nilebodgers

Absolutely. I bought a s/h MiM Strat that the seller said had some fret buzz and had priced a bit cheaper than normal. There is a high fret up at the dusty end causing it, but that will be gone after I do a level+crown+polish. Apart from that it is in great condition and I was very pleased with the seller's honesty.

LOL - yes. Mind you, they don't say what kind of dream - could be a nightmare?

There's plenty of same-day courier companies that will transport things as carefully as you like. The cost depends on how you define sensible - wouldn't make sense for a £500 instrument, but it definitely would for a £5000 one.

It's got to be concern about either damage via couriers or fraudulent damage claims where paypal/ebay almost always side with the buyer. (plus the large commission too) Packing an instrument to survive shipping is also pretty time-consuming if you don't have the specialist boxes that manufacturers use. It took me ages last time as I had to first make a box out of several others that were too small and then use loads of bubble wrap to make it drop-proof.

That Ash one sounds outrageous with a pick.

Rosewood won't need treating at all apart from a little oil. You will be looking at a fairly expensive modification though, I'd guess somewhere over £200 even if the inlays don't need replacing.

It's pretty common, usually for small changes though - there are quite a few luthier videos on youtube where this is done. Basic principle (after pulling all the old frets) is to use a radius sanding block with the required profile to take material off the middle of the fretboard and then re-cut the fret slots and re-fret at the new radius. There are quite a few caveats e.g. is the fretboard thick enough to flatten, will the fret marker dots need to be replaced etc. etc. But it's not difficult in principle for someone that knows what they are doing.

That's interesting. I have a MIM precision (2012) which I think is excellent apart from the creaky stock tuners. So I was also going to get a set of the HB7s soon. What is the story with the bush sizes? Did Fender change the size in a particular model year and the stock Hipshot bushes are for current models or something like that?

There might be a Fender part available if you can find the magic order code. I suspect it would need to come from the US though, so a lot quicker just to get someone local with all the tools to make one for you.

Hmmmm... my first thought was to try Graphtec, but they only appear to do the 42mm P-bass type. You may need to get a tech to make one out of a bone blank (or brass stock).

That's a nice chewy tone, very pleasing on the ear.

The problem with new products like this is that it is almost impossible to tell if it was designed to run hot and remain within safe design parameters, or it was badly designed and will start to fail if run long and hard enough. Only time will tell. We'll know in a year or so 🤔

Good feature. Done!

Oops how did that happen!

Awesome! My first bass was a 4040 and I had a Marshall bass 100 too. My cab was a HH 4x12 though.

That headstock shape is nice. A lot of the non-fender shapes are awful, but I like that a lot.

The bridge grub screws aren't in tracks, so if you really belt it with your picking hand the saddles can slip sideways. This is actually period correct though - Precisions used to be all like that. [Snap!]

The first albums by Joe Jackson, Elvis Costello and the Specials. Picking up my Bass after a good few years off has reminded me of some great bass lines from that era.

Plus several to the internet being a factor. I also last played seriously 15 years ago and the resources on-line now are fantastic compared to what was around last time I was trying to learn things.

If it's the first time the truss rod has been adjusted there can sometimes be a pretty alarming cracking noise when the nut starts to move. Worrying if you aren't used to it! Some basic setup tools make it much easier - a capo to hold the strings down at the first fret when measuring relief, a set of feeler gauges, a ruler that can measure action height and the right allan keys for the truss rod (or whichever tool fits your bass) and for the bridge saddles.

I used to have one of those in the dark wood. Got it new in 1981-ish and only sold it last year. It was almost unplayed too, basically because I couldn't get on with the narrow bridge spacing. I also discovered I couldn't stand natural wood / coffee-table / fine furniture finishes, which also handily inoculates me against high-end bass GAS as just I don't like the way they look

What lowest string width are you using? Have you changed gauges?