BlueMoon

To do a proper job of staining or spraying you would normally remove the tuners and ferrules, and the string tree. Any residual coating would be then sanded back (if not already done). I have had great results spraying shellac in such situations. It is very forgiving and the colour can be increased (i.e. to a darker shade) with each coat until you get to the desired shade. The benefit of shellac is it sticks to almost anything and can be over-coated with almost any of the more modern and robust transparent coatings. You can then choose matt, satin or gloss. The decal would be applied on a smooth surface, sealed with a thin coat of shellac, and then build up the transparent coats until the edges of the decal become invisible to the eye. Sounds involved, but it’s not that difficult to achieve professional results.

@spacecowboy how do you find Labellas when strung through the bridge? Not sure, but I think that is how it looks from the pics. Great bass, btw!!

I am lucky enough to have a 2006 Metro (with VTC retrofitted) and a 2017 MetroLine. There are no differences in build quality as far as I can tell. Both are cracking basses.

Very nice, @Giacomo! Well done. Very interested to see more pictures and details of how your bass build journey progressed.

Interesting idea and quite unusual to leave the chambers (holes) visible. I kinda like it on this example.

Another one bites the dust!!

Tone monster!!

That’s a very nice place to be!

These guys are a hoot!

I’d go with Dimension as well. Waiting to see.

https://www.notreble.com/buzz/2012/03/22/larry-graham-and-graham-central-station-play-maroon-5s-moves-like-jagger/ Embedded video clip. Tasty player.

Larry Graham had a custom one on his Moon J4 back in the 70’s. Nothing new under the sun (or moon)!

The Pretender?

Deja vu. ^^^^^^^

I have to admit to being in the camp (pun intended) that dismissed him as a bit of a bellend back in the 70’s. Absolutely unjustified! I’ve subsequently seen a few videos that really impressed me both as a talented player, but also as a really nice and genuine person. He also wrote a few well regarded contributions to bass guitar magazines on technical stuff. The guy knows his onions. I also thought ABBA were pretty meh at the time. Just goes to show how wrong I was on both counts.

I saw Nash and Crosby do a show a few years back and, even then, it was clear that Crosby had some health issues. His voice though and those harmonies were just fantastic. RIP.

Keep it! Been there, and bought the t-shirt. When you then spend time trying to track down the instrument you sold or one very similar, the replacement never quite matches the memory of the original. If funds and circumstances allow, keep it………..or let me have first dibs on that gorgeous fretless P.😂

I just joined another band, as in my original band our lead guitarist left and his replacement can only rehearse every other week. Since the new guy is very good, we agreed to switch from weekly rehearsals to every other week. Hence why I wanted to fill in the downtime, so I joined another band that is playing a different genre. They rehearse every other week as it happens. I’ll have to manage any potential gig clashes, but I love the overall vibe I get from playing in bands.

This is pretty much my approach, except I use an EBS Microbass 2 or Avalon U5.

The cancer/reproductive warnings are for California Prop 65 regulation. Basically anything that is on their list of nasties must be cited if it is possible to be present through manufacture or residuals in the object. This is normally a CYA action that has manufacturers putting on labels to protect from possible liability. Since California is a big state for Fender, they make one label and it goes on their global stock. I would file vertically.

That just ticks every box, doesn’t it? Gorgeous. (Said in my best Craig Revel Horwood caricature!)

Ask me in about a week. I have one incoming. American Deluxe 4 stringer with rosewood fingerboard. So much for my gear abstinence efforts!

^^^^^^^^this^^^^^^^^