HeadlessBassist

That's about as far as my knowledge goes - probably better to ask a Fender historian. I'm sure there will be quite a few around here Basically, mine is a modern iteration of a 63/64, built period correct, with the cloth wires, etc. Edit: Hopefully the Gemini AI is correct in it's web scraping activities... The primary purpose of the strip was to act as a grounding strap, connecting the brass plate under the bridge pickup to the bridge itself, which is also connected to the strings. This connection formed a critical part of the bass's shielding, creating a Faraday cage to protect the pickups from electrical interference and noise. In the early 1960s, manufacturing techniques and available tools made it difficult to create a precise hole to route a ground wire directly from the control cavity to the area under the bridge. The copper strip was a simpler, more practical solution for implementing the necessary grounding.

It's an earthing copper strip between the pickup cavity and the underside of the bridge. They had it on a lot of the early Jazzes to reduce 60 cycle hum from lighting circuits, etc.

Here's my current 'Jazzy' crop... 2018 American Original in Nitro 3TS, Clay Dots & Vintage Reverse Tuners, etc. 2016 American Elite natural ash. silky999's "Mr.Grey's Custom Shop" build Nitro Daphne Blue with roasted neck (and now with Fender Pure Vintage '66 pickups.) And speaking of our very own @Silky999, there is another Jazz in progress - I've reserved this lovely Walnut Jazz body and have one of Kiwi's first run Graphite necks coming for it. Should be quite the instrument when it's all put together.

I had one of the early Ray34 models back around 2009(?) It was pretty good all in all, but the early pickups only did a 'fair' impression of the MM sound. I sold it on quite quickly when I got a proper natural SR4 with the Piezo bridge, and later a Stingray 5 from Nick Smith. I must say, some of the current ones around £12-1400 look lovely, particularly in the Spalted Maple Blood Orange Burst finish. Haven't tried one in a long time, though.

If it was Lincoln or Newark, I'd bring a pile of gear along. I'm half way between Nottingham and Derby.

Yes, the darker Tort scratch plate is the one, although I really like the anodized gold.

I’ve had three Mustangs this year. I still have the 2023 American Performer in ‘Aubergine’ which I’ve almost sold a couple of times, but secretly I’m glad it’s still around. It’s strung with cut down Elixir 40-95’s (Fender put 40-100 on as standard) and plays & sounds phenomenal. I also had one of the Vintera II’s in “Competition Burgundy” for a while, which was a fine bass, but I didn’t like it as much as the American Performer. It came with Labella Flats which sounded very dull and had far too much tension, so I changed them for a set of Thomastik Jazz Flats I had. Better, but still don’t particularly like flat wound strings. (Don’t shoot me!) = And for about five minutes I had one of the Player series Cherry Burst P&J’s. This was the biggest disappointment. Yes, it sounded huge, but it sounded like any given P&J full sized Precision. Not at all like a Mustang. There was none of that short scale delicacy to the sound.

Now that's a proper band. Not enough bass players, though. Nice to see Tal, too.

Quite correct, Terry. I used to use a 115 B string on my Status S2-Classic 5ers. If the neck is rigid enough and the neck join is solid enough, you'll have a great sounding B string no matter what. Scale length doesn't seem to matter, either. One trick I have found is that cutting the B-string a little shorter than you usually would the other strings makes it transmit and resonate a little better. It does on my KingBass Mk-II 5-string, anyway.

Yes, that is one group of people who might buy boutique instruments, although some of us pro players like to use them too, as well as our more 'meat & potatoes' varieties of basses. I visited the JayDee workshop in Birmingham on Friday. Their order books are full for at least the next four years, so maybe the OP's title is more than a little premature..?

I had a similar issue at a theatre on Saturday. The in-house lighting guy had put one of those automated turning and tilting round LED multi colour lights right next to where I was playing. Every time I moved to the right, my Jazz Elite's preamp started whining & hissing like crazy! I thought it was unusual at the time, as that bass is usually as quiet as a comatose mouse. I've attached a picture here - you can see it through the legs of my Fender Stool.

