Cosmo Valdemar

I wonder if he'll mention Darkglass at all.

🤣🤣🤣 Quis est iste qui venit

I adore this. I would happily play in a band that just played stuff like this. Used to frighten the life out of me when I was very young though!

I think his name was Jon...

I sat next to the drummer from the Utah Saints at a wedding once. Lovely chap, we got on very well. He looked like Tintin.

That's not helping! 🤣

Pics, Lozz!

I am beginning to regret my rash decision.

Good point!

I did not know that! I knew I should have bought one!

Was that the one with the comically mis-aligned strings?

You are, surely?

It's got a human mouth! A HUMAN MOUTH

Bloody hell... Can I resist?!

Defnitely approach Ashdown if the shop can't (or won't) help. In fact I would probably go straight to them. They've always gone out of their way to help me in the past.

And it sounds fantastic when they do.

Maple cap necks have a separate maple fingerboard glued on to the neck. Most maple necks are usually one piece, with the truss rod inserted from behind - hence the skunk stripe. From my own experience I find basses with maple cap necks have a bit more going on in the upper mids and highs - a more aggressive growl than usual.

This. I am in discussions with a fine luthier to have a custom bass built soon which will have a 33.25" scale, but that's because it will be 'paying homage' to a very particular instrument... I do own a couple of 30" basses, which are glorious, but are the exception to the norm for me.

Oh dear oh dear! Getting a replacement or a refund?

Oh dear! Looks like it's been grazed rather than a poor lacquer... could be wrong though. As for fitting the machine heads, I wouldn't attempt it myself but luckily I know an excellent guitar tech!

Maple cap neck too, IIRC the only Fender bass that has one. At least outside of the Custom Shop. I'm surprised Fender don't make a bigger deal of it - in fact, I don't think they even mention it having one. Congrats on the new bass 😎

I went for these: https://g-gotoh.com/international/product/gb640.html They will fit, but they won't line up with the screw holes, so a bit of drilling will be required. It's a bit annoying as the Vintage Pros sold in the US have larger plate Wilkinsons, and the Gotohs line up perfectly. Over here, the Vintage Pros use the smaller plate Wilkinsons designed to fit Music Man basses.

If you ever met me, you would know that to be true I would never consider adapting my playing style to fit around the covers, unless they had a functional need to be there - a horseshoe Rick pickup, for example, is going to be there whether you like it or not so it's something to get used to! Not that I imagine owning a vintage RM1999 anytime soon... That said, I've been looking through some old photos and came across a pic of a Burgundy Mist Fender Jazz I used to own, resplendent in bridge and pickup covers. Now that was really something. Seller's remorse.