Petey

Dave is a top guy/luither and have used him for nearly 10 years now for various basses. He gives great advice and owns Eternal and Hot Rod pick-ups

Lovely s/p and colour of blue....Have you been on the Spitfire website and had a look around his site - pictures and options he gives you? I was over the moon when it arrived last Summer - I think its worth the investment for an older instrument

Thanks Three....to order one was a bit of a leap of faith ( price and quality of what I would get), but the images of the plates on his website is truly comprehensive and the feedback that I could track down was impressive. I was also told that he was once approached by Fender Custom Shop about being bought out. I've had the bass about 7 years now - it had a re-spray some years before I got it and once the original plate was removed there is evidence of it once being a 3-Tone Sunburst.

As you can see the top pic is the original s/p screwed to some wood to help stop the shrinkage( with the crack close to the input hole) The second pic is with a Spitfire aged s/p

Over the last 5 years I've played lots of venues (Pubs, Wedding venues, hotels, etc) who ask for Public Liability Insurance and PAT testing evidence sent through via an email before they will accept the contract. My view is its like having an MOT on your car - if there was a problem in the venue, you are covered as you have done as much as you can to prevent a difficult situation - fire, electrical issue in the building etc, and probably spoil someones day/evening. Some people would get annoyed, could see this as an opportunity to take this further and involve a solicitor and it could get messy. My point would be do as much as you can to avoid a situation - get a PAT test, service your gear - yes, its hassle but you'll get the best from your gear, kit shouldn't let you down and you can declare it as an outgoing/expense in your tax returns to your accountant. The future looks like its only going to happen more and more especially when we eventually get back to 'normal' gigging

I forgot about this thread - i'll take pics in the next few days and put up the 61-P with the Spitfire plate on and the original screwed down on a piece of wood - fitted but local luthier Dave Walsh (Eternal Guitars).

I bought a second hand Emenince EUB about a year ago and then a KK - love them both for different reasons......The Emenince for the playability, overall sound (its ALL wood - bracing/bar with the flame maple veneer on the back n sides) and the KK for sound and its looks - if your looking to play for the next 5-10 years plus, then forget the price and invest now - good luck

Garfo - Paul at the Cow shed IS WAL these days.....he is the man to go to...I believe the pots are German - good luck

Depending on what you want - budget/originality, etc - Spitfire in the States are brilliant but expensive - they come up on google- I bought one for a 60s bass - blown away with the result

Contact Paul at the 'Cow Shed' - - really lovely and decent guy will look after you ...

I prefer to Wet n Dry the back of my necks - using various grades of sandpaper to get a silky finish ( wire/steel wool can break off and get everywhere round the bass...esp the magnets on your pickups) ....You can buy micromesh = brilliant stuff - online from ebay/Robert Dyas, etc...… Birchwood Casey Gun Stock Wax is a great finisher, but read the instructions, use a cloth or your finger (NOT a brush) layer by thin layer till you get it to where you want.... you can rub down in between applications too....but there must be a wood oil sealer which you can apply like the Stingray MusicMan basses use......

The bigger picture examples are toenail clippers ….but will still work fine …...get on Amazon and buy a set for £2.99 in a leather pouch,,,,stick them in your car of guitar bag and you'll be fine