Maude

Mine had a bit of tail lift, not too bad but it was only heading one way and I like heavy strings, so I figured if the tailpiece is essentially knackered then butchering it won't matter. I drilled two holes through the rear flat bit, counter sunk them, then put in two big stainless steel screws. This pulled it back down flush to the body and has stayed that way for five years with heavy strings on. Might not look the best but I've a feeling RIC started doing the same with the new redesigned tailpiece. BTW, the tailpiece is straight, it's the angle of the photo makes it look wonky.

My personal opinion, no different. The 70s Japanese copies were mainly faithful replicas, apart from the bolt on neck ones, even incorporating the things that turned out to be flawed, the rediculous intonation adjustment and tailpiece that lifts for example. Mine is a 4001 (I think) and our guitarist has a 4003 Rick and I can't tell the difference in sound, apart from them having different strings. The classic Rick tone is certainly there and in a band situation I don't think anyone could tell them apart.

The bolt on necks are less desirable than neck throughs due to not being true to real Ricks, but like you I was happy with a bolt on as it makes a decent set up easier if neck issues were to arise. This is my Matsumoku faker, apparently an Aria but as the seller had lost the TRC it now has no identity, just a Matsumoku build.

32Red Balloons - Nena

I'd say it's not from the Matsumoku factory, but I'm no expert. My reasoning is, it hasn't got the "Made in Japan, steel adjustable neck plate" neck plate, the bridge pickup isn't the 'staple' type, and it's very hard to see in these pictures but I can't see the little dimple markers by each control knob. As far as I'm aware these are all markers of a Matsumoku build, but again I'm no expert, @Bassassin is your man. Also I don't think Ibanez, as mentioned earlier, were ever built in the Matsumoku factory.

The tuners are adjustable and it's possible yours just need a little tighten. Although quite rare to come by there is a little 'c' spanner that fits in the hole in the tuner shaft to nip them up. I would imagine there's non Yamaha tools that would also do the job.

Feed My Frankenstein - Alice Cooper

Start Choppin' - Dinosaur Jr

Off topic, sorry 😁. Have you seen there's going to be a film based on/inspired by the album 'And Out Come The Wolves'. I have no idea what it'll be like but probably worth a look if you're into the album, which is a masterpiece BTW 😉.

It depends if you want an actual Precision, or a bass with Precision pickups. The right image is important to wanting to pick it up and play it for a youngster. Personally if I had £300 for bass with Precision pickups I'd be getting a used Yamaha BB424x. Fantastic build quality, playability and tone.

Count me in. There's nothing I want or need so I can't see any reason I could possibly fail. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣. . . 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Wow! A BBC3PO 😁 Looks cool though 😎👌

Love in a Void - Siouxsie and The Banshees

The quoting makes it look like they're mine, they're not. That's all @gobasserk's reverse P loveliness. I had to take drastic action to get my first reverse P in my life. As the old saying goes, "If the reverse P doesn't fit in the bass, the bass must be made to fit the reverse P." Whadyamean that's not a saying? Well it should be then.

Just to add to the chrome pickup rings and dots or oval inlay comments, my BB1100S has none of these but is absolutely wonderful. 😉 OK ok, it's just an excuse to post some BB porn 😁

Sorry, embarrassingly no progress. Caring for family and other matters have taken priority over a serious amount of my spare time. Hopefully things will settle down a little in a couple of months and I can put some time to my various unfinished projects.

All with the 'correct' P pickup orientation. Superb!

See Her Pee - NOFX

I'm actually going to make a proper effort next year, I've lost the GAS recently and can't think of anything I really want.

What if I considered buying a certain bass before NYE, and then bought that bass later next year? Pushing the rules a bit? 😁

They're still not particularly light. Not heavy but not super light either. Along the lines of the Fender A/E there's the Yamaha BEX4. IMO they're absolutely wonderful basses, a soapbar pickup (and piezo) but in the P position so very P like tone. There's one on eBay at the mo for a good price but again they're not light.

Danelectro longhorn, or whichever Dano suits your needs. A Longhorn is stupidly light, sounds fantastic, shortscale but weirdly doesn't feel small. Strap button placement isn't the best but being so light it's not neck heavy. Did I mention how light they are? 😁

Because it's got two jazz pickups. Dirty, filthy thing! 😁

Wow 😲. Is that what they are now? They were around the £750 mark not long ago for the black or coffee.

Looks like the red is the same as the BBPH. If it is then it's far nicer in real life than photos, real nice depth to it.