Jean-Luc Pickguard

You can always get more for your money by buying secondhand as long as the specific model is still being produced or it is not (yet) considered 'vintage' or collectable. My last two purchases were a couple of second hand bargains — a Fender guitar and a Gibson bass I'd had my eye on for a while, each one costing me around half of its current list price. This almost guarantees that if I decide to unload them at a later date, the cost of ownership will be less than zero — ie I'll get what I paid back for them or possibly make a bit of a profit.

There are plenty of secondhand stingrays around for under £2000. Even the Gallery has a few.

Raspberry Beret — Prince

I shielded one of my basses recently with adhesive copper tape and when I tested it after reassembly there was no sound whatsoever. The cause was obviously that the body of one of the pots was touching the copper tape, so I needed to insulate the copper from the electronics. After a little thought I cut a slice from the middle of a plastic drink bottle (lidl morello cherry sparkling fruit crush), trimmed it to size and put that so it lined the shielded cavity preventing anything attached to the control plate from touching the copper. It worked really well, so I've cut several more to keep in one of my bits boxes ready for next time this issue arises. i thought sharing this tip might help someone in the future.

I'm not into stingrays, but if I was and wanted to fake one for as little cost as possible I'd look for either a secondhand OLP or a sterling sub, upgrade the bridge and get a decal from voodoo decals -> https://www.voodoo-decals.com/products/music-man-stingray-bass-gold

Prescription Drugs

Fender didn't make mustang basses until 1966, so I'd like this one instead: 1964 Frost Blue Gibson Thunderbird IV, however this one sold on reverb seven years ago for over £70k, so I'm unlikely to ever get one. Maybe I should set my sights on an EB-2 or Epiphone Rivoli instead

Waiting For The Naan — Velvet Underground

I would probably send with parcelforce and buy separate insurance with https://www.secursus.com — taking care to follow the secursus shipping instructions to the letter. This should be about £15 for the shipping plus £5 for the insurance.

Boogie Woogie Bulgar Boy — En Vogue

Living In The Pasta — Jethero Tull

Punch and Judy — Elliott Smith

Grown So Ugly — The Black Keys

Nice one!

I had one of those, but also sold it as the only five string I've been able to get along with is my NS-Design upright. I recall there was a batch of early PRO-V 's that were fitted with the pickups for the PRO-IV rather than the PRO-V specific pickups which might account for the quiet B string.

I Put The Finger On You — AC/DC

It looks like the white one is discontinued now and there don't seem to be a lot of them about, so I'm glad I managed to snap one up when they were available, however I'm not sure how much playing time it or its sunburst sibling will get now I have the non-reverse Gibson.

The bass arrived today and I'm very pleased with it. I'm now leaning towards ordering a babicz.

I took delivery of a faded Pelham Blue non-reverse thunderbird today. It was secondhand but the inspection tag indicates it left the factory just under a year ago and the plastic film is still on the pickguard. It needed a bit of a trussrod tweak, and the case candy multitool was still in its sealed bag. I won't be able to compare it properly to my epiphone vintage pros until I've popped on a set a cobalt flats, but initial impressions with the stock rounds are very favourable; it sounds huge through my little roland microcube rx practice amp.

Although I doubt I'm the first to have thought of doing this, I came up with the idea so I am not aware of any videos. If I get a bass or guitar in my hands that needs it doing I'll make a short video, however I don't know when that might be as I'm going to try to stop buying basses and guitars for a while and the gibson non-reverse thunderbird I have arriving today comes with rolled edges from the factory. I think the last one I did was my Squier Classic vibe mustang. I used a bosch super fine sanding block. This one -> https://amzn.to/46gIM6B Points to note: First remove the neck (optional but makes it MUCH easier) Rub the sanding pad along the edges of the fingerboard so the surface of the pad makes about a 45° angle with the face of the fingerboard. Use as little pressure as you can and check the results as you go. A little goes a long way so don't overdo it. Feel the edge with your fretting hand in playing position to feel the progress as this is at least as useful as visual inspection. You're looking to put a small even radius on the edge all the way along the fingerboard rather than a chamfer, so vary the angle of the pad if necessary. Don't just use one part of the pad, it will eventually get clogged so move to a fresh part of the surface whenever it gets clogged. After the sanding is complete, wipe the fingerboard with kitchen towel and apply then wipe off lemon oil on the fingerboard as you usually would. Put the bass back together, string it up and marvel at how comfy it is now on the fretting hand. Wash the sanding pad and wring it out in water to clear any dust clogging the abrasive — then it'll be ready for next time.

Chewy Chewy — Ohio Express

Ernie ball cobalt flats no contest. I have a non-reverse thunderbird incoming and I have a set of the lightest ones, 40-95 ready for when it arrives. The ones on my vintage pro thunderbirds are several years old and still haven't died.

Of course there are other ways to soften the edge of the fingerboard This is how one amateur luthier does it especially for people with extra large hands...

Yep, a good dollop of Lemon lard works wonders