone mentioned the body & pickguard are completely the wrong shape around the lower cutaway? And what he heck is going on with all the routing. Its a bit of a mess if you ask me. Last time I discussed vintage fenders with a someone working in a shop in Denmark street I was amazed at how ignorance could be presented so confidently.

I thought "subject to status" meant you could only get graphite-necked basses.

[quote name='spike' post='290973' date='Sep 24 2008, 04:14 PM']AFAIK Duck Dunn replaced Lewis Steinberg in Booker T and the MGs quite early on. It is Steinberg playing on Green Onions though.[/quote] Yep - thats right, very early on.

[quote name='OldGit' post='290901' date='Sep 24 2008, 03:03 PM']Ah, the power of space in the bass .....[/quote] Lisa "You've got to listen to the notes he isn't playing" Homer "I can do that at home"

Years ago the (now late) bloke in the Bass Cellar told me when I enquired about availablity of the MIJ Fender Duck Bass, that Duck wasn't a very good player and Lewis Steinberg played on all the hits I didn't take much notice of him though as Duck was and (indeed still is) a well respected and sucessful recording artist with impeccible taste who has been inducted into the Rock n Roll hall of fame and Mr Baldy was a cloth-eared miserable little cnut in a shtty bass shop.

[quote name='TheDarkReaver' post='290324' date='Sep 23 2008, 09:02 PM']That's because you seem to have bought an amp.[/quote] You'll probably suffer bad neck dive if you screw that to the headstock.

lacquering the cat seems a bit drastic to me. Shave him instead.

I used to have a pair of their tennis shoes. They were OK but the soles wore out rather fast.

Ha! the listing has now been changed. I'm off to carve the word "funk" in the neck heel of a squier so I can put it on ebay with the caption "Jamerson?" & pretend to know nothing about anything.

Oh, the humanity

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Fender-Bass-Scratchplate-ex-Sid-Vicious_W0QQitemZ380064660841QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item380064660841&_trkparms=72%3A12|39%3A1|66%3A2|65%3A12|240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14"]Fender ? Bass Scratchplate ex Sid Vicious ?[/url] Oh dear what a load of nonsense in his listing. I wonder if he'll acknowledge my msg I sent: [quote]Hi, I can clear up the mystery of the Sid Vicious connection for you. This is definitely NOT a scratchplate from a 70s or earlier bass. All Precision bass pickguards before 1982 had extra holes for the chrome pickup cover and thumbrest. These holes are not present in yours. It looks single-ply rather than three ply of a genuine fender and there is at least one other screw hole missing as well as no half-moon cutout at the neck butt. I suggest you edit your listing - unless it is your intention to mislead. This is not a Fender Pickguard and when it was made Sid Vicious had already been dead several years. Hope this helps.[/quote]

Smoke on the water