Mad weekend with the live tribute show, but on Friday I met up with my webcast friends Mike Brooks and Jaymi (the Pink Bassman) who was over from the USA, and had a nice curry evening with Toby from JayDee in Birmingham. Saturday was a looong four hour trip to Gorleston Pavillion Theatre near Gt.Yarmouth for an Everlys & Friends Live Tribute Show gig. Absolutely packed house and a fantastic evening, followed by getting home at 2.30am. Crawled out of bed on Sunday morning after far too few hours of sleep and drove to Leeds to play an afternoon matinee show at Yeadon Town Hall Theatre. I was planning to meet up with Mike and Jaymi again this evening after the Nick Smith Memorial in Peterborough, but unfortunately didn't get out of Yeadon until nearly 5.30 and Mike got a short notice gig. I will sleep well tonight! Gig art: American Performer Mustang under the stage lights behind the side tab curtains.

No Prowla, sadly, yours looks like an early model Mexican Standard. (MX Serial Number on the front of the neck), so the BadAss II is probably an addition by a previous owner. Nicely cracked and aging, though. I wonder how it lost its paint finish on top of the neck block? 🤔 Highway One's had the "Made in USA" on the front of the headstock.

I had a pupil some years ago who had a natural ATK. It was indeed very Stingray-alike in sound. I think we got it for about £399 as well. An utter bargain. There is however, another Stingray Killer that people forget about - the now also discontinued Fender Dimension, in particular the HH model, which was a monster of a bass. I still miss mine, which I had to sacrifice when I bought my KingBass Mk-II.

I know what you mean. Changing to the 40-95 + 125 gauge Elixir set seems to have somewhat cured that. The G does seem VERY close to the edge, which is beautifully rolled, of course. I found the same on a 2nd Generation Sire V7. They sometimes roll the edges a little too much and the G can slip off the board if you're not careful.

You have an exciting weekend ahead, DJ! Congrats

Ghostwheel, if memory serves, weren't the EX Stingrays made in Japan? 🤔

Highway One Fender basses - Y'know, the Mexico made and painted bodies sent for final build in Corona with Grease Bucket tone circuit and Nitro finish with BadAss II bridges. Rare as hen's teeth, and people obviously tend to keep hold of them.

It would seem you're quite correct, Terry. Neodymium is a rare earth metal, not a ceramic. Oops! Consider me corrected. 🤦‍♂️

Yes, Ceramic Terry 😉

Hi Laura, As Prowla says, learning to read bass clef notation would definitely help. I usually start students on a simple Double Bass method - your Yamaha electric bass is basically a double bass turned on it's side - like "Team Strings" or "Strictly Strings". That will give you a good and simple grounding to not only reading, but learning where the basic notes are on each string. I then move players onto "The Literate Bassist" by Fred Paterno. That's a great book that takes you through line development in various styles. Use LH fingers 1-2-4, covering only three fret spaces below the 7th fret. Above this point, you can change to one finger per fret. Practice your RH walking with index and middle fingers, experimenting where you like the sound best. (I usually go for mid way between the pickups.) Best of all, you live in Michigan - Joe Dart country. Seek him out for some lessons.

Definitely, Len!

Thanks Lozz. The sparkly 3d finish is certainly going to be seen on stage.

Or even, "So Sir Arthur, what did you think to the war?" "The war? I was totally against it." "I think we all were..." "Ah yes, but I wrote a letter!"

I've got this oddity coming in as a part exchange tomorrow (if all goes to plan). It's a "Precision Bass Special", basically a precursor to the Highway One, American Special, and the current American Performer. These basses had painted bodies and necks from the Ensenada Mexico plant, and then were constructed in the USA at the Corona factory. Produced between 1997-1998, these were labelled as "California Series" and had AMX serial numbers. Anyone had any prior experience of this particular model? Obviously, the current owner likes Goooooolllld!